The moment the cabin door shut behind them, Piper grabbed Damien's arm and yanked him aside, her voice a sharp whisper edged with panic.
"Damien, have you completely lost your mind?" Her eyes flicked toward Maddie, who stood awkwardly near the fireplace, small and out of place in the dim, dusty cabin. "You took a child?"
"I didn't take her," Damien hissed back, jaw tight. "I borrowed her. And she willingly came with me."
Piper stared at him like she didn't recognize her own son. "Why is she even here? What does she have to do with any of this?"
Damien's gaze drifted to Maddie again — not cruel, but calculating. "I'm not sure yet," he admitted. "All I know is she's the key to becoming the tribrid. And I have to become the tribrid."
Piper's voice rose, incredulous. "So this is your brilliant plan? Bring a child you barely know to a random cabin in the middle of nowhere — and drag your mother along for the ride?"
"I had to make sure Seraiya couldn't find us," he snapped. "And besides… you two aren't the only ones who know about this place."
Before Piper could respond, a sharp knock echoed through the cabin. The air shifted — a ripple of magic brushing against Piper's senses like cold fingers.
Her stomach dropped. "Damien… what did you do?"
He didn't answer. He walked to the door and opened it.
A woman stepped inside, brushing snow from her coat. Her presence filled the room instantly — confident, dangerous, familiar.
"Long time no see, nephew," Serena said with a smirk. Her eyes slid to Piper. "And you as well."
Maddie shrank back. "Who are you?"
Serena crouched gracefully to Maddie's height. "You must be Maddie."
"Who are you?" Maddie repeated, voice trembling.
"Serena," she answered simply, rising again. She turned to Damien. "I put up a barrier the moment I walked in."
"I already did that," Damien muttered.
"No offense, Damien," Serena said, removing her coat and tossing it over a chair, "but your spell was so weak a baby witch like Maddie could break through it. When it comes to magic, you're not even a sliver of Seraiya's skill."
Damien's jaw clenched, but Serena continued casually, "Don't be too disappointed. You just don't have the experience fighting a hybrid like your sister."
Piper rounded on Damien. "Why the hell did you call her?"
"She's the only one who can figure out how Maddie is useful," Damien whispered. "And… she's a slave to the gods."
Serena scoffed. "Slave is a little far-fetched."
She turned back to Maddie, her expression shifting into something clinical. "We need to start with getting some blood, Maddie."
Maddie stiffened. "You want my blood?"
"It's the only way I can see what I'm working with. Just a drop." Serena pulled a small silver pin from her pocket.
Maddie looked at Damien. He gave her a gentle nod — the last gentle thing he would offer her.
She held out her hand. Serena pricked her finger with practiced ease. Maddie flinched, and a bead of blood welled up.
"Supernatet et examine," Serena murmured.
The droplet lifted into the air, glowing faintly. Piper rushed to Maddie's side, wrapping her finger in a bandaid as Serena's eyes turned molten gold. The blood spun faster and faster, humming with unseen power.
Then — silence. The droplet vanished.
Serena opened her eyes slowly, a strange smile forming. "How interesting."
Damien stepped forward. "What?"
"I've never seen this before," Serena said, staring at Maddie with something like awe. "This child has no determined fate."
Piper blinked. "What does that mean?"
"It means," Serena said, "like Seraiya, the gods cannot control her. She chooses her own path. Her ending is hers alone."
Damien's frustration flared. "What does that have to do with becoming the tribrid?"
"Nothing," Serena said bluntly. "Whatever secrets she holds… I can't see them. Even as a Moirai, her fate is hidden from me."
Damien swore under his breath. Then he turned — too fast.
Before Maddie could react, he flung his arm out. Magic slammed into her, hurling her backward. She hit the wall with a cry, and glowing cuffs snapped around her wrists, chaining her to the radiator.
"DAMIEN!" Piper screamed. "What are you doing?"
"It's simple," he said coldly. "If we can't find the truth the easy way… we do it the hard way."
"I NEVER SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED YOU!" Maddie sobbed, pulling against the cuffs.
"I never lied to you," Damien said, kneeling in front of her. His voice softened, but his eyes did not. "But I need to make sure you don't run."
"Damien, you sound insane," Piper said, stepping toward him.
His eyes flashed red.
"Duratus in tempore."
Piper froze mid-step — breath halted, eyes wide, trapped in a moment that no longer moved.
Maddie's voice broke. "What did you do to her?"
"I froze her in time," Damien said calmly. "She won't move or age until I decide."
He stood, turning back to Maddie. "I haven't lied to you once. So I expect the truth."
Serena leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching like she was observing a play rather than a crisis.
"How do I become the tribrid?" Damien asked.
"I don't know!" Maddie cried. "I swear to the gods, I don't know anything about that!"
"I want to believe you," Damien said. "But I don't."
The door creaked open. One of his vampires entered, holding an empty syringe.
Damien took it without looking away from Maddie.
"So," he said, voice chillingly calm, "we'll start with your blood… and go from there."
Damien didn't hesitate. He uncapped the syringe with a soft click, the sound unnervingly calm in the tense, silent cabin.
Maddie whimpered, pulling against the glowing cuffs. "Please don't..."
Serena watched from the corner, arms still crossed, but her expression had shifted. Her eyes narrowed slightly, the faintest crease forming between her brows. She had never seen Damien ruthless before but it didn't surprise her, after all ambition ran in their bloodline — but this was different. This was obsession sharpening into something feral.
He's slipping, she thought. And he doesn't even realize it.
Damien grabbed Maddie's arm, not cruelly, but with a cold efficiency that made Serena's stomach tighten. He pushed her sleeve up, exposing the thin, trembling limb.
"Hold still," he said.
Maddie shook her head, tears streaking down her cheeks. "Damien, please—"
Serena felt a flicker of something she rarely experienced: discomfort.
Not pity — she didn't deal in pity — but a recognition that the scales were tipping in a direction even she couldn't predict.
The gods are watching this, she thought. And they're not intervening. That alone is… troubling.
But she personally knew how cruel they were.
Damien slid the needle into Maddie's arm. She gasped, body tensing. The syringe filled quickly, the dark red swirl of her blood catching the firelight.
Serena's eyes followed the movement. Maddie's blood didn't behave like normal blood — it shimmered faintly, as if threads of possibility were woven through it. Even without a spell, Serena could feel the weight of it.
No fate. No path. No end. A child who belongs to no destiny… and he thinks he can use her.
Damien withdrew the needle and stood, staring at the filled syringe like it was the answer to every question he'd ever had.
Serena felt a cold ripple of unease.
She knew what he was about to do before he even lifted it.
"Damien," she said quietly. "Be careful."
He didn't look at her.
He didn't look at anyone.
He raised the syringe to his lips and pressed it to his mouth.
Maddie screamed.
Serena didn't move — but her heart thudded once, hard.
Damien pushed the plunger.
The blood slid onto his tongue, and Serena watched his aura flare — a violent, unstable burst of red and black that crackled through the air like static.
Idiot, she thought sharply. You don't ingest magic you don't understand.
Damien staggered, gripping the table for balance. His pupils blew wide, then narrowed to slits. A shiver ran through him, his magic reacting like it had been shocked awake.
Serena stepped forward, finally uncrossing her arms.
"Damien," she said, voice low, controlled. "Tell me what you're feeling."
He exhaled shakily, a twisted smile forming. "Power."
Serena's stomach dropped.
No, she realized. Not power. Corruption.
Maddie sobbed against the radiator, terrified.
Serena watched Damien with the eyes of a prophet — and for the first time since entering the cabin, she felt something she hated.
Uncertainty.
TO BE CONTINUED