Chapter 20 – The Revelation

The room was silent.

Nikolai stood across from me, his face pale, his hands trembling. The symbols on the wall glowed faintly behind him—our names, our bond, our curse—all of it carved into stone like a prophecy that couldn't be escaped.

"Ela," he said. "Please. Let me explain."

"Explain what?" My voice was ice. "Explain how you've known about the bond since before I arrived? Explain how you let me fall for you without telling me the truth? Explain how you—"

"I was going to tell you."

"When?"

He didn't answer.

"That's what I thought."

I walked toward him.

Each step felt like a small death. Each heartbeat echoed in my ears like a drum.

"Look at me, Nikolai."

He looked up.

His ice-blue eyes were red-rimmed. Wet. Broken.

"Did you know?" I asked. "About the bond? About the arrangement? About the fact that we were fated before we were even born?"

He was silent for a long moment.

Then he said: "Yes."

---

The word hit me like a blade.

"Yes?"

"I knew." His voice cracked. "I've known since I was old enough to understand what the bond meant. My father told me. When I was twelve."

"Twelve." I laughed—a hollow, broken sound. "You've known since you were twelve that you were fated to some girl you'd never met. And you didn't think to mention it?"

"I didn't know it was you."

"What?"

"Not until you arrived. Not until I smelled you. Not until—" He stepped toward me. "Not until I saw you standing in the courtyard, looking lost and scared and so beautiful that I couldn't breathe."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I have."

I stared at him.

At the boy who had killed wolves for me. Who had cried for me. Who had whispered I love you in the dark.

Was any of it real?

Or was it all just the bond?

"Ela," Nikolai said. "I know you're angry. I know you feel betrayed. But I need you to understand—"

"Understand what?"

"That I didn't plan this." His voice broke. "I didn't ask for this. I didn't want to fall in love with someone I was bound to by blood and magic and lies. But I did. I fell in love with you. Not because of the bond. Despite it."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I expect you to believe the truth."

"The truth?" I laughed again. "You don't even know what the truth is, Nikolai. None of us do. Our parents made a pact before we were born. They used blood magic to bind us together. And now I'm dying because of it."

"I know."

"Then why did you seal the bond?" Tears streamed down my face. "Why did you come to my room that night? Why did you—"

"Because you asked me to."

"I didn't know—"

"You asked me to kiss you. You asked me to make you mine. You asked me to—"

"I didn't know about the curse!"

"Neither did I!"

The words echoed off the stone walls.

Neither of us spoke.

Neither of us moved.

---

Nikolai's chest was heaving. His hands were clenched at his sides. His eyes—those ice-blue eyes—were wild with grief and guilt and something that looked like desperation.

"I didn't know about the curse," he said again, quieter this time. "I knew about the bond. I knew about the arrangement. But I didn't know that sealing it under a blood moon would—"

"You should have known."

"How? No one told me. No one told anyone. The curse was buried. Erased. The Council made sure of it."

"Then how did Lukas know?"

Nikolai's jaw tightened.

"Lukas," he said slowly, "has been preparing for this his whole life. His family has been collecting secrets for centuries. He knows things the rest of us don't because his ancestors were the ones who hid them."

"So he knew about the curse?"

"Yes."

"And he didn't tell me."

"No." Nikolai's voice was bitter. "He wanted you desperate. He wanted you scared. He wanted you to come to him begging for help."

"So he could claim me."

"So he could use you."

I looked at Nikolai.

At his broken face. His trembling hands. His heart laid bare.

"Did you use me?" I asked.

"Ela—"

"Did you use me?"

He was silent for a long moment.

Then he said: "I don't know."

---

The words hit me like a physical blow.

"You don't know?"

"I don't know if anything I feel is real." His voice cracked. "I don't know if I love you because of the bond or because of you. I don't know if I would have looked at you twice if we weren't fated. I don't know—"

"Stop."

"I don't know anything anymore, Ela. Except that when I'm with you, I feel whole. When I'm without you, I feel like I'm dying. And I don't care if that's the bond or fate or some ancient curse—"

"Stop."

"I love you." Tears slipped down his cheeks. "I love you, and I'm sorry, and I know that's not enough. But it's all I have."

I stared at him.

At the boy who had killed wolves for me.

At the boy who had cried for me.

At the boy who had just admitted that he didn't know if his love was real.

Was any of it real?

Was any of it mine?

"You knew," I said. "From the beginning. You knew we were fated mates. You knew about the arrangement. And you didn't tell me."

"Yes."

"You let me fall in love with you without telling me the truth."

"Yes."

"You used me."

"No." He stepped toward me. "I never used you. I—"

"You kept the truth from me so I would stay. So I would choose you. So I would—"

"Because I was scared." His voice rose. "Because I knew that if you found out the truth, you would run. Because I knew that if you ran, I would lose you. Because I knew that if I lost you—"

"You should have told me."

