CHAPTER 8
841 Words
HUNTED
Lyra's POV :
Everything happened at once.
Darian moved first.
His blade flashed.
The first attacker barely raised his weapon before Darian knocked him backward.
Riven transformed.
Black fur erupted across his body.
The underground chamber shook as his wolf collided with two hunters.
I backed away.
Another attacker appeared behind me.
I turned.
Too slow.
He grabbed my wrist.
Pain shot through my arm.
"You're coming with us."
"No."
I drove my knee into his stomach.
He grunted.
I twisted free.
But another hand caught my hair.
I screamed.
Then the shadows moved.
They wrapped around the attacker's arm.
He froze.
I stared.
The black tendrils tightened.
He screamed.
I released him.
He fell.
My breathing became uneven.
I looked at my hands.
Darian saw it.
His eyes widened.
"Lyra."
"What?"
"Control it."
"I don't know how."
"Then don't fight it."
Riven turned toward us.
"She's afraid."
"Obviously."
"No."
Riven's eyes fixed on me.
"That's the problem."
He stepped closer.
"Your power feeds on fear."
The shadows climbed higher.
My heart raced.
"No."
"Lyra."
"I can't control it."
"Yes, you can."
"How?"
Riven's voice became quiet.
"Stop trying to be the girl they wanted you to be."
Something inside me cracked.
The shadows exploded.
Every candle went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
The hunters screamed.
Then silence.
When the light returned—
they were all unconscious.
I stood in the center of the room.
My hands were shaking.
Darian stared at me.
Riven looked almost pleased.
"What?"
Darian didn't answer.
Riven did.
"Beautiful."
I glared at him.
"Don't."
He smiled.
"I'm serious."
Darian stepped between us.
"Enough."
Riven's eyes narrowed.
"Jealous?"
"No."
"You look jealous."
"I look annoyed."
"Same thing."
"Stop."
I couldn't help it.
A tiny laugh escaped me.
Both men looked at me.
I immediately stopped.
It was the first time I'd laughed since the ceremony.
And somehow, that frightened me more than the hunters.
---
Later, Darian examined the bodies.
"They weren't ordinary hunters."
"What do you mean?"
He removed a small silver emblem from one man's clothing.
I recognized the symbol.
"The Moon Council."
Darian nodded.
"They're official assassins."
Riven crouched beside another body.
"Look."
He pulled out a folded piece of paper.
Darian opened it.
His expression changed.
"What?"
He handed it to me.
I read the message.
SUBJECT: LYRA VEYNE
PRIORITY: ELIMINATION
DO NOT ALLOW HER TO REACH THE TEMPLE.
My stomach dropped.
"The temple."
Riven looked at me.
"The one from your dream."
I swallowed.
"How do I find it?"
Darian looked toward the northern mountains.
"I know where it is."
"Then take me there."
"No."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because the temple is where the Council buried the last Nocturne records."
My pulse accelerated.
"You said my mother wasn't a traitor."
"She wasn't."
"Then the truth is there."
Darian hesitated.
"Yes."
I stepped closer.
"Take me."
"No."
"Why?"
His voice became quieter.
"Because everyone who has entered that temple has died."
Riven smiled.
"Then she'll be the first one who doesn't."
Darian looked at him.
"You sound very confident."
"I am."
He looked at me.
"She's different."
I didn't know why those words made my heart beat faster.
Then Darian's expression changed.
He looked past me.
His eyes narrowed.
"Someone else is coming."
---
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