Page 40

Inside, the air is different—dense with secrets and the crushing inheritance of bloodlines continuing through centuries. The house has already recovered from the destruction I caused, displaying fresh plaster over the scorch marks and a fully replaced chandelier. Money and magic erase evidence faster than guilt. Estella waits in the drawing room, composed as ever, though her expression softens when she sees me.

"Serenity." My name carries an unfamiliar warmth mixed with caution. "What brings you here?"

"What haven't you told me?" I demand. Beside me, Darius is an unyielding shadow—protective, yet entirely closed off, his emotional distance a palpable barrier. "About the Crowe bloodline. About why they're after me."

Her gaze flickers, a trace of unease slipping through her stoic mask. "Some truths are dangerous, even for those who seek them."

"The truth, Essie." The name is a plea from the girl I used to be, even as the woman I am now threatens to boil over. The feeling of untapped magic simmers beneath my skin. "Now."

With a resigned sigh, Estella rises and whispers a sharp syllable of command. A localized tear in the fabric of the room parts, and an old, gilded chest slides forward into reality, trailing the dust and memories of wherever she had it hidden. When she opens it, a cloud of dust rises into the air, carrying the heavy weight of concealed spells.

"This manuscript," she says, withdrawing a crumbling bundle of pages and holding it like something that might bite, "holds the legacy of our line. Generations ago, the Crowe ancestors entombed a dark power—a lunar entity of immense strength. They forged a seal, binding fragments of it within our bloodline."

I stare at the manuscript, the crushing burden of centuries bearing down. "Does it affect every descendant?"

"It affects all of us," Estella confirms, her gaze meeting mine squarely and unguarded. "Each Crowe carries a piece of the seal. Your powers, your struggles—it's the entity testing its binds, searching for weakness."

I sink back into the chair. Every spike of uncontrolled power and every moment I felt like a monster clawing its way out of my skin clicks into a pattern I should have seen years ago.

"Why me?" I force the words up through a throat that feels lined with razor wire. "Why is my magic stronger than yours? Than anyone else's?"

Estella's fingers trace the manuscript's brittle edges, her composure fracturing at the seams. "Your mother's line carried the pure, undiluted blood of the original seal-keeper. When she died during that ritual⁠—"

"The one you never explained properly."

"—the entity's connection transferred all to you." Estella steps closer while speaking in a hushed tone. "You inherited a legacy that surpasses a mere fragment, Serenity. Your connection to it remains the most powerful one in existence."

The blood drains from my face. "The Vessel, that's what the journals kept referencing. That's what the coven's been calling it—what they need to complete the ritual."

Estella’s composure fractures further, a sight I have never witnessed before. Her hands tremble on the manuscript, and when she looks up, there's something in her eyes I've never seen before—genuine fear.

"Where did you find that word?"

"In our own family archives. The ones you apparently forgot to burn." I step closer, my voice dropping to something dangerous and quiet. "I'm the Vessel. It explains everything—why they need me alive, why each attempt was a desperate bid for capture. I’m the key to the horror they have imprisoned beneath this city."

Estella’s silence is the loudest confirmation I've ever heard.

The room tilts sideways. "You knew."

My hands shake as rage builds. "You've always known I was different, and you let me think I was broken."

"I was protecting⁠—"

"Protecting what?" I leap to my feet, the air in the room dropping ten degrees, my breath fogging as the spell answers my call. "Your precious family reputation? The bloodline's secrets?"

Estella stands, her own power rising in response—cool, controlled, everything mine isn't. "I was protecting you from becoming what they want you to become."

"A weapon."

Estella's chin lifts, and for a moment she looks exactly like every portrait lining the hallway—cold, carved, certain. "A threat that needed managing."

A sickening vertigo takes hold of me. The protection was a leash. She has been watching my every move and managing my limits to keep me under her thumb, a continuation of how our family has always kept its own in check. Behind me, Darius shifts closer. His motives are unreadable right now, clouded by this morning and the drive here, where he treated me like nothing more than a line item on an invoice. Whatever he's thinking, he keeps it locked behind that impenetrable mask.

"Get out." The command tears from somewhere fervent and furious. "Both of you now."

"Serenity—" Estella reaches toward me. Magic shears outward from my core, carrying the sharp, bitter odor of shattered quartz. Selenic fire races across the room, shattering antique mirrors and sending books tumbling from their shelves. The protective wards built into the walls shriek as my power slams against them, testing boundaries that have held for generations.

"You made me a prisoner in my own skin!" The accusation burns through the air as energy whips around us. "Twenty-nine years of lies!"