"I know."

"You should have trusted me."

"I know."

He reached for my hand.

I pulled away.

"Don't."

"Ela—"

"Don't touch me."

---

The silence between us was unbearable.

I could hear my own heartbeat. Could hear his breathing. Could hear the distant sound of the wind whistling through the cracks in the stone.

"Ela," Nikolai said quietly. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"Are you going to leave?"

"I don't know."

"If you leave—"

"Then I leave." I looked at him. "You don't get a say in that. Not anymore."

"Ela—"

"You took my choice away, Nikolai. You took it away when you kept the truth from me. You took it away when you sealed the bond without telling me about the curse. You took it away when you—"

"I was trying to protect you."

"You were trying to protect yourself."

He flinched.

Because it was true.

And we both knew it.

---

I walked to the door.

"Ela, wait—"

I turned back.

Looked at him one last time.

His face was wet. His hands were shaking. His whole body was trembling with the effort of not following me.

"Did you love me?" I asked. "Even a little? Even for a moment? Or was it all just the bond?"

Nikolai's jaw tightened.

"I loved you," he said. "I love you. I will always love you. But yes—" His voice cracked. "I knew about the bond from the beginning. I knew we were fated. And I let myself fall for you anyway."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I have."

I nodded.

Turned away.

And walked out the door.

---

The hallway was dark.

I didn't know where I was going. Didn't care. My legs carried me through the twisting corridors, past sleeping students, past portraits that watched me with painted eyes.

He knew.

He knew from the beginning.

And he let me fall in love with him anyway.

I should have been angry.

I was angry.

But underneath the anger was something worse.

Grief.

Because I had loved him.

I had loved him with my whole heart, my whole soul, my whole broken, bleeding self.

And now I didn't know if any of it was real.

---

I reached the main entrance without realizing it.

The doors loomed in front of me—massive, oak, carved with wolves and moons. Beyond them was the courtyard. Beyond that was the forest. Beyond that was freedom.

I could leave.

I could run.

I could never come back.

I pushed the door open.

Cold air hit my face.

And Lukas was standing there.

---

He was leaning against the stone wall, his hands in his pockets, his green eyes bright in the moonlight. He looked like he'd been waiting for hours.

Maybe he had.

"Ela," he said.

"Lukas."

"You look terrible."

"I feel terrible."

He pushed off from the wall. Walked toward me. Stopped when he was close enough that I could smell him—pine and snow, just like Nikolai, but wrong. Artificial.

"I heard what happened," he said.

"Everyone probably heard."

"Nikolai's a fool."

"Yes."

"He should have told you the truth."

"Yes."

"He doesn't deserve you."

I looked at Lukas.

At his beautiful face. His empty smile. His hungry eyes.

"Neither do you," I said.

"No." He didn't deny it. "I don't. But I'm the only one left."

---

The words hung in the air between us.

The only one left.

Nikolai had betrayed me.

Kai was too gentle to save me.

Thorne was too broken.

And Lukas—

Lukas was a monster.

But he was a monster who had told me the truth. Who had warned me about Nikolai. Who had offered me a way out.

"Ela." Lukas reached out. Took my hand. "Come with me."

"Where?"

"Away from here. Away from him. Somewhere safe."

"Nowhere is safe."

"Then somewhere safer." His thumb traced my knuckles. "I can protect you, Ela. I can give you everything Nikolai promised and more."

"Everything except choice."

"Choice is overrated." His green eyes met mine. "Survival isn't."

I looked back at the academy.

At the building where I'd been lied to. Manipulated. Used.

At the boy who had broken my heart.

At the life I'd thought I wanted.

Nikolai.

I'm sorry.

But I can't stay.

Not after this.

Not after everything.

"Okay," I said.

Lukas's eyes widened. "Okay?"

"Okay. I'll go with you."

"Ela—"

"Don't make me change my mind."

He pulled me close.

Wrapped his arms around me.

And for a moment—just a moment—I let myself pretend that this was safety. That this was protection. That this was love.

But it wasn't.

It was survival.

And survival was all I had left.

---

"Leave him," Lukas whispered against my hair. "Leave this place. Leave the bond. Leave the curse. Come with me, and I'll make sure you never have to be afraid again."

Tears streamed down my face.

I didn't wipe them away.

"Okay," I said again. "I'll come with you."

Lukas smiled.

And in the darkness behind us, in the doorway of the academy, a figure stood watching.

Nikolai.

His face was white.

His hands were shaking.

And his eyes—those ice-blue eyes—were filled with tears.

But he didn't follow.

He just stood there.

And watched me leave.