Chapter 235

Malia's POV

I stared at this woman who was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time, her silver hair seeming to move with its own ethereal wind while her ancient eyes held secrets that I couldn't begin to comprehend. The words she had spoken—that I was pregnant—kept echoing in my mind like a broken record, each repetition making them feel more surreal and impossible.

Was I really pregnant? When could this have happened? How was it even possible for this to occur so quickly? It had been barely a week, maybe two weeks at most, since Ethan and I had become intimate. The night he marked me felt like it had happened in another lifetime, but in reality, it had been such a short time ago. Could supernatural pregnancies develop faster than human ones? Was that even how this worked?

"Are you absolutely certain?" I asked the witch again, my voice trembling with disbelief and growing panic. "Are you sure I'm pregnant?"

"Yes, child," she said with that same knowing smile that made me want to step backward. "Whether you believe it or not, you are carrying the vampire's heir, and this will definitely affect whatever transformation we're planning to attempt."

The implications of her words hit me like a physical blow. Not only was I dealing with unstable power transfers and the possibility of becoming a vampire, but now there was an innocent life growing inside me that could be affected by whatever magical process we were about to undertake.

For the first time since we'd arrived, the witch turned her attention to Sebastian, and her expression shifted to one of cruel amusement.

"Why are you suddenly feeling so uneasy, Sebastian?" she asked with a laugh that sounded like breaking glass. "Are you scared that your younger brother will go completely insane, just the way you went insane when you thought you had lost Heaven?"

I could see Sebastian's jaw clench with barely controlled fury, his hands forming fists at his sides as he struggled to maintain his composure in the face of her taunting.

"Shut the fuck up," he said through gritted teeth, his voice carrying a dangerous edge that made the crystalline walls seem to vibrate with tension. "Just do whatever you need to do, because nothing is going to happen to her. The transformation has to be completed. The transformation has to be perfect, with no mistakes."

The witch's smile grew wider, more predatory, as she studied both of us with those ancient, calculating eyes.

"I cannot promise anything," she said with casual indifference that made my blood run cold. "Because we have two options here, and neither of them guarantees the outcome you're hoping for."

"What do you mean?" I asked, though I had a sinking feeling that I didn't want to hear the answer.

"Either we proceed with the transformation and you lose the baby to save both yourself and Ethan," she said matter-of-factly, as if she were discussing the weather rather than the life of my unborn child. "Or we modify the process to save both you and the baby, but Ethan remains powerless for the rest of his existence."

I shook my head violently, the horror of those choices making me feel physically sick. "No," I said desperately. "No, there has to be another way. There has to be a solution that saves all of us."

The witch laughed again, that same cruel sound that seemed to echo endlessly in the crystalline chamber. "It is not possible, child. Magic always demands a price, and the price for what you're asking is too high for the universe to bear."

"Please," I begged, my voice breaking with desperation. "There has to be something else we can try. Some other approach or method that doesn't require such a terrible sacrifice."

"The laws of supernatural transformation are not negotiable," she said firmly. "Power cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred. And when that transfer involves multiple beings, multiple life forces, choices must be made about who survives and who does not."

The weight of the decision she was asking me to make felt crushing. How could I choose between the man I loved and the child we had created together? How could I condemn either of them to save the other?

"For the process to begin," the witch continued, her tone becoming more businesslike, "you need to follow me. Alone."

The word 'alone' hung in the air like a death sentence, and I felt my heart skip several beats as the implications sank in. Whatever she was planning to do to me, whatever magical process she intended to perform, Sebastian wouldn't be there to protect me or ensure my safety.

That's when Sebastian drew his sword in one fluid motion, the blade singing as it cleared the scabbard. He pointed it directly at the witch's throat, his stance radiating the kind of deadly intent that made even supernatural beings think twice about their actions.

"Malia will not go anywhere without me," he said, his voice carrying absolute authority and the promise of violence if his demands weren't met.

The witch looked at the sword pointed at her throat with mild amusement, as if Sebastian were a child playing with a toy rather than a powerful vampire threatening her life.

"You know very well that there is nothing you can do when it comes to the transformation of powers," she said calmly, seemingly unbothered by the weapon that could end her existence. "Your presence during the ritual would not guarantee anything positive, and in fact, it could interfere with the delicate magical processes involved."

"I don't care about your magical processes," Sebastian snarled. "I care about making sure she comes out of this alive and unharmed."

"And staying here will not accomplish that goal," the witch replied. "In fact, your emotional attachment to the outcome could destabilize the entire procedure. You have to leave."

I could see the conflict raging in Sebastian's eyes—the desire to protect me warring with his understanding that she might be telling the truth about the magical requirements. He had brought me here seeking a solution, but now that we were faced with the reality of what that solution entailed, he was clearly having second thoughts.

"Sebastian," I said quietly, my voice barely above a whisper. "Maybe she's right. Maybe you being there would make things more dangerous for everyone."

"Absolutely not," he said without taking his eyes off the witch. "I promised Ethan I would keep you safe, and I'm not about to break that promise by letting you disappear into some magical ritual without supervision."

"But if my being here could hurt the baby—" I started to say.

"The baby's safety depends on the choices you make about the transformation," the witch interrupted. "Not on whether Sebastian is present during the procedure. His presence or absence will not change the fundamental reality that you must choose between saving your child and saving your mate's powers."

The impossible weight of that choice settled over me like a suffocating blanket. I looked at Sebastian, seeing my own fear and uncertainty reflected in his ancient eyes, and realized that no matter what decision I made, someone I loved was going to suffer the consequences.

"How long do I have to decide?" I asked, my voice barely audible in the crystalline chamber.

"The transformation must begin within the hour," the witch said. "The magical alignment that makes this possible will not last beyond that point."

An hour to make a choice that would determine the fate of three lives. An hour to decide between the man I loved and the child we had created together.

I had never felt more alone or more terrified in my entire life.