Chapter-HundredThirty Three, Just Me And You, Mate

Chapter-HundredThirty Three, Just Me And You, Mate
Zoe’s POV (Part Two) 

The second I stepped through the portal, silence wrapped around me.

Not darkness.

Not pain.

Peace.

Soft wind danced across endless golden fields while the sky above glowed with shades of lavender and silver. Tiny glowing lights floated through the air like fallen stars, brushing against my skin with warmth.

This place…

This was mine.

My dreamworld.

The one place Lucien could never fully touch.

The one place where my soul still breathed freely.

My chest tightened painfully as I stood there alone.

“Sean…” I whispered into the wind.

The world answered instantly.

The field rippled.

Magic spread through the grass in glowing silver waves before a figure slowly appeared in the distance.

Him.

The moment I saw him standing there, my knees nearly gave out beneath me.

Happy tears burst from my eyes before I could stop them.

“Sean…”

He looked exhausted.

Broken.

Dark shadows sat beneath his eyes while bruises covered parts of his face and neck, but the second his eyes landed on me…

He smiled.

That beautiful smile that somehow still made my heart race despite everything falling apart around us.

I ran.

Not caring about anything else.

Not caring if this was dangerous.

Not caring if the dreamworld collapsed around me.

The second I reached him, he caught me in his arms while I cried against his chest.

“You’re alive,” I choked out.

His arms tightened around me instantly.

“Barely,” he admitted quietly.

That shattered me.

Pulling back quickly, I grabbed his face.

“Where are they keeping you?” I asked desperately, hoping he knew something—anything.

Sean’s expression darkened immediately.

“I’m somewhere down in hell,” he said roughly. “Zoe… you need to be careful. Deadly Tree came to visit Gemma. Her memories are cracking through bit by bit. She’s killing everyone.”

The words came out so fast I struggled to process them.

“Slow down,” I breathed. “Sean, slow down.”

He inhaled shakily before nodding.

I could feel fear radiating from him.

Not for himself.

For me.

For all of us.

“She’s changing,” he whispered. “Lucien’s doing something to her. He’s rebuilding her mind piece by piece, but every memory that returns makes her more unstable.”

My stomach twisted violently.

“No…”

Sean nodded grimly.

“He wants her reborn, Zoe. Not as Gemma… as something worse.”

Fear crawled up my spine.

“Tell me everything.”

His jaw clenched hard before he finally spoke.

“Lucien’s creating the perfect weapon.”

The wind around us suddenly stilled.

“Rebirth,” Sean whispered.

A pulse of darkness moved through the field.

“Power.”

The sky flickered violently overhead.

“Killing machine.”

My heart started pounding harder.

“A monster completely under his control.”

Rage exploded inside me so fast the ground beneath my feet cracked.

Over my dead body.

That was NOT happening.

Gemma had suffered enough.

Lucien wasn’t turning her into some soulless creature for war.

“I’ll kill him first,” I snarled.

Sean grabbed my arms quickly.

“There’s more.”

The fear in his voice made my stomach drop.

“To make matters worse…” he said carefully, “your mum and sister are alive.”

I froze.

The entire world around us seemed to stop breathing.

“What?”

“They’re big parts of this now,” he continued painfully. “They’re the ones who told Lucien about your curse.”

The betrayal hit harder than any blade ever could.

My own family.

Again.

Always them.

Always blood destroying blood.

Tears burned my eyes while fury clawed through my chest like a living thing.

“They told him?” I whispered.

Sean nodded once.

“He knows things he shouldn’t know, Zoe. Things about your magic… your bloodline… what you truly are.”

A violent tremor shook the dreamworld.

Dark clouds rolled across the peaceful sky above us.

I couldn’t breathe properly.

That curse…

The thing buried deep inside me.

The thing I spent my entire life terrified of becoming.

Lucien knew.

I turned away from Sean, trying to steady myself before the darkness inside me fully snapped free.

The grass beneath my feet began dying instantly.

Black veins spread through the earth.

“Zoe…”

I closed my eyes tightly.

No.

Not here.

Not in front of him.

Not again.

I felt Sean step closer behind me before his hands gently grabbed mine.

“Look at me.”

His voice softened instantly.

“Just me and you, my mate.”

The darkness eased slightly at those words.

Slowly, I turned back toward him.

Sean reached into his pocket before pulling out a tiny glass vial no bigger than his finger.

Silver liquid swirled inside it strangely, glowing softly.

“I got you this,” he said quietly.

I frowned slightly.

“What is it?”

“Hope,” he answered.

My chest tightened.

“When you travel back into your dreamworld’s worst fear…” he continued carefully, placing the vial into my hand, “open the bottle, pour the contents onto the floor, and chant with everything inside you that still believes in light.”

I stared down at the vial.

Its warmth spread instantly through my palm.

“Where did you get this?”

Sean hesitated.

“From someone who still believes you can survive this.”

A tear slid down my cheek.

“I don’t know if I can anymore.”

“Yes, you can.”

His answer came instantly.

Firm.

Unshaken.

Sean stepped closer until his forehead rested against mine.

“You hear me?” he whispered. “Lucien wants you afraid because fear feeds the curse.”

The silver lights around us flickered brighter.

“But your heart…” he continued softly, “that’s the one thing darkness has never been able to kill.”

I broke.

Completely.

Fresh tears flooded from my eyes while I clung to him desperately.

“I’m so tired, Sean.”

“I know.”

“I don’t know how much more I can take.”

“You won’t take it alone.”

I cried harder at that.

Because despite the torture…

Despite the blood…

Despite Hell itself trying to destroy him…

He was still protecting me.

Still loving me.

Still fighting for me.

Sean pulled back slightly before lifting my chin gently.

“When the time comes,” he whispered, “choose light, Zoe.”

The dreamworld began shaking violently.

No.

No, no, no.

The connection was breaking.

Sean noticed it too.

“They found me,” he growled suddenly.

Darkness began crawling across his arms like chains.

Panic exploded through me.

“Sean!”

“You need to go NOW.”

“I’m not leaving you!”

“You have to!”

The shadows wrapped tighter around him while blood suddenly spilled from his nose.

Rage ripped through me.

I unleashed my magic instantly.

Silver fire exploded across the field.

The darkness screamed.

But it wasn’t enough.

Nothing was enough.

Sean grabbed my face quickly.

“Listen to me,” he said firmly. “Lucien’s preparing for war.”

The world cracked loudly around us.

“And Gemma…”

Pain crossed his face.

“She’s running out of time.”

The portal behind me started reopening violently.

I shook my head desperately.

“No.”

Sean smiled sadly.

“You’ll find me again.”

The chains dragged harder.

His body started being pulled backwards into darkness.

“I love you, Zoe.”

My soul shattered hearing those words.

“I love you too!”

Then he was gone.

The dreamworld collapsed instantly around me.

And the last thing I saw before waking…

Was the tiny glowing vial still clutched tightly in my hand.