Hidden Archives

I waited until the corridor outside went quiet. Vesperian had been pulled away hours ago for urgent meetings about Kieran’s approaching army. The bond tugged at me, faint but persistent, letting me know he was still deep in the war room. Good. That gave me time.

My belly felt heavier today, the round swell making every movement more noticeable. But my senses were sharper than ever. I could hear the guards two halls away breathing, smell the faint oil on their weapons. I slipped out of the chambers like smoke, bare feet silent on the stone.

The restricted archives door gave way easier this time. My fingers tingled with stolen power as I twisted the lock. I stepped inside, heart hammering, and pulled the door almost closed behind me.

Dust danced in the thin shafts of moonlight coming through high slits in the wall. I moved quickly, following the pull of familiar cursed energy until I found the section on parasitic bloodlines. My hands shook as I pulled down a newer-looking tome, its pages still smelling of fresh ink.

I flipped through, reading as fast as I could.

["The parasitic adaptation did not begin as corruption. It was born of desperation. When the great hunts began three centuries ago…systematic extermination of male Omegas…certain bloodlines evolved the ability to siphon vital essence. A survival mechanism. Not evil. Defense."]

I kept reading, breath shallow. The texts confirmed everything. My kind hadn’t been born monsters. We became them because they tried to wipe us out. The draining wasn’t a curse. It was revenge written into our blood.

But then the warnings came, darker and more detailed.

["When carried into pregnancy, the parasitic flow merges with the child’s developing power. The offspring may inherit amplified abilities. Uncontrolled draining. Potential for catastrophic magical feedback. Many such unions ended in the death of all three."]

The child kicked hard, almost angrily. I pressed a hand to my belly, whispering, “Is that what you are? A weapon they made us into?”

Terror clawed up my throat. What if our son was born like this? Able to drain anyone who touched him? Doomed to be hunted or turned into a monster because of what Vesperian and I had created?

I kept searching, fingers flying over pages. Near the back of the tome, I found a section on soul bonds.

["Severing a soul resonance formed through parasitic mating is possible, but carries extreme cost. Both parties must willingly reject the bond. The Omega often suffers permanent loss of power. The Alpha may experience vitality collapse. In cases involving pregnancy, the child rarely survives the severing."]

My hands trembled so badly I nearly dropped the book. There was a way. But the price... it could kill all of us.

I was so focused I almost didn’t hear the footsteps.

At the last second, my enhanced senses picked up the sound, boots on stone, moving fast. I shoved the book back and darted behind a tall shelf, pressing myself into the shadows. The glow under my skin dimmed as I willed it down.

The door creaked open.

I held my breath. A guard stepped inside, lantern raised. He swept the light across the shelves, muttering to himself. “Thought I heard something...”

The child chose that moment to kick hard. I bit my lip to stay silent, one hand clamped over my mouth.

The guard lingered for what felt like forever, then finally turned and left, closing the door behind him.

I waited another full minute before slipping out. My legs shook as I hurried back through the corridors, one arm wrapped around my belly like I could protect the child from everything I’d just learned. The knowledge burned in my mind, empowering, terrifying. We weren’t just cursed. We were made this way by the same empire that now feared us.

I reached the royal wing and eased the door to my chambers open, trying to calm my breathing.

Vesperian was already inside.

He stood in the center of the room, arms crossed, golden eyes glowing with dangerous intensity. The bond flared hot between us the second our eyes met. He knew. Or at least he suspected.

“You’ve been gone again,” he said, voice low and controlled. Too controlled. “Where were you this time, little Omega?”

I froze just inside the doorway, heart pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it. The child kicked sharply, reacting to my panic. The faint glow under my skin brightened before I could stop it.

Vesperian took one slow step forward, then another. His gaze raked over me, flushed cheeks, messy hair, the way my hand instinctively protected my belly.

“Answer me,” he demanded, eyes narrowing. “What are you hiding?”

I swallowed hard, mind racing for any lie that might work. But the way he looked at me, like he could see straight through my soul, made it clear this time he wasn’t going to let it slide.

The archives. The truth about our magic. The terrible price of severing our bond.

Everything was closing in. And Vesperian stood there waiting, dangerous and beautiful and far too perceptive, for me to explain why I kept running toward answers that could destroy us both.