Chapter 25 #2
My chest rose and fell in jagged heaves, muscles locked so tight I felt like I’d shatter if I moved wrong. Every breath tasted like rust and razor blades, and I was one inhale away from blacking out.
Vespera's lips curled into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes—it never did. Her fingers brushed the ruby at her throat as she hummed to herself.
“Darians upstairs, waiting for me like the good little soldier he is. Loyal.” Her fingers trail along my jaw, almost tender if not for the crackle of her magic humming just beneath her touch. “Unlike you.”
She’s fucking lying.
Her eyes then flick to Kieran. “And you know what happens to traitors.” She sighs like she’s disappointed, but there’s a hint of hunger in her gaze—she wants us to resist.
“Now, tell me, who’s the girl you’re trying to protect. Don’t lie this time.”
My head's pounding like war drums, breathing is difficult, but I still manage a smirk. “You’ll have to kill me,” I rasp. “Because I’m not telling you a fucking thing.”
Then I spit—right in her face.
There is no way in a million years I will tell her anything.
The silence is razor sharp.
Kieran chokes beside me—not from pain, but from disbelief—the kind that says ‘you absolute idiot, but also…respect.’ I hear his chains rattle; he’s saying something, but I can’t quite make it out. The guards move instantly, blades drawn, but Vespera puts her hand up.
With a flick of her wrist, I’m ripped from the chains, my wrists snapping with the force. A loud cry escapes me as I hit the floor on my knees, teeth gritted against the pain. Kieran's shouts echo around me, laced with fear, but I push them aside—rage and stubborn defiance fueling every breath.
“Ronan! Fuck you, you sadistic bitch, I’ll rip you apart…”
She pays him no attention. Instead, her hand curls around my throat—not gently. Her nails dig into my skin, a mockery of intimacy as she leans in close. Her perfume wraps around me like poison, all sugar and rot, the kind of scent that makes your stomach turn.
Not like my cherry.
Soft skin, cherry and vanilla, warmth. Her.
They may be related, but this monster is nothing like Ravena.
“Now, Ronan,” Vespera croons, “if I have to ask again, I might just have to pay your mother a visit.”
That gets my attention.
The blood in my veins turns to ice as I snap my head up, a new kind of fury cutting through the pain. “Go near her,” I growl, voice raw. “And it will be the last thing you ever do.”
She smiles then, knowing she has me by the balls because yes, having people you love is a weakness, but it can also be a strength.
My mothers the one person left untouched by this nightmare, tucked away safely in the human realm.
I made damn sure of it after my father was killed on a mission.
He was a hunter in the Veilguard like me.
They had me before he took the trials—before the council made him take the snip like all the others.
Like me.
He died protecting us from vampires, and I promised him I would do anything to protect the woman we love. Vespera knows that, even though she hates it when we have baggage, she also loves that she can use it as leverage.
“Who’s more important? Your sweet, loving mother… or a woman who will be dead very soon?” I grind my jaw as she tightens her hold around my neck.
“Or maybe,” she continues, “Darian’s siblings? Your so-called family will be dead, and I’ll make sure their bodies are torn apart and scattered across all the realms if you don’t give me a name.”
My breathing slows as I catch sight of Kieran. He’s slumped beside me now, held back by two guards, chains clinking as he tries to thrash. One of them lands a solid punch to his gut, folding him in half. He gasps, coughing, but doesn’t cry out.
We don’t show pain; it’s a pride thing.
She’s waiting for me to break, Nyx watching me like I’m his prey.
But all I feel is fire.
Fuck her.
Fuck this broken kingdom and every coward who stands by her side.
I won’t give her Ravena.
She’s the only one who can stop Vespera, the only light left in this rotting darkness. My heart already belongs to Cherry. Even if I die down here, broken and bleeding on a stone floor while monsters circle above, my heart will still be hers.
It always will.
Forever.
I slam my head forward, the satisfying crunch of bone-on-bone as Vespera staggers back, blood pouring from her now-busted nose.
She hits the floor with a snarl, and before I can enjoy the moment, a dozen hands are on me—yanking my arms behind my back, steel biting into my skin, a blade pressing against my throat.
Kieran’s shouting my name, but I can’t look at him. Because all I see is her. Bleeding. Humiliated.
A bruised face and a bruised ego—that’s a win in my book.
People always forget I’m more than the nice one. The guy with the easy smile, cracking dumb jokes and baking cinnamon rolls to make everyone feel better. There's always been a shadow under my smile. A darkness tucked beneath the jokes and sunshine.
And if you threaten the people I love?
I’ll cut out your heart and hand-feed it to the dragon like a treat.
God, I could really use that dragon right now.
Vespera straightens, blood smeared under her nose, and storms towards me. Her fingers twist in my hair, pulling my head back until my spine protests, and then the steel is pressing against my skin.
She’s not just pissed. She’s seething.
“You were always the reckless one, Ronan,” she hisses, black eyes glittering like poison in the moonlight. “Always eager to throw yourself in the fire for people who don’t deserve it.”
I smile—tight-lipped, defiant. “That’s what you do for your family. But of course, you wouldn’t know anything about that.” I lean forward slightly, ignoring the sting of the blade and my broken wrists. “No one could ever love a poisonous bitch like you.”
“I’ll let my guards have their fun,” she says softly, letting go with a sharp jerk that nearly snaps my neck. “Then I’ll send them for your family so you can watch them die.”
The first boot slams into my ribs.
Pain blooms fast as I watch her leave the room with Nyx. Another blow. A fist to my jaw. The wet crack of something breaking.
I lose count of the hits.
But I don’t lose focus.
Because even as the blood floods my mouth, even as my body folds under their assault, all I can think about is them. Ravena. My mother. Kieran. The twins and Darian.
They are the only ones that matter to me.
If my body becomes a shield for them, then so be it.
Let me bleed. Let me break.
As long as they live, I’ll endure every second.