DAXOS
They thought the chains would hold me.
They wrapped my arms in cursed iron, pressed spell after spell into my skin, carved wards across my back that boiled when I so much as breathed too loud.
But magic doesn't contain obsession.
It just feeds it.
And I have had a hundred years to starve.
A hundred years to feel her soul rise again.
They thought locking me away in this underground tomb would keep me blind.
But I felt her the second she took her first breath.
Felt the curse that bound her wrapped around her like a shroud. Magic meant to keep her hidden from me. From herself. From the world.
They said the Emberborn line had been extinguished.
They lied.
Because her flame still burns.
And it burns for me.
You came.
I said it into the void the first time I felt her truly connect. When her bond flared and my power surged against the chains, trying to crawl to her like a hound on a blood trail.
When she let me in… even for a second…
I tasted her.
And gods forgive me I almost lost control.
Once, I stood at the center of the Council.
Not beneath them.
Not beside them.
Above them.
I was their weapon.
The beast they called upon when wars went sideways.
I broke kingdoms with my bare hands. I made emperors kneel and begged for more blood. And they loved me for it until they realized I couldn't be chained and controlled when her soul was with mine.
I met her soul before I met her face.
In visions. Dreams. Flares of wild, unshaped fire that screamed for a mate.
The High Seer told them: She is his balance. His madness and his salvation.
And they panicked.
Because you can't control a god when he's in love.
They took her from me before I could ever touch her.
Sealed her powers. Buried her bloodline.
And locked me away.
Because they feared what we'd become.
They were right to fear it.
I pace this cage now like a wolf in too-small bones.
The walls hum with the magic meant to subdue me, but they can't block the bond anymore. She's opened it. She's cracked the lock.
And with every Trial she wins, I feel it more.
That power. That rage. That fire.
Every time her heart races?
It echoes in mine.
Every time she moans?
I ache with the need to sink my teeth into her throat and claim her.
And now… they've postponed the Trials.
Because of her.
Because they saw it.
They saw the mark of me.
They know what's coming.
"Daxos will never be free again."
"The Emberborn girl is too dangerous."
They sit in their glass tower and speak lies to hide their fear. But I hear them.
They're not trying to keep her safe.
They're trying to stop her from becoming.
From awakening us.
From reaching the seat of power that was always hers to claim.
Because once she sits on the Council?
She will burn them from the inside out.
And I will help her.
With my blood.
With my blade.
With my seed.
The last vision she gave me…
Gods, I can still taste her lips.
The fury in her.
The way she told the others to fuck off—even as their marks bled into her skin.
She let them in, but she hasn't given herself to them. Not really.
Not the way she was promised to me.
They think they've claimed her?
No.
She belongs to me.
And when I'm free, I will remind them.
I will fuck her with my claws wrapped around her throat while they watch.
I will make her scream my name while their marks fade to nothing beneath mine.
I will knot her so full of cum, her womb forgets how to belong to anyone else.
And when she carries my heir?
They will kneel.
Or I'll rip them apart.
I sit in the center of the cage and close my eyes.
Because even through the silence…
She's still there.
Flickering.
Unsteady.
But rising.
You feel it now, don't you, flameheart?
You feel what we are.
*************************************************
Council Chambers
"She's not bound to him. Not completely."
"Not yet."
"We must remove her before the bond finalizes."
"We'd be condemning one of our own."
"We condemned Daxos the second he turned against us."
"She doesn't even know the truth."
"Then she won't miss it when she dies."
**************************************************
Back to Daxos
I feel the shift in the wardlines.
A spike of fear.
Of violence planned.
They're preparing something.
They're going to strike.
And they think I can't stop it.
They think I'll stay here, quiet and chained, while they murder the only thing that's ever mattered.
But the bond is burning.
And with every spark she sends through the threads…
My chains weaken.
I run a hand along the scar on my chest where they branded me.
The one that still bleeds when she cries.
And I smile.
Not sweetly.
