Chapter 32

Chapter 32
Fractures
(Darius)
The words hung in the air like a live wire.“You killed me.”Alice’s voice didn’t shake. It rang out sharp, cold and final.My breath stalled. Kael’s eyes widened as if her words knocked the wind out of him.“What?” he said, but it wasn’t really a question. More like a stalling tactic. It was obvious the question got him unaware.I stood there, unmoving, the door still creaking behind me from when I’d barged in seconds ago. My pulse throbbed in my ears.

Kael opened his mouth again, but no sound came out. Just a broken exhale. His hand trembled slightly as he raked his fingers through his hair, eyes darting around like he was trapped.“I didn’t—” he tried. “Alice, I didn’t mean—gods—”“Didn’t mean to stab me?” she cut in, lips tight, brows drawn down in a way I’d never seen before.Despite this might have taken place years ago, it was clear she was very much pissed by it.How did she even see something like that?

“No,” Kael growled, stepping toward her. “It’s not like that. You don’t understand.”Her eyes narrowed. “Then explain it.”He faltered.“I should be the one furious,” she went on. “If you were the one who ended my life... then isn’t it me who should want revenge?”Kael looked like someone had just tossed him off a cliff. It's crazy how she died at his hands yet, he is the one seeking penance.

What kind of screwed up thought is that?“I didn’t know,” he murmured. “Not until…”“Don’t change the subject,” she said, taking a step closer to him now. “I don’t care how I found out. That’s not the point. The point is you—” she jabbed her finger into his chest “—were holding onto this. Hiding it.”“Not here,” he said quietly, eyeing the others in the room.Luca had gone pale, one hand clutching his side. One of the nurses stood frozen at the far end, pretending to inventory supplies but listening intently.Kael’s voice dropped lower. “I can’t have anyone else hear this. Not now. Not with what’s coming.”

Alice crossed her arms. “Then say it here. You’re so desperate to explain? Start talking.”“I’m not explaining in front of an audience,” he snapped. “This is bigger than you think. Please, just—come with me. Somewhere private.”She stared at him like she was weighing the idea between them. Her jaw clenched. Then she nodded once. “Fine. But you don’t leave a single thing out. Not this time.”Kael didn’t wait. He took her arm—not rough, but firm—and started pulling her toward the hallway.I stepped forward. “Alice.”She stopped just shy of the door, but didn’t turn around.“I’m coming too,” I said, jaw tight.Kael turned first. The look he shot me didn’t need words.It said: Stay out of this.

When I tried to ignore his reaction to my wanting to come along, his face scrunched up further.It said: This is mine.I didn’t budge. “You think I’m going to just stand back while—”“Darius,” Alice said, finally turning. Her eyes locked with mine. They weren’t cold, but they weren’t soft either.“Please,” she said. “Stay.”The word gutted me.Not because I couldn’t handle her trusting him. Not because she was choosing him in this moment.But because she was shutting me out.And I had no choice but to let her.

I nodded once, biting back the words that burned my tongue. She disappeared through the door with Kael, and I was left standing there like an idiot.Silence stretched in the infirmary. Only the ticking of the old wall clock broke it.Luca groaned quietly, shifting on the cot. I walked over and helped adjust the pillows behind him.“You okay?” I asked.“Physically? Barely. Emotionally?” He snorted. “What the hell just happened?”I shook my head, pressing my palms into my temples. “I don’t know. I walked in and she was accusing Kael of murder—in another life.”Luca grunted, then coughed. “This is why I left the Sect.”“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Because when you start dealing with bloodlines and visions and reincarnation, nothing’s ever simple anymore. You think the past stays buried, but it doesn’t. Especially not when Astrid’s involved.”I turned toward him. “You said her blood wakes up memories. Past lives. Is that even possible?”He winced as he sat up straighter. “Astrid believed that certain bloodlines carry... echoes. Fragments of who we were. Not just in dreams, but in instincts. Emotions. Reactions. That’s why the Sect was obsessed with her lineage. Why Kael was assigned to her originally.”“Assigned?” I repeated, my stomach flipping.Luca nodded. “He didn’t just know her. He was bound to her. It was a role. A mission. And now it’s bleeding into this life, whether they like it or not.”

I turned toward the door again. My fists clenched.Everything about Kael always felt... off. Like he was always one step ahead. Always carrying something unsaid behind his eyes.And now I knew why.He was hiding a whole other life. One that ended with him killing Alice.I moved to the door. I couldn’t sit still.But again, her voice echoed back at me: Please. Stay.I leaned against the frame and stared at the empty hallway beyond and then closed my eyes to shut away the temptation.Don’t follow her, I told myself.

But I’d never been good at staying away.Still... I had to try. For her.And for the first time, I didn’t know if she’d come back the same.And I did. Even though every instinct told me not to.Something about this felt final. Like whatever happened between them wherever they went, would change everything.Alice and I had shared a night passion together, so I couldn't understand why I felt threatened by this moment.Though it was just sex, there was nothing casual about it. And from her reaction to me, I figured it was the same for her.But I hadn’t expected to feel this hollow.