Chapter 131 - Forgive Us

Chapter 131 - Forgive Us
Chapter 29 - Forgive Us

Lyrielle POV

By the time the sun dipped below the courtyard windows, our suite looked like the aftermath of a fae fashion tornado.

Glitter. Perfume. Magic dust. Clothes everywhere. Nyx whining about eyeliner. Maeve screaming about losing a shoe. Seren hissing at a curling iron like it personally wronged her.

And me? Trying not to hyperventilate because I could feel Rhaen’s energy from across the academy.

Seiryn coiled lazily inside my chest, scales brushing my spine, her voice a velvet purr. “You look divine. He will beg.”

“He will not beg,” I muttered, stabbing a crystal pin into my hair.

Nyx snorted. “Rhaen is absolutely begging. Lucen will just scowl about it.”

She twirled in front of the mirror, and goddess, she was beautiful.

Her violet-gold hair fell to her hips in shimmering waves, threaded with tiny lightning sigils that glowed every time she blinked. Her dress was a liquid slip of enchanted black silk that clung to her curves like it worshipped her, the neckline low enough to make a grown god weep.

Mine wasn’t any better.

Silver, blue, and white scales shimmered along my collarbones. My long hair, blue at the roots, silver at the ends, hung in a waterfall down my back. My dress was a deep ocean blue with slits that climbed scandalously high, exposing the faint iridescence of my dragon scales on my thighs. The bodice glittered like starlight on water.

We both sparkled.

We both smelled like enchanted pheromone perfume specifically designed to ruin wolf and vampire self-control.

Nyx spritzed one last mist into the air. “You ready?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Is dying an option?”

She laughed. “We’re going to melt them.”

“Not melt,” Seiryn hummed, pleased. “Dominate.”

I groaned but didn’t disagree.

Maeve and Seren burst into the room then, Maeve in her little gold mage dress, Finnian’s matching jacket over her shoulders, Seren in a blood-red gown that made her look like a royal vampire princess.

“Come on!” Seren chirped. “We’re going to be late!”

Late. Right. That would be disaster because tonight mattered. Tonight… was the twins’ eighteenth birthday. Tonight the bond would finish clicking into place. Tonight everything would change.

We stepped into the hallway just as Drayen slung an arm around my shoulder, his wolfish grin wide. “Damn, sis. You two look like you’re about to destroy someone’s life.”

“Only two lives,” Nyx said sweetly. “Maybe three if Chelsea shows up.”

Drayen burst out laughing.

Kaelan, towering and broad as a mountain, shuffled beside us with a shy grin. “You both look pretty.”

“Thanks, big bear,” Nyx said, kissing his cheek.

Finnian appeared behind Maeve, adjusting his tie. “Are we walking or floating? Because Seren looks like she’s levitating.”

Seren hissed at him. “Vampires glide.”

“Sure.”

We walked into the party hall as a united wall of Thorne chaos.

The room erupted in music, lights, and the smell of food. Students crowded the dance floor, the walls, and the snack tables, everywhere. Magical lights swirled over the ceiling, changing color with the beat.

We grabbed food, and punch with way too much magic in it, and took a seat at a long silver table. I tried to calm my thundering heart.

Nyx whispered, “You feel them too?”

I swallowed. “Yeah.”

The bond tugged, gentle but insistent. Strong. Growing. Hungry.

Then....The lights snapped off. A single spotlight flared over the stage.

And there they stood. Lucen and Rhaen.

Both dressed in black formal wear, the kind that made their shoulders look criminal. Their amber eyes gleamed like molten gold in the light.

Rhaen looked nervous but excited. Lucen looked like he wanted to murder someone and then pass out.

My breath caught. Nyx’s hand tightened on mine.

Seiryn purred. “They are beautiful. They are ours.”

The mic crackled. Rhaen cleared his throat. “Uh… hi.”

The entire hall erupted in cheers. Lucen winced. Rhaen smiled, his eyes sweeping the room before landing squarely on me.

“Could Lyrielle and Nyxaria join us on stage, please?”

My entire skeleton tried to walk out of my body.

Nyx squeaked. “Oh gods.”

Drayen pushed us up. “Get. Up.”

My legs wobbled. The room spun. But somehow, Nyx and I walked forward through a sea of whispers, gasps, and phones recording.

The twins watched every step, their expressions soft, heated, and determined. When we reached the stage, Rhaen offered his hand to me.

I placed mine in his, and his whole body shuddered.

Lucen did the same for Nyx, his jaw clenched like he was trying not to pull her into his arms right there.

We faced them. And then....They dropped to their knees. The entire academy screamed.

My heart stopped.

Rhaen took a box from his jacket. His hands shook.

“Lyrielle… I’ve loved you since we were stupid kids who didn’t know anything. I hurt you. I wasn’t ready. But I am now. And I swear, by moon, claw, and flame, I will spend the rest of my life making up for it.”

Lucen lifted his own ring box, his voice rough. “Nyx… I’m an idiot. A stubborn, jealous, emotionally constipated idiot. But I choose you. Not because the bond says I have to. Because I want you. And I swear I’m done running.”

The room was silent. Utterly silent. Then they opened the boxes.

Two rings. Hand-crafted. Radiant with magic.

