April POV

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    As I round thest corner, the corridor narrows and the air grows heavier, colder, like the walls themselves are soaked with shadows. More guards line the path ahead, their armor catching the dim torchlight, but none of them stop me. Their gazes follow me as I move past, but they don’t raise a hand or a word. It’s as though they know I’ve already made my choice, and nothing they say will pull me back from it.

    And then I see the cell.

    He’s there, slumped against the far wall, his arms shackled above his head, the heavy cuffs glowing faintly where magic has been etched into the iron. Chains run through the stone, anchoring him as if even the walls themselves are working to keep him restrained. His ankles are bound too, the same cruel metal circling his skin.

    For a moment, I can’t breathe. Because in the flickering light, he looks like him again. His chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm, his face is calmer, softer, and all I can see is the Eryx I fell in love with. Not the monster the Hollowed Queen has tried to turn him into, not the cruel words that once broke me apart, but the man who once held me in the safety of his arms and promised I was never alone.

    I take one step closer, then another, and the sound makes him stir. His head lifts slowly, and when his eyes find me, the world stills.

    “Eryx,” I whisper, my throat so tight the word barely makes it out. Please, please let it be him.

    For a heartbeat he just stares, his gaze locking on me like he’s not sure if I’m real. Then something breaks in his expression. His eyes flood with something raw and fierce, and when they flick down to my stomach, I see love there. Real, desperate love.

    “April,” he breathes, the word trembling out of him like a prayer. He surges forward as far as the chains allow, his body straining until the metal groans. He presses himself as close to the bars as he can.

    The sound that tears from me is half a cry, half a sob. I rush to him, falling against the cold iron, wrapping my arms around him through the narrow gap. His body trembles against mine, and I cling tighter, pressing my cheek to his chest even though the metal digs into me.

    “You’re really here?” His voice is broken, his hands gripping me as though he’s terrified I’ll vanish if he loosens his hold. A quiet sob escapes him, muffled against my hair, and my own tears spill freely.

    “I’m here,” iI /iwhisper fiercely. “I’m here, Eryx. We’re going to fix this. I’ll help, I’ll do anything.”

    His chains rattle as he lifts his hands to my face, his palms warm against my skin. His touch is trembling but reverent, like he’s afraid I’ll shatter. He leans down, and before I can even think, his mouth finds mine.

    It’s desperate, aching, but it’s bhim/b. His kiss is him. My knees weaken, and I clutch at the bars, pulling him closer even though the iron is in the way. When he pulls back, his forehead rests against mine, his breath ragged.

    “I thought it was a dream,” he whispers, like he’s confessing something too fragile to say aloud.

    “No,” I murmur back, stroking his face with my fingertips, tracing the lines Eknow better than my own. “I’m really here.

    b1/3 /b

    09:33 Sat, 30 Augu

    And I can help, I know I can. We’ll find a way, Eryx. We can get rid of her.”

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    His eyes close briefly, and when they open again, they shine with something both broken and unyielding. He holds me tighter, his thumbs brushing my cheeks as though trying to memorize every detail of me, as though this moment is all he has left to live for.

    And I let him, because I need it too. Because for the first time in months, it feels like I’ve found him again.

    look up at him, my hands still pressed to his face, and the words tumble out before I can stop them. “You were a fool for doing that. For lying. For rejecting me.”

    His eyes flicker, the warmth I’d just seen faltering. For the smallest moment, I think I imagined it, that maybe I’ve pressed

    too hard on a wound that never healed.

    But then it shifts.

    His jaw tightens, his lips curl back in a snarl, and I see something hollow and cruel sh across his expression. His hands jerk against the chains, and before I can even draw breath, he lunges forward, reaching further through the bars for me.

    “I should’ve left you to burn,” he spits, his voice venomous and sharp. His fingers swipe at my arm, and the hatred in his

    eyes is nothing like the man who just held me and wept.

    “April!”

    Strong arms wrap around my waist and yank me back before his hand can catch me. I scream, my feet dragging against the stone as I’m hauled away from the bars. My chest heaves, my heart splintering as Eryx thrashes against his restraints, his chains nging wildly, his snarl echoing through the cell.

    I twist in the hold, and it’s Xander’s face I see. His jaw is locked, fury pouring off him in waves as he drags me back several paces. “What the hell were you thinking?” he roars, his voice shaking the air around us.

    I clutch my stomach instinctively, terrified of how close those words, those ws, came to me.

    The guards at the far end of the corridor shift uneasily, but none step forward. Xander’s re snaps toward them, his voice a thunderous growl. “You let her walk in here? Into his cell? What kind of idiotic negligence is that?”

    One of the guards straightens, his face pale but his chin lifting in defiance. “We weren’t told she wasn’t allowed. No orders

    were given to keep her out,”

    Xander’s snarl rumbles low in his chest. “It’smon sensel” His fists clench at his sides, trembling with the effort to keep fromshing out further.

    The younger guard, his eyes darting between me and the cell, shakes his head quickly. “It worked, though. For a minute, he was back, You saw it. He cried, he held her, he remembered.” His voice wavers but he pushes on, desperate. “We thought maybe that’s bwhat /bhe needed to see her. To feel her. And it did bring him back. For a moment.”

    I freeze at those words, my chest tightening painfully. He’s right. For a fleeting second, it was Eryx. His tears had soaked my hair, his voice had cracked when he whispered my name. He had remembered us.

    But then I look back at the cell. Eryx is still thrashing, still snarling, his eyes burning with malice that cuts straight through me. That warmth is gone, swallowed whole by whatever has taken root inside him.

    09:33 Sat, 30 Augu

    ? ???, 55%

    Xander pulls me further back, his body like a wall between me and the bars, his fury still snapping at the guards. “One moment isn’t enough. One moment nearly got her killed.”

    XE

    My hands shake violently as I hold my stomach tighter, fighting the sob that threatens to tear free. Because he’s wrong. One moment was enough, for me. Enough to remind me he’s still in there, enough to shatter the lie that he’s gone forever.

    But the truth ws at me too, sharp and merciless. That darkness isn’t leaving him. It’s changing him.

    And I don’t know how much longer the man I love can fight it.

    田