Chapter 29 KIERAN'S BREAKING POINT
CHAPTER 029: KIERAN'S BREAKING POINT
" You're mine now, daughter.”
That's the last words I heard before I Black out.
I wake up screaming.
I'm lying on cold stone and my whole body shakes.
"Thalira." Sofia's voice cuts through the panic. "You're okay. You're safe."
I blinked in the ritual chamber but I'm not in the center anymore. I'm propped against the wall with Sofia kneeling beside me.
"What happened?" My voice comes out raspy.
"The Hollow King showed up. Threw Cassian across the room and the ritual failed." She helps me sit up. "The seed's still there."
My hand flies to my chest. I can feel it.
"Where is everyone?"
"Cassian's with the healer. He hit the wall hard. Alaric and Zev went after the Hollow King but he vanished. And Kieran—" She stops.
"What about Kieran?"
She doesn't meet my eyes. "He saw you kiss Cassian."
My stomach drops. "How?"
"He came to check on you right after it happened. Saw the whole thing."
I push myself to my feet. Pain shoots through my ribs but I ignore it. "Where is he?"
"Thalira maybe you should rest—"
"Where is he Sofia?"
She sighs. "The training grounds."
I'm storm out the door before she can stop me.
My legs are weak and every step I take hurts but I don't care. I need to find Kieran. Need to explain. Need to fix whatever I just broke.
The training grounds are empty, Kieran is in the center in partial wolf form. His claws are out and his eyes glow gold. He's tearing through training dummies like they personally offended him.
"Kieran," I call out.
He freezes mid strike and slowly he turns to face me.
The look in his eyes makes my breath catch.
It's Fury, pain and betrayal.
"You kissed him," he says. His voice is low and dangerous.
"Kieran it just happened—"
"Just happened?" His laugh is bitter and wrong. "Nothing just happens with you Thalira. Everything means something."
I take a step closer. "It doesn't mean what you think it means."
"Then what does it mean?" He walks toward me. "Tell me what it means when you kiss someone else hours after I told you I've been waiting fifty years for you."
"I wasn't thinking—"
"Exactly." He stops a few feet away. "You weren't thinking about me. About us. You were just feeling something and acting on it."
"That's not fair."
"Fair?" His claws flex. "You want to talk about fair? I've been frozen at seventeen for half a century. I watched you die. I've waited through fifty years of nothing for you to come back. And the second you do you're kissing someone else."
Cassian appears with a bandage wrapped around his ribs.
"Back off wolf boy," he says. "She's allowed to make her own choices."
Kieran's eyes flash to him. "Stay out of this."
"Make me."
Flames flicker around Cassian's fists.
"Stop it," I snap. "Both of you just stop."
But Kieran's control snaps like a frayed rope.
He shifts fully, turning into a full wolf.
It is massive and golden.
He lunges at Cassian.
They collide with a sound like thunder. Cassian's flames explode, Kieran's claws tear through the air.
"Stop!" I scream.
They don't listen.
Cassian shifts into phoenix form. Not full bird but close. Wings burst from his back and fire covers his skin.
They're destroying each other.
Kieran's claws rake across Cassian's chest. Cassian's flames burn through Kieran's fur.
Blood hits the ground. Too much blood.
"Enough!"
Alaric appears from nowhere and grabs Kieran by the scruff. He's using full vampire strength and it's barely enough to hold him.
Zev materializes beside Cassian. Dream magic wraps around him like chains.
"I said enough," Alaric repeats.
Both of them struggle but Alaric and Zev don't let go.
Slowly Kieran shifts back to human. He's covered in burns and bleeding from a dozen cuts.
Cassian's wings fold back into his body. His chest is torn open in three places.
They glare at each other with murder in their eyes.
"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Alaric demands.
"He started it," Cassian spits.
"I started it?" Kieran's voice is raw. "You kissed her."
"She kissed me."
"Does it matter?" I shout.
Everyone goes silent.
I'm shaking. My hands are folded in fists and tears burn behind my eyes.
"Does it matter who kissed who?" I repeat. "You're both acting like I'm some prize to be won. Like I don't get a say in any of this."
Kieran's expression twists. "That's not what I—"
"Yes it is." My voice cracks. "You're mad because I chose him for five minutes. Because I felt something and acted on it without asking your permission first."
"I waited fifty years for you," Kieran says quietly.
"I know." Tears spill out of my eyes. "I know and I'm sorry but I didn't ask you to wait. I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be bonded to four people or to have some ancient prophecy hanging over my head or to have a psychopath father trying to use me as a weapon."
