Private Tales The Price of Defiance

[Nikolai]

It was another hour before she was through with him, before she rose from his lap, smoothing down the folds of her gown with deliberate grace. Morrwyn did not glance back as she left, nor did she need to—her satisfaction was already written into the way she moved, languid and unhurried, as though she had taken exactly what she wanted and had no need to linger.

The door clicked shut behind her, the sound soft yet final.

Nikolai remained where he was, slumped in his chair, one arm draped over the armrest, the other curled loosely around a crystal decanter. The amber liquid within sloshed as he poured, the glass trembling slightly in his grip before he lifted it to his lips.

The silence pressed in.

His shirt hung open, his chest rising and falling in slow, uneven breaths. Thin trails of blood traced their way down his collarbone, pooling in the hollow of his throat, stark against skin that had turned just a shade too pale. The several puncture wounds at his neck still wept, sluggish in their healing, but he paid them no mind.

His eyes, heavy-lidded and unfocused, fixed somewhere beyond the dark wood of his desk.

Another drink.

Another moment of quiet.

It would pass. It always did.

 

[Sadie]

Sadie shifted uncomfortably, folding herself into the smallest space she could find, hands pressed over her ears. Her breathing came, slow and forced, trying to make it through the ache in her ribs until it dulled into something more tolerable. But it didn't dull. It only grew, pressing against the inside of her skin like something caged, something writing.

It made no sense- this pain. This sickening, gut-deep sorrow that had no name to Sadie. She had cried before. She had broken more times than she could count. But never like this. Never had she shattered over nothing.

Curled behind the basin in the cold dark of the bathroom, she let it take her. Silent, heaving sobs. Her arms shook as the crossed over her knees, pulling them in close. Tears burned down her cheeks as she pressed her face into the cool stone floor. She let exhaustion, sadness, whatever this was, steal her away.

In her hysteria, she didn't see it. She didn't feel it peeling itself from her shadow, stretching, twisting and reshaping itself into something else. But she felt it leave. Like a thread, it tugged at the edge of her senses, thin and fragile. It was winding away from her and into the house beyond. Into the hallway, and down below, where the silence reigned heavier than ever. Where Nikolai sat, raw and ruined, waiting for it to pass.

It found him.

It was nothing like any of the other creatures, the masses of bend limbs and too many teeth, though it was born of the same nightmare. This one did not stalk, did not snarl, did not hunger for his fear. It watched. Slipping soundlessly into the room, there it crept up close. A stretch of darkness with four eyes and too-long limbs approached him.

It did not bare its teeth at him.

It did not swipe at him with a paw.

It only sat for a moment, still and silent, staring at him before it curled up at his feet like a cat at rest and fell asleep.

 

[Nikolai]

Nikolai didn’t move.

He only poured himself more of that amber liquid and drank, the burn trailing down his throat, settling in his stomach like molten lead. The warmth did nothing to thaw him.

Movement flickered at the edge of his vision. His grip tightened on the glass, his free hand rising, fingers poised to summon the shadows at his command. A single word, a flick of his wrist, and whatever twisted nightmare Sadie had loosed into his home would be gone.

But the thing did not lunge. It did not bare its teeth or crouch low in preparation to strike. It only .. sat.

A stretch of darkness, all too-long limbs and those strange, watchful eyes, shifting like oil over water. It regarded him in silence, an unnatural patience in the way it merely was.

Nikolai exhaled sharply through his nose, his body still coiled for a fight that did not come. His brow furrowed as he studied the thing. Then, as if satisfied, it curled at his feet like a common house pet settling in for the night and keeping him company.

His muscles remained taut, waiting for the inevitable shift, the moment its nature would reveal itself in claws and teeth and pain. But it never came.

Why?

The question rolled through his mind, thick and heavy. Why had it been conjured at all? And why did it not try to destroy him as the others had?

His fingers twitched, a breath away from ending it.

And yet… he didn’t move.

Nikolai sat in silence, the weight of exhaustion pressing against him, until the alcohol finally took hold. The room tilted, blurred at the edges, but still, he remained, his gaze dropping to the thing curled at his feet. It breathed in slow, steady rhythms—unnervingly peaceful.

He scowled, a low growl rumbling in his chest.

With an abrupt push from the chair, he was up, swaying on his feet. The world pitched sideways as he stumbled forward, his path to her room an unsteady wreckage of shoulders clipping walls, boots dragging over stone and wood, doors rattling in their frames as he braced himself against them.

Then—her door.

He didn’t knock. He didn’t hesitate.

A sharp kick sent it swinging open, and he staggered forward, catching himself against the doorframe. He was a sorry sight, shirtless, dishevelled and bloody, his skin too pale.

Ilithore.

She was there, and his darkened eyes fixed on her with something raw beneath the drunken haze.

His hand lifted, a finger pointing accusingly, though the amber liquid in his glass betrayed him, sloshing over his fingers.

“Why’d you send that thing?” His voice was rough, thick with drink, though it did little to smother the demand in his tone. “Why isn’t it attacking me?”

A beat of silence.

His brow furrowed as he squinted at her, voice dropping into something lower.

“… It’s fucking purring.”

 

[Sadie]

A door woke Sadie from her slumber. She flinched upright so fast, her skull cracked against the basin she'd fallen asleep beneath. Pain splintered through her head, but it was nothing compared to the sickening wave that rolled through her body at the sight of him.

Drunk. Disheveled.

Bitten.

Candlelight illuminated the room just enough to catch on the puncture wounds along his throat. And the ones trailing down his bare chest. Small bruises marred the pale flesh around them. She had been thorough, the faceless woman, carving him up like she wanted to consume him. And he, as it appeared, had let her.

She felt sick.

She shouldn't have.

But she did. It was infuriating.

Why'd you send that thing? Why isn't it attacking me?

She blinked at him, her eyes puffy and swollen from crying, her mind sluggish with exhaustion and something far more emotional than she cared to understand. He swayed in the doorway, barely able to hold himself and the glass upright. One hand had been braced against the door frame, while amber liquid sloshed over the side of the glass as he lifted it, gesturing towards - no, accusing- her. But she had no answer. Her throat was raw, voice a useless rasp, worn ragged from her poor choices in food and crying herself to sleep over nothing.

It's fucking purring.

A sharp chill skated down her spine. Her gaze darted past his unstable figure to where the thing had followed, slinking across the room. Right into her bed. It was real. She had made it. And yet, it didn't bare its teeth. Didn't lunge or snarl or seek out Nikolai's blood the way the other's had. It just...curled up. Nestled into the sheets. Purring, just like he had said.

She shouldn't have said anything, other than apologize maybe. But the words slipped out bitterly before she could stop them. "Maybe it can sense that you've been bitten enough for one night. At least one of us was able to enjoy it." Her words were hoarse and brittle, like glass on the brink of shattering.

 

[Nikolai]

Nikolai’s eyes narrowed, trying to focus through the haze, but the scent of salt was unmistakable.

She had been crying.

His gaze flickered around the room as though seeking the source of her upset, but the only thing there was her—small, curled in on herself, and raw in a way he didn’t understand. The creature slithered past him, dragging his attention as it moved, gliding effortlessly onto her bed like it belonged there. It curled up, settled, and purred once again.

And then Sadie’s words lashed through him like a whip.

"At least one of us was able to enjoy it."

His stomach twisted, and he glanced down at himself, wishing he had put on a fucking shirt. His skin was bare, branded with the evidence of what she had taken from him. The bruises, the wounds—he wasn’t healing fast enough. She had taken too much. Always took too much.

And yet, his body had responded the way it always did.

Shame coiled deep, seething beneath his ribs, thick and choking. The only time he was ever weak. The only time he had no choice but to endure. And Sadie had witnessed it. She thought he had wanted it.

His face burned.

A dark shadow unfurled behind him as he stepped into the room, candlelight guttering in his wake. His eyes glazed, and his throat worked as he swallowed something bitter.

"Jealous, are we?" The mockery was hollow, the words a cheap, desperate thing to hide behind. His eyes betrayed him, burning too hot, too raw.

And then his gaze dropped to her throat.

Fuck.

He could taste it—ghostly, lingering, the memory of her blood on his tongue like some cruel, unshakable thing. No amount of alcohol, no other blood, could come close to what it had done to him. He could hear his own heartbeat stuttering, sluggish, struggling to work with what little he had left.

