A sudden, awkward silence fell. Nathan glanced over. The doctor was blinking, not sure he’d heard correctly. Natalia was staring at him, her eyes wide.Nathan cleared his throat. “Um… thank you, Doctor,” he said, his tone dismissing any further questions. The doctor nodded slowly and left.When the door clicked shut, Natalia looked at him. A slow, real smile touched her lips. “It really is, though,” she whispered. “Thanks to your magical blood.”He opened his mouth, then closed it again. He slipped into thought, a long moment of silence that stretched between them, making her wonder what he would say next.Finally, he turned and looked at her, his decision made. “You can’t stay in the hospital.”“Huh?”“You’ll live in my house. Till you’re better. I’ll have private nurses stationed there to look after you until you’re fit.”“Huh?” she repeated, confusion washing over her. “Why should I go to your house?”He walked back to the bed, stopping right beside her. He leaned down, bracing one

In the center of the room, on a stone dais, stood a coffin made of crystal-clear, shimmering ice. And within it, visible through the transparent front, was the face of a woman. She looked peaceful, as if sleeping, her features perfectly preserved.Alaric’s heart stuttered. He recognized her in an instant. A face from old photographs, from his father’s furious rants.“That’s… that’s her?”“Yes,” Zsiga whispered, a note of twisted pride in his voice. “It’s Kaelea.”“No,” Alaric breathed, stepping closer, his fear momentarily swallowed by awe. “She’s… alive?”“Yes.” Zsiga moved to stand beside the coffin, looking down at the woman’s face with a mixture of hatred and terrible need. “I’ve been preserving her in this cryo-coffin, the same way I preserved Norman’s clone. I could only seal her here, contain her. I could never kill her.”He turned to face his son, his eyes gleaming in the cold light. “I still can’t believe the woman I took in, raised as my own, held such power. And when I trie

Just as it seemed Nathan’s calm control would simply smother Zsiga’s frenzy, the old man pulled a fast one. It wasn’t more power, he had none left. It was a trick, a piece of black magic so vile it was less an attack and more a curse. With a final, gasping shriek, he didn’t aim for Nathan’s body, but for the ground beneath his feet.The earth didn’t erupt; it melted. A circle of gravel and dirt turned into a thick, tar-like sludge, snaring Nathan’s boots. Shadowy tendrils, swift as striking snakes, erupted from the muck and wrapped around his legs, his torso, pinning his arms. They were cold, sapping, draining his strength not by force, but by a deep, magical numbness. Nathan grunted, struggling against the binding, but for a crucial second, he was trapped. Zsiga, seizing the moment, gathered the last dregs of his stolen energy and slammed a concussive wave of pure force straight into Nathan’s chest.The blow landed with a sickening thud. It threw Nathan backward, the shadow-bindings

Taylor lifted her head, tears now spilling over. “I had been so terrible. I completely lost myself because I wanted Nathan. It was so wrong. And now… I’ve lost him. I’ve lost a good friend forever. Because of my own poison.”Natalia stared at her. The confession was shocking, a cold splash of reality. But looking at Taylor’s devastated face, all she felt was a deep, surprising wave of pity. This wasn’t the confident, sharp-tongued woman she’d known. This was a shell.“I am so sorry, Natalia,” Taylor whispered, the words raw. “Truly, from the bottom of whatever’s left of my heart, I am sorry. Can you… when you see him… can you tell Nathan that for me? Tell him I’m sorry for breaking his trust. I don’t expect forgiveness. Just… tell him.”Natalia took a slow breath. “I’ve forgiven you, Taylor. But you should apologize to him yourself.”Taylor shook her head vigorously, fresh tears falling. “I can’t. I’m too embarrassed. I can’t look him in the eye.” She wiped her cheek with the back of

Kaelea’s brows drew together in a sharp frown. She waved a dismissive hand, as if brushing away a pesky fly.“Used to be? That’s nonsense. I see the way you look at each other. ‘Used to be’ doesn’t live here.” She gave them both a knowing, stubborn look before turning to head toward the kitchen, likely to give them space. “I’m going to see about some tea. Something fortifying.”Later, in the deep quiet of the middle of the night, Nathan and Natalia found themselves on the villa’s rooftop terrace. The city below was a tapestry of tiny lights, and the sky above was a vast, velvety black scattered with stars. They sat on a wide lounge chair, a comfortable silence between them, but it was a silence filled with unspoken things.Natalia finally turned her head to look at him, her profile outlined by the ambient glow. “Are there any more secrets you’re keeping from me?” she asked, her voice quiet but direct.He didn’t look away from the horizon. “I’m rich,” he said plainly. “Very. I own the