Page 75 of Severed Heir

“He died with honor,” Charles said.

Then he lifted his relic, and the temperature plummeted. I’d drawn all the light, but somehow, Charles turned that darkness into power. And he used it to flee through a portal.

Snow began to fall, and soon enough the Summer trials were dusted in ice.

Klaus was gone.

And so was I.

“I will kill you!” I screamed, my voice cracking in the night. “I willfuckingkill you, Charles!”

But he was long gone through his ice portal like the coward he was. I turned to Ciaran. “Who did Naraic bond with?”

She didn’t answer right away. Her wings unfolded slowly.“Her name,”she said softly,“is Severyn. His sister.”

The name landed in my ribs like a blade.

“What does thatmean, Ciaran?” My voice shook with rage. “She’s supposed to marry my brother. She was supposed to behis. Maybe even...” I broke off.

She was supposed to be mine. If things had been different. If fate had chosen better. But I was born of Night. I could never become my father’s heir.

Ciaran lowered her head.“Naraic bonded with her before his death. Twin dragons cannot survive without balance. And now, with two riders… we must.”

I turned, each step heavier than the last. The world tilted sideways, snow blurring into shadows. I staggered out into the cold and screamed. Darkness tore the sky open. Shadows bled upward, swallowing the stars. Grief poured out of me like molten iron, searing through hope, through fury, through the last traces of everything left.

I had nothing left.

“What did you do?” I rasped.

“Naraic broke his bond,”Ciaran whispered.

“No,” I growled. “The girl.”

“She will never know.”

“She’ll know,” I snapped. “She’ll know when no creature ever bonds with her, because Naraic is fucking dead.”

“That is not on you,”she said softly.“The bond is weak, but it will keep you alive. It was the only thing Klaus could do. He planned it.”

But itwason me. All of it.

“She was supposed to marry my father’s heir,” I murmured. “She was supposed to be part of this family. And now... how the hell am I supposed to carry this?”

“Then protect her.”

My fingers curled into sand. “I’m not that kind of man,” I muttered. “I fuck what I want. I ruin what I want. Everything good turns to ash in my hands.”

And now? My last sliver of humanity was gone.

“Archer Lynch,”Ciaran said sharply,“you are better than this. Don’t destroy yourself.”

“No.” My voice cut low. “She’s not my responsibility.”

Ciaran smacked me across the nose with her wing.“You’re grieving,”she hissed.“If you don’t protect her, she’ll be expelled. She won’t bond with another creature when she’s summoned to claim her title.”

“Well, that’s a damn shame for her.”

Ciaran said nothing.

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