"No… no, no, no…"
Lyra's voice broke as she clutched her stomach, her entire body trembling in Kael's arms.
"I can't feel it…" she whispered again, panic rising like a tidal wave. "Kael, I can't feel my baby."
Kael's chest tightened violently.
His grip on her instinctively tightened, pulling her closer as if he could shield both her and the child from whatever had just happened.
"You're not losing it," he said firmly. "Do you hear me? You're not."
But even as he spoke.
He could feel it.
Something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
The energy that had been radiating from her moments ago… was gone.
Not weakened.
Gone.
Cassian pushed himself to his feet, his expression dark and tense.
"You need to move," he said sharply. "Now."
Lyra shook her head weakly.
"I'm not leaving until."
"If you stay, you'll lose more than the child," Cassian snapped.
Kael's eyes flashed.
"She's not going anywhere with you."
Cassian turned on him, fury simmering beneath the surface.
"And you think you can fix this?" he shot back. "You don't even understand what was taken from her!"
Kael didn't flinch.
"I understand enough."
"No, you don't," Cassian said coldly. "That wasn't just power. That was the child's lifeline."
Lyra's breath hitched.
Lifeline.
The word echoed in her mind like a death sentence.
"No…" she whispered, tears spilling freely now. "There has to be a way… there has to be."
"There is."
The voice cut through everything.
Calm.
Certain.
Cruel.
Lyra's head snapped up.
The man stood a few feet away, completely unbothered by the destruction around him.
"You can save it," he said.
Hope flared.
Sharp.
Desperate.
"How?!" she demanded.
His smile deepened.
"Come with us."
The hope shattered just as quickly.
"No," Kael growled.
The man ignored him, his gaze locked on Lyra.
"You don't have time to argue," he said. "Every second that passes… the child gets weaker."
Lyra's heart pounded violently.
Her hands trembled against her stomach.
She could feel it now.
Not absence.
But fading.
Like something slipping through her fingers.
"Stop lying to her," Cassian snapped. "You're the reason it's dying."
The man shrugged.
"Perhaps," he admitted. "But I'm also the only one who can restore it."
Silence fell.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
Lyra's mind raced.
This couldn't be real.
This couldn't be happening.
But the pain in her chest.
The emptiness where the connection had been.
It was real.
Too real.
"Lyra," Kael said, his voice low and urgent. "Don't listen to him."
Her head turned toward him slowly.
His expression was hard.
Focused.
But there was something else there too.
Fear.
Real fear.
"For once," he said quietly, "trust me."
The words hit harder than they should have.
Trust him?
After everything?
After the rejection?
After the humiliation?
Her chest tightened painfully.
"I did trust you," she whispered.
Kael's jaw clenched.
"And I was wrong," she added.
The truth hung between them.
Sharp.
Unavoidable.
Cassian stepped closer.
"You don't need to trust him," he said. "You need to survive."
Lyra looked at him.
At the man who had saved her.
Who had told her the truth.
Or at least part of it.
"You knew about this," she said.
Cassian didn't deny it.
"I knew it was a risk."
Her heart sank.
"A risk?" she repeated. "My child is dying and you call it a risk?"
His expression tightened.
"I didn't know they would act this fast."
"But you knew they would come."
Silence.
That was answer enough.
Tears burned in her eyes.
"Both of you…" she whispered. "You both knew things I didn't."
Kael stepped forward.
"I was trying to protect you."
Cassian scoffed.
"By rejecting her?"
Kael's eyes darkened.
"I did what I had to do."
"And look where that got us," Cassian shot back.
"Enough!" Lyra cried.
Both men fell silent instantly.
Her chest heaved as she looked between them.
Anger.
Pain.
Fear.
Everything tangled together.
"I don't care about your reasons anymore," she said, her voice shaking. "I don't care about your secrets."
Her hand pressed against her stomach again.
"I care about my child."
Silence.
Heavy.
Final.
The man watched her closely, a satisfied smile tugging at his lips.
"Then you already know what you have to do."
Lyra's breath trembled.
She didn't want to.
God, she didn't want to.
But.
"I'll go," she said.
