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CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

NOVA

T he doors to the estate groan as I shove them open, my heartbeat rattling against my ribs. Every instinct screams at me to move , to run , to tear this place apart until I find Callum.

The room has shitty lighting, and the fae sconces lining the walls do little to cast it against stone. It’s old, ancient, the kind of place that still carries whispers of the fae who built it, of power that once meant something. But now, it’s nothing more than a tomb.

I inhale sharply, my senses spreading outward. The air reeks of damp stone, burned magic, and something wrong beneath it all—rotting arrogance and decay. And then there’s him.

Sylus.

I’d know his scent anywhere.

He stands at the far end of the chamber, casual as ever, one hand resting against the back of an old wooden chair. He doesn’t look surprised to see me. He doesn’t flinch .

But I do.

Because slumped against that chair, bound and half-conscious, is the man who’d turned my world upside down before being ripped from it.

Callum.

My stomach lurches.

His arms are stretched behind him, tied so tight his knuckles are drained of color. His head hangs forward, thick red strands of hair matted with blood. Both of his eyes are swollen shut, his skin bruised and torn. The word I carved into Sylus’s chest is now branded into Callum’s.

UNWORTHY

This is all my fault. If I hadn’t done what I did to this asshole, he wouldn’t have Callum right now.

I don’t remember moving. One second I’m frozen, the next, I’m charging .

A quick snap of power slams me back, throwing me off my feet. I land hard, my breath knocked from my lungs as magic ripples through the air. Sylus’s smirk widens.

"Now, now," he tuts, stepping forward. "I was hoping you’d show a bit more self-control, but then again, you were always more beast than fae, weren’t you? Fucking mutt," he spits.

I snarl, the sound raw in my throat, but he doesn’t stop.

"You’ve caused me quite a bit of trouble, Nova," he continues, circling me now, his steps slow, measured. "Defacing me? That was bold. But you see—" He stops, tilting his head toward Callum. "—I had to make you understand the consequences."

My hands tremble. My wolf is howling, trying to claw her way free, but I force myself to stay focused. I must get Callum out. That’s all that matters.

I wipe the blood from my mouth and stand. "What do you want?"

He laughs—the sound rich, amused. "I want what all fae born want. Purity. A world without made fae, without humans tainting our legacy. You should want that too, shouldn’t you? You were supposed to be one of us . But your daddy saw to it you’d disgrace your line, didn’t he?"

I glare at him, ignoring the rage boiling my blood. "You mean you want a world where you get to decide who’s worthy?"

He grins. "Exactly."

"You’re delusional."

"Perhaps." He glances at Callum, reaching out to fist his hair, yanking his head back. "But I have to admit, I was surprised when I found out this was your choice."

Callum makes a pained grunt, but he lifts the only semi-open eye, grinning through the blood. "Yeah? And I’d choose her again, ya miserable fuck,” he rasps, ending on a wet cough.

My magic surges, lighting up my veins.

Sylus laughs.

"Let’s make a trade," he muses. "You. For him."

I still, my breathing uneven. If I knew Sylus wouldn’t backstab me, I’d do it in a heartbeat, my life for my beta’s.

“No,” Callum snarls.

"Come to our side, Nova. You’re wasted on them."

The words coil through me, a temptation wrapped in poison.

"You think I’d ever betray my own?" I scoff. "I’d sooner rip your fucking throat out with my teeth."

Sylus sighs, shaking his head. "I figured you’d say that." He lifts his hand.

And everything explodes .

Magic detonates through the room, striking against the stone walls. The force throws me backward, my ears ringing, my vision splintering into shards of movement—Tai lunging, Echo materializing from the shadows, Second raising her hands as the rest of the MFS erupts into motion.

Sylus twists away from the chaos, his power radiating like a pulse in the dark. He laughs, dodging Tai’s strike, his eyes glowing silver as he flicks his wrist and sends a shockwave of power crashing through the floor.

I stagger, my breath torn from my lungs as I catch sight of Callum, still bound, his head lolling forward?—

No.

I won’t let this happen.

With a snarl, I unleash my magic, sending a blast of energy straight for Sylus’s chest.

His smirk falters into something else— fear.

But at the last second, he moves.

Not out of the way— behind the chair.

The chair where Callum sits.

I don’t realize it until it’s too late.

The instant my magic hits, I feel it. The recoil, the connection, the way it shreds through the air and collides ?—

— with Callum.

A strangled sound rips from my throat as time fractures before my eyes. His body jolts, arching against the restraints, his head snapping back as a surge of raw magic tears through him.

“No,” I whisper, my breath turning to ice.

He isn’t moving.

Tai is yelling, Echo is shouting orders, the entire room is breaking into war, but all I can see is the way Callum’s body slumps forward, his breath stolen.

I sprint toward him, my hands shaking as I skid to my knees beside the chair, ripping at the restraints.

“Callum?” My voice cracks, a keening whine tearing from my throat. “Callum, wake up. Wake up. ”

My fingers scramble at the ropes, nails breaking as I slash at the bindings. Blood drips from his nose, from his eyes, and his head lolls to the side. His chest isn’t moving ? —

No, no, no, no.

Tai shouts my name, but it’s distant, muffled under the thunderous silence that is Callum’s lack of breath.

I claw at his arms, shoving at his shoulders, my vision swimming. “You have to wake up, do you hear me? You have to—” My voice snaps, raw and ragged, my entire body shaking as I press my forehead to his like I did before. “Please, don’t do this. Don’t fucking do this! ”

His chest doesn’t rise. He doesn’t lift his head to give me a lazy smirk, or whisper a taunt with his thick brogue.

A sob tears from my throat, my hands grasping at him, pouring my magic into him, begging it to work as whimpers peal from me.

Heal him, heal him, heal him.

Nothing happens.

The noise around me fades, drowned out by the brutal pounding of my own heart.

Tai’s hand grips my shoulder, but I shrug it off, pressing both palms against Callum’s chest, shoving every last drop of my power into his skin.

“Come back. I love you!” I plead, my voice breaking apart. “Come back, please, please, please—” my words end on a shriek, my head thrown back as I keen to the sky, to anyone who’ll listen.

He doesn’t move.

A strangled cry wrenches free from my chest as my magic snaps, shattering uselessly. I shove against his chest again, once, twice?—

Nothing.

Another broken scream tears from me, shaking the very foundation of the room, and my wolf howls inside me, feral and lost.

Beta. Mine.

Tai pulls me back as I thrash, my hands grasping for Callum even as the reality of it sets in.

He’s gone.

My body collapses against Tai, my sobs wracking through me as war erupts around us.

“Get me a feather!” I shriek. “Please!”

The last thing I see before everything turns to chaos is Sylus’s face—his shock, his fear, the way he stares at Callum like he can’t believe what just happened.

Then—he claps a hand on my Highlander’s shoulder and sifts the two of them out .

And everything falls apart.