The light from the necklace wouldn’t fade.
It pulsed like a heartbeat–my heartbeat. As if it had merged with me, threaded itself into my soul. I clutched it tightly, gasping in the dark, but I still
couldn’t wake up.
“Damian…” I whispered again, but the word barely passed my lips.
His voice echoed around me, more distant now, like it was being carried through fog. His panic bled through every syllable, but I couldn’t reach him.
Couldn’t move. Couldn’t break free.
It was like drowning in silence.
I tried to scream again, to beg my body to wake, but my mind remained caged–locked between this dream world and the real one.
And all I had was this necklace. This cursed, magical, powerful thing.
Please… let me out.
But the darkness gave ne answer.
POV Shift: Damian
“Serene!” My voice was raw from shouting, but I didn’t care.
I shook her gently, then harder when she didn’t respond. Her body was warm, but still. Her face pale. Her breathing steady, but shallow.
“Mira!” I roared. “Get in here!”
The door burst open.
Mira rushed in, cloak fluttering behind her, eyes wide when she saw Serene still unmoving.
“She’s still not awake?” she asked breathlessly.
“Does she look awake?” I snapped. “You said this dream–journey wouldn’t hurt her!”
“It wasn’t supposed to,” she said quickly, kneeling beside us. “She was just supposed to connect with her mother… to find the necklace. That’s it,”
“Then why the hell won’t she wake up?” 1 growled, my voice shaking. “What the fuck did you people do?”
“She volunteered,” Mira shot back. “We didn’t force her.”
“She trusted you!” I snarled, pointing a trembling finger at her. And you sent her into this with no safety plan? No backup? What if she dies in there.
Mira?”
Mira’s face crumbled. “I didn’t think
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Chapter 137
“No,” I said bitterly. “You didn’t.”
I stood up abruptly, pacing the room like a caged animal. My hands curled into fists, fury pulsing through my veins. She looked so damn small on the bed.
So helpless.
Not my Serene. She was never helpless.
And yet, here she was.
“She’s been in this state for hours,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. “You’ve contacted the old woman, right?”
Mira stood quickly. “I’ve tried. Ten times. The connection spell isn’t working. It’s like she’s vanished.”
“Vanished?” I turned slowly to her. “How can she just vanish?”
“She’s not a regular witch, Damian! She’s… older. We don’t even know if she’s human. Or alive. She appears when she wants to.”
“So we’re screwed.”
“No,” Mira said, more firmly now. “We’re not. There has to be a way.”
She turned toward the bookcase, yanking down one of her grimoires and flipping through pages with frantic hands.
I sat beside Serene again, brushing a strand of hair from her face. Her lashes fluttered, but only slightly. She was somewhere far. Somewhere I couldn’t
reach.
“I should’ve been with her,” I whispered. “I should’ve followed.”
“She wouldn’t let you,” Mira murmured from across the room. “You know that.”
“She’s mine,” I said quietly. “My mate. My bond. If something happens to her…”
My throat closed. I couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Nothing is going to happen to her,” Mira said, but her voice wasn’t steady anymore.
“Then bring her back,” I hissed. “You’re the genius. Do something.”
“I’m trying!” she shouted, slamming her hand against the wall in frustration. “Gods, Damian, do you think I want this?”
“Then fix it!”
“I can’t without the old woman,” she snapped. “She said the dream realm was fragile. If we interrupt her too early, we might sever the connection
might never return.”
A thick silence settled between us.
And then Mira whispered, “But if we wait too long…”
I closed my eyes, jaw clenched so tight it hurt.
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Chapter 137
“No,” I said. “We are not losing her.”
POV: Serene (Dream Realm)
The world around me stayed dim, but I wasn’t in that dark house anymore. I wasn’t even in the forest
Now, it was mist.
Endless, pale mist swirling around my feet.
The necklace still glowed faintly in my hand, but its light was weakening. And I knew–deep in my bones–that if it went out, I’d be trapped here forever.
Something in the distance moved.
I turned quickly, heart hammering.
A shadow. Tall. Humanoid.
I took a step back.
And then-
His voice,
“Such power for one so young,” it said, low and cold. “You should’ve stayed asleep.”
I raised the necklace. “Who are you?”
“The question,” he said, stepping closer, “is who you are. And what you’re willing to lose.”
I didn’t recognize his face–masked by dark magic, his features unreadable–but I knew he wasn’t one of mine. He wasn’t of the old blood. He wasn’t even of
this realm.
He was something else.
“You’re one of the Elders,” I said quietly.
A pause. Then a chuckle.
“A title that doesn’t do us justice. But yes… We’ve been watching you. Carefully. Patiently.”
“Why now?” I asked. “Why come for me now?”
“Because you’ve begun unlocking doors that were meant to stay sealed. You’ve awakened bindlines that should have faded. You are not the matek we
feared–you are the reckoning we tried to prevent.”
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