Chapter 74
Chapter seventy-four
Seraphina
Her head pounded. Sera blinked a few times, attempting to focus. Wherever she was, the ground was warm. Like sunbaked stone. All there was above her was a black abyss. Churning darkness simmering where the ceiling should be.
Everything hurt. Every breath, every twitch and blink. Fuck… Everything.
Sera rolled to her side and worked to sit upright. There was a strange smell here—ancient, sweet, something she recognized from the demonic relics in the keeper wing, but there it had been only hints.
Across the room was a dais, and on each side of the throne—a throne perched atop a pile of skulls—a body levitated. Both looked asleep. Vasso floated on one side, Honora on the other.
A cry lodged in Sera’s throat as she sat up.
The pressure change in her skull made it unbearable. Each breath in was like a shard of glass in her lungs. Every inch of her was in agony.
“Careful,” Supay drawled. “You wouldn’t want to hurt yourself further.”
She pulled flames to her palms. Black mist rolled from her feet. Fuck what Vasso said. She’d roast this fucker alive.
“Fascinating.” Supay approached her, his hands clasped behind his back.
The tailored jacket he wore didn’t have a speck of ash or blood on it.
She wondered how long she’d been out. “I thought at first that carnage had been Prince Vasilios’s doing.
I almost didn’t believe them when the shades whispered to me that you had the chosen ones’ power. ” Supay circled her.
She flared her magic and slowly, painfully, rose to her feet.
“I wouldn’t try to use that on me. If I die, they die.” He pointed to her sister and Vasso.
“What do you want from me?” she said through clenched teeth. The throne room swayed.
“I’d like to make a bargain,” he said.
“You sure that’s wise?” she asked as he circled her.
Supay grinned. “You’re smarter than you look, but I trust myself to make a sound one.”
Honora was floating midair. Her hair overpowered her too-thin frame. She was covered in bruises, and dark circles hung below her eyes. Sera took a step toward her, but Supay tsked.
Get her out. I don’t care what you have to do. Just bring her home. Her mother’s voice echoed around her. Moons, Nora looked awful. What had they been doing to her? Sera swallowed her guilt as best she could. She’d taken too long.
Vasso looked worse, if that was possible. They’d clothed him, at least, but the gash on his arm was open, and deep purple bruises coated every part of his body.
Taking a deep breath, she was caught off guard when a hacking cough barreled through her.
The spasm of her diaphragm sent a blinding pain through her side.
And across the stone at her feet, sprayed before her, were bright red droplets.
Sera wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. It came back smeared crimson.
She was going to die. There was no getting around it now, with the amount of blood that she could feel down her back, clotted and caked from her head wound, to the rib that had apparently punctured her lungs. She was going to die. But there was one more thing she could do.
“What’s the bargain?”
“Kill Vasso, and I’ll release Honora. Refuse, and I’ll kill them both.” He shrugged.
It didn’t make sense. Either way, Vasso would die. “Why do I have to kill him? You do it.”
“Being the steward of the realm has been exhausting. The first two hundred years were fun—pulling strings, making demands, playing war with your precious Council. But I’m old and wish to leave the burden to the rightful heir.
He can deal with Eraphon’s demands. Plus, I’d rather not be on his shit list the moment he wakes up. ”
Vasso floated in the air next to the black throne.
She could see him sitting atop it with his gorgeous smile, or with stern brows, passing judgment.
He was the change in leadership. He was to be king and the rightful ruler of Gehenna.
He’d be fair, considerate, even. Vasso cared about the beings in this world and what happened to them.
Maybe Vasso becoming king would be a good thing?
“Eraphon is sick of his games. She assured me he has a soul left to resurrect, and Eraphon is always right.” Supay summoned a dagger, scrutinizing the pommel.
Sera swayed and took a step to catch herself.
He was speaking as if the planet were a person.
He pointed the dagger’s tip at Vasso. “He is her favorite, you know.”
Vasso was bound. Of course. The king of Gehenna was Eraphon’s champion. He was bound to… the world.
Sera’s head swirled. Taking shallow breaths, she looked at him. He had one soul left. Vasso had been concerned he might be at his end—but if Eraphon had said so, she could free Nora. No harm, no foul.
