Chapter 184 DANE

The weak feeling of our connection had been the same since the last time Aurora and I talked, but it stayed in my mind like a dull pain.

My chains shone softly, their patterns teasing me with their complex, unbreakable design. I had tried everything, from strength to mind tricks, but these bindings were made by a power much stronger than I could control. But the small sign of weakness I had seen before, the slight fading of the magic, was like a guiding light. I had spent many hours looking at it, counting its pattern like a heartbeat. If I wanted to escape, I needed Aurora to know everything, but the Nameless had taken her away from this cell.

I have been restless since he took her away… I don’t know what’s going on. I shut my eyes and reached out with our connection once more, straining the frustrating thread between us. Shit… if only I hadn’t cut our bond years ago. This was like trying to push a thread through a needle in complete darkness, but after a few painful moments, I felt her presence move.

I sat quietly, breathing normally as I looked at the shining symbols carved into the chains. They pulsed in a pattern, like a heartbeat. There was a rhythm to them, a moment when the light faded a little before lighting up again. It was small, almost unnoticeable, but it was there.

“This is it,” I said quietly to myself, clenching my teeth. The Nameless was cunning, but his arrogance made him sloppy. He believed no one could understand his magic, let alone exploit it. His overconfidence would be the end of him.

I exhaled slowly, closing my eyes to concentrate. The faint thread of my bond with Aurora stirred at the edges of my mind, fragile but alive.

“Aurora,” I thought, focusing all my energy on the bond.

The connection was weak, like a bad signal and I could hardly hear her. I pushed harder, which made my head hurt. The chains became brighter because of my defiance, but I kept going. Then, like a thread going through a needle, I heard her voice. Dane?

The quiet sound of her voice shocked me. “Aurora,” I said softly, even though I knew she couldn’t hear me like that.

“I can barely… hear you…” I heard her. Her words were broken, like glass pieces in my mind.

“Aurora,” I thought, feeling my desperation in the connection. “Can you hear me now?”

The connection shook, and I prepared myself for the pressure.

“I’m here,” her voice whispered, soft but strong. The relief I felt was like taking a deep breath after being underwater.

“Listen closely,” I said out loud, hoping the connection would bring my words to her. “I’ve found a way to make these chains weaker. There’s a pattern to the symbols, a time when they fail. Look for it in your ties.”

“Dane…” Her voice wavered, and I could feel the exhaustion in her tone. It’s not just the chains. “The Nameless is tightening his grip. I had to make a choice today…”

My heart sank. “What choice?” The bond shaken, and I clung to it, my knuckles white against the chains.

“You know he gave me a deadline,” Aurora continued, her voice cracking. “Marry Holden or watch Trajan and Evander suffer. He made me stand in front of the pack… I had no choice.”

Her words hit me like a blade, cutting deep. Marry Holden? The idea of her standing beside that traitor, bound to him, made my blood boil.

“What did you say?” I asked, my voice low and trembling.

The silence that followed was deafening.

“I said yes,” she finally admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.

Rage and despair surged through me in equal measure. “You can’t,” I said. “You know this is what he wants. To break you. To break us."

“What choice did I have?” she snapped, the bond flaring with her frustration. “If I refused, Trajan and Evander would suffer. And if I fought back, he would kill them. I couldn’t… I couldn’t let that happen.”

I rested my head on the cold stone wall and my chains made a soft sound. “Aurora,” I said, my voice quieter now. “He’s using you. This isn’t about Trajan or Evander, it’s about power. Don’t let him take that away from you.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Her voice broke and I could feel her pain like it was my own. “But what would you have done, Dane? Would you have watched them suffer? Would you have watched them die?” Her words made me silent. I had no answer.

She continued, her voice trembling. “I didn’t want to do it, but he left me no choice. Holden slipped the ring onto my finger. Dane. It’s enchanted. I can feel it pulling at me, like it’s calling me to him… to the Nameless.”

The thought of that man touching her, binding her with magic, made me want to tear the entire fortress apart.

“Then we’ll break it,” I said firmly. “Whatever hold he thinks he has on you, we’ll shatter it. Together.”

“How?” she asked, her voice filled with despair. “I’m running out of time.”

“The Nameless said… he said the next phase begins soon. I don’t know what that means, but I can feel it, Dane. Something terrible is coming.”

Her fear made me feel cold, but I made myself stay calm. “We’ll find a way,” I promised. “But you need to trust me. No matter what happens, don’t let him see that you are scared. You are stronger than he thinks.”

The connection between us shook again, and I felt her strength growing.

“I’ll try,” she said softly.

The connection faded, and I was left alone in the deafening silence of the fortress once more.

My mind was racing, each thought sharper than the last. The Nameless was playing a long game and Aurora was his favorite pawn. But he had underestimated her strength and mine.

I pulled at the chains again, and the runes glowed weakly. The weakness was there, taunting me. I just needed time to exploit it.

And then, the faint sound of footsteps echoed through the cavern. My body tensed, every sense on high alert.

The Nameless appeared, his shadowy form twisting as he approached. His golden eyes gleamed with amusement as if he already knew everything that had transpired.

God, I was so scared that he may have discovered my little secret, but luckily for me, he said something else.

“Still clinging to hope, are we?” he sneered, his voice like nails on glass.

I looked into his eyes and did not back down. “You won’t win,” I said calmly. “Aurora is stronger than you realize.”

He laughed, filling the room with a cold and mocking sound. “Oh, Dane. You’ve always been easy to predict. But don’t worry. The next part will be much more… fun.”

He turned away and his darkness moved around him as he faded into the dark.

My jaw clenched, determination hardening in me. Whatever he was planning, I would stop it. Aurora wasn’t his pawn. She wasn’t anyone’s pawn. And neither was I.

But as the last echoes of his laughter died, the runes on my chains flared brighter, their magic constricting around me like a snake.

Something was coming.

And it wasn’t just horrific.

It was inevitable.