Page 8

The heavy iron door swings open with a slow, deliberatecreak.

Vaela doesn’t flinch.

She lounges on the stone bench near the far wall, far too comfortable for a prisoner, her legs crossed, her pearlescent hair cascading over her bare shoulders. The dim torchlight flickers across the glistening pearls encrusted in her bodice, each one pulsing faintly with the remnants of the unfortunate souls she has claimed.

She lifts her gaze slowly, her lips curving into a knowing smirk.

Mocking.

“You’re back so soon?” she muses, tilting her head. “Miss me already?”

My fingers twitch at my sides, nails sharpening into claws before I will them still.

"You think yourself amusing," I murmur, stalking closer.

She hums as if considering. “Notthink, Dragon Queen.Know.”

I stop just short of her, towering over her smaller frame. Her icy white-blue eyes gleam with mischief, cool and assessing. I see the way she watches me—calculating. She’s testing me, just as I’m testing her.

"Enough of your games, little siren," I say, voice low and edged with warning. "Now that we have established that the king wants your power, you are going to give it to me instead."

Vaela doesn’t flinch, but the slight flicker of interest in her gaze tells me she’s waiting to see what I will do next.

"We know he needs your power to take my lands," I continue, stepping even closer. "To burn Varellith to ash, to wipe my kind from existence. But now I have you, and you, Sea Witch, will give me the power I need to ensure that doesn’t happen."

Her lips part slightly, a whisper of laughter escaping as she leans back against the cold stone wall. "Will I?"

I narrow my eyes. "Yes. You will."

She drags her fingers along the smooth pearls at her bodice, her nails grazing the largest one near her collarbone. "And what, exactly, do I gain from this arrangement?"

"You gain the luxury of keeping your life," I say, voice smooth as silk, yet laced with warning.

Vaela clicks her tongue in mock disappointment. "Now, now, Nyxara. I thought you’d know better than to try and threaten me into a bargain. That’s not how this works."

I grip the edge of the bench beside her, claws digging into the stone, leaning in until our faces are a breath apart.

"You will give me what I ask, Vaela. Or I will take it from you."

She exhales, slow, unbothered. "Oh, you couldtry, Dragon Queen. But magic like mine is given…never taken."

She lifts a delicate hand, one finger tracing lightly up the inside of my wrist. A teasing touch. A taunt.

I don’t move. I don’t flinch. But the air between us crackles, thick with tension. I hate the way she looks at me. Like she already knows the outcome of this exchange. Like she’s already won.

"You're bold," I murmur, my voice dangerously smooth.

"And you're impatient," she counters, her voice a dark caress. "If you truly want my power, Nyxara, you know what must be done."

I glare down at her, knowing exactly what she wants to hear.

She wants the bargain. A real one. The kind that binds us both. I want to deny her. To rip the words from her lips before she ever has the chance to speak them. But I cannot afford my pride. Not when my kingdom is at stake. Not when the humans are closing in. I need her power.

"Fine." The single word falls like a blade between us.

Vaela’s smirk deepens. She knew I would say it.

She shifts, leaning in, her breath warm against my lips. “Say it properly, Dragon Queen.”