Chapter 7

"You poisonous bitch!"

The slap sent my head spinning. Lilith was sobbing, clinging to Ethan's arm.

"What did you do to Leo?" she cried. "He suddenly got a high fever last night, he's been having seizures!"

Leo? Her son?

"I didn't do anything..." I said weakly.

"Liar!" she shrieked, pointing at me. "Who else would use a mental attack on a pup?"

Ethan looked at me, a storm gathering in his eyes.

"Seraphina!" He yanked me up. "How could you attack my pup, yet fight to the death for Jullian's?"

"I didn't!" I shook my head frantically.

"Leo is only four!" Lilith cried harder. "He's innocent!"

Innocent?

"You want a confession?" A wild, broken smile twisted my lips. I met his furious gaze, feeling nothing but a chilling calm. "Fine. I did it."

"You!" Lilith’s eyes went wide with shock.

"I curse him," I whispered, my smile terrifying and real. "I curse your precious heir to die just as my daughter did. A life for a life. An heir for an heir."

"Sera, I thought Lydia's death would teach you a lesson." He walked up to me and lifted my chin. "But you've disappointed me. If you won't learn to be an obedient Luna," he said, his voice dangerously soft, "then you can go to the silver cells and reflect."

The silver cells. My blood ran cold.

They were underground vaults made of solid silver, kept at thirty degrees below zero.

"Ethan..." For the first time, I was afraid.

"Ethan, isn't that too harsh?" Lilith pretended to object. "I just want her to lift the curse."

"Scared now?" Ethan ignored her, looking down at me. "Too late."

The guards dragged me downstairs. The silver cells were three floors down. The moment the door opened, a wave of frigid air hit me.

"In!"

They shoved me inside and slammed the door shut.

The biting cold was instant. The pure silver walls sizzled where they touched my skin. Every breath was fire and ice, a lungful of silver that choked my healing.

I huddled in a corner, my teeth chattering uncontrollably.

For three hours, I thought I was going to die there.

But then the door opened.

Ethan walked in alone, holding a heavy coat.

I was huddled in the corner, shaking.

He walked over, crouched down, and wrapped the coat around me, but he made no move to lead me out.

"Cold?" he whispered, his warm breath ghosting over my skin. "This is nothing. The ice in this room is nothing compared to the ice you put in my soul, Sera."

"I didn't... poison him..." my teeth chattered.

"Shh—" he pressed a finger to my lips. "The truth doesn't matter," he whispered. "What matters is that you understand. Your life is mine. Your death is mine. Your honor, your pain... it is all mine to command."

I was about to break. To shatter.

Then, a voice echoed in my mind.

Not Ethan's. Julian's.

[Seraphina. Listen to me. Your daughter is safe.]

Hope—a dangerous, treacherous thing—slammed into me, so powerful it knocked the breath from my lungs.

[What?]

[My warriors intercepted her fall. Lydia is alive. She's with me, and she's waiting for you.]

Tears streamed down my face. My daughter was alive!

"Well?" Ethan asked coldly. "Have you made up your mind?"

I looked up at him, the fear gone, replaced by a chilling emptiness.

"Ethan," I said, my voice terrifyingly calm. "I want to sever the bond."