Chapter 32 – Blood Oath

The knife gleamed in Nikolai's hand, curved and sharp, the blade catching the moonlight that streamed through the window. Ela looked at it, then at his face, at his gold eyes burning with desperation and grief and a love so fierce it had curdled into something almost unrecognizable. She wanted to feel something. Fear, maybe. Or pity. Or the echo of the bond that had once tied them together. But there was nothing. Just the hollow. Just the emptiness. Just the cold, quiet peace that had become her entire existence.

Nikolai stepped toward the bed. Sasha was still on the floor, gasping for breath, his hands clutching his throat. He tried to stand, to intervene, to stop whatever madness was about to unfold, but his legs would not hold him. The silver burns on Nikolai's wrists had healed, but the scars were still there, pale and raised, a reminder of everything they had endured. He held the knife to his own arm, the blade pressed against the inside of his wrist, and Ela saw the determination in his eyes. He was not bluffing. He was not performing. He was ready to cut himself open, to spill his blood, to do whatever it took to bring her back.

Ela, he said. His voice was steady now, calmer than it had been when he burst through the door. I know you cannot feel me anymore. I know the bond is broken. I know you think you are empty. But you are not. You are just buried. And I am going to dig you out. He pressed the blade into his skin, and a line of red appeared, bright and vivid against his pale flesh. Blood welled up from the cut, dripping down his wrist, falling onto the furs below. He did not flinch. He did not even blink. He just held his arm out to her, the blood flowing freely, and waited.

What are you doing? Ela asked. Her voice was flat, but there was something underneath it, something she had not felt in weeks. Curiosity, maybe. Or the ghost of concern. Or the faintest flicker of the girl she used to be.

Nikolai knelt beside the bed. His gold eyes never left hers. The blood oath, he said. The oldest magic. Stronger than the bond. Stronger than the curse. Stronger than anything Lukas can do. It requires a sacrifice. A willing sacrifice. My blood for your blood. My life for your life. He reached out with his bleeding arm and touched his fingers to her lips. The blood was warm and wet, and she tasted copper and salt and something else. Something that reminded her of the forest at night, of the wolf who had saved her, of the boy who had loved her before everything went wrong.

Choose me, Nikolai said. Choose to bond with me again. Not because of fate. Not because of magic. Because you want to. Because you remember. Because somewhere, deep in that hollow place inside you, there is still a spark of the girl who looked at me like I was her whole world.

Ela stared at him. At his gold eyes. His bleeding arm. His broken, desperate, beautiful face. The hollow was still there, vast and cold, but something was shifting in the darkness. Something small and fragile and afraid. She did not know if it was love. She did not know if it was memory. She did not know if it was anything at all. But it was something. And after weeks of feeling nothing, even something was enough.

She leaned forward and licked the blood from her lips.

The effect was immediate and overwhelming. It felt like lightning striking her chest, like fire racing through her veins, like being pulled from the bottom of a deep, dark ocean and thrown onto the shore. Her body convulsed, her back arching off the bed, her mouth opening in a silent scream. The black veins on her arms pulsed and throbbed, and for a moment, she thought she was dying. But then the pain faded, replaced by something else. Something warm. Something bright. Something that felt like coming home.

The bond was back.

She could feel Nikolai. His heart. His blood. His soul. They were connected again, tied together by the blood oath, stronger than they had ever been before. She could feel his relief, his joy, his overwhelming, all-consuming love. And beneath that, she could feel her own. Not the hollow. Not the emptiness. But her. The real her. The girl who had laughed at Kai's jokes and cried in Thorne's arms and kissed Nikolai in the darkness of his cage.

She reached out and touched his face. His skin was wet with tears, and she wiped them away with her thumb. I remember, she said. I remember everything.

Nikolai pulled her into his arms. He held her so tightly that she could barely breathe, but she did not care. She held him back, her fingers digging into his shoulders, her face pressed against his neck. He was warm and solid and real, and she never wanted to let him go.

Behind them, Sasha finally found his voice. No, he said. No, this is not possible. The bond was broken. The bond was mine. He staggered to his feet, his gray eyes wide with shock and fury. You cannot just take her back. You cannot just erase what happened between us.

Nikolai did not let go of Ela. He turned his head just enough to look at his cousin over her shoulder. The blood oath is older than your claim, he said. Older than the ritual. Older than the Council. It cannot be undone. It cannot be transferred. It cannot be broken. She is mine, Sasha. She has always been mine. And now she will always be mine.

