Chapter 51

~ SYLARI ~The shadow-walk back was just as awful as the first one. By the time we emerged in the palace courtyard, my legs were shaking and my stomach was threatening to empty itself on the cobblestones."That doesn't get easier," I said, bracing my hands on my knees."No," Eron agreed. "It doesn't."Kaelith was waiting for us at the edge of the courtyard, his posture was rigid, and his pale eyes were scanning me for injuries. He crossed the distance in quick strides and stopped just short of touching me."What happened?""She showed up, we talked, she vanished." I straightened slowly, willing my stomach to settle. "She wants me to join her, to let her teach me. I said no.""You said no." Kaelith's expression shifted, surprise bleeding into something that looked almost like relief. "I expected you to—""Go with her? Trust her blindly because she's family?" I shook my head. "She watched my mother die and did nothing. She watched me suffer for eighteen years and did nothing. I'm not st

Chapter 52

~ SYLARI ~I didn't sleep that night.The scroll sat on my bedside table, its words burned into my memory even with my eyes closed. One hour. That was all the vaelth wanted, one hour of my time in exchange for information and two brothers who had spent eighteen years making my life miserable.The smart choice was obvious. Let them keep Riko and Daren, let the Vaelth send whatever message they wanted. My brothers meant nothing to me, had never meant anything to me except pain and humiliation. Saving them would be a waste of energy and risk.But the vaelth had information Seraphine hadn't shared. Secrets about my bloodline, about what I was becoming. That was harder to dismiss.I sat up in bed and pressed my hand against my chest, feeling the hunger pulse slow and steady beneath my ribs. It had been restless since we returned from the ruins, stirring every time I thought about Seraphine or the vaelth or the truth I still didn't have.What are you hiding? I asked it silently. What don't

Chapter 53

~ SYLARI ~The ruins looked different in daylight.When Eron and I emerged from the shadows, the sun was high overhead, casting long beams through the broken walls and collapsed archways. The same decay I had seen during my meeting with Seraphine, but somehow less threatening with light pouring through the gaps.That didn't make me feel better. The vaelth preferred darkness, which meant meeting during the day was a concession on their part. They wanted me comfortable, wanted me to let my guard down.I wasn't going to give them that."Stay close," Eron said, his voice low. "If anything feels wrong, grab my arm and I'll pull us out.""Define wrong.""Anything that makes your instincts scream."Fair enough.We walked toward the center of the ruins, past fallen columns and crumbling walls covered in vines that looked dead but probably weren't. The vaelth liked things that appeared harmless, that was the first lesson anyone learned about them.Three figures waited near the broken altar. Tw

Chapter 54

~ SYLARI ~The silence after Thalia left was suffocating.I stood in the center of the ruins, my mind racing through everything she had said. Seraphine wasn't trying to help me, she was trying to steal the Primordial. The seal wasn't just weakening from overuse, someone was actively breaking it from the outside. My aunt, my only living family, wanted me dead so she could take what I carried.The hunger pulsed in my chest, slow and heavy, almost like it was confirming what I already suspected."Sylari." Eron's voice pulled me back to the present. "We need to leave. The vaelth could return with reinforcements.""In a minute."I turned toward Riko and Daren, still standing near the altar like they didn't know what to do with themselves. They looked smaller than I remembered, diminished by whatever the vaelth had done to them during their captivity.Riko finally lifted his head, his one good eye finding mine. His lips parted like he wanted to say something, but no words came out."You loo

All Chapters of FROM RUIN TO RULE: Chapter 51 - Chapter 54

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54