Updated Mar 10, 2026 • ~9 min read
Sera spends the day in a fog.
Exhausted from no sleep.
Replaying last night in her mind.
The beast. The glowing eyes. The moment it could have killed her but didn’t.
Damien is still in there.
Fighting.
She just needs to reach him.
Marcus recovers slowly.
The gash on his arm requires stitches. Clara helps with that while Sera holds bandages.
“How bad was it?” Clara asks nervously. “The transformation?”
“Bad,” Marcus says. “But we survived.”
Clara looks at Sera.
“The beast came close to you?”
“Very close.”
“And?”
“And it didn’t hurt me.”
Clara’s eyes widen.
“That’s… that’s never happened before.”
“Maybe the curse is weakening,” Sera suggests.
Marcus shakes his head.
“Or maybe the curse is testing you. Seeing if you’re worth destroying.”
Not the most comforting thought.
Sera tries to rest before midnight.
Can’t sleep.
Too nervous. Too anxious.
Tonight she’ll see Damien’s face.
The scars. The damage. Whatever he’s been hiding beneath the mask.
Part of her is terrified.
But another part—the stubborn, curious part—needs to know.
Needs to see all of him.
Monster and man.
Midnight.
Sera goes to the library.
It’s dark except for a fire burning in the fireplace.
Damien sits in a chair facing away from the door.
Still wearing the mask.
“You came,” he says without turning.
“I promised I would.”
“You’re braver than I thought.”
“Or more foolish.”
A soft laugh.
“Marcus said the same thing.”
Sera walks closer.
Damien tenses but doesn’t tell her to stop.
“How do you feel?” she asks. “After last night?”
“Like I’ve been torn apart and put back together wrong. Same as always.”
“Does it hurt?”
“The transformation? Yes. Every time. Like my bones are breaking and reforming. My skin stretching. My mind fracturing.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I deserve it.”
“No one deserves that.”
Damien finally turns to face her.
Still wearing the mask.
But his eyes look haunted. Exhausted.
“I hurt Marcus. I could have killed him.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Luck. Not control.”
“You didn’t hurt me either.”
“Because you hid. Like I told you to.”
“No. I came out. I found Marcus. And you… you saw me. The beast saw me. And it stopped.”
Damien stares at her.
“What?”
“You charged at me. Got close enough to kill me. But you didn’t. You stopped. Looked at me like you were trying to remember something. Then ran away.”
Damien stands abruptly.
“That’s impossible.”
“It happened.”
“The beast doesn’t recognize anyone. Doesn’t hesitate. It just destroys.”
“Maybe it’s changing. Maybe you’re getting stronger.”
“Or maybe I’m losing control faster than I thought.” Damien paces. “If I got that close to you and didn’t attack, it means the curse is evolving. Testing me. Testing you.”
“Testing how?”
“Isolde designed the curse to punish hope. Every time I let myself care about someone, the transformation gets worse. But if the beast is hesitating around you…” He trails off.
“What?”
“It means the curse recognizes you as significant. And that makes you a target.”
Sera’s stomach drops.
“You think Isolde will come after me?”
“I think if the curse senses I’m developing feelings for you, it will try to kill you. That’s what it’s designed to do.”
Feelings.
The word hangs between them.
“Are you?” Sera asks quietly. “Developing feelings?”
Damien stops pacing.
Won’t look at her.
“I’m trying not to.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only answer I can give.”
Sera steps closer.
“Take off the mask, Damien.”
“No.”
“You promised.”
“I’m reconsidering.”
“Too late. You don’t get to hide anymore.”
Damien finally looks at her.
And she sees the fear there.
Not of her. Of himself.
Of being seen.
“What if you run?” he asks. “What if you see what’s under the mask and can’t handle it? What if you look at me the way everyone else does? Like I’m a monster?”
“I’ve already seen the monster. Last night. And I didn’t run.”
“The beast is different. At least the beast has an excuse. But this?” He gestures to the mask. “This is just me. Just damage. Just proof of what I’ve become.”
“Show me.”
“Sera—”
“Show me, Damien. Please.”
He stares at her for a long moment.
Then, slowly, reaches for the mask.
His hands shake.
He pauses.
“Last chance to leave.”
“I’m not leaving.”
Damien takes a breath.
And removes the mask.
Sera doesn’t flinch.
Doesn’t gasp. Doesn’t react.
Just looks.
Really looks.
The right side of his face is normal. Handsome, even. Like the portrait when he was nineteen.
But the left side…
Scars. Deep and twisted. Like something tore through his skin and healed wrong.
His left eye is slightly different. Still gray, but with an inhuman quality. Reflective.
His cheekbone is higher. More pronounced. Almost… animalistic.
It’s not horrifying.
It’s just… different.
A physical manifestation of the curse. Bleeding into his human form.
“Well?” Damien asks. Voice tight. “Say something.”
“Does it hurt?”
Not the question he expected.
“What?”
“The scars. Do they hurt?”
“No. Not physically.”
“But emotionally?”
