Rhys woke feeling different. Rested. Actually rested for the first time in ten days.
Liam was already awake, sitting against the wall with dark circles under his eyes. "Morning."
"Did you sleep at all?"
"Couple hours. Kept waking up." Liam stood, stretching. "But nothing happened. No ghostly visits, no supernatural attacks. Maybe your boundary actually worked."
Rhys sat up slowly, testing. No soreness. No exhaustion. No lingering phantom touches.
"He didn't come," Rhys said, surprised.
"Or he came and left when he saw I was here." Liam moved to the window. "Either way, you actually slept. How do you feel?"
"Better. Clearer." Rhys ran his hands through his hair. "I didn't dream at all. First time in days."
"Good." Liam turned to face him. "Then I'm staying in here every night until we figure this out."
"Pryce won't allow it forever—"
"Fuck what Pryce allows." Liam's voice was hard. "You're being violated in your sleep, Rhys. Even if you can't remember it clearly, your body knows. That's not okay. That's not love or obsession or curse—that's assault."
Rhys flinched at the word.
"I know it's hard to hear," Liam continued more gently. "Especially when part of you feels connected to him through Elara's memories. But what he's doing—whatever he's doing while you sleep—it's wrong. You know that, right?"
"Yes." Rhys's voice was small. "I know."
"Then we stop it. We break this curse. And if that means I sleep on your floor for the next nineteen days, so be it."
Pryce didn't appear all day. Not at breakfast. Not during research hours in the library. Not at dinner.
His absence was somehow more oppressive than his presence.
"He's angry," Rhys said, pushing food around his plate.
"Let him be angry." Liam was reading through old property documents. "Maybe if he sulks long enough, he'll realize controlling you isn't working."
"Or he'll snap and kill you."
"Always so optimistic." Liam looked up. "We need to talk about the curse itself. The exact wording. Do you know what Valerian said when he died?"
Rhys closed his eyes, pulling up the memory—partially his own research, partially dream-memories from Elara's perspective.
"He said: 'You are mine. Every life you live, you will be mine. I will never let another have you. This I vow on my blood, on my soul, on the darkness itself.'"
"Blood and soul," Liam muttered, making notes. "Traditional binding language. But also 'the darkness itself'—that's unusual. That suggests he didn't just curse you. He bound himself to something else. Something darker."
"What do you mean?"
"Most curses fade over time. Even powerful ones. But this has lasted three centuries without weakening." Liam tapped his pen. "That suggests an external power source. Valerian didn't just curse you with his dying words—he made a deal. With something."
Rhys felt cold. "With what?"
"I don't know. But if we can figure that out..." Liam looked up. "Maybe we can break the deal instead of the curse."
At midnight, Liam was on Rhys's floor again. Rhys lay in bed, exhausted from another day of research but afraid to sleep.
"What if he hurts you while I'm asleep?" Rhys asked the darkness.
"He won't. He needs you cooperative. Killing me would turn you against him completely."
"He killed Kai."
"Kai wasn't Cassian reborn. I think on some level, Pryce knows killing me would destroy any chance he has of you choosing him willingly." Liam shifted. "Now sleep. I've got watch."
Rhys closed his eyes.
And at 2 AM, Pryce appeared.
But this time, he didn't approach the bed. He stood in the corner, staring at Liam with such hatred it should have woken him.
You think you've won, Pryce thought. You think keeping him from sleeping peacefully means you're protecting him.
He looked at Rhys, sleeping soundly for the second night in a row.
But you're making it worse. Every night you keep him from me, the hunger grows. The curse demands satisfaction.
Pryce's form flickered, becoming less human.
I've been patient. Gentle, even. Taking only what I needed while he slept. But you're forcing my hand, Cassian.
He moved closer to Liam's sleeping form.
Eighteen days left. And then, whether you're here or not, Rhys will be mine. Completely. No more stolen moments in dreams.
Pryce knelt beside Liam, cold breath on his face.
I should kill you now. End this before you ruin everything again.
His hand hovered over Liam's throat.
But Rhys would never forgive me. And I need his forgiveness. Need his surrender.
Pryce pulled back, hands clenching.
So I'll wait. I'll let you play protector. Let Rhys feel safe.
He looked back at Rhys one more time.
But know this, beloved: the safer you feel with him, the harder you'll fall when I finally reclaim you.
And I will reclaim you. Very Soon babe...
He vanished, leaving only frost on the windows and a sense of impending violence.