Chapter 19
DARIAN
“King Draeven has found a way to walk in sunlight.”
Vespera was furious, though you’d never know it.
Not a flicker of emotion cracked her mask.
She stood at the front of the room like a shadow, power rolling off her in quiet waves.
Her gown was midnight-black velvet, flowing like liquid darkness, threaded with shimmering starlight that caught the light when she moved.
Silver embroidery coiled along her sleeves.
Around her throat sat her signature piece, a high-necked collar of woven silver, from which hung a deep red gemstone encased in clawed metal. The stone pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat. It held power, but not a lot.
Atop her head sat a crown from darkened gold, its sharp, elegant points curling like thorns.
Deep crimson and obsidian jewels—cut into cruel, jagged shapes—were embedded along the rim, glinting like drops of blood against shadow.
It didn’t sparkle. It shimmered with menace, a silent warning that she ruled not with grace but by power.
Everything came down to power with these fuckers.
Her narrowed eyes swept the room, unreadable, but they kept returning to me.
You could feel the tension and anger coming off the High Coven rulers and all of us, knowing the vampire King who had started the Ashen war from hurting and experimenting on witches was making a move again.
He's been in hiding for hundreds of years, but now he's back again, this time not only for the witches but also for other mythical and magical beings. It made my body tremble in rage.
My mind drifted back to Freckles, the nickname I’d given her years ago when she was just a friend. Funny how things never change; even now, she refuses to tell us her real name, just like back then.
It pissed me off. How dare she come back and make the people I love like her.
Kill her.
I dug my fingers into the leather of my gloves, ignoring the whisper, the thought of tearing her apart. I hate that I only ever felt like this with her.
“He is looking for something, and we think that the very thing he’s looking for is in Velmore. They are connected to the woman with great power we keep seeing in our dreams.” Birch said, voice calm but certain.
Without missing a beat, he took a bite of his doughnut, powdered sugar dusting the deep green sleeve of his robes.
“Tonight, I want every home in Velmore torn apart,” Vespera said, tone smooth and commanding. “Begin with the Hollowborn quarter; they’re always the first to rot when secrets fester.”
She stood tall before us, her hand resting atop Nyx, the creepy black shadow panther who was sprawled across the table, his three unblinking eyes sweeping over us like it was judging our reactions or trying to look in the hidden depths of our souls for deception.
“If they don’t let you in,” she continued, stroking along its black fur. “You break the door down. You search every inch—under the floorboards, behind walls, everywhere. Leave nothing untouched.”
She looked over us, her sharp nails silently tapping a slow rhythm against Nyx’s head.
“It will take all of you to sweep Velmore clean. Anyone who refuses? Take them in. Question them until there’s nothing left to ask. And make sure you check every last one of them for the mark. Strip them bare if you have to.”
The mark that shows if you’re a registered witch.
Her gaze stopped at Kieran, who was currently sitting next to me, his knee bouncing up and down, hands in pockets, stabbing himself with a blade over and over to ignore the alcohol cravings.
“Vale will be with you for every interrogation.”
I saw him tense, so did Ronan. They hated her, hated what she made us do. We didn’t mind killing vampires; they were scum, but we wanted to protect this realm. She made us monsters, made everyone afraid of us.
“And if anybody steps out of line, refuses to cooperate during interrogation or makes a fuss when you take people in,” she cruelly smirked. “Kill every single one of them.”
Not a surprise, but by the looks of the others and the shock on their faces, they certainly were.
I could feel my pulse in my neck quickening, grinding my teeth together. She wants us to kill innocents, and that’s not what any of us signed up for, well, most. There are a few pricks who think the sun shines out of Vesperas's ass and will do whatever she asks without a second thought.
“Darian, did you and the others find anything in the woods?” She asked, her attention on me even more than before, so was Nyxs. I avoided its third eye, noticing Ronan tensing up, and I wondered if this had anything to do with her.
I should tell Vespera. it would get her out of my life for good. Although I risk hurting Ronan, one of my best friends.
