Elara's POV
I couldn't sleep.
Mira was resting in the bedroom, her wounds bandaged. Ash had finally convinced me to let him take first watch, so he sat by the window, silhouetted against moonlight.
But I couldn't stop thinking about Mira's last words.
Something about your mother.
I sat up on the couch. "Ash?"
He turned immediately, alert. "What's wrong?"
"My mother." The words tumbled out. "She died when I was twelve. They said it was a sudden illness. But what if—"
"You think Caspian killed her."
It wasn't a question. He'd been thinking the same thing.
"It would explain so much," I whispered. "Why Father became so cold afterward. Why he was so obsessed with family legacy. Maybe he knew. Maybe he was protecting Vivienne and me by becoming exactly what Caspian wanted."
Ash crossed the room and sat beside me. "Or maybe he was just a coward who chose power over his children."
"Maybe both."
We sat in silence. Then Ash said quietly, "Tell me about her. Your mother."
I smiled despite everything. "She was beautiful. Kind. She used to sneak me cookies after Father said no sweets. She taught me my first spells in the garden when I was five." My throat tightened. "She loved you too. Used to say you were the best familiar any witch could ask for."
"I remember." Ash's voice was soft. "She'd scratch behind my ears and tell me to always protect you."
"You did. You have."
He looked at me, and something in his expression made my heart race. "Elara, about the bonding. The third stage. I don't want you to feel pressured. If you need more time—"
"We don't have more time. We have three days."
"I know. But even with a deadline, you shouldn't..." He struggled for words. "It should mean something. Not just survival."
"It does mean something." I took his hand. "It means everything. I'm just scared."
"Of me?"
"Of this. Of how much I want it despite everything being wrong." I laughed shakily. "We're being hunted. People are dying. The world is falling apart. And all I can think about is—"
I stopped, face burning.
Ash's thumb traced circles on my palm. "Is what?"
"How badly I want to kiss you again."
His eyes darkened. "Elara—"
A groan from the bedroom cut him off.
Mira.
We both rushed to her side. She was thrashing in her sleep, fever-bright and mumbling.
"Mira!" I touched her forehead. She was burning up.
"The wounds," Ash said grimly. "They were cursed. I should have noticed."
"Can we heal her?"
"Not without magic. And yours is still too unstable from the bonding."
Panic clawed at me. "Then what do we do?"
"There might be something in the forest. Wild magic sometimes grows healing plants." He stood. "I'll go look."
"Not alone. If Caspian's people are out there—"
"Which is why you're staying here to guard Mira." His tone left no room for argument.
"Ash—"
He kissed my forehead quickly. "I'll be fast. I promise."
Then he shifted to wolf form and disappeared into the night.
I sat with Mira, holding her hand, whispering reassurances. She kept mumbling fragments: "...Caspian... your mother... the ritual... thirteen years..."
Thirteen years. That's how long ago Mother died.
Could Caspian really have been planning this since I was twelve?
Mira's eyes suddenly snapped open. But they weren't her normal brown. They glowed with an eerie white light.
"Elara," she said, but it wasn't her voice. It was older. Familiar.
My blood ran cold. "Mother?"
"My darling girl." The words came from Mira's mouth but in my mother's voice. "I don't have much time. This spell is costing the last of what I left behind."
Tears streamed down my face. "You're dead. How—"
"I bound a message to your closest friend, triggered when you completed the True Bonding." Mother's voice wavered. "I knew this day would come. Knew you'd need the truth."
"What truth? Did Caspian kill you?"
"Yes. But not for the reason you think." Through Mira's body, my mother reached for my hands. "Elara, your father made a deal with demons when you were born. They wanted your power in exchange for his Council seat. But I found another way—a loophole."
"What loophole?"
"The True Bonding. If you bonded with your familiar before your twenty-fifth birthday, the demon contract would be void. Your power would be your own, protected by ancient magic even demons can't touch."
My mind reeled. "But I'm twenty-five now. If the contract—"
"Was triggered when you were twenty-three, yes. Caspian discovered my plan. He couldn't let you complete the bonding, so he orchestrated your downfall. Stole your magic before Ash could transform." Mother's voice grew desperate. "But I hid something in the ritual. A fail-safe. When your magic was locked away, I made sure only a True Bonding could unlock it."
"You planned this? All of this?"
"I planned for you to survive. To have a choice I never did." She squeezed my hands. "Elara, the bonding must be completed. All three stages. Not just to save your lives—to break the demon contract forever. Your father doesn't know. He thinks he doomed you. But really, you're the only one who can end this."
