This is the last book in the series! Enjoy guys
Prologue — Axel
Athena remembered me.
That was the first thing I thought when I woke beside her.
The second was that we were already too late.
The thing behind the door had called her the key, and I knew enough about the Hollow to understand what that meant.
Someone had been waiting for her long before I ever met her.
And now that Athena remembered the promise I made as a child, there was nowhere left for us to run.
Chapter 1 — Athena
I remembered Axel.
Not everything.
Just enough.
A forest.
Rain.
Blood dripping from someone's hand.
And a little boy—or at least, someone who looked like one—standing in front of me like he was the only thing keeping the darkness away.
Axel.
I opened my eyes.
The ceiling above me was unfamiliar.
That seemed to be happening a lot lately.
I sat up too quickly.
The room spun.
“Easy.”
I froze.
That voice.
I turned.
Axel was sitting in a chair beside the bed.
They looked exhausted.
Their hair was a mess, their shirt was stained with dirt, and there was dried blood along one sleeve.
But they were alive.
Again.
I stared at them.
They stared back.
Neither of us spoke.
Then I remembered the woods.
The promise.
Their hand in mine.
I swallowed.
“You're not supposed to be here.”
Axel's expression tightened.
“I know.”
“You're not supposed to be alive.”
“I know.”
“And apparently, I knew you before I knew you.”
They looked away.
That was enough of an answer.
I threw the blanket off.
“Athena—”
“Don't.”
They stopped.
I stood.
My legs immediately decided that was a terrible idea.
Axel caught me before I fell.
I pushed them away.
“Don't touch me.”
They stepped back.
I hated the hurt on their face.
I hated that I cared.
I hated that apparently I'd cared since childhood.
“What happened?”
Axel said nothing.
“Where are we?”
Still nothing.
I looked around the room.
Old furniture.
Black curtains.
A fireplace that hadn't been used in years.
And carved into the wall—
The Hollow symbol.
My stomach dropped.
“Axel.”
They looked at me.
“What is this place?”
“Our family's old house.”
I stared at them.
“The place you told me not to go.”
“Yes.”
“You brought me here?”
“You were unconscious.”
“That wasn't my question.”
They sighed.
“I didn't have anywhere else to take you.”
I crossed my arms.
“You could have taken me to Vale.”
“She wouldn't have been able to protect you.”
“And you can?”
Their eyes met mine.
“No.”
The honesty caught me off guard.
Axel looked down.
“But I'll try.”
I stared at them.
Something about that sentence hurt.
Not because it was wrong.
Because it sounded familiar.
A memory surfaced.
A little girl crying in the rain.
A younger Axel holding her hand.
Their voice whispering:
“I won't let it take you.”
I took a shaky breath.
“You said that before.”
Axel went still.
“You remember?”
“Pieces.”
They looked terrified.
“That's not supposed to happen.”
“Apparently nobody told my brain.”
“Athena—”
“What happened to me?”
They didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“What happened when we were kids?”
Silence.
“Why did your mother erase my memory?”
Axel's face went pale.
“You remember that too?”
“No.”
I looked at them.
“I'm guessing I just asked the right question.”
They closed their eyes.
For a moment, they looked less like the vampire everyone had been hiding from me and more like the person I'd always known.
My best friend.
The person who disappeared.
The person who came back.
The person who had apparently been protecting me since we were children.
Finally, they whispered,
“You were dying.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“You were dying, Athena.”
They opened their eyes.
“And I made a promise to save you.”
I stared at them.
“What did you promise?”
Axel looked at the symbol on the wall.
Then back at me.
“I promised I'd give the Hollow whatever it wanted.”
The room went silent.
My blood turned cold.
“And what did it want?”
Axel didn't answer.
They didn't have to.
The door behind me whispered open.
And a voice from the darkness said:
“You.”