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April 19 - April 24, 2025
“You’re a void because you’ve never felt love,” I hissed.
“You’re a fool to scoff at love. It’s the only thing that can fill the void in you. You try to fill that space with all the riches and control you can possess, but it will never be enough. Only family is capable of that. And you cast yours aside. I love your sons, and I love Catalina; they’re the greatest treasures you ever had, and you lost them.
My strong girl
They cut out all the pieces of you that were left in them too. They’re free of you now. Dead or alive. They’re fucking free. And you can never take that away from them. So live your hollow life, and enjoy your hollow death. At least wherever I end up, there’ll be warm arms waiting to greet me.”
“I’d choose love over any throne,” I breathed, the pressure in my head causing me unbearable agony.
Orion was crying out to me through the gag, his love and fear for me crashing through the air, lending me the strength I needed for my final act. Despite the pain ricocheting through my body, I managed to move. And I had to move fast. I twisted up onto my knees, launching myself at Lionel with a yell of purest hatred spilling from my lips.
Oh i love you darc
I looked to Orion, wanting him to be the last thing I saw as the monster came for me. The hurt in his eyes made me bleed inside as he fought his restraints and couldn’t get free. “I love you,” I mouthed, the words not finding their way past my lips, and he shook his head in utter refusal of the goodbye I was offering.
OUCH
I tried to be brave in the face of the unimaginable pain I was about to endure, thinking of my sister and how desperately I wanted to see her face again one last time, of Gabriel and all the days that had been stolen from us, which we’d never be able to make up for now. I thought of Seth and the friendship we’d found together against all odds, the white Wolf who had made me a part of his pack, of Caleb and Max who had drawn me into their circle of safety, of Xavier, Sofia and Tyler who had created light within the dark, and of all those who had been taken from us too soon. Geraldine,
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STOP IT
I tried to be brave in the face of the unimaginable pain I was about to endure, thinking of my sister and how desperately I wanted to see her face again one last time, of Gabriel and all the days that had been stolen from us, which we’d never be able to make up for now. I thought of Seth and the friendship we’d found together against all odds, the white Wolf who had made me a part of his pack, of Caleb and Max who had drawn me into their circle of safety, of Xavier, Sofia and Tyler who had created light within the dark, and of all those who had been taken from us too soon. Geraldine,
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My heart cannot take this
anything I had ever imagined before, and we had protected each other for as long as we could. My only comfort was in knowing that my family would one day find me in whatever form I took outside this life, because they were a part of my soul. My twin was my oth...
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“The Vampire and his Vega,” she spat, fury lining her words. “If you love me, then why do you not touch me anymore?”
The love I held for that man blazed through the centre of my being, hotter than the deepest regions of the sun. I would love him here and now, tomorrow and always. Wherever I went, wherever the stars took me, that love would never die. Even if I did.
She was leaving me, and the moment she vanished, I’d vanish too. There was no life without her. She was the centre of my existence, my saviour, my warrior, my sunshine.
Lavinia let out a gasp as she felt it too, her hand going to her own heart and I realised that Darcy’s passing would make our vows void, the Death bond would claim us. And there was so much goddamn relief in knowing that, because if Blue was leaving me now, then I was so fucking glad I was going with her. And the shadow bitch would at least fall too.
THANK GOD
I was already running with the speed of my Order, moving faster than the wind before I fell to my knees beside my sweet, broken girl. Pulling her into my arms, I placed my hands to her skin and desperately sought out the hum of magic deep within her. I needed to find that source of power for this to work. I couldn’t heal a mortal, so she had to still be Fae. “Please, Blue. Please stay with me. I’ve got you.”
Oh my loves
I didn’t have much to work with, but what I did have, I gave to her.
There, at the very edges of her being was the last of Darcy’s power, swirling like embers in smoke. I drove my magic into hers, offering her everything I had to give, healing her as fast as I possibly could. “Take everything,” I commanded. “Take it all, Darcy Vega.”
