The hybrid nobody wanted

Chapter 13:Home

I ran.

That's all I could do.

Through the forest. Past the cliff. Past the river. Past every place that held memories of him.

The bond pulsed in my chest,weak, twisted, wrong. Like a heartbeat that didn't belong to me anymore.

But still there.

Still alive.

I held onto that like a lifeline.

The bar appeared through the trees just as dawn broke.

I stumbled out of the forest. Fell to my knees in the dirt.

The door burst open.

Mira ran out first. Then Jax. Then Old Tom.

"Raya!" Mira dropped beside me. Grabbed my face. "Raya, look at me. Look at ME."

I looked at her. And broke.

"He's gone." My voice was barely a whisper. "They took him. The King. He took Dorian."

Mira's face went pale. Jax stepped forward. "Took him? What do you mean took him?"

I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't…

Old Tom lifted me. Carried me inside.

They sat me at the kitchen table. Wrapped a blanket around me. Pushed tea into my hands.

I just stared at the wall.

"Raya." Mira's voice was soft. "Tell us what happened."

I told them.

The cave. The King. Dorian fighting. Dorian freezing. Dorian screaming.

The King's words: "I'll carve into his soul: Kill the hybrid."

When I finished, the kitchen was silent.

Jax slammed his fist on the table. "I'm going after him."

"No." Mira's voice was sharp. "You go after him, you die. We need a plan."

"While we're planning, he's with the KING!" Jax's eyes glowed. "You know what they do to vampires who betray them? You know what they'll do to HIM?"

I knew.

Three hundred years of service. One moment of love. Now he'd pay for it forever.

The bond pulsed. Weak. Fainter.

I pressed my hand to my chest. Dorian.

Nothing.

Days passed.

I don't remember them. They blurred together,sitting, staring, waiting.

Mira brought food. I didn't eat.

Jax yelled. I didn't respond.

Old Tom sat with me. Just sat. Saying nothing.

The bond flickered like a dying candle.

And then, on the third night, it changed.

I woke up gasping.

Something was different. Wrong. Twisted.

The bond was still there but it felt... cold. Dark. Like someone had poisoned it.

"Raya?" Mira was at my door. "What happened?"

I looked at her. "He's changing her. The King. He's..." My voice broke. "He's making him forget me."

Mira sat on my bed. Grabbed my hands.

"Then we remind him."

"How? He's with the King. Surrounded by vampires. I can't just,"

"You can." Her eyes burned. "You're the hybrid. The prophecy. The key to ending the war." She squeezed my hands. "You're not just some girl anymore, Raya. You're a weapon. It's time you started acting like one."

I stared at her.

A weapon.

The King wanted me as a weapon.

Kael wanted me as a weapon.

Everyone wanted me as a weapon.

But what if I became my own weapon?

What if I stopped running and started fighting?

The next morning, I found Jax in the kitchen.

"Train me," I said.

He blinked. "What?"

"Train me. Fight me. Push me until I break." I met his eyes. "I need to be stronger."

Jax studied me. Then nodded slowly.

"Okay. But I don't go easy."

"I don't want easy."

We fought.

For hours. Days. Weeks.

He hit me. I got up. He hit me again. I got up again.

Mira watched from the doorway. Old Tom brought water.

The bond flickered. Faded. Changed.

But I didn't stop.

Because every time I closed my eyes, I saw Dorian's face. Heard his voice.

Run.

I was done running.

One month later, Mira found me on the roof.

"You're ready," she said.

I looked at her. "Ready for what?"

"Ready to stop training and start planning." She sat beside me. "I've been watching. Listening. The King has a fortress. North of here. Three days through vampire territory."

I turned to her. "You know where he is?"

"I know where the fortress is. Whether he's there..." She shrugged. "It's our best shot."

I stood. Looked toward the north.

The bond pulsed. Weak. But there.

Alive.

"I'm going," I said.

"We're going." Jax's voice from below. He climbed up. "You think I'm letting you go alone?"

Mira stood too. "And me."

Old Tom's voice from the ground: "Someone needs to watch the bar. Go. Bring him home."

I looked at them. My family. My heart.

"If we die"

"We won't." Jax grinned. "I'm too annoying to die."

I laughed. First time in a month.

Then we packed.

We left at dusk.

Three of us. Raya, Mira, Jax.

Walking north. Toward the fortress. Toward the King. Toward Dorian.

The bond pulsed. Weak. Cold. Waiting.

“I'm coming”, I sent through it. “I'm coming for you”.

No answer.

But I felt something. Faint. Like a whisper in the dark.

Run.

I smiled. Cold. Determined.

"Not anymore."

We walked into the night.