Breaking Cairos Veylan のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 29

ISOLDES POVAnna didn’t wait for either of us to respond. She just turned back toward the stairs, eyes scanning the walls like she looking for something.“We’re going to have to redo the runes around the house,” she said calmly.I blinked. “The what?”Cairos let out a short breath like he already knew this was coming. “I figured.”I looked between them. “No, no—pause. What runes? What are you talking about?”Anna finally looked at me properly again. “Protection marks,” she said simply. “Someone weakened them.”My stomach dropped a little. “Someone… was here?”Cairos didn’t answer immediately. That was answer enough.I turned on him sharply. “You said nothing happened in this house.”“I said you were imagining things,” he replied flatly.“Same thing!” I snapped.Anna raised a hand slightly, cutting the tension. “Argue later. We don’t have time.”She walked toward the wall near the staircase and pressed her fingers lightly against it. For a second, nothing happened.Then faint lines sta

ISOLDES POVAnna stood there clearly tired.“Enough,” she said sharply, clapping her hands once like she was ending a conversation. “I need you both to get naked so I can start the ritual.”The silence that followed was so heavy it felt like the house itself froze with us.I stared at her. “…What?”“Naked,” she repeated calmly, like she was asking us to move furniture.My brain lagged behind my ears. “Like… clothes off naked?”“Yes,” Anna said. “Butt naked.”I froze completely.For a second, I actually wondered if I’d blacked out and entered some alternate version of reality where this was normal.“I’m not getting naked with him,” I said immediately, pointing at Cairos without looking at him. My face burned hot. “Absolutely not. No. That’s insane.”Anna sighed like I was the difficult one here. “It’s not what you think.”“It is EXACTLY what I think,” I shot back. “I just got told I’m possibly being hunted by invisible things and now you want me to undress in front of the man who keeps

ISOLDES POVThe moment the words left my mouth, the air shifted again.Not just heavy this time…Like it was about devour everything in its way..The whisper from the stairs changed.It wasn’t soft anymore.It sharpened.Like it had heard me.Like it felt me.“Oh God…” I breathed, my chest tightening painfully.Cairos moved closer instantly, his voice low and urgent. “Don’t panic.”“I’m not panicking,” I said quickly. “I’m just… very aware that something up there wants me!”“Not helping,” Anna snapped, her voice rising as her hands moved faster, tracing symbols in the air.The runes flared brighter under our feet.The pull inside my chest intensified.It hurt now.Like something was tugging at a thread tied deep inside me, trying to pull it loose.I gasped softly, my body tensing. “It’s… it’s pulling harder—”“I know,” Cairos said, stepping even closer. His hand hovered near my arm like he wanted to grab me but was holding himself back. “Stay with me, Isolde. Focus on me.”I looked at

ISOLDES POVMy breath came out uneven.I couldn’t look away.His eyes… They were the same.The same red I saw this morning.The same red I thought I imagined.Except now.. I wasn’t imagining anything.“…You lied,” I whispered.Cairos didn’t answer immediately.His gaze stayed locked on the thing on the stairs, his body tense, like he was holding something back.“I didn’t lie,” he said finally, voice low. “I just didn’t tell you everything.”“That’s the same thing!” I snapped, my heart racing.The thing laughed again.“She’s mad…mad at you…”“Shut up!” I yelled, my voice cracking now.My head was spinning.Nothing made sense anymore.Alara. The hospital.This town. Him.Everything felt like it was breaking apart at the same time.“Isolde,” Cairos said, sharper now. “Focus.”“Don’t tell me to focus!” I shot back. “You’ve been hiding things from me since I got here!”“And you haven’t?” he fired back instantly.That shut me up.For half a second.Because he was right.The thing took anoth