And she just sat there. Testing him. Pushing him.

His restraint snapped.

A sharp gasp barely left her lips before he was on her, dragging her up from the floor, slamming her against the wall so hard the mirror above the basin cracked.

She fit against him too easily, small and breakable where his body caged her in, his hips pressing firm against hers. His knuckles ghosted down her throat, featherlight, a contrast to the bruising grip at her waist.

His teeth ached. Like his hunger was a living thing, gnawing at the edges of his self-control, whispering to him how easy it would be to take, to sink his teeth in and drown himself in her.

His voice dropped into something low, something dangerous, something fraying at the edges.

"Why do you enjoy testing me…?"

 

[Sadie]

Jealous.

The ugly word sent a jolt of electricity through her, hot and unwanted. Her breath caught, mind screamed at her to deny it- deny him. But her body...her body betrayed her before she was even able to form the concept of such words.

She should have fought, should have gone down kicking and screaming when he closed the distance. But he was too quick. Too strong.

The moment his hands were on her, the moment he slammed her hard against the wall, her world tilted. She heard something crack, barely louder than the sound of her ragged breathing, but paid no attention. It was not part of her and that was all that mattered. All she could think about was his fingers, ghosting down the column of her throat and the horrible, curious thought of them wrapping around her neck. Her spine arched, a soft and instinctive movement that left her throat bared to him.

Teasing his willpower.

His grip on her waist was bruising, and yet his touch was so delicate with his other hand that it burned. A shiver rolled through her, involuntarily, as something deep in her chest tightened. Something primal, something starving awakening beneath this touch.

Sadie should have been afraid. Gods. What am I doing?

But all she felt was burning heat. His body, fire against her own, breath a hot whisper against her cheek. Her lips parted, inhaling sharply as his hips pressed into hers. As the full weight of him caged her in. Her skin burned, flushing bright pink when she realized, she knew, he could feel the way her pulse quickened beneath his fingers, fluttering like a wild bird, the way her body reacted to him despite every reason that it shouldn't.

A war was raging inside of her.

Why do you enjoy testing me?

A challenge? And invitation? A mistake.

She swallowed hard, trying to will her body to listen, to be reasonable, to push him away, to do anything. But her fingers curled tightly into the fabric of his open shirt, her own traitorous instincts clinging to him rather than trying to escape. She wasn't sure who was breathing harder, him or her. "Maybe I want to see if you'll break." It was a reckless, dangerous, and terrible thing to say.

 

[Nikolai]

His body hummed with need, his breath ragged, uneven. He could taste it—the temptation, the blood rushing hot beneath her skin, the pulse hammering against his knuckles like a war drum.

She was reacting to him. That much was undeniable. It wasn’t uncommon—he was a predator in every sense, designed to entice, to seduce, to conquer. But fuck, he had mastered more control than this. He had to.

And yet his body rebelled against reason, straining against the chains of discipline he had spent lifetimes forging. The ache was visceral, gnawing at him with relentless hunger. Take. Ruin. Leave her writhing.

The alcohol blurred the edges of his restraint, dissolving it sip by sip.

His lips ghosted over the path his knuckles had traced, barely a whisper against her skin—so soft, so impossibly warm. It sent a shiver down his spine, left his lips tingling. He was so close. Just a breath, a flick of his tongue, a single bite away from tasting her.

She was clinging to him, holding on like she wanted this. Like she was offering herself up.

But he knew himself. Knew what he was. And if he started—he would never fucking stop.

But then her words cut through him like a blade.

His entire body went rigid. The air around them thickened, his hands trembling from more than just hunger. Sadie didn’t know what she was asking. She had no fucking idea.

Break.

Like he did under Morrwyn's hands, beneath her fangs, her body. Like he did when she took from him and left him empty, aching, disgusted with himself. When she made him a thing, a toy, a pet to be played with and discarded once she was through.

Sadie didn’t know what it meant to break. To be reduced to nothing.

His fingers tightened around her throat before he even realised he’d moved.

“I do not. Fucking. Break.”

His voice was a growl, the words scraped raw as his grip tightened just enough to make sure she felt it—to make sure she understood. He wanted to watch her shatter under his hands, to press his fangs into her skin, to take and take until there was nothing left of her but whimpers and ruin.

Instead, he shoved her back into the wall one last time before releasing her, pulling himself away as though she burned him. His hands curled into fists at his sides, his body still shaking as he turned his back to her.

“Get out.” His voice was hoarse.

“You’re free to go. Go home. Now.”

He didn’t look at her. He couldn’t.

Because if he did, he wasn’t sure which one of them would break first.

 

[Sadie]

There was no time to breath before his lips met her neck.

She shouldn't have made a sound.

The second it slipped past her lips- a soft, shuddering moan barely louder than a breath- shame filled her. She knew she had lost whatever this was. She hated herself for it. Hated the way her body gave before she could even think to stop herself. The heat of his mouth trailed over her throat, slow and unhurried, like he was savoring every shallow breath she took and every desperate pulse of her heart.

Her lashes fluttered, fingers tightening on his shirt. She was trembling, completely unaware of anything except the press of his body against hers, the bruising force of his hand on her hip, the way she...

The way she wanted.

Heat coiled low in her stomach, desperate and aching, winding tighter with every breath. She could feel it, the sharp edge of his hunger, how he was torn between restraint and something dark that lurked even deeper. The world had disappeared, there was only the space between them, the way his breath fanned over her skin, to the second of silence before he-

Broke.

His hand wrapped around her throat so fast, she didn't have time to gasp. Her spine went rigid, fear lancing through her as his grip tightened. Not gentle. Not teasing. Possessive. Punishing.

Her fingers clawed at his wrist, but his hold was unyielding. She could feel the raw, seething rage. Could see the way it burned in his eyes as his voice scraped over her neck. A low and feral growl.

I do not. Fucking. Break.

Air vanished from her lungs. This wasn't the same heat that snaked through her moments ago. This was different. It was wrong. Panic hit all at once, violent and consuming. Her heart slammed hard against her ribs, lips parted but she still couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't do anything but feel the bruising pressure of his fingers and the cold terror, the sickening realization that she had pushed him too far.

Darkness crept in at the edges of her vision, but before it could close in any further, he shoved her. Hard. The wall cracked against her spine, pain shooting through her wings as she crumpled. Her knees caught her as she hit the floor, gasping for air. Her fingers flew to her throat, to the ghost of his grip still imprinted there.

He had let her go, but it was no act of mercy.

Get out. You're free to go. Go home. Now.

Something broke inside her, confusion and something fragile threatened to spill over just as tears began to. Something small and stupid shattered. Something that she had wanted. Hope.

Sadie forced her legs to move, to push her off the floor, to turn and run, dragging along her damaged wings. She wouldn't let herself look at him as she left. The night air burned against her skin as she stumbled down the familiar path she'd tried so many times over the month. She moved blindly, not seeing, not thinking.

A sharp sting tore through her palm as she brushed too close to one of the thorned bushes, barbs biting into her skin. But she didn't stop. Didn't react. Blood welled from the cuts, trailing behind a short distance before it stopped. It didn't matter anyway. The forest was thick, the path unknown to her. But something had shifted. The path turned wrong. The air thickened with magic, coiling around her like invisible hands that twisted and guided her into something unfamiliar. She pushed forward, desperate.

And then she saw it. Her house. A choked sound escaped her lips, something furious. She moved automatically, tearing off the nightdress the moment she made it inside, hands shaking as she scrubbed her skin raw. Hot warded scalded her flesh, but it wasn't enough. It would never be enough.

No amount of water or scrubbing or running would erase the mortification that something in her had wanted him and he had thrown her away.

---

The lantern light flickered against wooden floors, glowing dimly as Sadie moved through familiar halls. The bruises had faded from deep purple to a sickly green-yellow, but they still ached as the constant reminder of the hands that once held her tightly. This was the first time she returned to work in the middle of the night since him.

She should have stayed in bed. Should have allowed herself more time to recover. Her wings still opened, but parts bent at unnatural angles and sent shooting pains up her spine. Her wrist still maintained the nasty pink scar where she'd slit it to save his life. The-

A shadow draped in midnight stood at the end of the hall, watching her. Eluin. Ever the elusive presence, he was a name more often whispered than spoken aloud. She only ever saw him when he wanted to be seen. Which was basically never, choosing to correspond almost entirely via letters he left in the little study.

