Page 35

??A Price to Pay

Ember

The fire crackled low in the corner, casting long shadows across the walls lined with tomes older than time. The scent of old parchment, ash, and something unmistakably Dorian hung in the air.

I sat cross-legged on the velvet chaise, a heavy book cracked open across my thighs, words written in a language I shouldn’t have been able to read… But somehow, I could.

Watcher script. Seeker markings. Sigils for binding, for breaking, for belonging.

Across from me, Dorian leaned over the desk, candlelight catching the edges of his jaw as he flipped another brittle page, eyes scanning the text like it held all the answers he refused to speak aloud.

I should’ve been overwhelmed. The truth in these pages clawed at the edge of reason, creatures bound by fate, wars fought in silence, the unbearable cost of the bond.

But instead, I stared at Dorian, my chest rising and falling like I had just surfaced from drowning.

The night we shared still clung to my skin like heat. Every kiss. Every whispered threat turned worship. The memory of his hands, his voice in the dark, the way he touched me like I was his sanctuary… It echoed in this quiet room, louder than the turning of any page.

He looked up at me like I was it. Like I was his beginning and his end. And somewhere deep inside the parts of me I’d buried, I knew he was mine, too.

“I’m scared,” I whispered.

“I know,” he murmured into my hair. “But I’ve got you.”

And for the first time in what felt like forever… I believed him.

Not because I had to.

But because I wanted to.

Before I could respond, there was a knock at the door, a loud, insistent sound that cut through the tension between us. My heart jumped and I felt Dorian stiffen beside me, his eyes narrowing, though he said nothing.

I glanced at him, the confusion clear on my face. “Who—”

Before I could finish the question, the door creaked open, and in stepped Cassian.

His presence filled the room like a storm, his dark clothes and calculating smile making it clear that he was a man who thrived in the shadows.

“Dorian,” Cassian greeted him, his voice smooth, almost too calm. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”

I felt Dorian’s grip on me tighten ever so slightly, his body stiffening, and the tension between the two men was palpable, thick with unsaid things.

“Always,” Dorian responds, his voice low and clipped. “What do you want, Cassian?”

“I bring news,” Cassian said, his eyes flicking over to me, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “From the Underworld.”

I froze at his words, the air suddenly growing colder. Dorian’s body shifted as though he was preparing for something. The conversation took on an entirely different weight now, a sense of danger creeping into the space between us.

“What news?” Dorian asked, his voice laced with a sharp edge.

Cassian stepped further into the room, his gaze never leaving me. His smirk deepened, and I could feel something in the room shift, an undercurrent of tension I didn’t understand.

“The Gate is closer than we thought,” Cassian said, his voice low and dangerous. “And it’s not just you who needs to be concerned, Dorian. She does, too.”

I was still confused, but the weight of Cassian’s words hit me like a punch to the gut. She does ? What did that mean? What was I supposed to do with that?

“What do you mean?” Dorian asked, his voice ice cold.

Cassian’s eyes flickered toward me, his gaze hardening. “Your precious, little human, she doesn’t even realize it yet, but she’s the key to everything. The Watchers, Dorian. She has to die. Just like her mother.”

I froze, my heart hammering in my chest as everything I thought I knew began to unravel.

My mother.

I’d heard the whispers, the warnings, but hearing it from Cassian’s mouth, made it feel real now.

It felt like truth .

Despite what Kreed said, this felt more real. For all I knew, they could both be lying.

I turned to Dorian, searching his face for answers, but all I saw was a storm. A tempest of emotions battling beneath the surface.

“No,” Dorian growled, his eyes narrowing as he stepped forward, his hand tightening into a fist. “You’ll never touch her.”

Cassian merely laughed, his expression dark and cold. “You can’t protect her from this, Dorian. Not forever. It’s inevitable.”

The silence between them grew thick and heavy, the weight of the Underworld’s reach pressing on me. I didn’t know what this meant for me, for Dorian, for us, but the fear began to settle in my bones.

“You can’t stop it, Dorian,” Cassian sneered, his words almost mocking. “She’s the last of them. And the Gate? It won’t stay closed for long. Not with her blood running through the world.”

I turned to Dorian, my voice shaky but determined. “What’s going on? What does he mean by the Gate? My mother—”

He cut me off with a sharp shake of his head. “We’ll talk about this later.”

But I could feel it in him.

The fear.

The desperation.

He’s keeping something from me, and I knew it wasn’t just about protecting me anymore. It was about something bigger, something far darker than I was ready to understand.

Cassian stepped toward the door, his eyes lingering on me one last time. “The Underworld never forgets. And neither do I, Dorian.”

He was gone before I could say another word, leaving the room thick with tension. And as Dorian turned to me, I saw it in his eyes, the truth he’d been hiding from me. He was scared . For me.

And I didn’t know if I could keep running from this.