Chapter 144: She is No Longer Afraid

The blood won't come off.

Bella stood at the edge of the river, her bare feet sinking into the mud, her hands submerged beneath the icy water.

She scrubbed.

Hard.

Fiercely.

Until her fingertips ached, until the skin on her hands turned raw and red and torn.

But no matter how much she scrubbed, how much she clawed at her own flesh—

The blood remained.

It wasn't on her hands.

It was inside her.

And it had been there for a long time.

The Hollow One was gone.

Burned.

Destroyed.

Erased.

But its voice still lingered.

"You thought you were free?"

Bella's breath came sharp and uneven.

"You were never free."

She squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her hands against her temples.

"Shut up," she hissed.

But the voice only laughed.

"You liked it."

Bella's stomach twisted violently.

Because she had.

Killing that rogue—feeling his bones crack beneath her claws, tasting his blood on her tongue—

It had felt good.

Too good.

And that?

That was the real curse.

Because the Hollow One hadn't created this darkness inside her.

It had simply woken it up.

And now?

Now it would never go back to sleep.