Tonight, he wanted her to see him.

"I must admit, I'm rather disappointed." His voice was smooth, soft, and terribly dark. Sadie froze. She didn't hear him move before he was too close. An ice cold hand brushed against her wrist, so light, and so deceptively gentle. Something invisible rushed through her. Her limbs went weak.

A sharp gasp tore through her as her vision blurred, knees buckling before she could stop them.

Eluin caught her before she hit the floor.

The world was spinning through her half-lidded eyes. Cold seeped into her bones, her body growing heavy and sluggish.

Her lips parted but no sound came out.

"You shouldn't have let him see who you are." Eluin sighed. "You've put yourself in a very dangerous position, little one."

Everything went black.

 

[Nikolai]

Nikolai stood frozen in place, the silence she left in her wake louder than any scream. His breath came in sharp, ragged pulls, his hands curled into fists at his sides, aching with the ghost of her throat beneath his fingers.

He shouldn’t have touched her like that.

The realisation settled over him like a weight, heavier than the bloodlust still scraping at his ribs. It had been too much. Too fast. And yet, even now, he could still taste her—on his lips, on his tongue, in the space between his teeth where her pulse had begged for him to bite. And she had wanted it.

A curse hissed past his teeth as he raked his hands through his hair, pacing the length of the room like a caged animal. It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter. She wasn’t his to want.

But fuck—he had seen it in her eyes, had sensed it in every way he could, in the way her pulse quickened and muscles tightened, in the way her fingers clung to him before everything shattered.

And then he had ruined it.

His control had snapped like brittle glass, and he had hurt her. Fear had replaced the heat in her gaze, the desperate grip of her fingers turning to clawing, her body trembling in a way that had nothing to do with desire. He had felt her panic in the way her heartbeat had shifted beneath his palm, thudding wildly before turning erratic.

He had been moments away from killing her. The thought made him sick.

With a snarl, he threw his fist into the nearest wall, the sharp crack of stone splitting under the force doing nothing to quiet the fury lashing through him. This was why he didn’t indulge. This was why he didn’t let himself want.

Because he couldn’t stop. Because he never stopped.

And she had been stupid enough to think she could push him. That she could test him. She had no fucking clue what kind of monster she was playing with. Perhaps now, she finally understood.

His jaw clenched, the image of her broken expression flashing through his mind. The way she had gasped for air, fingers clutching at her throat like she could erase the bruises he had put there. The way she had run.

He had wanted her to. Hadn’t he?

Nikolai exhaled sharply, shoving his emotions deep into the pit where they belonged. She was gone. That was for the best. And yet—his eyes flicked toward the door, and a low growl rumbled in his chest. He forced himself to stay put. Forced himself not to follow. Forced himself not to care.

Stripping off, he stalked toward the bathing chamber, his muscles still coiled with tension. The room was dimly lit, the faint glow of candlelight flickering against the stone walls. The large basin was already filled, the water dark and still, waiting. He didn’t bother with magic to warm it. He didn’t need, nor did he deserve, warmth.

A sharp breath left him as he sank down, letting the chill bite into his skin, hoping it would burn the memory of his night away. Of Morrwyn. Of the feel of Sadie's throat constricted beneath his palm.

It didn’t.

His fingers raked through his hair, dragging the water over his face, willing the cold to settle into his bones, to drown out the heat, the rage, the hunger.