So instead, I lie. “Nothing to report, the woods were clear all night.”
Ronan’s shoulders dropped like he had been holding his breath. Idiot. I didn’t look at him—couldn’t afford to—but I felt the shift and Vespera might have too. I kept my stance rigid, my face neutral, not a flicker of emotion.
She was quiet. Watching.
Then, after a beat too long, she gave me the smallest nod.
Ronan really needs to deal with his emotions around the two of them, even if he can block his mind, that won’t stop her from trying to break it if they ever suspect he’s hiding someone.
“I won’t kill innocents.” A voice cut through the room, and I didn’t need to turn to know who it was—but I did anyway, just to confirm.
Drake.
He stood near the back, shoulders square, eyes hard.
Always the bleeding heart. The guy was one of the good ones.
He had a little sister, barely ten, whose parents were slaughtered by vampires during the last time they managed to get into our borders and killed a large number of us, including my parents.
Short, bright blonde hair like a fucking spotlight in a room of shadows. Tattoos curling down his neck, a silver ring through his nose. The kind of face girls liked—too pretty for someone in this line of work, like Ronan.
Vespera stared at him, Nyx letting out a low growl as he stood from his lying position.
“Are you refusing an order?” She asked simply, and I knew what was going to happen.
Fuck.
He took a step forward, “Yes, your majesty. You can’t expect us to kill an innocent; that’s not what we do. I won’t do it; you can go to hell.” He spat; his whole body went rigid.
I went still, holding my breath.
He was clawing at his throat, blood pouring from every opening—nose, mouth, ears, even his eyes. Thick rivulets, painting him in crimson grief as he dropped to his knees, choking on screams that couldn’t make it past the invisible grip crushing his lungs.
Vespera didn’t need to touch you to end you.
She moved with lethal grace, her gown whispering across the tiled floor, her gaze fixed on Drake as if he were already a corpse she had grown bored with.
This wasn’t just a killing; it was a message.
Her magic slipped beneath skin like smoke, and you could feel it, well, I could.
I could feel it, the pull of her dark power—ancient, merciless.
She was flaying him from the inside, carving invisible blades through every organ.
And worse, she was in his head, digging up his worst fears and memories.
Judging by the sheer terror in his eyes, she’d found his breaking point.
Probably memories of the night his parents died, showing him all the ways she would kill his little sister. She was forcing him to relive it—every scream, every ounce of helplessness—trapping him in his own mind while his body failed.
She leaned in, a cruel smile playing on her lips as she watched him die. Then, without warning, her fingers shot into his mouth, sinking into his tongue like it was nothing more than flesh. With a sickening rip, she tore it free. Blood splattered across her chest, but she didn’t even blink.
She enjoyed it.
His body thrashed, but it was useless. More blood poured from his mouth in heavy ropes, pooling around him. His gurgling screams turned into silence before he collapsed, limbs twitching, blood still trickling out.
Fuck me.
Nobody moved. Neither did I.
I could feel something dark inside me uncoil. Something feral deeply buried stirred at the sight, at the amount of power that was used. Not in fear, but recognition.
And that terrified me, but I also enjoyed it.
“Does anyone else have anything to say?” she asked, eyes zeroing in on the tongue clenched in her hand.
Nobody spoke, not even the High Coven. Birch looked like he was ready to hurl everywhere.
“Good. Now rest whilst you can. When the realm sleeps, we move. No mercy, no hesitation. Tear apart everything until this mystery woman is found and bring her to me. Tonight, we start when they least expect it.”
Ronan’s hands clenched so tightly his knuckles went white, jaw ticking as he stared down at the table like it was the only thing keeping him grounded.
I didn’t blame him. He was worried.
Vespera was the devil dressed in a pretty dress. Her presence was suffocating. There wasn’t a trace of mercy in her—no softness to her, no glimmer of anything human. She was cruel. She thrived on fear, wore it like a fucking crown. Being hated didn’t bother her, but being feared? She relished it.
A nightmare carved into the shape of a queen.