Page 124 of Bound to the Dreadlord

I am going to betray her.

Twenty minutes later, the meeting is done.

The plan is set.

Tomorrow, we ride to war.

After leaving the war chamber, I leave her to the underground bunker. These tunnels are deep under the fortress and prepared for war.

We lay on the small bed together, but I do not sleep.

I hold Sera close, knowing that after tomorrow—she will never forgive me.

46

SERA

The fortress is alive with movement.

The final battle is coming. The Drazharel brothers gather their forces, sharpening blades, whispering strategies, preparing for war.

I should be doing the same.

But something is wrong.

Veylan is avoiding me.

Not openly. He is too careful for that. But I feel it. The shift in his touch, the weight behind his words. The way his eyes hold something back.

This is paranoia talking and I am imagining it.

I want to believe that.

So desperately.

But then I hear them.

The chamber door is cracked open.

Inside, the brothers speak in hushed tones.

I was not meant to be here. But fate has never been kind to me.

I stay in the shadows. I listen.

"The ritual is ready," Drathis murmurs. "The blood-binding will be completed by midnight."

"And the sacrifice?" Xalith’s voice. Low. Cold.

A heartbeat of silence.

"She is the only one that fits."

Veylan. Veylan says it.

The world stops turning for me.

His words crushes my heart like a boulder.

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