Chapter 4 Bronwen
Bronwen
He woke slowly, his eyelids fluttering like a bird struggling against the wind. His chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths. Sweat beaded along his forehead, darkening his hair at the temples. It took far longer than I expected for him to open his eyes—too long.
And part of me hated that I’d worried about him.
He was alive. Or whatever a vampire’s version of alive was. But the way he slumped in the chair, the lines of strain etched across his face, made me wonder just how close Adar’s blade had come to truly ending him. My stomach twisted.
The spelled chains clinked softly as he stirred, his wrists and ankles bound to the chair. We’d reinforced them just as Papa had done for every vampire he caught. Nothing too aggressive, but enough to keep him from tearing us apart the second he woke.
Because I knew August’s strength. And his temper.
I glanced at Adar, who stood near the door, arms crossed over his chest, eyes fixed on August like he expected him to break free at any moment. There was tension in his shoulders—wary and waiting. But there was satisfaction, too. His fingers traced the dagger’s hilt, itching to use it again.
“What did you stab him with?” I asked warily. Adar’s methods were often… thorough.
“Something Jonah brewed,” he replied, his tone clipped. “Works well enough on humans. Makes them spill their secrets like wine over a cracked glass.”
“But he’s not human.”
“No. But it will work.”
I swallowed, my gaze returning to August. His head lolled forward before jerking up, his eyes flickering open at last. They looked different. Still red like they were when he seemed to lose control over himself, but also glassy and unfocused. As if he were struggling to recognize where he was.
“What…?” His voice was rough, shredded from the sound that was a mix of a laugh and a scream I’d heard before he went under.
His gaze snapped between me and Adar, the tension in his body growing even as the chains held him tight.
A shudder ran through him, the kind that rippled beneath his skin like it hurt to breathe.
The drug was supposed to make him tell the truth.
That was what Adar claimed. But it had been made for humans, not vampires.
And part of me wondered if we’d just poisoned him instead.
It was usually given orally because humans are much easier to force to take it, but with August’s strength, we knew we had to do it a different way.
A sound tore from August’s throat. Not a groan, not a snarl—laughter. Broken and wild. His head tipped back, the spelled chains rattling as his shoulders shook.
“Is this it?” he choked between laughs. “This is your plan, Winnie? Tie me down and dose me like some lowly prisoner? I expected something… cleverer-er? No, that’s not right. Cleverer! Cunning. But this?” Another round of laughter spilled out, breathless and sharp.
The sound of it settled something inside me. It was familiar, even if it was maddening. Proof that he was still himself and not hollowed out. Definitely drugged. But still himself. Actually, more like the August I knew before I killed Carrow. I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
But when I glanced at Adar, his expression was different. Uneasy. The way his fingers tightened around the dagger at his side told me he was closer to lunging at August than laughing along. His lips curled in disgust.
Had I really grown so used to August’s madness? The realization tightened something in my chest. Maybe I was blind to what he was. Or worse—what I’d let myself accept.
Still, I couldn’t help but stare at him. The man who laughed while in chains. The man who, even now, seemed untouchable.
“Or is this your way of telling me a regular fuck just doesn’t do it for you anymore?” August sneered, his eyes locking onto mine with a hunger that made my stomach twist. “Chains I can get on board with, but your brother watching? That might take some getting used to.”
“Enough!” Adar pushed himself off of the wall and barreled toward August. Before I could stop him, he held the dagger against his throat, pushing hard enough that blood tainted the silver blade.
“We are here for the truth,” Adar spat. “If you can’t give me that, I’ll take great pride in killing you.”
The look in August’s eyes shifted, fury coiling behind them. His muscles strained against the spelled chains, the sound of metal creaking as if it might give way. He leaned forward, pushing the dagger in more.
“Let me go and I’ll show you exactly what the truth looks like,” August snarled. “Or are you too much of a coward to face me without hiding behind your little spells and daggers?”
“Stop,” I said quickly, stepping between them before Adar could drive the blade any deeper. “How is this going to work?”
Adar’s eyes flicked to me, his jaw clenched so tightly I thought his teeth might crack. “He won’t be able to lie or stay silent. The truth will come out whether he wants it to or not.”
“But he’s a vampire. It could be different. It could be—” I stumbled over the words, the urgency making my voice crack.
