All Chapters of THE NIGHT MY MATE BURNED ME ALIVE : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

​The first dragon didn't descend—it tore through the mountain like a dying star.​The subterranean chamber groaned, the bedrock buckling under my boots as a sickening, low-frequency shockwave rattled through the stone floor. Clouds of ancient dust cascaded from the vaulted ceiling, blinding and choking the front ranks of the infantry. Red-armored soldiers stumbled, losing their balance in the haze, while even the translucent, writhing shapes of the Veil-creatures recoiled into the shadows.​When the beast landed, its impact sheared directly into the vein of raw red crystal running through the center of the cavern.​Plates of midnight-black scales armored its colossal frame, but beneath the heavy ridges, veins of liquid magma pulsed with a rhythmic, furious light. Plumes of acrid grey smoke billowed from its nostrils as it lowered its massive, crested skull until its snout nearly brushed the stone before the First Queen.​The Queen lifted the Crown Blade, the ancient steel catching the

The free fall felt endless, stone scraping violently against my shoulders while air rushed past my face in a deafening tear. Blindly reaching out into the dark, my hand found Kael’s forearm. His fingers locked around mine with bruising force.​“Don't let go!”​“I'm trying!”​Before I could anchor us, an enormous weight slammed down from above—Vaelor. The dragon crashed down through the narrow shaft, folding his leathered wings tight around us an instant before we hit the bottom. The impact drove every drop of air from my lungs in a dull, sickening thud.​For several breathlessness seconds, nothing existed except the high-pitched ringing in my ears and the stench of crushed stone. Beside me, a wet cough broke the dark.​“Everyone alive?” Kael choked out.​“I'm here,” Aster called from somewhere to my left.​A groan echoed from the far corner—the other Seraphina. “Unfortunately.”​A breathless laugh cut through my chest despite the horror of it all, but it died the second the metallic t

"I do."​My other self's answer had barely cleared her lips before the blackness beyond the threshold rippled.​Then come to me.​The voice carried a soft, familiar cadence—the quiet edge Lyra used whenever she was terrified but refused to show it, the gentle weight in her tone when I used to be reckless as a child. My chest tightened until breathing felt like swallowing glass.​"Mother?" I whispered.​Kael's fingers clamped around my forearm like an iron vise. "Don't."​"That's her," I urged, pulling hard against his weight.​"No." His focus never drifted from the doorway. "It sounds like her."​"What's the difference?"​"The woman you knew would've dragged herself back to you," Kael muttered, his jaw working as his grip tightened further. "This thing is sitting in the dark, waiting for you to walk right into its mouth."​A pale hand emerged from the shadow, its long fingers catching the faint light, followed by another. A woman stepped into the open air of the chamber, and my knees

​I knew before I even made a move. That wasn't Kael.​Every instinct begged me to believe otherwise. My heart reached out, dragging up memories I hadn't asked for—the broad line of his shoulders when he stood between me and a blade, the familiar warmth of his palm against mine, that infuriating half-smile he wore whenever I accused him of worrying too much. But the man standing before me carried none of that soul. He had Kael’s sharp jawline, Kael’s low voice, Kael’s physical frame, yet the vital, pulsing core of him was hollowed out.​The Crown Blade thrummed in my grip, its edge humming against my palms.​"You finally see me," the stranger said, his lips curling into a dry smile.​I completed my turn, keeping the burning steel planted firmly between us. "Where is Kael?"​His dark eyes narrowed, glinting with a quiet, condescending amusement. "You're asking the wrong question again."​"Where is he?"​"Safe."​I shifted my stance, my knuckles turning white around the hilt. "That's not

​The hand shot through the raw tear in the fabric before my fingers could retreat, black fingers clamping around my wrist with a shock of dead, numbing cold. I screamed, driving the crimson edge of the Crown Blade downward with every ounce of panic left in my chest. It struck his forearm with a dull hiss, black blood splattering across the cold stone, and he recoiled into the shadows. My other self slammed into my side, her arms wrapping tight around my waist to haul me backward across the floor.​"Move!" she snarled.​We scrambled away from the opening, but Kael was still half-submerged in the swirling smoke of the Veil, his fingers locked desperately around mine as the dark void fought to drag him under. I dug my heels into the earth and pulled with everything I had left, my voice cracking raw.​"Kael!"​His face twisted in agony, sweat plastered across his forehead as the abyss tugged relentlessly at his waist. "Don't let go!"​"I'm trying!"​From the shifting fog of the memory bey