Page 26

Story: Bitten By Prophecy

KAIA

M y breathing’s still ragged when we finally break apart.

Elias leans against the cold stone wall, dragging a hand through his long black hair, the muscles in his arm flexing with the motion. His eyes catch the low, flickering light, turning them sharp, dangerous.

It takes me a second to realize my hands are still fisted in his torn shirt, and when I step back, it feels like I’m tearing something out of myself.

Gods, what the hell is happening to me?

I set my jaw and pull my shoulders back, trying to stitch myself back together. “I need to tell you something.”

Elias straightens, like he already knows it’s not gonna be something small. He studies me, like always—with that unreadable expression that makes my chest tight.

“Go ahead,” he says, voice rough, almost too steady.

I lick my lips, nerves skittering under my skin. I’m not scared of him. I’m scared of the truth that's been rotting inside me since the moment I found it.

“I found a journal,” I say, voice cracking halfway through. “In my parents’ quarters.”

Elias’s gaze sharpens instantly. “What kind of journal?”

“My grandmother’s.” My throat feels dry as hell. I wrap my arms around myself like that’ll hold me together. “My mother’s mother. She was... she was Fae.”

I force the words out, ugly and raw.

“She wrote everything down. About the exile. About how she had my mom. About how my mom hid it—hid me —because of the Order’s fucking purity mandates. Because she knew if they even suspected…”

I trail off, swallowing hard. The silence around us feels loaded, like the stones themselves are holding their breath.

“I mean, I assumed once specific things started happening, but I wasn’t sure. Maybe I didn’t want to believe in it. And I just… I haven’t seen a lot of Fae in my life–”

Elias doesn’t speak right away. His stare is heavy, weighted with something that feels too big, too dangerous for words.

He says, voice low, “I knew.”

I blink, heat rising in my chest. “You knew ?”

He pushes off the wall, stepping closer. "The second you lit up like that in the lab? Yeah. Only Fae magic resonates like that. And your aura... it’s got the old blood woven into it. Ancient. Untouched."

I shove him lightly, frustration boiling under my skin. “And you didn’t think to fucking tell me exactly what I was?”

His hand catches my wrist, his grip firm but not punishing. His eyes lock onto mine, and for a second, I see past the hard, brooding mask he always wears.

“I was waiting for you to be ready to hear it, Kaia. You’ve had your whole goddamn world ripped apart in days. I wasn’t gonna add to that unless you asked.”

I yank my wrist free, stepping back, even though part of me aches from the loss of contact. "Well, I'm asking now."

His shoulders tense. "Good. 'Cause you need to know—suppressing a Fae’s nature? It's dangerous. That power inside you? It’s alive. It’s meant to grow. Suppressing it doesn’t just keep you weak—it makes you volatile. Like putting a wildfire in a glass jar and hoping it never cracks."

The image hits too close to home. My stomach twists painfully.

“And your mom…” Elias’s voice softens, surprising the hell out of me. “She did the only thing she could. By burying herself in the Order, by burying you in it, she gave you the only cover that would’ve worked.”

I stare at him, something clawing its way up my throat. “They made me one of them.”

“They made you their weapon,” he corrects, voice sharp. “But they didn’t break you.”

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I rub a hand over my face, feeling the exhaustion seeping into my bones. “I was so fucking naive, Elias. I believed in them. I worshipped them. I thought... hell, I thought I was protecting something that mattered.”

“You were,” he says. “You just didn’t know who you were protecting.”

I lower my hand, meeting his gaze again. His face is open now, more honest than I’ve ever seen it. And it does something dangerous to the hollow space in my chest.

“Maybe that’s why I found you,” I whisper, half to myself.

His mouth twitches, half grimace, half something that might almost be a smile if it wasn’t so damn sad.

"Maybe," he murmurs.

I take a deep breath, steadying myself. “There's something else.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You’re full of surprises tonight.”

“Yeah, well, brace yourself for another one,” I mutter. “We need to find your father.”

Elias’s whole body goes still.

Tension rolls off him like a goddamn wave. His hands flex at his sides, claws threatening to break through.

“That’s not your fight, Kaia.”

“The hell it isn’t.”

I step closer, poking a finger into his chest, ignoring how solid and warm he feels under my touch.

“You think I’m just gonna sit here, knowing what they’re doing?

Knowing that part of the reason you are who you are is because they stole him from you?

I read the file you gave me and saw the dates. I know he was taken from you.”

His jaw tightens. His eyes flash molten gold for half a heartbeat.

“He’s my responsibility,” Elias growls.

“He’s our responsibility,” I snap back. “You’re not doing this alone, Elias. Not anymore.”

The words hang between us, electric.

Something shifts in his expression, something almost vulnerable. He looks like he wants to argue, like he needs to push me away, but can’t.

Because we’re past that now.

He exhales slowly, like dragging the air out of his lungs hurts. “You’re gonna get yourself killed.”

"Maybe," I say, a crooked smile tugging at my lips. "But at least it’ll be my choice."

A heavy silence falls again, not angry this time, but full . Weighted with understanding. With the start of something neither of us can walk away from anymore.

He reaches out, almost hesitant, and brushes his knuckles along my jawline, sending a shiver skittering down my spine.

“You’re dangerous,” he murmurs, like it’s the best and worst thing all at once.

I grin, wicked and tired and entirely me .

His mouth twitches again. Not quite a smile, but it’s closer than I’ve ever seen it.

“We leave at dawn,” he says quietly.

I nod, heart pounding.

Tomorrow, we hunt for the truth, we start breaking the chains.

Together.