Page 99 of Bound to the Dreadlord

I need to get to her first.

36

SERA

Ifeel it slithering through the stone walls, coiling around my heart, pressing against my throat. The dark elves have been watching me differently—some with hunger, some with fear, others with something worse.

The rumors of a siren are spreading.

They shouldn’t be.

I haven’t sung. Not since that night. Not since the guard died screaming at my feet.

I clutch my arms to keep from shaking. I should run. But I don’t. I already know the truth—there is nowhere to go.

The shadows shift. He’s here.

Veylan moves through the corridor with purpose, his steps measured, his silver gaze dark. His presence swallows the space, sucking the air from the halls. He hasn’t come to see me in days. Not since…

I shake my head, trying not to recall those memories of that night.

His gaze locks onto mine, and I don’t recognize the look in his eyes. Not anger. Not desire. Something worse.

Before I can react, his fingers snatch my wrist, iron-tight and unyielding. I don’t get a chance to resist. He yanks me forward, dragging me down the corridor.

"Where—" I choke on the words. "What are you doing?"

He doesn’t answer.

The fortress moves around us in a blur, the torches flickering against obsidian walls, the whispers of soldiers echoing in the halls. No one stops him. No one dares.

Veylan’s grip is unrelenting, his silence dangerous.

We reach the war chamber.

The heavy doors swing open, and then he’s throwing me inside, slamming them shut behind him.

The room is vast—maps sprawled across a long oak table, daggers and swords embedded into its surface. The scent of steel lingers, mixing with the lingering tension between us.

He stands there for a moment, staring at me.

Then he speaks.

“I have to kill you.”

The words should terrify me.

They don’t.

I laugh. A sharp, humorless sound that rattles in my throat.

"You should have done it a long time ago."

His jaw tightens.

I step forward. "So do it, Dreadlord. If that's what you brought me here for, get it over with."

Something dark flickers in his gaze.

---