I wake in a bed that smells of cedar, smoke, and a faint trace of magic that makes my chest ache. It takes me longer than it should to ce it, but when I do, my body goes stiff as stone. This is Eryx’s bed. My hands clutch at the nket and I sit up quickly, my heart pounding. I shouldn’t be here. I swore I wouldn’te back here, and he made it clear I wasn’t wanted. He rejected me. He tore me out of his life with words that cut deeper than any de.

    My eyes dart around the room, searching for him, terrified and desperate at the same time. But it’s not him I see.

    “April.”

    The voicees from the corner, and when I turn I find Serafine and Xander sitting across the room, both watching me

    carefully.

    A sharp breath leaves me and I shake my head, my throat burning. “Why would you bring me back here? Do you want to torture me some more? To remind me every single second that your son rejected me, that he doesn’t want me, that he

    hates me?”

    Xander leans forward, his eyes steady, his voice rough but not unkind. “He never hated you, April. He rejected you out of

    love.”

    A bitterugh escapes me before I can stop it. It sounds harsh, almost ugly in the quiet room. “No. No, don’t tell me that. That’s not love. He said the words. He made me feel them. He didn’t want me.”

    Serafine rises gracefully, her expression tight with grief that she tries to hide, andes to sit on the edge of the bed. Her hand doesn’t reach for me, but her eyes hold mine. “Eryx took it,” she says quietly. “When he imed you, it didn’t stop the Hollowed Queen. Her magic was inside you, clinging to you like a parasite. He forced it out and into himself instead. He

    made himself the vessel.”

    The words hit me like ice water. My lips part, but I can’t breathe properly. “He…” The thought tangles in my throat, too heavy to swallow. “No. No, Eryx wouldn’t… he couldn’t have done that.”

    “He did.” Serafine’s voice is steady, though her eyes are wet. “That night, after he imed you, he came to us. He was already unraveling. The Queen used him to speak through, twisting his mouth, twisting his body. She had found a stronger host and she made her first target clear. She wanted you. She wanted to pull you back under her control, to destroy you through him. He iknew /iit. That’s why he rejected you. He did it so he wouldn’t harm you.”

    I stare at her, my entire body shaking. The truth sits there in front of me, but it feels impossible to hold. “I…” My words. break and scatter. “I don’t even know what to say.”

    Xander’s voice cuts in, deep and certain “Damon never told us you were pregnant. Every update he gave was the same story. That you were isted. That you didn’t want people near you. That you were still struggling to move forward. He made it sound like you were locked in grief and refusing help. Eryx didn’t know the truth. He only realized when he felt the flicker of the bond, faint but still alive, because of the child.”

    My chest constricts until I can barely whisper. “But he still didn’te back.”

    Serafine looks down for a moment, her lips pressed tight, then she lifts her gaze again. “He would have if he could. But the

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    Hollowed Queen is still inside him. She still ws at his mind, still tries to use his body. Until she’s gone, he’s terrified of what he might do to you if you stand too close.”

    Xander nods slowly, his expression grim. “He isn’t keeping away because he doesn’t love you, April. He’s keeping away

    because he does.”

    The room spins and I pull my knees to my chest, curling around them even as my belly presses forward and reminds me of the life inside me. Tears burn hot, sliding down my cheeks. All this time, I thought I was abandoned, thought I was worthless, thought his rejection was because he hated me. And now they sit here telling me he gave up everything to save me, that he tore me apart with words so that he wouldn’t tear me apart with his hands under the Queen’s control.

    I can’t breathe. I can’t think. And worst of all, I can’t decide if knowing the truth makes the pain better, or a thousand times

    worse.

    The silence stretches so long that I think I might break under it, until Serafine takes a slow breath and reaches for me again. “We’re hoping the bond of the baby will help,” she says softly, her voice almost like a prayer. “That it will give him something stronger than the Hollowed Queen to hold on to. That maybe it will anchor him long enough for us to find a way to purge her from him.”

