All Chapters of HIS TO DESTROY: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The chamber shook so hard Catalina nearly lost her footing.Dust fell from the ceiling in thick clouds. The names carved into the walls glowed brighter and brighter, pulsing like they had heartbeats. Gabriel went stiff in her arms, his eyes rolled back until only the whites showed.The voices screaming through him got louder. Dozens of them, all at once."Blood calls to blood. The heir must choose. Burn or be reborn."Catalina backed up, holding Gabriel tighter even though his body jerked and twisted. "What does that mean? What are you talking about?"Camilla's face had gone white. She looked scared now. Actually scared. "This shouldn't be happening yet. The awakening wasn't supposed to…""Wasn't supposed to what?" Lucien shouted, still holding the black knife.Camilla didn't answer. She just backed toward the wall, whispering prayers under her breath.Lucien looked at Catalina. His face was desperate, torn. "I'm ending this right now."He lifted the knife to his palm."No!" Catalina

Catalina woke up feeling cold. The stone floor had left her bones aching. Her back hurt and her palm throbbed where she'd cut it. The bleeding had stopped but the wound felt tight and raw.She sat up slowly, one hand pressed against her stomach. The baby was still there, still safe. For now.Gray morning light crept through a narrow window near the ceiling. It barely reached the floor. The cell was small—maybe eight feet across. It had stone walls, a thin cot she hadn't made it to and a bucket in the corner.She listened closely. From the next room, she could hear breathing. It came out soft and steady. Gabriel was asleep.Relief hit her so hard she almost cried. He was alive and close by. That was something.Footsteps echoed in the hallway outside. Catalina pushed herself to her feet, swaying slightly. Her head felt light. When was the last time she'd eaten?The lock clicked and the door opened.Sister Camilla stepped inside.She looked different in the daylight. She looked older and

They threw Catalina back in her cell like she was nothing.She hit the floor hard, her knees scraping against the cold stone. The door slammed behind her and the lock clicked into place. Then there was nothing but silence pressing down on her from all sides.She stayed on the ground for a long time, just breathing. Her whole body felt heavy, like something inside her had cracked open, and she didn't know how to piece it back together.Lucien's face kept flashing in her mind. The bruises spread across his skin. The blood crusted at the corner of his mouth. The chains cutting into his wrists, and his eyes—God, his eyes—looking at her like she was the only thing keeping him from disappearing completely.She pressed her hand flat against her stomach. The baby moved, barely. A tiny flutter that reminded her she wasn't alone, even though it felt like she was."What am I supposed to do?" she whispered to the life growing inside her. "How do I save everyone when I can't even save myself?"The

The day crawled by slowly.Catalina sat on the floor of her cell, her back was pressed against the cold stone wall and the map spread out on her lap. She had memorized every line, every mark, every note Miguel had written in tiny letters along the margins.The old chapel was on the eastern side of the compound. Three corridors away from where she was now. Gabriel's cell was closer, just two doors down from hers. Lucien was deep underground, in the oldest part of the structure where the walls were thickest and the guards most numerous.Her finger traced the route Miguel had marked. Through the corridor, past the guard station at midnight when they changed shifts, down the narrow stairwell that led to the abandoned section. From there, the chapel. And from the chapel, the tunnels.It could work. It had to work.She folded the map carefully and tucked it back under her shirt. Then she pressed her ear against the wall."Gabriel?" she whispered. "Can you hear me?"Nothing at first. Then on

They dragged her back through the tunnels.Catalina didn't fight, her body felt empty, and hollowed out, like something vital had been ripped away and all that remained was skin and bone.Gabriel walked beside her, his small hand gripped tight by one of the guards. He didn't look at her, didn't make a sound, just stared straight ahead with those dark, knowing eyes.The chapel came into view. Early morning light filtered through the broken windows, turning everything gray and lifeless.Miguel lay near the altar.Catalina's breath caught. She tried to run to him, but the guards held her back."Papa!" Her voice cracked. "Papa, no!"He was still breathing. She could see his chest rising and falling, shallow and labored. Blood pooled beneath him, dark and spreading. His eyes were closed and his face pale as ash.Camila knelt beside him, pressing a cloth against the wound in his chest. She looked up at Catalina with something almost like pity."He's alive," Camila said. "For now.""Help him