Not kindly.
But with teeth.
Soon, flameheart.
Soon, I'll be free.
And when I am… the world will bleed for keeping you from me.
*********************************************
Valkhara
I smelled the wax before the knock came.
That cloying, bitter scent that always meant one thing: Council decree.
The parchment slipped under the door in silence, its black seal gleaming like poison.
Azric moved first, snatching it off the floor and slicing the wax with one clawed nail. His eyes scanned the words.
His jaw tensed.
"What?" I asked.
He didn't answer.
Sevrin was already on his feet, eyes narrowed. "Let me guess. They're canceling tomorrow's Trial."
Azric held out the scroll, his voice sharp. "Not canceling. Postponing."
I took the parchment and read:
By order of the High Blood Council:
Due to recent security breaches and internal restructuring, the Vampire Trials will be suspended for a period of no less than five days.
All contestants are instructed to remain within designated zones.
Any attempt to breach containment will result in immediate expulsion, or worse.
We appreciate your obedience during this time of transition.
- The High Blood Council
"Security breaches?" I echoed.
"Translation?" Nyra said from the couch, sipping something glowing. "You're too strong. They're shitting themselves."
"They're scared," Sevrin muttered. "She's winning. They're not ready to lose control."
Azric looked at me. "And they know she's bonded to more than just us."
"I didn't say anything," I said, voice low.
"They don't need you to." Nyra stood. "You glowed, Valkhara. In the last Trial. You glowed like the fucking gods were watching. They saw your power and they panicked."
I dropped the scroll and began pacing.
"They're not stalling for a reset," I said. "They're planning something."
Nyra nodded. "Maybe a replacement. Maybe a setup. Either way, they're trying to delay your rise."
Azric's voice was grim. "Because if you complete all the Trials and rise to the final circle, you earn a permanent seat on the Council."
"And once I'm on it," I finished, "they can't stop the bond. They can't touch me."
Sevrin cracked his knuckles. "Then we don't wait. We make them regret giving us time."
I turned sharply. "They want us to lash out. That gives them reason to disqualify me."
Nyra stepped closer, her expression darker now. "What you need, flameheart, is leverage."
"I don't have any."
She arched a brow. "Oh, but you do."
Azric stiffened. "You're not talking about the forest."
"I'm absolutely talking about the forest."
Sevrin hissed, actually hissed. "That place is cursed."
"It's alive," Nyra said. "It remembers. And it protects its own."
I looked between them. "What's in the forest?"
Nyra smiled. "Not yet. But soon."
She turned to the window, eyes scanning the treetops just past the castle's edge.
"You've got five days, Valkhara. The Council just handed you the perfect opening. If you want to survive what's coming? You'll need more than fire and fangs."
That night, I couldn't sleep.
The bond was too loud.
Sevrin paced the room like a predator, shirtless, eyes stormy.
Azric sat in the window frame, silent, reading my thoughts with a smirk he didn't bother to hide.
"You're thinking about the third," he said quietly.
I didn't deny it.
Sevrin growled. "Of course she is. He's in her head."
"He's in yours too," I shot back. "Every time you scowl, it's him."
He crossed the room in three long strides, towering over me. "I'm not afraid of him."
"No," I whispered. "You're afraid of what I'll do when he comes."
Azric didn't intervene.
Sevrin's jaw clenched, then dropped his head.
"He touched you in your sleep."
"I didn't let him."
"That doesn't mean he didn't mark you."
Silence.
Then Azric stood and walked to the bed.
"Enough," he said softly. "We're not fighting each other. Not when she's the one being hunted."
Nyra's voice rang out from the adjoining room. "Say it louder for the Council spies in the walls!"
Sevrin barked a laugh. I cracked a smile.
Azric pulled me into his lap. "Let them postpone the Trials. Let them fear you."
"Because they should," Sevrin muttered, sliding into bed behind me. "They don't know what you really are."
"Not yet," I whispered.
"But they will."