Page 111 of Dark Bonds

The light offers no answers, only the seductive promise of power, but I’m not just a vessel for their plans. I’ll find a way to use this power on my terms, no matter what it takes.

As I slip deeper into unconsciousness, I wonder what price I’ll have to pay for it. What parts of myself will I have to sacrifice on this altar of light?

In the end, will it be worth it?

Chapter 36

Frankie

I blink rapidly,the harsh fluorescent lights of the hallway assaulting my eyes as I’m jolted back to reality. The floor’s freezing under my feet. It’s so different from that stuffy pink room. The shadows are going crazy in the corners, and the air feels charged with secrets and unspoken threats.

The emptiness of the corridor stretches before me, broken only by the figure of the woman who haunts my nightmares.

Valerie stands before me, her appearance as sudden as it is unwelcome. A part of me wonders how she found me, but those questions are drowned out by the flood of memories her presence brings—memories of pain and betrayal all triggered by that sickeningly familiar perfume of roses and something darker.

Her perfume’s everywhere. I can’t escape it. It’s making me feel sick. Beneath it, I catch a whiff of something else—fear, sour and acrid. The fluorescent lights hum overhead, their harsh glare casting Valerie’s face in stark relief, highlighting every line of desperation. The taste of bile rises in my throat, bitter and acidic, as memories flood back.

My heart’s going crazy. The shadows under my skin are moving around like they want to attack her—they can probably tell how scared I am.

“Francesca,” Valerie says, her voice soft and cajoling, a melody I once found comforting but now recognize as the song of a siren luring sailors to their doom. “I know this is a shock, but please, let me explain.”

I take a step back, shadows coiling around my fingers. “Explain?” I spit, my voice dripping with venom. “You think you can just waltz in here and explain away years of abuse? Fine. Talk. But know this—every word better be the truth, or these shadows will be the last thing you ever see.”

Valerie’s eyes dart around the empty hallway, like a prey animal sensing danger. The confident mask she always wore is cracking, revealing glimpses of... fear or desperation? “Not here,” she hisses, her usual poise faltering. “It’s not safe. We need to go somewhere private.”

“No,” I growl, the temperature in the hallway dropping, our breaths visible in the suddenly frigid air. “You don’t get to make the rules anymore. Talk. Now.”

She sighs, her shoulders slumping. For a moment, I see a crack in her perfect facade, a glimpse of the woman behind the monster. “Fine. I’m defecting from Blackwood. He’s planning something terrible, something that could destroy the shadow realm and our world.”

For a moment, I freeze, the name hitting me like a physical blow—Blackwood. I knew there was something wrong about him, something innately twisted. The shadows around me roil in response to my turmoil, casting strange, writhing patterns on the walls.

Even worse—Valerie knew all along.

A laugh escapes me, harsh and bitter, echoing in the empty hallway like the cry of a wounded animal. “And I’m supposed tobelieve you suddenly grew a conscience after everything you’ve done?”

“I know I hurt you,” Valerie says, taking a tentative step forward. I tense, ready to defend myself, the shadows at my command hissing their eagerness for violence. Her voice cracks in a rare display of vulnerability. “But I’m begging you to listen. Not for my sake, but for everyone’s.”

“Prove it,” I challenge, my eyes narrowing to slits. The lights keep flickering. It’s like they can’t handle all this darkness. “Tell me something Blackwood’s planning—something I can verify.”

Valerie hesitates then nods, her usual grace replaced by a nervous energy that sets my teeth on edge. “The eredar beasts… Blackwood’s not just studying them, he’s trying to control them. He thinks he can use them to destabilize the shadow realm and reshape it in his image. He’s calling them through ley lines. Ask Bishop. He knows.”

I freeze, remembering the odd conversations I overheard between Bishop and Blackwood and the way Bishop’s been acting lately. “Bishop,” I mutter. “He knows something about this, doesn’t he?”

Valerie nods, her eyes widening slightly. “You’ve noticed it too? Yes, Bishop’s involved, more than you know.”

My blood runs cold, ice replacing the fire in my veins. The eredar I encountered flashes through my mind—its raw power and ancient wisdom. The thought of Blackwood controlling such creatures sends a shiver down my spine that has nothing to do with the chill in the air.

And Bishop knows? I stuff down the hurt that he kept yet another secret, adding it to the growing pile of betrayals I’ve endured.

“How?” I demand, my voice barely above a whisper. “How is he planning to control them?”

“There’s a ritual,” Valerie explains, her voice low and urgent, as if the walls might be listening. “An ancient spell that can bind the eredar to a shadow shifter’s will, but it requires a sacrifice—a powerful shadow shifter, willingly given.”

It hits me all at once. I can barely breathe when I realize what she means. “Me,” I whisper, the word hanging in the air between us like a death sentence. “He wants to use me.”

I didn’t ask for any of this, but now I’m stuck with it, and it feels like the whole world’s on my shoulders. How many more secrets are lurking in the shadows of my past?

Valerie nods, her eyes filled with what looks like genuine concern. It’s an expression I’ve never seen on her face before, and it unsettles me more than her usual calculated calm. “That’s why I had to warn you. I couldn’t let him?—”

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