More pain tore through me like wildfire, each nerve lighting up like it was begging to snap. Cuts bloomed across my skin on their own, blood dripping steadily onto the floor, painting a trail of proof that I was still breathing—barely.
My chest rose and fell in jagged heaves, muscles locked so tight I felt like I’d shatter if I moved wrong. Every breath tastedlike rust and razor blades, and I was one inhale away from blacking out.
Vespera's lips curled into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes—it never did. Her fingers brushed the ruby at her throat as she hummed to herself.
“Darians upstairs, waiting for me like the good little soldier he is. Loyal.” Her fingers trail along my jaw, almost tender if not for the crackle of her magic humming just beneath her touch. “Unlike you.”
She’s fucking lying.
Her eyes then flick to Kieran. “And you know what happens to traitors.” She sighs like she’s disappointed, but there’s a hint of hunger in her gaze—she wants us to resist.
“Now, tell me, who’s the girl you’re trying to protect. Don’t lie this time.”
My head's pounding like war drums, breathing is difficult, but I still manage a smirk. “You’ll have to kill me,” I rasp. “Because I’m not telling you a fucking thing.”
Then I spit—right in her face.
There is no way in a million years I will tell her anything.
The silence is razor sharp.
Kieran chokes beside me—not from pain, but from disbelief—the kind that says ‘you absolute idiot, but also…respect.’ I hear his chains rattle; he’s saying something, but I can’t quite make it out. The guards move instantly, blades drawn, but Vespera puts her hand up.
With a flick of her wrist, I’m ripped from the chains, my wrists snapping with the force. A loud cry escapes me as I hit the floor on my knees, teeth gritted against the pain. Kieran's shouts echo around me, laced with fear, but I push them aside—rage and stubborn defiance fueling every breath.
“Ronan! Fuck you, you sadistic bitch, I’ll rip you apart…”
She pays him no attention. Instead, her hand curls around my throat—not gently. Her nails dig into my skin, a mockery of intimacy as she leans in close. Her perfume wraps around me like poison, all sugar and rot, the kind of scent that makes your stomach turn.
Not like my cherry.
Soft skin, cherry and vanilla, warmth.Her.
They may be related, but this monster is nothing like Ravena.
“Now, Ronan,” Vespera croons, “if I have to ask again, I might just have to pay your mother a visit.”
That gets my attention.
The blood in my veins turns to ice as I snap my head up, a new kind of fury cutting through the pain. “Go near her,” I growl, voice raw. “And it will be the last thing you ever do.”
She smiles then, knowing she has me by the balls because yes, having people you love is a weakness, but it can also be a strength. My mothers the one person left untouched by this nightmare, tucked away safely in the human realm. I made damn sure of it after my father was killed on a mission. He was a hunter in the Veilguard like me. They had me before he took the trials—before the council made him take the snip like all the others.
Like me.
He died protecting us from vampires, and I promised him I would do anything to protect the woman we love. Vespera knows that, even though she hates it when we have baggage, she also loves that she can use it as leverage.
“Who’s more important? Your sweet, loving mother… or a woman who will be dead very soon?” I grind my jaw as she tightens her hold around my neck.
“Or maybe,” she continues, “Darian’s siblings? Your so-called family will be dead, and I’ll make sure their bodies are torn apart and scattered across all the realms if you don’t give me a name.”
My breathing slows as I catch sight of Kieran. He’s slumped beside me now, held back by two guards, chains clinking as he tries to thrash. One of them lands a solid punch to his gut, folding him in half. He gasps, coughing, but doesn’t cry out.
We don’t show pain; it’s a pride thing.
She’s waiting for me to break, Nyx watching me like I’m his prey.
But all I feel is fire.
