His voice sounded soft, almost gentle...yet his eyes held the chill of a winter moon.
“Eirene,” Jareth murmured, “this is for your own good… and for Lucienne’s safety. Don’t worry. The Moon-Healer’s procedure won’t hurt much.”
Something in his calm expression made dread coil in my chest.
I narrowed my eyes. “Jareth… what are you planning?”
He met my stare with eerie stillness. His words, however, were sharp enough to cut flesh.
“As long as you’re unable to carry a child, you won’t be a danger to her unborn pup,” he said evenly. “It’s a small rune-binding, nothing more. Once her child is born and thriving, I’ll have the Healers remove it.”
His tone softened, almost coaxing.
That was when the truth struck me like a blow.
He wanted to have the Moon-Healers bind my womb... a forced infertility sigil!
My blood ran cold.
“You’re out of your mind!” I shouted, voice raw. “Jareth, you’ve lost every shred of sense!”
I tried to push past him, but his warriors stepped forward, blocking the door with their towering forms.
In the end, they dragged me across the Moon-Healer wing, my cries echoing against the stone and pinned me onto the cold ritual slab.
Tears blurred my vision as I glared up at Jareth.
“Jareth! Let me go!” I screamed. “I’ve told you...I’m innocent! If you do this, I’ll never forgive you. I’ll walk away!”
But my words meant nothing.
He simply gave a quiet, humorless laugh.
“You adore me too much, Eirene,” he said softly. “You’d never truly leave.”
My entire body trembled.
The next moment, cold moon-infused anesthesia seeped into my veins like liquid frost.
Right before darkness took me, I heard the Moon-Healer’s hesitant whisper.
“Alpha… she miscarried only days ago. If I place the sigil now, even removing it later may not restore her ability to bear a pup. Are you certain?”
Jareth didn’t hesitate.
“Proceed,” he commanded, voice like ice. “It doesn’t matter if she can’t have children. She can raise Lucienne’s pup.”
A single tear slipped down my cheek.
In that moment, the last fragment of love I had left for him died.
***
When consciousness returned, I lay still, staring blankly at the ceiling. Then, without looking at Jareth, I slowly turned and reached for my communication crystal.
I sent a message to the Silverhart Holdings steward.
His reply came quickly:
Two days.
In two days, I could finally escape this nightmare.
A small, faint smile touched my lips.
Jareth noticed immediately...the way I didn’t glance at him, the quiet smile as I studied the glowing crystal.
His expression darkened.
He snatched it from my hand. “Who are you speaking to?”
But the crystal had already dimmed.
He demanded the unlocking sigil again and again, irritation sharp in his voice.
Tired of his persistence, I finally replied, “The night we first met.”
He went still, caught off guard.
His brows twitched as he tried to recall the memory... but even with Lucienne hovering beside him, he couldn’t unlock it.
I tilted my head slightly, a cold smirk curving my lips.
A flicker of guilt crossed Jareth’s eyes.
Lucienne stepped forward, looping her arm through his. Her voice chimed sweetly, but her gaze shone with triumphant fire.
“Eirene,” she said, “Jareth has asked me to move into the Moonridge Villa you two shared. He wants me close so he can protect me and the pup. We’re hosting a gathering there tonight...you don’t mind, do you?”
I turned away from her, my expression calm, unreadable.
Then I slid off my wedding ring...our Luna-Bond band...and placed it on her palm.
“I don’t mind,” I said quietly. “Take the villa. Take Jareth. I’m finished.”
