Page 131 of Dissection of Immortal Hearts
“I covered for you when you helped the former Oracle escape. I protected you when you shared sensitive information with Korovin and his group. But this theft? It wasn’t my secret to keep – she found out from someone else.”
Her gaze flitted between his face and the sword in his hand.Sevar was swift,tooswift. One misstep, and he’d have her head.
“After years of lies and manipulation, you’ve decided to get rid of me?!” she cried out.
His expression remained impassive. “You have no idea what this is doing to me.”
A mad laugh bubbled from her throat. “What it’s doing toyou?”
“I’ll ask you again – why did you steal from her?”
“Sevar, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Her voice echoed through the underground tunnel. He wasn’t the only target for her anger. She was also mad at herself. Hadn’t she expected it all along? Not necessarily at Sevar’s hand, nor with the ease with which he executed every command from the Queen, but still…
A crease formed between his eyebrows. “Don’t bother denying it, Kathrine. Your fate is sealed.”
He stepped closer.
Her fate was sealed?
Rage flared in her chest. The Queen had ruled over her childhood, shaping her behaviour to match her mould, and had forced her to kill. Sevar and the Queen had dictated every decision she’d made.
Would she now also allow them to decide the manner of her death?
“Don’t do anything stupid, my violet love,” Sevar growled, raising her sword.
He’d trained her to surpass everyone – except him. He held the blade, the physical strength, and the advantage of surprise.
Adrenaline coursed through her veins. Kathrine spun on her heel and bolted down the tunnel. Sevar was better in every way, but that didn’t mean she would meet her end on his or the Queen’s terms.
The tunnel split into two paths, and she veered right. Bothroutes were dead ends, and both led to her death. But at least she would die under the open sky.
Darkness enveloped her as she went further into the tunnel. The air grew thick with the smell of salt, accompanied by the distant sound of crashing waves. Her footsteps echoed, matching the rapid beat of her heart.
Rounding a sharp bend, she came upon the metal gate. Cold air brushed her skin when she reached the iron bars, the open night sky beyond drawing her gaze. Below, waves roared and smashed against the cliffs.
Beyond the gate, freedom lay.
“I thought you were smarter than this.” Sevar’s bulky frame filled the tunnel behind her. “That gate’s been locked for years. No one’s ever managed to open it.”
But she wasn’t trying to escape. Her last wish was to breathe in Antambazi’s essence – the realm she cherished above all else.
Kathrine whirled to confront him, adopting a defensive stance.
“This could be quick and painless.” His footsteps echoed off the walls. “Or it could drag on.”
She glanced around, desperate for anything she could use as a weapon. There was nothing.
“Why did you propose to me?” she asked. He approached, the sliver of moonlight illuminating his face. “Because she told you to, didn’t she?”
“Kathrine…” His chiselled features, sharp as a sculptor’s masterpiece, had been a source of wonder since her childhood. But now, her fiancé was no longer the most handsome man in Antambazi. He was the greatest of traitors.
In a flash, Sevar was upon her. The blade whistled through the air. Kathrine crouched and sprang back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something dark fall to the floor.
When he stooped to pick it up, she recognised her braid. Shetouched her scalp, discovering the remnants of her once-high ponytail.
Damn the heavens. If she’d hesitated a moment longer, her head would have been hanging from his hand.
Sevar pocketed the braid. His eyes were an abyssal emptiness – a void in which, for years, she’d foolishly imagined emotions.
