THE DARKNESS BETWEEN US

THE DARKNESS BETWEEN US


I’m running.

Branches whip at my face, rain slaps against my skin, and the mud sucks at my feet like it’s trying to swallow me whole. My chest is tight. Every breath is a fight. My legs feel like they could give out any second. But I don’t stop. I can’t.

Because he’s behind me.

Not Thane. Not the man I know. Not the man I love. Something else. Something wearing his body like a mask.

I keep calling his name. Over and over.

“Thane!”

No answer. Just the sound of heavy paws pounding the ground behind me. He’s faster now. Stronger. And I’m slower. My powers—they’re slipping away. That mark on my wrist? It’s cold now. Empty. Like something has been drained out of me.

God, my lungs burn.

Trees blur past me. The rain pours harder, like even the sky wants to drown out what's happening. I can barely see, but my legs move on instinct. Memory. I know these woods. I used to find comfort in them. Not tonight.

Tonight they feel like a cage.

And somewhere in the back of my mind, memories start playing. Like old home videos. That first night I saw him, leaning against the wall like he didn’t care, but his eyes were searching. That crooked smile. The way he said my name like it was something he wanted to keep.

“Ayla.”

Just like that. Soft. Intentional. Like it mattered.

I trip over a root, hit the ground hard, mud splashing across my arms. I roll over just in time to see him coming at me.

But something slams into him before he can reach me.

Garrick.

He tackles Thane to the ground with a snarl. Their bodies crash into the wet earth, snarling, biting, clawing. It’s chaos. Garrick pins him down, growling right in his face.

Leona appears out of nowhere, soaked head to toe, her hands raised, voice steady despite the tremble in it.

She starts chanting.

Low. Sharp. In a language I don’t recognize. Magic. I feel it buzz in the air, even without my powers. It prickles against my skin.

Thane jerks under Garrick, screaming in this voice that’s not his. It sounds like metal grinding against metal. Like pain. Like hate. Like something that doesn’t belong here.

I push myself to my feet, staggering toward them.

“Don’t stop!” I yell at Leona. “Keep going!”

She does. Her voice rises.

Thane thrashes harder. Garrick holds on—until he doesn’t.

It happens so fast I don’t have time to scream.

Thane’s claws slice right through Garrick’s chest. Deep. Brutal. Garrick lets out a choking sound, eyes wide with shock. His body goes limp.

He crumples beside Thane, blood mixing with the rain.

“No,” I whisper. Then louder. “No!”

I drop to my knees beside him. His eyes find mine, barely focused.

“Don’t let him go,” he rasps.

Then he stops breathing.

Everything in me cracks open. My chest feels like it’s being ripped in two.

Rage surges up like fire.

I scream—loud, guttural. I don’t know where the strength comes from, but I lunge at Thane, knock him down. He fights back, but I don’t stop. I don’t stop until he’s unconscious beneath me.

And then I drag him.

Through the trees. Through the rain. Back to the temple.

I don’t know how I do it. I just move. One step at a time. My body shakes from exhaustion, my hands slick with his blood and mine. But I keep going.

Because this ends tonight.

I drag him into the center of the temple. The heart of it. Where the energy is strongest. Leona follows, her face pale, lips trembling.

“Ayla—”

“Don’t,” I say, holding up a hand. “Don’t try to stop me. You said there was a way. You said if there was no vessel, one of us would have to hold it.”

She nods. Swallows. “Yes. But it might kill you both.”

“Then so be it.”

I kneel beside Thane. He stirs, just a little. I press a hand to his chest, the other gripping my wrist where the mark once glowed.

“You promised to fight,” I whisper. “You said you wouldn’t let it win.”

The ground starts to shake.

Leona backs away.

I close my eyes. I reach for him. Not his body. Not the thing inside him. Him.

Thane.

My voice is soft. Cracking.

“I love you.”

His eyes flicker open. Just for a second.

And in that second, I see him.

The real him.

“Come back to me,” I whisper.

Everything goes still.

Then the floor splits open.

A scream—not mine, not his, but something darker—rips through the air. The darkness that had been wrapped around him like smoke peels off in thick, violent waves. It lashes out, furious. Desperate.

And then...

Everything goes white.

I
don’t know if we’re alive or dead. I don’t know if this is the end or the beginning.

But I held on.

I didn’t let him go.