Chapter 86: within the walls
The adrenaline in my veins slowly ebbed away, leaving behind exhaustion and a hollow ache that clawed at my chest.
I turned to him, still pressed close enough to feel the lingering force of his power. My voice came out softer than I intended, rough around the edges.
“Thank you… for coming when you did. If it weren’t for you—”
But Aiden cut me off with a shake of his head, his expression hard, shadowed with something that looked dangerously close to regret.
“Don’t thank me, Advika,” he said flatly. His gaze flicked toward the broken bodies of Kandlin and Lucia, then back to me. “I should have never left in the first place. If I’d been where I was supposed to be, none of this—” His jaw clenched, the muscle feathering with restrained frustration. “You wouldn’t have been standing here with blood on your hands, fear in your eyes.”
The words stung, not because he meant them against me, but because I knew he meant them against himself. I swallowed hard, my throat tight.
“You can’t carry all of it, Aiden. You came back. That’s what matters.”
His eyes softened, if only for a breath, but he didn’t answer me. Instead, his gaze shifted past me, toward the still form lying on the ground not far away. Eric.
I forced myself to look too, though my heart squeezed painfully at the sight. His body lay unnaturally still, and every time my eyes found him, I felt the sharp reminder of what had been taken from us—taken from me.
Aiden’s voice lowered, quiet but steady.
“Where do you want him buried?”
I blinked, caught off guard by the gentleness in his tone, by the weight of the question. It wasn’t just about a grave—it was about closure, about honoring the man who had carried so much for all of us. My chest tightened, tears threatening to sting my eyes.
“I…” I hesitated, my voice cracking. “Somewhere peaceful. Somewhere the others can visit him… but where he won’t be disturbed.” I bit my lip, searching for the right words. “He deserves that much.”
Aiden nodded once, solemn, as though sealing a vow. His eyes never left mine, though, and for a long moment, I wondered if he knew that i was awake that one time he came to visit in the hospital. “i should have chosen you, fought for you the first time” he said under his breath, as though he had forgotten that i could hear him, loud and clear.
“what do you mean?” i asked, looking at him, but he shook his head.
“have you thought of a place though?” he said instead, completely changing the topic.
“his pack, i mean what better and more peaceful place than his home right?” i said, looking at his body, genuinely hoping that he would wake up and tell me that it was all a joke and this was part of their grand plan or some sort, but it did not happen. Aiden said nothing.
The silence between us stretched, heavy and suffocating, until Aiden finally exhaled, the sound low and deliberate. He glanced toward the dark arches of the castle halls beyond us, his expression hardening like stone. “i don’t think it would be best to go” he said, i opened my mouth to say something but he shook his head.
“You need to be careful within these walls,” he warned. His voice wasn’t raised, but the weight in it pressed down on me more than a sout ever could. “Power doesn’t rest here, Advika. It feeds, it waits, and it watches. If Kandlin and Lucia could try this…” His jaw tightened. “Others will, too.”
I hugged my arms around myself, the remnants of fear still clawing under my skin. But at his words, something inside me snapped with quiet defiance.
“I don’t care about their walls,” I whispered, my throat raw. “Let them watch, let them scheme. I can’t stay here, not when he’s—” My voice caught, and I looked down at Eric’s still body. “Not when my stepdad deserves to be laid to rest where he belongs.”
I lifted my chin, meeting Aiden’s piercing gaze. “I want to mourn him in his pack, away from all this drama. Away from the palace and its lies. That’s where he should be. That’s where I should be.”
My knees nearly buckled beneath me as the silence settled, broken only by the faint crackle of debris shifting where Aiden had thrown them down. The adrenaline in my veins slowly ebbed away, leaving behind exhaustion and a hollow ache that clawed at my chest.
I turned to him, still pressed close enough to feel the lingering force of his power. My voice came out softer than I intended, rough around the edges.
“Thank you… for coming when you did. If it weren’t for you—”
But Aiden cut me off with a shake of his head, his expression hard, shadowed with something that looked dangerously close to regret.
“Don’t thank me, Advika,” he said flatly. His gaze flicked toward the broken bodies of Kandlin and Lucia, then back to me. “I should have never left in the first place. If I’d been where I was supposed to be, none of this—” His jaw clenched, the muscle feathering with restrained frustration. “You wouldn’t have been standing here with blood on your hands, fear in your eyes.”
The words stung, not because he meant them against me, but because I knew he meant them against himself. I swallowed hard, my throat tight.
“You can’t carry all of it, Aiden. You came back. That’s what matters.”
His eyes softened, if only for a breath, but he didn’t answer me. Instead, his gaze shifted past me, toward the still form lying on the ground not far away. Eric.
I forced myself to look too, though my heart squeezed painfully at the sight. His body lay unnaturally still, and every time my eyes found him, I felt the sharp reminder of what had been taken from us—taken from me.
Aiden’s voice lowered, quiet but steady.
“Where do you want him buried?”
I blinked, caught off guard by the gentleness in his tone, by the weight of the question. It wasn’t just about a grave—it was about closure, about honoring the man who had carried so much for all of us. My chest tightened, tears threatening to sting my eyes.
“I…” I hesitated, my voice cracking. “Somewhere peaceful. Somewhere the others can visit him… but where he won’t be distu
“Then that’s where you’ll go,” he said, his tone leaving no room for doubt. “To his pack. Away from the games.”
The finality in his words made something in my chest unclench. I drew in a shaky breath, pressing my palm over my heart. Away from the palace, away from their eyes—that was where I would find him again, even if it was only in memory.