CHAPTER 27 #2
Cade moaned as Sebastian crouched low, his face close enough that Cade had to look him in the eye.
“She owes you nothing,” Sebastian said, disgusted. “Not her magic. Not her mercy. Not a single fucking breath.”
She couldn’t look away. Not from him. He looked untouchable, unstoppable, lit in crimson fire.
The rage was all for her. A week ago, she might have feared it.
But now... she understood it. Loved him even more for it.
Cade’s lips twisted in pain and spite as he jerked his head towards Kara strung against the wall.
“She screamed your name,” he rasped, every word a struggle. “Begged for you to come. You weren’t there.”
Guilt and pain flashed across Sebastian’s face. Kara’s heart lurched.
No – don’t listen–
That’s what Cade wanted. To carve guilt into him with his final breath.
When Sebastian answered, he spoke so low that Kara could only just hear him. “I’m here now. And you will never touch her again.”
Sebastian stood, turned to Kara and didn’t spare him another glance. Another deathly gurgle – then the room fell into silence.
He’s dead.
Kara just stared.
Her blood rushed loudly in her ears.
Sebastian was alive. He hadn’t been tied to some courtyard pyre.
He crossed the room to her in three long strides, the fury in his face softening only when he reached her. Sebastian lifted his hand to her cheek, but hesitated before touching her. Like he feared she wouldn’t want him to. Like she’d be afraid.
Of you? Never.
She leaned in.
He brushed her cheek once, fleetingly gentle – a stark contrast to what she’d just seen him do.
Her heart leapt. He reached for her skirt, glanced back once – she gave him wordless permission.
He pulled it down, covering her, giving her back her dignity.
As soon as he’d done that, he reached up and unhooked her wrists from the wall.
The moment she was freed, her legs gave out and she collapsed into him.
He caught her, arms wrapped carefully around her, lowering like she was the most fragile thing in the world.
“It’s okay, Kara. I’m here.”
“You came–” she stuttered, her voice breaking.
“Of course I came,” he said fiercely. Then quieter, raw: “I’m sorry it took me so long.”
A sob tore from her. “You’re here, that’s all that matters. He–he told me you were d–dead.”
Sebastian tilted her chin, and looked her in the eye. “Not yet. But we need to get out of here. Now.”
She nodded mutely as he took her wrists gently in his hands.
He pulled out the dagger again, and started to cut through the nightshade cords.
Freeing her. She’d been here before, Gods, little more than a week ago.
But then it had been his wrists bound in nightshade, her fingers shaking to undo them.
“This shouldn’t have happened to you,” he muttered hoarsely.
She watched him. Unmoving. Barely breathing.
She couldn’t tear her eyes away from his face.
The man who had taken root in her mind and never left.
Whom just the thought of had kept her sane in this hell.
The man who had saved her from... what Cade was about to do.
Her throat physically ached with the force of it all.
We might not make it out of here alive.
It’s now or never.
“I love you,” she blurted, before she could second-guess herself.
His hands stilled. His head jerked up, expression stunned, as if the words had struck harder than any blade.
“I know it’s soon,” she went on, voice shaking. “The wrong time – madness really – but I don’t want to die here without saying it–”
“You’re not dying here,” he growled.
With a grunt, he cut through the last of the bindings. The blood rushed back to her hands for the first time in days. She didn’t look down at them – didn’t care – just used them to grab his with everything she had left.
“I love you, Sebastian Thorne.”
He stared at her – bloodied, breathless and disbelieving.
“You... can’t mean that.”
“I do,” she said. She had never been surer of anything in her life.
“We need to run,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. “Tell me again when we get out of here–”
His eyes met hers, blazing.
“–and then I’ll believe you.”
Sebastian’s grip tightened around her hand as they ran.
She loves me?
He had never expected her to say that.
Not now. Focus.
You’ve got to get her out.
