Moonbound: A Dark Mate's Curse

~Elara's Pov~

There's a strange silence that settles between two people after the truth begins to show its teeth.

Kade and I sat in that silence long after the storm passed, our fingers barely grazing, not holding, not clinging but present. And maybe that was more intimate than anything else. Not a kiss. Not a claim. Just the quiet acknowledgment that neither of us was who we pretended to be. That the fire inside me recognized something in him, something just as wild, just as cursed. And maybe, just maybe, just as breakable.

By morning, the world was too loud again. Birds. Wind. The sounds of a world that didn't know it was sitting on the edge of a blade.

Nyssa met us at the coven ruins with fury in her eyes and stormlight in her voice.

"You summoned her," she hissed, circling me like I was a ticking bomb.

"I didn't mean to," I muttered.

"But you did. The Void Witch, Sariah, was bound for a reason, Elara. If her spirit slips through the veil, she won't be content to whisper through your dreams. She will want flesh. Blood. A body."

Kade stood behind me like a wall, silent, protective, irritating.

Nyssa's gaze flicked to him. "And you. You knew this might happen."

"I didn't know she'd open the gate this early," he said, jaw tight. "But I've seen it before. Once."

My stomach turned. "What do you mean once?"

He didn't answer right away. He looked at me, really looked—and the silence that followed was more telling than any confession.

"Say it," I demanded.

Kade took a breath like it hurt. "Your mother wasn't the first vessel. She was the last successful one. But before her... there were others."

Nyssa's face went pale. "You were part of those hunts."

"I was part of everything," Kade said softly. "I've killed witches. I've hunted those marked by the flame. I followed orders. I didn't question them."

"And now?" I whispered.

He stepped forward. "Now I follow you."

The ground didn't shake. The moon didn't scream. But something inside me cracked at those words. Not because they were romantic, but because they were real. Because they came from a place I didn't trust but wanted to believe in.

Nyssa wasn't moved.

"You shouldn't be near her," she said sharply. "Not when your blood still reeks of Tribunal rot."

Kade didn't flinch. "Maybe not. But I'm not leaving."

"He's right," I said.

Both of them turned to me.

I lifted my chin. "Whatever's happening to me... it's bigger than the curse. Bigger than the Tribunal. And I need someone who's seen what they're capable of. Someone who knows how they think."

Nyssa crossed her arms. "You're going to regret trusting him."

"Maybe," I said. "But I'm tired of regretting silence more."

Nyssa let it go, but not without a warning. "You're playing with gods, Elara. And one of them is still watching from the other side of the veil."

*******

Later that night, when Kade and I were alone again, I asked him the question that had been choking my throat since dawn.

"What did you see? When did it happen before?"

We were sitting beside a dwindling fire in a hollow near the coven ruins, a circle of runes around us to protect us from spirits. The flames cast a soft orange glow across his face, making his shadows deeper and his scars more prominent.

"It was nearly two hundred years ago," he began slowly. "The Tribunal found a girl—young, maybe fifteen, marked by moonlight and shadow. She didn't even know what she was. Her parents turned her in, terrified she'd curse their village."

My chest ached.

"They brought her to the Citadel. Chained her in silver. Forced her to try and summon the flame. But it wasn't her power. It was Sariah's. The Void Witch. And when the gate opened..." He paused, staring into the fire. "She came through screaming. Wearing that girl's skin. And she burned the entire chamber to ash before they killed her."

"Killed the girl," I said quietly.

He nodded. "Yes. And maybe Sariah. Maybe not."

I was silent for a long time. Then: "And what did you do?"

"I hesitated," he said. "I watched it happen. I didn't stop it. I didn't help her. And afterward, I told myself she was already dead when Sariah took over. That it wasn't murder. That it wasn't my fault."

I looked at him, firelight dancing in his eyes. "But it was."

"Yes."

And there it was. The shame. The guilt. The reason he couldn't look away from me now. Maybe he saw her in me. Maybe he saw a second chance. Or maybe he just saw his own damnation waiting with open arms.

"Why did you become like them?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I didn't become like them. I always was. My father was a Tribunal. My mother died because she tried to run. I was raised in blood and order. I thought strength meant obedience."

"And now?"

"Now I think strength is choosing what not to destroy."

The fire crackled. A crow cried in the distance.

And without meaning to, I reached out and touched his face.

He froze.

Not because he feared me. But because maybe... he feared what he felt.

So did I.

"Tell me this is more than guilt," I whispered.

"It is."

"Tell me you don't just want to fix your past."

"I don't," he said. "I want to build something new. With you."

And God help me... I wanted that too.

Even if the witches of old screamed at me in my dreams.

Even if the Void waited behind my eyes.

Even if loving him would be the end of me.

Because love isn't always a choice.

Sometimes, it's a fire that remembers your name.