“It will work,” Adar snapped. “It has to.”
August smirked, the darkness in his eyes glittering with amusement. “Why don’t you find out?” he challenged. “Ask your questions, Winnie. Let’s see if your precious truth serum holds up.”
I took a breath, trying to calm myself. This had to work.
“What’s your name?” Why did I choose that?
His lips curved into a smirk.
“Augustus Andra Vael.” August’s voice was steady, his gaze unwavering. “Prince—well, no, the Joveryn King now, thanks to you. I mean, if you wanted title, too.”
Chills ran down my spine. August. The Joveryn King.
“Did I kill your father?” I pressed, forcing myself to remain calm.
“You destroyed his body, but he’s been gone for much longer than that.”
I scrunched my eyebrows. What does that even mean?
“Did I kill Carrow?”
“I guess for a little while you killed him, but he will be back.”
This wasn’t working. He was the same infuriating August that loved to confuse me.
“Is your father Carrow?”
“No.”
I threw my hands up and walked away, pacing to keep myself from screaming. “Nothing you say makes sense. Make sense, August! Please!” I said, the desperation bleeding through.
Something came across his face. Like the August I had grown so used to, but it left just as fast as it came.
“Carrow came to Joveryn in his fae body, but he couldn’t reverse the age his body had endured, so he needed a host body to inhabit.
He went to the Joveryn King spewing his charismatic, magical charm—tales of strength, speed, and immortality.
He left out the part where the king’s body would be immortal but his soul would be lost when the spell was completed. And Carrow took over his body.”
I watched him closely, trying to read the truth in his expression. His shoulders slumped against the chains, but his words were deliberate, precise.
“But I destroyed his body.”
August shook his head. “Carrow is smart. He knew there were always loopholes, just like how he lost immortality the first time. So he found a way to jump to new bodies. His newfound immortality was tied to the original king’s bloodline so he couldn’t jump into other bodies—only his descendants.
He just didn’t know his weakness until he lit a match too close to his body and it set him aflame. ”
Adar’s gaze flickered toward me, his jaw clenched. I could see the skepticism in his eyes.
August continued, his eyes never leaving mine.
“I didn’t know the entire story at first. Everyone is so secretive.
That’s why I had you find Carrow’s journal.
He had always written everything down, and I thought if I could find the one from when the spell happened, it would give me answers.
I was trying to find a way to truly kill him so this wouldn’t happen to me.
I could have had centuries to figure it out, but you cut that short.
So now I am in a race to find a way to stop it before the next Blood Moon. And you are going to help me.”
“Why would I help you?” I asked as my hands trembled at my sides.
“Who do you think he is going to come after first?”
A shudder ran down my spine, my breath catching. August’s eyes gleamed, sensing my fear. Adar shifted beside me, his presence a rigid wall of fury and protectiveness.
“I could just kill you now before Carrow is in your body,” I snapped, more to hear myself speak than anything else.
August’s smirk widened. “Then do it.”
I stood still, seeing the test in his eyes. “If I did, would it stop Carrow?”
“No. I am his first option, but not his only one.”
If he had to be in the king’s bloodline, did that mean—
“You have siblings?”
He made a face at that word. “Yes. So kill me if you want, but that won’t stop Carrow from coming after you in a few months.”
A few months.
Twelve weeks to find answers.
Twelve weeks until the Blood Moon rose again and Carrow came back to finish what he started.
Adar’s fingers dug into my arm, pulling me back from August. “We can run. You don’t need to do this.”
I nodded, though leaving the only place I’d ever known felt like breaking the last intact piece of my heart. There was nothing left for us here; the coven would be safer without us anyway.
“If you help me stop Carrow, witches will be free to practice.”
I stopped breathing. The words struck me harder than any blade. The room felt smaller, the air thinning.
“What?” Adar trembled with disbelief.
“No more persecution,” August continued, eyes locked on me as if my brother didn’t exist. “Witches will be safe, and if anyone tries to harm them, they will be going against the crown. And they will be dealt with.”
“No, B. It’s not worth—”
“Okay.” The word slipped from my lips before I could stop it. My chest tightened, my pulse a wild, frenzied beat.
“Bronwen! Have you lost your mind?” Adar shouted, his eyes wide and furious.