Chapter Twenty — Lyra’s POV

One quiet evening, that’s all I wanted. An evening where the patrons of the diner weren’t shooting me cold glares, one where I didn’t have to deal with my best friend resenting me, one with no tangled emotions to do with Kaine, and one without wrestling with the reality of being a hybrid mother to a hybrid child. This evening had been just that—calm and undisturbed.

Leo and I were having a dinner of burgers and fries. He worked on the puzzle, his small face scrunched in concentration. It was an assignment Kaine had given him, while my own nose was buried in one of my father’s old journals I’d recently found. My father didn’t write often, and his entries were scattered, but I knew he liked to capture the good moments. According to him, it helped him hold on to the good memories when things turned dark.

A shrill cry cut through the evening, distant, yet still eerily close, and my head snapped up. It wasn’t like the usual sounds of children playing in the moonlight. This was different. It was a high-pitched scream that tore through the air, raw and trembling, carrying a primal terror that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The scream was followed by a chaotic clamor, which amplified the dread rising inside of me.

l could see the terror mirrored in Leo’s wide-eyed stare. His eyes searched mine, as if I might have the answers.

“Stay here,” I whispered, brushing a hand over his head, hoping to reassure us both. But my cold touch likely did nothing.

I headed to the door, glancing over my shoulder to see Leo watching me, his eyes wide with expectation. I offered him a small, reassuring smile before swinging the door open and quickly shutting it again.

I was hurrying down the steps of the porch when I spotted Maddy sprinting toward her house a few blocks away. She looked terrified, clutching the hem of her floral dress as if it were her lifeline. She had mentioned she had a date earlier but something had clearly gone wrong.

“Maddy!” I called out, rushing toward her as she came to an abrupt halt.

When she turned, her eyes wide with fear met mine before darting around in search of something or someone—I couldn’t tell. Her face was ghostly pale, as though all the blood had drained away. Her breathing came in panicked, frantic bursts, her chest heaving with each gasp. The worry I was feeling tripled instantly.

“Maddy, what’s going on?” I asked, my voice low, as if dreading her reply.

The dread was justified when she answered. “There’s been an invasion,” she said in a broken, breathless gasp. “The Blackwoods.”

The name hit me like a bolt, paralyzing me as I felt all the blood drain away from my own face. A cold, creeping dread settled in my bones, and a single relentless thought pounded in my head: They’ve found me.

Maddy didn’t waste another second. She gathered her dress in her hand and took to her heels. Without hesitation myself, I dashed back to the house, bursting through the front door with a panic that had Leo springing to his feet.

“Leo, grab your toys, your blanket—anything you need. We’re leaving.” I said, snatching up a satchel bag lying on the sofa and frantically tossing things inside.

“Mummy, are we running again? What about Dad?” His soft voice trembled, an indication that he hadn’t gone to his room as I thought he had.

“Leo,” I started, not pausing for a moment. “Your father…he’ll meet us soon.” Words faltered as a chilling thought gripped me—where was Kaine? Had the Blackwoods found him? But I shook the thought away, gesturing to Leo’s room. “Just get your things. We have to go. Now.”

The urgency in my voice sent Leo barreling into his room, though I caught the hesitation and sadness in his eyes as he turned. I hated putting him through this. I wanted him to have a normal life, a real childhood. But there was nothing normal about running every time I heard the name Blackwood. Yet this was the reality we lived.

I pushed the sadness and regret aside, focusing on one thing: getting out of this town before the Blackwoods found us. When I flung the front door open, I froze in surprise at the sight of Isolde on my doorstep.

“Isolde,” I said, eyes darting frantically to see if there was any sign of the enemy. “What are you doing here?” I didn’t wait for her answer. “I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

“I know,” she said, her eyes darting around the street, breaths coming in quick, shallow bursts. Her hair was a mess, and she smelled of bacon and grease, like she’d just come off a long shift. “Kaine sent me. He told me to take you somewhere safe.”

“Kaine?” My heart skipped. ”Where is he?”

“He’s safe. He’s helping the pack get to safety. But we need to move now.”

I nodded, grabbing Leo’s hands and following her without question as she led me down a path I didn’t even know existed despite growing up in this town.

