“Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Cigarette?”
I laughed.
“Stop.
You’re not Hades.”
Caleb shrugged.
“Your call.”
He started waving the cigarette around theatrically, clearly trying to tempt me.
I stomped my foot.
“Asshole.
Fine.”
We both lit up.
“So?”
Caleb swallowed.
“I’m worried about you.
What if my father gets to you?”
“So what?”
He turned sharply and grabbed me by the shoulders.
“Sweetheart, this isn’t a joke.”
I thought about everything I’d been through —
my strange, slightly pathetic little life.
Hm. Unless his father straight-up locks me in a basement,
he doesn’t stand much of a chance.
First — my kids.
I have to be with them.
And nothing’s going to stop me.
Second — Caleb.
Then I looked back at him.
“Caleb…”
I swallowed.
“Look, trusting people isn’t exactly my thing either.
But I’m trying.”
I started thinking out loud.
“Okay, first — my kids.”
He cleared his throat.
“Oops.”
“Ours.”
Caleb smiled.
“Right. Next.
You.”
I turned to him.
He smiled even wider.
And I melted again.
God, he’s so damn beautiful.
I hope he pins me somewhere around here and then—
“Focus,” my brain snapped.
“Ahem.
Uh… okay…”
“So. That’s you.
I think you won’t let anything happen to me.”
He smiled.
And I realized — he was scared.
So I stopped.
“Sit.”
He sat down.
We started clapping —
like a simple kids’ hand game,
once,
then again,
and again.
“Sweetheart…”
“Mhm.”
His voice went distant.
“Just a little more.”
I was shouting, laughing—
clapping, clapping, clapping—
and finally Caleb doubled over in pain.
I took a deep breath
and froze,
watching his body tighten and twist.
There was no choice.
I had to go through this too.
I sat down
and started tracing symbols in the air.
I called the spirits in.
The devil drew the circle.
“You sure about this, baby?”
I shrugged.
“I love this guy.
But this shit needs to come out.”
Caleb’s body arched.
A sharp jerk—
then the convulsions spread in waves.
He started rambling, delirious.
I began to hum
that same little song.
The one she used to sing.
The melody slowly pulled him back—
into childhood.
Poor little boy.
Poor thing.
I wanted to rip my heart out
and put it inside him—
just to take the pain away.
But I couldn’t.
I had to finish this.
The woman who protected him,
who held him when he was little—
I got cut off from the flow.
And I realized:
this was bigger than me.
I couldn’t hold that energy.
Then his father pushed in.
And all the shit
that came with him.
I waved it off.
“Fuck. That’s too much at once.”
“Stop. We’re working on Caleb now.”
The spirits obeyed.
I started breathing again—
slow, steady.
I wanted to pull him out.
Save him.
Protect him.
But fuck—
they wouldn’t let me in.
I had to stand there,
burning in my own tears,
while Caleb went through it.
He kept repeating:
“I’m scared for you…
I’m scared for you…”
And then—snap.
A branch cracked somewhere.
The wolves came.
Asking for meat.
And I had to cut myself—
an offering.
An apology.
I had nothing else to give.
Caleb suddenly straightened.
Blink.
And stood there—like nothing had happened.
I could barely stay on my feet.
All my energy had gone into him.
He caught me.
And started walking—unsteady, unfamiliar.
Like he was learning again.
And I understood.
His soul had been cleansed.
The blocks were gone.
It had been reborn.
Now it was learning to walk again—
like a child.
I laughed.
I had completely remade his soul.
No wounds left.
“Caleb…”
I could barely breathe.
“Listen to me, you idiot.
Pay attention.
You’ve got a new life now.
Don’t fuck it up.”
“The second I start seizing—
call Sam.”
Caleb went down.
“Fuck.”
“Looks like the prince is done,” Hades drawled.
“Fuck… shut up.”
I dropped to the ground,
almost crawling toward the estate—
the wolves carried me the rest of the way.
My aunt appeared.
“Either you.
Or him.”
I snarled.
“Pull them both out. Now.”
“Then you pay.
Or he does.”
It hit me.
“Just do it.
No price.
Do it.”
She nodded.
And I knew—
someone had already paid.
The wolves started dropping.
One after another.
I howled.
Pain. Rage. Despair.
“Get up, for fuck’s sake—get up!”
Caleb was barely breathing.
Shit.
The wolves kept falling.
They were dying.
Tears blurred my vision.
“Don’t take them, you bastards!”
“Then you give us your son.”
It twisted through me.
I collapsed.
Pain.
Humiliation.
They stood there—
unmoving.
“Move.
Or he dies.”
