Eva was gone.
Tiana was the first to notice. She burst into Max’s cabin, her voice frantic. “She’s not in her room. Her scent ends at the edge of the clearing.”
Max sat up, pale and stunned. “She ran again?”
Dany stood behind Tiana, already pulling on his boots. “No guards saw her leave. No notes. No word. She vanished.”
The whole pack stirred into motion, but Tiana and Dany knew where to start. They tracked her scent through the forest, past the border lines, until it reached the old trails—the ones Eva hadn’t walked in years. The ones that led to the lake behind her childhood home.
Tiana paused, breath catching in her throat. “She used to come here when she needed to think. When everything got too loud.”
“She’s not just thinking,” Dany murmured. “She’s breaking.”
When they reached the clearing, they stopped. The early morning mist curled above the lake’s glassy surface. And there she was—Eva—kneeling at the water’s edge, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, her face hidden in her hands.
Tiana took a step forward but Dany grabbed her arm. “Wait.”
From the treeline, a figure emerged.
Sylvester.
He moved slowly, deliberately, as if he’d known exactly where she’d be. His dark clothes contrasted with the soft blue morning. But there was no arrogance in his steps. No threat in his voice when he spoke.
“You ran from your wedding,” he said softly.
Eva didn’t look up. Her shoulders trembled as another sob slipped from her lips.
Sylvester knelt beside her, not touching her, just watching. “That means something.”
Her voice cracked when she replied. “It means I’m scared.”
He tilted his head. “Of what?”
“Of you,” she admitted, her body shaking. “Of this… of all of it. Of loving people I can’t protect. Of carrying something inside me I can’t understand. Of losing everything I’ve fought for.”
Sylvester was quiet for a moment. Then, he reached out—not threatening, not forceful—and placed a hand gently on her belly.
Eva flinched at first, but didn’t pull away.
“I can hear them,” he whispered, voice almost reverent. “One heartbeat strong and proud. The other… irregular. Faint but ancient. Like it doesn’t belong to this world.”
“They fight already,” she murmured, tears sliding down her cheeks. “Even now. What kind of mother lets her children fight before they’re even born?”
Sylvester’s eyes softened in a way she’d never seen before. “You were always meant to create destruction, Eva. That was never your choice. But I—” he paused, lowering his head slightly—“I was meant to help you finish it.”
Eva’s eyes widened. “You knew about the prophecy. About them.”
“I knew long before Max ever touched your hand,” Sylvester said. “I knew the moment I saw your power rising. You were the storm that would shatter the world or save it. But only if someone gave you the choice.”
She looked away. “Why are you being gentle with me? You’re supposed to be the villain in all of this.”
He gave a sad smile. “Because I was born a villain. Not by choice. But you… you were born a queen. And you’ve forgotten how to ask for help.”
Eva stared at the lake, the water perfectly still. “I don’t know who I am anymore. Not with these babies inside me. Not with Max’s hope or Tiana’s faith or the war knocking at my door.”
“You’re all of those things,” Sylvester said. “And none of them. You’re something new. Something dangerous. And that terrifies the world.”
She wiped her cheeks roughly with the back of her hand. “I don’t want to destroy the world.”
“Then don’t,” Sylvester said simply. “But if you must, let me be the one to hold it steady while you do.”
Behind the trees, Tiana’s hands trembled. She wanted to rush forward, to pull her sister away from the man who had haunted their lives for so long. But Dany held her back again, whispering, “Let her speak. Let her feel what she needs to feel.”
Tiana’s eyes narrowed. “She’s too close to him.”
“She’s broken,” Dany said gently. “Sometimes when everything falls apart, even the devil’s hand can feel like comfort.”
Back at the lake, Sylvester stood slowly and offered Eva his hand. “Come with me.”
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“I’m not asking you to betray them,” he said. “I’m asking you to remember who you are… and who you’ll need to become. The people who love you can’t see the darkness in you. But I do. And I’m not afraid of it.”
Eva stood up on her own, not taking his hand. “That darkness almost killed me.”
“But it didn’t,” Sylvester said. “And it won’t. Not if you learn how to wield it.”
Her hand trembled as she placed it protectively over her stomach again. The wind moved through the trees like a whisper. She turned her face away from him and toward the water again, a storm in her eyes.
And she whispered, so quietly that it almost didn’t reach him:
“You were always meant to create destruction… and I was meant to help you finish it.”