The thought of being captured again, returning to that hell, filled me with dread. I imagined that this time, my stay would be short. If they found us, then they would have all they needed to break their curse, and once that happened, they would discard us like worthless scraps, and become a menace to all.

I tightened my grip on Leo as we hurried along the empty path. Occasionally, Isolde would glance back to ensure that we were still in tow. We walked for maybe an hour. The tunnel seemed endless, but it's eerie emptiness and quietness provided a strange comfort, as it appeared like we were far away from town.

“These tunnels were used to transport shifters during the Great War,” Isolde remarked, as if sensing my thoughts. “My father used to tell me stories about them before he passed.”

I pursed my lips, unsure how to respond, but she went on.

“Kaine and I discovered it when we got caught out in a rainstorm one night.”

Maybe I was overthinking it, but when she turned back at me, I caught a glimmer of a smile breaking through her panicked facade.

“We had just finished sparring. I needed to clear my head after something that happened at the diner, and he was there for me.”

I didn’t need to see her face to know. The warmth in her voice was enough to tell me she was smiling. She went on and on about that day, and I listened, not having any choice. There was a greater threat at hand: the Blackwoods. I couldn’t afford to lose focus by letting my thoughts wander to the fact that my best friend had been harboring feelings for my mate this whole time.

Suddenly, Isolde slowed, pressing a finger to her lips, signaling me to keep quiet. “Do you hear that?” she whispered.

I leaned forward, straining my ears, and there it was—the unmistakable voices of two men. Panic surged through me. There was no place to hide in this tunnel. We had two choices: retreat back to town, or go on. And retreating was not going to be an option.

“We can take them,” I said, adrenaline coursing through my veins.

“We don’t even know who they are,” Isolde countered, her voice trembling faintly.

Just then, the men appeared, and the crested vests they wore made it clear they were Blackwood guards.

“We can flank them,” I urged Isolde, recalling our sparring sessions. “Remember when we had to face four opponents? What happened then?”

“We kicked their asses,” she replied, a smirk tugging at her lips.

“What’s two compared to four?”

I kneeled in front of Leo, meeting his wide, worried eyes. “I don’t want you to see this, baby,” I murmured, forcing a gentle smile to reassure him. “Turn around and cover your eyes for me. Promise you won’t look, no matter what.”

My heart cracked as he stared back, fear clouding his little face, but after a moment, he gave a tiny nod. Slowly, he turned around, pressing his hands tightly over his eyes.

With a determined glance, Isolde extended her claws and launched herself at one of the guards. The move was etched in my memory, and I knew it all too well. Instead of targeting the second guard as they anticipated, I took a different approach. I ducked, dodging the second guard’s swing, before catching the first guard with a sweeping kick. He toppled to the ground, allowing Isolde to sink her claws into his throat. The second guard came at us with full force, and as though it was the easiest thing I have ever done, I struck him squarely in the face, just as Isolde sidestepped to avoid his blow. The impact had him staggering backward, dazed, and with a ruthlessness I didn’t know she had, Isolde slashed his lower abdomen.

“That felt good,” she said with a grin, wiping the blood from her hand on one of the guard’s vests. “Come on, we’ve gotta get out of here before more shifters show up.”

I glanced at Leo, who looked shaken, and gripped my arm again as we sprinted down the tunnel, away from the mess of the bodies. Only then did I tell Leo to open his eyes. The end of the tunnel was finally in sight, and we burst into the dense woods. I felt a wave of relief wash over me. But that relief was short-lived when a familiar scent pricked at my senses; we were not alone. Heavy footsteps announced the presence of more enemies.

“How many are there?” I asked Isolde, but she remained rooted on the spot, her expression a mix of satisfaction and simmering anger.

I was confused at first, but that confusion quickly gave way to realization when I heard that familiar sinister voice. “Lyra Winters, we meet again.” Hecate’s voice slithered through the air, cold and taunting.

Instinct screamed for me to flee, but as I turned, a sharp sting pierced my neck. Dread coiled in my stomach as I realized I was face to face with Thane Blackwood, a look of triumph gleaming on his face as he seized Leo by the shoulders.

“No!” I shouted, my voice echoing in the darkness.

As my vision blurred, and the woods began to spin, I felt the ground sleep beneath me.

The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was the face of my best friend —Isolde, watching with fulfillment as I succumbed to the darkness. She betrayed me.