It didn’t. It never did...

~~~~~~~​

The water sloshed violently as Nikolai jolted upright, his breath sharp, body coiled like a predator startled from sleep. But this wasn’t mere instinct—this was wrong. A phantom sensation twisted in his chest, something dark and uneasy threading through his bones.

He was on his feet in an instant, shoving out of the tub, heedless of the water that splashed across the floor. His clothes clung to his still-damp skin as he dragged them on, his fingers moving faster than thought, not bothering to lace his shirt, to dry his hair, to even grab his boots before he was gone.

The night air hit him like a blade, cold and sharp, but he didn’t stop. He moved too fast for human eyes to track, his steps unnatural in their precision, his pulse thrumming with something raw and feral.

Then—Blood.

The scent of it caught in his throat, faint but familiar.

His gaze snapped downward. There, caught on the cruel edge of a thorned bush, a single bead of crimson glistened in the moonlight.

Sadie.

The leylines sang as he reached for them, dragging him through space in a heartbeat, guiding him along the path she had taken, winding him straight to her door.

His bare feet slapped against the cobblestones as he surged forward, breath ragged, chest rising and falling as something colder than rage took root in his gut. The door rattled as he shoved it open, hard enough to splinter the wood, his voice a snarl in the dark.

“Ilith..”

Silence. Too much silence. His pulse roared as he stepped inside, searching. Hunting.

 

[Sadie]

First, there was darkness.

The cold came next, creeping over her skin like fingers reaching from beyond, slipping into her flesh, her bones. Her body felt heavy- too heavy- like she had been drenched in the shadows pressing in from all sides and was slowly sinking down. And down.

Sadie's lashes fluttered, breath coming in shallow gasps as she forced herself to wake up. She was lying on stone. From the damp chill of it seeping into her back, into the delicate and battered skin of her wings which were now haphazardly crushed beneath her, that much she could tell. In here, the air was thick and stale. There were no hints at fresh plants, no moonlight filtering through the cracks. Which meant...

Underground. She was somewhere underground. Her nerves began to activate, stomach dropping and heart racing. Underground where no one would ever find her.

And Eluin.

She remembered his voice. Low and disappointed. She remembered his fingers ghosting over her wrist- feeling the sickly pull of whatever magic he'd drained from her until she was a crumpling body. Her heart lurched and she forced herself upright, letting the world spin for a moment before it settled around her. That same moment she moved, something rattled.

Chains.

Sick, nauseating panic curled up insider her chest as she looked down. Shackles had been wrapped around her wrists, weighing her down, stretching along the floor where they were anchored to the wall behind her. They weren't too tight, which meant that he hadn't planned on hurting her.

Not yet.

Her breaths came quicker as panic made her body its home. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the dim glow of the room.

A desk. Shelves. A single lantern.

Rows upon rows of scrolls and books- literature that Sadie had never even seen. Bindings were faded, crumbling, some half turned to dust already. She was chained up in some sort of library?

And then- him.

Eluin emerged from behind a shelf, thumbing through an old, yellowed tome. His expression was unreadable beneath the lone lantern. Dark hair had been swept back, revealing sharp angles of his face she'd never seen before. Too perfect, too cold. Too much like...Nikolai.

He.. He was Ail'thain.

It made sense. And yet, the realization had sent a fresh wave of sickness rolling through her. He had been watching her this whole time. For years. He had been waiting.

"You're awake." He didn't look up, voice smooth as silk and dark as night. His tone suggested that they'd merely stumbled into a casual conversation and that she wasn't chained up in his basement. "Good. I was growing impatient."

She glared at him, fingers curling into fists that sent her chains jingling loudly. "Where am I?" Her voice was hoarse, throat dry. How long had she been out?

Eluin sighed- sighed. Like this was all some terrible inconvenience to him. "You're safe." He turned the page. "For now. That depends entirely on you, though."

Sadie swallowed, shifting uncomfortably- testing the weight of the chains. They were too strong for her to find any way to bend or break and the metal...It wasn't iron. It didn't burn like it, at least. But it felt old. Ancient. Something in it made her bones ache.

"Tell me, little one." Eluin finally shut the book and sat at the desk. Leaning back in the chair, he crossed one foot over the other. "Where have you been? I don't recall giving you leave for five weeks."

She didn't answer.

His eyes flickered, mouth twitching at the corners. "And more importantly," He tapped a finger against the desk. "Where are my scrolls?"

Her pulse stuttered. She knew he could hear it. Knew how fucked she was. She knew exactly which he meant. The ones she'd been transcribing for months before everything had gone to hell. Scrolls filled with ancient correspondences, ancient prophecies, myths that she had never truly believed until she found herself with one of the monsters who'd been mentioned by name. Nikolai.

The one who had burned it all.

She pressed her lips together. "Gone." She said flatly. A flicker of irritation crossed Eluin's face.

"Gone?" He repeated, his voice empty of amusement now. "How disappointing. Sadie, do you know what you've done?" He asked, studying her for a long moment.

"It was an accident." A half-truth.

Eluin smiled. Slow, knowing, and full of something she didn't trust.

"I know about Nikolai."

Her heart stopped.

His grin widened, elongated canines caught the light.

Sadie lunged, chains jerking her back violently, ripping her breath from her throat as she hit the stone hard. It was a foolish move. One that would have never worked.

Eluin raised a brow, clearly amused. "A monster attacked recently, you know. Not the usual kind. This one was a mess. Guard said it had too many eyes, legs bent in strange ways, and teeth sharper than a vampire's. You know, it reminded me of one that you drew in the little journal I gave you."

Sadie paled.

"I think it's time we had a proper talk, Sadie."

 

[Nikolai]

The scent of her blood still lingered in the air, faint but unmistakable. It clung to the thorns, to the leylines, to him.

A growl curled low in his throat, his hands flexing at his sides. Where are you?

He forced himself still, shutting out the rise of panic clawing its way through his ribs. His breath left him in a slow, measured exhale. He traced the thread of her magic, following its frayed and broken edges, piecing together the path she had taken. Every step deepened the unease coiling in his gut.

Down. She had gone down.

Underground.

Something in him twisted violently at the thought. His stomach lurched, rage curling tight in his chest as he stalked through the building like a man possessed. Every door in his path splintered beneath his fury, torn from its hinges and cast aside as he searched—until he found them.

The stairs.

Down. And down.

The air thickened with damp and dust, the scent of old paper and something fouler lurking beneath it. But Nikolai’s focus was singular. He followed the frayed thread of her magic, the thundering of his own pulse, until he reached the door.

Thick. Metal. Iron.

A snarl ripped from his throat, fury vibrating through his bones as he slammed his fists against it in three sharp, deafening pounds. The force sent a tremor through the walls, dust trickling from the ceiling.

From the other side, a voice—one he vaguely recognised, one he would soon forget in favour of the sound of it breaking.

Nikolai bared his teeth. His voice was smooth, lethal, a promise of what was to come.

"I believe you have something that belongs to me."

 

[Sadie]

Sadie's head was reeling after she'd slammed backwards into the stone.

Eluin exhaled through his nose, tilting his head as he regarded Sadie with mild annoyance. He tapped a finger against the worn cover of the tome in front of him- the one he'd been reading when she came to. Dark and swirling patterns over the leather seemed to shift beneath his touch.

"You transcribed scrolls for years, Sadie." He mused, voice smooth and detached as if this were nothing more than a casual lecture- a history lesson. "But tell me, dear, did you ever read them?" His cold eyes flicked to hers. "Did you try to understand what they spoke of?"

Sadie's looked at him, confused, and said nothing.

He sighed again, almost indulgently, as he turned the book to face her. The title was in that language he had taught her years ago, translating to something along the lines of "The Spawn of Shadows." Long fingers trailed over the brittle parchment. "Let us begin with history, then. A history that, I suspect is far more relevant to you than you realize." He was patient, calm. Painfully and very much so the Eluin she'd met rarely. "Do keep your eyes open. I'll keep to only the pertinent details."

"Part one: The Origin of the Myths." He glanced over at her to make sure she was paying attention.

"Ilythara," He spoke the name like it was sacred, something meant to be both revered and feared equally. It was a name she'd not heard and so it meant nothing to her, except for how it bore a strange resemblance to the one Nikolai had called her. "She was the first, the one who walked before you. She was a Seelie Queen, betrayed by her own court- one that has been erased from our books- and executed for a crime she claimed not to have commit. Or, at least, they thought that they had executed her." His lips curled as he leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.

"What were they...I'm sure there is a word for it...oh! Yes. Mindweavers, another tragedy lost to time. They cast her mind into eternal darkness, into a void that was meant to torture and consume her. But instead of being destroyed..." He paused, eyes darkening. "She became something else entirely."

Sadie swallowed, chains rattling as she shifted uncomfortably.

"And from that abyss, she emerged changed, tainted with the very magic they thought would unmake her. And, with her newfound power, she did what any wronged queen would do- she destroyed them." His fingers curled over the edge of his desk, madness in his eyes. He looked strangely delighted over the demise of potentially dozens of innocents who were tasked with a job. "She did not raise an army. She did not seek her revenge through war or blade. No, she simply breathed and nightmares took form around her. Beasts born from grief and rage, spilling into the world like shadows given life."

His gaze sharpened. "With her execution, a queen was lost. But in her fury, the Mother of Nightmares was born."

