Chapter 204

Chapter 204: Chapter 204

Lysander’s pov

The icy, sickening shiver slipped beneath my skin, crawling downward toward the delicate heat at my center.

The dark oil smelled of rot, old graves, and suffocating magic. Through the thick, paralyzing fog of Gideon’s mind-spell, I felt the witch’s gnarled fingers press through the soft linen over my lower stomach. She was seeking the faint, rhythmic flutter of my core, the fragile, miraculous life that carried Drake’s mark.

A line for the child, the witch rasped, her hollow eyes burning with cruel satisfaction as her mouth began to twist around an ancient, poisonous chant.

Something inside me snapped.

It wasn’t a logical thought, nor was it a conscious decision to fight back. It was something far deeper, far older, and infinitely more feral. It was the fierce, ancient fury of a mother defending its unborn young—a roaring, unyielding tide of blood that refused to be put down.

My marrow flared with a blinding, volcanic heat. The beast deep within my soul bared its fangs and tore through the cold wires binding my brain.

CRACK.

The pale-blue light around Gideon’s knuckles shattered like cheap glass.

A ragged, primal roar ripped from my throat as full control crashed back into my limbs. Before the witch could even draw breath to finish her chant, I lunged forward with explosive, blinding speed. My bare hands slammed into her shoulders, sending her flying backward across the chamber.

She hit the stone hearth with a brutal thud, the stone bowl slipping from her fingers and shattering across the floorboards in a spray of dark, useless oil.

"What?!" Gideon gasped, his pale eyes widening in absolute, breathless horror as his compulsion spell was torn to shreds.

He reached into his coat to draw a weapon, but I didn’t give him the chance. Driven by pure, instinctual fury, I grabbed the heavy wooden stool beside the bed and swung it with all the strength left in my surging hybrid muscles.

The heavy wood struck Gideon full across the chest, sending him stumbling back through the open doorway and crashing hard into the stone wall of the corridor.

"Guards!" Gideon choked out, clutching his bruised ribs, his voice echoing frantically down the hallway. "Stop him!"

I didn’t waste a single second looking back.

I bolted through the doorway, my bare feet slapping hard against the cold stone floorboards of the corridor. Two heavy-set guards rounded the corner at the far end, their weapons drawn, their iron-plated boots thundering against the floor.

Instead of slowing down, I ducked beneath the first guard’s clumsy swing, using his own momentum to drive my shoulder straight into his midsection. He went down with a heavy grunt, crashing into his partner and creating a split-second opening in the narrow passageway.

I scrambled past them, my heart hammering like a trapped war-drum against my ribs.

I took the winding stone stairs three at a time, my lungs burning, my hands raw, my eyes fixed entirely on the faint, pale moonlight streaming through the grand archway at the base of the tower. I burst through the outer service doors, tearing straight out into the freezing night air.

The storm had passed, leaving behind a thick, blanket of freezing fog that clung low to the valley floor. The mountain air bit sharply against my bare arms and throat, soaking through my thin, torn linen tunic in seconds, but the cold felt like absolute, glorious freedom.

"He’s breached the courtyard!" a voice shouted from the watchtower above. "Sound the alarms!"

The loud, metallic toll of the fortress bell shattered the quiet night, echoing off the surrounding mountain cliffs.

I didn’t turn to look at the stone walls or the guards rushing down the courtyard steps. I ran straight for the perimeter fence, a low stone wall backed by a thick, tangled hedge of wild pine and razor-sharp thorns.

I leaped over the stone ledge, my feet landing hard in the wet, muddy earth on the other side. The sharp thorn bushes clawed at my arms, my bare legs, and my tunic, dragging dark red lines across my skin, but I shoved through the thick brush without feeling the pain.

I broke through the treeline and plunged headlong into the dark, mist-shrouded forest.

Trees blurred past me in the dark. My bare feet dug into the slick pine needles, the mud, and the frozen moss of the forest floor, but my hybrid instincts guided my steps, picking out a path through the shadows with effortless, predatory grace. Every stride carried me farther away from the fortress, away from the witch, and away from the dark magic that had tried to steal my baby.

I ran until my lungs felt like they were bursting with fire. I ran until the distant tolling of the fortress bell faded into the rustling of the pine needles and the soft, steady rush of a mountain stream nearby.

Finally, deep within a dense thicket of spruce trees, my legs gave out.

I collapsed onto my knees in the soft, wet moss, my hands flying instantly to my stomach. I curled my body inward, wrapping my arms tight around my waist, burying my face against the wet earth as my chest heaved in ragged, breathless gasps.

"You’re safe," I sobbed into the dark, tears of sweet, dizzying relief finally spilling over my lashes and washing through the mud on my cheeks. "You’re safe... I got you out..."

I pressed my palms flat against my skin, holding my breath, waiting in the quiet dark for the only thing that mattered.

A second passed. Then two.

Deep within my core, beneath the exhaustion and the cold, a faint, gentle warmth flickered back to life. It was small, soft, and fragile, but it was there, a quiet, rhythmic pulse that thrummed softly against my palms, answering my own racing heart.

The dark oil hadn’t touched it. The curse had been broken before it could take root.

I let out a shuddering, tearful laugh, pressing my forehead against the damp moss.

The forest around me was vast, cold, and filled with danger. Gideon’s guards would be scouring the valley with hounds within the hour, and I had no shoes, no cloak, and no food. But as I lay in the dark, feeling the quiet life pulsing safely beneath my hands, a fierce, unshakeable strength filled my chest.

I sat up slowly, wiping the rain and tears from my face with the sleeve of my torn tunic. I looked up through the thick canopy of pine branches at the pale, silver moon hanging high in the night sky.

Drake was out there somewhere beyond the ridge. He was waiting, searching, and holding the bond open in the dark.

I pushed myself back onto my feet, my toes curling into the cold, wet earth, and took my first step forward into the dark woods, determined to walk all the way home to my mate.