Chapter 338: I Need To Tell You Something About Thalia

She was absolutely planning exactly that if the opportunity presented itself.

But not yet. Not while Thalia was still a threat.

"Come in," Victoria said.

The door opened and Nicholas stepped inside.

He looked tired. That was Victoria’s first thought. The kind of tired that came from days without sleep and decisions that had no good outcomes. His silver eyes were shadowed. His jaw was tight. And he moved with the careful control of someone holding themselves together through sheer force of will.

Good.

He should be tired. Should be suffering. His family had destroyed hers. Had gotten Victor killed. Had bonded Lilith and cursed her and put her in this impossible position.

Victoria felt no sympathy for his exhaustion.

"Victoria," Nicholas said, closing the door behind him.

"Alpha Blackwood," Victoria said coolly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Nicholas’s mouth twitched slightly...not quite a smile, more like acknowledgment of the sarcasm. "We need to talk."

"About?"

"About the curse. About Morgana. About Thalia. About..." He stopped. "About whether this truce is actually going to work or if we’re just delaying the inevitable war."

Victoria leaned back in her chair and studied him. "You want honesty?"

"Always."

"Then no," Victoria said bluntly. "I don’t think this truce will hold. I think the moment Thalia is dealt with, we’re going to be right back where we started, you trying to keep Lilith bonded, me trying to take her away. The only question is whether we tear each other apart before or after she makes her choice."

Nicholas absorbed this without flinching. "And you’re okay with that outcome?"

"I’m okay with whatever outcome keeps my niece alive," Victoria said. "Even if it means killing you to make it happen."

"Even if it breaks Lilith’s heart?"

Victoria felt something twist in her chest but she did not let it show on her face. "Better a broken heart than a dead body."

Nicholas was quiet for a moment. Then he moved further into the room, his gaze sweeping over the research materials spread across every surface.

"You’re looking for a loophole," he said.

"Of course I am."

"So are we."

Victoria’s eyes narrowed. "Did Morgana give you anything else? Anything beyond the three options she told you about?"

"No," Nicholas admitted. "She was clear. Those are the only paths the Moon Goddess will accept."

"The Moon Goddess," Victoria said, and she could not keep the bitterness out of her voice, "is a cruel bitch who punishes children for their ancestors’ sins."

"Agreed."

The simple acknowledgment surprised Victoria. She had expected defensiveness. Justification. Some attempt to make the curse seem fair or earned.

Instead Nicholas just looked tired and angry and as trapped as she felt.

"Tell me everything Morgana said," Victoria said. "Word for word. Every detail you can remember."

Nicholas pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. "Why?"

"Because I’ve spent fifteen years studying curses and prophecies and divine retribution," Victoria said. "And I know that witches....even ancient ones, sometimes miss things. Sometimes they see what they expect to see instead of what’s actually there."

"You think Morgana missed something?" He asked.

"I think she’s been hiding in the wilderness for seven years waiting for you to show up desperate and afraid," Victoria said. "I think she delivered the prophecy she believed was true. But belief is not the same as certainty. And I want to hear it myself to see if there’s an angle she didn’t consider."

Nicholas studied her for a long moment. Then he started talking.

He told her everything. The curse’s origin with his great grandfather destroying the sacred grove. The complete prophecy Morgana had recited. The three options explained in detail...death sacrifice, magic sacrifice, or refusal leading to feral transformation.

He told her about the wooden box Morgana had given them containing ritual instructions for both sacrifices. About the warning that Lilith’s choice had to be freely given or the Moon Goddess would reject it. About the timeline pressure and the fear that they were running out of time.

When he finished, Victoria sat in silence for a long moment, processing.

"The magic sacrifice option," she said finally. "Morgana said if Lilith surrenders her power, the bonds will eventually kill her unless they’re severed."

"Yes."

"How long did she say? Before the bonds became fatal?"

"Five to ten years," Nicholas said.

"Depending on how strong Lilith’s body is. But the bonds would weaken her. Sicken her. Until they burned her out from the inside."

Victoria’s hands clenched. "So that’s not really a solution. It’s just a slower death sentence."

"Unless we sever the bonds," Nicholas said quietly.

"Which would traumatize her," Victoria said. "Leave her alone and human and defenseless in a world that wants to use her or kill her."

"Yes."

"So all three options are hell," Victoria said. "Just different flavors of it."

"Yes."

Victoria stood abruptly and walked to the window, staring out at the darkened grounds. She could see the faint shimmer of the combined wards...her magic and the pack’s woven together in an uneasy alliance that mirrored the one she and Nicholas were trying to build.

"I have to tell you something," Victoria said without turning around. "About Thalia."

She heard Nicholas shift behind her. "I’m listening."

"Before the coven fell, Thalia wanted to weaponize our gift," Victoria said. "She believed we should be using our bond manipulation abilities to control supernatural politics. To make ourselves powerful instead of hiding."

"What did your mother say?"

"That power without wisdom is tyranny," Victoria said. "That our gift was meant to heal, not control. Thalia disagreed. Violently. They fought about it constantly in the years leading up to the attack."

"Do you think Thalia orchestrated the attack?" Nicholas asked.

Victoria turned to face him. "I don’t know. I’ve spent fifteen years trying to figure out if she somehow arranged for the hunters to find us. If she wanted the coven destroyed so she could rebuild it in her own image."