CHAPTER 8

“Are you going to keep staring at us without saying a single word?”

Lucian’s voice cut through the haze growing in my head. “Most people usually have tons of questions when we tell them something this shocking. Don’t you think?” His eyes slid from me to Raven, who stared back in quiet warning.

“Aren’t you curious, Julian?” he asked, stepping closer to the bars. “You look like you are. Something’s holding you back… Beta.”

I glared at him immediately.

“Don’t call me that,” I snapped, my voice harsher than I intended. “I’m no Beta, so stop using that title. And I’m not that shocked,” I added — even though I knew that was a lie. “Curious, maybe. But not shocked. You’re not the first mythical I’ve met, so don’t get ahead of yourself, Lucian.”

I pushed myself to my feet, using every bit of strength my body still had.

“You believe us?” Damon asked, his voice low and dangerous, his eyes barely visible outside my cell.

“I have no reason not to,” I said quietly. “And I don’t see why you’d lie about this. I’ve lived with someone with powers just as foreign as yours. So yes, I believe you.”

“ i can see the curiosity in your eyes but you keep suppressing it,” Raven murmured. “Why?”

“Curiosity won’t bring me anywhere,” I said, avoiding her gaze. “I don’t have that luxury. Not in here. Yes, you’re special. I’ve never heard of a Magyc before today. I’ve never met a shifter or a vampire either — but so what?”

My voice rose before I could stop it.

“So what? None of that matters here. My life is already too messed up for me to get excited about anything. I’m not smiling with you — not now, maybe not ever. Maybe you’ve come to terms with this place, but I haven’t. It’s still torture for me. Every passing second feels like I’m being ripped apart from the inside. So I’d appreciate it if you would all just… leave me alone.”

My breathing was uneven, my chest aching from the outburst I didn’t even see coming. And when I finally looked at them, guilt burned through me. They didn’t deserve that. They weren’t responsible for my pain. But I had dumped it on them anyway.

“You feel better now after saying all that shit?”

Damon’s voice echoed louder than anything I’d heard from him since I arrived.

“You think pouring out how pathetic you feel on us is going to fix anything?” he continued, tone sharp and merciless. “Guess you just discovered it won’t. No one else is responsible for the mess you’re drowning in except you. So if you want to wallow, then wallow alone. Don’t drag us into it. Beta, my foot.”

He took one slow step back.

“You’re nothing but a coward afraid to face the demons he created.”

“You don’t know me,” I choked out as my heart twisted painfully. “You know nothing about me.”

“I don’t need to,” Damon said flatly. “I’ve seen enough already.”

He turned away.

“You asked to be left alone — so we’ll leave you. Go ahead and die if that’s what you’re aiming for. Shame the prison won’t let that happen.”

And then he disappeared into the darkness of his cell, leaving his words to echo mercilessly in my head.

He was right about one thing:

I was pathetic.

“Well, that’s the most I’ve heard him speak in about ten years,” Lucian said softly, eyeing me. “For what it’s worth, Julian… don’t die.”

He stepped back too, fading into the shadows.

“Death is never the answer,” his voice echoed faintly.

“You should get some rest,” Raven said, her tone gentle but firm. “It’ll help you calm down. And remember this, Julian , no one fears anger driven by cowardice.”

She retreated after that as well, leaving the silence to swallow me whole.

I sank to the floor again. The cold concrete should have hurt, but I felt nothing. Just the weight of everything pressing down on me until I could barely breathe.

Was this who I was now?

Pathetic.

Broken.

Afraid.

They were right , every single one of them but I was too weak to even admit it to myself.

How did I get here?

How did I let myself fall this far?

How was I supposed to face Robin one day , if I ever even made it out of this place — and tell him the Julian he knew, the Julian he loved, was fading away?

I shifted until I was lying flat on my back, staring at the dim ceiling above me, seeing nothing. And for the first time in a long time, I let my memories fill the hollow inside my chest.

Robin’s face came first.

The smile he saved only for me.

The quiet support he gave without ever demanding anything back.

I didn’t even realize tears were slipping down my cheeks until they touched my ears, but I didn’t stop them this time.

I thought of Rex.

Of Aries.

Of Lilly.

Of Rose.

Of all of us laughing together once — so bright, so alive.

And the only unfamiliar thing in those memories…

was me.

The wide grin on my face looked foreign now. Strange. Like it belonged to someone else.

My eyes burned as more memories rose, all the good ones, all the painful ones and I didn’t push them away.

I let them swallow me whole.

I let the tears fall freely.

And for the first time in forever…

I wailed.

For the boy I used to be.

For the life I lost.

For the bonds that were slipping from my grasp.

That night, nothing but my sobs filled the floor , raw, broken, and unfiltered. And I let every single piece of the pain pour out of me.