Sadie's skin blanched. She felt cold. Too cold.

Eluin picked up the second book on his desk. It bore a similar cover to the first. "Part two: The Crimson Thread." He glanced over her, no doubt making sure she was still paying him her undivided attention. "I think you will like this one. Pay. Attention."

He slammed the book on the desk and Sadie jumped. "This book tells the story of an unnatural...pull...a bond if you will," he continued, voice still measured. Still too calm. "Not the bond your ancestors whisper about, so full of love and fate and poetry, no. This is something far older, far more...insidious."

She clenched her jaw and Eluin smirked, as if he knew.

"It claims the Mother of Nightmares is always drawn to the Ail'thain... Or rather," his fingers tapped a page it had opened to, "they are drawn to her."

Her breath caught in her throat.

"Of course its only myth...no one can no for certain." He shrugged. "It is said that her blood sings to them and their hunger grows insatiable in her presence. And should such a bond take root, it will grant the them both unparalleled power. But some stories suggested that it may drive the Ail'thain to madness in equal measure. Then again, some sources state madness comes when the bond is not reciprocated. Who really knows?" Eluin's smirk deepened. "It is, in every way, a curse. One that neither side can resist."

Sadie wanted to look away. She couldn't. She needed to know more.

But Eluin closed the book and moved on to the third.

Of course he did.

"The Harbingers of Eternal Night. Do you understand yet?" He murmured, eyes gleaming with something sharp and unreadable as he picked up the third book in the pile. "What happens when such a bond is truly accepted by the Mother of Nightmares?"

Sadie didn't answer. She couldn't.

Eluin's finger traced a faded illustration on the brittle page. Ink depicted a swirling mass of shadows consuming a kingdom. The sky above was painted in pure black.

"A world of endless night. Where fear is not just a concept- it is alive. A world where nightmares do not dissolve with the dawn because there is no dawn." His fingers curled. "A world where the Ail'thain no longer cower from the sun. No longer are we weakened under its cursed light."

He tilted his head, watching her carefully. "You see, little one, the Ail'thain have sought to destroy you for centuries. Not just you, but every one before you. The next book will help you understand better. You are not the first of your kind, nor are you the last. But you are the only one alive now. Some Ail'thain believe ushering in an age where we do not live under the cover of the dark is an abomination. Some think it upsets the balance of nature itself. When we can hunt without fear of burning, what will the consequence be? Those same Ail'thain have thinned our own population to nil and wiped our existence from every known text. Except these around you," He gestured to his collection.

"I'm surprised Nikolai didn't snap your neck the moment he broke into my archive. Even more surprised that you returned, mostly unharmed, a month later." He tilted his head, watching her carefully. "You see, little one, not all Ail'thain seek to destroy you."

Sadie's blood turned to ice. He gave the distinct impression that Nikolai was not one of those who wished to keep her alive.

"There are those of us who...understand what you are- what you could be. Those who believe your survival is imperative." His eyes flickered over her again, assessing. "Because if you live, so does the prophecy."

Her breaths came in quicker now, panic twisting again in her gut.

Eluin's voice softened, almost sickeningly gentle. "Don't worry, we've still got a few books before we get there."

He set down the third and picked up the fourth in the pile. The Bloodline of Shadows.

"It is said that the bloodline, your bloodline," he corrected himself, "cannot be broken. Even if the daughter of nightmares is slain, another will always rise. It's a cycle that has repeated for centuries. Each daughter is born...unaware. Usually, the Ail'thain manage to track her down quickly and execute her, otherwise the daughter lives her life unknowing until something awakens her power- something breaks her."

Sadie's body locked up. Eluin watched her carefully.

"And once she awakens-"

I believe you have something that belongs to me.

A voice cut through the air like a blade and everything stopped. Sadie's stomach dropped, iron door behind Eluin rattling under the force of the voice on the other side. Low, rough, coated with something lethal. Shadows around the room seemed to stir, reacting to the presence beyond the door, pulsing like they had a mind of their own.

Eluin let out a slow breath, shaking his head in amusement.

Sadie couldn't breathe. Why couldn't she breathe?

For the first time since she had awoken, since the chains had been wrapped around her wrists, her ankles, her neck, she felt something else. Not fear. Not dread.

Relief.

Nikolai had come for her.

"Nikolai! I was wondering when you'd come knocking. Morrwyn is going to love this new development!" Sadie felt the shift in the air, the way shadows reacted, thickening and stretching towards the door, recognizing him. He picked up the copy of the Crimson Thread once again and flipped through the pages. "I imagine you've started to notice it by now. The thoughts that aren't yours. The hunger that goes deeper than blood. The way your instincts have started pulling you in ways they shouldn't."

Sadie's heart stalled.

"The Crimson Thread. You feel it, don't you." He didn't give Nikolai a chance to respond, chuckling darkly. "Of course you do. That's the thing about fate. You can't fight it. You can only surrender to it." He shook the book and tossed it aside, turning his attention to Sadie. "Tell me little one, how does it feel? You didn't think he came for you because he wanted to, did you? Oh no, dear girl, he had no choice."

 

[Nikolai]

Nikolai's sneer was razor-sharp as he stood before the door, feeling the suffocating presence of Eluin's words weighing down on him like a storm ready to break. Fuck. Eluin. He was Ail'thain. He had sent her home to one of his own and he'd had no fucking idea what he'd been doing. His blood, cold as it had become, churned at the mention of Morrwyn. That name… it made his veins freeze, and his thoughts turn to ice.

He had known Sadie was the Mother of Nightmares. He had known she was cursed—had known she had to be destroyed for the balance to remain. But something in him, something deep and primal, had refused. Every instinct screamed against it.

Why had he let her go? Why had he let her slip through his fingers, only to find her tangled in Eluin’s web.

His chest tightened as the shadows from his feet crept under the door, they pooled across the floor like ink, wrapping themselves around Sadie. His shadows, his touch, were gentle, cautious, as though trying to protect her from the horrors she was caught in. They slithered over her, checking her for wounds, pausing at the cuts and flinching at the chains she'd been bound by.

Nikolai growled. The sound of frustration something low and menacing. The mention of Morrwyn's name twisted something inside of him. She couldn’t find out. The very thought sent a shudder through him. Morrwyn’s jealousy was legendary—ruthless, unforgiving. If she knew, if she suspected what had begun to take root between him and Sadie…it would all be over. She would have Sadie for herself, use her as a pawn, and make sure Nikolai was punished for his defiance, perhaps even destroyed.

“Why don’t you open this door and we can chat about that, brother?” His voice cut through the silence like ice slicing through flesh, deathly cold, dripping with venom. There was no warmth, no hesitation. Just the bitter taste of a warning, a promise of pain should Eluin ignore it.

He exhaled sharply through his nose, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. He could feel his shadows writhing, their impatience growing. They sought her, sought to comfort her, but they also sought to remind Eluin that they were here, watching.

"Keep all your guests chained in a basement?" He scoffed bitterly, his voice rising with rage. "I strongly suggest you release her without delay." His eyes narrowed, burning with an edge that made even the shadows seem to pulse in warning.

He gritted his teeth, jaw clenched so tightly it felt like it might crack. The only thing standing between him and Sadie now was the fucking door.

“Release her, Eluin,” Nikolai growled, his voice low and dangerous. "Now. I won’t ask a second time.”

 

[Sadie]

"So impatient." Eluin mused, fingers trailing lightly over the wood of his desk, face contorted as if debating whether Nikolai's demand was worth entertaining at all. The iron door shuddered, darkness writhing beneath the door and through the cracks, slithering over the stone. Searching for, and heading straight for their target. Her. Eluin tilted his head, lips curling as he felt the pull of shadow, saw the way Nikolai was unconsciously shifting at the door, drawn forward by something neither of them could see. Something ancient and absolute.

He chuckled softly and meandered over to Sadie, kneeling down beside her trembling form. Shadows twisted over her, protecting her like a second skin. "You are struggling, aren't you...brother?" His voice was deceptively gentle. "I see it now. The way your body aches to be near. The way your soul is demanding it." He dragged his finger along Sadie's wrist, where the scar had been exposed before the ancient metal clamped over it. He smirked when the shadows around her lashed out in protest. "It must be torturous for you, separated by nothing more than as little iron and stone."

Even Sadie could feel the barely-contained fury on the other side, the way Nikolai's energy surged. Shadows writhed in agitation. Good.

"You have no idea what you have stumbled into Nikolai." He continued, shifting closer to Sadie. His breath was warm against her ear as he whispered. "But I do."

Sadie whimpered, breaths ragged, body trembling violently. Eluin had shifted. He wasn't touching her anymore, not physically. But his own twisted magic slithered through the air, wrapping around her like a noose tightening around her mind.

"Nikolai, do you truly think I mean to harm her?" He tsked softly. "You do not understand, do you? I am trying to save her. To save us." Locking her up with chains and dragging her into the dark didn't feel like saving to Sadie. Eluin shook his head slowly in disbelief. "What were you trying to do with her all this time? Keeping her close, feeding her, keeping her hidden from Morrwyn? But what do you really know of what she is, Nikolai? What she's meant to become?" His voice lowered, almost reverent. "What she could give us all?"

Sadie whimpered again, clutching at her head as if trying to physically push out whatever images were flashing behind her eyes.

