I let the voice fade.
In the crystal mirror across from me, something flashes—thin as a blade. Then it’s gone.
For a split second I think I see her—golden hair, blue eyes, claws of shadow.
Chelsea.
But that's impossible. She's in Castleview. Safe. Far from here.
Helena’s smile widens. “This is going to hurt.”
She lifts her hands.
Pain detonates beneath my ribs—hot, searing.
This is how it felt when my father died. When Nightmare bonded to me. Now it's being ripped out. Not cleanly. Not like when I unbound Chelsea.
This is violent. Wrong. Helena's magic hooks into Nightmare like claws, yanking, tearing. I feel it separating from me—the darkness that's lived in my chest for ten years, screaming as it's pulled away.
My bones crack. My ribs split. Nightmare fights. Tries to hold on. But I'm not fighting back. And without me fighting too, we're losing.
Eryx—
Not anger. Not fury.
Just fear.
Nightmare isn't angry I won't fight. It's terrified. Because it knows—without Chelsea, I've given up.
Helena knows it too.
The shadows explode outward, and the darkness leaves me.
The last thing I feel before the darkness takes me: Nightmare screaming my name.
And something warm—impossibly warm—cutting through the cold.
Gold.
Then everything goes black.
Chelsea
The mirror over Ovie’s stove clouds, and an image sharpens into focus.
“Elmore!”
His hair is ruffled. The top button of his shirt is undone. I’ve never seen him look anything less than immaculate.
Which means something is wrong.
Cold floods my veins. “Elmore, I’m so sorry! I left you at the manor?—”
“Chelsea—” He’s breathless. “Helena has him.”
The words stop my heart. “How?”
"She's taking Nightmare. If she succeeds—Chelsea, he'll die."