“Will you let your sister die?” Supay was getting impatient.
“She goes free,” Sera whispered.
Supay hissed and looked at his forearm. A raised raven brand took shape. “You can brand too?”
Supay clenched his fist, and Vasso floated to the ground at her feet. His breath barely fluttered. When she dropped to her knees beside him, he didn’t wake.
Supay held out the dagger. Touching her lower back, she felt the raised scar from her bargain with Vasso.
Fate.
Love or demise.
He was still, and so ungodly breathtaking, even broken and bruised, it was killing her just to look at him. Sera leaned forward and kissed both of his cheeks.
“I need to get her home,” she said, her voice trembling.
Sera pulled on the thread between them, letting her tears fall.
“I don’t know if you can hear me. And if you can, I hope you know how sorry I am.
I hope you can forgive me for trading you.
” She brushed his hair away from his forehead.
“You once said”—her lip trembled—“that it was a mercy, that I was mercy, and I pray that you see it that way. I’ll come back, I promise. ”
Sera gripped the cold hilt in her hand. To lift her arm was agonizing. The tip of the blade trembled inches above his chest.
This was for Nora. To get her sister out. Then when he came back, she’d make it up to him. Sera didn’t know how, but she would.
“Do it!” Supay screamed behind her.
“I’m sorry.” She let her tears fall and stabbed him directly in the heart.
Vasso’s eyes snapped open. He gasped. A wet, hollow sound. The moment his eyes locked on hers, a searing pain gripped her heart. Sera screamed in agony, collapsing over him. Excruciating pain cut through her. The throbbing in her head disappeared in comparison.
The threads that had entwined them from the moment she’d seen him were being ripped from her, severed by the blade sticking out of him.
Vasso cried out. She wasn’t sure whose pain racked her body, but the pull that kept him linked to her frayed, and with every spasm of his impaled heart, it tore further.
Supay walked around them, watching their writhing. “Interesting.”
Vasso’s blood pooled, soaking into her hair and clothes. Sera reached for her barrier magic. It was there, warm and whole. She almost wept in relief. From her raised hand, she created a dome surrounding them. She wouldn’t let Supay near him.
Vasso was still trying to draw air.
“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m so sorry.” He reached his hand out and cupped her face.
“Nula,” he gasped. She could feel his heart slowing. “We are destined.” Vasso’s voice waned. “When it came to you… I wouldn’t have changed it.”
Sera sobbed as he coughed up black blood. He reached his fingertips to her cheek, attempting to wipe the splatter from her face. Sera took his hand in hers, kissing his knuckles. This was worse than dying. How could she? What could she say, do, to make this better?
“I’ll always return to you…” He coughed again, his breath ragged. “Remind…”
“Shh, it’s okay. It’s all right.” Her heart shattered.
“Our destiny.” He took his final breath. The last strand of that fated link between them snapped.
He’d come back, he’d be okay, she’d see him again. They would be together again and leave the pettiness behind.
Love or demise, her magic said.
Somehow, she’d accomplished both.
Everything hurt. Her voice, her head—there wasn’t a part of her that didn’t radiate pain.
Dots invaded her vision in waves. She’d be spent soon, but before she took her last agonizing breath, she’d see her sister free.
“Let her go,” she said. She wouldn’t look at the monster behind her.
Didn’t want to see the satisfaction on his face at her pain.
“But of course,” Supay said. “Though I suppose I should tell you about your sister’s bargain. For your benefit, of course.” Honora drifted to the floor. “She agreed to stay in exchange for your life.”
No.
“You lied!” Sera screamed, which immediately triggered a coughing fit. Blood coated her tongue as she tried to take in a deep enough breath. She dropped the barrier between her and her sister. Her body was in agony, but Sera hauled herself to her feet.
“On the contrary, she will be free to roam as long as she doesn’t leave the confines of this realm.”
Nora stirred.
Sera grasped her side and limped toward her sister. Nora’s eyes opened. There was recognition… recognition that gave way to terror.
Another step. Nora’s name was on the tip of Sera’s tongue. In a blink, Alistair appeared before her, and they were gone.