Chapter 93 Chapter 93
_Leah's POV_
I flinched at the soft splash of water on my skin. My eyelashes twitched. My body felt heavy like I was buried under rocks. A dull ringing filled my ears.
“Leah… Leah, love… please wake up.”
Kayden.
His voice was tight and rough as if he had been shouting or crying. I forced my eyes open but everything was blurry at first. The world came back slowly like pieces of a broken mirror sliding into place.
The first thing I saw was him.
My head was resting in his lap. His hands were cradling my face, big and warm and shaking. His eyes were wide and dark with fear. His hair was messy. His jaw was clenched so hard I could see the muscle jumping.
“Kayden…” I whispered.
I could see the sudden relief on his face. His shoulders dropped a little like he had been holding his breath the whole time.
“Thank the Moon Goddess,” he breathed. “You scared me half to death.”
I tried to sit up but a sharp pain shot through my skull. The room spun. My stomach rolled.
I groaned and fell back into his lap. “I don’t… I don’t feel fine,” I admitted. “I’m dizzy. My head… it hurts so much.”
It felt like someone was hammering from inside my skull. My chest burned too. Every breath felt heavy.
Athena whimpered inside me. Our body hurts. Something clawed at us from the inside.
“I know,” Kayden said softly. His thumb brushed my cheek. “You screamed and then you collapsed. You stopped moving. I thought....” His voice broke. He swallowed hard. “I thought I lost you again.”
There was a rustle near us.
“Move a little, Kayden,” the seer said calmly. “Let me see her.”
I felt cool fingers on my forehead. Then a gentle spray of water touched my face again. It smelled faintly of herbs and smoke.
I blinked and the seer’s lined face came into focus. “How are you feeling, child?” she asked.
“Like my head is exploding,” I said honestly. “And my chest… it burns. It feels wrong. Like something is scratching my soul.”
Athena growled softly. It is that mark...that cursed thing.
The seer frowned. “Your body has reacted to the amulet,” she said slowly. “But not in the way it should. There is something wrong with you, Leah.”
Kayden stiffened. “What do you mean wrong?” he demanded. His hand tightened around mine. “What happened to her?”
The seer sat back on her heels and looked at both of us. Her gaze was heavy. “The amulet is meant to push dark energy away. It should shield the soul. It should bring peace. But when I placed it on her, her body fought it. That means there is already dark energy inside her....deep inside.”
My heart sank.
Dark energy… inside me.
Athena fell silent for a moment. Then she spoke softly. The symbol on your palm. It is poison. It crawled into us.
Kayden’s jaw clenched. “Is it the ritual?” he asked. “The mark on her palm? That twisted symbol?”
“Yes,” the seer said. “I believe so. It must be the dark bond Tariq has created between himself and Leah. That ritual wrapped his darkness around her soul. Now, when the amulet tries to push the darkness away, it clashes with what is inside her. The two forces are fighting. That is why she felt such pain. The light and the dark are pulling at the same place.”
I swallowed. My throat was dry. “So… the amulet doesn’t work on me?” I asked. “It hurts me instead?”
“It is doing what it is supposed to do,” the seer said gently. “But the darkness is woven too deep. It is not around you, it is inside you. The amulet is trying to expel something that has become part of your soul. The clash causes pain… and if we are not careful, it could cause much worse.”
A cold chill ran through me.
“I have his darkness in me,” I whispered. “Tariq’s darkness.”
Athena snarled. She was furious. He dared stain us. He dared mark our soul.
Kayden’s grip on my hand tightened so much it almost hurt. “How do we get rid of it?” he asked. His tone was sharp. “Tell me there is a way. There has to be. We’ll do whatever it takes.”
I took a shaky breath. An idea formed in my mind but it was wild and desperate.
“Maybe I can try,” I said. “My powers… I’ve used them before. I healed you. I calmed the battle. Maybe I can push it away. If I focus, if I reach inside, maybe I can burn his darkness out of me.”
Athena stirred. We could try. We are not weak.
The seer shook her head at once. “No,” she said firmly. “You cannot.”
I blinked. “Why not?”
“Your power moves outward,” the seer explained. “It reaches into others. It calms storms on the outside. It heals others. It shields others. But it is not shaped to heal yourself from within. Your magic flows like a river. It moves away from you. You can send it through the bond. You can send it into wounds. But you cannot turn it inwards without breaking the flow.”
