In her living room, Monroe glared at me as if she might drink the blood straight from my veins.
"How dare you stand before me after freezing my son?" Her grip on the wine glass was so tight it seemed ready to shatter.
"That's why I'm here—to cure him, to unfreeze him." I leaned back, legs propped casually on the table.
Her eyes widened. "You're mocking me!" She scanned the room, restless. "Where are your allies? I know they're hiding, waiting to strike." She shot to her feet.
"They're not here. They're trapped elsewhere. I came to you because you're the strongest witch I know. Help me, and in return, I'll free your son."
"I'm listening," she said, setting the glass on the table.
I told her.
"What guarantee do I have you won't betray me once I open the portal?" she asked.
"Isn't it obvious? When the truth comes out—that I sought your help—do you think they'll take me back? I'll need a place to stay." I arched a brow.
She studied me. "Reasonable. But I'll need more." She rested her chin against her palm.
My gaze hardened.
"A blood pact," she whispered. "Break it, and your brother dies."
It was a brutal choice, but I nodded.
Satisfied, she led me to a chamber where Dorian lay frozen, his body carved in ice, a statue beneath the ceiling's pale light.
She poured salt, shaping a circle on the floor around us. Taking my hand, she slit my wrist and bled me into a glass, then added her own. She hovered her palm above, chanting as droplets rose, suspended in the air. Her voice swelled, thunderous, until she clapped her hands together.
The moment she pulled them apart, a sharp jolt struck my chest. A burning sigil of blood etched itself into my skin—a circle—an exact mirror of the one on hers.
"Here goes our pact!" she smiled, tracing another circle with the last of the blood inside the salt ring.
She lifted her arms to the sky. "I summon you, dark one—open the path to the valley of shadows!" Her voice cracked through the air just as a bolt of lightning split the circle's center.
She staggered back. Her expression said everything—whatever she expected hadn't happened.
"What is it?" I asked.
"The door… it's blocked from the other side." Her eyes snapped to me. "There is another way, but you may regret it." She bit her tongue, realizing she'd already said too much.
"What way? Tell me."
"I could summon the gateway, but we would have to break it. And breaking it means it can never be closed again. Which means—"
"Submerging both realms." The words burned in my throat. I dropped onto her chair, wine waiting on the table.
I poured a glass, drained it. Vulnerability hit me like a wound—I was nothing without my friends. I couldn't even think straight.
"This is not the time for weakness," I told myself. "Focus."
If I returned to the school, they'd tell me to abandon my friends, to let them go. But I couldn't. They were trapped because of me. If I stayed, I could bring them back—yet the cost would stain me forever. They'd never forgive me.
"What do I do?" My hands clutched my head, torn between salvation and damnation.
Monroe was staring at me. "It is better to live with a friend's hatred than without them, knowing they're suffering."
"I know," I mumbled. "Let's do this." I stood.
Monroe stood by the circle she had drawn. "We'll need your freezing powers. Can you control them now?"
I nodded. She pulled a crystal from beneath her desk, gripping it with both hands. "Portas vallis opaca voco, descende in orbem!" Her cry rang out as a lightning bolt struck the crystal. She held firm.
The crystal flared with blinding light, so bright it seared our vision. Slowly, the glow dimmed, revealing within it the faint image of a door. She hurled the crystal into the center of the circle. Crystal shattered, and the door manifested, its surface entwined with thick, writhing vines.
"Before you destroy it…" She glanced at Dorian. The choice tore at me. I didn't want to look at him—yet my promise bound me.
I stepped closer, palms hovering over his body. Drawing a deep breath, I focused. The ice cocooning him melted, streaming off as water. He stirred, taking a deep breath in his sleep.
I turned my face away.
"Freeze the door, then blast it! Too much frost can lead to explosion." Monroe rushed to her son, cupping his face with trembling hands. His eyes fluttered open, dazed, searching.
I faced the gate, raising my arms, palms open toward it. Power surged through me, freezing the door solid. When the last layer locked into place, I pressed harder—until the frozen gate shattered in an explosion of shards.
I sat down, covering my face behind my arms as the shards of ice shards hurled far and wide. A circle of power burst open with them, spreading darkness as far as it could reach.
I turned to Monroe. With a single motion of her hand, she stopped the shards from striking her and her son.
"Thank you," She breathed.
I nodded and looked ahead. There was no portal; just wind felt heavier—it reeked of death.
Confused, I left the sanctuary. Outside, every guard lay dead. I couldn't understand why.
"I need to find my friends," I whispered, hurrying away. If they were freed, they would have gone to the school.
I ran there and saw everything had changed. The trees were stripped bare, the sky an unsettling haze of orange and yellow, like an endless sunset—but it was not beautiful.
A weight settled over me, a warning that this was only the beginning of ruin. The grounds around the school were silent, empty.
I rushed inside to spread the news, but froze. A ring of guards stood with guns raised, all aimed at a figure cloaked in swirling darkness. The cloud thinned, and my breath caught—it was Hector, cradling Grace in his arms. Her body was limp, drenched in blood.
