Claimed by the vampire prince

Chapter 408: Chapter 408

Even as she moved, confusion gnawed at the edges of her mind. She still didn’t understand why something like this was happening, why the cave had begun to fall apart the moment after she killed Dena. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

A particularly large rock tore free from the ceiling and hurtled toward her.Circe noticed it just in time. She sprang sideways with a burst of speed, narrowly avoiding the crushing impact as the boulder slammed into the ground where she had been standing only a second earlier.

As she ran, she cast a quick glance upward and spotted a jagged crack stretching across the ceiling.

The twinkling lights embedded within the cavern walls cast a dim glow across her path as she veered sharply to the left, sprinting into another passageway. Her shoes skidded slightly against the uneven ground as she pushed forward. But only seconds later she slid to an abrupt halt.

Her breath caught in her throat. The passage she had chosen was completely blocked. A massive boulder sat wedged in the tunnel ahead, so large and immovable that there was no chance of forcing her way past it. The path was sealed shut.

A curse rose to her lips.

Seeing no other choice, Circe spun around and ran back the way she had come.

But that decision proved to be just as disastrous.

Even as she raced toward the tunnel entrance, another wave of violent tremors shook the cave. The ground quaked beneath her feet as more rocks tore free from the ceiling. She watched in horror as the passage she had just run through collapsed in front of her eyes. Jagged slabs of stone crashed down one after another, sealing the route completely and trapping her inside.

The brief triumph she had felt after defeating Dena only moments ago vanished instantly. In its place came a bone-deep dread that settled heavily in her chest.

The tremors only seemed to grow worse.

A thunderous cracking sound reverberated through the cavern, echoing through the twisting tunnels like the roar of something monstrous awakening. Circe slowly lifted her gaze toward the ceiling. The crack she had seen earlier had grown wider.

A horrifying image flashed through her mind without warning, a vision of herself buried alive beneath tons of falling rock. Her body crushed and broken, her bones shattered beneath the weight of the heavy rocks as darkness swallowed her whole.

Her stomach twisted violently. But it wasn’t only her own fate that terrified her. Her thoughts immediately turned to the others trapped inside the cave with her.They had nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Her brother’s face surfaced in her mind, and a sharp pang of worry clenched her chest as she imagined the terror he must be feeling at that very moment.

Dena was already dead. So how was this even happening?

Circe’s gaze darted frantically around the collapsing cavern as she searched desperately for some kind of escape.

She had always believed that Dena controlled the cave, that the magic within these tunnels answered solely to her.

But perhaps she had been wrong.

Above her, a heavy slab of stone finally snapped loose from the ceiling and crashed onto the ground with tremendous force. The impact shattered part of the rock, sending fragments skittering across the cave floor.

Circe stumbled backward just in time to avoid being struck. Her heart lodged itself painfully in her throat as fear poured through her veins.

"Why?" she demanded suddenly, her voice cracking under the strain. "Why are you doing this?"

The words were directed at no one as she thought she was alone. At least, that was what she believed.

But barely a second after the question left her lips, something strange happened.

The cave rumbled. This was not like the harsh tremors from before. This rumble was different, calmer somehow, like a hum.

Circe froze. Her lips parted slowly as shock washed over her. She might have been imagining things. She might have finally gone mad from everything that had happened. Because for a brief, impossible moment, it felt as though the cave itself had responded to her question.

Still unsure, she swallowed hard and forced herself to try again.

"Can you... understand me?" Circe asked cautiously.

Her knees nearly buckled beneath her when, only a second later, the cavern answered with another rumble. Her eyes widened.

The realization struck her like a bolt of lightning. The cave was sentient. It was alive. And if that was true... then perhaps Dena had never been fully in control of this place at all.

Was that why she had always felt watched whenever she entered these tunnels?

What if the cave itself had been the one summoning her through dreams all this time?What if that magic had belonged to the cave alone and without it, Dena would have never been able to reach her at all?

Too many questions flooded her mind at once, racing over each other in a dizzying torrent. But only one question managed to force its way to the surface.

"Does me killing Dena have something to do with all this?" Circe asked, gesturing helplessly at the shaking walls and widening cracks surrounding her.

Another rumble followed. This one unmistakably sounded like agreement.

Circe frowned slightly. Had the cave and Dena shared some sort of bond?

Then something else occurred to her.

While she had been asking questions, the cracks had stopped widening.

A thought formed in her mind.

Remembering how she had previously used her magic to scan the cave for the captives, Circe stepped closer to the nearest wall and pressed her palm flat against the cold stone surface. Slowly, she allowed her magic to flow outward.

The moment her power touched the rock, a sudden awareness slammed into her with the force of a charging horse.

Circe gasped.

A rush of emotions flooded into her mind, raw, overwhelming feelings that did not belong to her. They weren’t Ragnar’s either. They were something else entirely.

Her breathing quickened as she kept her hand pressed firmly against the wall.

Without removing it, she slowly lifted her head and glanced around the cavern, her senses suddenly sharpened by the strange connection.

The twinkling lights seemed a little brighter now, their faint glow shimmering gently along the cave walls. The tremors had ceased as well, leaving behind a heavy stillness in their wake, but her path remained firmly blocked.

"These are your emotions, aren’t they?" Circe asked, her voice softer this time.

Her fear had not yet completely faded, but she could feel herself slowly regaining her confidence with every passing moment.

The cave gave another low rumble, the sound echoing faintly.

Then she suddenly recalled something Dena had once told her while explaining this place. She had mentioned something about binding her soul to the cave in order to anchor herself to this realm.

The cave must have sensed the direction of her thoughts, along with the many questions beginning to form within her. A strange pressure stirred through the unseen connection between them, as though something deep within the cavern had shifted. Then it pushed something through that link.

A presence brushed against her mind, unfamiliar and cold. And a voice she had never heard before suddenly sounded inside her head.