CHAPTER 98: HEREDITARY 3

CIAN

The bathroom door was cold against my palm. I pushed it open and stepped through. My reflection stared back at me from the mirror. Dark circles under my eyes. Jaw tight enough to crack teeth.

I looked away.

The bedroom stretched behind me through the doorway. Uncle Aldric sat in one of the drawers near the window. His presence had always been steady. Reliable. Even when everything else fell apart.

"I was so close to saving my mother."

The words came out rough. My throat felt raw. I crossed the room toward him. Each step felt heavier than the last.

"It was like that jerk found it funny. Decided to take it right from under me."

Aldric’s expression didn’t change. He watched me with those sharp eyes that saw too much. Always had.

I stopped in front of him. My hands curled into fists at my sides.

"The second he shows his face again, I will not hesitate." My voice dropped lower. Colder. "There is no blood in this matter anymore. He is a threat to the people I care about and he is too much of a coward to face me and challenge me properly."

"I don’t know about that," Aldric said quietly.

The contradiction hit like ice water.

"Oh I do." Heat flooded my chest. Anger mixed with something sharper. Something that tasted like fear but I refused to name it. "Because there is a chance that he loses. So using poisons and others he can poison with his ideologies is more than enough." It is safe for him."

My voice cracked on the last word. The anger drained out as fast as it came. Exhaustion rushed in to fill the space.

Aldric stood. He closed the distance between us and pulled me into his arms. The hug was firm. Grounding. Everything I needed but couldn’t ask for.

"We will figure this out, my boy."

I let myself lean into it. Just for a moment.

"I have a lot of contacts." His voice rumbled through his chest. "I will use them to find her a powerful magic practicioner to lift this mess."

The mention of witches and warlock made my stomach twist.

"I am scared."

The admission felt like pulling out my own teeth. I hated the sound of it. Hated the weakness it exposed.

"It is so irrational but I cannot help it." The words kept coming. They poured out like poison I needed to drain. "What if whatever witch we bring turns out to be working for him? Finishes the job?"

My fingers dug into Aldric’s shoulders.

"I am about to even screen the Omegas and Sentinels for their loyalties. That alone is giving me a headache."

"It is alright." Aldric’s grip tightened. "I am here now."

The simple statement shouldn’t have meant so much. But it did. It always did.

"Maybe we can get a witch you trust," he continued.

I pulled back enough to look at him. Trust. The word felt foreign in my mouth.

"I can’t call Madeline or any of her family members." My jaw clenched. "Not after the way we ended things."

The memory surfaced before I could stop it. Harsh words. Accusations. The look on her face when I told her we were done. That her services were no longer needed. That I didn’t trust her judgment anymore. But that was after all the things she had said.

It had been messy. Brutal. Final.

Aldric pulled me back into the hug. Tighter this time.

"I understand, my boy." His hand pressed against the back of my head. "But this is your mother we are talking about. We should cross every bridge."

He was right. I knew he was right. But the thought of reaching out to Madeline made my skin crawl. Pride mixed with shame in a toxic combination.

A sound broke through my thoughts. A scrape against marble. Shoe against stone.

I turned.

Fia stood in the bathroom doorway. Her eyes were wide. Worried. Scared.

She looked at me with something that felt like pity.

My entire body went rigid. I hated it. Hated being seen like this. Vulnerable. Capable of being hurt. Weak.

"I am sorry." Her voice came out soft. Uncertain. "I did not mean to intrude."

Aldric released me. His hands squeezed my shoulders once before he let go completely. Then he turned to face her.

"Is this her?" he asked.

I nodded. Words felt impossible.

His expression changed immediately. The sharp observation melted into warmth. His smile reached his eyes. He crossed the room toward her with practiced ease.

"Well hello." He extended his hand. "You must be Fia."

She nodded. Her throat moved as she swallowed.

"I am Aldric. Cian’s uncle." He took her hand in a firm grip. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

My heart hammered against my ribs. I watched them shake hands. Watched the way Fia’s eyes kept flickering back to me. The worry never left her face.

That same look that made me want to simultaneously pull her close and push her away.

"I heard you were instrumental to helping us see Morrigan’s situation was actually poisoning instead of the rot," Aldric said.

Fia’s cheeks colored slightly. "It was just luck if I am being honest."

"Well, I hope I can get to know you more."

"Of course."

