جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 64

Black soot and decades of rotted dust choked the narrow servant’s flue, but the space was wide enough for Lucian to press his body flush against mine as we climbed. The heat radiating off his chest felt suffocating against the freezing air slipping through the stone cracks. Every shift of his muscles mirrored mine in the tight space. One massive, calloused hand stayed curved firmly around my waist, his thumb pressed flat over the velvet fabric of my gown—right over the secret heir he now knew I carried."They are already halfway down the stairs," Lucian whispered, his breath a low, gravelly vibration against my ear."I hear them," I breathed back, my heightened sensory perception locking onto the chaotic sounds echoing from the cellar below.Through the thick stone walls of the flue, my twin stepbrothers were playing their parts perfectly, driven by nothing but raw, pathetic terror. Heavy thuds of iron-reinforced wine casks slamming against the floorboards shattered the silence around

The mountain wind howled through the narrow stone gaps of the northern ridge, carrying a thick flurry of frozen snow that stung my face. Black smoke from the ruined Ashwood fortress was nothing but a distant, ugly smudge on the eastern horizon now.I kept my eyes fixed on the narrow trail ahead, my boots sinking deep into the fresh powder with every step. My hand was pressed flat against my stomach, feeling the subtle, warm pulse beneath the layers of my heavy winter cloak. The micro-fever was still buzzing faintly in my ears, but the freezing air helped numb the sharp aches in my muscles."You're falling behind, Serafine," a sharp voice called out from just a few paces ahead.I looked up to see Darius stopping on a patch of sheet ice, his arms wrapped tightly around his dented Beta armor as he shivered. "The rear guards are pushing too fast. If the wounded slip on this ridge, they’re going down into the ravine.""Then keep your feet planted and help them balance, Darius," I snapped,