Page 106 of Veinblood
What if I didn't have to settle for helping Sacha reclaim his father's throne? What if I built something new instead? Something without the weaknesses that let the Authority rise in the first place?
My eyes shift to the Lirien Spire, and I can almost see it. They would follow me now. I brought them here. I showed them how to take the city. We could take more. We could ensure no one ever lives under the Authority's fear again.
I could build a world where people like me—people who never belonged anywhere—finally have a place. The vision is beautiful. And I want it so much it steals my breath.
“Of course, we’d need to remove the more … sentimental obstacles first,” Sereven continues. “My dear brother’s attachment to the old ways has always been his weakness. He would never stand by and allow you to build something better. But once he’s dealt with, you will see how much clearer everything becomes without his influence clouding your judgment.”
Sacha. He wants to kill Sacha.
The words hang in the air between us. For one heartbeat … just one terrible heartbeat … I imagine it. A world where I don't have to watch Sacha struggle with the weight of his duty. Where I don't have to see him make the same mistakes that destroyed hisfamily. Where the choice is simple. Unlimited power, or the man who summoned me to use me.
The temptation is so strong it makes me sick. The yes forms in my throat.
Then I see Sacha broken and dying in that cage, his body destroyed by Sereven's torture. Our first kiss, electric and desperate and completely unplanned. The shock on every face when he knelt before me. The way he says my name like it's sacred.
He loves me. Not because I'm useful. Because I'm me.
Whatever manipulation brought us together, what we built from it was real.
White-hot rage explodes through me, burning away the temptation. Every word, every false promise. He wants me to choose power over love, ambition over loyalty. But that's what makes me better than him. Sacha and I didn't build our connection through schemes or manipulation. It happened by accident when I touched his familiar. Neither of us planned for it. We simply chose what to do with it.
And I will burn this world to ash before I let Sereven take that away from me.
"You're wrong. About all of it."
“Am I? Then prove it. Strike me down. End the threat I represent to your new allies. Or come with me. Leave this place before your prince arrives to claim the throne you’ve won for him.”
The crystal fragments in his face pulse, and his entire body convulses. When the spasm passes, he’s paler, blood running more freely from his nose and the corners of his eyes. Butsomething else has changed. The air around him hums with deadly energy.
“Last chance, Elowen. Stand with me, or watch everything you care about burn.”
His threat shatters the last of my confusion and doubt. Lightning erupts from my fingers, silver bolts searing through the air toward him.
He doesn’t move.
Shadows launch from his body. They swallow my lighting completely and the crystal shards in his face flare brighter.
“Shadows,” I breathe. “But you can’t use Shadowvein abilities.”
“Can’t I?” He raises one hand, and flames dance around his palm. “The crystal contains it all, Elowen. Every gift, every strength, every drop of potential. They live on through me.”
Horror crashes over me.
“No!” I launch another bolt, this one aimed directly at his chest.
Stone rises from the ground, and the lightning hits it, splitting it down the middle with a crack that echoes around the plaza.
“Impressive, but if you’re not going to submit to me, then there is only one other option for you.” Wind whips around him as he advances. “My turn.”
Flamevein fire roars toward me. I dive behind the fountain as blue flames wash over the stone, hot enough to crack it. Before I can recover, Earthvein power sends stone spikes erupting where I'm crouched. I roll aside, feeling one graze my shoulder.
This isn't possible. The crystal absorbs power. It doesn’t wield it.
“You can’t hide forever,” he calls, and I can hear the strain in his voice. Whatever the crystal has done to him, it comes with a price.
I leap up, sending lightning at his feet. The bolt strikes stone, and the crystal flares brighter, growing in intensity.
“No,” I whisper. It’s not only deflecting my power, it’sfeedingon it.