Eluin smiled, turning to face her. "Poor thing." He murmured, dragging the back of his hand along Sadie's cheek. "You've locked so much away, haven't you, little one?" His fingers moved upward, ghosting over her temple with a barely-there touch. "Let us fix that, shall we?"

Sadie screamed.

Raw and broken. Her body arched violently, head snapping back as past memories surged forward with all the force of a tidal wave. Unstoppable. Overpowering.

Screams. Fire.

A blade stuck out of her mother's chest. And her wings- gods. They were cutting her wings right off of her back.

She watched it all through a hole in a rotting tree trunk. Her mother's voice echoed in her mind. Keep quiet. Keep hidden. No matter what happens, do not move. I love you.

The acrid scent of burning flesh flooded her nostrils. The shadows twisted and writhed. Faceless monsters, no. Fae. They clawed through her family. Through her entire village, slaughtering them all without a second thought. And then- him. Him.

Him....

Nikolai....

Sadie's drew in a sharp breath before another scream was ripped through her throat. She saw him. Standing amidst the carnage, the lifeless bodies of her family piled across the ground. A figure in the dark, draped in shadow. His fangs were bared, violet eyes gleaming. He was death incarnate.

He had been there. He had hunted them.

Sadie choked, her body paralyzed as the weight of the revelation crashed down upon her and Eluin released her from this nightmare. "N-no..." She rasped, her voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. Her eyes seemed unfocused, her mind still elsewhere.

A sharp, high pitched shriek filled the chamber. Not Sadie's.

Something new was forming, her magic responding to the agony twisting in her chest, the betrayal poisoning her veins. Air thickened with darkness, the shape of something monstrous coiling in the shadows. It eyes were all that were visible in the darkness. Sickly yellow.

"Fascinating!" Eluin hummed, satisfied. "I was wondering how long it would take for that to surface" He seemed entirely pleased with himself. Then, without hesitation, he unfurled a tendril of darkness and unlocked the door. It rattled loudly, swinging open into the wall. Standing in its threshold was Nikolai.

Sadie didn't look at him with relief. She didn't move toward him. She only stared, teary and hollow-eyed, shaking, her breaths coming in ragged gasps. All she could see, all she could hear was the memory of the screams. The memory of him.

 

[Nikolai]

Nikolai took a step forward, offering no apology, no explanation. There was nothing to say. Nothing that would change what she had seen—what he had done.

Sadie knew.

The way she looked at him now—hollow-eyed, trembling, her breath coming in shallow, broken gasps—he had seen that look before. On the faces of those who realised, too late, that death had come for them. But this wasn’t fear. It was something worse.

Betrayal. Rage.

He had killed her family. Slaughtered them. And now, even the most fragile sliver of trust she might have had for him had been reduced to ash.

A snarl tore through the chamber. Then a monster lunged. Not his. Hers. A nightmare pulled from the depths of her agony, darkness given teeth and rage.

Ah.

He barely twisted in time to avoid the first swipe, but pain flared as its claws raked across his arm, the wound already burning, venom sinking into his blood. Fucking perfect. His own shadows surged, coiling around the creature like a noose, yanking it back before it could sink its fangs into him.

“Ilith--,” he growled, clenching his fist, willing the venom to slow.

He didn’t spare Sadie another glance. Couldn’t. Not now.

Eluin was smiling. Nikolai moved.

Faster than thought, his hand shot out, closing around Eluin’s throat. He slammed the male against the wall with enough force to crack the stone, shadows writhing around them like a living storm.

“The key,” he said, voice low, lethal. “Now.”

His shadows were useless against iron, and Eluin damn well knew it. Nikolai tightened his grip, just enough to make the bastard feel it, just enough to hear the satisfying hitch in his breath.

 

[Sadie]

Eluin's spine cracked against the stone, feet barely touching the floor as Nikolai's fingers dug in tight around his throat. For the first tiem, Eluin felt it. The full force of the Crimson Thread. As he looked into Nikolai's eyes, it wasn't just rage burning violet- it was something worse. Something primal and ancient lingered there, something that made Eluin's carefully constructed mask falter for a moment.

"You are so predictable, Nikolai." Eluin rasped, fingers twitching at his sides in preparation for a strike of his own. "Of course you'd come for her. Of course you think you can save her." He smirked, though the amusement of it didn't reach anywhere near his eyes. "But how can you protect her from what you are? How can you protect her against the bonds you have been bound to?"

Eluin choked as fingers squeezed harder. "Let me show you what you truly are, brother."

His magic cracked through the air like a whip, slamming into Nikolai's skull with the force of a war hammer. Eluin's power slithered through the cracks in his mind, forcing back memories he had tried to bury- in alcohol, in blood. He willed them to rise up to the surface.

A woman's lips ghosted over his skin. The feeling of teeth, her teeth, at his throat. Her name filled the air when she whispered mine as she took and took until he was nothing but an empty shell beneath her body.

Please me.

Eluin took advantage of how Nikolai responded, when his shadows lashed out. He gasped for air as he shoved Nikolai backward, sucking in ragged breaths. His throat ached from the Ail'thain's grip. "Pathetic." He sneered, wiping his mouth. "I expected more from her mate." He muttered, gathering a second set of shackles for his second victim.

But his victory was short-lived.

A blood-curdling scream ripped through the air. Not Sadie's.

Her creature, the nightmare she had spawned, thrashed against the iron chains that bound her, teeth snapping against the metal and ripping its own body in desperation to free her. Sadie's breath caught as blood, dark as ink, gushed from the beast as it shredded itself, coating the floor in thick, tar-like pools.

Sadie's mind screamed at her to move, to get the fuck out, but her body was frozen. Her limbs were heavy with shock, with fear, with the knowledge of what she had been gifted. The memories. And Nikolai. He had been there. She couldn't stop hearing it. The fire. The screams. Her mother's wings being severed from her back. And the sight of him, standing among the Ail'thain, watching as they slaughtered her family.

She trembled, something breaking inside her as she tried to understand why the man who had been sent to kill her was the man who had kept her alive.

The chains snapped. The creature collapsed into the inky blood. It was dead. It had killed itself with the iron to free her.

Sadie didn't hesitate. She didn't think. She simply moved. She threw herself at Eluin, all of her weight behind the strike. It staggered him, shocked him as he fell backward. His magic lashed out at her, but she evaded his attack. Nikolai was still fighting through whatever Eluin had forced on him, breaths ragged and hands shaking as if he were reliving something that she couldn't see. But she didn't care.

She grabbed his wrist and forced him upright, yanking him along with her as his mind clawed its way free. She didn't wait, didn't let herself think about what she had just done or what she had just learned. She just ran, pulling Nikolai along, and tried to ignore the looming thoughts of just how fucked they both were.

 

[Nikolai]

Pain.

It wasn’t the sharp, fleeting kind—the sort he could shake off, bury beneath sheer willpower and rage. No, this pain slithered into his skull, venomous and insidious, prying apart his mind with cruel fingers.

Memories tore through him like jagged glass, dragging him back, drowning him in things best left forgotten.

Please me.

A whisper. A command. A hand fisted in his hair, lips ghosting over his throat before fanged teeth sank deep, taking and taking until there was nothing left of him but silence and submission.

His shadows lashed out, a blind, instinctive defense against an enemy he couldn’t fight. Eluin wrenched free of his grasp, gasping for breath, but Nikolai barely felt his fingers slip away. He stumbled back into the wall, shoulders hunched and fists in his hair as though he could wrench the visions from his skull. He growled a warning as he tried to ground himself, to claw his way back from the abyss Eluin had shoved him into.

Not now. Not here.

A scream ripped through the chamber—agony and desperation woven into something primal, something that shattered the haze gripping him. The nightmare.

Nikolai's eyes were tight shut. He swayed, breath ragged, body sluggish under the magic that Eluin wove through his mind, picking it apart piece by piece..

Sadie moved. How, he wasn't sure. He barely registered her form hurtling into Eluin, the startled grunt as she took the bastard down, the way her magic and fury twisted the air around her. He could still hear the ghosts of screams—not hers, not hers, not hers—but when her fingers seized hold of him, dragging him to his feet, something inside him snapped.

Not in pain. Not in weakness. In clarity.

His body was still catching up, muscles sluggish with the aftershocks of Eluin’s magic, but his grip on Sadie tightened—not letting go, not again.

And then they were running. His mind was still a battlefield, torn between past and present, but he let her pull him forward, let her lead, his breath sharp and uneven as he shoved down the ghosts clawing at his ribs.

They were alive. For now.

But as their footsteps pounded through the corridors, made it outside and down the street through the dark rain, he knew one thing for certain.

This wasn’t over.

 

[Sadie]

There was no sane reason Sadie could come up with that explained why she had saved Nikolai. None. She had watched him slaughter her family through fragmented memories. Watched blood drip off his blade that never would have been there had her mother not hidden her. A whole village was wrongly executed because of her making the mistake of simply being born into a curse she did not want.

Heavy rain came down in an unrelenting sheet, soaking through the thin fabric of her threadbare clothing and plastering her hair to her face as she pulled him forward. As they both ran. Their steps pounded against the slick stone streets, splashing through the shallow rivers that were forming in the uneven cobblestone pathways.

They didn't speak. There was no breath for it, no space between one desperate step to the next. The only sounds of the night were that of the storm, ragged gasps for air, and the frantic drag of Nikolai's steps behind her own. She felt him faltering, mind still caught between now and then, still drowning in Nikolai's magic. She could see it in the flicker of his violet eyes and the way shadows clung to him like remnants of something broken.

But she didn't stop. They couldn't stop now. They were completely and utterly fucked if anything Eluin said was true.

