Mai’s P.O.V.
The mont Liam’s body hit the ground, the world shattered.
His na ripped from my throat, a sound so raw it barely felt like my own voice.
No. No. No.
The tallic scent of blood hit like ice, sharp and suffocating. Liam lay on the pavent, his limbs twisted unnaturally, his chest frighteningly still. His once-golden hair was soaked in red, spreading across the asphalt like ink spilled on paper.
I scrambled forward, dropping to my knees beside him, my hands shaking as they reached for him. His skin—too cold. His pulse—too faint.
"Baby—" My voice broke. "Liam, wake up! Please!"
Ollie was already beside , his hands pressing against Liam’s chest, his breaths coming in short, panicked gasps.
"He’s not—he’s not breathing," Ollie stamred, his voice cracking.
I couldn’t process the words.
The truck driver, a middle-aged man with wide, horrified eyes, stumbled toward us. "Jesus Christ! I didn’t see him—he just—he just—"
I didn’t hear him. I didn’t care.
Liam.
Liam.
He wasn’t responding, and his shield, I sucked in a sharp breath, a heavy pressure clamping around my chest. It was gone.
The whispers ca like a flood.
A slow, slithering voice curled into my mind like smoke seeping through a crack.
"You thought you could get rid of ?"
No. No, no, no.
It had been two weeks since I heard her. Two weeks of silence. The last ti I heard from her was when Eldur kidnapped . It was two weeks of peace. Because of Liam. Because he had kept her buried deep where she couldn’t reach .
But now—
"Poor, sweet Mai. Your little protector is gone. That ans—"
A cruel, breathless laugh filled my skull, crawling under my skin like centipedes.
"That ans I’m free."
I clutched my head, squeezing my temples, trying to force her out. "No," I whispered. "No, you’re not."
"Oh, sweetheart." The witch’s voice cooed, soft and mocking. "You can’t stop anymore. You never could."
She was right.
Because without Liam, I was nothing but an open door.
A tremor rocked through my body, and the world tilted, the pavent beneath stretching and warping like a living thing. My hands dug into the ground as I fought for control, but it was slipping, fast.
I felt her. Pushing, tearing, clawing.
She wanted out.
"Your body was never yours to begin with," she whispered, amusent dripping from every syllable. "It was always mine. And now, your soul will burn."
Panic seized .
I whipped my head toward Eldur. "OPEN A PORTAL. NOW."
He didn’t move.
My stomach dropped.
Eldur stood frozen, his eyes wide and unfocused, his breath coming in shallow, uneven gasps. His fingers twitched like he wanted to lift his hands, but sothing was stopping him.
It hit then.
Liam’s shield had protected him, too. Had kept Raivo at bay.
And now—
Now Eldur was fighting his own war.
"He’s losing," the witch taunted. "Just like you."
A shuddering breath left .
Ollie’s voice was sharp, desperate. "What the hell is happening with the both of you? Eldur, move! We need to get Liam to a healer now!"
Eldur didn’t answer.
Didn’t blink.
Didn’t breathe.
He looked like he was drowning in sothing none of us could see.
His hands clenched, his jaw locked tight as if his own body wasn’t his anymore.
No, no, no.
"They’re both going to break," the witch sang in my head. "And then? Well... Let’s just say this will be fun."
Her laughter echoed inside , a sick, twisted lody that rattled my bones.
I turned back to Liam, my breath coming in frantic, choked sobs. His chest still hadn’t moved. His heart—
No.
"Don’t you dare die on ," I hissed, shaking him. My tears splattered onto his face, streaking through the blood on his skin. "You hear ? Don’t you dare."
Ollie let out a strangled noise. "Mai, we need to go. Now."
I knew that.
I knew we had to move.
But how could I, when I could barely breathe?
Liam was slipping away, and so was I.
Eldur was unraveling, and Raivo was slowly taking over.
********
The truck driver reached down, his trembling hands trying to lift Liam’s limp body.
"I’ll take him to the truck," he stamred. His voice wavered with panic. "There’s a hospital—"
A guttural growl tore from my throat before I even realized it.
Ollie’s growl followed imdiately, low and dangerous.
The driver froze. His eyes widened in fear, his breath hitching as he took a stumbling step back.
Smart move.
