Page 47

“No,” I said, my voice quiet but firm. “You hurt me. Love isn’t a twisted game where I’m the prize for a broken bargain.”

His brow raised. “So, this is it? You choose him over me?”

“There was never a choice,” I said. “You stripped the other option away. You forced me to stand there. To hear that .”

Damien shifted closer. “Someone in the crowd knows where your mother is. I heard her name. I can take you to her, Severyn. You deserve to know the truth about her, about your real father.”

“You expect me to trust you after everything?”

Archer stepped between us, his grip tightening on my arm. “No. You’ve played your game. You really think she’ll believe a word that comes out of your mouth?”

Damien raised his hands in mock surrender. “Then bond with me. Strengthen the connection so you can hear my thoughts.”

Archer’s expression darkened. “Strengthen the bond ?” His voice cracked like a whip. “What did you do?” He lunged, seizing Damien by the throat. “I swear to the gods, if you touched her I’ll kill you.”

Damien choked, shoving back. “Go ahead. Kill me. Let’s see how that ends when Father’s allies come for you. You’ve got no shield. No dragon.” He bared his teeth. “I won.”

“Archer.” I touched his shoulder, gently. “Let him go. ”

Reluctantly, Archer released him. Damien dropped to his knees, one hand pressed into the sand as he caught his breath.

“She wants answers,” he rasped. “Her mother is the only one who can give them. Andri knew the truth when he agreed to the marriage bargain. He knew she wasn’t his. That’s all he knew.”

I hesitated, the weight of it all clawing through me. “A ward,” I said at last. “Just that.”

Archer turned toward me, pain written across his face. “No. His quell is dangerous, Sev. We don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“I need to know, Archer. And I can’t exactly summon my mother with a whisper.”

Damien smirked. “I don’t bite, Sev.”

I wanted to bond with him for two reasons now.

First, to find my mother. Second, to hear a single, unfiltered thought from his mind.

Damien had tiptoed the edge of our friendship until the rope frayed.

There was no pulling it back. And if he truly believed I’d never forgive him, I needed to know why.

I stepped forward and raised my shaded palm. “A ward. That’s it. One I can break if I need to. But I want your shields down.”

He nodded and slid his fingers through mine. “A simple ward.”

Dust stirred around our boots as our relics met. A soft shimmer pulsed between us, faint and colorless. His eyes glowed with a pale, ashen light.

His voice echoed in my mind once again. “She loves him. She loves him.”

I staggered back, fist tightening around my gown. “Very well. Now tell me what you heard my mother say.”

“Bonds work both ways, Sev. Yours seems... strained.”

“You had your chance,” I said coldly. “I’d rather bleed ash than let you hear my thoughts again. ”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re dramatic. Your mother was here. Find her voice.”

Archer stepped forward, fists clenched, but I brushed his arm. “Don’t,” I said, lifting my chin. “Can you track her voice?”

“It’s similar to yours. I could share what I hear. Maybe you’ll recognize it.” He glanced at Archer. “You don’t mind, right? Letting Severyn listen? Not like you ever let her hear what you truly think.”

Archer crossed his arms, jaw clenched. “I care. I fucking care. Hurt her, and I will end you.”

“Just do it,” I snapped. “She’s probably already gone.”

Damien stepped closer, but before he could speak, a hundred voices screamed at once. The sound tore through my skull. I stumbled back, gasping as the air was ripped from my lungs. “Close it,” I choked out, clutching my head. “Please, close it.”

“This is what I hear,” Damien said calmly. “Always. This is my mind.”

“It’s too much,” I whispered.

“No. Find her voice. She’s in here.”

So I reached again, letting myself sink into the whirlwind of noise.

“…A muddled bloodline. Never knew her father. Shameful…”

“…Poor girl. She looks so frightened…”

“…I warned Andrias about that woman. Nothing but a scavenger chasing a legacy…”

Then I heard Victor’s.

“Damien deserved better. It’s my fault. All of it. I should’ve known Fallon would spite me the moment she offered that marriage.”

“She’s here,” Damien urged. “Keep going.”

The voices swelled again, louder and sharper until my skull throbbed. “She’s not here,” I gasped. “I can’t find her. ”

Archer touched my shoulder. “You’ve put her through enough.”

