Joined Forces
874 Words
The silence between us felt heavier now. Not the kind that settles after a fight or disagreement—but the kind that comes after truth lands like a stone between two people and neither of them knows how to carry it.
Dominic sat across from me, unmoving, eyes still fixed somewhere far from here. I could feel the torment rolling off of him like waves—restless, thick, filled with a helpless kind of rage.
I reached for the glass shards on the floor, sweeping them into a bowl the butler quietly placed down. “I’ll fix it later,” I muttered, more to myself than to him.
“You don’t have to,” he replied, his voice low, rough. “It’s just glass.”
But it wasn’t. None of this was *just* anything. Not anymore.
I sat again, folding my hands in front of me, and said the thing we’d both been circling.
“We need to tell Silas.”
Dominic didn’t even blink. “No.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You don’t even want to talk it through?”
“He’s already drowning, Hayden.” Dominic finally turned to face me, his eyes still haunted. “He’s breaking his back trying to hold together what's left of the packs. He’s covering for the covens that still believe in something good. He’s got eyes on him from all directions. From Edward. From the Council. From the traitors posing as rogues and alphas. If we give him *this*—Sarena possibly corrupted, or possessed, or worse—it’ll bury him.”
“He’s her brother,” I said gently.
“He’s her protector,” Dominic countered, sharper than I expected. “And he blames himself every day she’s gone. If we tell him that she might be alive, but not really—that she’s hurting people, killing them—he won’t stop. He’ll run straight into the storm and try to drag her out of it alone.”
I swallowed. Because… I knew he was right.
Silas had been working around the clock for three months, dodging Edward’s spies, building secret alliances, helping rogue packs and shattered covens find sanctuary. He barely slept. Barely ate. Every time we spoke, I could see the desperation in his eyes—the need to *fix* something, to save just *one more soul*.
Especially hers.
And now… now that Edward had slithered his way into the highest seat of power, the Council was almost unrecognizable. It was no longer the ancient, fractured bureaucracy it used to be. It was a weapon. A system made to protect monsters.
Dark mage covens and blood-lusting vampir's had been pulled into Edward’s orbit like planets drawn to a black hole. Power-hungry, immoral, loyal only to fear and strength. Rogues, once scattered and lawless, were now organized—elevated—given council seats in exchange for loyalty.
The world had changed. Fast. Violently.
And we hadn’t even seen the worst yet.
“I know Silas deserves to know,” Dominic said at last, his tone softer. “But I can’t give him this. Not until we’re *sure* what we saw was Sarena… and not just something wearing her skin.”
I leaned back on the couch, dragging a hand through my hair. “Then what do we do? Just… sit on it? Hope we run into her again? Risk losing her completely in the meantime?”
“No.” He met my gaze, his own finally clearing. “We investigate. Quietly. Carefully. Without the weight of Silas’s desperation dragging the whole thing into the open.”
I hated that he was right. But the truth was, Silas couldn’t be pulled in—not yet. Not when the stakes were so high and the truths so murky.
“Alright,” I said slowly. “Then we start digging. That coven Edward attacked… I think they knew something. I think that whole place wasn’t just hiding—it was *guarding* something.”
Dominic’s expression shifted slightly. “Agreed.”
“I’ll try to contact the elder witch. Maybe she’ll talk once the others are safe.”
He nodded.
“And you…” I hesitated, choosing my words carefully. “You need to stay grounded. If we’re going to do this, if we’re going to find out the truth—you *can’t* shut down like that again. Not when we’re in the field. You froze, Dom. I need you with me.”
His jaw tightened. “I won’t let it happen again.”
“I know,” I said, softer this time. “Just… don’t try to carry this alone. You loved her. You still do. But whatever she is now, we’re going to face it together.”
He looked at me—really looked—and for the first time since the ruins, I saw something behind his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
Resolve.
“She’s not gone,” he said quietly. “Whatever Edward did… whatever *that thing* was… I don’t believe Sarena’s truly gone. And I’m going to find her.”
I nodded.
And in that shared silence, something settled between us—unspoken but solid.
We were in this now. Both of us. And there was no turning back.
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- Writer
