Chapter 190: The Devil's Bargain (3)

Seraphine's POV

Around the circle, Silverwood warriors were shouting. Someone yelled, "For the Princess, we're willing to die!" Others were arguing, crying, begging. Roland stood frozen, face pale, staring at me with heartbroken understanding.

"No pressure," Damien said cheerfully, pressing the blade harder against my throat. A thin line of blood welled up, and I felt consciousness starting to slip away. "Just decide if you love your mate more than her dead father's honor. Simple choice, really."

Near the Shadowmere lines, Lucian grabbed Kaelen's shoulder, leaning in close to hiss something urgent. I couldn't hear the words, but I saw Kaelen's expression crack, saw the absolute horror flash across his face as he understood what accepting this condition would mean.

Cordelia appeared on his other side, her voice carrying clearly across the courtyard. "It's a trap! He's trying to make you betray her people, destroy the trust between you! Don't let him win like this!"

But Damien just laughed, high and manic, clearly delighted by the chaos. "Oh, this is perfect! Look at you all scrambling, trying to find a way out that doesn't exist!" He grabbed my hair again, yanking my head back to expose my throat more fully. "She's dying, by the way. Blood loss, silver poisoning—I give her maybe ten more minutes before she's too far gone to save. So tick-tock, Alpha. Make your choice."

Kaelen's hands were tearing up the ground beneath him, claws leaving deep gouges in the gravel. His whole body trembled with barely contained violence, fur spreading across his shoulders and back as the beast fought for control. I watched his face twist with agony, watched him struggle between impossible choices, and wanted to die just to end his suffering.

From the Silverwood lines, Roland's voice rang out, thick with tears. "Princess... we never feared death. We've been ready since the moment Silverwood fell." His voice broke. "But please... please don't let him destroy you like this. Don't let him make the Alpha betray everything you believe in."

Other voices joined his, Silverwood warriors calling out their willingness to die, begging me not to let Kaelen do this, pleading for me to just let them sacrifice themselves rather than poison the bond between Kaelen and me forever.

"How touching," Damien said, his voice dripping with false sentiment. "Such loyalty! Such devotion! It almost makes me want to cry." He pressed the dagger harder against my throat, and I felt blood running hot down my neck. "But I don't give a fuck about your feelings. What I want is to watch the mighty Kaelen Thorne murder innocent people for love. So make your choice already."

I stared at Kaelen across the blood-soaked ground, trying to tell him with my eyes what I couldn't say with words. Let me go. Please. Just let me go. But I could see his answer already, could see the determination hardening in his crimson gaze, could see him making the choice that would haunt him forever.

Jason and Derek had moved closer, flanking Kaelen, ready to restrain him if he lost control completely. The beast was so close to the surface now that fur covered most of his visible skin, fangs extending past his lips, claws fully shifted and dripping blood from where they'd shredded his own palms.

"Ten seconds," Damien announced cheerfully. "Then I start cutting pieces off her. Maybe an ear first? Or a finger? What do you think would hurt most?"

The courtyard had gone deathly silent except for my labored breathing and the distant crackle of flames from the burning manor. Everyone stood frozen, waiting for Kaelen's answer, knowing that whatever he chose would change everything.

I watched him through blurred vision, watched him struggle with the impossible choice, watched the exact moment something inside him broke. His shoulders sagged, his head dropped forward, and when he looked up again his eyes had gone completely feral.

"Wait," he said, the word barely human. "Wait. I'll—"

"Excellent!" Damien cut him off, practically bouncing with manic glee. "I knew you'd see reason!" He released my hair, letting my face hit the gravel again, then stood up and began pacing. "See how easy that was? Just a little pressure, and even the mighty monster learns to heel."

He walked a slow circle around me, dragging out the moment, clearly enjoying every second of torment he was inflicting. When he spoke again, his voice had gone light, almost casual, like discussing the weather.

"These two conditions... they're really quite reasonable when you think about it." He stopped to examine the dagger, wiping my blood off the blade with his thumb. "Money can be earned back, right? And loyal warriors—well, they're dead weight anyway. Matthias is gone, Silverwood fell, these people are just remnants clinging to a dead dream."

I lay there trembling in my own blood, barely conscious, listening to him reduce my father's legacy and my people's devotion to nothing. Shame and horror mixed with the physical agony until I couldn't tell which hurt worse.

"They're already living on borrowed time," Damien continued, his tone reasonable, persuasive, like he was making a logical argument instead of condemning people to death. "What's the point of dragging it out? Quick death is mercy, really. Better than starving in those border ruins waiting for an Alpha who's never coming back."

Near the Shadowmere lines, Lucian had gone very still, his whole body radiating tension as he watched Damien pace. I saw calculation in his eyes, saw him trying to anticipate what came next, saw him realize something that made his face go pale.

"The thing is..." Damien stopped pacing and turned to face Kaelen directly, and something in his expression shifted. The manic grin faded slightly, replaced by something colder, more dangerous. "Before I give you my third condition, I need to ask you something."

The change in his tone made everyone tense. The casual cruelty was gone, replaced by something sharper, more focused. He moved back toward me and crouched down, one hand tangling in my hair again to lift my head, forcing me to stay conscious for whatever came next.

"A simple question, really," Damien said, his voice dropping to something almost conversational. "Just need to clear something up before we finish our negotiations."

He paused, the silence stretching out painfully. The only sounds were the crackling flames from the burning manor and my own labored, wheezing breaths. Everyone stood frozen, waiting.

Damien's grip tightened in my hair, yanking my head up higher, making me look toward where Kaelen knelt. When he spoke again, his voice cut through the night with terrible clarity.

"Where's Vespera?"

The question hung in the air like a blade. I felt my heart stutter, confusion cutting through the pain and blood loss. Vespera? What did she have to do with anything?

"My assassin," Damien continued, his voice hardening. "My weapon. The tool I spent years training, perfecting, shaping into exactly what I needed." His hand twisted in my hair, wrenching my neck at a painful angle. "She was supposed to kill you during the Luna ceremony. Was supposed to carve you up in front of everyone and trigger the war I wanted."

He stood up, dragging me partially off the ground by my hair. I gasped, clawing weakly at his wrist, but I had no strength left.

"But she never reported back," Damien said, and there was genuine anger in his voice now, the manic performance dropping away to reveal something darker underneath. "Never confirmed the kill, never returned to base, just... vanished. And then I hear rumors—interesting rumors about a certain assassin being captured at Shadowmere."

He released my hair and I collapsed back into the blood-soaked gravel. Through fading vision, I watched him turn to face Kaelen fully, watched the two Alphas lock eyes across the courtyard.

"So before I tell you what my third condition is," Damien said, his voice dropping to something cold and deadly, "I need you to answer me one question, Kaelen Thorne."

Another pause, long and terrible, broken only by the crackling flames and my labored breathing.

"What the fuck did you do with Vespera?"