Damien flinched. “She has a voice, you know.”

I raised a hand, silencing Archer without looking at him. “Let me try again.”

I inhaled and pushed deeper, past the noise and bitterness, searching for something softer and familiar.

Then, through the scatter of voices, I found hers. “She looked stunning.” Three words. Only three, but they cracked something inside me.

I opened my eyes. “That one. That was her.”

Damien blinked, grounding himself. “She’s near the Iron Wastes, where Verdonia ends. She’s been gone for weeks, but she’s alone now. If we don’t go soon, we’ll lose her.”

“The edge?” Archer asked. “We have no protection out there.”

Damien turned to him, gaze sharp. “You have no protection. No dragon. No quell. Best you stay behind.”

“I’m not leaving her,” Archer snapped, stepping between us. “Not with you.”

“We’re safer together,” I said.

Damien shrugged. “Fine.”

“I’ll portal us.” I turned to Archer, lifting my hand.

Archer placed a steady hand on my shoulder. “You should rest, Severyn. Change first.”

“I want out of this damn country,” I snapped, sharper than I intended. “And I made sure this dress was short enough to run in.”

He paused. “If your mother’s working with the Forgotten... this could be deadly. Are you sure?”

“This is half of me, Archer. I need to know. If I don’t find her now, I might never know who my real father is. ”

His gaze searched mine, doubt flickering behind the concern. “And if it’s worse than you think?”

“Then I’ll face it.” My voice sounded steadier than I felt. “At least I’ll know who I am.”

And suddenly, it all made sense. Why no griffin ever called to me. Why I failed Winter initiation. Why the cold always cut too deep.

Father knew. He knew , and still sent me to that academy, knowing I’d never claim his title.

Archer’s brow furrowed as he faced me. “You’ll need to picture the western edge where Malvoria meets the cliffs. But not inside Malvoria. Just beyond it. You have to be precise.”

“So… the outskirts?” I asked, already trying to summon the memory when Sabitha dropped me off.

He nodded. “Ash remembers where it’s been. If your flame touched that land before, it’ll take us there. That imprint is the only way to portal without dropping straight into a death squad.”

I slid my hands into his, grounding myself. “This doesn’t seem so difficult.”

Maybe now Veravine’s flame would guide me. Maybe it knew where I needed to be better than I did.

Ash coiled at our feet. Heat flared up my arms, the air thick with ember and scorched earth. Then the pain struck, sharp and jarring, as if the portal were carving something open inside of me.

It wasn’t just asking where we wanted to go. It was asking why.

We landed hard on barren soil. My knees buckled, the impact jarring as the ground cracked beneath our boots. The air was thick with soot and heat. In the distance, barely visible through the shimmer and smoke, loomed the Malvoria Institute.

“Are you okay?” Archer asked.

“I’m fine,” I said, but my eyes were fixed on the ground .

When I finally looked up, he was still watching me. Soot streaked his face, jaw clenched like the guilt might split him open. “I should’ve stopped it,” he said quietly. “I let you almost marry him.”

“Then let me hate you for it,” I whispered. My fingers curled around his collar. Then I kissed him before I could talk myself out of it.

His hands gripped my waist like he was afraid I’d vanish. “I missed you,” he breathed against my mouth. “No more distance. I don’t care what it costs. We stay together.”

I pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes. “Yes,” I whispered. “No more distance.”

His knuckle traced under my chin, slow and reverent. “When we get home,” he murmured, “I’m tearing this dress off with my teeth.”

A voice cut through the haze. “Are you two done?” Damien asked.

Archer immediately stepped in front of me. “Absolutely not. She’s mine.”

Damien smirked, tilting his head in mock amusement. “Ooh. Big brother’s got bite. So protective. So possessive.” But his eyes told a different story. His eyes said war.

“Being this close to Malvoria must feel strange, Severyn,” he continued. “The panic I heard in your mind was… devastating.”

“I got out,” I said

We walked in silence, each step carrying us farther from the institute, from the weight of everything we’d left behind.

A beat later, Damien spoke through our bond. “Did you tell him about that barter with Rok?”

