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The dark being turned his red glare to the blind healer.

His form began to shrink until he no longer loomed over them.

Now, still shrouded in shadows that danced around him, he appeared only a few inches taller than Fane.

Jewel could see the vague hints of the details of a human face, but the more her eyes tried to focus, the less her mind was able to grasp.

“Who are you to decide when it is enough?” he asked Heather.

“At what point in time was it the place of a human to declare that the sacrifice was enough, all transgressions had been covered, and peace should rule in the world?

“You are flesh and bones. Your life so short. You’re here one moment and gone the next.

Any sacrifice you make wouldn’t cover much of anything.

You have little to offer the world considering you are only in it for a blink.

And the time you are here, you age quickly.

Your body becomes less efficient, less able to offer your people anything of significance. ”

Heather’s jaw tightened, but her expression didn’t falter. “Maybe my time is short. Maybe I’m just flesh and bones. Maybe I’m a blink to you, but that doesn’t mean my sacrifices don’t matter. It doesn’t mean I don’t matter.”

The ruler tilted his head, the faint outline of his shadowed face shifting in a way that made Jewel’s stomach churn. The darkness around him pulsed and writhed like living things, feeding off the tension in the air. His laugh—low and bitter—echoed around them, bouncing off the cavernous walls.

“Ah.” His voice dripped with disdain. “The blind healer speaks of having significance. Tell me, mortal, do the grains of sand on a beach cry out for meaning? Do the leaves on a tree demand to be remembered when they fall to the ground and decay? You are no different. A speck of dust in a vast, endless expanse.”

Jewel’s chest tightened at his words, and her heart ached at the venom in his tone.

She wanted to defend Heather, to stand up to this being that spoke as though they were nothing, but Jewel couldn’t seem to find her voice.

She was too aware of the way his gaze kept returning to her, lingering like he knew something she didn’t.

Fane stepped forward yet again, perhaps to draw the ruler's attention to himself. The alpha’s movements were slow and deliberate, his wolf practically vibrating with tension under his skin.

He wasn’t one for long speeches; he was a wolf, a protector, and he spoke in actions more than words.

But this time, he let his voice cut through the ruler’s derision.

“And yet”—Fane’s tone was low and dangerous—“here you are, trapped in this place, needing the help of those grains of sand to do what you cannot. You can belittle us all you like, but if we’re so insignificant, why do you even bother speaking to us? Why not let us rot here like the others?”

The shadows around the ruler stilled, and for a moment, the air seemed to grow heavier.

It pressed down on Jewel’s shoulders, and she struggled to keep her breathing steady.

The ruler’s gaze shifted back to Fane, and though his face was still cloaked in darkness, Jewel swore she saw the faintest hint of a smirk.

“Careful, wolf,” he said, his voice quieter now but no less chilling.

“You tread dangerously close to impertinence. But…” He paused, as if considering something.

“You are not wrong. I do need you, though I loathe to admit it. I cannot open the veil myself, but there are … ways. As I mentioned, before the unseeing fool spoke, powerful magic binds this realm, but blood magic can unbind many things. But there will be a cost, and it will not be small.”

“This unseeing fool hopes the sacrifice is your ass on a spit, going round and round over a fire like a rotisserie chicken.” Heather sounded as if she were speaking about a delicious meal and not about cooking the Ruler of the Realm of the Dead for dinner.

“Perhaps your sacrifice will be your voice box, ripped from your body,” the ruler offered.

“Do not say another word,” Andora barked out as she pointed a finger at Heather. Then Andora turned back to the dark being.

“By all means, let her speak while she still has the ability,” he continued. “After all, it’s called a sacrifice for a reason.” He looked at Fane. “The more you have, the more you lose. And you have much, don’t you, young alpha?”

Fane didn’t flinch at the implication, his piercing, blue eyes locked on the ruler’s shadowed form. “I am no stranger to loss. Tell us what we need to do.”

The ruler’s gaze shifted back to Jewel, and her stomach dropped. She instinctively wrapped her arms around herself, as though she could shield herself from the weight of his stare.

“It begins with and ends with her,” the ruler said, his voice softer now, almost contemplative.