Sasha's face twisted with rage. He took a step toward them, his hands clenched into fists, but he stopped when he saw the gold in Nikolai's eyes. The wolf was close to the surface, closer than it had ever been, and Sasha knew that if he pushed, if he tried to take what was not his, Nikolai would kill him. Not threaten. Not fight. Kill. And there would be nothing anyone could do to stop it.

This is not over, Sasha said. His voice was low, controlled, but there was a tremor underneath it. The Council will hear about this. The blood oath is forbidden. It has been forbidden for centuries. You have broken the oldest law, Nikolai. And there will be consequences.

Consequences, Nikolai said. He laughed, a cold, hollow sound. I have spent my whole life facing consequences. For being born a Volkov. For being bound to a human. For falling in love with a girl I was never supposed to have. I do not care about consequences anymore. I care about her. And I will burn this entire academy to the ground before I let anyone take her from me again.

Sasha stared at him for a long moment. Then he turned and walked to the door. He paused with his hand on the frame and looked back at Ela. His gray eyes were cold, empty, nothing like the warmth she had seen there before. You made a mistake, he said. Choosing him. Trusting him. He will destroy you. They always do.

He walked out, and the door closed behind him, and the room was silent.

Ela pulled back from Nikolai's embrace. She looked at his face, at the gold still glowing in his eyes, at the blood still drying on his wrist. She looked at her own arms, at the black veins that had stopped spreading, that had even begun to fade. The curse was not gone, but it was weaker. The bond had pushed it back, given her more time. She did not know how much. But more time was better than no time at all.

What have we done? she asked. The blood oath. You said it was forbidden. You said there would be consequences.

Nikolai took her hand and pressed it to his chest, over his heart. I do not care, he said. I would do it again. A thousand times. A million times. I would burn in hell for eternity if it meant one more moment with you.

Ela looked at him. At his gold eyes. His bleeding wrist. His broken, beautiful, impossible heart. She wanted to be angry at him. She wanted to remind him that he had lied to her, that he had kept secrets, that he had let her fall in love with him without telling her the truth. But she could not. Because she had lied too. She had kept secrets too. She had let him fall in love with her even when she was not sure if her love was real.

I am scared, she said. I am scared of the curse. I am scared of the Council. I am scared of what Sasha will do. I am scared of what Lukas will do. I am scared that we have made everything worse.

Nikolai pulled her close again. His arms wrapped around her, and she felt his heart beating against her chest, steady and strong. We will face it together, he said. Whatever comes. The Council. The curse. Lukas. Sasha. All of them. We will face it together. And we will survive. Because we have survived worse. Because we are still here. Because we are still fighting.

Ela closed her eyes and let herself believe him. Just for a moment. Just for this one, quiet moment in the darkness. She believed that they could survive. She believed that love was enough. She believed that the bond, real and true and chosen, could overcome anything the world threw at them.

Outside the room, in the shadows of the corridor, Lukas listened. He had heard everything. The blood oath. The restored bond. The defiance in Nikolai's voice. He had heard Ela's fear and Nikolai's determination and Sasha's rage. And he had smiled. Because he knew. He knew that the Council would not tolerate the blood oath. He knew that the headmaster would not protect Ela. He knew that the other alphas would see the restored bond as a threat. And he knew exactly how to use all of that to his advantage.

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number he had memorized years ago. The headmaster answered on the second ring. Lukas did not waste time with pleasantries. I have information, he said. About Ela Demir. About Nikolai Volkov. About the blood oath they just performed. The headmaster was silent for a moment. Then he said, Go on.

Lukas smiled. The blood oath is forbidden, as you know. But that is not the worst of it. He leaned against the wall, his green eyes gleaming in the darkness. Ela has been with Sasha as well. She has slept with both cousins. She has played them against each other. She has manipulated them. She has broken every rule we have. The headmaster's voice was cold. Are you certain of this? I saw it with my own eyes, Lukas said. I have proof. Photographs. Witnesses. The headmaster was silent for a long moment. Then he said, Bring her to the Council chamber. Tomorrow at dawn. We will decide her fate.

Lukas ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket. His smile widened. He had done it. He had finally done it. Ela would be brought before the Council. She would be judged. She would be punished. And when she was broken and alone and desperate, he would be there. Waiting. Ready to pick up the pieces.

He stepped back into the shadows and disappeared, leaving behind only the echo of his laughter.