She didn't even know where they were running to, didn't really care. The only thing that mattered was getting away, and getting there fast.

Sadie didn't register the pain- her feet burning from the impact of every sharp stone, her arms trembling from the heavy bag she had swiped on her way out. She barely registered the way her soaked clothing clung to her now like a second skin, how she shivered from more than just the cold. She just ran.

The town blurred past them, narrow alleyways twisting and warping in the dark as if the very world was set out on bending against her, twisting and distorting beneath the weight of Eluin's torment. She could still hear him. Softly he spoke, almost kind. You shouldn't have let him see who you are, little one.

A choked gasp ripped through her, chest tightening. She shoved it down. Focus. Focus. Focus. She glanced back at Nikolai- his face was unreadable, but decidedly grim with teeth clenched. His entire body shook like hers, like something was unraveling inside him that could snap at any second.

"It isn't real." She panted, gripping his wrist tighter, dragging him now. "You are here. With me. Right now." Her words came between gasps for air. Gods, she was not made for running long distances. "Please hurry up."

The dark sky drew her attention. It was shifting. Night was lightening, shifting from the deep inky black to something softer. The creeping edge of dawn was beginning to pierce through the rain like molten gold. She stumbled, eye roaming over Nikolai, searching for pain as if the very air could burn him. They had minutes in this horrible, twisting-

The forest seemed to hear the pleas running rampant through her mind. A convenient pathway opened between thorn bushes. The same kind that had been at Nikolai's-

House. Nikolai's house was right before them. Like a mirage, too good to be true. A cleverly placed illusion. Sadie pushed him alone. "Nikolai. Inside now!" She pushed harder.

The moment they both crashed through the door, the first golden lights of dawn spilled into the foyer, painting the stone floor in soft, warm hues. She, thankfully, shoved him until he was out of the light before collapsing against the wall, heaving and gasping for air. She could barely breathe, could barely move. Her vision was blurring, head spinning.

He'd killed her family.

He was supposed to kill her.

She had run to him.

To Nikolai.

To his home.

The realization settled in her bones like lead.

She had gotten them out, but she had run straight into the lion's den.

 

[Nikolai]

Nikolai ran, but the world around him twisted like something alive, writhing beneath his feet. The rain wasn’t rain—it was blood, warm and slick, drenching him, seeping into the cracks of the cobblestones. The shadows stretched unnaturally, moving with purpose, whispering, reaching.

Morrwyn’s breath ghosted over his skin, her voice a sickly-sweet lull in his ear. Run, my love. Run to me..

He stumbled, body lurching, but hands—her hands—caught him, nails dragging over his arms. He gasped, yanking away, but she was there, always there, weaving through the darkness. He saw her eyes, glowing like embers, saw her lips curl in something cruel and knowing.

And then she shifted.

Sadie.

Her face flickered in the dark, her grip tightening around his wrist, pulling him forward. Her lips moved, but the storm swallowed her words.

It isn't real.. You are here. With me. Right now.

His body obeyed before his mind caught up. He didn’t know whose voice it was anymore.

Nikolai. Inside now!

Nikolai hit the ground with a force that rattled his bones, limbs trembling as he braced against the cold stone floor. His breath came in ragged gasps, his pulse roaring in his ears like a war drum. Everything felt wrong—his skin too tight, his head too full. The taste of blood coated his tongue, though he couldn’t tell if it was real or just the ghost of something Eluin had dragged back from the depths.

The venom still burned in his veins, twisting, distorting, heightening Eluin's twisted fucking magic.. He pressed his hands against the floor, fingers curling into fists, but the stone wasn’t real. It was furs beneath him, silk sheets tangled around his limbs, Morrwyn’s laughter curling in his ears.

Mine.

His throat locked up, his stomach turning as he tried to shove the memories back down, but they clawed at him with feral desperation. He could feel her—her hands, her mouth, the unbearable heat of her body pinning him down, tearing him open, taking, taking, taking.

And then it shifted.

The sheets became chains. The fire became screams. And he stood there, unmoving, watching blood pour across the stone. Watching wings sever. Watching a child stolen away into the night, while Morrwyn whispered in his ear, Good boy, Nikolai.

His stomach twisted. He lurched to the side, barely making it to the threshold before bile burned up his throat. He vomited, body wracked with tremors.

It isn’t real.

But it had been. Every part of it had been real once.

A sharp sound dragged him back, a choked breath from the other side of the room. Sadie.

He forced himself to turn, his vision still swimming. She was slumped against the wall, her chest rising and falling in ragged gasps, her wet hair hanging in dark strands across her face. And her eyes—wide, haunted, fixed on him like she was only just realising what she had done.

What he was.

His lips parted, but no words came. What could he possibly say?

He felt sick. He felt wrong. Like he was still standing in two places at once, still caught between now and then.

But Sadie was here. With him.

The thought sent a bolt of something sharp through his chest—grief, rage, guilt, he couldn’t tell. He clenched his fists, forcing his breath to slow, forcing himself to push away from the doorframe. His knees nearly buckled, but he caught himself, dragging the back of his hand across his mouth before leveling his gaze on her.

She had run to him.

No.

She had run from Eluin.

And it had led her straight to the one person she never should have trusted.

 

[Sadie]

Sadie didn't move. Her breaths were ragged. She watched him, eyes wide with terror and anger. Nikolai was not okay. He had collapsed onto the foyer's stone floor, body wracked with violent tremors. His stomach was heaving and she flinched at the sound of him retching up whatever was in his stomach, listened to the sickening splatter of it against the cold ground.

Again. And Again. It came, his entire body rejecting whatever war was waging inside of him.

She knew the cause- part of it, at least. The scratch...Lingering poison from her nightmare's claws was sinking deeper, ravaging him from the inside out. But that wasn't the worst of it. She could see it in his eyes as he looked up at her, could see it in the way his muscles seized and his breathing hitched, stuttering as though his body were trapped between two horrors at once.

Eluin's magic had done something to him. It was tearing into him. It was dragging him back to a place she didn't understand. But she knew, based on the terrors still wracking her own mind, that it must have been horrible. She understood what it felt like now, to be caught between now and then...to be suffocating under memories that weren't just memories. They were monsters with claws and teeth, with a grip that didn't want to let go.

And still- still, something inside of her wanted to help him.

Her fingers twitched at her sides, a tiny movement. An unwanted instinct. One that she shoved down. She didn't care. Not this time. She was done.

Sadie's stomach twisted in fury as she glared at him, at the way he suffered and his body begged for relief. She had done it for him before. She had bled for him. And for what?

He had slaughtered her family.

He knew he had and he kept that from her.

And now...she was supposed to help him again?

No. Absolutely not.

Her nails dug into her palms now, rage barely contained as she spun on her heel, storming away from him. Leaving him retching in his own sickness. "Figure this out yourself." She muttered in a low snarl.

His ragged breathing didn't stop her. His nearly collapsing body didn't stop her. His broken shadows following after her did not stop her. Not this time.

Sadie stomped through his home, echoes of her steps bouncing off the stone corridors. Every inch of this place was suffocating her. It reeked of him. Of the way he'd trapped her here. And she'd fucking came back twice. Willingly.

She hated this place. And yet, she still went there. The sunroom. The place she had locked herself away in. The only warmth in this fucking house.

Under her forceful push, the door groaned and swung open to reveal the same room. Untouched. The glass-domed ceiling still stretched above her, the dawn's weak light filtering through the stained glass. The ivy still twisted around the carved pillars. The fountain still trickled softly. And the blanket that she had bled over still remained in a pile on the floor.

Sadie slammed the door shut behind her, locking it. Forcing the entire world out. Her chest heaved, fingers still trembling as she dropped to the floor, spilling the bag she had stolen over the floor. Books tumbled onto the marble, their leather covers worn, inked pages yellowed with age. And for a while, she simply stared at them in silence.

Eluin's history lesson. Sat right in front of her. Waiting. Taunting her.

The same stories. The same cruel fate she'd been forced into. A curse she could not fight.

 

[Nikolai]

Nikolai's body lay in the foyer, wracked with tremors, his mind in turmoil. The familiar darkness clawed at the edges of his vision, but it wasn't enough to blind him to the sight of her—Sadie, standing there, glaring at him with the kind of fury he knew all too well. He could feel her poison digging deeper into his veins, but it was the dark magic of Eluin that truly ripped through him, dragging him through the kind of memories and horrors that threatened to consume him whole.

There was no denying the truth that sat between them now. The truth that he had slaughtered her family. That he had kept the depths of his own sins hidden from her, and for what? Power? Control? Or maybe he had just been too damned broken to see the consequences of his actions. She saw it. She felt it. And now, he could feel the weight of that hate pressing down on him, suffocating him more than magic or venom ever could.

She turned her back on him, her steps echoing like a death knell in the silent house. She had every right to hate him. He had ruined her life twice over. Nikolai tried to call out to her, but his voice cracked, barely a whisper through his parched throat. "Ilith..." His attempt was weak, desperate, but she didn't turn around.

Her name slipped from his lips once more, but it was a feeble sound, lost in the vast emptiness between them. His limbs felt like lead, and his head was spinning, but somehow, through sheer will, he forced himself to rise.