    The bond of the baby. The words coil around my chest and tighten. My hand goes instinctively to my stomach, pressing lightly against the swell that grows more every day. A bond. I hadn’t dared to believe it was possible, not after everything had been ripped away.

    I look between them, my voice trembling. “Where is he?”

    Xander and Serafine exchange a nce, one of those weighted silences that speaks louder than words, before Xander finally answers. “He’s in the cells. Bound in chains that suppress his magic, locked away until we can fix this. The Queen is growing stronger, April. She takes control of him more often

    now, and for longer stretches of time. We can’t risk him being

    free.”

    The image hits me hard, Eryx, trapped in some cold stone cell, bound with chains, fighting against something ancient and monstrous that’s crawling through his veins. The thought makes my heart ache in a way I can’t put words to. “You’ve locked him away like he’s… like he’s a danger to all of you.”

    Serafine’s voice cracks, even though she tries ito /ihide it. “He is a danger. Not because he wants to be. But because she’s inside him. Every time she gains control, he bes someone else. She mocks us with his voice, she spits hatred through his mouth. And Eryx watches helplessly from behind it all. We can’t free him, not yet, not without a way to strip her out. -And until then, it isn’t safe,”

    My throat feels raw as I whisper, “I need to see him.”

    Xander shakes his head firmly. “No. You can’t. It isn’t safe for you, and it isn’t safe for the child. He can’t control it, April. The closer you get, the more she’ll use him against you. She’ll smell your fear, she’ll sense the baby. You can’t risk it. Do you understand me?”

    The weight of his words presses down on me, and all I can do is nod. My voice doesn’t even work anymore. I know what he’s saying makes sense. I know they’re only trying to protect me. And for the first time, I believe them when they say Eryx still loves me, that his cruelty wasn’t his own, that the rejection wasn’t the truth of his heart. I know I should listen. I should stay far away from him.

    “I understand,” I whisper.

    Serafine touches my arm gently, her eyes soft with sorrow. “Rest. Please. You’ve been through enough. We’ll do everything we can to free him, but you must take care of yourself now.”

    They leave together, their footsteps retreating down the hall, the door closing behind them. And just like that, the room is quiet again, only the sound of my uneven breathing filling the space.

    y back against the pillow, staring at the ceiling, but the words won’t leave me. The image of him chained in some cell

    burns behind my eyes, twisting through my chest until I can hardly breathe. Stay away. It isn’t safe. Take care of yourself.

    But how can I? How can I sleep, how can I eat, how can I breathe, knowing he’s down there fighting something he never asked for, fighting it alone?

    The bond may have been broken, but something is still there. Something deeper. I feel it stirring inside me, urging me, pushing me. It’s not logic and it’s not reason. It’s something older, something primal. A need to isee /ihim, to touch him, to remind myself he’s still Eryx beneath all the shadows.

    I wait. I listen to the quiet of the house, to the fading of voices, to the stillness of night as it settles in around me. And when I’m sure they won’t be back, I slip from the bed.

    My bare feet are silent against the floor, my hands trembling as I pull one of Eryx’s discarded shirts over my nightdress, as though wrapping myself in his scent will make me stronger. The hallways are long and dimly lit, the sconces flickering shadows that whisper warnings, but I don’t stop. I follow instinct, follow the pull, down staircase after staircase, through the quieter parts of thepound where the air grows colder and heavier with every step.

    By the time I reach the lowest level, my heart is hammering so loud I’m sure the guards can hear it. Two of them stand at the iron doors leading to the cells, tall and armed, but when I step forward they don’t stop me. They don’t even question me. They only bow their heads slightly, stepping aside without a word.

    The iron doors groan as I push them open. The air inside is damp and heavy, thick with the weight of magic that presses down like a shroud. My stomach knots tighter with every step I take, the echo of my footsteps carrying down the stone corridor.

    Somewhere ahead, I hear the faint rattle of chains

    He’s here.

    And no matter what they said, no matter what danger waits, I can’t turn back now.