Chapter 99 Not All Nights Should Be This Way

Chapter 99 Not All Nights Should Be This Way
NYRA

“ARIA!”

My voice didn’t even sound like mine anymore. It tore out of my throat, raw and jagged, as my hands caught her before she hit the ground completely.

Her weight slumped into me, heavily like something had already started slipping away.

My fingers, my hands were wet and felt warm and sticky. I didn’t need to look down to know what it was, but I did anyway.

Blood…So much blood!

“No… no, no, no. Aria, stay with me!” My voice broke as I tightened my grip on her, pulling her closer like that alone could hold her here, could force her to stay conscious, to stay breathing, to stay—

Her head lolled slightly against my shoulder.

“Aria!” I shook her lightly, panic rising fast, sharp, uncontrollable. “Look at me, open your eyes don’t do this!”

Nothing apparently was working at that moment. For one horrifying second, the world narrowed into silence as I let out out scream.

This time I could hear the footsteps as they hurried to my room. The door burst wider open and two guards rushed in, already shifted into their wolf form like they had expected a fight but whatever they thought they’d find died the moment they saw us.

Behind them, Cyril ran in as well. He didn’t speak at first. His eyes swept over the scene in a single glance,and then everything about him changed.

“Move.”

It wasn’t loud, but it cut through everything else.

The guards stepped aside immediately and
I barely had time to react before Cyril was already in front of me, crouching, his hands steady as they assessed her quickly like he already understood more than I did.

“She’s bleeding out,” he said, calm but urgent.

“No, no, she can’t…She was just—” My words stumbled over themselves, useless, and meaningless.

“Nyra.”

He said my name firmly. I looked up at him, my vision blurring.

“We don’t have time,” he said and then he lifted her. Just like she weighed nothing.

“No, wait, I’m coming—” I tried to stand, tried to follow, but the moment I moved, his voice stopped me.

“Stay here.”

“No!” I snapped, panic flaring into anger. “I’m not leaving her—”

“You will slow us down.” He cuts in

The words hit harder than they should have.
“I won’t!”

“Nyra.” His tone dropped, sharper now. “If you want her to live, let me move.”

That broke through. My mouth opened, but no sound came out this time. Because somewhere deep down, beneath the panic and fear and the overwhelming need to not let her out of my sight…I knew he was right and I hated it. But I knew regardless.

My hands tightened for a second longer around her before I let go. It felt wrong like I was abandoning her.

Cyril didn’t wait another second. He turned, already moving toward the door with long, urgent strides.

The guards followed and just like that,she was gone. The room felt empty as I stood there, frozen, my hands still lifted slightly like they hadn’t gotten the message yet.

There was blood on them…Her blood. My stomach twisted violently.

“She’ll be fine…” I told myself

The words came out in a whisper, but they didn’t sound convincing. Not even to me.

Another set of footsteps approached, slower this time.

“Lady Nyra.” I turned slightly, barely registering the guard who had stepped back in.

“Lord Rowan requests your presence.”For a moment, I just stared at him. Like the words didn’t make sense.

Like nothing made sense. Then— I nodded.
Because what else was there to do?

The walk to Rowan’s room felt longer than it should have as every step dragged.

My mind kept replaying it again. The door and
Aria’s face as her body went still. I thought about the weight of her in my arms and then the blood. God… the blood.

By the time I reached his door, my chest felt tight, like something was pressing down on it, making it harder to breathe.

The guard opened it for me and I stepped inside. I didn’t realize how shaken I was until I stopped moving.

The room was warm, lit softly, too normal for what had just happened.

I stood there for a second, then another, before finally forcing myself to move further in. I didn’t sit immediately as my hands and entire body were still trembling.

So I wrapped my arms around myself instead, like that might hold me together and stood there as time passed. I didn’t know how much.

Minutes or more…Perhaps hours.

The door opened again and I turned sharply as
Rowan walked in.

His presence filled the room instantly, but there was something different about him that felt darker.

“No one was caught.”

