Semua Bab Bound by Fangs and Blood: Bab 61 - Bab 70

EVEMadam Bella cornered me three weeks after we returned to Umbra Pack."We need to talk," she said, blocking the doorway to Lucia's nursery."About what?" I was holding a bottle, prepared to feed Lucia on schedule. Six ounces every four hours. The routine was efficient."About you. About what's happening to this family." Bella crossed her arms. "Adam is falling apart. He barely sleeps. Barely eats. Just watches you like he's waiting for someone who isn't coming back.""That's an accurate assessment. The person he's waiting for no longer exists.""Stop that. Stop talking like you're some kind of robot." Bella's voice rose. "You're still Eve. Still a mother. Still a wife. You're just hurt.""I'm not hurt. I'm empty. There's a difference." I tried to move past her but she didn't budge. "Please move. Lucia needs to eat in three minutes.""Lucia needs her mother. Not a feeding schedule." Bella grabbed my shoulders. "Look at me. Really look at me."I met her eyes. Registered concern, frus

CHAPTER 63EVEThe small warm fire grew.Not steadily. Not predictably. Some days it blazed and I could feel things almost normally. Other days it guttered to barely an ember and I was back to clinical detachment.But it was there. Consistent enough that I started trusting it.Trusting myself.Three months after helping Eli, another family showed up. Then another. Word had spread somehow that Umbra Pack harbored a woman who understood hybrid children. Who could help stabilize supernatural energy in young bodies.I became a specialist by accident."You're good at this," Dr. Chen told me after I successfully anchored a seven year old werewolf vampire hybrid whose power kept trying to tear her apart from the inside. "Better than good. You understand the mechanics in ways trained soul weavers don't.""I learned by destroying myself and watching my daughter nearly die multiple times. It's expensive education.""Still. You have a gift for it now." She paused. "Have you considered making thi

EVEThe nightmares started two weeks after I woke up.Not every night. Just often enough to disrupt everything. I'd dream of children dying while I stood frozen, unable to help. Or I'd dream of Circe dissolving into light, screaming my name. Or worst of all, I'd dream of Lucia lying in that medical bed, empty eyed and hollow, while I felt nothing."You're having another one," Adam said the fourth time I woke up gasping."Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you.""Don't apologize." He pulled me against his chest. "Same dream?""Different variations of the same theme. Failing to save someone." I pressed my face into his shoulder. "My therapist says it's delayed trauma response. That I suppressed everything during the two years of emotional emptiness and now it's all surfacing at once.""Your therapist is probably right."I'd started seeing a therapist six months ago. Dr. Reeves, a supernatural psychologist who specialized in soul trauma. Adam had suggested it after walking in on me having a pa

EVEThe aftermath was worse than the attack itself.Funerals for the twelve pack members who'd died defending us. Families grieving. Children asking why their parents weren't coming home. All because vampires wanted my daughter dead."This is my fault," I said to Madam Bella three days after the attack. We were helping repair the palace, clearing debris from damaged rooms."Don't be stupid. This is the fault of fanatics who can't accept change." She hauled a broken beam aside. "You didn't ask for any of this.""But Lucia exists because of choices Adam and I made. If we'd been more careful, if we'd prevented the pregnancy, none of this would have happened.""Then Lucia wouldn't exist. Is that what you want?""No. Of course not." I picked up shattered glass carefully. "But twelve people are dead because she does exist. How do I live with that?""The same way you live with everything else. One day at a time. Knowing you did your best." Bella stopped working and looked at me. "Eve, those

EVEWe moved to Haven three weeks later.The decision wasn't easy. Leaving Umbra Pack meant leaving everything we'd built. Madam Bella cried when we told her, though she tried to hide it."This is what's best for Lucia," she said, wiping her eyes. "I understand. Doesn't mean I have to like it.""We're not disappearing. We'll visit. You'll visit us." I hugged her tightly. "You're family. That doesn't change.""You better visit. That child needs her grandmother figure." She pulled back, composing herself. "And Eve? Thank you. For everything you've done for this pack. For me. You're one of the best things that ever happened to us."The words hit harder than expected. "I brought war to your doorstep.""You brought hope. Showed us that different doesn't mean enemy. That we can grow beyond old prejudices." She touched my face gently. "Don't ever think you weren't worth the trouble."The goodbye with the pack was worse. People I'd treated, fought beside, lived with for years. All understandi