Chapter 50 Blood of the Chosen
Seraphine’s hand curled into a fist, the skin white around the knuckles. Torchlight painted her palm the color of old blood. She whispered names like rosary beads, each one a small, private prayer she did not trust to the air. “Not Ravenna. Not Nyx. Never.”
Luca stepped closer, his shadow swallowing the stone between them. He cupped her face with hands that had ruled and ruled again, and for a moment the king seemed less a sovereign than a man trying to anchor himself. His voice came low, careful. “We must offer one of them,” he said. “Lucifer accepts only a child of royal blood. If the bargain holds if the old laws stand this is the price.”
Seraphine’s laugh split the hush, brittle as snapped bone. She pulled away and the smile on her mouth was all ice. “You would hand our daughters to him because of rules?” Her eyes were flint. “Have you already forgotten the altars? The princesses we laid bare to the dark? Do you think I have not watched him take what he wanted?” She stepped back as if distance could ward off memory. “Selena’s survival doesn’t erase that. It only proves he is…selective.”
Luca’s jaw worked. He did not argue the past; he pressed instead at the present like someone trying to mend a tear with trembling fingers. “This is different. Luciferet lives.” His words were an attempt to anchor hope to logic. “If he spares her if she walks why would he break the pact now?”
“Because pacts bend,” Seraphine said. “Because he delights in dominion. Because bargains with devils are riddles wrapped inside traps.” She closed her eyes for a beat, and when she opened them the torchlight caught the wet tracks on her cheeks like tiny red rivers. “If we refuse, he will not stop at us. He will burn the realm to ash and call it chastisement.”
Outside the palace walls, winter gnawed at the air—sharp, alive, and biting against bare skin. The training ground shimmered faintly under the pale breath of morning, every sound swallowed by the cold except for the twang of bowstrings.
Nyx drew her arrow with the slow confidence of someone born to win. The feathered shaft sliced the silence clean in two before burying itself deep into the bull’s-eye with a satisfying thud. She smirked, brushing a loose strand of dark hair from her cheek. The frost caught on her lashes, but she didn’t shiver—Nyx didn’t know how to yield to cold, not even this kind.
“You’re losing your edge, sister,” she called, her voice teasing, honey wrapped around steel.
Ravenna didn’t look up. Her movements were deliberate, every motion graceful but simmering with intent. She drew the bowstring back until it hummed like a restrained scream, eyes narrowing at the target. Her arrow flew true straight through Nyx’s, splitting it in two.
Nyx lowered her bow, that crooked, dangerous grin spreading slow across her lips. “Show-off.”
“Correction,” Ravenna murmured, lowering her weapon, “better shot.”
They circled each other in the snow-dusted yard, the world beyond them quiet except for the faint creak of leather and the whisper of breath. They were mirrors in motion same blood, same bones but something in Ravenna’s gaze burned darker, colder.
Then came the servant. His steps were soft, but his fear wasn’t. He bowed low, his voice trembling as he whispered into Ravenna’s ear. Her body stilled utterly still, as if time had caught her mid-breath. The wind tugged at the ends of her cloak, but she didn’t move.
Nyx tilted her head, watching, the bow still resting easy in her hands. “What was that?” she asked, her tone half curiosity, half challenge. “Did Father finally decide who his precious heir will be? Or is it another one of Mother’s secret schemes?”
Ravenna’s fingers loosened around the bowstring. She turned, eyes unreadable. “They want to sacrifice one of us,” she said, her voice flat, but something trembled beneath it. “To Lucifer Morningstar.”
The words hung in the air like frost, sharp and heavy.
Nyx laughed, low and reckless, her eyes gleaming like a candle too close to burning out. “Sacrifice?” She rolled the word over her tongue as if tasting it. “To him?” Her lips curved. “I’d go willingly. I’ve dreamt of the dark my whole life. Let the King of Hell take me let him try. I’d make even the devil tremble.”
Ravenna’s head snapped up. “You think this is a game?” she hissed. “You think offering yourself to him makes you brave?” Her voice cracked, not with fear but fury. She raised her bow again, aiming not at the target but at the air between them. “I’ll go. I’ll take him. I’ll make him remember my name when the world burns around him.”
Nyx arched a brow, amusement flickering across her face. “You’d give yourself to a god for what? Glory? Revenge?”
“For power,” Ravenna breathed, her words a confession and a promise. “Selena thinks she’s special because Lucifer spared her. But she’s half-blood an accident that survived. I’ll show him what a true vampire tastes like. I’ll make him forget her name.”
Her eyes glowed faintly, red veins tracing beneath her skin as her fangs pressed faintly against her lip. For a heartbeat, Nyx saw something something vast and terrible behind her sister’s gaze.
“Careful,” Nyx murmured, voice suddenly quiet. “Ambition cuts deeper than any blade.”
Ravenna smiled, the kind of smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Let it. I’ll bleed if I must. But when Father calls for a sacrifice, he’ll choose me.” She took a slow step closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I’ll weave him a spell he won’t escape. And when it’s done, I’ll send Selena’s head back home wrapped in silk.”
For a long moment, neither spoke. The wind howled through the courtyard, cold and wild, pulling at their hair. Two sisters same blood, same fate stood facing each other like mirrors turned wrong.
Nyx tilted her head, studying Ravenna with a kind of reluctant awe. “You always were the one for dangerous plans,” she said softly. “Just remember, little sister…” Her voice thinned into the wind. “Every bargain with the devil ends in a scream.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Hey my lovely readers!
Thank you so much for sticking with me through this chapter you’re honestly the best! 💕 Your support means everything to me, and reading your comments always makes my day brighter.
Tell me what you think who do you believe Lucifer will choose? Nyx or Ravenna? I’m so excited to hear your theories! 😍 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe if you enjoyed this part. It really helps me know you’re loving the story and keeps me motivated to write more for you!