Chapter 37 Buried Hearts
Lyra's POV
Pain explodes through the bond.
I stumble, gasping, as Kaelen's agony floods into me. He's hurt. Badly. Dying, maybe.
"Lyra?" Ashcroft catches my arm. "What's wrong?"
"Kaelen—he's—" I can barely breathe around the pain. "Something's wrong."
Through the bond, I feel silver poison spreading through his veins. Feel his strength fading. He sacrificed himself so we could escape, and now he's paying the price.
"We have to go back," I say.
"We can't. He bought us time—"
"I don't care!" Tears stream down my face. "I won't leave him to die alone."
Stella tugs my sleeve. "Lyra, listen."
She's right. Through the trees, I hear something. Footsteps. Lots of them. Not the enforcers we left behind—these are different. Faster. More coordinated.
"Run," Ashcroft whispers, her face going pale. "Oh God, run now."
We sprint through the forest, but my human legs are too slow. Stella's illness makes her slower still. Within seconds, vampires surround us—ancient ones with eyes that glow like embers.
Leading them is Seraphine.
"Going somewhere?" She smiles, beautiful and terrifying. "I've been looking forward to meeting you, Lyra Thorne. The girl who accidentally marked a vampire prince. The moonblood carrier who survived what should have killed her." She circles us like a predator. "You're even more interesting than I hoped."
"Leave them alone," Ashcroft snarls, positioning herself between Seraphine and us. "Whatever you want, it's not worth—"
Seraphine moves faster than I can see. One moment she's ten feet away, the next her hand is through Ashcroft's chest.
"Not worth?" Seraphine pulls her hand free, and Ashcroft collapses. "I've waited four hundred years for this. Everything is worth it."
"Grandmother!" I scream, but Stella holds me back.
Ashcroft coughs blood, her ancient body struggling to heal from the wound. "Run," she gasps. "Lyra... run..."
But there's nowhere to run. Seraphine's vampires have us completely surrounded.
"You know what I love about bonds?" Seraphine says conversationally, stepping over Ashcroft's dying body. "They're so deliciously exploitable. Right now, Kaelen is lying in the snow, bleeding out from silver poisoning. He can feel everything happening to you. Every moment of your fear." She grabs my chin, forcing me to look at her. "When I kill you, the bond will shatter. The pain will destroy what's left of his sanity. He'll die knowing he failed to protect his mate. Poetic, don't you think?"
Through the bond, I feel Kaelen's desperation. He's trying to stand, trying to come save me. But he's too weak. Too broken.
"Why?" I ask. "Why do you hate him so much?"
"Hate him?" Seraphine laughs. "I don't hate Kaelen. I used him. There's a difference. He was always too noble, too good, too concerned with doing the right thing. I needed someone I could manipulate, someone whose power I could access through a bond. He was perfect—powerful bloodline, trusting nature, desperate for love after centuries alone."
"You never loved him."
"Love is for the weak." She releases my chin. "But I'll give Kaelen credit—he played his part beautifully. Mourned me for four hundred years. Built his entire personality around the hole I left. I couldn't have asked for a better performance."
Rage burns through my chest. This monster destroyed Kaelen, broke him, made him afraid to feel anything—all for power.
"You're pathetic," I spit. "Hiding for four hundred years, too scared to face the world as yourself. At least Kaelen had the courage to keep living."
Seraphine's smile vanishes. "Courage? He spent four centuries as an emotionless shell. He built walls so high nothing could touch him. That's not courage—that's cowardice."
"No." I step forward, and her vampires tense. "Cowardice is faking your death. Courage is surviving the pain and choosing to keep going anyway. Kaelen might have buried his heart, but at least he still has one. You sold yours for power."
"Enough." Seraphine's eyes flash crimson. "I've wasted enough time on philosophy. Hold her."
Vampires grab my arms. Seraphine pulls out a ceremonial knife—the same kind Kaelen used in the ritual chamber.
"Moonblood is most potent when taken during a bond's completion," she explains, like she's teaching a class. "But fresh moonblood, drawn with intent, still carries remarkable properties. Especially when the carrier is partially transformed." She presses the blade against my throat. "This will hurt. A lot. Try to scream—Kaelen will enjoy hearing it through the bond."