Rhaen whispered, “Please… forgive me.”

Lucen murmured, “Let us try again.”

Nyx’s breath hitched. My own vision blurred. Without thinking, we said it together.

“Yes.”

The hall exploded. Cheers. Screams. Magic flaring in wild colors. They slowly placed the rings on our fingers. And then a soft, slow song drifted through the speakers, wrapping around us like moonlight.

Rhaen rose, taking my hand. His chest touched mine. “Dance with me?”

I nodded, unable to speak, my heart pounding so hard it hurt.

Lucen pulled Nyx into his arms like she was made of fragility and fire all at once.

The twins guided us to the center of the dance floor.

Rhaen’s hand found my hip. Warm, strong, and possessive.

His lips brushed my ear. “You’re mine, Lyri. Finally.”

A shiver ran down my spine.

Nyx gasped softly as Lucen angled her chin up. “You drive me crazy,” he whispered. “Don’t ever stop.”

Seiryn sighed with smug delight. “Well. They are very pretty when they beg.”

My laugh broke into Rhaen’s shoulder as he spun me.

Our bodies fit too well. The bond thrummed, glowing between us. Magic crackled over my skin where his fingers touched.

He pressed his forehead to mine. “I promise you… everything.”

My heart cracked open. I kissed him. He kissed me back like he had been waiting his whole life.

The dance floor roared.

Somewhere, Lucen growled against Nyx’s lips.

Somewhere, Seren cheered at full vampire volume.

Somewhere, phones caught every second.

But Rhaen’s hands kept me grounded. His breath was warm against mine. His chest rising and falling with mine.

And for the first time.....I felt complete.
______________________

Nyxaria POV

The night had been perfect. Too perfect. The kind of perfect that makes the gods pause and whisper, this will hurt later.

I was still warm from Lucen’s mouth on mine, and his ring now glowed faintly on my finger. My pulse still fluttered like a trapped bird as the slow song faded. The crowd was buzzing, cheering, and clapping. Phones were everywhere. Lyrielle was in Rhaen’s arms, laughing and blushing like some lovesick fairytale heroine, and even I couldn’t deny how good that moment felt.

Then the music cut. Hard. Sharp. Wrong. A static crackle hit the speakers. Then a screen lit up on the far wall. At first, nobody reacted, just confusion, whispers, and shifting feet.

Then the video began. And the world ended.

Chelsea’s voice giggling. Katrina moaning. And then....Rhaen and Lucen.

In the worst possible way. Drunk. Careless. Naked as the day they were born. Touching those girls the way they’d touched us just hours ago.

My stomach flipped. Lyrielle’s hand clamped over her mouth.

Someone shrieked, “Turn it off!”

Someone else laughed. And over it all, Chelsea and Katrina, standing near the front with their hands clasped, and their eyes sparkling with cruel triumph.

Chelsea purred loudly, “Oops.”

Katrina smirked. “Everyone deserved to know the truth.”

Something inside me cracked.

Rhaen was shouting, “Turn it off...TURN IT OFF!”

Lucen snarled, his fangs showing, “Katrina you’re DEAD!!”

Too late. Everyone had seen it. I had seen it.

Images were burned into my mind like acid. Their hands. Their mouths. Their bodies. Everything we had just forgiven. Everything we had just promised each other. Shattered.

“Nyx...wait!!”

Lucen reached for me. I ripped the ring from my finger so fast the metal cut my skin. It hit his chest with a sharp metallic ping.

“Don’t you ever touch me again,” I whispered. My voice didn’t even sound human.

Next to me, Lyrielle was trembling so hard she almost fell to her knees. Tears streamed down her face. Rhaen tried to reach her desperately, and his eyes were wild.....

She threw her ring, too. It bounced near his feet.

“Don’t follow me,” she choked. “Don’t, don’t even look at me.”

Rhaen flinched like she stabbed him.

Seiryn screamed in my head. “PAIN. BETRAYAL. FLY.”

Vhalra roared. “GET AWAY BEFORE WE BREAK THEM.”

My bones snapped. My skin split. Magic tore through me like a storm. I didn’t fight it. I wanted the shift.

Blue-white light exploded from my spine as my wings burst free. Lyrielle shifted beside me, her water-blue scales shimmering with raw anguish. The entire hall screamed as two dragons reared above them, tails curling, claws scraping the marble.

Lucen stumbled backward, his eyes huge and devastated. Rhaen fell to his knees.

“Lyri...please..PLEASE...” he shouted, his voice cracking.

Chelsea laughed. Actually laughed. “Oh my gods, look at them! Drama queens!”

Katrina added, “Guess we broke the royal bitches.”

My dragon snarled, loud enough to shatter every window in the hall. Lyrielle roared, her wings snapping open.

And then we launched upward, blowing tables, chairs, banners, and decorations aside. The roof doors burst open with a thunderous crash, and we shot into the night sky like two outraged comets.

Behind us...Lucen and Rhaen shifted, their hybrid wolf-vampire forms exploding into existence as they bolted after us, howling like dying animals.

The last thing I heard before wind drowned everything...Chelsea laughing. Katrina clapping. And Lucen screaming my name like his heart had been ripped out.

Then....Dark sky. Cold air.....

....and my dragon crying rage and heartbreak into the stars.