“The healer. She is an enigma. There is darkness that continually attempts to embrace her. Tendrils touch her, then dance away. But she carries something within her—a light, life, power—that keeps it at bay. The light does not belong in this realm. It has no place here, and yet, it lingers. The darkness, well, that is quite at home in my realm. I wonder…” His words hung in the air like a thick fog.

“What do you mean it begins and ends with her?” Fane’s voice was sharp now, his protective instincts flaring as he stepped closer to Jewel, placing himself between her and the ruler.

The ruler’s laugh was soft this time, almost wistful, but it sent a shiver down Jewel’s spine all the same.

“You’ll see soon enough, wolf. The sacrifices required are different for each person that it’s required of.

I thought it would be you. But it’s her.

” He paused, his shadowed face turned toward Jewel again. “It’s definitely her.”

Jewel’s breath caught, and for a moment, the world seemed to tip. Fane’s hand brushed against hers, grounding her, but his gaze never left the ruler.

“Explain,” Fane demanded through gritted teeth, his wolf’s growl bleeding into his voice.

The ruler’s form began to dissipate, the shadows unraveling like smoke.

“All in due time.” His voice echoed as his figure faded into the darkness.

“Prepare yourselves, mortals. The path ahead will demand more than you are ready to give. But know this…” They could no longer see him, but his voice was like a death knell.

“Once you have lingered in a place where you do not belong, part of it attaches itself to you. When you leave this place, the shadows will follow you. You will never escape them.”

And then he was gone, leaving only silence and the oppressive weight of his words hanging in the air.

“Well, that wasn’t ominous at all.” A visible shiver ran down Heather.

Jewel walked over to her fellow healer and reached for her hand. “I love you, but we seriously need to go over when it’s appropriate to speak and when it’s just better to hold your tongue.”

Heather snorted. “I prefer holding cake or Kale’s hand. My tongue, not so much.”

Andora sighed. “She’s hopeless. I say if we have to toss anyone into a sacrificial pit, Unseeing Fool bites the dust.”

Instead of being offended. Heather just laughed. “I didn’t think you had much of a personality. I’m glad you’re proving me wrong.”

Jewel shook her head as she stepped back so she could look at Fane, who hadn’t said a thing. His jaw clenched as his eyes continued to stare in the direction the ruler had left.

“Fane?” Jewel whispered, unsure if she should interrupt whatever thoughts he might be having. “It’s probably a dumb question, but seeing as how I’ve managed to dumb myself down, it’s not shocking for me to ask. Are you okay?”

After several heart beats of silence, Fane turned to look at her. His piercing, blue eyes narrowed, and power radiated off him. “He said you had light and life in you.” He repeated the ruler’s words. “I’m trying to figure out what he meant by the word ‘life.’”

“Wait, what?” Heather asked, but Jewel ignored her friend.

A chill at Jewel’s right side caused her to turn her head to see the apparition of her mother standing a foot away, staring at her. She had the same knowing look that the ruler had had. “What?” Jewel thought maybe she’d get an answer, though her mother seemed to only talk when it suited her.

“You think the darkness has won, but the darkness cannot claim what it does not own.” Her mother’s voice, like a whisper, carried on the edges of a breeze.

Jewel’s breath hitched. A chill settled deep in her bones as her mother’s ghost stared at her, unblinking.

The ghost’s gaze was intense, her expression unreadable, and Jewel felt as if those spectral eyes could see everything—every fear, every doubt—laid bare.

“The light within you is not just a shield. It is a beacon. It calls to the shadows—not to consume you, but to challenge you. To test whether you are worthy to wield what you carry.”

Jewel’s mind grasped onto the word carry.

Her hand instinctively moved to her abdomen, the faintest of movements, but Fane noticed.

His sharp gaze flicked to her hand for the briefest of moments before returning to the ghost. Her heart thundered in her chest, and her breath came in shallow gasps.

“What… What do I carry?” Her voice trembled.

