Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 101 - Chapitre 110

PART TWO Ares turned to the healer, who was trembling in the corner. “Please,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to hurt her. They forced me. I have children…” “I know.” Ares’s voice gentled slightly. “I’m not going to kill you. But I need you to leave. Now.” She fled, leaving just Ares and me in the ritual chamber. He was at my side instantly, cutting the ropes that bound me. “Leah,” he breathed, his hands shaking as they touched my face. “Goddess, Leah. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry it took this long.” I couldn’t speak. Could only stare at him, hardly believing he was real. “You’re alive,” I finally choked out. “All this time. You were alive.” “I’m sorry.” He pulled me carefully into his arms, mindful of my swollen belly. “I’m so sorry you thought I was dead. So sorry I let you suffer. I had to wait. Had to let them reveal everything. But I never meant for it to go this far. Never meant for you to endure all of this.” “The bond,” I pressed my hand over my chest. “I felt it. These

LeahThree days after the rescue, we left the castle.Ares had wanted to leave immediately, but I needed time. Time to process that my father was dead. That Seth was dead. That Ares was alive.Time to believe that this was real.The healer examined me daily, checking on the baby. Elena, we’d decided to call her. After Ares’s mother.“She’s healthy,” the healer said on the third day. “Strong. Ready to be born any day now, but travel shouldn’t harm her if you’re careful.”“We’ll be careful,” Ares promised.Elinor packed our things, moving through my temporary chambers with quiet efficiency.“You’re coming with us,” I said. It wasn’t a question.“If you’ll have me.” She looked up, her eyes gentle. “Someone needs to help with the birth. And with recovery after.”“You knew,” I said quietly. “All along. You knew Ares was alive.”“I suspected.” Elinor’s voice was careful. “After I swapped your plant and saw how quickly your mind started clearing, I realized you were being controlled. And whe

The next day brought new problems.Ares woke with a fever.“It’s the blood loss,” Elinor said, checking him. “His body is trying to compensate. He needs rest and fluids.”But by afternoon, the fever was worse.He was delirious, muttering about his family, about James, about protecting us.“We need to cool him down,” Elinor said. “There’s a stream nearby. Can you help me move him?”I was still weak, but I tried. Together, we managed to get Ares to the stream.We stripped off his shirt and submerged him up to his chest in the cold water.He gasped, his eyes flying open.“Leah?”“I’m here.” I knelt beside the stream, my hand on his face. “You have a fever. We’re trying to cool you down.”“Elena?”“She’s safe. Sleeping by the fire with Elinor watching her.”He relaxed slightly. “Good. That’s good.”We stayed like that for an hour, keeping him in the cold water, trying to break the fever.Finally, it started to drop.“Let’s get him back to camp,” Elinor said. “He needs to rest.”We got him

AresI woke before dawn, Leah curled against my side, Elena sleeping in her basket by the bed.The tracks from last night haunted me.Someone had been close. Too close.Watching my family while they slept.I wouldn’t let it happen again.Carefully, I extracted myself from Leah’s embrace and dressed quietly.Outside, I examined the tracks more closely in the growing light.One person. Average build. They’d circled the cabin three times before leaving.Scouting. Planning.My jaw clenched.If Luciana thought she could threaten my family, she was about to learn a very painful lesson.I spent the morning setting up wards.Old magic. Blood magic. The kind my father had taught me before he died.I cut my palm, letting blood drip at the four corners of the cabin.“By blood and bone, by fang and claw, I claim this ground. None may pass who mean us harm.”The magic settled into the earth, invisible but powerful.Anyone with ill intent who tried to approach would feel it. A warning. A threat.An

AresI found two more scouts that night.Dead.Not killed by me. Not killed by my traps.Killed by someone else. Someone who got to them before I could.Their throats were slit, clean and professional.A message lay pinned to one of their chests with a dagger.Soon.Just that one word in elegant script.Luciana’s handwriting. I recognized it from the marriage documents.She was playing with us. Letting us know she was close. That she could reach us whenever she wanted.I brought the message back to the cabin as dawn broke.Leah was nursing Elena, but she looked up when I entered.One glance at my face and she knew.“What happened?”I showed her the note.Her face went pale. “She killed her own scouts?”“To send a message. To show us she’s in control.” I crumpled the paper. “She’s done gathering information. Now she’s just toying with us.”“What do we do?”“We prepare.” I moved to the window, scanning the forest. “She wants us scared. Wants us making mistakes. We can’t give her that.”