Chapter 56 BOUND IN BLOOD AND FIRE

Chapter 56 BOUND IN BLOOD AND FIRE

BOUND IN BLOOD AND FIRE

SERAPHINE'S POV

I didn’t understand why my chest felt like it was tearing open, then I heard loud, ear piercing screams everywhere. Dragons screams. It sounded terrifying and pierced through my heart like a dagger.

The first body hit the wall beside me with a wet crack. Blood from the body splattered on my face, it stung my skin so bad, I flinched, twisting against the chains. The guards dragging me out froze, then one of them turned around slowly.

A wild, controlled fire tore through the corridor, peeling flesh from bone and leaving the stone untouched, like the fire itself knew exactly who deserved to burn.

Azrath came through the smoke, tearing through them like a ferocious beast.

His scales were cracked and glowing, there was molten blood running in rivers down his chest and arms, dripping to the floor where it hissed and steamed. One of his wings was bent in a manner it was not supposed to go in, the wing was torn and blackened at the edge, but it didn’t slow him.

I tried to scream his name but no sound came out.

A dragon lunged at him from the side. Azrath caught him by the throat and slammed him into the ceiling hard enough to shatter a stone, then ripped his head free in one smooth motion. The body dropped at my feet.

I stared down at it, my entire body shaking vigorously.

This was the same king who had threatened me. The monster who had chained me....the same one I feared.

And he was killing his own people for me.

Another dragon charged at him. Azrath didn’t even turn fully before his tail lashed out, severing the dragon in half. Blood sprayed across the walls, painting everything red and black.

The men holding me panicked, one of them let go while the other tried to run.

Azrath reached him in just two steps.

I didn’t look away when he tore the guard apart. I couldn’t. My eyes burned, my heart was pounding so hard it hurt. I should have been horrified.

But beneath the fear, something else began to rise, a sense of rightness that made my skin prickle and my bones hum.

He reached me at last. Up close, he looked worse. His molten blood ran over his fingers as he touched my face, he was careful despite the shaking of his hands. When his claw brushed my cheek, I realized I was crying.

“Seraphine,” he said, and for the first time his voice broke.

He snapped the chains like they were thread.

The moment the last shackle fell away, pain exploded through my body. I screamed, clutching my chest as something burned deep under my skin. I collapsed against him, my legs giving out.

Azrath caught me, dropping to one knee with the impact. His blood smeared across my back, scorching hot, but I barely felt it. The pain inside me was worse.

“What is happening to me?” I gasped.

His jaw clenched. He didn’t have any answer.

He gathered me against his chest, shielding me with his bulk as if the world itself might strike. His uneven heartbeat thundered under my ear.

“Azrath,” I whispered. “You’re....hurt.”

He gave a short, humorless laugh. “I’ve survived worse.”

But even as he said it, his knees trembled. He staggered, sinking down against the wall, pulling me with him. Molten blood pooled around us, glowing faintly before cooling into dark, cracked stone.

The pain in my chest intensified again, and suddenly I saw the sigil.

It flared beneath my skin, lines of light spreading from my heart down my arms and throat. I gasped as something inside it shifted, like a lock turning.

Azrath stiffened.

“No,” he muttered. “Not now.”

“What is it?” I demanded, gripping his arm. “What did you do to me?”

His eyes met mine, and for the first time since I met him, there was naked fear in them.

“I bound you,” he said. “To me.”

The words hit harder than any blow.

“Bound me how?” I whispered.

He swallowed. “Your life is tied to mine. As long as I live, you cannot die. The gods forged the sigil long ago to enslave your kind, so that they can thin the Lycan bloodlines. My mark cracked it, but it didn’t break, It changed it.”

My head shook in denial. “No. You’re lying to me.”

“I wish I were.”

The pain surged again, and with it came understanding. The strange strength. The way my body healed. The pull toward him that made no sense and all the sense in the world, it seemed like immortality but at a cost.

“If you weaken,” I whispered, dread curling cold in my stomach, “what happens to me?”

His voice was rough as he spoke, “You would weaken with me. If I fall… you fall. You are bound to my will as the sigil tightens.”

I pushed against him, fury flaring through the pain. “You enslaved me.”

His grip tightened in desperation. “I saved you.”

“You chained me to you,” I snarled. “You turned me into a thing that lives and dies by your breath.”

Silence stretched between us then his strength gave out.

Azrath slumped fully against the wall, his head dropping back. His molten blood had dimmed, cooling faster now, but he was still bleeding out.

Panic ripped through me. “No,” I said, clutching him. “You don’t get to collapse now. Not after all this.”

His hand trembled as it found my wrist. “If I sleep… the sigil will pull harder.”

Fear clawed at my ribs. I didn’t want him to die but I didn’t want him to live either. Both thoughts was tearing me apart.

“Stay awake,” I begged. “Please.”

He smiled weakly. “You really look horrified.” he said faintly.

“I should be,” I whispered, "Please don't...die because of me. Your people will come after me.”