Page 161 of Bound to the Dreadlord

I hate that she is right.

The torches behind her die out one by one, their light snuffed out by something unseen.

"Do you think you have changed your fate, little siren?" she murmurs. Mocking. Knowing.

I step forward, the bond between Veylan and me thrumming in the back of my mind. I could call for him. I should. But something tells me that this is for me alone.

The siren leans her head to the side, eyes flicking over me like she is peeling away my skin, my soul, my very essence.

"You have only begun to awaken."

Her voice warps. Shifts.

The fortress around me shudders.

The siren steps closer. The cold of her presence sinks beneath my skin, bleeding into my bones.

"Do you hear them?" she whispers.

I do.

Distant. Faint. A song.

Not one I am singing.

A chorus, deep beneath the earth. Beneath the sea.

"They are waking."

The siren leans in, her voice nothing but a breath against my ear.

"And they are coming for you and the ones you love."

My vision fractures. A flash of something—not the present. Not the past.

The future.

Blood.

Endless.

And a throne not meant for me—but taken.

The siren vanishes. I stagger back. My pulse hammers against my ribs.

What was that? What did I just see?

My breath comes too fast. My hands shake.

I am not alone anymore.

A new presence—one I know.

Veylan.

I barely register his hands on me, steadying me as I sway.

“Sera.” His voice is a low growl, filled with something he does not understand. “What just happened?”

---