Page 100 of Bound to the Dreadlord

I press on. Daring him.

"You want me dead? Or do you want me to suffer?"

A muscle in his jaw twitches. He doesn’t move.

That’s when I know.

He won’t do it.

He can’t.

Something inside me tightens, an ache I don’t understand. A thrill I should not feel.

Veylan exhales sharply, like I’ve somehow cut him without touching him. His voice, when it comes, is raw. Too raw.

“You don’t understand what you are.”

My heart clenches in pain. “Then tell me.”

His fingers flex at his sides, like he’s debating breaking something. Me. Himself. This moment.

Then he steps forward, closing the distance between us.

“You are dangerous.”

He lifts a hand, almost touching my throat—almost. But he stops himself.

“Hazeran is watching. He will not let this continue.”

Something cold spreads in my stomach.

“You mean he won’t let you continue.”

His lips curl, but there’s no amusement. “You think this is about me?”

I swallow, my pulse hammering in my throat. “Isn’t it?”

He shakes his head. His gaze is not the gaze of a conqueror. It is something worse.

“He’s already sent someone.”

The blood in my veins turns to ice.

“What?”

His fingers graze the hilt of his dagger, tension thrumming through his frame. “I dealt with it.”

That should reassure me. It doesn’t.

It means this is not over.

Hazeran will try again.

And next time, Veylan might not be there to stop it.

A different kind of fear grips me. Not of dying. But of what I will do to survive.

Veylan watches me for a long moment, as if he knows exactly what I am thinking.

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