“Don’t you dare-.”
“They lied to you!” he snaps suddenly, stepping forward before catching himself. “Silas needed me gone. And you… He wanted you.”
I stare at him, disbelief twisting into something uglier. “Do you hear yourself?” I laugh bitterly. “You expect me to believe he slaughtered my family just to take me from you?”
“Yes.” The certainty in his voice makes my stomach drop.
“The Dominion killed my family. And you disappeared.”
“You have no idea what you are,” he says more quietly now, his gaze burning into mine. “You’ve always felt it, haven’tyou? That you didn’t belong. That something inside you was different.”
That has my attention. My breath falters.
“You’re not like them. You never were.”
He steps closer, slow, careful.
“This forest calls to you, doesn’t it?” he murmurs. “Feels like home.”
I don’t answer because it does. How does he know?
“Given time,” he continues, his voice dropping to something almost reverent, “you could bend more than just nature.”
He leans in slightly. “You could bend time itself.” My world tilts. “Save them.” The words hit like a blade to the chest. My family. My mother’s smile. My father’s arms. My siblings’ laughter. Alive, again. I sway slightly, my resolve cracking under the weight of it. But then, it’s Morbius. Trusting him once destroyed everything.
“You’re lying,” I whisper. Knowing how ridiculous it sounds and yet wanting it so desperately to be true. He reaches out slowly, giving me time to pull away. I don’t. His fingertips brush my cheek, featherlight, like he’s afraid I’ll vanish.
“Come with me,” he murmurs. “And I’ll prove it.”
“I can’t trust you.” The words feel fragile. Weak. Pathetic.
“I know.” He nods. “So let me give you a reason to.” He pulls out my phone from my back pocket, typing quickly before turning the screen toward me.
Silas, Lilith is with me. She is safe. Here is our location.M.
“There,” he says softly. “One message, and they’ll know exactly where you are. I’m putting my life in your hands.”
My eyes fix on the screen.
All I have to do is press send. That’s it. Safety. Backup. A way out. Or… A way forward. My hand lifts slowly, stopping. This is Morbius. This is a mistake. This is a danger. But-.
“Your mother,” he whispers. “You could hold her again.”
My breath shatters.
“Your father. Your siblings…”
My finger trembles. I press send. The message disappears. Morbius’s face lights up, not with triumph, but with relief. Something that almost looks like hope. He pockets my phone and takes my hands in his. His touch is familiar. Wrong. Every instinct in my body screams at me to run. But I don’t. Deep down…I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve just made a terrible mistake.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SILAS
Sittingat the head of the scarred oak table, Lucian drones on about routes, shipments, territory lines; his voice a low, controlled thunder that usually commands the room without question. Tonight, it barely scratches the surface of my awareness. I can’t help but worry, thinking of her alone and disagreeing with Clutch coming back here for this.
“The next drop happens on the east side, no deviations. I don’t want whispers that the MC’s gone soft,” he says, eyes sweeping over us like blades. “We still need to be seen. Still need to be feared. Last thing we want is other clubs circling, thinking we’ve handed over our town.” A chorus of low agreement rumbles around the table. Knuckles tap wood. Chairs creak. The air is thick with leather, smoke, and unspoken violence.
Then my phone vibrates. It’s small and quiet, but it cuts through everything like a gunshot. The screen lights up against the dim room, casting a cold glow over my hand. My chest tightens as I pick it up, something dark and instinctive clawing up from deep inside me before I’ve even read the message. Lucian’s voice fades. The room fades. It’s just me and the wordson the screen. My dead heart stutters, then slams violently against my ribs, like it’s trying to come back to life, just to break all over again. My grip tightens around the phone, plastic groaning under the pressure. “Silas, you fucking listening?” Lucian snaps, his voice cracking through the haze like a whip. I blink hard, dragging myself back into the room, but everything feels distant. Warped.
