Chapter 192: The Third Condition (2)

Seraphine's POV

Marry Vespera?

The words didn't make sense. Like hearing them through water, distorted and wrong.

My brain struggled to process. He wants Kaelen to... what? That doesn't...

Then the silence shattered.

"Marry Vespera?!" Cordelia's scream ripped through the air. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

Damien's last condition held the Silverwood warriors in place, men who'd been prepared to meet their end. Death's shadow still loomed, but a new storm had already pulled their focus elsewhere.

The courtyard erupted. Silverwood warriors shouting, weapons rattling. I couldn't track it all through the silver burning in my veins.

He wants him to marry her. The woman who betrayed us. Who got Orion killed. Who helped trap me here.

Through the bond, Kaelen's emotions hit me like a freight train. Shock. Confusion. Something else I couldn't identify. Why isn't he denying it immediately?

He stood frozen. Blood-red eyes wide. Like someone had hit him with a sledgehammer.

Lucian grabbed his shoulder. "Don't listen to him! This is a trap!"

But Kaelen didn't respond. Just stared at Damien with that stunned expression.

Say something. Tell him to go fuck himself. Say anything.

The silence stretched. My heart pounded against my ribs.

Why. Isn't. He. Denying. It.

Then jealousy exploded through me. Hot and vicious and completely irrational. He's actually considering it. He's thinking about marrying her.

I wanted to scream. Wanted to rip this silver collar off and shift and tear something apart. The possessiveness was insane, overwhelming every rational thought.

He's mine. MINE. Not hers.

But I couldn't speak. Couldn't move. Could only lie there choking on blood and rage while Damien smiled like he'd won the lottery.

Jason and Derek moved in close, flanking Kaelen. Ready to restrain him if he lost it.

Damien raised his hand. The gesture casual. Like calming an excited crowd. "Let me clarify. This isn't what you're thinking."

He started pacing. That performative energy back in full force. "Vespera was your lover for eight years. She stood by your side through everything."

Eight years.

The number stabbed into my chest. They had eight years together. I've had him for what, a few months?

The jealousy intensified. Became something physical. A living thing clawing at my insides.

Through the bond, I felt Kaelen's emotions shift. Recognition. Memory. Something warm and complicated.

He's thinking about her. About their time together. He's...

I couldn't finish the thought. The rage was too intense.

"But in the end, you chose a foreign woman who barged into your life just a few months ago. That's not fair to her, don't you think?"

"No one would question you marrying her," Damien continued. "It makes perfect sense. But this time, Vespera returns as Ravencrest's ambassador."

He turned, gesturing theatrically. "She'll stand by your side. Appear at public events as your Luna."

Luna.

The word hit me harder than the torture. That's my position. That should be ME standing next to him. Not her. Not that backstabbing bitch.

The possessiveness was feral now. Animal. I wanted to shift and fight and claim what was mine. But the silver held me pinned. Helpless.

"She's a traitor!" Kaelen's voice finally broke through. Raw and desperate. "She got Orion killed!"

Damien smiled. Patient. Like explaining something to a child. "She's Ravencrest's ambassador. Who made sacrifices for peace."

He pointed at me. The knife in his hand caught firelight.

"In exchange, Seraphine stays here. As my political companion."

The world stopped.

Political companion. He means wife. He wants to marry me.

Ice flooded my veins. Cold terror drowning out everything else. My stomach lurched, threatening to empty what little was left in it.

This man killed my parents. Tortured me. And now he wants to...

I couldn't finish the thought. The nausea was overwhelming.

"That's imprisonment!" Roland's voice cut through my panic. "Not an exchange!"

Damien laughed. Light and easy. "I prefer to call it a perfectly balanced arrangement."

He kept pacing. Building momentum. "Silverwood and Ravencrest were allies with a long history of alliance, after all. If Sera and I marry, we're simply fulfilling Matthias's dying wish."

Dad's name. From his mouth.

Shame crashed over me. Hot and suffocating. This is what I've become. A bargaining chip in my father's name.

"If Vespera, my ambassador and friend, is harmed in Shadowmere," Damien crouched beside me, knife tip tracing my throat, "if she's abused or has an unfortunate accident..."

The blade pressed in. Not cutting. Just threatening. "I have every right to seek justice from my companion."

Companion. Wife. He's going to...

My mind rebelled against finishing that sentence. Against imagining what being Damien's "companion" would mean. What he would do to me. Every night.

The nausea intensified. I fought not to vomit.

"The same applies in reverse," Damien continued cheerfully. "If she dies, you can declare war. But of course, I'd never harm my future wife. She's so... fascinating. So beautiful, don't you think?"

His gaze traced over me possessively. "Besides, you'd retaliate. We both need peace, don't we?"

Lucian's voice cut through, tight with fury. "You're making her a permanent hostage."

"I prefer 'perfect balance,'" Damien smiled wider. "Insurance for peace between our packs."

Permanent. Forever trapped here. With him. While Kaelen...

The image formed unbidden. Kaelen waking up next to Vespera. Looking at her first thing every morning. Eight years of history between them.

And I'll feel it all through the bond. Every touch. Every moment.

Despair crashed over me. This wasn't just imprisonment. It was designed torture.

"There's one more detail," Damien stood, voice dropping to that dangerous softness, "that makes this arrangement so... secure."

He looked at Kaelen. Eyes gleaming with knowledge. "I know about the mate bond between you two."

"I know about the ancient curse," Damien continued, each word precise. Calculated. "If she dies, you die too. Correct?"

The courtyard went silent. Every warrior staring at Kaelen with new understanding.

I could even felt Kaelen's shock without the bond. His fear. He didn't want anyone knowing.

But more than that, I felt the trap closing. This is why Damien's so confident. He knows Kaelen can't let me die.

"So you see," Damien's voice filled with false sympathy, "this arrangement is remarkably humane. You'll never let her truly die. And neither will I."

He gestured between us. "Because her life is your life."

We're chained together. Even death isn't an escape.

The despair was absolute. Complete. I couldn't even choose to end this. The bond made sure of that.

"This isn't a threat, Kaelen." Damien's smile was gentle. Paternal. "It's protection."