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0071

Author: unusualdee
last update Last Updated: 2025-10-09 00:57:52

I swallowed down the panic and let my voice come out lower and undisturbed than I felt. “Don’t make me hurt you,” I said. “I could burn you like I did your other friends.”

“Oh, Juno,” Nisa muttered, and that grin returned. She shifted until she was only a breath from me. “I’d gladly roast in your pale-blue flames, but before you can invoke it, your blood will already be cold in my mouth.”

Her words landed like a curse. I felt the air go thin and my heart stuttered somewhere beneath my ribs.

My breath seized when her gaze became deadly as she stared at my throat.

I stayed frozen beneath it. There was no bravado left in me, only a thin stupid hope that she might changed her mind.

Up close she smelled like metal and citrus.

For a second all I could do was stare at the little flash of white teeth and the way her lips curved around the threat as if it were a private joke.

Then something in me, old, stubborn, snapped tight. “You’re full of threats today,” I let out, forcing the rasp from
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  • Ascend or Be Consumed   0149

    I froze. I had once begged him not to kill Lithi when he had put his hands on me. But after what he’d just seen… I doubted Lucan would take the easy way out, which was getting scorched to dust by my flames. Lithi jerked away from me as if he had been burned already, stumbling backward, but before I could even react… he was gone.“Wait—where did he—?” I spun in place, sensing nothing, hearing only the faint echo of my own boots.Lucan’s deep, controlled voice rumbled from behind me. “He won’t bother you again. Forever.”“What do you mean by forever? Where did you send him to?”“Don’t worry about him,” Lucan said, his tone laced with a plain, simmering rage. Rage that, despite everything, didn’t feel like it came solely from seeing Lithi touch me. “We all spoke to Veylor, but he refuses to unbind Eryx yet.”His voice grew clipped. Controlled.“Said it would only distract you more.”I swallowed hard as he continued, “And I tend to agree. You don’t need extra complications right now.”My

  • Ascend or Be Consumed   0148

    On the journey to the Void, Elara and I had barely been acquaintances. And yet somehow… somehow she’d lodged herself deeper than I realized. Deep enough that the loss hollowed something inside me.And the guilt—fuck, the guilt never stopped.If I’d gone to her, if I’d been stronger, if I hadn’t been lost in a man’s arms… maybe she wouldn’t have fallen. Maybe she wouldn’t have hanged herself.Mistress Lune exhaled shakily and stepped back.“Well,” she said quietly, collecting herself, “since you’ve already taken some kind of cure today, whatever that Apex Initiate gave you, we’ll need to postpone your actual treatment.”My stomach clenched. “Postpone? For how long?”I had been counting on her cure after everything. She was renowned throughout Blackcroft for her Cures, and I had pinned all my hope on her skill.“Until I know exactly what was in that broth he gave you,” she said firmly. “Mixing cures is dangerous. It could force the seal on your eyes to… close permanently. And if that ha

  • Ascend or Be Consumed   0147

    Earlier, I wondered if Marilynn was in the Hall, but now I felt certain she was. She might not be able to speak, but I knew she understood that I was blind.What would she think? Good for me? The thought almost dragged a hollow laugh out of me.Chairs scraped the ground and footsteps hurriedly left the Hall. It was our last class of the day. I could hear their tired groans and whispers about my blindness, but soon, everything fell silent. When the hall finally emptied, Mistress Lune stepped closer, her voice gentle as she took my hand. I didn't flinch because I was used to her caring touch.“Juno… you must speak with Lucan Talon. It has been nine nights. His seal on Marilynn's voice must be released.”My throat tightened. How was I supposed to speak to him when I planned to avoid the whole Apex Circle for now? “I will talk to him as soon as I can.” I swallowed. “And… Mistress Lune… please tell Marilynn I’m sorry. For everything.”A soft breath escaped her. Maybe surprise, maybe s

  • Ascend or Be Consumed   0146

    “My great-grandfather is from the Upper Realm, and he knows dark magic that no one else does. I can tell the curse is… layered,” Maxon said, his voice low but certain. “Not simple blindness. More like bound. A seal. A lock. And locks can be undone.”I swallowed hard. His words were just like what Dominic had translated from the stranger. Remembering the stranger’s warning that forcing the seal open could tear me apart long before it ever broke made it even harder to believe in Maxon’s fragrant broth.“Undoing something like this isn’t that easy.” “No,” he agreed quietly. “But your body is fighting it. That’s why it will hurt in a few hours. It won't be sharp at all times…but when it is, it might be unbearable. The broth will agitate the seal—force it to react. If it reacts, you can break it.”His confidence should’ve comforted me. But instead, something twisted inside me, fear, hope… disbelief. He was more powerful than I expected. He was damn worthy of being an Apex Initiate. “A

  • Ascend or Be Consumed   0145

    “How have you managed to stay alive in Blackcroft all this time, Maxon?”Silence stretched after my question. It seemed he was hesitating to respond. Then he answered, his hushed tone low, and unwavering.“By being useful to the right people… and dangerous to the wrong ones.” Another pause. “And by accepting that someday, I will survive it.”I swallowed hard. “What happens after surviving?”He exhaled slowly, the sound cold and final. “If we survive.” His words hung in the air, heavy and dreadful like a prophecy spoken too calmly to be anything but true. “How… how did you even get in?” I whispered. “You used to be the gentlest person I knew. But now… you’re so cold. So indifferent.” I knew I was putting my nose in his business but what else could I do here anyway?Maxon let out a breath that sounded older than he was.“Like you,” he said, “I killed my half-brother.” My fingers froze around the now-empty cup. “Years after you disappeared with your mother, he becam

  • Ascend or Be Consumed   0144

    I pressed my fingers into the disk array embedded in my palm as I thought of my godmother, and sister. Space shifted, tugging at my stomach. The fresh aroma of flowers, herbs, and warm sunlight suggested I had landed myself near House Vitae, or something close to it, but I couldn’t quite identify where exactly. That uncertainty filled me with a sense of frustration. It was taking a lot of time to get used to my sightlessness. Then, a familiar voice broke through the haze, calm and confident, with a hint of arrogance. “Juno?” Maxon. How come he's here? I thought once again that he must have belonged to House Vitae. The sound of his footsteps approached gently, initially slow then quickening slightly. “Why do you look—” he began, then stopped suddenly. He took a deep, shaky breath. His voice softened, filled with disbelief and concern. “Your eyes... Juno, what happened to you? Last time I saw you, you weren't blind. And it's not even up to 24 hours.” I could sense the shoc

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