"That seems convenient," I observe, though I can already feel a strange haziness creeping back into my thoughts, the brief clarity fading. "Though it is a shame. I quite like her. Almost as much as I like the idea of you practicing arguments with me when I am not around." I lean forward slightly, enjoying the way her breath catches. "And what is that about longing stares in council meetings?"
"You're still delirious," she says firmly, but the flush spreading across her cheeks tells a different story.
The room begins to spin again, and I try to breathe, but I find it increasingly difficult to keep my eyes open. The last thing I see before darkness claims me is Seraphina's face—worry and something softer mingling in her expression.
My last conscious thought is that I hope I will remember this—not the pain or the shadows, but Seraphina's unwavering presence, her protective instincts overriding her hatred, and the strange, wonderful moment when the veil between worlds has thinned enough for me to glimpse something magical.
As consciousness slips away, I think I hear Seraphina's voice, unexpectedly gentle: "Rest now. I'll be here when you wake."
And for once in my life, I believe a promise.
CHAPTER 16
PROPHECY
Seraphina
My fingers tremble as I turn another delicate page, the ancient text crumbling slightly despite my careful handling. The library's hushed silence presses around me like a physical weight, broken only by my shallow breathing.
Three days since Malakai's fever broke. Three days of avoiding his penetrating gaze that seems to strip away my defenses. Three days of feeling the bond-blocking potion fade, his Alpha presence growing stronger at the edges of my consciousness with each passing hour.
Heat flashes through my body as I recall the way his fingers had brushed mine at breakfast, the casual contact sending a jolt of awareness through me that has nothing to do with hatred. My Omega instincts had practically purred at the touch, my traitorous body's response infuriating me almost as much as his knowing smirk afterward.
The ancient tome before me blurs as I lose focus, caught in unwanted memories of how his shadows have caressed my skin, how my body has responded so eagerly to his Alpha scent...
"Your thoughts are wandering into dangerous territory," Ivy announces, her voice seeming to come from thin air before she shimmers into partial visibility near a bookshelf. Her glamour wavers, revealing glimpses of silver hair catching the candlelight like polished metal as she approaches with translucent steps. "I can practically see the conflict written across your face."
I jerk back to reality, heat flooding my cheeks. "I was thinking no such thing."
"Please," she scoffs, her hair shifting from silver to a suggestive pink as she becomes more solid, perching on the edge of my table. "Your face says otherwise. That's the same look you had right before Shadow Daddy had you pinned against that wall, your Omega scent flooding the entire corridor."
"Ivy!" I hiss, glancing around despite knowing we're alone.
"What? I'm just appreciating your evident...dedication...to your mating." She leans over to examine the text, her fairy light illuminating the ancient script with a soft glow. "Ancient prophecies? That's your idea of light reading? Most Omegas choose romance novels when they need inspiration for bedroom activities with their Alphas."
"I'm researching the fated mate bond," I snap, turning another page with more force than necessary. "The archivist mentioned historical connections between shadow and light magic."
"And has your 'research' involved remembering how your Alpha's shadows felt wrapped around your?—"
"There's something here," I interrupt, my finger hovering over a passage written in ancient script. The text shimmers beneath my gaze, the ink pulsing faintly as if alive. My breath catches as the words seem to rearrange themselves, forming patterns I somehow understand despite their antiquity.
"When shadow and light join in blood," I translate slowly, my voice barely above a whisper, "the ancient divide shall heal. Two courts become one throne, when enemies become lovers, when hatred turns to something deeper."
My stomach tightens as I continue reading, each word sending a chill down my spine. "The child of both worlds shall lead the new age, bearing the mark of twilight upon their brow."
"A baby!" Ivy claps her hands together in delight. The motion sends prismatic light dancing across the bookshelves from her semi-visible wings. "Oh, this is getting juicier by the minute. I wonder if little twilight babies inherit daddy's brooding eyebrows or mommy's murderous glare? Would it be Alpha or Omega? Or something else entirely?"
"Stop it," I snap, but my hand instinctively moves to my flat stomach, the gesture betraying thoughts I refuse to acknowledge.
I force myself to continue translating, each word hanging heavy in the air between us. "The union foretold shall come in the darkest hour, when old hatreds threaten to consume both courts. Only through the joining of royal blood can the coming storm be weathered. Shadow Lord and Light Lady, bound by ancient magic, shall stand between the worlds when the veil grows thin."
"Well, that's about as subtle as a thunderstorm at midnight," Ivy remarks, leaning her hip against the table. "Shadow Lord and Light Lady—Alpha and Omega—bound by a fated mate bond, bringing forth a child who carries both worlds within them... This prophecy speaks of a future where your mating shapes the fate of both courts."
Rage bubbles up inside me, hot and sudden. "This isn't funny! This is..." I struggle to find words for the panic clawing at my chest. "This is manipulation. Someone planted this text for me to find."
"Or," Ivy counters, moving to stand before me, her fairy eyes shifting from playful amber to a more serious violet, "it's a genuine prophecy about you and your Alpha uniting the divided realms through a fated bond that even ancient hatred cannot overcome. The prophecy speaks of a child born of both worlds who will heal the rift between shadow and light. A child that's neither fully Alpha nor fully Omega—something new."
"I'm not having his child," I snarl, slamming the book closed with enough force to send dust billowing into the air. "I'm not uniting anything. I'm going to kill him and return to the Light Court as soon as I find a way around this mate bond."
