Page 131 of Severed Heir

“Damien…” My voice cracked. I looked to where Archer had been sleeping. “Where is he?”

“Oh, he ran after the beast,” Damien said with a shrug.

“What?”

He sighed. “I’m sorry you have the luxury of sleeping through attacks. We’ve been awake for hours. Honestly, it’s been kind of nice having a heart-to-heart with my big brother.”

I thrust my palm forward, the flame sparking to life. “Get back!”

The dweller didn’t flinch, it lunged.

Its shackled paw tore through the flimsy shelter we’d built from branches and leaves. Its hot breath hit my chest. It reeked of iron and decay.

“I am… the heir of Night,” I whispered, trying to command. Trying to believe it mattered. “Stand down.”

Damien’s bitter laugh echoed beside me. “You think it understands titles?”

I needed heat. I needed light. Anything to drive the cold back.

“Well, I don’t know!”

The beast slammed its paw into my chest. Something cracked deep inside, maybe my ribs, hopefully nothing worse.

“Kill it,” I gasped, locking onto the dagger in Damien’s hand. “Damien, please—kill it.”

“Its claw’s too close to your vein,” he said. “If I strike, the venom might flood your system.”

“So?” My voice cracked, pain searing through me in waves. “Then do something.”

“If it dies, more will come.”

Suddenly, a dagger sliced through the mist and buried itself in the creature’s side. It shrieked, then collapsed on top of me.

“I can’t breathe—no, really,” I gasped, squirming beneath the weight. “It’s too heavy.”

Then Archer was there.

He dragged the beast off me, tossing it aside with a grunt. “You’re hurt,” he breathed, his gaze raking over me twice. “Where did it strike you?”

“Archer…” I rasped. “It scratched me.”

“Severyn, you’re okay,” he said, pulling me close. “We’ll get you to Malvoria. They have healers.”

Even through the fog, the name made me flinch.

“Severyn is a runaway guard,” Damien cut in, his tone clipped. “And let’s not forget she broke into their prison and kidnapped one of their journalists.”

I drifted in and out, the ground shifting beneath me like it couldn’t decide whether to hold me or let me go. My fingers clawed at the dirt, desperate to stay tethered to something real, something solid. But the edges of the world were slipping, blurring, and deep down, I knew what was happening. I wasfalling into a nightmare, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

“I’m fine,” I whispered, though I knew I wasn’t.

Archer pressed his palm to my chest. “You’re bleeding internally. You’ve been poisoned. This can’t wait. We’ll find your mother later.”

“No,” I murmured. “They might send you back. The prison—”

Light broke through the canopy, casting a gold halo over Archer’s soot-streaked face. “How far is her mother?” he barked.

Damien hesitated. “A ways up. I—I lost her voice during the night.”

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