He pulled her through the shadowed hallways. Careful and quiet. Trying to focus on the escape. But the echo of her cries – the panic in her voice, Cade’s fucking hands on her – wouldn’t leave his mind. Seconds later and he’d have been too late–
His jaw clenched as rage surged through him. Hot. Familiar. His magic crackled beneath his skin – begging for release. He wanted to rip Cade apart. Kill him again. He forced it under control.
Keep moving.
He looked back at her. She was breathing hard but still moving fast – keeping up. She didn’t say a word. What else had that bastard done to her? He wanted to ask. He needed to ask. The questions clawed at him, but freedom came first.
“This way–” He pulled her left.
“Wait–” She tugged his hand back. “The Shards.”
He stopped. Stared at her.
Is she serious?
“Kara, we don’t have time–”
“I know where they are. They’re being moved soon. If we don’t get them now–”
“I’m getting you out first,” Sebastian said.
“No–”
“Kara, I need you safe,” he pleaded.
She shook her head fiercely. “But Vallenna–”
“Vallenna wants you dead,” he snapped, the words cutting her off.
“Draknor are still coming,” she pressed.
That fire, the stubborn set of her chin. It’s what made him notice her in the first place. Right now though? It was infuriating. This impossible, fearless girl. They’d been about to burn her alive – and she wanted to save them anyway?
She looked at him, face resolute. “We have to try.”
“No, Kara, we don’t,” he said firmly. “I will not risk your life again.” He pulled her forward. He’d carry her out if he had to.
You are making it out of here, Kara.
One word undid it all.
“Please.”
He turned. Looked into those green eyes that saw through everything. They were wide and full of trust. She really believed he could do this. Fight his way to the Shards. Keep her alive.
What is she doing to me?
He exhaled through gritted teeth. “Godsdammit. Where are they?”
She glanced down the corridor. “The vault upstairs. We’ll have to move fast.”
He turned again, sword still in hand, leading them through the twisting corridors.
This is a bad idea.
The next hallway stank of blood and burnt magic. It was the way he’d come in. Sebastian registered the scent. Knew what was coming. He hadn’t held back. There hadn’t been time. He felt the hesitation before he saw it. Kara’s grip slackened slightly in his hand.
The bodies.
Three soldiers lay broken across the stone floor, dark red blood in thick pools. One wall was scorched black, magic-charred. A fourth body slumped against it, with a perfect blade-shaped wound through his chest.
Sebastian didn’t stop. But she did.
He turned back just in time to catch her expression – staring down at the bodies, horror-struck.
She could see it all – the precision of the strikes, the speed of it, the ruthlessness he was known for.
When she looked up at him, her free hand lifted, hovering at her side like she wanted to reach for something.
A weapon? Her magic? A wall to put between them?
Right then, he hated himself.
Look at you. Covered in blood.
Like a fucking monster.
She still didn’t move. He braced himself for her to pull away. To recoil – see him for what he was. But he said nothing. Met her gaze and waited.
Say something. Say it’s okay.
But no words came out.
Then her jaw set. She squeezed his hand tight and stepped over the first body. Then the next. Didn’t look back. She was still with him.
I guess I’m a better option than the flames.
They moved in silence now. Kara a step behind. Was she afraid to walk beside him? She’d seen only a glimpse of what he could do. This was what he was capable of, when he wasn’t bound and caged. When he was fighting for her.
They would’ve done worse, he reminded himself. Cade would have had her. Burnt her alive.
The corridor narrowed and they climbed a set of winding stairs. His tunic was soaked through with blood now, his hand slick on the hilt of his sword. Every step screamed. Not that it mattered.
Pain was nothing next to failure.
And if he failed her now–
No.
He wouldn’t.
He wouldn’t lose her. Not after what happened in that cell. What she’d said. They rounded the final corner and there it was – the vault. Obsidian walls. An iron-set door. Two guards posted. Heavily armoured and alert. Blades already out.
“Stay back,” he growled at her.
When they saw him, they didn’t hesitate. The first lunged.