Chapter 18: The Impossible Choice
294 Words
The palace shook.
Devin moved closer to Nina.
"Don't listen to him."
But Malachai continued.
"You and I are the same."
"Both caught between worlds."
"Both too powerful to belong anywhere."
Nina felt the darkness pulling at her.
Not because she wanted it.
Because part of her recognized it.
Her power.
Her blood.
Her destiny.
"What happens if I refuse?"
Malachai looked toward Devin.
"Then I take the one thing that you love."
The shadows wrapped around Devin.
He fell to one knee.
"Devin!"
Nina reached for him.
But Malachai stopped her.
"Choose."
"Become my queen..."
"Or watch your king die."
The black crescent moon above the palace began to glow.
The fate of the two worlds rested in Nina's hands.
And for the first time...
She wondered if love alone was enough to win.
The palace trembled beneath Nina's feet.
Malachai stood before her, calm and patient, as though he already knew her choice.
"Choose," he repeated.
Behind him, shadows held Devin against the stone floor. His face was tense, but his eyes remained fixed on Nina.
Not with fear.
With trust.
"Don't do this," Devin whispered.
Malachai smiled.
"Interesting. Even now, you believe love can defeat power."
Nina looked at Devin.
At the vampires who had once believed he was nothing but a monster.
The man who had saved her before he even knew her.
The man who had chosen her again and again.
Then she looked at Malachai.
And she understood.
He had one weakness.
He didn't understand love at all.
"You made one mistake," Nina said.
Malachai tilted his head.
"Oh?"
"You think that choosing someone means losing yourself."
The Moonborn mark on her skin began to glow.
"But love isn't a surrender."
"It's a choice."
The entire place shook.
- Writer
