All Chapters of The Last Moonbane: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Seraphina’s POVIt had been a particularly humid day, the kind that made the air thick and heavy, clinging to your skin with the promise of rain. School had just let out, and we began our usual walk back to the small apartment Helena had secured for us. As the busy sounds of the city swirled around us, I couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling creeping up my spine, like a subtle warning. I had developed this instinct over the past few months—a prickle at the back of my neck, as if unseen eyes were following us. Yet nothing seemed out of place. The streets were filled with the usual hustle of life, people moving to and fro, oblivious to the undercurrents of danger that lurked beneath the surface.Helena had been adamant about one thing: never take the same route home twice. It was a simple precaution, one meant to throw off anyone trying to track us. And today, like many days before, we had taken a detour down a quieter street, one less crowded with pedestrians. At first, it felt like any oth

Seraphina’s POVAs I waited for my meeting with the Riddle family’s leader, I couldn’t help but think back to the stories I had heard about slaves. Moonbane had never practiced slavery within our borders, but that didn’t mean I was ignorant of the world outside. Helena had told me stories—dark, unsettling ones—about the conditions that slaves endured in other parts of the world. They were property, bought and sold without a second thought. Their fates were determined not by their own choices, but by the whims of their owners.Some were used for labor, forced to work in fields or mines until their bodies broke down from exhaustion. Others, especially those who were deemed attractive, were used for more sinister purposes. They were used, abused, their bodies treated like toys, and when their owners grew tired of them, they were discarded, sometimes even killed for sport. The thought of anyone being treated that way made my blood boil. Even though I had been spared such a fate, I couldn’t

Seraphina’s POVBut if this was the game he wanted to play, then I would play along.Feigning a nervousness I didn’t actually feel, I let my gaze drop to the floor, adopting the demeanor of a girl overwhelmed by unexpected attention. I had seen this act before—back at the human school, where girls would blush and stammer when boys confessed their feelings. I could mimic it well enough. After all, I had watched plenty of them fumble through their crushes, not realizing that I, too, had been on the receiving end of those confessions far more than I cared to admit.I swallowed hard, biting my lip as if the weight of his words had left me flustered. "I… I don’t know what you’re talking about," I murmured, glancing up at him through my lashes, pretending to be uncertain. "But…" I hesitated deliberately, as though confessing something I wasn’t ready to admit. "Every time I see you… my heart races." I let the words slip out like a shy confession, one that seemed to match the image of a girl

Seraphina’s POVHe gave a faint smile, one that felt almost knowing, but he didn’t challenge me. He simply stepped back, his hand falling away, leaving a cold absence where his touch had been.And that’s how it started. Ambrosius began appearing regularly, always with some vague reason—a walk here, a meal there, sometimes simply to talk. The more time we spent together, the more disorienting his visits became, the boundaries between prisoner and captor beginning to blur in ways I wasn’t ready to admit.Each outing felt strangely… normal. He would ask me questions about my past, about Stephen, about the human school I once attended. His inquiries felt genuine, as if he was truly interested. But each time, as our conversations grew more personal, there was always a touch, some subtle, lingering contact—a hand guiding me, fingers brushing mine, his gaze lingering just a beat too long. Each touch made my heart skip, a thrill that left me feeling both intrigued and vulnerable.And then cam

Seraphina’s POV"Why so nervous?" I whispered, leaning even closer so that my breath tickled his ear. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”Ambrosius flinched, his entire body going rigid. He opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. I could see the panic starting to bloom in his eyes. He had expected me to be shy, demure, hesitant—but instead, I was bold, assertive, and unapologetically close.For a moment, neither of us moved. The tension in the air thickened, and I could feel his breath quickening as he stared at me, completely unsure of how to react."You’ve been chasing me for days now, haven’t you?" I continued, my voice a sultry whisper. “You win, I fall in love with you, Ambrosius.” I smiled as I announced the news, my tone lacking any hint of shyness or hesitation. At that moment, I wasn’t a girl confessing her