Chapter 25 TWENTY FOUR
(NYRA'S POV)
An hour later, the healer’s words echo into my head like a mantra
“He might not make it through the night.”
I turn back slowly, every step heavy, like gravity has doubled just for me. Riven hasn’t moved. His chest rises—barely—and now there’s a hitch in it, like his body is hesitating. Like it’s deciding whether it’s worth the effort.
It's been an hour and the guards have Riven's room ready for the extraction. Lucien put up some wards to prevent unwanted access.
“No,” I whisper. “You don’t get to decide that.”
The healer meets my eyes, fear plain now. “My Lady… the Voidsteel is adapting. It’s learning his rhythm. If it finishes synchronizing with his heartbeat, no magic will reach him.”
Lucien’s shadows surge violently, cracking against the warded walls. “How long?”
“Minutes,” she admits. “Not hours.”
That does it.
“Everyone out,” I say.
Keiran doesn’t move.
I look at him sharply. “Everyone except you and Lucien.”
The guards step out without questioning. The healer opens her mouth, then thinks better of it. The room clears fast, the door slamming shut with finality that makes my stomach twist.
Riven’s breath stutters, then stops.
My heart slams so hard I feel it in my throat. “Riven!”
Keiran’s hand is already on his neck. One second. Two.
“He’s still tethered,” Keiran says tightly. “But barely. His wolf is slipping.”
Something in me snaps, not breaks. Locks into place.
“I’m doing it,” I say.
Keiran’s eyes flash. “Nyra…this isn’t just any type of magic. Voidsteel with soul-binding magic isn’t just a restraint. It feeds. If you force it…”
“It’ll fight back,” I finish calmly. Too calmly. “Good. I’m tired of being the only one bleeding in this war.”
Lucien steps in front of me, gripping my shoulders. “Look at me,” he orders softly.
I do.
“If this turns lethal,” he says, voice low, deadly serious, “I will pull you out. Even if it kills him.”
I nod. “And if we hesitate…he dies anyway.”
A beat.
Lucien exhales through his teeth. “Gods help us.”
Keiran straightens. “What do you need?”
“The Alpha bond,” I say. “All of it. No containment.”
Keiran’s jaw tightens. “That will leave my core exposed.”
“I know,” I reply. “That’s the risk.”
Lucien stiffens. “Nyra…”
“If you trust me,” I say quietly, “prove it.”
Silence stretches.
Then Keiran nods once. “Brace yourself.”
He opens the bond, and the room shudders.
Alpha power detonates outward, ancient and brutal, smashing into my senses like a living storm. I gasp, dropping to one knee as the weight of it crushes down on me—command, loyalty, rage, blood, centuries of dominance roaring through my veins.
Lucien catches me instantly, arms iron around my torso. “Breathe,” he growls. “Stay with me.”
I drag air into my lungs and reach out.
Not gently.
I dive in and the world fractures.
I’m no longer in the infirmary. I’m standing in a blackened, endless void where Riven’s wolf is chained to the ground by threads of molten shadow. Voidsteel magic coils around him like a parasite, pulsing with every weak heartbeat.
“Get away from him,” Lyric snarls, baring her fangs.
The Voidsteel turns.
The chains tighten around Riven’s wolf. He lets out a silent, agonized roar that tears through my chest.
“No,” I hiss, silver light blazing violently from my core. “You don’t get to touch him.”
I pull.
The Voidsteel resists, and then lashes back.
Pain detonates through my spine, white-hot and blinding. I scream as something rips through my magic, tearing past my defenses and sinking hooks into me.
Lucien’s voice echoes distantly. “Nyra…something’s wrong…your aura…”
Blood pours from my nose, and my vision blurs.
The Voidsteel isn’t just fighting.
It’s anchoring.
To me.
Keiran roars as the backlash slams into him through the Alpha bond, dropping him to one knee. “It’s linking her, cut the bond, now!”
“No!” I scream. “If you cut it, he’s gone!”
Riven’s wolf convulses, chains glowing brighter.
I realize the truth then, cold and terrifying.
“This isn’t a weapon,” I gasp. “It’s a key. It’s trying to mark me.”
Lucien’s grip tightens painfully. “Nyra, stop. You’re burning out.”
I make a choice.
A stupid one.
A necessary one.
Instead of pulling harder, I open myself.
Silver light floods outward, not attacking—but commanding.
“I am the Lunar Heir,” I whisper into the void, voice carrying power I didn’t know I had. “You don’t test me. You answer to me.”
The Voidsteel recoils, screams.
I seize the moment and rip the chains apart.
Riven’s wolf surges free, slamming back into his body with explosive force.
I’m thrown backward…
Hard.
Lucien hits the floor with me, shielding my body as the power collapses inward like a dying star.
Silence.
Riven inhales violently.
Once.
Twice.
His heartbeat slams strong and fast against the monitors.
Keiran staggers to his feet, staring. “He’s… stabilized.”
Relief hits me for exactly half a second.
Then my vision goes dark at the edges.
Lucien’s voice sharpens with fear. “Nyra…no…stay with me…”
I smile faintly, tasting blood.
“I told you,” I whisper. “I had him. But the Voidsteel didn’t leave.”
Lucien stiffens. “What?”
I feel it then.
Deep.
Cold.
Coiled around my magic like a sleeping serpent.
“It marked me,” I murmur.
Keiran’s face hardens. “Then this was never about killing Riven.”
“No,” I say weakly as darkness pulls me under.
Somewhere far away, I hear Riven call my name.
And beneath it all…A voice I don’t recognize.
“Good. You survived. You are well prepared.”
Then everything goes black