"Fuck—what happened?" His voice cracked on the last word. He moved toward Raven, hands reaching for her, then stopped himself, fists clenching at his sides like he didn't know who to go to first.
"He was possessed," Selena said before I could speak. Her voice was steady. Mine wouldn't have been.
Lucien lifted his head. He looked like death—gray-skinned, swaying on his feet, Raven the only thing keeping him vertical. But his voice was firm. "It wasn't his fault. Vex called upon a demon."
Darius stared at me for a long beat. I held his gaze even though everything in me wanted to look away. Go ahead. Say it. Say what I already know.
He didn't. He just exhaled—slow, ragged—and ran a hand over his face.
A large bat glided into the courtyard, shifting into Valentin. He took one look at us and his jaw tightened. "What happened?"
"Vex is back in hell," Selena said. "But we need to get out. We have the shard." She looked up at me, searching my face. "Can you shift?"
Every bone in my body screamed no. "Yeah. I can."
I forced the shift. It came slower than it should have, my body resisting, muscles trembling through the change. In the air, I couldn't hold a straight line — drifting, dipping, correcting. Selena stayed in front of me the whole way, glancing back every few seconds like she was afraid I'd drop out of the sky.
I wouldn't. Not yet. Not until we were clear of this place.
We had the damn shard. Costin and Angelo would get their prize.
I just wasn't sure any of us would be the same after what it cost.
Rose and Alice waited outside the Keep, slumped against a tree. Their faces were white, drawn, hollowed out — like something inside that place had reached through the walls and fed on them too.
We landed next to them. The sun was beginning to rise, pale light bleeding through the trees, chasing away the darkness.
But not the nightmare. That part, we'd carry with us.
I shifted back into my human form, but I stumbled and placed my hand against a tree to keep from falling down. I hated looking weak.
Darius told them what happened.
Rose looked between Rocco and me. Something shifted in her expression—not pity, something worse. Understanding. “You’re vulnerable, Rocco, for possession.”
Her soft words landed like a brand. Vulnerable.Open. A door that any demon could walk through whenever it wanted. How could I ever be with Selena? How could I hold her, sleep beside her, build a life with her when any day, any moment, something could crawl inside me and use my hands to hurt her?
Two times now. Two times something else had worn my skin. Two times too many.
Selena’s breath hitched. “That’s not true.”
I couldn’t look at her. “She’s right, Selena. This is the second time.”
“Don’t do this.” Her voice broke. “Don’t you dare pull away from me right now.”
Silence stretched between us. The kind that hurts. The kind that means our happiness was an illusion.
Rose spoke again, slowly, carefully, like she was testing each word before letting it go. “I’ve been thinking of the shard. I may be able to craft a spell—a ward against possession. But I need it to make sure.” Her gaze moved across each of us. “For all of us. Vex will want revenge when he finds back. But right now…” She put the back of her hand against forehead. “I’m too weak.”
Selena reached into her back pocket and puled out the shard. “Here.”
She tossed it into Rose’s lap.
Valentin stepped forward and lifted her into his arms without a word. She didn’t argue. That alone told me how drained she was.
We made our way down from the Keep, slow and silent, back toward the village. No one spoke. The sun climbed higher and the shadows shrank behind us, but I could still feel the dark at my back.
I wasn't sure I'd ever stop feeling it.