My chest heaves. "I'm seventeen. I've been awake as this version of myself for less than a month. And everyone keeps expecting me to have all the answers. To know who I love. To know what I want. To know how to save everyone."
I wipe my face with the back of my hand. "But I don't know. I don't know anything except that I'm scared and overwhelmed and I made a mistake."
Kieran flinches.
"A mistake?" he repeats.
"That's not what I meant—"
"Then what did you mean?" His voice is barely a whisper now. "Because it sounds like you're saying kissing Cassian was a mistake. Which means you wish it didn't happen. Which means you don't actually want him."
He takes a step back. "So who do you want Thalira? Me? Him? All of us? None of us?"
"I don't know," I choke out.
The words hang in the air.
"Then I guess we're done here."
He turns and walks away.
"Kieran wait," I call him.
He didn't stop.
I try to follow but my legs give out. I hit the ground hard.
Cassian moves toward me but Alaric stops him with a hand on his chest.
"You've done enough," Alaric says coldly.
"I didn't do anything wrong," Cassian argues.
"Didn't you?" Zev's voice is quiet but sharp. "You knew how Kieran felt. You kissed her anyway."
"She kissed me."
"And you kissed her back." Zev crosses his arms. "Don't act innocent."
Cassian's jaw tightens but he doesn't argue.
Sofia appears and helps me stand. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up."
"I need to talk to Kieran."
"Not right now you don't." She guides me toward the exit. "Give him space."
But I can feel it. Through the bond. Through whatever connects us.
Kieran's pain is sharp. And underneath it is something worse.
Resignation.
Like he's already given up.
We make it back to my room. Sofia sits me on the bed and brings water.
I drink it.
"I ruined everything," I whisper.
"You made a choice," Sofia says. "That's not the same thing."
"It feels the same."
She sits beside me. "Kieran's hurt. That doesn't mean you did something wrong."
"Then why does it feel like I did?"
"Because you care about him." She takes my hand. "But you also care about Cassian. And probably Alaric and Zev too. And that's okay."
"Is it? Because whenever I'm with Kieran, I somehow feel like I've found peace."
"I don't know." She squeezes my fingers. "But I know you can't keep tearing yourself apart trying to make everyone happy. Eventually there'll be nothing left."
A knock on the door interrupts us.
Morgana pushes it open. She looks worse than I thought.
"The seed," she gasps. "It's moving faster."
I press a hand to my chest. She's right. I can feel mine too.
"How long?" I ask.
"Minutes." Her voice breaks. "Maybe less."
The door bangs open again. Corvus rushes in with the three remaining boys behind him.
"We're out of time," Corvus says. "The seeds have reached critical mass. If we don't remove them in the next ten minutes you'll both be fully under his control."
"Cassian's fire didn't work," I say.
"Then we try something else." He pulls out a vial of black liquid. "This is distilled phoenix ash mixed with vampire blood and werewolf venom. In theory it should burn the seeds out without killing you."
"In theory?" Morgana repeats.
"It's never been tested."
"Great." I stand on shaking legs. "Let's do it."
"Wait." Alaric steps forward. "Where's Kieran?"
Everyone looks around.
He's not here.
Zev closes his eyes. His dream magic pulses outward searching.
His expression goes dark. "He left the academy."
"What?" I demand.
"He's not on the grounds anymore. I can't sense him anywhere."
My stomach drops. "Why would he leave?"
"Because he's an idiot," Cassian mutters.
Alaric shoots him a glare. "Or because he needed space away from you."
Before they can start fighting again the temperature changes.
A presence fills the room.
The Hollow King appears in the center of the room.
But this time he's not alone.
He's dragging someone behind him.
Kieran.
My heart stops.
Kieran's unconscious. Blood drips from a gash on his temple. His hands are bound with chains that glow red.
"Hello daughter," the Hollow King says with a smile that makes my skin crawl. "I brought you a gift."
He drops Kieran at my feet.
"One life for two," he says. "Give yourself to me willingly and I'll let the wolf live. Refuse and I'll kill him right here while you watch."
My breath hitched. "You're lying."
"Am I?" He raises his hand. The chains around Kieran glow brighter. Kieran screams in pain and anguish.
"Stop!" I shout.
The Hollow King lowers his hand. The screaming stops.
"The choice is yours," he says. "Surrender or watch him die. You have ten seconds to decide."