Her mother’s ghost gave a faint, bittersweet smile which tugged at her lips, though it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Life, light. In its purest form. A gift given, a gift protected. But gifts of such magnitude are never without cost. You must decide, Jewel. Will you cling to the light for yourself? Or will you give it freely, knowing the shadows will come for you, and that if you don’t, the rest of the world will suffer for it? ”

Jewel swayed slightly, her knees weak, but Fane was there. His hand steadied her before she could falter. His touch was grounding, his strength a lifeline, but the storm brewing in his intense gaze was undeniable.

“What are you saying?” Fane’s voice was sharp, his wolf’s growl barely restrained.

His protective instincts flared, and his other hand rested on Jewel’s shoulder, as if to shield her from the weight of the ghost’s words.

“Are you talking about the life inside her? The light you keep mentioning—are you saying that’s…

” His jaw clenched as if speaking the words aloud would make them more real.

The ghost’s gaze shifted to Fane, her expression softening, though sadness lingered in her ethereal features. “You cannot shield her from what is coming, wolf. Her path was set long before you walked into her life. The choices she must make are hers alone.”

Jewel’s stomach churned at her words, and her hand once again brushed against her abdomen.

She didn’t need the ghost’s confirmation.

She already knew what her mother meant. Jewel had known, deep down, since the moment she’d entered this cursed realm, when the darkness had first tried to take hold of her but couldn’t.

She’d been ignoring it, denying it, because she didn’t deserve it.

The life within her had kept it at bay. And now, that same life—the tiny, fragile spark growing inside her—was both her greatest strength and her greatest vulnerability.

Her mother’s ghost stepped closer, her translucent form flickering faintly.

“Strength isn’t about knowing you can win,” she said softly, her gaze locking with Jewel’s.

“It’s about standing and fighting, even when you probably won’t win.

The light within you is stronger than you realize, because it is born of love, of sacrifice, of hope.

But hope…” Her voice faltered, and for the first time, her expression cracked, sorrow etched deep into her face.

“Hope demands a price. And the question is, Jewel, are you willing to pay it?”

Jewel’s breath caught, tears stinging her eyes as the enormity of her mother’s words hit her.

She thought of the life that might be growing inside her, so small and fragile, yet so full of potential.

She thought of Dalton and how he would take the news, of how protective he would be in this moment if he was here with her.

She thought of Fane, the pack, Heather, and the others who had fought so hard to survive.

And then she thought of the ruler’s words: the sacrifices required were different for each person, but she would be required to give the sacrifice this time.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice breaking. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”

Her mother’s ghost reached out, her hand hovering just above Jewel’s cheek, though there was no warmth, no touch. “Strength isn’t something you find, my daughter. It’s something you choose.”

Fane stepped forward, his growl deep and threatening.

“She’s not choosing anything.” His voice was low and furious.

“Whatever this is, we’ll figure it out. But she’s not giving up any life, not her own, or another’s.

Not for this place. Not for anything.” His wolf’s dominate nature becoming more intense, his power radiating off him in waves.

The ghost’s gaze lingered on Fane for a moment, a flicker of something like respect crossing her features.

Then, her form beginning to fade, she turned back to Jewel.

“The light is not just within you, Jewel. It is you. Protect it, if you can. But if the cost of escape is too great, you will have to decide whether the light is worth the sacrifice. I will be with you until it is time for me not to be. But for now, I will see if I can keep the shadows at bay.”

And then she was gone, leaving Jewel shaking, her heart heavy with the weight of her mother’s words.

Fane’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her close.

His chest was a solid wall of strength against her trembling form.

His voice was low and fierce as he whispered against her hair, “You’re not doing this alone.

Whatever it takes, Jewel, we’ll find another way. I swear it.”

Heather cleared her throat, breaking the tension. “Well, that was thoroughly terrifying.” Though her tone was light, her face was pale. “Anyone else feel like we’ve somehow been drafted into a war we didn’t sign up for?”

Andora snorted. “Welcome to life with the supernatural. It’s always a war.”

Jewel managed a small, tremulous smile. Her heart was still heavy, but her spirit was resolute. Whatever lay ahead, she knew one thing for certain: she wouldn’t face it alone. But in the back of her mind, the question her mother had posed lingered like a shadow: Was Jewel willing to pay the price?