The Rejected Luna CH36 - CH40
1868 Words
*Chapter 36: The Monster and The Girl*
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The doors were going to break in 5...4...3...
*Mara * didn’t run.
She crawled to Damien instead.[Kiara]
His head was in his hands. The black veins were up to his jaw now, crawling like ink under his skin. His breathing was ragged, too fast, too sharp.
“Damien, look at me,” she whispered.
He shook his head. “Don’t. I can feel it, Mara. It’s in my head. It wants—” He cut off with a growl. “It wants blood. It wants _you_.”[Kiara]
The crystal shards around him pulsed once, like a heartbeat.
Outside: _BAM_ The guards hit the doors.
“Your Highness? Open the doors!”
*Mara * grabbed his face with both hands. Forced him to look at her. Her eyes were wet but furious.
“Then fight it. You chose me over the kingdom. You chose me over the knife. You don’t get to give up now.”[Kiara]
Damien laughed, broken. “You don’t understand. I can feel my father in here. I can feel every king who fed this curse. They’re all screaming at me to kill you.”
“Then scream louder,” she said. “Because I’m not letting you go.”
_BAM_ The doors cracked.
The black veins reached his eyes. For one second they went completely black. No white. No Damien.
He grabbed her wrists. Too tight.
“Last chance to run, *Mara *,” he hissed. Voice layered, like two people speaking.[Kiara]
She didn’t pull away.
Instead she leaned in and pressed her forehead to his. Blood from her bandaged wrist smeared on his cheek.
“I’m Kiara,” she said, quiet but certain. “Last of my house. And you’re not dying for this curse. Not today.”[Kiara]
Something in him snapped.
Damien roared and threw her back. She hit the floor hard.
The doors burst open. 10 guards with spears.
And in the center of the room stood Damien. Eyes black. Veins black. But he was standing between them and *Mara *.[Kiara]
“Anyone touches her,” his voice echoed, not quite his own, “and I end this kingdom.”
The lead guard paled. “Seize the girl. She’s a threat to the crown.”
Damien smiled. It wasn’t kind. “Try.”
*Mara * got to her feet, shaking. Everyone in the room thought she was the danger.
But the real monster was protecting her.
And the curse was just getting started.
*Chapter 37: Blood For Blood*
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The throne room was dead silent for 2 seconds.
Then chaos.
“Seize her!” the captain yelled.
10 spears swung toward *Mara *.
Damien moved faster.[Kiara]
He didn’t grab a weapon. He didn’t need to.
The black veins flared and a wave of dark energy slammed out of him. The guards flew back like dolls and crashed into the pillars.
*Mara * shielded her face. When she looked up, Damien was breathing hard. His eyes were still black. But he was standing between her and everyone else.[Kiara]
“Damien,” she said carefully. “Can you hear me?”
He turned his head. Slow. When he looked at her, his mouth twitched. “I hear... too much. Them.” He tapped his temple. “All the kings. Telling me to end you.”
The captain got up, blood on his lip. “Your Highness, you’re possessed. Step aside and we’ll contain the girl.”
Damien laughed. It sounded wrong. “Contain her? She’s the only reason I’m still standing.”
He took a step toward the guards. The torches flickered out. Only the light from the broken crystal shards remained, pulsing on the floor.
*Mara * saw it. The shards were moving. Crawling toward Damien’s feet like they were being called home.[Kiara]
“Don’t,” she said. “If you take more of that in, you’ll lose yourself.”
Damien looked down at his hands. Black was spreading to his knuckles. “Then what do I do, *Mara *? Tell me. Because right now I can barely remember my own name.”[Kiara]
Another guard lunged. Damien caught the spear mid-air and snapped it in half with one hand.
“Stop!” *Mara * shouted. Her voice cracked through the room.
Everyone froze.
She stepped in front of Damien. Put herself between him and the spears.
“If you want the last Kiara, you go through me first,” she said. Chin up. Voice shaking but loud. “And if you hurt him, there won’t be anyone left to keep the curse asleep.”[Kiara]
The captain hesitated. “The curse is _in_ him now. He’s the threat.”
“No,” *Mara * said. “The curse is the threat. And it wants us to kill each other.”[Kiara]
She turned and grabbed Damien’s face again. This time he didn’t fight her.
“Hey,” she whispered. Just for him. “Come back. I need you. Not the prince. Not the monster. You.”
Damien’s jaw clenched. The black in his eyes flickered. White came back in patches.
“Mara... it hurts,” he choked out.[Kiara]
“I know.” She pressed her bleeding wrist to his chest, right over his heart. Her blood. His blood. Mixed.
The crystal shards on the floor went dark.
The black veins stopped spreading.
For one second, Damien looked like himself again. Tired. Scared. Human.
Then the windows exploded.
A voice filled the room. Not the old woman. Not the crystal. Something bigger.
*“THE DEAL IS BROKEN. BLOOD MUST BE PAID.”*
The floor cracked open. Black mist poured out again, but this time it wasn’t going for *Mara *.