“So if I try…?” I asked.
“You risk tearing your own soul,” she said softly. “You might rip yourself apart. You might burn your own essence while trying to burn his out. I will not let you try something so reckless.”
Athena huffed. I do not like this. But she is right. Rivers that turn backwards flood their own source.
Kayden’s face hardened. “Then what?” he asked. “We just leave that monster’s mark inside her? We let his darkness sit in her soul?”
“No,” the seer replied. “We find another way. We always do.”
She looked down at me thoughtfully. I could see her mind working behind her eyes, moving through old stories and forgotten spells.
“Let me try a spell,” she said at last. “Not to cure you. Not yet. But perhaps it will show me the path we must take. Sometimes, when the future is tangled, the spirits send a vision.”
I hesitated, then nodded. “All right,” I whispered. “Do it.”
Kayden stroked my hair gently. “Are you sure?” he asked. “If it hurts you...”
I cut him off with a small smile. “I’ve already screamed once today,” I said weakly. “What’s one more time?”
He didn’t laugh. His eyes were too full of fear.
The seer shifted closer. She placed one hand on my forehead and the other over my heart. Her fingers were cool but strong.
“Close your eyes,” she said softly. “Breathe slowly. Do not fight. Let the vision come if it wishes.”
I obeyed. I let my eyes slide shut. Kayden’s thumb kept drawing small circles on my shoulder. He was grounding me.
The seer began to whisper.
“By threads unseen and roads between,” she murmured. “By blood and bond, by curse and dawn. Show me what is hidden. Show me what is chained. Let truth rise. Let lies fall.”
Her voice grew deeper and more resonant.
The air in the room cooled. The little hairs on my arms stood up. The scent of herbs grew stronger. It was wrapping around me like smoke.
I felt something stir at the edge of my mind. It was a soft pull, like invisible fingers brushing against my thoughts.
Athena shifted uneasily. Something is coming. Be ready.
The seer’s words wrapped around me.
“Open, paths of shadow. Open, roads of light. Let the watcher see. Let the seeker find. Show me the one who holds the key.”
My head throbbed but in a different way now. It was not pain. It was pressure. A door straining on its hinges.
Then suddenly, it opened.
Darkness rushed in.
For a moment, I lost the feeling of the room. I could no longer feel Kayden’s hands, the floor, the pack house. I was floating in a vast black space. Cold wind howled somewhere far away.
I wasn’t alone.
I saw chains first.
Long black chains stretching into the darkness. They were wrapped around something.
Then I saw her.
A young woman knelt on the ground, chained by her wrists and ankles. Her dress was torn and stained. Her hair fell around her face in tangled waves. She was pale...too pale. But her eyes… her eyes burned with rage and pain.
She looked up.
Her gaze seemed to go through me. Then she focused on something above like she was looking at the seer through me.
“Who are you?” the seer’s voice echoed all around us. It was not spoken aloud, yet I heard and felt it.
The young woman lifted her chin. Her voice shook with fury and grief.
“My name is Sarah,” she said. “I am the one he killed. I am the mate he betrayed.”
My heart lurched.
Sarah.
Tariq’s true mate.
Athena gasped inside me. It is her. The one from the stories. The beginning of his curse.
Chains rattled as Sarah shifted. Her hands were torn where the iron cut into her skin.
“I am trapped here,” she said. “In between. In this astral prison. I have been chained by her… by that witch. By Susan. She hides me so I cannot haunt him. So I cannot end him.”
Her eyes blazed.
“But I will,” she hissed. “I will. Only I can end this. Only I can break what was born of my death. Only I can tear the curse from his soul. Release me… and I will take my revenge.”
The seer’s voice spoke again. “What do you mean… only you can end it?”
Sarah’s gaze turned fierce. “The curse began with my blood,” she said. “With my last breath. He killed me. He chose power over our bond. The moon’s wrath marked him. It tied his life to mine. As long as my soul is chained, he cannot be touched. No blade, no spell, no power can kill him. But if I am free…” Her lips twisted into a cold smile. “Then I can drag him down where he belongs.”
A shiver ran through me.
The vision began to fade.
Chains and darkness blurred. Sarah’s face flickered. Her voice became distant.
“Release me,” she whispered again, softer now. “Please… I am so tired. Let me end this. Let me end him.”
Then everything snapped.
I gasped and jerked back into my body.