His eyes locked on me. "You did this!" he snarled. The explosion at the door… it had killed those caught between its blast—including Grace.
"Where is my brother?" I demanded, scanning the room.
"You selfish thing," he hissed, holding Grace tighter. "He made peace with it."
"No! This can't be!" I spun around, desperate. "Shawn! Cris!" I shouted, but silence answered.
"You blew apart the only door to the dark valley. How do you expect them to survive? Do you have any idea what you have done to them?" His glare burned through me. "I swear—you will not walk away from this." His teeth clenched with fury.
"Did you… did you cause this?" Mrs. Leonardo's hand gripped my shoulder, her eyes drilling into mine.
Shame dragged my gaze to the floor. "Is there any way to fix it?" My voice cracked.
Her chest rose with a heavy sigh, her eyes widened with disbelief and disappointment. "I told you I would help them... didn't you trust me?"
"No one was agreeing to help!" My chest heaved with ragged breaths "I just wanted my friends back!" My tears blurred her face. "I only wanted to make it right."
"You've only torn it further apart." Hector's voice thundered. He spread his arms, and from beneath his feet a shadow bled outward, swelling wider and wider until the world drowned in black.
The silence that followed was suffocating. Then came the sounds—agonized choking, screams splintering the dark, bodies falling in heaps. When the veil cleared, Hector was gone.
And I saw why. The ground was painted in ruin. Some had driven blades into their own flesh, others writhed half-alive in pools of blood. My eyes locked on Mrs. Leonardo—her body limp, her eyes glassy, reflecting me back like a cruel mirror.
I stumbled toward her, panic clawing my chest.
Then I saw Mr. Smith. Two daggers were buried deep in the backs of his knees. He writhed, howling in pain.
Ryan burst in, horror twisting his face. "What have you done!"
"I…" I stared at my hands, each clutching a dagger, both dripping with blood. My mind spun in confusion.
Before I could speak, Ryan barked, "Restrain her!"
"No!" I staggered back, panic rising, and the only choice left was to run.
Shame burned through me. The mistakes I had made could never be undone. I wanted to end it, to silence everything. An icicle formed in my palm, sharp and cold, ready to pierce my own chest. But just as I raised it, something seized me—my hand locked in place, no longer my own.
My brows knitted tight—why couldn't I move?
A crawling sensation spread from my heels to my scalp, like spiders racing beneath my skin. Then my hair flushed into a misty blue. The girl who wanted death a heartbeat ago suddenly burned with the will to live.
The icicle slipped from my hand as Ryan's voice cut through the air. "Stop!"
I turned, sweat beading across my face, hesitation flashing for an instant before fury smothered it. "Stay back!" I snarled, teeth clenched, jagged shards of ice circling my hands.
The guards leveled their weapons.
"Come willingly," Ryan growled, "or I'll have no choice."
"I'm not coming!" I spat.
The gun fired. My arms crossed in a swift motion, and a wall of ice erupted before me. The bullet shattered against it. Slowly, I lowered my arms, the shield dissolving into drifting snow.
"You shouldn't have done that," I whispered, a cruel smile stretching across my lips.
Ryan froze. My eyes burned brighter, my stance hardened, and the girl he knew was gone.
"Zinnia… there are people here," he whispered, horror breaking his voice. He couldn't believe how far I had fallen.
Neither could I. My conscience screamed, begging me to stop, but another voice drowned it out, fierce and merciless.
Ryan staggered back.
My chest heaved as the war inside me raged. "Ryan! You have one minute to evacuate!"
The guards faltered, then scrambled to drag students out. And then I saw him—the Sheriff, carried on a stretcher, tears glistening in his eyes as he stared at me with helpless sorrow.
I shut my eyes tight. I wanted to beg forgiveness. But when I opened them, my words were sharp as blades. "Stop looking at me as if I need your pity."
My gaze cut through him. That was the moment Ryan knew I was far beyond redemption. That day everything broke.
I unleashed my power, ice crawling and swallowing the school whole.
Students poured out, screaming, but many never made it. I spread my arms wide and with that the building erupted in a violent blast.
When the smoke cleared, I saw bloodied survivors, broken bodies, and where the school once stood—nothing but scattered limbs and crimson-soaked ground. "Don't say I didn't warn you," I whispered.
I drew in a long breath, staring at the sky, as something twisted inside me. My neck cracked when I turned, and a whisper slid into my ear. "Kill them all." The echo chilled me to the core.
I understood then—The words I heard about the wolved *I was either their destruction or their weapon*. Darkness surged within me, spreading fast. And I couldn't resist. It felt as if this was what I wanted. Killing them felt easier. Power made me perfect.
So I gave in. Better to drown in the darkness than be consumed by regret.
But when I turned to hunt the survivors, they had already vanished. A whistle pierced the wind, I clamped my hands around my ears, and my knees buckled as another voice faded in, "Leave them for now! Come back to me, darling!" And the world spun until I couldn't see anything anymore.