Page 384

"You did what?!" Adele shot to her feet, her eyes blazing with betrayal.

"Oh no," Roman muttered, already bracing himself. "This is about to get ugly."

"I had no choice," Asher said firmly, though guilt flashed in his eyes.

"Classic dick move to dodge responsibility," Alaric commented from where he stood, arms crossed.

Asher's head snapped toward him, eyes filled with anger. "Adele was team Elijah, and she found out something huge about Violet's blood. What did you expect me to do? Let her run straight to him?"

"Maybe you could have started by trusting us," Roman growled, jaw tight. "We could've figured something out together."

Asher scoffed. "Last I checked, you hated Violet's guts. And Alaric?" He turned to the other Alpha. "You and I weren't even close. So forgive me if I didn't feel like trusting either of you with her life."

"And that justifies invading my mind?" Adele's voice rose with fury. "You didn't even give me a choice, Asher! You stole that from me!"

"I know," he said quietly, remorse settling into his voice. "I know I had no right. But if I hadn't done it, you would've gone to Elijah. You're loyal to him, and back then, you didn't know Violet like we do now. He would've sent Patrick after her in a heartbeat."

His voice dropped, and for once, there was only sincerity. "You've seen what they do to people like us. What they did to us. Violet would've been taken. Dissected. Or worse. I couldn't let that happen. So I made the call. I don't regret protecting her, but I regret what I did to you."

A heavy silence fell in the room.

Even Adele, still fuming, couldn't deny the truth in his words.

She would have reported it because that was her job.

Her loyalty had always been with Elijah, until Violet entered the picture and she'd seen what the girl meant to the boys.

What she meant to Asher, especially. The girl had turned this monster into a less terrible person.

Her shoulders sagged slightly, the fire in her eyes dimming just enough for her to speak through the pain. "What was the memory? What did you take away from me?"

Not just Asher, but Roman and Alaric let out a breath of relief. With the way things had escalated, they'd expected this conversation to end in disaster, marking the beginning of a strained rift with Adele.

The three of them weren't exactly friends with the healer, at least not in the traditional sense, but she had become the closest thing to a guardian they'd known.

For years, Adele had kept them alive even when close to heaven's gate.

Initially, she was their planted spy meant to watch them.

But somewhere along the line, she had grown on them.

Asher finally opened his mouth and told everyone the truth.

He explained everything they'd uncovered that day and how the tests had exposed something terrifying in Violet's blood, and finally,how he had taken the memory from Adele to protect Violet.

By the time he finished, the room had fallen into stunned silence.

Roman blinked slowly, clearly rattled. "I… I don't understand," he said. "Violet's blood is supposed to kill us?"

Alaric followed up, voice rough with disbelief. "Is that what happened to you?" He swallowed hard. "Did Violet try to kill you?"

Asher shook his head wearily. "That's where it gets complicated. Violet was a virgin. I'm sure of it. The blood on the sheets after that night confirmed it. I knew the risk. I'd seen the test in the lab. But when nothing happened afterwards, I thought maybe… maybe it was a mistake. Or a miracle."

He looked up at them, eyes darkened with the memory.

"But then yesterday happened. Everything was fine until I saw her eyes glow, and the next second, it felt like I was dying from the inside out. That's all I remember."

Everyone was shell-shocked.

Roman broke the silence, frowning. "So let me get this straight, Violet's blood does kill us? Just not instantly?"

"No," Alaric said slowly, his brows furrowing. "What if we're looking at this the wrong way? What if her blood isn't some toxic acid that dissolves ours on contact? What if what Asher saw in the lab was just a visual representation of her powers react to us on a deeper level."

Adele's eyes lit up. "You mean like how she withstood your lightning, Alaric? Everyone thought she was immune, but in reality, she was resisting and Fighting it back without realizing?"

"And since Asher has mental abilities—" Alaric began.

"She nearly melted his brain from the inside out," Roman finished. "How romantic."

"Thank you, Roman," Asher muttered with a roll of his eyes.

But then he softened. "Still… I know Violet. She would never hurt me on purpose."

"She already has," Adele said firmly. "Whether intentional or not, yesterday proves that when she loses control, you pay the price. Whatever Violet is, she was made to break you, mind, body, magic, and until there's nothing left."

"So what," Roman muttered, "she's a curse now?"

"Curses don't walk and talk like that," Adele replied. "Violet isn't a monster. But she's not ordinary either. She's a counterbalance. A reset button that someone created to undo you all."

"No way…" Alaric whispered, the blood draining from his face. "You think Violet was sent to kill us?"

"All evidence points that way," Adele shrugged.

Asher shook his head. "No. I was the one who brought Violet into Lunaris. I made that choice."

"And maybe someone made sure you did," Adele told him. "I admire your mind, Asher. But even puppet masters can be manipulated. The way I see it, too many things lined up too perfectly. Violet didn't just stumble into your lives, she was guided there."

"So I can't be with Violet?" Roman's voice cracked slightly, disbelief clouding his expression.

"I don't know," Adele admitted. "But if we figure out what Violet really is, we might finally understand why this is happening. Knowing that could be the difference between saving her or losing anyone of you to the grave."

"Fine. Make the call."