She moved past Aldric and walked straight toward me. Her steps were careful. Measured.

"Are you alright?"

The question hung in the air between us. My gaze fixed on a point somewhere past her shoulder. I couldn’t meet her eyes. Couldn’t face the concern I knew I would find there.

Something fluttered in my chest. An uncomfortable warmth that made my skin feel too tight.

"Yeah. Pretty much."

The lie tasted bitter.

"I am sorry."

Her words made my jaw clench. I forced my voice to stay level.

"Well, it is not your fault."

"I will be going now," Aldric said from behind her.

I managed a nod. His footsteps crossed the room. The door opened and closed with a soft click.

Then it was just us.

Silence filled the space. I needed to say something. Anything. Change the subject before she could dig deeper into wounds I wasn’t ready to show.

"How was your shopping?"

The question came out stiff. Awkward.

Fia’s eyebrows rose. "Do you really want to talk about my shopping right now?"

I finally looked at her. Really looked at her. The late afternoon light caught in her hair. Her expression held a mix of disbelief and something softer underneath. It reminded me of how much I hated being pitied.

"Well, I think I deserve to know."

"Deflecting looks horrible on you." She retorted.

She then closed the remaining distance between us. Before I could process what was happening, her arms wrapped around me.

"I am sorry, Cian."

The world stopped.

My heart slammed against my chest. Once. Twice. So hard I wondered if she could feel it through the embrace. Everything else faded. The room. The situation. The fear that had been eating at me for hours.

Nothing existed except the warmth of her against me.

My hands moved on their own. They found her back. Pulled her closer. I buried my face in her hair and breathed in the scent of her shampoo. It was floral and it smelled clean if that could even be described.

The hug felt like the only solid thing in a world that wouldn’t stop tilting.

Her lips were close to my ear. Her breath warm against my skin.

"You don’t have to put the world on your shoulders." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "It is okay to be frustrated. No matter how small it makes you feel."

The words cracked something open inside my chest. Something I had been keeping locked and barricaded.

My grip tightened. I held her like she might disappear if I let go. Like she was the only thing keeping me from falling apart completely.

She didn’t pull away. Didn’t try to escape. She just stood there and let me hold on.

The bond hummed between us. A living thing that pulsed with warmth and light. It wrapped around my heart and squeezed. Not painfully. More like a reminder that I wasn’t alone in this.

That someone else was standing in the fire with me.

When we weren’t trapping it in a bubble, it actually did feel quite...nice.

My throat felt tight. Tears burned behind my eyes but I refused to let them fall. I had broken enough today. Shown enough weakness.

But this. This felt different.

This felt like permission to break. Just a little. Just enough to breathe again.

Fia’s hand moved against my back. A slow, soothing motion. The kind someone would use to calm a frightened animal.

I should have hated it. Should have pushed her away and rebuilt the walls she was tearing down with nothing but her presence and gentle words.

But I couldn’t.

I didn’t want to.

"I thought I had it," I said against her hair. "The cure. I thought I finally had it."

"I know."

"He took it from me. Just snatched it away like it was nothing."

"I know."

Her responses weren’t meant to fix anything. They were just acknowledgment. Understanding. The simple recognition that I was hurting and it mattered.

"My mother is dying." The words scraped out. "And I can’t stop it."

Fia’s arms tightened around me. "We will find another way."

The certainty in her voice cut through some of the darkness. Not all of it. But enough to let a sliver of light through.

"What if we don’t?"

"Well I hope we do." She pulled back just enough to look up at me. Her eyes held mine. "But in this small scenario that we do not, you don’t have to carry that fear alone."

My hand came up on its own. My fingers traced the line of her jaw. Her skin was soft. Warm.

She leaned into the touch.

The air between us felt charged. Heavy with something I didn’t have a name for. Something that made my pulse race and my breath catch.

Her lips parted slightly. A question formed in her eyes.

That was when door burst open.

We jerked apart. My hand fell back to my side. Fia stepped away quickly. Too quickly.

A sentinel stood in the doorway. His face was pale.

"Alpha Cian." He bowed low. "I apologize for the interruption. But there is something you need to see. Immediately."

The moment shattered. Reality crashed back in like a wave.

I straightened. Forced my expression back into something harder. More controlled.

"What is it?"

"It concerns the Grand Luna." The sentinel’s voice was tight. "Her condition has worsened."

My blood went cold.