V

V
SENECA VEYLOR

I looked at the girl in the prison and it felt like the entire world was tilting beneath my feet. It wasn't what I'd expected. Not in a hundred years. Not even in a million.
When Ziarah had mentioned that there was something to be seen, I’d expected to see my brother's breeder dead; I’d expected to see her in a pool of her blood, writhing in pain, unable to lift a finger, automatically terminating my brother’s participation in this unspoken game we were playing. The game of whose breeder gives an heir first. But, instead, the breeder—very much thinner than she’d been over Malrik’s shoulders yesterday—turned around slowly and I was immediately faced with a bulge so big she looked like she was a few hours from birthing the heir my brother was so desperate for.

My entire world did indeed flip over.

Every other sound seemed to instantly quiet down other than the sound of my heart beating in my ears. We lost, I thought. This was it. If she was pregnant, if her bulge had grown overnight, I didn’t want to think how long it would take before she finally put to bed.

In as much as I wanted to look unmoved, the surprise was written clear as day on my face. I turned to Ziarah immediately, not overthinking it, not even batting my lashes twice before I spelled out the order.

"Kill it."

Ziarah on the other hand looked surprised.

"Dominus—"

"Does anybody else know about this?"

She blinked through the horror of the order. "So—some guards came to check her in here this morning after—"

I didn’t even let her finish. "How many of them?"

"Two. Top guards. They're the only ones allowed in here…"

I looked at the breeder again. She wasn’t alive. Well, not in the way she had been yesterday when she put her hands on Riley. She’d been so full of energy then that I’d assumed she was possessed by a legion of demons. But now, there was this dull look in her eyes. Hollowed out. Dark circles and bags beneath them like she hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in years. She was looking at me, but she didn’t really look like she could see me at all.

I didn’t know if this was also an effect of the pregnancy, this freak of a demon child that had grown into a full bump overnight rendering its mother useless. Like she was a shell just carrying a child that was draining her energy and her life source, replacing the thousands of demons that had been in her possession with its own little presence.

The mother was as pale as a siren in a freezing ocean. Hideous and bony, her ribs pressed against her skin with every inhale and exhale of oxygen that expanded her lungs.

"Kill them too," I ordered Ziarah without taking my eyes off the girl. "The guards. Find out if they told anyone and kill those people as well."

"Dominus—"

"I don’t care how many people must have heard news that Orion’s breeder is pregnant. I want them all dead. All of them. ALL," I stressed, while Ziarah was still trying to be logical.

"Dominus, if I kill so many people to keep the secret, your brother would find out sooner or later—"

I didn't want her logic. It would take us nowhere. I wanted execution, so I turned on her.

"By the time Orion finds out, the breeder would be dead too. If he finds out then, he has nothing to do. She’d be long gone. You’d take her now, you’d cut open her womb, take the damn baby out and smash its head till it’s done or… better still, use your knife… slit its throat."

She looked petrified. "Dominus, t-the—the game. Yo—you signed an oath."

"And do I look like I’m bothered about the repercussions of breaking a promise or a fucking oath? I do not care about the damn game now!" I growled into her face. "I only care that I let this stupid game get so far…"

"I—I tried to warn you."

"No time to push blames."

"You underestimated him."

"I knew very well what my brother was capable of… I just didn’t expect the breeder to be capable of living till this very point."

"You should never have allowed it."

"Yes, Ziarah, I know that too. I know that now. And I’m glad you understand where I’m coming from. I would rather die than watch her push this baby to life. I would rather die than hand Orion’s heir the east…"

"So yo—you’d cheat?"

"I think you need to know that the damn game was already rigged yesterday when his breeder attacked mine."

"D—"

"There was no game anymore to begin with. I was never going to let her go again. Either she was this heavy or not, I was going to still fucking kill the bitch for laying a finger on MY BREEDER. MY BREEDER."

My voice echoed off the walls. Guttural. A growl that came right from the deepest part of Kaelith’s gut, not mine. He was fuming. Fuming because we were so close to losing. I was fuming because I’d wanted to kill the breeder anyway. Kaelith's anger just fueled mine to a point of no return.

"Ziarah…" I called.

She stood in the distance.

"Y—yes Dominus?"
"Which side are you on? Me…" I poked my chest with my index. "Or…" I jerked my thumb over my shoulder, "Him?"

I’d never questioned her loyalty before. Not even once. And now, the flushed look on her face told me the accusation hurt her feelings. All color drained from her face. It took her long enough, but finally, finally after I could almost feel the torture from waiting, she gave an answer to the question.

"You," she whispered. "I’m loyal only to you."

My lips spread into a satisfied smirk.

"Yes," I coaxed. "Now, I want you to open the lock, go inside, drag the breeder by her hair and drag her to my feet. If you refuse to do this because your little human part is starting to have too much empathy lately… I’ll do it myself. I’ll cut open the womb and slit the throat of the baby right before your very eyes. You’ve seen worse, but promise me, I’ll make it more horrid than you think about it all of your childless life. Humans give birth. Not demons. I can almost see the hope in your eyes. And I need you to put that off, Zee. This is not a child you should fawn over; this is a child that would bring us to our knees if we don’t act quick… So…" I gritted my teeth. "Do as I tell you now."

A second passed, then two, then three. Ziarah stood still and I could literally see the thoughts floating over her head like multiple bubbles waiting to explode. It irked me. She looked at me like I’d grown two heads. But I hadn’t. All I could feel was the anger in my veins and a surge of energy from Kaelith demanding the instant spilling of the competition’s blood.

At least now we both knew how fast this child of a titan dragon could develop.

Conceived in the span of a few days, and a fully developed bump in a span of one night. Maybe a full-grown adult in a few weeks. Trained and ready to take over in a few months. If I let this child live, Orion had someone equal in power with him in support. The child would be fighting alongside its father, planning a coup d'état against me.
That I couldn't risk. That I didn't want.

With my eyes still locked on Ziarah, she moved. Her fingers were firm as she opened the lock. She wasn’t trying to convince me anymore, but I could almost feel the reluctancy oozing off her like she was doing this against her will. The dragon oath was strong, yes, but Orion had rigged the game yesterday when he let the breeder put her hands on Riley, and now it was time to get my lick back.

Ziarah pried the lock off and it fell with a dull thud to the floor as she pushed the door open and stepped inside. The breeder, defenseless, didn’t even move or try to run away as Ziarah grabbed her by the arm and yanked her towards me. The breeder didn’t fight back, but I could hear the frantic pound of the child’s beating heart inside the mother’s belly.

I didn’t care.

My claws extended while Kaelith pranced in my chest with anticipation toward the breeder standing right in front of me. I watched the moving belly for a second too long, thinking to myself: Sorry brother, but I never lose.

I never will.