Page 95 of Severed Heir

His brows drew together, curls falling across his jaw. “The one you talked about... he’s alive?”

“It’s just—” I cut off, the words snagging in my chest as my gaze caught on a figure across the crowd. “He’s…”

There was Knox, leaning against the railing.

“Severyn!” he shouted, already barreling through the crowd until he crashed into me.

“Gods, Severyn—I thought you were dead.”

“Knox,” I breathed, gripping him tight. “I’ve missed you so much.”

He pulled back, then brushed a speck of dirt from his face. “I’m sorry... about Malachi. I hardly saw her after the snake dove into the tunnel. I should have stayed by her side.”

My breath hitched. “How did she die?What happened?”

He shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. I didn’t even know she was gone until the headmaster said all the survivors were accounted for.”

I threw my arms around him again, holding on tighter. “I should’ve told you sooner how much you mean to me. After this—”

Damien’s voice crept into my mind.

“We’re both Serpents. Look how well things worked out for us, North? Did you enjoy our little game?”

I shifted away from Knox. “What’s the punishment for killing an heir?”

Knox raised a brow. “Ugh, probably war.”

“Great.”

“I’d advise against it,” he said, then glanced past me—toward the one person I prayed wasn’t standing there. “On second thought…”

A throat cleared from behind me. “Do you have a minute, Sev?” Damien asked.

There were many poisons in this world, but somehow, I had chosen the most intoxicating one the moment I looked into his hazel eyes.

“I need a moment,” I murmured to Knox, already moving.

I stumbled down into the belly of the ship, heart pounding like it was trying to outrun me. At the bottom of the stairs, I shoved open a narrow door, praying it led somewhere I could breathe.

The cold wood met my knees as I collapsed. The ship groaned beneath me, swaying with a slow, sick rhythm, like seasickness and sadness were the only ways left to feel something real. I curled in tighter, letting silence press in. I should’ve gone home. Instead, I was stuck on this godsdamned boat.

A shadow stretched across the floor. The stairs creaked. Then came three slow taps on the door, the same knock I’d heard a dozen times back at the academy.

Damien appeared in the archway, ducking to fit into the low-ceilinged room. “You could at least pretend to be happy to see me,” he said lightly.

“You were dead,” I whispered. “You didn’t wake up.”

“You saved me,” he said, as if that explained everything. “My father sent Archer a letter, apologizing for his son entering the realm. I thought he’d have told you by now. I wanted you to know... you can still trust me.”

My voice shook. “Archer is in prison. For treason.”

Damien didn’t flinch. “As he should be.”

I turned on him then, fury unraveling my control. “You messed with my head. You watched me spiral and said nothing. You were inside my mind, Damien. From that far away, how?”

He raked a hand through his damp hair, calmer than he had any right to be. “Remember the hot spring? When we kissed?”

I scoffed. “It was one kiss.”

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