Page 39

Ada

“ A da! Wake up! You’re sleeping walking again!”

Melo's urgent whisper cut through the fog of sleep. I blinked, disoriented, the image of Kiraz laughing face slowly fading. Cold stone bit into my bare feet, and darkness surrounded us—not my chambers, but the damp, oppressive gloom of the lower palace.

"Where—?" I gasped, shivering as awareness returned.

"Near the eastern dungeons," Melo murmured, her fox form alert, ears pricked forward.

"The old interrogation chambers where shadow magic lingers thickest in the walls—magic that creates thin spots between realms, making connections to the outside world stronger here.

It's no coincidence your sleepwalking brought you here of all places. "

Horror washed through me. I knew what this meant.

This hadn't happened to me for a long time.

I used to sleepwalk when I was with Hakan, five years ago.

I had to get back to my chamber before Hakan sensed anything, before he would order me to sleep in his bed.

Torches cast twisted shadows on stone walls slick with condensation.

The air reeked of mold and old pain, soaked into the very stones.

"Shit, Melo, this isn't good at all, but it was a lucid dream," I said softly, wrapping my arms around myself as tears forced their way to my eyes. My nightgown offered little protection from the chill. "I managed to see my daughter in her dream. We spoke. She's missing me, Melo."

"The blood binding between mother and child," Melo said gravely.

"Your connection to her grows stronger, but you know this is dangerous.

These chambers are designed to amplify magical connections—what flows between you and Kiraz could easily bleed into your bond with Hakan.

" She leaned into my legs, warm fur brushing my skin.

She was right; Hakan couldn't find out. "You need to be careful with this magic. It can reveal too much."

I slid down the wall, head in my hands. “We need to leave here, Melo. Before?—”

“Before Hakan discovers the truth,” she finished, and settled beside me. “He saw something last week, didn’t he?”

“Just a flash of her face. Her eyes.” My throat tightened. “Her eyes are exactly like his.”

“Green as spring leaves,” Melo murmured. “With that same intensity.”

“If he finds out that he has a daughter…” The thought of Hakan discovering Kiraz terrified me more than any ritual or sacrifice. He chose power over love, over any future we might have had.

“The protection spells around those memories are strong,” Melo assured me.

“But weakening,” I countered. “Our bond grows stronger each day, especially since—” Heat rose in my cheeks at the memory of the garden. I let him touch me and I loved it, but this couldn’t happen again.

“Since he had his tongue between your thighs?” Melo’s turquoise eyes glinted as she chuckled, and I wanted to disappear. She must have sensed it like everyone in this damn place, because our bond was extremely strong. “Yes, intimate contact tends to strengthen magical bonds.”

“It wasn’t just physical,” I admitted. “Something inside me recognizes something in him. Some part that remembers what we were before.”

“The heart remembers what the mind tries to forget,” Melo said, her voice soft. “Five years hasn’t severed what bound you together.”

“I hate him,” I said, but the words rang hollow even to my own ears.

“I don’t think you do,” Melo said. “Hate is not the opposite of love. Indifference is.”

“Well, this is a cheerful midnight chat in the creepiest part of a shadow palace.”

I jerked my head up to see Sarp leaning over the wall, arms crossed, looking infuriatingly casual in the gloom. How long had he been there?

Melo’s hackles rose, a low growl rumbling in her throat.

Sarp pushed away from the wall, his usual sardonic expression vanishing completely. “Wait.” His voice cracked, eyes widening with genuine shock. “Did I hear correctly? … Hakan has a daughter?”

The color drained from his face when he stared at me, stunned disbelief written across his features. His mouth opened and closed soundlessly, the revelation rendering him momentarily speechless—which completely shocked me, as Sarp was never at a loss for words.

My blood froze. Before I could respond, golden light flashed beside me, creating temporary blindness.

When my vision cleared, Melo stood in her human form, flame-red hair cascading down her back, completely nude and utterly unashamed.

In one fluid motion, she slammed Sarp into the wall, forearm pinned to his throat, her other hand splayed on his chest with turquoise magic crackling between her fingers.

