Chapter 61 Her End Of Bargain
The war camp woke before the sun did.
Cold clung to everything, settling into bones and breath alike. Frost coated the edges of dismantled tents, silvering the ground beneath the boots of Lycans who moved with disciplined urgency. Armor was strapped on in silence. Weapons were checked, then checked again. Horses were calmed with murmured words and steady hands.
Sebastian stood at the heart of it all, issuing quiet commands with a voice that carried authority without needing volume. His eyes tracked every movement, every soldier, every shadow that shifted where it should not.
And yet, his focus kept pulling back to Fernanda.
She stood near the edge of the camp, wrapped in layers of fur and wool, her cloak pulled tight around her frame. The morning wind worried at her hood, tugging strands of her hair loose as if determined to remind her of the cold reality waiting ahead.
Sebastian dismissed the last of his commanders and crossed the distance between them in long, purposeful strides.
He did not speak immediately.
Instead, he reached up and adjusted the thick hood resting over her head, pulling it lower so it shielded her face properly. His gloved fingers brushed her cheek as he worked, lingering just long enough to betray his worry.
“You will freeze before you reach the border if this slips,” he said quietly.
Fernanda managed a small smile. “You sound like you always do.”
His mouth curved faintly, but the smile did not reach his eyes. They were dark, stormy, searching her face as though trying to memorize it.
He tightened the clasp of her cloak himself, testing it twice to ensure it would not come loose. His hands moved carefully, reverently, as though she were something fragile.
Sebastian took her hand then, cradling it between both of his. He bent his head and pressed a kiss to the back of it, slow and deliberate, his lips warm despite the cold.
“You are not alone,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Not for a single breath you take today. I am watching you. Levi is watching you. My men are watching you.”
Fernanda nodded, swallowing the knot in her throat.
“If anything feels wrong,” he continued, “anything at all, you turn back. Do not hesitate.”
“I know,” she said softly.
He leaned forward until his forehead rested against hers, the warmth of him grounding her. “Come back to me.”
“I will,” she promised.
Only then did Sebastian step away.
He helped her mount the horse himself, checking the saddle straps, adjusting her stirrups, his hands steady despite the war raging behind his eyes. When she was settled, he stepped back and watched as she turned her horse toward the open path ahead.
He did not look away until she became a distant figure against the pale horizon.
Levi approached him quietly.
“She will be fine,” Levi said. “Damon needs her alive. He would not risk harming her.”
Sebastian’s jaw tightened. “If he touches her,” he said evenly, “even by accident, I will make his death last longer than he believes possible.”
Levi exhaled through his nose. “You were always going to kill him.”
“Yes,” Sebastian replied. “But there are different kinds of hell.”
With a sharp gesture, Sebastian signaled his army forward.
They moved like shadows, splitting off into prearranged formations, vanishing into the terrain. Ice and rock swallowed them whole. From a distance, it would appear as though Fernanda rode alone.
She was not.
The ride was long and quiet.
Fernanda kept her posture straight, her hands steady on the reins, even as her thoughts spiraled.
What if Damon did not come at all?
What if this was a trap layered within another trap?
What if he brought Maya only to hurt her anyway?
She forced herself to breathe slowly.
She trusted Sebastian. She trusted his mind, his strength, his unyielding devotion.
And yet, that devotion frightened her too.
Sebastian loved her with a ferocity that burned everything else away. He would sacrifice kingdoms for her. He would make enemies of the world.
That kind of love could ruin everything if it went unchecked.
The massive gates of Vosnos loomed ahead, dark and imposing, rising high enough to blot out the sky. Fernanda dismounted carefully, her boots crunching against frost-covered ground as she stared up at them.
Why would the air wielders need something like this? What horrors had they feared enough to build such a barrier?
She waited.
Time stretched, thin and brittle.
Then the air shifted.
A low vibration hummed through her bones, raising the fine hairs along her arms. Fernanda stiffened instantly.
A portal tore open behind her.
Sebastian felt it the same moment.
“Positions,” he murmured.
Levi’s grip tightened around his dagger. His focus sharpened, vision narrowing until there was only the space where Damon would appear.
“Aim for his head,” Sebastian said quietly.
“I will not miss,” Levi replied.
Damon emerged slowly, leaning heavily on his cane. Every step was deliberate, calculated. His lips curved into a smile that made Fernanda’s stomach twist violently.
Her heart pounded.
Then she saw Maya.
Bound. Gagged. Bruised.
Dragged forward like an offering.
“Maya!” Fernanda cried, her voice breaking.
Maya’s eyes widened immediately, filling with tears. She shook her head violently, muffled sounds tearing from her throat as she struggled uselessly against her restraints.
What are you doing? Maya thought desperately.
Damon chuckled. “You came alone,” he said. “How obedient.”
“I came as promised,” Fernanda replied, forcing steel into her voice. “And you brought Eira.”
“I keep my word,” Damon said smoothly. “Now you keep yours.”
“Let her go,” Fernanda demanded.
“Not yet.”
He reached into his coat and withdrew a small vial, its contents glowing faintly. He tossed it casually to the ground. It rolled across the frost and came to rest at Fernanda’s feet.
“Drink,” Damon said. “Activate your power. Right here.”
Maya screamed into her gag, her body trembling violently.
Fernanda’s hands shook as she stared down at the vial.
That was enough. Seeing Maya struggled didn't sit right with Levi. He moved, The dagger left his hand with lethal precision, slicing through the air faster than sight could track.
For one suspended heartbeat, the world froze.
Then Damon stopped it, creating a barrier between the traveling dagger and himself using shadow magic.
Silence slammed down.
Fernanda’s breath caught painfully in her chest.
Maya’s eyes widened in pure terror. And Damon smiled.
“I see you cannot keep a promise, catalyst,” he said calmly. “Allow me to show you how.”
In one swift, brutal motion, he dragged the blade across Maya’s throat.
“No!” Fernanda screamed.
Blood spilled.
Maya’s body collapsed.