Chapter 204

Chapter 204
Vesper

"He really let you go?" The question came out sharper than I intended. "After everything you did?"

"Surprised me too." Alaric's laugh was hollow. "Turns out I'm not worth killing. Just another failed opportunist who bit off more than he could chew. His words, not mine. Though I can't exactly argue with the assessment."

I wanted to hit him again. Wanted to make him bleed for every second of terror he'd put me through. For the kidnapping. The torture. The way he'd used me as bait to control Draken.

But looking at him now—broken and burned and stripped of every weapon he'd ever relied on—felt less like justice and more like kicking a corpse.

"If I go east and he's not there," I said slowly, "I'm coming back. And I will kill you. Slowly. Understand?"

"Crystal clear." He waved one hand dismissively. "Now you'd better hurry. Find him before he does something else reckless. Your mate just tore through an entire bloodline—he's still running high on adrenaline and rage. Men like that don't make their best decisions in the aftermath."

I went still. "Tore through what?"

"Byron's dead. The entire pure-blood council. Most of their personal guards." Alaric's laugh was bitter. "Your dragon infiltrated, played the perfect weapon, then slaughtered them all when they least expected it. Quite the performance, really."

My breath caught. He'd done it. Actually done it. Eliminated the threat that had hunted him for centuries, the council that had tried to control him through me. The sheer brutality of it should have shocked me.

It didn't.

"Good." The word came out fierce, unapologetic. "He finally ended it. Though I have no idea why he left you breathing." I met Alaric's gaze. "But apparently that's his choice to make. Not mine."

"How merciful of you both." His head tilted back against the pillar, a ghost of his old sardonic smile playing at his lips. "Truly, the cruelty of mercy. You two deserve each other."

He closed his eyes. "Goodbye, Vesper."

I turned and ran.

---

East. He'd said east.

I ran.

Not human running. Not even fae running. This was something new—my dragon blood and fae instincts combining into speed that blurred the landscape into streaks of color. Trees became shadows. The ground beneath my feet barely registered before I'd already left it behind.

The bond between us pulled taut, a golden thread in my chest that should have led me straight to him. Should have made finding him as easy as following a compass.

Except the thread felt... distant. Not severed. Not weakened. Just... not here.

I pushed harder. Faster. The world became wind and motion and the burning need to see him, to confirm with my own eyes that he was whole and unharmed and—

Nothing.

Ten miles east of the castle, I skidded to a stop in a clearing that smelled faintly of sulfur and ash. Recent dragon fire. But no Draken. No sign he'd been here in the last hour.

"Fuck!" The word exploded out of me, magic crackling in the air. Trees swayed. The ground trembled. "FUCK!"

I spun in a circle, scanning the treeline. Nothing. Just empty forest and the mocking silence of a trail gone cold.

Alaric had lied. Had to have lied. This was another manipulation, another—

My phone buzzed.

Titania's name flashed across the screen.

I answered before the first ring finished. "Grandmother. Where is he? I can't find him. Alaric said east but there's nothing here and I swear to God if that vampire played me I'm going back there and—"

"Stop chasing, child." Titania's voice was amused. Warm. The kind of tone that said she knew something I didn't. "Come home."

"What? No. I need to find—"

"He already found you. Came back to the apartment looking for you about twenty minutes ago."

The world tilted sideways. "He came back? To find me?"

"Mmm. Seemed quite disappointed you weren't here. Something about needing to explain. To apologize. To make sure you understood he hadn't actually betrayed you." A pause. "He was very emphatic about that last part."

Relief flooded through me so intense it made my knees weak. He was safe. He was alive. He'd come looking for me.

"Tell him to stay there," I said, already turning back toward the city. "Tell him I'm on my way and he better not fucking move because we need to—"

"Oh, he's not here anymore."

I froze mid-step. "What?"

"He left again. About five minutes ago."

"Left? Where?" My voice climbed an octave. "Grandmother, where the hell did he go?"

"Language, darling." But she was laughing. Actually laughing. "He said he had one more thing to take care of. Something about not being able to face you until he'd finished it. Apparently he knows he's in trouble and wants to make amends before you have a chance to properly yell at him."

"I don't—" I stopped. Took a breath. "Do I really seem that scary?"

"Terrifying," Titania said cheerfully. "It's one of your best qualities. Now, do you want to know where he went, or shall I let you stew in suspense a bit longer?"

"Grandmother."

"He went to find Morrigan."