جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 30

"No. No, no, no—"The words kept coming out of my mouth, but they didn't change anything. Through the bond, I felt nothing. Just absence where Caspian's presence should have been.His heart had stopped."Sera." Solace's multiple voices sounded far away. "You need to get up. The site's collapse will draw the Old Court. You need to leave now.""I killed him." My hands were pressed against my chest, over my own heart that was still beating when his wasn't. "The feedback—I thought splitting it would work, thought I could—""Get up!" Cael's voice. He burst into the chamber, his blood-red eyes wild. "I felt it through the bloodline. Felt his heart stop. But there's still time. If we—"He stopped. His ancient face went pale."What?" I looked up at him from where I'd collapsed on the floor. "What is it?""He's not dead." Cael's voice was shaking. "Not completely. His heart stopped but his soul—" He pressed his fist to his chest. "The bond is holding him. Keeping his soul tethered to his body

The Old Court's attack hit like a thunderstorm made of knives.The academy's windows exploded inward. Glass rained down on students who'd been celebrating just moments ago—celebrating the curse being broken, celebrating peace, celebrating a future they thought was finally safe.They were wrong."Everyone down!" Raven's voice cut through the screaming. His silver-streaked hair flew as he moved, pulling students behind cover with his dhampir strength. "Get to the safe rooms! Now!"Through my new bloodline connection, I felt every vampire in the academy. Felt their terror. Their confusion. Their desperate need to understand what was happening.And I felt Caspian. Still weak from being dead. Still processing what he'd become. But trying to stand, trying to help, his mortal-turned-immortal body not quite remembering how to move with vampire speed."Stay down," I said to him, pressing my hand against his chest. The touch sent shockwaves through the bond—stronger now, reinforced by the blood

"He's dying."Elysia's voice was flat as she examined the black veins spreading across Raven's neck. Her emerald eyes were clinical, detached—the only way she could function when her hands were shaking this badly. "The poison is designed to mimic the justice curse but work faster. He has hours. Maybe less.""Then we cure him." I knelt beside Raven's unconscious body, feeling through the bloodline connection how the poison was attacking his dhampir system. "There has to be a way.""The only cure for the justice curse is admitting culpability." Caspian's voice was rough. He stood against the wall, his mortal-turned-vampire body still too weak to help physically. "Acknowledging what you've done and accepting the consequences. But Raven hasn't done anything wrong. He's not guilty of the crimes that trigger the curse.""Then why is it affecting him?" I pressed my palm to Raven's forehead. His skin was burning, fever raging as the poison spread. "He's dhampir, not pure vampire. The curse sh

The second traitor struck three days later.I was in the Thornwood Forest, trying to reinforce the defenses, when I felt it through the bloodline. A vampire dying. Then another. Then three more in rapid succession.Not from the justice curse. From violence."Sera!" Caspian's voice came through our bond, tight with panic. "Get back to the academy. Now. We're under attack."I ran. My dhampir speed carried me through the trees faster than thought. But even as I ran, I felt more deaths through the bloodline. Felt the academy's shields failing. Felt something massive tearing through our defenses like they were paper.The Old Court had returned. And this time, they'd brought everything.I burst from the forest to see the academy under siege. The sky was dark with their forces—not just the twisted creatures, but the Court themselves. Morrigan floated above the main tower, her black eyes blazing, her pale hands weaving magic that cracked reality itself.And below, fighting desperately, were m

"Felix was possessed the entire time."Elysia's voice came out flat, emptied of everything. She sat among the rubble of the council chamber, her emerald dress torn, her ice-blonde hair matted with dust and blood. "Since the curse broke. Since he woke up. He wasn't my brother. He was a puppet. And I didn't see it."Her hands were shaking. She pressed them against her thighs, but they trembled anyway."None of us saw it," I said. The words felt useless. "The Old Court hid him well. Made sure we'd trust him. Made sure we'd bring him into our inner circle.""I brought him in." Elysia's emerald eyes were dry. Too dry. Like she'd gone past tears into something colder. "I vouched for him. Protected him. Let him hear every plan we made. Every weakness we discussed. And all the while, he was feeding everything to them."Through the bloodline, I felt the academy. Felt the vampires processing what had happened. Felt their fear spike as they realized how deeply the Old Court had infiltrated us."