Page 103 of Burning Heir

“Sabitha, grab her,” Detria hissed at the blonde girl, raising a hand. An invisible force slammed into me. Two scorpions jumped, one pinning the hem of my gown with its claw. “Not only are you a neval, but you are also bonded to the Serpent through your enigmas and a barter. How peculiar. It seems the price of her blood just doubled. Tell me who you are, or my scorpion will force it from you.”

Sabitha raised a golden ringed finger, willing the scorpion to snap its pincers.

“Tell him,” Archer said, that calmness still in his voice. “Scorpions draw from the soul. He’s already taken from us.”

“Severyn Blanche,” I said. “Daughter of Fallon Berret and the Northern Colindale Serpent.”

The scavengers hissed, scurrying in place like rabid wolves. Detria raised a brow. “Reveal your face. Let me see.” He approached me, ripping the cloak off my head with three bony fingers.

His thumb brushed my trembling jaw before a shadowed claw roped his wrist, bounding him back. “Do not touch her,” Archer growled.

The scavenger with the scar on her cheek grinned, her excitement as vile as her rasping voice. “Fallon was worth every piece of gold when she was bought. I only wish I’d been the one to find her.”

I froze. “My mother… was bought?”

“The price of being a neval,” Detria said coldly. “Severyn is already marked in the eyes of our buyer. She’s worthless to us now.”

“Who’s buying nevals?” My voice shook, and I struggled to choke down the tears threatening to spill. “It’s just a birthmark—it means nothing!”

But the truth clawed at my chest. My mother was bartered like a trinket.

Detria’s voice dropped, edged with disdain. “The neval mark comes from a single bloodline, much like our scorpion enigmas. If someone wants all the nevals, it’s not our concern what they do after we catch one.” His gaze slid to Archer. “I couldn’t care less whether Severyn lives or dies, but I’d watch yourself, Serpent. Being bonded to something like that could stain your reputation. Anything worth hunting is only good for food… or gold.”

Another scavenger, his dirt-caked fingers curling like talons, sneered. “We’ll gladly take her off your hands, sir. We know plenty of places to bury her bones.”

The Bribers vanished, their spheres cracking against the ground, and the scavengers spread out, muttering strange chants under their breath. Panic rose in my throat as my knees gave out, the weight of my silk gown folding beneath me.

Kian reached me first, his hand steady on my shoulder. “Bastards,” he spat. “They’ve got no dignity. Don’t let them get to you. My father’s probably already tracking them. They won’t get far. For the record, I think your neval mark is badass.”

I could barely hear him over the pounding in my ears. “Did you know?” I asked Archer. “Did you know my bloodline was hunted?”

Archer’s expression remained unreadable. “All marks mean something,” he said carefully. “We don’t know much about nevals. Klaus had the mark, but we never left the academy. Your mother has it too—” He broke off, flicking his wrist.

In a blink, we stood in the shadow of his estate near the gardens.

“A scavenger either found your mother or stole her,” he said at last, his voice low. “It’s hard to believe Lynwood’s claim that she was born among scavengers. It’s unheard of for them to have quells. Whoever her parents were, they didn’t want to be found.”

I clutched my arms to still their trembling. “Or they were killed. They said their buyer already has me.” My voice cracked, my vision swimming with the blur of Archer’s blue eyes as he leaned closer.

I needed answers, but I couldn’t risk the academy’s expulsion by leaving to find my mother. My mother had hidden me, locked me away in North Colindale. She knew. She must have known.

Had she married my father, hoping his blood would suppress hers? Had she hoped the griffin riders’ weaker bloodline would shield me from whatever curse I carried?

Archer’s voice pulled me from my spiraling thoughts. “I’m with you, Severyn. I will… protect you with my life. I swear it.”

His words carried an unfamiliar softness that sent a shiver down my spine, though I wasn’t sure if it was fear or something else. Before I could respond, Kian’s voice broke through the tension, his steps hurried as he jogged toward us.

“You could’ve portaled me too, ass. Iamyour brother.”

Archer turned, his irritation flickering as he pointed a hand at Kian, showering him in faint starlight. “Not now, Kian.”

I pressed a hand to my stomach, nausea twisting with the weight of everything. As I doubled over, Archer’s cool shadow grazed my forehead, soothing the worst of it.

“Who uses Bribers?” I asked, my voice strained.

Archer’s composure held firm. “The Bribers cause trouble across the realms. Serpents sometimes pay them to settle debts or failed bids.” He hesitated, as though choosing his next words carefully.

“Are you warded from speaking about it?” I pressed. “I deserve to know. I’m not weak, Archer.” His hand, steady and deliberate, moved to the small of my back.

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