"But Caspian knows about the three-day deadline. He's hunting us—"
"Let him come." My mother's voice turned fierce. "Once you complete the bonding, you'll have power beyond anything he's ever seen. You and Ash together will be unstoppable."
The white light began to fade from Mira's eyes.
"Wait!" I gripped her hands tighter. "How do I complete it? The third stage—"
"Trust your heart. Trust Ash. Trust the bond." Mother's voice was barely a whisper now. "I love you, my darling. I'm sorry I couldn't stay. But I made sure you'd never be alone."
"I love you too—"
The light vanished. Mira gasped and collapsed back, unconscious but breathing normally. The cursed wounds were healing.
The message had broken the curse.
I sat there shaking, processing everything. My mother had known. Had planned for this. Had sacrificed herself to give me a chance.
The cottage door burst open.
I spun, ready to fight—but it was Ash, back in human form, carrying an armful of glowing plants.
"Found them," he said. Then he saw my face. "What happened?"
"My mother," I choked out. "She... she left a message. She planned everything. The bonding, the lock on my magic, all of it."
Ash set down the plants and pulled me into his arms. "Tell me."
I did. Everything. When I finished, we sat in silence.
"Your mother was brilliant," he finally said.
"She was terrified. She knew they'd kill her for helping me."
"And she did it anyway." Ash pulled back to look at me. "Like I would. Like you would for me. That's what love is."
I stared into his eyes—those intense, golden-flecked eyes that had watched over me my entire life.
"Ash, I think I need to tell you something."
"What?"
"I'm scared of the bonding. Of how final it is. Of tying you to me forever when you deserve—"
"You," he interrupted firmly. "I deserve you. And you deserve someone who has loved you since you were seven years old. Who knows your worst moments and your best. Who would die for you a thousand times."
"You already tried that once. Didn't love it."
He smiled—that rare, beautiful smile. "Then let's try something else. Let's live. Together."
I kissed him.
Not desperate like before. Slower. Deeper. A promise.
When we pulled apart, we were both breathing hard.
"Elara," he whispered. "If we do this—"
"When we do this," I corrected.
His eyes blazed. "When we do this, there's no going back. You'll be stuck with me forever."
"Good. I'm tired of people leaving."
We kissed again, and this time the magic stirred—golden light and shadow dancing between us.
A knock at the door shattered the moment.
We froze.
Nobody knew we were here. Nobody except—
"It's me!" A familiar voice called. "Open up, quickly!"
I recognized it instantly. "Marcus?"
Ash and I rushed to the door. Sure enough, our elderly gardener stood there, looking terrified and exhausted.
"Marcus, thank god!" I pulled him inside. "We thought you were dead!"
"Nearly was." He leaned against the wall, panting. "They came for me. Caspian's assassins. But someone warned me just in time."
"Who?"
Marcus looked at me with an expression I couldn't read. "Your father. He sent a message from wherever the demons took him. Said to find you. Said to tell you—"
He pulled an envelope from his coat. Sealed with the Thornwood family crest.
My hands shook as I opened it.
Inside was a letter in my father's handwriting:
Elara,
I cannot undo the past. But I can give you the future. The demons made me see things clearly. Your mother was right about everything.
There's a vault beneath the Thornwood estate. In it is your mother's grimoire—the real one, not the fake Caspian stole. It contains the complete ritual for the True Bonding. Everything you need.
But Elara, there's something else. Something your mother discovered before she died. The True Bonding doesn't just break demon contracts.
It reveals bloodlines.
When you complete it, you'll learn the truth about what you really are.
And that truth will change everything.
-Father
I stared at the letter, my heart pounding.
"What does he mean?" Ash asked, reading over my shoulder. "What truth?"
Marcus cleared his throat. "Your mother... she wasn't entirely human, Miss Elara."
The world tilted.
"What?"
"She was half-Oracle. Part of an ancient magical bloodline that predates the Council." Marcus's expression was grave. "Which means you are too. And if you complete the True Bonding with Oracle blood..."
"What happens?" I whispered.
Marcus met my eyes.
"You become something no one has been in a thousand years. A Primordial Witch. With power over reality itself."
The cottage went silent.
Then, from outside, a sound that made my blood freeze:
Howling. Not wolf howls.
Demon howls.
Dozens of them.
They'd found us.
And we were out of time.