They pointed at Caleb.
And something in me snapped.
I stood.
Fire tore through my body.
“Then I take it by force.”
My aunt froze.
“You can’t.”
“I can do worse.”
I grabbed her by the throat.
“Pull him out. Now.
Or I raise the darkness
and drag everyone into it.”
“I’ll bring them all up
and wipe you out.”
“I’ll mix the energies.
You know how that ends.”
She turned into a snake
and bit me.
I screamed.
Ripped her off.
The light shuddered.
And Caleb stood.
This is a man
who would kill for me.
“Last warning.
Balance the field. Now.”
Caleb jolted.
His heart slammed harder.
I sat up sharply.
He stepped into the dark—
like he belonged there.
Power surged—
so strong the trees started shaking.
“Caleb!”
“That’s enough—”
He pulled both of us out.
And fear hit me—
that he wouldn’t hold,
that his body wouldn’t take it,
that it would tear him apart.
I started shaking too.
And then—
I understood.
He wasn’t alone.
His bloodline was holding him.
They were all feeding him.
His father was there too.
He looked at me.
I flipped him off.
He laughed.
I laughed back.
There was no hostility.
Everyone was moving in the same direction—
because what was at stake was bigger than all of us.
Caleb wasn’t just mine.
He was ours.
He was the priority.
We had to save him.
I got ready to jump.
He was too deep in the dark—
he wouldn’t hear me.
I’d have to knock him out.
Caleb was six times stronger than me.
No way I could take him down.
I froze.
Fuck. What do I do?
And then—Hollywood stepped in.
That nearly scared me to death.
“Guys… what the hell are you doing here?”
“Came to save your ass.”
“And his?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
They joined in.
My stomach twisted.
Something tore through me.
I started crying.
Fuck.
So that’s what that kind of childhood does to you.
I couldn’t stop throwing up.
“You good?”
“I’m fine.”
“Pull him out of this.”
One thought in my head—
just let Caleb make it.

2:17
I came to—
covered in my own vomit.
Hollywood had stabilized Caleb.
I smiled weakly—
and my vision blurred.
I knew I was dying.
Fuck.
“Caleb…”
He rushed over.
“Listen. I’m dying.”
He started shaking.
“Caleb, not now.
Focus.”
“Don’t tell the kids what happened.
And clean me up.
I don’t want them seeing me like this.”
“Hey—no, that’s not happening,”
Hades said,
as he and Mushu pulled me into the dark.
I started vomiting blood.
Caleb leveled out—
then burned through the field.
Fear hit me hard.
“Fuck… he can do that?”
“Baby, you have no idea what he can do,”
Hades said.
I swallowed.
Damn.
Caleb was pure power.
“Yeah,” Mushu said.

Morning
I woke up
and checked myself fast.
Broken rib.
Leg bleeding.
Coughing up blood.
Split brow.
I swore.
Fine.
At least we’re alive.
Fuck—Caleb.
My breath caught.
“Caleb—Caleb—”
Fuck, where is he?
I rushed downstairs.
“Mom!”
I froze.
Caleb was sitting there
like nothing had happened.
But something in his eyes—
off.
At the table—kids, family.
Everything looked normal.
But it wasn’t.
Fuck.
“Caleb. Now.”
He stood
and stepped into the hallway.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Hey, baby.
You like it?”
“The devil…”
I cursed.
“The devil—”
“No. No, no, no.”
“Caleb.
Can you hear me?”
I knew.
He’d crossed into the dark.
“Oh God… fuck.”
I called my son.
“Roman.
Sweetheart, close your eyes.”
I started crying.
And I had to rip my own heart out.
I pushed part of Roman’s energy into Caleb—
and pulled my own out
to give back to Roman.
I had twenty percent left.
If I went in again—
that would be it for me.
I exhaled.
“Caleb…”
He opened his eyes—
and immediately doubled over in pain.
Good.
He could feel it.
I grabbed his jaw.
No shine in his eyes.
Roman’s light had pushed the darkness back.
I checked my son.
Roman was stable.
Clean.
I exhaled.
“Thank you, my love.”
I let him go.
I kissed Caleb.
“You, mister, are getting way too expensive.”
He laughed.
I closed my eyes.
“Maybe you could…
give me something in return?”
Caleb paused,
then placed his hand over his chest.
“Miss, are you suggesting… something sexual?”
“What? Me?”
“Nooo.”
He pulled me into a hug.
And I doubled over in pain.
“Fuck… yeah.
Too soon.”
Everything hurt.
Bad.
“Call Sam.
Tell him to send the chopper.”
“I need to get patched up.”