Liam was ours. No one would touch him but us.
I crouched lower, my hands still gripping Liam’s blood-soaked shirt, my fingers digging into the fabric as if holding onto him tightly enough could anchor him here—with . With us.
His skin was too pale. His chest still wasn’t moving.
The truck driver swallowed hard, his gaze darting between us and the boy bleeding out on the pavent. "I—I was just trying to help," he whispered.
But his kind of help wasn’t enough. Not when Liam was slipping away.
Ollie yelled at Eldur again, "Eldur, open the portal!" Still, Eldur didn’t move.
A slow, sharp chuckle curled through my mind.
And then, my lips parted.
But it wasn’t my voice that ca out.
"He will not open the portal."
The words were cold. Foreign.
Wrong.
A sinister shiver skated down my spine.
I hadn’t said that.
I hadn’t said that.
My body tensed as the realization dawned, as the wrongness slithered beneath my skin like a poison slowly seeping into my veins.
Laevira.
She was speaking through now.
She was slowly taking control.
A second voice—darker, raspier—answered from Eldur.
"As you wish, my Queen."
My stomach twisted.
Raivo.
I turned sharply, my eyes locking onto Eldur’s rigid fra. His shoulders were stiff, his hands curled into fists, his breath shallow and uneven.
His silver eyes—normally dim and stormy—were completely red.
Raivo was in control.
Just like Laevira was trying to take control of .
No.
I gritted my teeth, forcing my hands to stay still, even as they trembled. I couldn’t let her win. I wouldn’t let her win.
With every ounce of strength I had left, I pushed back.
It was like trying to shove against a wall of ice—cold, unyielding, and terrifying.
"You’re not taking my body," I snarled.
Laevira’s laugh echoed inside my skull. "Oh, darling. But I already have."
A searing pain shot through my chest, like claws raking against the inside of my ribcage.
I gasped, my vision blurring.
She was pushing harder now, twisting her way into every nerve, every muscle, every breath.
No.
I fought.
I fought.
I pushed back with everything in , clawing my way up, forcing her down, back into the pit where she belonged.
My body shook violently as I battled for control.
The world around flickered—shifting between reality and the dark, suffocating abyss of Laevira’s grasp.
I would not let her take .
I would not let her win.
I was Mai Blackwood.
And I would not lose to her.
A guttural scream ripped through my throat as I shoved her down, forcing myself back into the light.
The mont I snapped back into control, I staggered forward, panting, my entire body trembling.
Eldur was still trapped.
Still under Raivo’s control.
Ollie took one angry look at him and then—
SMACK!
Ollie’s hand collided with Eldur’s face in a brutal slap.
"SNAP OUT OF IT!" Ollie bellowed.
Eldur jerked, his head whipping to the side. His breath hitched.
For a long, terrifying mont, he didn’t move.
Then, he let out a sharp inhale.
A flicker of silver returned to his eyes.
A low growl rumbled from his chest as his hands twitched—once, twice—before finally lifting.
A second later, the air split open, rippling like water as the portal tore through reality.
It led straight to our apartnt.
Ollie didn’t hesitate.
He bent down, scooped Liam’s motionless body into his arms, and—without a second thought—jumped through the portal.
The truck driver let out a strangled scream, stumbling backward before scrambling toward his truck in terror.
I didn’t spare him another glance.
I grabbed Eldur’s arm and yanked him with through the portal.
The mont we landed in the apartnt, the portal slamd shut behind us.
"DADDY!"
Ollie and I scread in unison.
"DADDY, PLEASE HELP!"
My voice cracked, raw with desperation.
"MOMMY! PLEASE!"
I clutched Liam’s shirt tighter, my vision swimming as Ollie panicking, ran out of the room to go look for our parents.
But as he left, my throat tightened.
My lips wouldn’t move.
I tried to scream again.
Nothing ca out.
A cold whisper curled through my mind.
"Did you really think I’d let you keep calling for help, little one?"
My body locked up. My limbs twitched.
And then, my knees buckled.
I crashed onto the floor, my body jerking violently as convulsions wracked through .
The last thing I heard before the darkness swallowed whole—
Was Laevira’s voice.
"Everything you’ve ever had... I will take from you. And then? I will burn it all to the ground."
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