Chapter 5 Adar
Adar
She said yes.
Not to escape. Not even to buy us time. She said yes like it was the only option left. And I couldn’t breathe.
I stood there, frozen in place, watching my sister agree to marry a monster. My fists clenched so tightly my nails dug half-moons into my palms. I didn’t even feel it. I was too focused on her voice—steady, resolute, and completely wrong.
What the hell is she thinking?
My heart hammered behind my ribs, each beat like a warning I couldn’t ignore. The way August looked at her made my skin crawl. Not with lust, not with rage—something else. Something darker. Like he owned her already. Like he had since the moment she stepped into his world.
She thought this was what Papa would’ve wanted. That sacrificing herself was worth protecting the coven.
But Papa wouldn’t have asked this of her.
He would have fought tooth and nail to keep her free. To keep her safe.
I turned away before I said something I couldn’t take back. I couldn’t look at her right now, not when every part of me wanted to rip August apart and drag Bronwen out of here.
But she’d made her choice.
And the worst part? I could see why. The promise of safety. Freedom for witches. No more hiding. No more fear. It was everything we’d ever wanted.
And now it came with a price.
Her.
I forced a breath through my teeth and stared at the wall, at anything that wasn’t the chains or the vampire grinning behind them. If this was the deal she was making, then I was going to make damn sure she survived it.
Even if it killed me.
“I’m coming with you,” I said, turning to face them both. I was barely holding it together. “To the castle. I’ll live there too.”
Bronwen looked at me, her brows pulling together in silent protest, but it was August who responded first.
He tilted his head slightly, that ever-present smugness tugging at the corner of his mouth. “That won’t work.”
“Why not?” I snapped. “She’s my sister. I’m not leaving her there alone.”
August’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Because that’s where most of the vampires live. Hundreds of them. I will have my hands full keeping them in line as it is. I can’t protect both of you.”
He said it like it was a kindness. Like he was doing me a favor.
My jaw tightened. “Then don’t. I’ll protect myself.”
“Adar—” Bronwen pleaded.
“No,” I said. “If this is happening, then I’m staying close. You don’t get to shut me out again.”
Bronwen stepped closer, her eyes wide. “Adar, listen to me—you can’t be there. You need to be with the coven. They need a leader now more than ever.”
I blinked at her, stunned. “Why do you even care about the coven?” I asked, the bitterness slipping out before I could stop it. “You’ve spent your whole life hating them! Hating how they treated us.”
Her jaw clenched. “Because it’s what Papa would have wanted,” she said, her voice cracking at the edges. “He spent his life trying to keep them safe. Trying to keep us safe. If I can do that now—if we can give them a future without fear—then I won’t turn my back on that. Not now.”
I stayed quiet, the silence stretching. There was so much I wanted to say, so much I didn’t know how to. I saw the guilt she had for what happened to them, and I knew there was nothing I could say to help her. She was going to drown in her own guilt if she didn’t find a way to honor Papa and Mama.
Bronwen shifted closer. “You can move into town. It’ll be safer, and closer. We can meet for breakfast every morning. You won’t be far.”
“Every morning won’t work. Weekly—maybe.”
She glanced at August. I waited for her to argue, but instead she nodded. She fucking agreed with him. I had never seen her so submissive with someone.
“Weekly breakfast.” She leaned in to whisper as if he still couldn’t hear everything she said, “unless I can sneak away more.”
Her words tugged at something inside me—something fragile and tired. I didn’t want to let her go. But I knew where she was going wasn’t just some grand hall with velvet curtains and royal guards. The castle wasn’t just a building. It was a prison filled with bloodthirsty monsters.
I saw it written all over her: she was scared. But she was still walking in anyway. Because she thought it was the only way forward.
And gods help me, I wanted to scream. To beg. To fight her on this. But I didn’t.
Because the truth was, Papa would’ve seen it too. The logic behind it. The sacrifice. The strength it took to offer yourself up like that.
So instead, I nodded.
“You won’t be far,” she said again. “It’ll be different now.”
A pointed cough cut through the fragile quiet. August shifted in his chair, the chains binding him rattling faintly. “Now that we’ve all had our heartfelt little moment, can someone take these off?”
I turned to him slowly, jaw tight. He looked too calm. Like he hadn’t just sat here and dismantled everything we believed in. Like he wasn’t enjoying every second of this.
But Bronwen’s gaze was already on him.
