The night refused to release us.
Even as dawn threatened the horizon, the air remained thick with shadows, heavy with the promise of blood yet to be spilled. The forest around us had grown unnaturally quiet no insects, no birds, not even the whisper of wind through the leaves.
Silence like this was never peace.
It was a warning.
Luna leaned against me as we moved, her weight lighter than it should have been. Every few steps, her breath hitched, sharp and uneven, and each time it did, the mark on her wrist pulsed faintly an angry red glow beneath her skin.
I felt it too.
Not just the painbbut the pull.
The curse beneath my own skin stirred, reacting to hers like a predator sensing prey… or a mate sensing its other half.
I clenched my jaw.
This was getting dangerous.
"Stop," I said softly.
She frowned, already shaking her head. "We can't. If he finds"
"You're bleeding," I cut in.
Only then did she look down.
Blood seeped between her fingers, dark and slow, dripping onto the forest floor. The mark had spread past her wrist now, black veins creeping up her forearm like living ink.
Her lips parted. "It wasn't like this before…"
I pulled her closer, pressing her back against the trunk of a fallen tree. "Sit."
She obeyed, reluctantly.
I knelt in front of her, my hands hovering over the wound, unsure. I'd killed monsters. I'd survived curses meant to break men.
But this?
This terrified me.
The mark pulsed again.
The shadows around us shifted.
I froze.
They were closer now.
I could feel them him slithering through the dark, feeding on the signal the mark was screaming into the world.
"He's coming," I murmured.
Luna's breath hitched. "Mark…"
Hearing his name sent something vicious twisting through my chest.
I stood abruptly, drawing my blade.
The forest answered.
From between the trees, the darkness thickened, folding inward on itself until it took shape long limbs, jagged edges, eyes glowing like dying embers.
Not one.
Three.
"Stay behind me," I ordered.
She reached for my sleeve. "You can't fight all of them alone."
I looked back at her and that was my mistake.
The shadows struck.
One lunged from the left, moving too fast for human eyes. I barely blocked in time, steel screeching as claws scraped my blade. Another came from behind, slamming into my ribs and sending me crashing into the dirt.
Pain exploded through my side.
Blood filled my mouth.
I laughed.
The monsters hesitated.
Bad move.
I let the curse loose.
Darkness poured from beneath my skin, wrapping around my arm, my blade humming as if alive. I surged forward, slashing through the nearest creature. It screamed a sound like glass shattering and dissolved into smoke.
The second monster recoiled.
The third went for Luna.
"No!"
I moved without thinking.
Too slow.
It reached her, claws brushing her shoulder and the mark flared white-hot.
Luna screamed.
The ground shook.
Power exploded outward, knocking all of us back. I hit a tree hard enough to crack bark, gasping as the air was driven from my lungs.
When I looked up
She was standing.
Not trembling. Not broken.
Standing.
The mark burned bright as fire, symbols twisting and reshaping across her skin. Shadows bent toward her, not attacking bowing.
Her eyes met mine.
They were glowing.
"I can feel it," she whispered, voice layered with something not entirely human. "The shadows… they're listening to me."
Fear and awe tangled in my chest.
The remaining monsters fled.
Silence fell again but it was different now.
Charged.
Dangerous.
I staggered to my feet and approached her slowly. "Luna… listen to me. You need to fight it."
"I'm not fighting it," she said quietly. "I'm understanding it."
That terrified me more than anything else.
She swayed.
I caught her just before she collapsed, her body burning against mine, heart racing wildly beneath my hand.
She looked up at me, eyes dimming back to their normal shade. "You're bleeding…"
"So are you," I said.
Her fingers tightened in my shirt. "Promise me something."
"What?"
"If this curse… if it turns me into something else"
"It won't," I snapped.
"Promise me," she insisted, voice breaking. "That you won't let me become his weapon."
The words sliced deep.
I rested my forehead against hers. "I swear. On my mother's grave. On every shadow that's ever tried to claim me."
Her breath shuddered.
Then, softly, she said, "Why do you care so much?"
I had no answer that wouldn't destroy us both.
So I kissed her.
Not gently.
Not safely.
It was desperate blood and fear and need tangled together. She froze for half a second, then kissed me back, fingers fisting in my hair as if anchoring herself to the world.
When we pulled apart, breathless, the forest felt smaller. Closer.
Bound.
From far away, laughter echoed through the trees.
Slow. Mocking.
Mark was watching.
And he knew now.