I had blissfully forgotten about the deal I’d made with Rok to keep my heirship quiet. And now, with no plan to get those shadows back, the longer I kept this secret, the harder it would be to explain to Archer.

“We should settle in for the night,” I muttered. Truthfully, I was exhausted. I didn’t want to argue, didn’t want to think. I just wanted to sit.

“We’ve been walking for five minutes,” Damien said dryly. “At this rate, it’ll take us days to reach the edge.”

I ignored him.

“Any guesses on who my father is?” I asked, too casually to be harmless, as I arranged a few stones in a loose circle and coaxed a flame to life.

Archer couldn’t read my thoughts anymore, but somehow, he still said the name I’d been thinking.

“Lynwood. It makes sense. He knew your mother.”

Damien let out a short, cutting laugh. “Lynwood? The front desk clerk at the Ravensla Inn?”

“He’s the only one who fits,” I said, flexing my fingers over the rising heat. “They were childhood friends.”

And just like that, I was Damien’s favorite mystery again.

“At the Bid,” he said, “your father claimed you had Serpents on both sides. He knew. That means your father had to be one.”

Archer rubbed at his temple. “Could’ve been anyone. Serpents host gatherings every season. Maybe your mother had... one night with someone powerful.”

Damien’s smile turned venomous. “Why don’t you tell Severyn what really happens at those gatherings? How many women threw themselves at you in a moment of weakness?”

“Damien, stop.” I flicked an ember at his boot. “I get it. Archer had a life before me. But I don’t want to talk about our damn sex lives.”

“He went to a gathering while you were in Malvoria,” Damien shot back, chin raised. “Another secret? ”

Archer’s jaw ticked. “I didn’t mention it because it doesn’t matter.”

I was ready to scorch his other boot, but Damien was the only one who’d heard my mother’s voice. The only one who might still hold answers.

“I don’t care,” I muttered.

“It was about your father’s shield, Sev,” Archer said quickly. “That’s it.”

Damien stretched his hands toward the fire, the flames casting flickering light across his face. “Our father made one thing clear. Whoever claimed his title would be bound to a daughter of the Winter Serpent. Archer knew that. And he kept it from you.”

My stomach tightened. “You knew I’d be forced to marry him?”

He exhaled, jaw tight. “Yeah, Sev. I knew. But once I was sorted into Night, I thought it didn’t matter. Not until I met Klaus.”

Tears stung my eyes, but I swallowed the ache. “You should’ve told me.”

His gaze dropped. “Nothing I say now changes what I did.”

“It would’ve been nice to know,” I said quietly.

He shifted, bracing a hand on his knee. A dagger slipped from his belt and landed in the mulch with a dull thud. “Because now that you’re my heir,” he said, voice low, “the cycle begins again. And I won’t let it.”

“What cycle?”

“I don’t want children, Severyn.” The words cracked as he said them. “Not in any realm. I won’t bring life into a world where duty demands blood. I won’t pass this down.”

My breath caught. “Since when does this involve children ? ”

“Since you became my heir. A life with me means no legacies. No heirs. I decided a long time ago if I ever took the throne, I’d never marry someone I couldn’t give everything to.”

I didn’t know if I ever wanted children. Didn’t know if I longed for a pair of emerald eyes that mirrored mine, untouched by the weight of legacy. I’d already lost a brother. Already lost pieces of myself. What was left to pass down?

Damien sank to the dirt, brushing off his sleeves before leaning back against a fallen log.

“And guess what I did instead?” he muttered. “I got to know you. We became friends. I wanted marrying me to feel as easy as breathing. Then you ran off and hooked up with my brother at your scandalous little Ravensla getaway, and it all went to shit.”

“Not that it’s any of your concern,” I said, voice tight, “but all we did was kiss.” The words barely made it pastmy exhaustion. “Might I suggest we get some sleep?”

“Silence sounds wonderful,” Archer muttered.

Damien chuckled. “Not when you’re bonded to a mind-reader. I tend to ramble in my sleep. Could get awkward.”

I curled into the crook between root and log. The makeshift bed was as unforgiving as a Serpent hostel, rigid, cold, and bruising, but at least it was something. And I hadn’t rested in days.

I was alone in a barren field with two Lynch brothers. What could possibly go wrong?