"No."
Kael's voice was immediate.
Dangerous.
Final.
Lyra flinched slightly.
But didn't look at him.
"I'll go," she repeated.
Cassian's eyes narrowed.
"That's exactly what they want."
"And what's your plan?" she demanded. "Stand here and watch it die?"
He didn't answer.
Because he couldn't.
Kael stepped in front of her.
Blocking her path.
"You're not going anywhere with them," he said.
Her gaze finally lifted to meet his.
"Move."
"I won't."
Her chest tightened.
"Kael…"
"No," he said, his voice lowering. "I won't let you walk into a trap."
Tears blurred her vision.
"I'm already in one."
The words hit hard.
Because they were true.
Kael's expression cracked slightly.
"Then let me fix it," he said.
"How?" she asked.
Silence.
Again.
Lyra let out a broken laugh.
"That's what I thought."
She stepped back.
Away from him.
Away from both of them.
"I don't have time for this."
The man extended his hand once more.
"Choose," he said.
Lyra stared at it.
Her heart pounded.
Her instincts screamed.
Everything about this felt wrong.
Dangerous.
But the fading feeling in her chest.
The weakening presence inside her.
It was worse.
Much worse.
Slowly.
She stepped forward.
Kael's hand shot out, grabbing her arm.
"Don't."
Her breath hitched.
His grip tightened.
"Lyra, if you go with them…" His voice dropped. "I might not be able to get you back."
Her chest tightened painfully.
"You already lost me," she whispered.
The words broke something in him.
She saw it.
Felt it.
But she couldn't stop.
Not now.
Not when everything was falling apart.
She pulled her arm free.
And placed her hand in the stranger's.
The moment their skin touched.
Something shifted.
A dark pulse of energy wrapped around her instantly.
Cold.
Binding.
Cassian swore under his breath.
Kael lunged forward.
But it was too late.
The man's grip tightened.
"Wise choice," he said softly.
Lyra's heart raced.
"What are you doing?"
His smile widened.
"Securing what's ours."
The ground beneath them began to glow.
Strange symbols burned into the earth.
A circle.
A trap.
Realization hit too late.
"No, wait."
The world twisted.
Light exploded around her.
Kael roared.
"LYRA!"
She reached for him instinctively.
But her fingers grasped nothing.
The light swallowed everything.
The forest.
The battle.
Him.
Gone.
Silence.
Cold.
Empty.
Lyra gasped as she stumbled forward.
Onto solid ground.
Different ground.
Dark stone.
Cold air.
Unfamiliar.
She looked up.
And her breath stopped.
Massive walls surrounded her.
Towering.
Ancient.
Covered in symbols that made her blood react.
Her heart pounded violently.
"Where… am I?"
The man stepped beside her.
Calm.
Satisfied.
"Home," he said.
Lyra's stomach twisted.
"No…"
His gaze slid to her.
Dark.
Certain.
"Yes."
Fear crept up her spine.
Stronger than anything before.
Because this place.
It didn't feel like a prison.
It felt worse.
It felt like something had been waiting for her.
For a long time.
Lyra took a slow step back.
"What do you want from me?"
The man's smile turned sharp.
"Not from you."
Her heart dropped.
"From your child."
Her hands instinctively covered her stomach.
"No one is touching my baby."
The man chuckled softly.
"You misunderstand."
He leaned closer.
Close enough for his voice to drop into a whisper.
"We're not going to take it."
Lyra's breath caught.
"Then what?"
His eyes gleamed.
"We're going to wake it."
Her blood ran cold.
"What does that mean?"
The man straightened, his expression darkening.
"It means," he said, "you're about to find out why your bloodline was erased."
Lyra's heart slammed violently against her ribs.
"No…"
But it was already too late.
Because as the massive doors behind her slammed shut.
Locking her inside.
She realized the truth.
This wasn't a rescue.
This wasn't a choice.
This was something much worse.
And as shadows began to move along the walls.
Whispering.
Watching.
Waiting.
Lyra understood one terrifying thing.
She hadn't just walked into danger…
She had walked into a place that had been waiting to claim her and her child for centuries.