He looks away.
“Every time I see them, I remember what I’ve lost. Who I was before. So yes. They hurt.”
Sera reaches out.
Damien flinches.
“May I?” she asks.
“May you what?”
“Touch. I want to understand.”
“Sera, you don’t have to—”
“I want to.”
Damien freezes as she lifts her hand to his face.
Gently traces the scars on his left cheek.
The skin is rough. Textured differently than the right side.
But it’s still him.
Still human.
“You were nineteen when the curse hit?” she asks.
“Twenty-one. It manifested on my birthday.”
“What happened? Exactly?”
Damien closes his eyes.
“Isolde came to the manor. I thought she wanted to reconcile. Talk about the broken engagement. Instead, she…” He swallows. “She said if she couldn’t have me, no one would. She cursed me in front of my family. My friends. Everyone.”
“What did the curse do at first?”
“Pain. Immediate, searing pain. Like my body was being rewritten. The first transformation happened that night. Full moon. I didn’t know what was happening. I woke up covered in blood. An animal—our stable dog—dead beside me.”
His voice breaks.
“I killed it. In beast form. Didn’t even remember doing it. That’s when I knew. I was a monster. Permanently.”
Sera’s hand is still on his face.
Feeling the scars. The physical proof of his trauma.
“You’re not a monster, Damien. You’re a victim.”
“Victims don’t kill their sisters.”
“The curse killed Catherine. Not you.”
“I was the weapon. That makes me guilty.”
“By that logic, a sword is guilty of murder.”
Damien opens his eyes.
Looks at her with such raw pain that Sera’s heart breaks.
“Why aren’t you running? Why aren’t you disgusted?”
“Because I see you. Not the curse. Not the scars. You.”
“You barely know me.”
“Then let me know you. That’s all I’m asking. Let me in.”
Damien pulls away from her touch.
Turns back to the fire.
“Letting you in means risking your life. The curse will fight back. It always does.”
“Let it fight. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You say that now. But when the next full moon comes—”
“I’ll still be here.”
“Lilith said the same thing.”
“I’m not Lilith!” Sera’s voice rises. “Stop comparing me to her! I’m here. I’m choosing this. I’m choosing you.”
Damien spins around.
“Why? What do you possibly get out of this? You’re trapped in a loveless marriage to a cursed man who transforms into a beast every month. You could have run. Could have demanded an annulment. Could have—”
“Could have what? Gone back to my father? To poverty? To a life where I have no choice, no agency, no purpose?” Sera steps closer. “At least here, I’m choosing. For the first time in my life, I’m making my own decisions. And I’m deciding that you’re worth fighting for.”
“I’m not.”
“You don’t get to decide that. I do.”
They stand close now.
The fire crackling. Shadows dancing.
Damien’s mask lies on the table.
His scarred face fully visible.
Vulnerable in a way he’s probably never been.
“If you stay,” he says quietly, “the curse will try to kill you. Isolde will try to kill you. And I might accidentally kill you during a transformation. Those are the risks.”
“I understand.”
“Do you? Really? Because Lilith understood too. Until she didn’t. Until reality hit and she realized love wasn’t enough.”
“Maybe her love wasn’t. But mine might be.”
Damien shakes his head.
“You can’t love me. We barely know each other.”
“I didn’t say I love you. I said I’m choosing to try. There’s a difference.”
“Not to the curse.”
Sera reaches for his hand.
He doesn’t pull away.
“Then we’ll face the curse together. As partners. Not as distant strangers living in separate wings.”
“Partners in what? Suffering?”
“Partners in survival. In hope. In finding a way to break this.”
“There is no way—”
“There’s always a way. We just haven’t found it yet.”
Damien looks at their joined hands.
Like he can’t quite believe she’s touching him willingly.
“You’re insane,” he whispers.
“Probably.”
“This won’t end well.”
“Maybe not. But at least we’ll try.”
Damien lifts his eyes to hers.
And for the first time since she arrived, she sees something other than pain there.
Hope.
Fragile. Tentative. Terrified.
But hope nonetheless.
“If we do this,” he says, “if we try… I need you to promise me something.”
“What?”
“If it gets too dangerous. If the curse starts winning. You’ll leave. You’ll save yourself.”
“Damien—”
“Promise me, Sera. I can live with a lot of things. But I can’t live with your death on my conscience.”
Sera wants to argue.
But she sees the desperation in his eyes.
“Fine. I promise. But only if you promise the same.”
“Promise what?”
“That you won’t give up. That you’ll keep fighting. That you won’t sacrifice yourself just to end the curse.”
Damien hesitates.
Then nods.
“I promise.”
Liar.
She can see it in his eyes. He’d absolutely sacrifice himself if it meant saving her.
But she’ll deal with that later.
For now, this is enough.
A fragile alliance.
Two damaged people agreeing to try.
To hope.
To fight a curse that’s unbeatable.
Because what else can they do?
Give up?
Sera’s done giving up.
And maybe—just maybe—Damien is too.
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