Page 150 of Burning Heir

Everything in me that was still alive shattered. “I couldn’t feel you anymore.”

He took two steps closer, keeping the distance between us. “The Forgotten discovered I was harboring a lindworm. They planned to kill it… to take reign of a title. They knew I’d be at the bid.”

“My mother—she’s working with the Forgotten. She sent the snake after me—”

But he’d seen itthrough our bond.

Damien. Damien was dead. It was a crushing realization. How could I tell him that the blood soaked into the shredded leather wasn’t mine?

He kept his eyes low. “You’re safe, and that’s all that matters.”

“You kept it.”

“When I found the snake in your room, I knew it had chosen you, but I didn’t think you were ready, and I was not… ready to lose you. But there is still a chance the mark might reject you—it’s been three days, and you’ve had a fever ever since.”

“Archer—” Tears welled in my eyes. “Damien got spliced. He’s dead, and I could not save him.”

His fingers around the air. “Damien went with you?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

I didn’t think shadows could break, but dark fragments chipped like flakes from his fingers. “I’ll send a letter to Victor,” he said.

A sheer silk blanket covered my bruised body. I was still in the Night realm—an eternal sunset blanketed the horizon as I gazed out the window.

“Am I a Serpent?” The question felt wrong—beyond wrong. I hardly knew how to shield or even control my quell.

Archer slowly nodded. “It’s complicated, Severyn. You killed the lindworm in my realm… but the way it was done was unnatural and forced. It’s normally a spectacle.”

Night. I was the heir to Night.

“What about your barter with Victor? Will my father survive?” My mind raced in a million different directions.

“I’m not sure. The Forgotten broke through my wards along with the Malvoria guards.” His face fell briefly. “You are a Serpent, Severyn.”

“Who will be the heir to Ravensla?” I knotted my fingers in the silk blanket, barely holding on as every second thought drifted back to Damien.

You are a Serpent. Damien is dead. Archer is alive.Those three thoughts whirled in circles, over and over.

“There are still eleven Summer students alive. One will take the title, or the cycle will repeat next year. It could take years.”

“You suspected I’d claim your title.” It wasn’t entirely a question. “You kept it for me, didn’t you?”

Archer was silent for a moment. “Gemini dragons are rare, but they cannot be separated—not realms apart, like they once were decades before. That flame Naraic gave you was Veravine’s, and then it was Klaus’s, and now it is yours.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” I said. “You said I had a choice!”

He closed his eyes briefly, and a look of defeat crossed his features. “When I was marked with stars that first day, I knew I could never change… I despised myself for what I was. Klaus was marked with the Unknown, but the headmaster placed him in Summer. When we found the dragons, we knew one of us had been placed in the wrong realm. Cain advocated for Klaus to be moved to Night, but Saani wouldn’t let him leave. Klaus was a Seeker… he saw things—morbid predictions—and it consumed him. You would have been sent to Malvoria if I hadn’t placed you under my mentorship.”

“So, what, you die, and I claim your title?”

“I don’t plan on dying anytime soon. You will work under me as my second in line, and I will train you. We will need to work on your shadows.” His blue eyes dimmed.

I couldn’t think of the after. Even tomorrow seemed terrifying… I was barely gripping the present.

“Damien—can you send someone to retrieve his body? They deserve a proper burial.”

“It’s customary for the parents of the students to hold the burial. It’s out of my hands.”

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