Chapter 84 LIES BETWEEN LOVERS
SELENE’S POV
Something is wrong.
I know it before the door opens.
I feel it in the air itself, in the way the moonlight that spills across the floor seems thinner tonight, strained, as if it has traveled too far just to reach me. I feel it in my chest, where the Moonfire rests uneasily, no longer roaring, no longer silent, but alert in a way that makes my skin prickle.
Damien is close.
But not whole.
I sit upright on the bed, fingers twisting together in my lap. My body is still weak, still healing, but my senses are sharper than they have ever been. The Goddess has not receded. She lingers like a breath held too long.
The door opens.
Damien steps inside.
He looks the same at first glance. Tall. Controlled. The kind of man the world expects not to bend.
But the illusion fractures the moment his eyes meet mine.
Grief lives there.
Not fresh. Not loud.
Old. Settled. The kind that has already decided how the story ends.
My heart tightens painfully.
“Damien,” I say, pushing myself to my feet.
He stills.
As if my voice has struck something raw.
“Selene,” he replies, carefully, and that single word tells me everything I need to know. He has already built walls around whatever truth he is carrying.
“You should be resting.”
The gentleness in his tone hurts more than cruelty ever could.
I step toward him. The moonlight stretches between us like a fragile bridge.
“Come here.”
He hesitates.
Not long. Not obviously.
But enough.
Damien never hesitates with me.
Not when my power spirals. Not when danger closes in. Not when fear should have driven him away.
He hesitates now because something inside him has already begun to break.
He moves at last, stopping just out of reach. Close enough that I can feel his warmth. Far enough that the distance screams.
I lift my gaze to his face, memorizing every line, every shadow.
“What happened?” I ask quietly.
“Nothing.”
The word is polished. Practiced.
False.
I reach for his hand.
He pulls back, barely.
The movement is small. The impact is devastating.
“You’re lying,” I whisper.
He closes his eyes, breath slow and controlled, as though he is counting heartbeats to keep himself steady.
“Selene, your power is unstable, and you need rest.”
“Don’t,” I say. My voice trembles despite my effort to keep it steady. “Don’t turn this into something else.”
His eyes open again, dark and guarded.
“You’re looking at me like…” I swallow hard. “…like you’ve already lost me.”
That is when his control falters.
Just for a heartbeat.
But I see it. I feel it ripple through the bond like a crack through ice.
I step closer, close enough that his breath brushes my cheek. “What are you hiding from me?”
For a moment, I think he will tell me.
His shoulders sag. His gaze softens. His mouth parts as if the truth is right there, trembling on his tongue.
Then he chooses the lie.
“You will never lose me.”
The words taste wrong in the air.
Cold. Metallic.
My wolf whimpers inside me, uneasy.
I lift my hand and cup his face. He leans into my touch, but not fully. As if he is afraid to take more than this moment will allow.
“I love you,” I say softly. “Whatever this is, we face it together.”
His throat works. His hands hover near my waist, wanting, restraining, torn.
Then he steps back.
“Get some sleep, Selene.”
And before I can stop him, before I can demand the truth he is burying alive, he turns and leaves.
The door closes.
My mark pulses, heavy and confused.
In the darkness, I whisper the truth I can no longer deny.
“He’s lying to me.”
The shadows feel colder.
The moon outside the window dims, just slightly.
And for the first time since the Goddess marked me, I feel alone.
DAMIEN’S POV
Lying to her feels like cutting myself open and asking the wound to stay quiet.
I walk the corridors with measured steps, every muscle locked in place, every breath controlled, because if I let myself break, I will not stop.
Her voice follows me.
You look at me like you’ve already lost me.
Because I am losing her.
Every prophecy carved into stone says so.
I reach the war room before the weight in my chest finally collapses inward. I brace my hands against the table. The wood splinters beneath my grip.
The dagger from my dreams flashes through my mind, silver and waiting.
You were born to end her.
I sink into a chair, breath shuddering.
“I can’t tell her,” I whisper to the empty room. “She would sacrifice herself before she ever let me carry this alone.”
She always chooses the world.
And I choose her.
The door opens quietly.
Garron steps inside, exhaustion lining his face.
“She deserves the truth,” he says gently.
“No,” I answer without hesitation. “She deserves peace.”
“And you think lying to her gives her that?”
I laugh, broken and hollow. “Telling her I am destined to kill her is not peace.”
Silence stretches between us.
“I will find another path,” I say. “I will break the prophecy.”
“The third bleeding is close,” Garron warns.
“I know.”
I know because the moon is dimming.
Because Selene’s power is sharpening.
Because the Goddess is no longer patient.
Garron’s voice softens. “You’re killing yourself.”
“I know.”
“And you are hurting her.”
That stops me.
“You think she does not feel you pulling away?” he continues. “You think she does not see the fear you are trying to hide?”
Fear.
Not of her.
Of what I might be forced to become.
That night, long after Garron leaves, I return to my chamber and stop outside her door.
I can hear her breathing.
Uneven.
Restless.
Because of me.
I rest my forehead against the wood.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
The moon flickers outside.
And I know this truth with terrifying clarity.
I cannot lie to her much longer.
Because the world is bleeding toward its end.
And soon, she will learn what fate has written in my hands.