Vincent/Vaelthor

I just stared at Nancy, her words hanging in the air like a trap I hadn''t seening. A child from each of us? The thought mmed into me, cold and haunting, like ice flooding my veins. My chest tightened, my heart hammering so hard it felt like it might break through my ribs. How could she even suggest something like that? Something so personal, so… permanent.

I stole a nce at Winter. Her eyes were wide, stunned, her shoulders shrinking in against me as if she could hide from the weight of the moment. She looked just as lost as I felt, maybe even more.

"No." The word cut out of me, sharp and final. My voice was low, but there was steel behind it. "I''m not nning on having kids. Not now. Not ever. That''s not my path."

Winter nodded quickly, her fingers twisting the fabric of my shirt, holding on like I was her only light in all this madness. Her voice wavered, but there was strength underneath the fear. "Me neither. I... I don''t see that ever happening. We''ve already got too much to deal with—too much on our te. Kids? That belongs to another life. Not ours."

Nancy''s violet eyes sparkled with amusement, her lips curling into that sly, knowing smile that made my skin crawl. She leaned back against the table, crossing her arms over her flowing dress, the firelight dancing across her pale features like flickering secrets. "Oh, darlings, that''s perfectly fine. If you never have any little ones scampering about, then you owe me nothing. No payment, no strings. But..." She paused, her gaze sharpening like a de. "If you do—whether by choice, by fate, or even by some happy little mistake—you pay up. One child from each of you. Simple as that."

The room seemed to shrink, the crackling fire now a roar in my ears. I could feel Winter''s breath hitch beside me, her fear seeping into our shared bond like ink in water. What kind of game was this? I searched Nancy''s face for cracks, for lies, but she just stood there, patient as a spider in its web, waiting for us to decide.

I narrowed my eyes, suspicion coiling in my gut like a serpent ready to strike. "What do you gain if we never have children? This whole deal feels off—too suspicious. You''re offering us everything: scents changed, paths to the Lycan kingdom, all for a ''maybe'' payment that might nevere? What''s the angle here?"

Nancy chuckled softly, that low velvet sound that somehow eased the air but didn''t dissolve the tensionpletely. She slid off the table, her dress brushing against the worn wood as she started pacing in a slow circle, like a predator that hadn''t decided whether to bite or not.

"Suspicious?" she said, tilting her head, her eyes glinting. "I suppose it is, to minds like yours, forged in shadows and betrayal. But honestly, demon boy, if you never have kids, I gain nothing. Zip. Nada. And that''s truly okay by me. Call it a gamble on my part—life''s full of them. Sometimes you win big, sometimes you walk away empty-handed."

She pressed a palm lightly to her chest, smirking. "But I swear—cross my witchy-demon heart—it''ll be fine. There are no tricks here, no hidden curses. Just a fair deal."

Her words hung in the air, curling around us like smoke rising from a dying fire. I looked at Winter, and she looked back—her wide blue eyes mirroring the storm tearing through my chest. We needed this. Desperately. The hunger for revenge burned hotter than blood in my veins, every heartbeat echoing the names that haunted me: Zane. Natalie. Sebastian. Cassandra. Their imagined faces were carved into my rage.

But this bargain… it felt like standing on the lip of an abyss, knowing one wrong step could swallow us whole.

Through the thread of our mind link, I reached for her. Shadows of thought brushed against each other until they merged. "Syl, what do you think? She''s handing us everything we''ve been praying for—ways to hide our scent, secret paths to the royals, a clear shot at revenge. But the price…"

Her reply came soft but jagged, her mental voice shaking like ss about to shatter.

"It''s insane, Vaelthor. Trading away a child we don''t even have? What if… what if something changes? What if we end up with families someday? I don''t want to give up a piece of myself like that."

I felt her turmoil echo in my soul, a raw ache that made my demonic strength feel fragile. "I know, Syl. It twists my gut too. But think about it—we''re not nning on that life. No mates, no heirs. Our heritage is vengeance, not cradles and lubies. Mother and Father''s legacy demands we end those who slew her. If we never have kids, we pay nothing. It''s a risk, but one we can control. We say no now, and we''re back on the streets, hunted like animals. The Wardens, vampires, werewolves—they''ll tear us apart before we even glimpse the Lycan pce."

She hesitated, her thoughts flickering like candlelight in a draft. "You''re right... but it scares me. This Nancy—she''s part demon, like us. What if she''s weaving something darker?"

"Then we face whatever she weaves together," I pushed back through the link, my thoughts carrying the raw edge of defiance. I wrapped every word in the same fierce protectiveness that had bound us since the day we wed our way into this cursed world.

Images rose with the thought—Winter''s tiny hand clutching mine in the dark tunnels of the underworld, the two of us pressed back to back against horrors most children only meet in nightmares. We''d survived starvation, the crack of whips, the sound of chains dragging across stone. We had lived through the nights when Mother''s voice was only a memory and Father''s image, somewhere far away, crying for our help, echoed through our skulls.

"We''ve already walked through fire," I continued, my voice a promise as much as a thought. "We''ve survived the depths of the underworld itself. This? This is just another shadow to conquer. For Mother. For Father. For every cruel day we were forced to grow up too fast, for every piece of our childhood stolen from us. We''ll carry their ghosts with us into this fight—and we''ll make them proud."

My chest burned as I sent the words, fury and love tangled into one. Across the link, I felt Winter''s heart tremble, her doubt colliding with the steel of my conviction.

A long pause stretched between us, the fire popping like impatient apuse. Finally, Winter''s resolve hardened, a cold steel in her mind. "Okay. Let''s do it. But promise me, Vincent—no regrets, no looking back."

"Promise," I replied, my heart swelling with a mix of dread and determination.

Out loud, I broke the silence, my voice steady despite the whirlwind inside. "Alright, Nancy. We ept your offer."