جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 270

Author's pov Jasper raised the vial slightly and studied the liquid inside. It appeared black in the dim room, but when he rolled it between his fingers and let the light pass through, a faint red shimmer gathered at the bottom before disappearing again.“No.”Mr. Dagon’s relief vanished. “Stop behaving like a fool.”Jasper ignored the insult. “The older batches were clear.”The older man frowned.“This one is not.”“Formulas change.”“They do.”Jasper turned the vial again. “Interesting timing, though.”Mr. Dagon’s eyes narrowed. “What are you implying?”“Nothing.”Jasper smiled faintly. “I have learned that implications make people nervous.”He held the vial closer to the light. “This formulation appeared after Ciara became pregnant. New colour. Different smells. Different concentration.”Mr. Dagon looked at it more carefully despite himself.Jasper noticed.“You never checked.”“There was no reason to.”“Because Oracle sent it.”“Yes.”The answer came with absolute certainty.Jasp

Ciara’s POVThe warmth surrounding Dax suddenly became heavier, pressing against the room until I could almost feel it against my skin. For one brief second, something dark moved through his eyes before he forced it back down, but I had already seen it and that small reaction frightened me more than I wanted to admit because Dax rarely looked genuinely disturbed by anything. I tightened my fingers in the front of his shirt as though holding on to him could somehow keep me anchored to reality.“She kept saying she needed more Blackthorne essence,” I continued, my voice shaking as memories of that horrible void returned. “Not only yours either. She said we needed it. There were things behind her, Dax. I couldn’t see their faces or even understand what they were, but there were many of them. I could feel them watching me.” I swallowed hard and forced myself to continue when his expression became more serious. “She said your essence opened the first gate, and then she told me I shoul

Dax’s POVFor several seconds, I forgot how to move.Ciara stood only a few feet away from me, yet the woman looking through her eyes was not my little moon. Purple light crawled beneath her skin in thin, living veins, gathering around her throat, her wrists and the curve of her stomach before disappearing again. Her eyes were completely wrong, beautiful, yes, but wrong. They were suddenly too bright, old and there was no confusion in them anymore, none of the fear I had seen only moments ago when she fought whatever was trying to push her out of her own body.There was hunger.Pure, shameless hunger.The golden-red threads of my true essence remained suspended between us, twisting slowly in the air, and she watched them the way a starving beast watched fresh blood. Then her lips curved into a smile.My chest went cold, that's not Ciara’s smile.Ciara smiled with her whole face when she was genuinely happy. Her nose wrinkled slightly when she tried not to laugh, and when she was plo

Dax’s POVFor a few seconds after Ayla cursed, there was nothing but silence between us.I stood beside the bed with the phone pressed hard against my ear, listening to my own heartbeat slam against my ribs while my eyes stayed on Ciara. She was still unconscious, breathing steadily, looking painfully normal despite the faint purple current that occasionally flickered beneath her skin. Every time it appeared, my stomach tightened all over again.Ayla finally spoke, and for once, there was no sarcasm in her voice. “Are you sure?”I swallowed. “About what?”“Don’t play stupid with me right now, Dax.” I heard something metal scrape violently across a surface on her end. “Are you absolutely sure I'm right? Did she react to your true essence the way they do?”My gaze lowered to Ciara’s hand.I remembered the way her eyes changed when the scent of my essence hit her and whatever was inside her came alive immediately. The hunger. The strange voice. The way she demanded more, not just from me

Dax’s POVA sharp knock on the door dragged me out of sleep.I opened my eyes slowly, disoriented for half a second before everything from earlier came rushing back at once. Purple eyes. My essence. Ciara fighting me with strength that should not have belonged to her. Ayla’s voice over the phone. You were right. The memories I had tried not to remember.My head turned immediately towards the bed.Ciara was still there and she looked soundly asleep.I stood so quickly that the chair beside me scraped lightly against the floor, then crossed to her before whoever was outside could knock again. Her breathing remained calm and even, her face soft against the pillow as though nothing had happened. I pressed two fingers carefully against her wrist, counting the steady beats, then rested my palm over the curve of her stomach.The pup responded almost immediately.Strong current and very stable.I released a breath I had not realized I was holding.“Good.”My hand remained there a little longe