Chapter 206

Damon

I told the villagers my name was Corin and that I’d come north to rest.

A wolf wounded, I said. Broken ribs over a broken heart. Nothing that would keep me from riding again soon. They believed me easily enough. No one here was suspicious. No one here had reason to be.

I rented a small room above the tavern on the edge of the square. It smelled of stale ale and cedar smoke, but it had a window that faced the apothecary. That was all I needed.

Days passed in the dull rhythm of someone else’s life. I sat at the tavern table pretending to read maps while the world outside moved without me. And Lila, she was always moving.

Every morning, Lila crossed the square with a basket in her arms, two young children skipping behind her through the snow. They were both small and bright, their laughter cutting through the cold. Their eyes had the same shade of gold as mine when the light hit them. I’d know that shade anywhere.

Each time they ran to her, something inside me twisted tighter.

Lila looked…alive. Healthier than I’d ever seen her. Her hair was longer now, framing her face, her hands steady when she worked. She laughed easily with the villagers, smiled with them. She glowed in a way she never had at court, when every step we took was measured and watched. Literally judged.

And then there was the male, who the barkeep told me was named Kael.

He was always nearby. Carrying crates, fetching herbs, touching her shoulder when she reached for something high. A gentle, simple rhythm between them that made my chest ache.

The twins seemed to adore him. He lifted them, spun them, made them laugh. Made Lila laugh.

It should have made me angry. Instead, it hollowed me out.

Zane prowled in the back of my mind, restless. She’s ours. Look at her. She’s pretending we don’t exist.

“She’s safe,” I muttered under my breath, the words tasting like ash. “That’s all that matters.”

Liar.

Maybe he was right. I didn’t know where love ended and obsession began anymore. All I knew was that watching her was both a balm and torture.

By the third day, I stopped pretending to sleep. I stayed outside her home after sunset, hidden in the trees beyond the fence. Light spilled from her windows, soft and golden. Inside, shadows moved; Lila brushing the girl’s hair, Kael cleaning up the table, the boy chasing a toy across the floor.

Lila had a family. Without me.

I pressed a hand to my chest, right over the place that used to burn when she was near. The bond was faint now, like a pulse buried beneath layers of frost. But when I saw her laugh, really laugh, it stirred, a faint warmth trying to wake.

“She rebuilt herself,” I whispered. “Without me.”

I stayed there until the lights went out, until the night swallowed the last sign of her. When I finally turned away, it was with a heavy heart.

Back in my room, I poured a glass of something that pretended to be whiskey and sat by the window again. The square was quiet now, moonlight painting everything in shades of white. The apothecary’s sign swayed faintly in the wind.

My reflection in the glass looked like a stranger; hollow-eyed, more beast than man. Maybe she’d seen that when I’d called her name. Maybe that was why she’d looked at me like a stranger.

Zane’s growl was low, simmering. You’re letting her slip away again.

“She doesn’t want to be found.”

She’s lying.

I closed my eyes. “Maybe she’s earned the right to.”

The silence stretched long enough that I thought he’d gone quiet for good, but then he whispered, softer, almost mournful. And what have we earned?

I didn’t have an answer.

Outside, a single candle flickered to life in her window. A shadow crossed behind it, Lila moving slowly through the room. My hand lifted before I could stop it, fingers brushing the cold glass like I could touch her from here.

The light went out.

I sat there long after, the cold sinking deep into my bones, pressing against me like punishment.

Lila looked happy.

And it was killing me.

Lila

I felt him before I saw him.

The air in the village had changed. It was heavier somehow, charged like the moment before a storm breaks. Every instinct I had was whispering the same truth: Damon was here.

I hadn’t seen him since the day in the square. I’d spent the hours that followed convincing myself I’d imagined it, that grief and fear could conjure illusions just as easily as magic could.

But Ruby would never lied to me.

“He’s watching,” she murmured now, her voice a low hum at the back of my mind. “He hasn’t left.”

“I know,” I whispered, staring into the fire. “I can feel it.”

The flames flickered higher as if stirred by his name. I could almost sense where he was – the direction, the distance. That invisible thread between us trembled faintly, no longer dead but fragile and alive, quivering in the dark like something waking after a long sleep.

Ruby had buried that bond once. I thought I could keep it sealed forever, but I should’ve known better. Nothing built on love and power ever stays buried.

The twins slept on the floor beside me, their soft breaths matching in rhythm. They looked so peaceful, their cheeks flushed from the heat, their hands still clutching the wooden toys Kael had carved.

My son murmured in his sleep and shifted closer to his sister. They’d inherited my stubbornness and Damon’s fire. It made them brave. It also made them reckless.

Ruby’s tone softened. “He’s not the same as before. Neither are you.”

“I can’t afford to find out who he is now,” I said, my throat tight. “We’re safe here. I won’t risk that.”

“You can’t keep him from fate.”

“I can keep him from me.”

Ruby didn’t argue, but I felt her unease ripple through our shared consciousness like a rock through water.

A knock came at the back door. Three quick taps, then two. A pattern I hadn’t heard in weeks. My pulse leapt.

I opened the door to find Ronan standing there, snow in his hair and exhaustion lining his face. His coat was torn at the shoulder; he looked like he’d ridden through the night without rest.

“Ronan.” I stepped aside quickly, ushering him in before anyone could see. “What are you doing here?”

He dropped his pack near the door. “You already know the answer.”

I shut the door and barred it, keeping my voice low. “He found us.”

“He found you,” Ronan said grimly. “And if he’s here, others won’t be far behind. We need to leave before someone else finds you.”

“I’m not running again.”

His eyes flashed, tired but fierce. “Lila –”

“No.” The word came out sharper than I meant it to. “This is my home now. My children’s home. We’ve hidden, we’ve survived, we’ve built something here. I won’t uproot them just because Damon stumbled into town.”

“He’s not chasing ghosts anymore.” Ronan’s tone softened. “He’s hunting you. And that means everyone who ever wanted to use him, or you, will follow. If you stay, they’ll find you both.”

I looked down at the twins, at their small hands, their steady breathing. “They deserve more than to live in fear. I won’t keep living like we’re constantly hunted.”

Ronan sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. “Then at least let me help you prepare the escape route. We can’t go south, so we’ll prep the path north, or west, anywhere he won’t think to look…”

“I’m not leaving,” I said again, quieter this time.

He hesitated, then asked softly, “What happens when he figures out the twins are his, Lila?”

The question struck so deep I kept silent.

Ronan exhaled, defeated. “Then promise me you’ll stay away from him. Promise me you won’t let him pull you back in.”

“That’s my goal.” My voice wavered on the last word.

He studied me for a moment, then stepped closer, resting a hand briefly on my shoulder. “My promise to you will always stand. I will protect you, even from Damon. Thalia is ready to cover for us before she follows. Just… stay safe.”

Before I could reply, he turned and slipped back into the night.

I stood at the door long after he’d gone, listening to the wind hiss through the trees. Somewhere out there, I could feel Damon’s presence again, faint but present. Watching. Waiting.

Ruby stirred once more. “We can protect ourselves now.”

I looked towards my sleeping children, then back to the dark beyond the window. “Yes, we can.”

I could run again, but running wouldn’t solve anything. This time, I would face Damon head on.