It was going for Damien.[Kiara]
It wrapped around his legs, his arms, and started dragging him toward the hole.
Damien grabbed *Mara *’s arm and pulled her with him.
“Not without you,” he growled.
And they both fell.
---
The last thing the guards saw was the prince and the girl disappearing into darkness.
The throne room sealed shut behind them.
---
*Chapter 38: The Price*
They fell forever.
*Mara * hit cold stone first. Air knocked out of her. Then Damien landed on top of her, breaking her fall.[Kiara]
“Are you okay?” he asked immediately, rolling off. His voice was still his. For now.
*Mara * nodded, coughing. “Where are we?”[Kiara]
Darkness. Endless. Only the broken crystal shards floating around them gave faint light. Below, there was no floor. Just black mist. Above, the hole they fell through was already sealing.
From the dark, that voice came again. Deeper now. Older than the palace.
*“BLOOD FOR BLOOD. THAT WAS THE DEAL.”*
The mist swirled and formed a shape. Tall. No face. Just a crown of thorns made of shadow.
“The deal was broken,” the thing said. “A prince refused to kill. A girl refused to die. So now, both must pay.”
Damien stood and pulled *Mara * up behind him. “What do you want?”[Kiara]
“One soul to take the throne of the curse. One to walk free.” It tilted its head. “Choose.”
*Mara * stepped forward. “Take me. I’m Kiara. It’s my bloodline.”[Kiara]
“No,” Damien said at the same time. “Take me. The curse is already in me.”
The shadow laughed. *“HOW CUTE. YOU BOTH WANT TO DIE FOR EACH OTHER.”*
It pointed at the floating shards. “Then here is the price. One of you must shatter the other’s heart. Literally. With this.”
A dagger made of crystal floated between them. Black and red.
“Whoever stabs first, lives. The other becomes the new Heart. Chained here. Forever.”
Silence.
*Mara * looked at Damien. Damien looked at *Mara *.[Kiara]
Neither of them moved.
“60 seconds,” the shadow said. “Then I choose for you.”
---
*Chapter 39: Neither*
*Mara * picked up the crystal dagger. It was freezing.
Damien didn’t back away. “Do it,” he whispered. “Before I lose control and do it to you.”
“Shut up,” *Mara * snapped. Tears were falling now. “I’m not killing you.”[Kiara]
“Then I will,” he said, and reached for the dagger.
She pulled it away. “Neither of us!”
3...2...1...
The shadow screamed. The ground shook.
*“YOU REFUSE? THEN BOTH PAY.”*
The mist shot forward and pierced both of them in the chest. Not a wound. A chain. Black, cold, wrapped around their hearts.
*Mara * gasped and fell to her knees. She could feel it. A second heartbeat in her chest. Not hers.
Damien dropped too, clutching his chest. “What... did it do?”[Kiara]
*“NOW YOU ARE BOUND,”* the shadow said. *“ONE HEART. TWO BODIES. IF ONE DIES, THE OTHER DOES TOO. IF ONE IS IN PAIN, THE OTHER FEELS IT. AND THE CURSE WILL FEED ON YOU BOTH EQUALLY.”*
The chains pulled tight.
*Mara * reached out and Damien grabbed her hand. Instantly the pain dulled. Half for him, half for her.[Kiara]
“Great,” Damien said weakly, managing a shaky smile. “We’re soulmates. By force.”
*Mara * laughed through tears. “Worst proposal ever.”[Kiara]
The shadow dissolved. The mist receded. A doorway opened in the darkness.
*“THE PRICE IS PAID. LEAVE. BUT REMEMBER - THE CURSE IS HUNGRY. AND NOW IT EATS FROM TWO.”*
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*Chapter 40: Two Hearts, One Curse*
They stumbled through the doorway and into light.
Not the throne room. A forest. At night. Cold wind, full moon.
*Mara * collapsed to her knees. Her chest felt like it was on fire. Then the pain eased as Damien knelt beside her and took her hand again.[Kiara]
“It’s worse when we’re apart,” he realized. “The chain pulls.”
*Mara * nodded. She could feel him too. His fear. His anger. His guilt. All buzzing under her skin.[Kiara]
She looked at him. Really looked. The black veins were still there, but faint now. Contained. Because they were sharing it.
“We’re connected,” she said. “Like... literally.”
Damien ran a thumb over her knuckles. “So we don’t let go. Ever.”
From far away, horns. The palace was searching for them.
*Mara * stood, pulling Damien up with her. She could feel his exhaustion in her own bones.
“We can’t go back,” she said. “Not yet. Not until we figure out how to break this for real.”[Kiara]
Damien looked at the moon, then at her. “Then we run. Together. Two hearts, one curse.”
*Mara * squeezed his hand. The chain in her chest warmed.
“Okay, Prince,” she said. “Let’s burn this kingdom down and build a new one.”[Kiara]
Behind them, the forest whispered. The curse was awake.
And it was following.
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- Writer
