Page 130 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts

She left the papers on his desk without attempting to hide her intrusion. What more could he do to her now that she hadn’t already suffered?

Returning to their quarters, she found Sevar seated on the edge of their bed, his shirt unbuttoned at the collar and his tie discarded on the duvet beside him. His dark hair was tousled – a clear sign he was troubled.

The sight of him made her tense up.

Sevar offered a smile, though devoid of warmth. “Caught sneaking out of my study, my violet love. Did you find anything intriguing?”

“I was looking for you.” Her voice was steady and her gaze unwavering – skills honed over years of necessity.

He frowned, running a hand through his hair. “Whatever it is, it will have to wait. There’s an issue in the catacombs that requires our attention.”

Her eyebrows knitted in concern. Had the necromancer done something? “What sort of issue?”

Sevar exhaled heavily as he rose. “Just come with me, and you’ll see.”

She followed him down the corridor, her gaze fixed on his back. There was an unusual tension in his posture that reignited her curiosity. He suddenly reached out and took her hand. “You know I’ve always loved you, don’t you?”

Kathrine swallowed hard. Days ago, those words would have warmed her heart. Now, she recognised them as a foretaste of another demand.

She forced a smile. “Me too.”

An emotion flickered in his eyes. Her stomach twisted into knots. Sevar never showed emotion. If he was letting her glimpse his inner turmoil, then something truly grave was weighing on him.

“Is everything all right, Sevar?”

His response was delayed, his tone clipped as they descended the underground galleries. “We’ll find out soon enough.”

Her heartbeat quickened for no apparent reason. Intuition warned her that whatever awaited them in the tunnels would not be to her liking.

Once they were deep within the stone beneath the palace, she asked, “Is there something I should know?”

Sevar paused, facing her. The faint light illuminated his sharp features. “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, love. It’s just a ‘situation,’ as I mentioned.”

Neither spoke again until they reached the metal grate marking the entrance to the tunnels. Sevar descended first, and by the time Kathrine followed, he’d already lit the dim corridor.

She surveyed the empty tunnel lined with dozens of small chambers. It had once held the necromancer. A glint against the wall drew her attention – her sword. The blade’s curved edge reflected the pale lights, unmarked by Lina’s blood, which had stained it mere days ago. Kathrine suppressed the heaviness rising in her chest at the memory. She’d cried her tears overLina’s death in the shower.

Her eyes lingered on the serpent’s head adorning the sword’s hilt. The face of the comrade she’d killed on the Queen’s command would one day fade, but her conscience would never settle. Anger coiled in her ribs, sharp and slow-burning, as another truth clicked into place. Her sword was a gift from Sevar. It was one more tool to mould her into an obedient soldier, into a blade that always followed its duty.

A sardonic smile twisted Kathrine’s lips when Sevar’s eyes, dark as death itself, landed on her. “Who do I have to kill this time?”

“Kathrine…” His voice faltered.

Her fiancé – so resolute, so arrogantly confident – was hesitating. That alone was enough to set alarm bells ringing in her mind. “Sevar?”

He leaned forward, wrapping his hands around the hilt of her sword, allowing the blade to hang loose by his side. “How many times have I warned you, Kathrine?”

Her attention dropped to the sword. ‘This is a blade meant for severing heads,’ he’d said the day he’d gifted it to her.

Her heart clenched in pain.

Fool. Fool. FOOL!

No, it couldn’t be…

Sevar stepped closer, his tone tinged with an unsettling calm. “Violet love, the world we live in is cruel. Why did you have to make such a foolish move? Why, for heaven’s sake, did you decide to steal fromher?”

“What?”