She was so small; it was hard to believe sometimes that she was one of the most powerful beings in existence.
“Did we die?” she whispered. “No, beautiful,” I said heavily, emotion burning a hole in my chest. “We’re still here.” I feared she might be sad about that, like she’d given up on the world, but then a small smile lifted the corner of her lips and I twitched one back in return. “Thank fuck,” I breathed, my heart rate levelling out and the Death bond releasing its grip on me. There was fight in us yet.
Darcy rose from my lap, leaving me on my knees, her gaze settling on Lavinia, a dark strength about her that set my pulse pounding. She’d just been beaten to the brink of death, and resilience still lived in her. Trying to snuff out her light had only made it blaze brighter than ever. She looked down at me, offering me her hand and I wrapped mine around hers, our bond alight. I rose to stand at her side, the two of us glaring at our captor, all the injustice of the universe making the air thicken in my lungs.
I held Darcy’s hand tighter, my back straightening as I stepped forward to keep Lavinia’s eyes on me. “Look at that, how he tries to draw the attention onto him.”
There was no way in hell I was going to let Darcy be tortured again. Once had been enough to fracture my sanity, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover from it. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. She was never meant to come here. The price of the curse was my pain, not hers. “Lance,” Darcy hissed, shooting me a furious look as she pulled her hand from mine. “Don’t say that.”
and if I’d thought this day was already a living nightmare that couldn’t get any worse, then the stars were apparently taking that as a challenge.
“Get away from him!” Darcy leapt forward with a savage look on her face, her hands outstretched, but no magic sparked in them, though for a second, I swear I could have seen hellfire blazing in her eyes.
WHERE IS THE PHOENIX POWER
“Please,” Darcy said in a voice brimming with emotion. “Take anything from me, but not from him. Release him from this promise. It’s my pain you want, so have it.” “But his pain causes you a far deeper torture than I could ever slice into your skin,”
“You can’t have him like that,” Darcy said in realisation, relief coating her words. “It’s the Elysian Mate bond. Lance, your eyes… they’re burning silver.”
OH THANK GOD
“No!” Darcy screamed, fighting as hard as she could to get free of Lavinia’s control, but all I felt was relief at knowing the shadow bitch couldn’t lay any claim on my body beyond the strike of a weapon. A wild laugh left me as she forced me into the manacles on the platform in her chamber, down on my knees for her like making me submit meant anything at all. There was only one woman I had ever bowed to, and Lavinia was not her.
Oh lance
“It’s okay, beautiful,” I promised her through a crazed smile that made her pause, her eyes searching mine as she took in this renewed strength in me. “She can’t have anything more from me than pain. I’m all yours. She can’t touch my soul; it’ll be whole and waiting for you when this is over. So let me bleed for you, my Queen. It would be a fucking honour.”
OH MY BABY
A roar left me, and Darcy’s gaze locked on Lavinia, a promise of vengeance within her eyes that made her look like a fierce, transcendent creature of destruction. And I knew that somehow, someday, she would deliver our captor her end. I’d make damn sure of it.
I really cant wait to see her tear her apart
The dark power of Lavinia’s torture devices had laid a heavy blanket over my thoughts and emotions, stealing me away into their embrace, but I fought it as hard as I could for the sake of my girl.
What am I searching for in this dark and immortal sea of blackness? I finally felt Darcy’s hand wrapping around mine once more, bringing me back from oblivion and anchoring me in my own body. She was who I searched for, and I could never, ever lose sight of that when the shadows tried to make me forget.
I’d told her straight that I would always place myself between her and danger whenever I could, so here we were.
“What has she done to you?” a female voice spoke that didn’t belong to my mate, then healing magic washed into my skin, followed by a kiss of power that peeled away the worst of the shadows inside me.
