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NARANUS

T he taste of her still lingers on my tongue, a maddening addiction I hadn’t realized I’d succumbed to.

Eryss trembles beneath me, her breath sharp against my lips, her pulse wild under my palm where I hold her pinned against the cold, ancient wall of the sanctuary. She fights me, not to escape, but to feel something other than pain. And damn it, I give it to her, pressing into her, branding her with every stroke of my lips, every scrape of my fangs, every growl vibrating in my chest.

Her fingers curl into my shoulders, nails digging deep, but I don’t stop. Won’t stop. She needs to forget.

Forget Amelia’s betrayal.

Forget that the people she trusted have used her as a pawn, just as mine have used me.

I swallow her anger, coax her to give me more, to let go of the agony and fury burning in her. I take everything, my tongue sliding against hers, my claws tightening their grip, my body pressing harder, until her desperation is a palpable thing, her every breath a surrender to this moment.

A sharp, grating cough from the entrance slams us back to reality.

I tear away with a savage snarl, my body still primed for more, my need a searing ache that only she could sate.

One of my soldiers stands at the entrance, looking thoroughly uncomfortable yet smug at the same time. “Uh—hate to interrupt whatever… that was,” he says, shifting on his feet. “But you’re going to want to see this. The purna inside is awake.”

Eryss pushes me off with more strength than necessary, her chest heaving, her lips swollen from my kiss, her eyes burning with something unreadable. She doesn’t look at me as she storms past, but her body is still shaking.

From rage. From want. From something neither of us dares name.

I wipe my mouth with my palm, exhaling roughly before following her into the sanctuary’s inner chamber.

Catalina sits propped against a bundle of furs, her skin ghostly pale, her expression pinched with pain. Her hands tremble in her lap, and when she looks up and sees Eryss, her lips part in a sharp breath. “Eryss,” she whispers, her voice raw.

Eryss moves toward her, but I block her path, my arm snapping out to halt her advance. “Stay back.”

She glares at me. “Move.”

“No.”

Catalina’s magic nearly got Eryss killed. I don’t trust her, not after what happened on the cliff, and certainly not after Amelia’s betrayal.

Catalina’s gaze flicks between us. Then, slowly, she exhales. “I understand why you’re wary, Naranus. But I swear on my blood, I was not in control. Amelia… she—” Her voice breaks, and her fingers clench around the blankets draped over her lap. “She did something to me. To my mind. And I let her.” She closes her eyes, agony flickering across her face. “I should have known. I should have fought harder.”

Eryss hesitates, and I watch her, see the way her face twists in conflicting emotions. She wants to believe Catalina.

I don’t.

She shifts on her feet, looking between us. “How did you find out?”

“When I saw you fall,” Catalina murmurs. “Something… snapped in my head.” Her voice is quiet, haunted. “I realized he has been trying to control me subtly in my head, guiding my thoughts. I knew then and there, she’s a traitor. She and I fought after that, but she was stronger. She’s been practicing forbidden magic, magic no Purna should ever wield.”

“She’s always been ambitious,” Eryss mutters, shaking her head. “I should have seen it.”

Catalina’s jaw tightens. “She’s beyond ambition now. She wants to be the next matriarch. And she wanted you out of the way.”

Eryss sways as if struck.

I step closer to her, ready to steady her if she falters, but she squares her shoulders, refusing to show weakness.

My little bride. My stubborn, reckless warrior.

Catalina shifts, looking straight at me, her dark eyes unreadable. “I owe you a debt,” she says. “For saving her.”

I narrow my gaze. “I didn’t do it for you.”

“No,” she agrees, bowing her head slightly. “But you did it. And for that, I thank you.”

Eryss’ lips part slightly, as if she wasn’t expecting Catalina to submit, even in gratitude.

I say nothing.

I don't trust her. But I’ll let Eryss believe what she wants for now.

“There’s something else,” Catalina says after a moment, exhaling slowly. “I may be able to unbind some of your magic.”

Eryss straightens. “What?”

“It won’t be permanent,” Catalina clarifies. “It’ll be unstable and fleeting, but it’ll help for now.”

Eryss lets out a shaky breath. “Then do it.”

Catalina hesitates, and then—she meets my gaze. “But you must understand something, Eryss. The only way to completely unbind your magic—” she swallows “—is to finish your mission.”

Silence blankets the room, thick and suffocating.

Eryss goes still beside me, her hands curling into fists. Her lips part as if she’s about to speak but no words come out.

Catalina holds her gaze, unflinching. “You have to kill him.”

Eryss flinches. As if the words physically cut her.

Slowly, my eyes slide to her. My beautiful, conflicted, dangerous little bride.

So it’s come to this.

It was always going to come to this.

I smirk. “Is that all?”

Eryss looks up at me, and there’s something shattered in her expression, something raw.

She doesn’t say a word.

We both know the truth.

She doesn’t want to kill me anymore.

Yet if she doesn’t, she’ll never be free.

I chuckle, the sound bitter, empty, hollow. I turn on my heel and stride away before she can see what’s cracking inside me. Before she can see the fractures running through my chest, through my mind, through my very soul.

I don’t go far.

Just enough to be out of sight.

Just enough to clutch my chest and feel the way my body splinters from the inside out.

My time is already running out.

Magic flickers along my skin, the fractures in my body pulsing with an unholy glow. Every day, the corruption spreads, tightening its grip on my bones, my blood, my very essence.

This is inevitable.

I’ll die.

Either by the curse eating me from within.

Or by her hand.

And if I must die… then let it be by her.

Let it be the one thing I give her, the one thing I offer without taking anything in return.

Let my death give her what she needs.

Let it give her power. Let it make her free.

I’d rather she kill me with her own hands than let another take her away from me.

I exhale, closing my eyes.

Damn it all.

I never wanted to care. Never wanted to feel this, this consuming need to exist in her presence, to breathe her, to fight for her.

But it’s too late.

When the time comes, I’ll let her drive the dagger into my heart.