Chapter 410: You Used Blood Magic?

He squeezed her hand gently.

"Tomorrow night I’m going into the Veil," Nicholas continued. "I’m going to find you. I’m going to anchor you. And I’m going to trade my life so you can live. Because Lilith....you deserve to live. You deserve to have a full life free from curses and covenants and supernatural politics. You deserve to be happy."

His voice caught.

"I’m not going to lie and say I’m not afraid," Nicholas said. "I am. I’m terrified of dying. Of ceasing to exist. Of permanent ending. But I’m more afraid of a world where you stay dead. Of living the rest of my life knowing I could have saved you but chose not to. That fear....it’s worse than death."

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

"When you wake up," Nicholas said, "Sebastian and Lucian are going to be there. They’re going to love you and protect you and help you navigate whatever changes resurrection brings. And you’re going to blame yourself for my death. I know you will. But Lilith....please don’t. Please understand that this was my choice. My privilege. My honor."

Tears slipped down his face.

"I would do it a thousand times," Nicholas whispered. "I would choose to die for you every single time. Because loving you....even for the short time we had, was worth more than a lifetime without you."

He sat with her in silence.

Memorizing her face. Her features. The way her hair fell across the stone table. The way her hand fit in his.

All the details he wanted to carry with him into the Veil.

After a long time, Nicholas stood.

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Lilith’s forehead.

"I’ll see you tomorrow night," Nicholas said. "In the Veil. I’ll find you. I’ll hold onto you. And I’ll make sure you come home."

He released her hand.

Walked to the door.

Looked back one more time.

"I love you, Lilith," Nicholas said. "Always."

Then he left.

And prepared for the last day of his life.

***

Victoria’s POV

Victoria found Elena in the library long after midnight.

The priestess was sitting in one of the reading chairs with a cup of tea that had gone cold hours ago. She looked exhausted. Drained. Like she had been pouring every ounce of her magic into keeping Lilith’s body preserved and had nothing left for herself.

"You should be sleeping," Victoria said quietly.

Elena looked up. "So should you."

"Can’t sleep," Victoria admitted. "Too much in my head."

"Same," Elena said. She gestured to the chair across from her. "Sit. We should talk."

Victoria sat.

They were quiet for a long moment. Just two women who had spent days fighting impossible battles, sitting in the darkness, too tired to pretend they were okay.

"You look different," Elena said finally.

Victoria knew what she meant.

The corruption from the blood magic had spread. Victoria could feel it in her magical channels....dark energy woven through her power like poison through water. Changing her. Making her into something that was no longer purely Morvaine.

"The Underworld leaves marks," Victoria said quietly.

"Tell me what happened," Elena said. "You told the Alphas the basics. But Victoria.....what did you really see down there? What did you do?"

Victoria took a breath.

And told her everything.

About the portal to the quarry. About finding it empty. About the swamp guardian and the ocean cave and the frozen north. About all the false locations Thalia had set up to waste time.

About finally understanding that Thalia was in the Underworld itself.

About making the deal with the swamp guardian. Trading seven years of her life and a precious memory for passage.

About entering the Underworld and seeing the grey nothing of the outer territories.

About the gatekeeper.

Elena leaned forward when Victoria described the fight.

"You used blood magic," Elena said.

"I had to," Victoria said. "Normal magic didn’t work. The creature was going to kill me. So I used what Thalia had taught me in her journals. Dark magic. The kind that corrupts you when you cast it."

"How much did you use?" Elena asked carefully.

"Enough to win," Victoria said. "Enough that I can feel it spreading through my magical channels every day. Changing me. Making me more like Thalia."

She held up her hands.

In the firelight, Elena could see the black veins running beneath Victoria’s skin. Not many. Not yet. But there. Growing. Spreading like disease through healthy tissue.

"Victoria...." Elena started.

"I know," Victoria interrupted. "I know what I’m becoming. I know the corruption will get worse. I know that by the time this is over, I’ll be barely recognizable as the witch I was before. But Elena, what choice did I have? Let the gatekeeper kill me? Give up on Lilith? Come back and tell the Alphas I failed because I was too afraid to use dark magic?"

"No one is blaming you," Elena said gently.

"I’m blaming myself," Victoria said, and her voice cracked. "I spent fifteen years trying to be different from Thalia. Trying to use our gift the way Mother wanted. Healing instead of controlling. Light instead of darkness. And in three days I became exactly what Thalia is. A corrupted Morvaine witch who traded pieces of herself for power."

"You’re not like Thalia," Elena insisted.

"Aren’t I?" Victoria challenged. "I used blood magic. I made deals with Underworld entities. I traded years of my life and memories I can’t even remember anymore. I walked into the underworld and came back changed. How is that different from what Thalia did fifteen years ago?"

"Intent," Elena said firmly. "Thalia corrupted herself for power. To control others. To reshape the world according to her vision. You corrupted yourself to save someone you love. That matters, Victoria. That makes all the difference."

Victoria felt tears burn behind her eyes.

"Does it?" she whispered. "Because I still feel like I’m losing myself. Like every day I look in the mirror and see less of who I was and more of who Thalia is. And I’m terrified, Elena. I’m terrified that by the time Lilith wakes up, I’ll be so corrupted that she won’t recognize me. That I’ll have become the monster I spent my whole life trying not to be."