Chapter 86: keep a close eye on her

Chapter 86: Chapter 86: keep a close eye on her

Amelia was carried back to the medical bed and settled carefully against the pillows.

Enzo had ordered her room sealed pending a full investigation. No one was to enter without clearance.

Claire remained, continuing her checks on amelia. It wasn’t because she still sensed an active threat—it was because the brothers had ordered her to stay. She disliked being kept on a leash almost as much as she disliked how thoroughly drained she felt.

The night had already taken more out of her than she cared to admit. Sleep was beginning to sound less like a luxury and more like a requirement.

Eventually it was only the two of them left in the room.

Claire glanced up from the notes she was making. "What was the last thing you did before going to bed?"

"I took a sleeping pill."

Claire’s expression tightened in thought.

"Until I identify the exact object carrying the curse, I won’t know how it was triggered. But the nature of it is clearer now." She set the notes aside. "There’s a portion of your memories the curse doesn’t want you to access. Instead of letting you reach them, it fabricates extremely realistic false images built from those hidden memories—then uses them to push you toward despair. Toward giving up. Toward ending your own life."

Amelia’s hand rose unconsciously to her throat. The memory of what she had almost done inside the vision flickered through her, sharp enough to make her stomach turn.

"I heard their voices," she said quietly.

"Yes." Claire’s tone softened. "The men were calling for you to wake up. My voice never reached you—there’s no real connection between us. But you’ve been around them long enough that I hoped theirs might."

Amelia let out a slow breath.

They saved me.

The same men who had threatened her life more than once. And yet they had been the ones whose voices pulled her back.

Claire seemed to read the direction of her thoughts.

"You should have seen the look on their faces," she said. "Actual panic. It’s almost unbelievable they even possess that kind of reaction—especially toward the same woman they claim to hate and insist they’re only using."

Amelia averted her gaze as a suffocating pressure settled deep within her ribs, anchoring itself in the quiet ache of her chest.

If it was a memory curse... then it must have triggered when my other self tried to surface. That has to be it.

That sudden flash of clarity was twisting into a biting, razor-thin dread that clawed at her nerves. Does that mean I won’t be able to reach Night Menace? That’s bad. That’s very bad.

She turned back to Claire.

"Is the curse permanent?"

"No," Claire replied. "But it takes time to fully wear off. Whatever you’ve been doing to access those past-life memories—you need to stop for now. Until you’re stable again."

Amelia gave a small, tired nod. "Thank you. I don’t know how I would have survived without your help."

Claire waved the gratitude off with a short, irritated breath.

"I’m just doing my job. Though it would be nice if the brothers occasionally acknowledged that fact instead of treating me like some convenient tool they can summon and dismiss whenever something explodes. A tiny bit of appreciation wouldn’t kill them."

She stopped herself, then fixed Amelia with a pointed look. "Don’t repeat a word of that to them."

"I won’t."

Claire’s expression shifted. "I do wonder who’s trying to kill you this time. Not that I need to dig that far."

Amelia’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you know something?"

"I can’t say anything without proof."

Amelia didn’t push.

The quiet broke a moment later when hurried footsteps approached. Skye and Rue came through the doorway almost at the same time—both of them stopped short at the sight of Amelia alive and upright on the bed.

Their expressions could not have been more different.

Skye’s face held a complicated, conflicted relief. Rue’s carried something closer to pained disappointment, as if she had fully expected a different outcome.

"You’re alive," she said through clenched teeth. "That’s... so great."

Skye stepped in quickly, forcing a bright smile. "What she means is that she’s glad you’re all right now."

Neither Amelia nor Claire looked convinced by that at all.

Rue had needed to see it with her own eyes. Amelia was not supposed to have survived. Underworld curse objects did not fail—ever. And yet here she was.

Skye stayed close to Rue’s side, resisting the urge to move nearer to Amelia and check on her properly. When their eyes met, the silent warning in Rue’s gaze was unmistakable. Somehow, this would be turned into Skye’s fault.

Without another word, Rue turned and walked out.

Claire watched the empty doorway for a second, then muttered,

"Well. That was awkward."

Skye lingered only long enough to glance back at Amelia. "Take care of yourself."

Then she turned and hurried after Rue.

"Rue—wait."

Rue didn’t slow down. "I don’t want to speak to you at all."

Skye caught up anyway, matching her pace down the corridor.

"No one predicted that outcome. And you lied to me."

Rue stopped so abruptly that Skye nearly walked into her. The silence that followed was so loud that skye felt her throat tighten.

Rue turned around. "Repeat that."

Skye forced herself to hold her ground.

"I never agreed to you taking Amelia’s life. I thought whatever that curse object was... it would do something else. Not that."

Rue’s expression hardened. "Why can’t you understand why I did it?"

"I do understand," Skye said quickly. "But what happens if you get caught? If the brothers find out who was behind this, they’ll deal with you. I don’t want that. I can’t lose you."

"You already have."

She turned to walk away.

Skye moved before she could stop herself, wrapping her arms around Rue from behind and holding on.

"Please, don’t do this—this can’t be the end for us," she choked out. "Look, I already figured it out, I have a whole plan—it gets Amelia safe and clears her out of the way, but it still works entirely in your favor. It’ll even help you finally win the brothers over, get them on your side, everything you want. Just...please. Don’t walk away from me. Please don’t break up with me."