Chapter 9
Nyxar looked far older than he had the day before. His eyes stayed fixed on me, unblinking.
Then, quietly, two lines of tears slid down his face.
“Althea,” he said, “I was wrong. Seraphine and Lord Pyralis never saw me as anything more than a tool. But you… you were the only one who ever treated me like an equal.”
He had once believed that bonding with the phoenix clan’s chosen heir would elevate him instantly. That with Seraphine, he’d
. rise above his lowly bloodline.
But in the end, apart from offering up the Ouroboros’ Orb, he was worthless.
Last night, Father had been consumed by fury. He didn’t dare lay a finger on me again.
The lightning strikes had already forced him back into his true form. And he knew that angering me further could mean utter
annihilation.
Still, he couldn’t let it go.
The daughter he had discarded and indulged into ruin turned out to be the Phoenix Court’s embodiment of divine will. All the
years he’d spent grooming his favored daughter became nothing more than a cruel joke.
So he vented his anger elsewhere-on Nyxar.
“A filthy creature like you,” Father had spat, “isn’t even fit to be Seraphine’s pet. I’m starting to wonder if your proposal to
Seraphine was a setup between you and Althea.”
Doubt twisted his mind, and he resorted to soul-searching magic, tearing through Nyxar’s spirit to test his loyalty. The agony
nearly killed Nyxar.
But in the end, Father found nothing.
And Nyxar lived, barely.
That reprieve didn’t last.
When Seraphine woke, the fragments of the previous day crashed into her memory.
She flew into a rage. Her fingers wrapped tightly around his throat. Her voice trembled with fury.
“You confessed your love for me in front of everyone,” she hissed, “and when death came, you chose your own skin over mine— all for a damn snake gallbladder. Nyxar, you deserve to die!”
I looked at Nyxar, who was covered in bruises and blood. There was no ripple in my heart.
The moment his arrow pierced my chest, our bond was severed.
1/2
Chapter 9
+25 Bonus
But Franz, standing beside me, couldn’t hold back. “You humiliated her in public and abandoned her in danger. And now you come crawling back? What makes you think you’re worth her time?”
Hatred flared in the black serpent’s eyes. He tensed, ready to strike.
But then he remembered. He no longer had a gallbladder. He was nothing now. Just a broken husk.
His rage gave way to desperation.
“Althea,” he pleaded, dragging himself forward, “you can choose the next Phoenix Court heir. Surely you can dissolve a bond too,
right?
“If you break my contract with Seraphine… I’ll submit to you. I’ll serve as your companion beast alongside this white snake. We
shared so much. You must still care.”
Franz’s eyes darted to me in panic, afraid I would agree.
I shook my head.
“You’re delusional. Nyxar, why would I help you? I gave you everything-my heart, my loyalty and you couldn’t stop pining for
Seraphine.
“I carried your child for three months, and you killed me with a single arrow. I gave you the chance to bond with me. You repaid it by humiliating me before our entire clan.”
“You betrayed me again and again. The fact that you’re still alive-that’s the only kindness I’ll ever give you.’
Nyxar’s gaze dimmed. He covered his face with trembling hands and began to sob, “What have I done…”
But the past was unchangeable. And knowing me as well as he did, he knew I would never turn back.
