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I hated how much I wanted to believe him. Hated that he might actually deserve it.

Annika stirred in my arms, a faint sound escaping her lips. It wasn’t a word, just a breath. A plea.

Damn it.

“Fine.” I slid off the horse, keeping Annika close as I landed. Her weight felt heavier now, like her strength hadseeped out entirely during the ride. My stomach knotted. I couldn’t waste another second.

Kael stepped toward the cave entrance without another word. I followed, my boots crunching against dirt and stone.

The cave swallowed us quickly. Shadows pressed in from every side, thick and suffocating. The air was damp, heavy with the scent of earth and something faintly metallic… blood or magic, I couldn’t tell which.

Kael led the way, his steps confident, but mine slowed the deeper we went. My eyes darted to every corner, searching for threats, for traps.

“Keep up,” Kael muttered, not bothering to look back.

“Don’t push me,” I snapped. “Not when I’ve got everything to lose.”

He paused at that, just for a second, before continuing forward. I didn’t miss the tension in his shoulders.

Good. He should be tense.

Because if this was a trick, if this ended with Annika slipping away in my arms, then no force on earth would save him from me.

Then, a small dimly lit chamber opened up before us. There was a flickering fire, and standing in front of the flames was the shaman, with a look of expectance on her face.

She was a woman, older than me, with long, silver hair that seemed to shimmer even in the low light. Her robes were dark, draped elegantly over her form, the intricate symbols sewn into them pulsing with a faint glow. There was an air of quiet power about her, something ancient, something dangerous.

And, worst of all, something knowing.

She didn’t flinch as we entered. Instead, she simply turned her eyes to Annika, resting weakly in my arms, and then back to me. Her gaze was piercing, like she’d known we would come, like she’d been waiting. She smiled upon seeing Annika in my arms.

“Ah, the witch child… just as I saw…”

Chapter Fifteen

Annika

I drifted in and out of the darkness, my body floating, weightless, as if I no longer belonged to it.

The cold stone pressed against my back, but it barely registered. I felt gentle hands lowering me onto something softer. A bed? No, it was rougher than that. A cot, maybe. My thoughts swam, sluggish and heavy, slipping through my grasp before I could hold onto them.

Voices murmured around me. I couldn’t make out the words, only the cadence. It was low, steady, rhythmic. A chant?

The scent of burning herbs filled the air, sharp and earthy, mingling with the faint tang of iron. My stomach twisted. The room spun.

I tried to open my eyes, but the weight of my eyelids pinned them shut. Heat bloomed on my skin, then vanished just as quickly, leaving me cold and hollow.

“Stay with me,” a woman’s voice said.

I wanted to answer, but my tongue felt thick, foreign in my mouth. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak.

The chanting grew louder, reverberating through my skull, rattling my bones. It pressed against me, heavy and suffocating, yet something in it called to me, pulling at the edges of my soul.

The woman’s hands touched my forehead, burning hot. Light burst behind my eyelids, blinding and searing. I gasped… or maybe I didn’t. I couldn’t tell anymore what was real and what wasn’t.

I felt myself sinking deeper, falling into something vast and endless. The light shifted, turning red, like blood. Like fire. And then I saw her.

The witch.