Page 32 of She Who Holds My Wrath

Kaelith leans forward, his voice tight. “So… someone breached the wards?”

“No,” I answer flatly. “They remain untouched. Not a single ripple of interference.”

Elyistria’s soft voice carries a razor edge. “Then how?”

Lucifer snarls, the veneer of charm stripped back. “Traitors. It’s the only answer. We’ve got fucking rats.”

I rest my elbows on the table, steepling my fingers before my face. The weight of every gaze presses in on me, heavy as stone. “Yes,” I murmur. “Traitors. And if they’ve already infiltrated Sovarith… then none of us are safe. Not in our homes. Not in our strongholds. Gods only knows how many The Divine Six have already claimed.”

The silence that follows is worse than the shouting. Several minutes pass before Elyistria breaks the silence, her voice quiet but ringing like a bell. “Aran. You need to bring her in here. Let her explain the gravity of this.”

My heart seizes, time seeming to slow. I know exactly who she means. I know exactly who she wants me to bring into this room.

“No.” The word scrapes from my throat. “Elyistria, no.” It’s more of a plea than a statement.

Virena’s voice sounds, drawing my attention to her mis-matched storm-grey eyes that are narrowed directly at me. “Bring who?”

I don’t answer. I can’t. Dragging Velentha into this chamber of wolves, expecting them to treat her with anything but cruelty? I’d sooner slit their throats myself. If they so much as looked at her wrong, I fear I would kill them all, despite their power outranking mine in every way possible.

“Daisy can tell them whatever they need to know,” I snap, anger rising hot in my chest. “She doesn’t need to be involved.”

Sariya leans forward, her deep bronze hands braced against the table. Her tone is soft, but cutting through me all the same. “We can’t protect her if most of this council still sees her as the enemy. The only way to silence the doubt, is for her to speak.”

Panic coils tight in my gut. “Please,” I whisper, my voice breaking despite myself. “Don’t ask this of me. Don’t make me⁠—”

Elyistria’s eyes are unyielding, and I know I’ve lost a battle that’s barely even begun. “It’s time, Aran. Either you bring her, or we will tell them ourselves.”

My hands tremble with a mixture of fear and fury. How dare they corner me like this? They know damn well I have no real power against them. They know they’ve left me with no choice. They act like they are doing me a favour, allowing me to be the one to bring her here. But they are putting my sole reason for existing in harm’s way by asking me to do this.

“Fine,” I grit out, my jaw aching from the force of it. My voice drops to a growl as I glare around the table. “But if any one of you even so much as tries to harm her, I swear to every god that’s listening, I will not be held responsible for how quickly I end you.”

The room stills, the only noise being Lucifer’s scoff as everybody else goes silent. Kaelith mutters under his breath, “What the fuck…” as I leave, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the stone, storming out with my pulse thundering in my ears.

Chapter 16

VELENTHA

Idon’t know how much longer I can stand being trapped in this room.

I once believed the true torture was the Divine Six and their endless bragging, their hollow sense of superiority, and the constant droning of their voices echoing through every hall. I thought nothing could be worse than being forced to stand among them, listening as they praised themselves as if they were worthy gods.

But this room… this silence… this waiting… Gods, I think I might almost prefer it. And yet, when I truly allow myself to think about it—when I picture their faces, their cruelty, the endless suffocating weight of their presence—I know the truth. I would still rather remain locked in this godforsaken room forever, than ever return to them.

Although I was created alongside them by Dasmyrin and Elyistria, I knew almost instantly that I did not belong. The moment the first vision came, all violence and ruin, I understood. My power was so new then—my head had flooded with too many images at once, each one bleeding into the next until I could barely breathe. Futures of Dasmyrin’s reign—some glorious, others ending in tragedy. And the moment I laid eyes on her after my power emerged, grief consumed me. I should have spoken up. I should have warned her of what I saw. But I didn’t. I remained silent. And when she was murdered by the Six and the Cruel King, guilt rooted itself so deeply inside me it began devouring me from within. I was disgusted by the people around me. Disgusted by myself.

But then… Saevyn found me. To this day, I still don’t know how she managed to breach the wards to get into my chambers within the Six’s realm. But I will forever be grateful that she did. She gave me purpose when I was drowning in visions and failure.

Fifty Thousand Years Earlier

“You must come with me, Time Witch,” the woman whispers, her lavender eyes glowing like orbs in the darkness of my chamber.

Before I can speak, a hand clamps over my mouth. A man with slick black hair and emerald eyes stares down at me, a warning sharp in his gaze. I nod once, and in a flash, the world shifts.

Suddenly, I’m no longer in my chamber, but in a tall stone tower lit by flickering sconces, overlooking a world unknown to me. Stars glimmer in the sky, their energy so potent it thrums through my bones. The man releases me and I stumble back, pressing my spine to the cold wall.

“Who are you?” My voice trembles as I wrap my arms around myself.

My dark silk nightgown is no defence against the chill, though the faint glow of the runes etched into my skin light the space around me. The man hands me a cloak, heavier and warmer than the one I usually wear. I slide it on with a murmur of thanks, before raising my eyes to the woman. She’s beautiful. Ethereal, even. Her hair shimmers as though braided with starlight, her pale skin luminous in the moonlight. No threat radiates from her, yet power rolls off her in waves.