“Come to gloat?” I asked icily, dragging my hand from my mother’s through the bars of my prison and pushing myself up to sit against the back wall. It had been her hand after all, not Darcy’s. Tears ran down Stella’s cheeks in two little rivers and she had the gall to choke on a sob too. She didn’t look like her usual self, wearing navy sweatpants and a white t-shirt, the type of casual outfit I was pretty sure I had never seen on her in all my life. “Of course not.” Her eyes widened and I realised she was taking in the silver rings that adorned my eyes. “I heard about your Mating, but seeing
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Please free them stella for fucks sake
“You’re so like him...” She searched my features with an ache in her expression. “It’s so difficult to look at you these days. All I see is Azriel looking back at me, judging me like he always did.” “He knew what you were,”
My jaw tightened. “Dad deserved better than you.” “Yes,” she agreed instantly. “He did. And I gave him better than me. I gave him you and Clara.” “And now two out of three of us are dead.”
“It wasn’t like that. After a while, I came to love Azriel. We weren’t perfect but it was there for a time. It was born of you and your sister. There wasn’t anything we wouldn’t have done for you both.”
“I’m paying the price to break the curse on my mate. She asked for the debt to be paid in blood, flesh, or bone. My blood is bound to the curse, so those were my options. I can bear any pain or torment, but I vowed to my mate that I would not die, so I will suffer instead and one day we will both be free.” “You can’t do this,” Stella gasped. “It’s already done. I can endure anything for her.”
“No, it’s because that name binds me to my children. After everything that’s happened, I have never stopped loving you or
“You are no Orion,” I snarled. “Family loves without condition. I’ve forged my own family through determination, sacrifice, and dedication. They aren’t my blood, but they are bound to me deeper than you will ever be.
And it took me so fucking long to become a man capable of those things, in part because of you. But mostly because of him. This false king you claim to love. A man who stole everything away from me and is still keen to take more.
My father was worth far more than your superficial love ever could have offered him. He was brave and honourable, and he sacrificed himself so that the entire kingdom might have a chance at fighting this malevolent fate we’ve all been handed. You could never have loved him how he deserved to be loved, because he embodies all the things you are not. But I love him. I love him from the depths of my heart, so profoundly that I know he can feel it beyond the boundaries of our world.”
“I’ll free you and find a way to return you to your friends. You and your mate. You and Dar-” “Don’t you dare speak her name,” I snarled viciously. “I’m in this cage for her. I’m here to break the fucking curse your shadow queen put on her. I’m not going anywhere.”
“What is the curse?” she asked through a whimper, and I didn’t know why I indulged her, perhaps because I wanted her to know the lengths I’d go to for someone I really loved. For someone who would do the same for me, unlike she ever had.
I hope she takes lances place
I would rather there was a chance for us than give up and accept the fate the stars seem so fucking insistent upon offering us. I owe her that. And I can bear any pain to the ends of the earth and back for Darcy, but regardless, I entered a Death bond with Lavinia to ensure I don’t fight it.”
“You and Clara were the best thing I ever had,” she croaked as she managed to compose herself a little and look me in the eye.
“You may not be mine any longer, but you are Azriel’s son through and through. I know he is watching you from beyond the Veil, and he’s been there even when I have not.
“Darius, if you’re watching all of this, then I really hope the stars have told you their plans, that this is all just a storm that’s about to clear up so I can see blue sky again. And if that’s true, is there any chance you could send me a sign?” Silence.
I felt so fucking helpless in this cage, but I had no other option. Darcy had to be saved, and I had to find a way to get her back to Tory, because together those two were the only answer Solaria had now.
Darcy eyes sparked with protectiveness for me at the mention of my heartless mother. “I’m sorry.” “For what?” “For how she treats you. For the fact that you should have had a mother who stood by you your whole life.”
“Blue,” I growled, furious that she would even voice such a future. “I will save you.” “What if it’s already too late?” she said in fear. “Then I will find a way to tear my own magic from my flesh and join you in the mortal world,” I said, the words falling easily from my tongue. “Where you go, I will follow. Have I not made that clear enough to you yet?”
