ANCIENT ENEMIES

The palace was different at night. Quieter. Darker. Shadows pooled in corners and seemed to move on their own. Sera couldn't sleep; she was too wired from the day's discoveries. She stood at her window, looking out at the city. Then—another presence. Lucien was approaching through the bond. She felt it like a pulse beneath her skin.

He knocked softly before entering. "You're awake."

"So are you."

 

 

He came to stand beside her at the window. They'd been doing this more often—existing in the same space without talking. The bond was content just to have them near each other. It should have felt wrong. Standing beside her enemy in comfortable silence wasn’t natural. Yet it felt natural. Unsettlingly so.

"I spoke to my father," Lucien said finally. "Told him about Silas Greythorne."

Sera's head snapped toward him. "What did he say?"

 

 

"That Silas was a decorated councilor. He served faithfully for two hundred years after Aldric's death. His testimony at Morgana's trial was corroborated by other witnesses. My father said matching handwriting isn't proof of murder." Lucien's jaw was tight. "He thinks the bond has clouded my judgment. He says I'm seeing conspiracies because I want to believe you."

"Are you?"

"I don't know anymore." He ran a hand through his hair, face twisted with uncertainty. "I keep thinking about Silas. If he killed Aldric, why? What did he gain?"

 

 

"Maybe he opposed whatever reforms Aldric was planning."

"Everyone opposed them. Half the council thought Aldric was insane for even considering peace with witches." Lucien turned to face her fully. "But opposition isn't the same as murder. People disagreed with my ancestor all the time. They didn't kill him over it."

"Unless the reforms weren't just unpopular. Maybe they threatened something specific."

"Like what?"

 

 

Sera thought back to her research, to years of studying vampire history. "The war with witches kept your people unified. Gave them a common enemy, a reason to maintain strict hierarchy and strong military. If Aldric had succeeded in making peace—"

"It would have changed everything," Lucien finished. "Reduced the need for a standing army. Weakened the nobility's control. Forced vampires to share power with witches."

 

 

"Someone on that council had a lot to lose from peace. Enough to kill for it."

They were close now, closer than they'd been since the night of her capture. Sera could see the flecks of silver in Lucien's blue eyes, could feel his warm, shallow breath. Her chest tightened. The bond pulled between them, urging her to close the distance, her own pulse racing in her ears.

"This is dangerous," Lucien said quietly.

"The investigation?"

 

 

"All of it. The investigation, this bond, the way I keep wanting—" He stopped, voice thick, worry shadowing his expression. His fists clenched at his sides, knuckles white.

"Wanting what?"

Instead of answering, he took a step back. "I should go. It's late."

"Lucien, wait." Sera caught his arm. The contact sent sparks through the bond, making them both inhale sharply. "I need to ask you something. If we prove Morgana was innocent, if we show your father the truth... what happens to us?"

 

 

"There is no 'us.'"

"Isn't there?" She didn't let go. "You feel it. The bond gets stronger every day. Soon it won't just be uncomfortable to be apart. It'll be painful. Debilitating."

"I know."

"Then what do we do? Even if your father spares my life, I can't stay here. And you can't leave. We're trapped."

 

 

Lucien's expression was conflicted, eyes darting away. "Complete bonds are rare. Most mates never activate the full connection—they live near each other but maintain separate lives. Maybe we can do that." There was a crack in his voice, uncertainty and fear barely masked.

"Can we?" Sera challenged. "Because right now, just having you leave the room feels wrong. In a few weeks, what will it feel like? A few months?"

 

 

He pulled free from her grip, anger and worry flashing in his eyes. "I don't have answers, Sera. I'm trying to keep you alive. That's all I can focus on right now." His words were sharp, but a tremor ran through them.

"No, you're trying not to think about the impossible situation we're in. You're avoiding it."

 

 

"Maybe I am." His voice hardened, eyes locked on hers, anguish twisting his features. "Because thinking about it means acknowledging that even if we solve this mystery, even if we prove everything you believe, we still can't be together. Our people have four hundred years of hatred between them. Your kind has killed people I knew, people I cared about. My kind has done the same to yours. How do we get past that?"

"I don't know," Sera admitted. "But I know that hiding from it won't help."

"And neither will pretending the bond makes any of this okay." Lucien moved toward the door. "Get some rest. Tomorrow we start looking into the other council members from 1624. See if anyone else had motive."

He left before she could respond.

 

 

Sera stood alone in the room, the silence pressing in. Lucien's frustration and fear echoed sharply through the bond, leaving her breathless. Every thud of her heart was a reminder of the impossible wall between them. But giving up wasn't an option either.

She returned to her desk, pulling out the council records Lucien had copied. Names and dates, correspondence and meeting notes. Somewhere in these papers was the truth about what happened that night in 1624.

A knock made her jump. Too light to be a guard. The door opened before she could respond, and Elara stepped inside.

 

 

"We need to talk," Elara said, closing the door behind her.

Sera would be tense, very aware that she had no magic and that Elara was a trained killer. "About what?"

"I've known him for two centuries. Fought beside him, bled with him. I've watched him become one of the kingdom's best warriors. Now, in three days, you've turned him into someone I barely recognize."

"I'm not doing anything to him. The bond—"

 

 

"The bond is making him weak," Elara interrupted. "He's questioning his father, investigating ancient history, defending you to the council. Do you know what they're saying? That he's been compromised. That the bond has made him a liability."

"That's not my fault."

"Isn't it?" Elara moved closer. "You could have run the night you felt the bond. Could have left the city, put distance between you. But you didn't. You walked right into vampire territory like you were meant to be there."

 

 

"The bond wouldn't let me leave. You know how it works."

"I know how it's supposed to work. I also know that Aldric and Morgana's bond ended with betrayal and murder." Elara's eyes were hard. "History is repeating itself. Can't you see that? Lucien is making the same mistakes his ancestor did, and it's going to get him killed."

"Or maybe," Sera said carefully, "history is giving us a chance to do better. To not make the same mistakes."

"You actually believe that." Elara shook her head. "You're either incredibly naive or incredibly manipulative. I haven't decided which."

 

 

"I'm neither. I'm just someone trying not to die while figuring out the truth."

"The truth." Elara's laugh was bitter. "You want the truth? Here it is. Even if Morgana didn't kill Aldric, it doesn't matter. Your people have committed enough atrocities since then to justify everything we've done. The war isn't about one murder anymore—it's about centuries of blood and hate. Your truth won't change that."

 

 

She was right. Sera knew she was right. The admission burned like acid. But she couldn't accept it, couldn't let four hundred years of war continue just because it had already gone on too long. Anger and desperation coiled in her chest, battling with dread.

"Maybe not," Sera said. "But doing nothing guarantees nothing changes."

"And doing something guarantees more death. More pain." Elara headed for the door, paused. "Stay away from Lucien. Stop pulling him into this. Let him do his duty without the bond clouding everything. It's the only way either of you survives."

 

 

After she left, Sera sat in silence. Elara was scared—that much was clear. Scared for Lucien, scared of change, scared that history would repeat itself, and she'd lose someone she cared about.

The problem was, Sera was scared, too. Scared that she'd fail, that Lucien would lose everything because of her, that in trying to end the war she'd just make everything worse.

But fear had never stopped her before.

She pulled the council records closer and got back to work.