Chapter 26 Not Just My Blood
Evra’s POV
Magnus didn’t answer right away.
My last sentence was still hanging between us, like something unfinished—but already enough to shift the direction of his thoughts. The night air that had felt cold earlier now felt heavy instead. Not because of the temperature, but because of something we couldn’t see… yet was clearly there.
I turned my face away from Magnus and looked toward the forest in the distance.
Dark. Quiet. But not the usual kind of quiet.
I had been feeling it since I woke up this morning. The sensation never really went away. It just shifted, faded, then came back at moments like this.
And the longer I tried to ignore it, the clearer it became. If anything, it felt like I had carried it for a long time.
“Evra.”
Magnus’s voice pulled me back.
I looked at him, but I didn’t speak right away. I was still trying to understand something that had been bothering me for the past few seconds.
What he felt in the forest… I felt it too.
Even if it wasn’t coming from the same direction.
“What did you feel out there?” I finally asked.
Magnus didn’t answer immediately. His gaze stayed calm, but I could see a slight shift in his eyes.
He wasn’t guessing. He was remembering.
“Someone was standing at the border,” he said quietly. “But that’s not the part that bothered me.”
I crossed my arms without realizing it.
“Then?”
Magnus took a slow breath before answering.
“There was something unseen.”
I wasn’t surprised. If anything, it made something inside me feel more… connected.
“And it was watching you,” I said.
Magnus looked at me. “How do you know?”
I didn’t have a clear answer. I just… knew. Not because I felt it directly, but because in my mind, I saw fragments of it—unclear, but real. And I still couldn’t be sure of anything.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But that’s what it feels like.”
We fell silent for a few seconds. Then I turned back toward the forest again.
The sensation came back. Stronger this time. Not from outside.
From within.
I pressed my fingers against my temple.
“This is getting annoying,” I muttered.
Magnus immediately focused on me. “What is?”
I didn’t answer right away. I tried to ignore it. But this time, I couldn’t. It wasn’t just pressure or a faint vibration anymore.
It felt like… something moving under my skin.
I frowned.
“Since this morning,” I said quietly, “it feels like something is trying to… wake up.”
Varon reacted instantly inside Magnus. I could tell from the slight tension in his body.
“Is it magic?”
I shook my head. “It’s not magic.”
I knew what using magic felt like. When I first stepped into this castle and started living here, I had felt it once—even if it felt like a dream.
But this wasn’t that.
“It’s not like before either,” I continued. “Not like when that power came out of control.”
Magnus stayed silent, waiting.
I exhaled slowly. “This feels more like… something that’s aware.”
That sentence shifted the atmosphere between us. Like something had finally been said out loud.
Magnus narrowed his eyes slightly.
“And you’re not controlling it.”
I gave a faint smile. “If I could control it, I wouldn’t be standing here trying to explain this to you.”
Varon let out a low snort inside him.
I could feel it, even if it wasn’t coming from my own thoughts.
That connection was still there. And somehow, it was getting clearer with each passing day.
I turned back toward the forest again. Then something happened. Very fast. But clear enough to make me freeze.
A flicker. Like a shadow moving too quickly between the trees.
I narrowed my eyes, trying to catch its real form.
Magnus noticed immediately.
“You saw something.”
I didn’t answer right away. I kept staring at the same spot.
“There was movement,” I said quietly.
Magnus straightened instantly.
But when he tried to look in the same direction, everything had already gone back to darkness.
Nothing there.
I let out a slow breath. “It’s gone.”
Magnus didn’t look satisfied. “What did it look like?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. It was too fast.”
I paused before adding, “But I’m sure it wasn’t an animal.”
Magnus didn’t say anything else. But I knew he believed me. Because he had felt something in the same place.
A few seconds passed. Then I said without thinking, “It came because of me.”
Magnus turned to me immediately. “Don’t jump to conclusions.”
I let out a quiet laugh. “That’s not an assumption, Magnus.”
“Then what is it?”
I looked at him. “It’s a pattern I’ve been putting together from everything that’s happened since you bought me from that damn auction.”
He stayed silent.
I continued,
“Since I came to your territory, things have been changing. At first, small. Then clearer. And now… something is starting to come.”
Magnus didn’t argue. But he didn’t agree either.
“Whatever came tonight,” he said quietly, “it’s not entirely drawn to you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “That’s what you think?”
“Not what I think,” he replied. “What I feel.”
I didn’t respond right away. Because part of me… agreed. And that made everything worse.