His legs buckled beneath him as he stumbled toward his chambers, his body at war with itself. Each step felt like he was dragging himself through sand. He couldn’t make sense of anything—his mind was a haze, memories overlapping with the agony of the poison and the twisted magic tearing into him. But he couldn’t stay here, not in the foyer, not where she had left him to drown in his own failures.

Through the haze, he staggered toward the stairs, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His muscles screamed at him to stop, to rest, but there was no time for that. The shadows clung to him, threatening to drag him under, but he kept moving, putting one foot in front of the other until he reached the top.

His chambers were a refuge, or at least, they used to be. Now they were just another place suffused with his failures and the weight of all he had done. But it didn’t matter. He needed to be alone. To stop thinking for just a moment.

He reached his bed, barely managing to stumble forward. His vision swam, his body trembling with the effort to remain upright, but the pull of exhaustion was too much. His knees gave out beneath him, and with one final, weak breath, he collapsed onto the bed, the cool sheets offering little comfort.

Nikolai’s eyes fluttered shut, his body sinking into the mattress as the darkness claimed him, pulling him under.

And then—nothing.

 

[Sadie]

It translated roughly to The Prophecy of Evernight.

Sadie sat curled up in the sunroom, stolen books sprawled around her like fallen leaves. The weight of their history- her history- was suffocating. Dawns light had shifted into day, filtering in through the stained glass, stretching beautiful colored shadows all over the floors.

Her fingers trembled as she picked up the fifth book. The one Eluin hadn't told her about. She knew, she should have started with the first, but surely he'd provided a good enough summary for her to skip right to five. To the book she needed to finish. Needed to understand.

Her breaths came shallow, her body still thrumming with rage and exhaustion. Her cuffs were still on her wrists. Chains still occasionally clinking when she shifted positions or turned a page. They weren't painful, at least. They just felt...odd. Ancient. She would find a way to remove them later. Right now, she had no power to do that.

So instead, she read.

It is written that one day the daughter of Ilythara will rise. Her blood will call to one born of darkness, bound by the unseen thread, woven from the same crimson blood that bore the first nightmare. He will find her. Across time. Across distance. And she will know him.

Their fates will be intertwined, their destinies inescapable.

Sadie swallowed hard, her fingers gripping the brittle edges of the page. Her vision blurred slightly, but she forced herself to keep going. She had to know.

Their bond will one day be accepted, and the world will tremble.

The Harbingers of Shadow will rise, an unholy union of nightmares and darkness. The barriers between realms will shatter. And in the wake of their union, the Evernight will descend. There will be a realm of eternal night- she believed that was what Nox Aeterna had meant- where nightmares shall reign and the children of shadow, the Ail'thain, will walk freely, no longer bound by weakness of fire or light.

Sadie was shaking. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, drowning out the jingle of her chains and the thoughts filtering through her fragile mind. She didn't want this.

She didn't ask for this.

She hadn't chosen to be born into this cursed bloodline.

Her stomach twisted as she skimmed further down the page, words blurring in inky streaks as tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

The Courts will crumble. The gods will weep.

And the world shall be remade in shadow.

There is no escaping it for if the chosen meets her end, they will simply find another. They will bond. And when she awakens, the last remnants of light will be snuffed out forever. For she is not merely a creator of nightmares. She is their Queen. And where their Queen walks, even the gods will fear her.

Sadie let out a broken sob, her vision swimming now, hands clenching the book so tightly that the ancient parchment nearly tore.

Her mother. Her father. Her siblings. A whole village died because of this.

Because of her.

Her birth had been a death sentence to the only people who had ever loved her.

The Ail'thain had come that night to kill her, to prevent all of this from happening. Nikolai had been among them.

And finally, Sadie understood.

They had been right to do that, to execute whatever she was for hundreds of years. Because she was going to destroy everything. Everything Nikolai had kept in check since he was created. She would be responsible for more deaths than just her family and her village. She was going to destroy the world if they let her live.

She curled forward, wrapping her arms around herself as another sob ripped out of her throat, raw and shaking with terror. She did not want this. She didn't want any of this. But the words were right there. The truth was right there.

She could feel it, feel the way her very existence was tangled in this horrible prophecy's convoluted web, woven into the world's undoing. Another choked sob tore through her as the first of her tears began splattering against the page.

There was no fighting this.

She had already lost.

 

[Nikolai]

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been unconscious, but when he finally clawed his way back from the void, his chambers were cloaked in darkness. His body ached, his head throbbed, but the fire in his veins had dimmed. The wound on his arm had healed, leaving only faint traces of dried blood in its wake. And Eluin’s magic—whatever twisted remnants had latched onto him—was gone, no longer scraping against his mind like rusted nails.

Not that it made much of a difference. His thoughts were still a storm, fragmented and relentless.

Ilithore.

"Fuck." The curse was a low murmur as everything came rushing back. The things she had learned. The things she now knew.

Rolling from the bed, he planted his feet against the cold stone, wavering only slightly before steadying himself. He ran a hand through his unruly dark waves, exhaling sharply as he pushed forward, his steps carrying him through the quiet corridors of the manor.

He stopped outside the sun room. Even in the dark, the warmth of the room pulsed beyond the heavy door. He could hear her heartbeat within—steady, but distant.

His fingers hovered over the handle. For a moment, he considered simply pushing the door open. It wasn’t hesitation that stopped him, nor was it fear. But for once, he chose restraint. She had locked herself away for a reason. She had drawn a line, a boundary carved from grief and rage.

And for once, he would not cross it. He couldn't blame her for it.

He sighed, lifting a hand to the door and knocking lightly. His voice was quieter than usual, but it carried all the same.

"Would you like some food?"

 

[Sadie]

Sadie stared blankly at the door. The knock was soft, almost careful. It was an absurd contrast to the man on the opposite side.

Nikolai.

Her hard body wrenching sobs had ceased hours ago, but still, Sadie remained in the middle of the floor with books all around her. Her sleeves were damp from drying her eyes. She'd cried until her eyes burned, until her throat ached, until the pages of the books and the room itself blurred around her. Now, she just felt...empty.

Would you like some food? His voice came through, low and quiet. A laugh almost forced its way out of her- something ugly, hollow, bitter, something close to hysteria.

She had no fight left in her. No rage. No energy to push back. No even when he was standing on the other side of the door, offering food when he should be offering death. Offering food as if it would fix any of this. As if she wasn't sprawled out in the middle of her captor's home with a pile of truths that shattered her life. As if she hadn't been bleeding herself raw over the words inked into these ancient, cursed pages. As if she hadn't just discovered the man outside the door, the man who kept her prisoner, the man who refused to kill her, had once been among the party that slaughtered her family.

She pressed a finger to her temple, trying to dull the pounding in her skull.

Silence stretched between them. She didn't want to move. Didn't want to answer him. Because she didn't know what to say. What was left anyway? Why would she waste what little time she had left to tell him that she was tired, empty, that she had reason to keep fighting, that every moment she tried to escape this she only seemed to be able to find herself back in his arms?

Was she supposed to tell him that she should have killed her that night- when they were hunting for her, when her family died, screaming as some of them were burned alive? Why? Why? Why hadn't he noticed she was only a few meters away hidden in the rotting trunk of a tree? Had he noticed and chosen to keep her alive all this time as some sort of experiment? A sport?

Slowly, barely thinking, she moved. Her legs felt weak as she pushed herself up, the motion stiff and aching, like she'd been sitting in this misery for years rather than hours. She crossed the room, stepping over the books, over the prophecies that ruined her. Over the truth she didn't know how to live with. Her fingers curled around the handle. For a moment, she hesitated.

She didn't want to see him. Didn't want to see whatever cocky expression he had for her today. Didn't want to see him standing there as if he hadn't been among them. As if he hadn't taken everything from her. And yet, she opened the door. Just enough to see him. He looked like hell standing there. But Sadie didn't care.

Her throat was raw, her voice barely a whisper. "Why?" It was all she could say.

It was everything.

 

[Nikolai]

Nikolai waited. He didn’t fidget. He didn’t shift his weight. He simply stood, still as a statue, listening to the silence that stretched thick and heavy between them.

Then, finally, he heard the slightest sound of movement, the slow scrape of fabric against the floor as she rose.

When the door cracked open, he let his gaze sweep over her, taking in the exhaustion etched into her face, the tear tracks still faint on her skin, the way her shoulders sagged as though the weight of those books behind her had settled into her very bones. The scent of salt clung to her, sharp and bitter.

His jaw tightened.

Then came her question, raw and fragile, like a thread ready to snap.

"Why?"

His lips parted slightly, but for once, no quick answer came. He simply looked at her, something flickering behind his violet eyes. Something unreadable.

Then he swallowed, his brows drawing together, before finally answering, voice as even as ever.

"I assumed you'd be hungry. You are mortal, are you not? Need sustenance, do you not?"

There was no mockery in the words. No amusement. Just a statement of fact, as though that were the only thing that mattered. As though food was the only answer he could give her.