Chapter 14; Balance And Peace Is The Last Thing On My Mind.

Still running like hell for my dear life, a spirit materializes directly in my path, its form more solid than the others. This one looks almost human, except for the void where its face should be.

"He calls for you," it says, its voice like ice cracking. "But you cannot help him. You cannot even help yourself."

I raise my hands, calling up what power I have left. But it feels uncontrolled. Magic sparks at my fingertips, then fizzles out. For the first time since becoming a hybrid, my wolf stirs beneath my skin, wanting to emerge, but even that feels distant.

"Your powers grow stronger," the spirit continues, "but they will destroy you, just as they destroyed her. Just as they will destroy everyone around you."

Nova shot at it while stepping Between us, her own power flaring. "Enough! You speak of balance, yet you interfere with forces beyond your understanding."

"Do we?" The spirit's empty face turns toward her. "Or do we understand too well? Ask her, Nova Starling. Ask her what she saw in those visions. Ask her what's happening to the wolf even now."

Jay's voice comes again, more distant this time, tinged with pain.

And suddenly I understand. The vision wasn't just a possibility. It's happening now.

My legs almost gave out, power draining from me like water through a sieve. All I can think about is Jay, and what might be happening to him while I'm trapped here.

"I have to go back," I whisper.

"The only way you can get back," Nova says firmly. "Is to keep moving forward...Only forward. Olivia. You're almost there."

The spirit laughs, the sound like breaking glass. "Yes, run forward. But remember, no matter which world you choose, you'll never truly belong. You'll never find peace."

I force myself to start moving again, being heavily confused is the least of my worries. The spirit realm continues to warp around me, and I can feel more of them gathering.

Watching. Waiting.

But they're wrong about one thing.

I'm not running forward to escape.

I'm running forward to get back to Jay.

And heaven help anyone; spirit, witch, or wolf... who tries to stop me.

After what felt like a marathon, I could finally see the return portal appear…a jagged opening filled with swirling silver light. Problem is, it's about as stable as my emotional state right now.

"Looks like It won't hold for very long," Nova says, her form flickering more rapidly now. "Your power seems to be interfering with the flow."

Story of my life. Can't even exit the spirit realm without screwing something up.

But before I can take a step toward it, that same spirit materializes between us and freedom.

Only now, it's not alone. Others join it, their forms merging and separating like smoke in the wind, creating this massive wall of rioting darkness.

"You cannot leave alive," they speak in unison, their voices vibrating through my bones. "The balance must be maintained."

I'm so done with this balance crap.

"Move," I growl, and I hear both witch and wolf in my voice. Power surges through me, but it's different now. Not the wild, uncontrolled force from before. This feels... focused. Like all my fear and anger and worry for Jay has been compressed into something sharp.

The spirits sense it too. They pull back slightly, their whispers turning uncertain.

"You think I care about your balance?" I take a step forward, and the ground doesn't crumble. It solidifies. "You think I care about what the first hybrid did?"

"You should," they hiss. "Her power destroyed everything. Yours will do the same."

"No." Another step. Magic sparkles around me, gold and silver and blue all at once. "Her power didn't destroy everything. Her choice did."

Nova's watching me with something like surprise in her ethereal eyes.

"And I'm not her," I continue, my voice stronger. "I'm not choosing sides. I'm not choosing between witch and wolf.

I'm choosing me.

I'm choosing to be what I am."

The spirits surge forward, but I'm ready.

Fusing my powers in both my palms, all I could think of doing was clap and Power explodes from me in a controlled wave, cutting through their darkness like sunlight through fog. They scatter, reforming, trying to surround me.

"You'll never find peace!" they shriek. "Neither world will accept you!"

I laugh, and it comes out sounding almost feral. "Maybe not. But I'm done looking for acceptance."

The portal flickers, starting to close. Nova's voice rings out, urgent: "Olivia, now!"

I gather what's left of my power, focusing it like Thalia taught me. The spirits make one last attempt to stop me, their darkness reaching out with clawed hands.

But I'm already moving.

I dive through the portal just as it starts to collapse. For a moment, I'm everywhere and nowhere, my body feeling like it's being pulled apart and pushed together at the same time.

Then... impact.

I hit solid ground…real ground…gasping as awareness floods back. The first thing I notice is that everything hurts. The second is that my powers feel... different. Stronger, yes, but also more present, like they've somehow settled deeper into my bones.

"Olivia!"

Thalia's voice. I force my eyes open to find her kneeling beside me, her face tight with concern. She reaches out, touching something on my arm, and I hiss at the sudden sting.

"Sorry," she murmurs, pulling back. "The mark... I've never seen anything like it."

I look down. There's a pattern on my skin where the spirit grabbed me, like frost on a window, but dark. It doesn't hurt exactly, but it pulses in time with my heartbeat.

"Thalia," I manage to sit up, fighting a wave of dizziness. "Where's Jay?"

Her silence tells me everything.

"He was here," she finally says, not meeting my eyes. "When you suddenly diss appeared into what I believe is the spirit realm, he was confused and for some reason he went outside against my advice, maybe to search for you. But then..."

"Then what?"

"I didn't sense them coming. They masked their presence somehow. By the time I realized..."

Cold fear grips my chest. "Kael's pack?"

She nods, and I'm on my feet before she can say anything else.

The room spins, but I force myself to stay upright.

Outside, I see the struggle almost like a vision…. claw marks on the wall jay didn't go easy but they came with an artifact that forced Jay back into human form and unable to transform.

They took him. While I was trapped in the spirit realm, fighting their stupid balance, Kael's pack took Jay.

The mark on my arm pulses again, and with it comes a surge of power that makes the air crackle. Thalia takes a step back, her eyes wide.

"Where were you when he was fighting?" I asked Thalia…now understanding why Jay never fully trusted her.

"I held the doorway of your magic open, so you could return to the exact place you'd entered the spirit realm… if not you could have been lost."

Her explanation was valid, but I have to do something for Jay.

"Olivia, you need to rest. Your powers still aren't stable after what happened."

"No." I clench my fists, feeling both witch and wolf rising inside me. "What I need is to get him back."

"The spirits were right about one thing," Thalia says quietly. "You'll never find peace in either world. But maybe that's not what you need right now."

She's right. Peace isn't an option anymore.

I look down at my hands, watching as magic dances across my skin, mixing with the first signs of my wolf trying to emerge. The spirits wanted balance? Well, they're about to learn what happens when you push too far.

"I'm getting him back," I say, and my voice doesn't shake at all. "No matter what it takes."

I swear I can hear the spirits' whispers fading:

She will never find peace in either world...

Maybe not.

But right now?

Peace is the last thing on my mind.