There was something in the way she looked at him now—not affection, not exactly. But familiarity. Like she’d accepted something about him I couldn’t. Maybe didn’t want to.
My stomach twisted.
Bronwen reached out and grabbed the chains, pulling the magic out of them. They unclasped one by one and fell to the floor with a dull clatter. August rose slowly, flexing his fingers and rubbing at his wrists, the skin there slightly raw.
“That stuff is good.” He stretched, neck rolling with a few satisfying cracks before flashing a crooked grin. “Other than the truth part, it made me feel better than wine ever has.”
How was he so casual? Last night, he was no different from any other vampire. Rage consumed him. And yet now, he acted as if he didn’t have a care in the world. As if there wasn’t a good chance that he would be dead in a matter of months.
Bronwen glanced at him again, seeming to notice the same thing I did.
“Well,” he said, casually dusting off his shoulders, “our ride is here.”
I frowned. “What—”
The door burst open with a bang, cold wind whipping into the room. I spun, hands instinctively going to the hilt of my dagger. Four vampires stormed inside, their red eyes immediately locking on August, then snapping to Bronwen and me.
“He’s not safe,” one of them growled.
They lunged before anyone could speak. One went straight for Bronwen, another closing in on me.
I didn’t hesitate. Dropping my blade, I grabbed the vampire and incapacitated him before pulling a wooden stake from my side and driving it into his heart. Bronwen’s flames roared to life, engulfing her attacker in a searing burst of fire. The vampire shrieked and collapsed.
“Enough!” August’s voice cracked through the air like a whip.
The remaining vampires froze mid-lunge, their fangs bared, eyes flicking nervously between us and August’s furious expression.
August’s eyes burned with fury. He was different now—commanding. Like a switch had flipped, and I realized I barely knew anything about the monster that my sister was leaving with. He was far more dangerous.
“She is your future queen.”
They looked at each other in confusion.
August smiled. “Bow.”
Without objection, they lowered themselves and bowed before Bronwen.
But the part that worried me the most was the spark in Bronwen’s eyes. The same look that burst to life when she pulled magic, bested me in a sword fight, or left a rude person speechless. She’d always craved power in any form that she could get.
And this was something completely in itself.
August’s demeanor shifted once again, back way too casual. “Are you ready to go?”
“Now?” I asked.
She had just agreed. I had barely had time to be with her.
“We’re on a deadline. The sooner, the better.”
Bronwen came to me and hugged me. Something she didn’t do often.
“B—”
“I won’t let him in this time.” I saw it in her eyes this time. The rage behind the submission. She may have agreed, but she was fucking pissed. Good. “But I have to finish this. For Papa.”
August looked at me. “As soon as we wed, I will make the decree. Until then, I suggest you keep to yourself. I don’t think the Legion would be gentle if they see a traitor walking through town.”
I tensed. The Legion that I had given years of my life to wouldn’t hesitate to kill me now.
A vampire glanced at August before taking an uneasy step toward Bronwen. She matched his step, keeping distance between them and raised her arms in defense.
The vampire bowed his head. “My—my lady.”
“My queen.”
He glanced at August again, but I could see the rage and the humiliation written all over the vampire’s face. “My queen, I am only trying to escort you out.”
“I do not need you touching me.”
He nodded and gestured to the door.
Bronwen placed her hand on my arm. “I’ll see you soon.”
I didn’t know if she said that more to convince herself or me.
“Actually.” August turned to the vampire and plunged his hand into his chest. “I don’t want anyone to know she’s a witch.” He pulled his hand out along with the heart of the vampire.
The other hesitated, torn between fear and duty, his eyes flicking from August’s bloody hand to the open doorway. Then he turned to run.
August blurred forward, so fast I didn’t even see his hand move. One second, the stake was clenched in my grip, and then it wasn’t.
I turned, confused, just in time to see it already embedded in the vampire’s chest. The creature looked down, stunned, as blood poured over his hands.
Only then did I realize August had taken it from me. Not just taken it—calculated it. Measured the distance. The angle. The moment.
He hadn’t hesitated. Not for a second. He killed them to protect her secret, and he did it with terrifying precision.
He was going to protect her—of that, I was certain now. But gods help us, I wasn’t sure what that protection would cost. The vampire collapsed, crumpling to the floor.
August straightened slowly, wiping his bloody fingers on his coat as if it were a napkin. As if none of it mattered.
Then he gestured to the door. “Let’s go.”