Fated to Burn, Destine to Rise

"Are you still not done with this, Gio?"

I heard my mother-in-law's voice, low and urgent. "This will kill her. You know how weak she’s getting…"

I froze outside the door.

I had planned to surprise Gio tonight. After years of heartbreak, I was finally able to carry a healthy baby to term. I thought he was alone in his study—I never would have dared to intrude otherwise. He had always made it clear this room was off-limits.

But then I heard something I wasn’t meant to hear.

"Do I have a choice?" Gio's voice was cold. "Aia will die if I don’t do this. That monster will take her."

Aia?

I hadn’t heard that name in years. My chest tightened as I clutched my stomach, feeling the life growing inside me.

"You married her just to use her as a sacrifice for your dying fiancée?" his mother hissed. "Those children weren’t just hers, Gio. They were yours too."

I sucked in a sharp breath.

I had lost every pregnancy before this one. We grieved together—at least—I thought we did. I thought it was fate, my body betraying me. But now…

"I never wanted kids with her," Gio spat. "I don’t even love that old woman. I married her because it was my duty—to protect this town from the monster that lurks every damn week!"

I staggered back. My body trembled, my heart shattering into unrecognizable pieces.

Old woman.

I was twice Gio’s age, yes, but he had told me it didn’t matter. He had whispered to me in the dark, kissed my wrinkles, traced the veins in my hands, and told me I was beautiful. He had told me I was the best thing that ever happened to him. He had said… he loved me.

Lies.

"The monster needs an offering. Our child is the best we can give." His voice was emotionless. "It’s the only way to keep Aia alive."

A wave of nausea slammed into me.

Aia was supposed to be dead. He had told me she had succumbed to illness before our wedding. He said he had moved on, that he had learned to love me!

"What if she finds out?" his mother challenged. "Do you really think she’ll stay? This town was hers to begin with. You took her power by marrying her. And yet—"

"Mom, I don’t care!" Gio snapped. "All I care about is Aia."

A sob caught in my throat.

I thought he had ignored me on our wedding night because of grief. I thought he had forgotten our anniversaries because he was busy. I thought, after five years, that he had finally changed, that he had finally accepted me.

But he couldn’t even bear to look at me when we made love. He kept the lights off. He never wanted to see me, touch me, truly be with me.

And now I know why.

"Kath’s pain is what heals Aia. Her agony is Aia’s relief."

I slid down the wall, my entire body shaking.

This wasn’t just about our child.

All the children I had lost—they hadn’t died from complications.

Gio murdered them.

And I had suffered to feed Aia’s life with my pain.

I heard a chuckle.. "You’ll lose her if she finds out. Don’t say I didn’t warn you."

"She can’t find out," Gio said. "Can you keep a secret?"

I pressed a hand over my mouth to silence my sobs.

"What is it this time?" his mother sneered.

"The monster isn’t satisfied with the children anymore. He wants more."

My blood ran cold. My fingers dug into my stomach as if to shield my baby from the words slashing through the air.

More?

"I made a deal with him," Gio continued. "He wants someone intimately close to me. I can’t give him Aia. So I’ll give him Kath instead."

The floor tilted beneath me.

I barely heard the door creak open and shut as he left.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t think.

I was nothing more than a sacrifice, a vessel to bear his offering to the beast. And once I gave birth, he would give me, too.

I had given him my love, my trust, my body—only for him to take my soul for Aia’s sake? I dragged myself up, my body trembling with their betrayal.

I stumbled deeper into the room.

And there she was.

Aia.

Sleeping peacefully, curled in the bed, untouched by the nightmare I lived in.

Gio’s true love. The woman he had never let go of.

On the wall above her were pictures—Gio and Aia in their youth, arms around each other, smiling, glowing. Their prenuptial photos.

Before he was forced to marry me.

Before he stole my power, my name, my life.

I pressed a hand to my belly, feeling the faint movement of life inside me.

"Baby…" I whispered, my voice breaking. "Your daddy will sacrifice not just you, but me too."

I wasn’t going to let that happen.

I turned and walked out, my mind racing.

If Gio had made a deal with the monster in the woods, then so would I. If he was willing to offer me, then I would offer something greater. I would give the monster this whole damn town.

I would do whatever it took to survive. And when the next full moon rose, I wouldn’t be the sacrifice. To hell with love. I will live. And I will make them all pay.