Sarp's eyes darted everywhere except at her, his face burning red. "Could you perhaps—clothing?—"

"Speak of this to anyone," she hissed, ignoring his discomfort, her voice deepening to an otherworldly register when ancient fox magic swirled around her, “and I will tear your still-beating heart from your chest and feed it to you.” The intensity of her emotion had triggered the transformation—fury at Sarp’s intrusion and fear for my safety combining to bring forth her human form.

Sarp didn’t even seem to register the threat, his eyes fixed on me with an intensity that was almost painful. “Kiraz,” he whispered, the name spoken as a prayer from his mouth. “She’s…she’s his daughter?”

His voice held a vulnerability I’d never heard before—raw emotion breaking through his carefully constructed facade.

After a moment, his mask of humor slipped back into place, though it couldn't quite hide the emotion in his eyes.

"You know," he remarked, his voice deliberately light, "you're absolutely magnificent when you're promising to disembowel me.

Has anyone ever told you that your eyes literally glow when you're contemplating murder? "

Melo blinked, clearly thrown by this rapid shift. "This isn't the time for jokes, human!"

"You're stunning when you're angry." Sarp's smile didn't reach his eyes, which still held the shock of revelation.

"I appreciate the imagination of a woman.

Makes me wonder what other talents you're hiding beneath all that…

ferocity." He paused, his grin turning wicked.

"Though I have to say, most people at least wait until the second meeting before pressing themselves naked against me.

You fox spirits certainly don't waste time. "

His gaze traveled appreciatively over her face, lingering on her lips. Melo's grip loosened slightly, confusion flickering across her features as a flush crept up her neck.

"You're infuriating," she snapped. "And Hakan cannot know about Kiraz."

"Completely agreed," Sarp said, though his eyes never lost their amused spark. "Which is why I have no intention of telling our brooding shadow prince that he's managed to procreate. Though it does explain his perpetual bad mood—fatherhood does that to a man, I hear."

I stood, watching this bizarre exchange with growing disbelief. “He chose power over love, over any future we might have had.”

“Ada, I’m his oldest friend—his brother in everything but blood—I’ve had the unique privilege of watching him destroy himself and everything good in his life for five years.

” His voice cracked slightly as emotion broke through.

He gently removed Melo’s arm from his throat, though he kept hold of her wrist. “Including you, Ada.”

He ran his free hand through his hair, his usual composure completely shattered. “A child,” he whispered, more to himself than to us. “Hakan has a daughter.”

“You knew,” I said, realization dawning. “About me. After he left.”

“I checked on you,” he admitted, all traces of humor gone.

“Not often enough, clearly, since I never discovered…” He swallowed hard.

“I lost track of you after your release from the sanctuary. By then, you’d moved to the coastal villages with your family.

” His expression was a complex mixture of wonder, grief, and something like anger.

“Gods, Ada. A child. His child. I knew about the sanctuary, about your breakdown. I tried telling him once, after his father’s spell started to fade, but he wouldn’t listen. ”

“Spell?” Melo demanded, still poised for attack despite Sarp’s hold on her wrist.

"After Hakan discovered his heritage and drove Ada away, he spent nine months in regret. When his guilt threatened Daddy Dearest's plans, Erlik ripped Hakan's all memories of you away without his consent—to ensure his loyalty, to sever his connection to Ada."

I went very still. The words settled into my mind slowly, each syllable reshaping everything I thought I understood about the past five years.

"What?" I breathed.

Sarp's expression shifted to surprise, then concern. "I thought you knew? I thought he told you?"

"Told me what, exactly?" My voice remained steady, but I could feel something cold spreading through my chest.

"Erlik erased Hakan's memories of you," Sarp said carefully, watching my face. "For two years, he didn't even know you existed. The spell made him forget why he'd driven you away, forget what you meant to him."

I sank onto a nearby stone ledge, my hands folding carefully in my lap. I glanced at Melo, she was as equally shocked as me. "He didn't remember me at all."

"Not for two years, no."

I closed my eyes, processing. "That's why I thought he was dead. Why I never sensed him." Understanding dawned quietly. "The spell didn't just hide his memories—it severed our natural connection completely."

"Ada—"

"I felt him disappear from the world," I continued, my voice distant. "Not because he rejected me, but because Erlik literally tore our bond from his mind." I opened my eyes, meeting Sarp's gaze. "When did the spell break?"

"About two years ago. The memories returned gradually."