Some truths don't kill. They rot you from within."
Lucian staggered against the stone wall, his fingers curling around cold brick as if it were the only thing anchoring him to the present. His breath came ragged. The bond—it was fracturing. A hairline crack through something ancient and vital.
He whispered Kyrell's name into the silence.
No answer. Not in mind. Not in blood.
The corridors blurred as he moved, black robes whispering like shadows behind him. Every step echoed louder than it should. It was as though the castle itself had turned against him, hallways folding, doors closing, light dimming.
He found him, Lucian thought. Damien found him.
He could still feel Kyrell's presence—dimmed, distant—but not gone. Not yet.
Down the south wing, a tapestry fluttered though there was no wind. Lucian paused. A cold current bled from behind it. He yanked it aside.
A hidden door gaped open.
His heart sank.
---
Kyrell stood near the base of the spiral staircase, eyes wide and distant. He clutched a burnt silver pendant, knuckles white. At his feet, the mural's fragments shimmered like stained glass on the floor, reflections warping his pale face into something hollow and hunted.
Damien stood behind him, one hand on Kyrell's shoulder.
"Let him go," Lucian said, voice hoarse but firm.
Damien didn't flinch. "You shouldn't have lied."
"I protected him."
"You stole him."
Kyrell's breath hitched. "Lucian… is it true?"
Lucian stepped forward. "Yes. But not the way he wants you to believe."
Damien's grip tightened. "He made you forget that you bled for him. That you chose death over feeding on him. Do you remember now? You would've died in that forest, and he wiped it all away."
Kyrell's chest heaved. His voice trembled. "You let me think I was just… lost. That I wandered in. That you saved me."
"I did save you," Lucian whispered. "But you were broken. You were ready to die. You would've burned yourself before drinking from me. I couldn't let you choose that."
"So you took the choice from me."
Silence.
Then Lucian said, "I couldn't lose you."
Damien laughed quietly. "And you think I'm the villain."
Kyrell turned away from both of them, pressing the pendant against his chest. "My mind feels like it's splitting open. These memories—they don't just feel like mine, they feel lived. Real. But too much. Too fast."
Damien leaned in, voice velvet. "Come with me, Kyrell. I can help you remember everything. The truth about what you were. Who you were. He'll only cage you again."
Lucian stepped forward. "And you'll do what, Damien? Twist him into your own? You've always wanted him—because he chose me."
"Because you ruined him," Damien snarled.
The air charged between them like a storm held at bay.
But Kyrell didn't move.
Instead, he let the pendant fall.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said.
Damien's eyes flickered. "You're making a mistake."
Kyrell glanced back at Lucian. "Maybe. But it's mine to make."
Lucian's body trembled—not with power, but relief.
Damien stepped back into the shadows, face unreadable.
"I'll return," he said, voice fading as he vanished beyond the tapestry. "And when I do, the next truth will break you both."
---
Later, Lucian sat by the cold hearth, Kyrell silent across the room, staring into the fire.
"You should hate me," Lucian said quietly.
"I don't," Kyrell answered, voice raw. "But I don't trust you yet either."
Lucian nodded.
That was fair.
The bond between them wasn't broken. Just bruised. Bleeding.
But somehow, still beating.
---