The knife starts to cut.
Then Stella does something incredible.
She throws herself at Seraphine with all her small strength, screaming, "Leave my sister alone!"
Seraphine stumbles backward, surprised. The knife flies from her hand.
"Stella, no!" I scream.
But my brave, foolish sister is already fighting—hitting and kicking with everything she has. Seraphine recovers quickly, grabbing Stella by the throat and lifting her off the ground.
"Brave," Seraphine observes. "Stupid, but brave. I wonder—do you have moonblood too?"
Stella chokes, her face turning purple.
Something inside me shatters.
The mark explodes with light. Hybrid power floods my veins—stronger than before, more controlled. This time, I don't just access it accidentally. I embrace it.
I tear free from the vampires holding me. My fist connects with the nearest one's jaw, and I feel bones break—his bones, not mine. The second vampire swings a blade at me, but I catch it barehanded. The silver burns, but I don't let go. I snap the blade in half and drive the broken end through his heart.
Seraphine drops Stella in shock. "Impossible. The bond isn't complete yet—"
"I don't care about your rules!" I'm between her and Stella now, my body positioned to protect. "You want moonblood? Come take it."
She smiles. "Gladly."
We collide in a blur of speed and violence. She's stronger, more experienced, but I'm fighting for my sister's life. For Kaelen's life. For everyone I love.
We trade blows that would kill normal humans. She's faster, but I'm more desperate. When she goes for my throat, I duck and drive my elbow into her ribs. When she tries to use compulsion, I look away just like Kaelen taught me.
"You can't win," she hisses. "I've been doing this for twelve hundred years—"
"Then you should know better." I grab her wrist and twist, hard. "Never underestimate someone fighting for family."
I throw her into a tree hard enough to crack the trunk. She crashes to the ground, and for one beautiful moment, I think I've won.
Then she starts laughing.
"Oh, this is perfect," she says, standing up without any visible injury. "You really think you can beat me? I've absorbed power from a dozen broken bonds. I've killed vampires older than your entire bloodline. I'm immortal in ways you can't comprehend."
She moves faster than thought. Her hand closes around my throat, lifting me off the ground.
"But thank you for the demonstration," she whispers. "Now I know exactly how powerful you'll be when the bond completes. Taking that power will make me a god."
Black spots dance in my vision. I can't breathe. Can't fight.
Through the bond, I feel Kaelen's anguish. He knows I'm dying. I want to tell him it's okay, that I fought as hard as I could, that he should stop blaming himself.
But I can't send thoughts through the bond. Only feelings.
So I send him love. All the love I've been too scared to admit. All the feelings I've buried because caring means risking pain.
I send him everything.
His shock echoes back through the bond. Then something else—determination. Rage.
And impossibly, I feel him stand up.
Seraphine feels it too. Her grip loosens slightly. "No. He's too weak. The silver should have—"
A roar splits the night.
Kaelen crashes into the clearing like a wounded animal, covered in blood, moving on nothing but willpower and fury. He's dying—I can feel it through the bond—but he's not stopping.
"Let. Her. Go." Each word is torn from his throat.
Seraphine drops me and faces him. "Kaelen. You should be dead."
"I will be. Soon." He sways on his feet. "But not before I stop you."
"You can barely stand."
"I don't need to stand." His mercury eyes find mine. "I just need to tell her the truth."
"What truth?" Seraphine laughs. "That you love her? Please. You don't know how to love—I made sure of that."
"You're right," Kaelen says quietly. "You buried the part of me that could love. Made me afraid of feeling anything. For four hundred years, I was exactly what you created—cold, empty, dead inside." He looks at me, and his eyes are full of everything he's kept hidden. "But she dug me out. She saw past the monster to the man underneath. And I'm done being afraid."
He collapses to his knees, too weak to stand anymore. But his voice is strong.
"I love you, Lyra Thorne. I love your sister. I love that you fight for people who can't fight for themselves. I love that you made me remember what it feels like to be human." Blood runs from his mouth. "And I'm sorry I didn't say it sooner."
The bond flares between us, brighter than ever.
And Seraphine screams.