My stomach dropped as he watched me closely as he stepped further inside, his gaze scanning my face, my posture, the way I was barely holding myself steady.

“What happened?” He asked.

His voice was calmer than I expected. That almost made it worse. I swallowed, forcing myself to speak, even though my throat felt tight.

“She… She opened the door,” I started, my voice uneven. “And then she just froze.”

I could see it again. Exactly as it happened in my head.

“I thought maybe someone was there, but she didn’t say anything. She just stood there… and then she turned and—”

My voice cracked as I burst out crying. “She collapsed.”

“I didn’t see anyone,” I added, quieter now. “I didn’t hear anything either. It all just… happened.”

His jaw tightened slightly. Just enough for me to notice.

“That is deep, how?” he murmured, more to himself than to me.

That sent a chill through me.

“I will find whoever did this!” He gritted through his teeth.

The certainty in his voice made my chest tighten again. This wasn’t random…It was deliberate and planned.

I had a suspect already but would she go that far?

My fingers curled slightly against my arms.

“Aria…” I whispered, the fear creeping back stronger now. “Is she…”

“She will be fine.”

I exhaled a shaky breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

“But!” I started.

“She’s strong,” he added, cutting me off gently this time. “She’ll fight.”

I wanted to believe that…I really did. But the image of her in my arms made it hard.

Rowan stepped closer then, his presence grounding in a way I didn’t expect.

“You’re shaking.”

I hadn’t even noticed how bad it was until he said it. Now that I did, I couldn’t ignore it.

“I’m fine,” I said automatically.

It wasn’t true not even close. His gaze didn’t soften.

“You don’t have to be.” He muttered. “I understand."

I looked away quickly, my jaw tightening as I forced myself to stay composed.

“I just.” I swallowed. “I didn’t expect it.”

“No one did.”

“But they planned it,” I shot back, frustration slipping through now. “So someone knew. Someone expected it.”

A brief silence followed and Rowan’s gaze met mine again.

“They won't get away, trust me."

The room felt colder after that or maybe it was just me. Or because the adrenaline was wearing off now and what it left behind was worse.

Fear, exhaustion. Name it and that something heavy sitting in my chest that I couldn’t quite name.

Rowan seemed to notice the shift.

“Sit.” He grimaced.

This time, I didn’t argue. I moved toward the edge of the bed and sat down slowly, my body finally giving in to the weight it had been carrying.

Everything felt distant.

“She’ll be fine,” he said again, quieter now.

I nodded. Because I needed that to be true.

“I know,” I whispered.

Even if I didn’t fully believe it yet.

A silence settled between us again, but it wasn’t as tense as before.

My eyes burned slightly, but I blinked it away.

“I should be there,” I murmured after a while. “With her.”

“You would only be in the way right now.” Cyril’s words echoed back in my head and I hated how often that seemed to be true tonight.

“I don’t like this,” I admitted as I glanced up at him.

He was watching me again, but this time there was no edge to it.

“Try to rest,” he said after a moment.

“I can’t.”

“You can.”

I shook my head slightly. “Every time I close my eyes, I see it.”

He didn’t respond to that right away.
Instead, he moved slightly closer.

“Then don’t fight it.”

I frowned faintly. “What?”

“Sleep comes faster when you stop trying to control it.”

That sounded… frustratingly reasonable. I didn’t argue though. Because I didn’t have the energy to.

I shifted slightly on the bed, pulling my legs up just a little, my body curling in on itself without me fully realizing it.

My eyes felt heavier now but my mind still lingered on one thing.

“Rowan…” I called out.

“Yes?”

“If something happens to her…” I couldn’t finish it.

I didn’t want to…His response came quieter this time.

“It won’t.”

I nodded slightly because that was easier than arguing. Easier than thinking about the alternative.

My eyes closed slowly after that, not fully at first.Just enough to dull the edges of everything.

The room,the tension…The fear. But even as sleep began to pull me under, one thought stayed clear.

This wasn’t over…