The night had teeth. Selene felt them sink deep, gnawing through bone, marrow, and reason as Fowler’s word replayed in her mind. Carter.Her family’s name. Her pride. Her curse.The fire hissed in the clearing as Elias’s body cooled, but Selene could not move. Her throat was raw, her chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven breaths.Every part of her screamed to deny it, yet the truth wrapped itself tighter with every second of Fowler’s silence. “Explain,” she demanded. Her voice was brittle, a blade about to snap. “Now.”Fowler’s jaw tightened, his fists clenching so hard his knuckles whitened through the blood and dirt. His eyes avoided hers, staring instead at the corpse that had carried his torment for years.“Fowler!” Her voice cracked like a whip. “What did you mean by Carter? What does my family have to do with your silence?”Vivienne flinched at the sharpness, her own face pale with unease. “Selene, maybe this isn’t the place”“Don’t you dare.” Selene’s head whipped toward

Selene’s blood mingled with Fowler’s on the scorched earth, steam rising where it sizzled against the embers. The air grew heavy, pressing on every chest as though the night itself was holding its breath.Fowler’s ragged convulsions slowed, his body shuddering before finally collapsing into her arms. His chest rose and fell in labored but steady rhythm, each breath a victory pulled from death’s teeth.Selene held him tightly, blood streaming down her cut palm and dripping over his uniform. The moment her crimson touched him, something invisible locked around her.It wasn’t pain at least not the way Fowler had suffered. It was weight. Crushing, suffocating weight.As if shackles of molten iron clasped around her bones, threading through her veins, linking her pulse to something vast and merciless.Her breath hitched. She tried to pull away, but her blood kept flowing onto him, as though the ground itself demanded more.Vivienne staggered forward, her voice frantic. “Selene! Stop you’re

Darkness. That was all Selene could see. It wasn’t the natural dark of night, nor the gentle black behind closed eyes. This was heavier.A darkness with weight, with teeth, with hunger. It pressed against her from all sides, crushing, suffocating, yet never quite killing.She tried to scream, but her throat was sealed, her voice chained. The sound caught inside her chest, clawing for release, but it died in silence.Am I dead?The thought echoed, faint in the void. But no she could feel. She could feel the burning shackles wrapping around her veins, the serpentine shadows curling tighter around her throat.Every beat of her heart made the chains pulse hotter, hungrier.Somewhere, distant, muffled, she felt Fowler’s arms around her. His voice desperate, furious was little more than an echo.She wanted to answer, to tell him she was still here, still fighting. But the curse smothered her words before they could form.Then a whisper slithered through the dark. Finally… you are mine. Sele

Inside the void, Selene’s world fractured. Her hands were no longer her own. They moved with monstrous strength, gripping something warm, solid Fowler.She couldn’t see him here in the darkness, not with her eyes, but through the bond she could feel him. His heartbeat. His breath. His life.And she was choking it out. “No stop!” she screamed inside her mind, thrashing against the invisible chains binding her soul. Her body outside did not obey. Her fingers tightened, cruel and merciless.The curse laughed, its voice slithering through her veins. Look at you. So fragile. So desperate. And yet you are the perfect vessel. Do you feel his life slipping away?She shook her head violently, tears burning hot down her unseen cheeks. “I won’t kill him! I love him!”The darkness hissed, wrapping her tighter, smothering her every thought. Love? Love is a leash. That is why your father bound him. That is why I own you now. Because you, Selene Carter, are weak.The shadows shoved her forward, forc

Cold. That was the first thing Selene felt. A bone-deep cold that seeped into her marrow, heavier than any winter frost. She tried to open her eyes, but there was only darkness.Not the writhing abyss of the curse. Not the suffocating chains that had strangled her. This was different. Empty.Her feet touched nothing, yet she stood. Her hands moved, yet she grasped only air. And the silence it wasn’t crushing like before. It was hollow, like the world itself had stopped breathing.Am I… dead?The thought drifted out of her like a whisper. And then, faintly, she heard something. A voice. Low, hoarse, breaking. Fowler. “Selene… don’t you dare leave me.”Her chest jolted. She clutched at it, but her body felt strange, translucent, half-there. “Fowler?” she called, though her voice didn’t echo. “I’m here, I’m still here!”Her words vanished into the dark. Then another sound crept through. Not Fowler. Not Vivienne. Not any living voice. It was laughter. Soft, mocking. Did you think you esca