I looked down at my own hands. My skin looked normal. No marks. Nothing unusual. But I could feel it.
Underneath. In my blood. Something moving. Something that had never really been asleep.
And for the first time, it didn’t feel unfamiliar.
It felt… known.
I closed my eyes for a moment. And when I did, the voice came back.
Clearer than before. Not a faint whisper. Not a distant echo. This was direct. Close. Inside my head.
“Wake up.”
I opened my eyes quickly. My breathing shifted slightly.
Magnus noticed immediately.
“What’s happening?”
I stayed silent, trying to confirm one thing.
Was that just a voice? Or something more?
But before I could think any further, it came again.
“You feel it.”
I swallowed. This time, there was no doubt. That wasn’t my own thought.
I took a step back without realizing it.
Magnus moved closer.
“Evra.”
I raised my hand slightly.
“Don’t come closer.”
He stopped.
I looked at him. Not because I was afraid of him. But because I wasn’t sure what would happen if he got too close right now.
“This isn’t like before,” I said quietly.
Magnus stared at me sharply. “Explain.”
I shook my head. “I can’t explain it.”
I closed my eyes again. And this time, I didn’t resist. I listened.
The voice wasn’t rushing. It wasn’t forcing anything.
But its presence… couldn’t be ignored.
“You’ve started to hear.”
I frowned.
“Hear what?” I muttered.
Magnus heard me. “What do you hear?”
I didn’t answer him. Because I knew… that question wasn’t for him.
I slowly opened my eyes.
“Who are you?”
Silence for a few seconds. Then the voice answered,
“You already know.”
I held my breath.
No. I didn’t. But a part of me… did. And that made me uncomfortable.
Magnus took half a step closer.
“Evra.”
I turned to him. “This isn’t a normal voice.”
He understood immediately. “From inside?”
I nodded.
Magnus looked like he wanted to say something. But before he could, the voice came again.
“You’re not alone anymore.”
I tensed.
It felt like… a declaration.
I took a slow breath.
“Why now?”
I didn’t know why I asked. The question just came out.
And the voice answered, “Because he has awakened.”
I froze instantly.
Magnus narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”
I looked at him. “It said… ‘he has awakened.’”
Varon reacted violently inside him.
I could feel it.
Not through my thoughts.
But through something deeper.
That connection.
And it made me realize something that had only felt vague before.
This wasn’t just about me.
I looked at Magnus more sharply now.
“Magnus…”
He looked back at me.
“What?”
I swallowed before speaking,
“What if… this isn’t just about my blood?”
Magnus didn’t answer. But his expression shifted slightly.
I continued,
“What if something inside me… is reacting to something inside you?”
Silence fell between us. The night air stilled. Even the sounds around us seemed to disappear.
Then the voice spoke again.
And this time… not just to me.
“You’re finally starting to understand.”
I stiffened. Magnus did too.
Because this time, he heard it as well.
I could see it in the way his eyes changed. The way his body suddenly went rigid. The way his breath caught slightly.
Varon even growled harshly inside him.
“What was that?”
Magnus didn’t answer him. His eyes stayed on me.
“Or rather…” the voice continued, “…both of you are finally starting to hear.”
I felt my blood pulse harder.
Magnus took a step closer.
“Evra.”
I didn’t move.
Because I knew this wasn’t something happening only inside me anymore.
The voice let out a soft laugh. Not loud. But enough to shift the atmosphere.
“Now… we can begin.”
Magnus narrowed his eyes. “Begin what?”
Silence.
One second.
Two seconds.
Then the voice answered, in a tone that didn’t sound like a threat at all.
Which made it worse.
“What was once interrupted.”
My heart started beating faster.
Magnus didn’t look away from me.
And for the first time since I met him, I saw something in his eyes.
Not doubt. Not fear.
Something that almost looked like… recognition.
As if a part of him recognized it too.
I took a slow breath.
“If this is about us…” I said.
Magnus answered without hesitation.
“If this is about us, then I won’t let it run out of control.”
The voice chuckled softly.
“You still think you’re the one in control.”
Magnus narrowed his eyes. “Try it.”
Silence fell again. But not for long.
Because the voice responded immediately. And its next sentence made my entire body go cold.
“Then…” I held my breath. “…why is it that when I say your name…”
The voice paused for a moment.
Then continued, very softly,
“…you don’t reject it, Magnus Rivenhall?”
Varon roared inside his mind.
And Magnus didn’t answer.
Because he couldn’t.
Because I felt the same thing.
I knew why.