The moment the ambulance turned the corner and disappeared from sight, my legs gave out.
I crumpled to the ground beside the twisted wreck of the AMG, one hand bracing on scorched pavement, the other still smoking. The crowd that had gathered started to approach again, but the look I gave them-sharp, murderous-kept them at a distance.
Good.
I couldn't pretend anymore.
The sun was everywhere. Piercing through the clouds like razors. Burning through my coat, my gloves, my skin. The faint layer of enchantment I'd cast over my clothes was gone now-shattered the moment I touched that sun-drenched car door to get to him.
Cassian.
He was hurt.
Bleeding.
And I couldn't even shield him properly without falling apart.
I could still smell the blood on his skin-richer than it should've been, sharp with adrenaline and copper and pain. I could still feel his pulse through my fingertips. Erratic. Frightening.
He had smiled at me.
While I burned.
Foolish man.
I hissed softly, curling inward, shielding my face beneath my arm. Blisters had bloomed up my wrists, climbing fast beneath the thin leather of my gloves. My vision shimmered, black around the edges. I could feel the sun gnawing at me now-not just on the surface, but deeper. Bone-deep.
I was unraveling.
Not physically-that, I could mend. Eventually.
"Lady Seraphine," a voice said beside me-polite, clipped. One of the villa's butlers. Conrad. He had arrived in the second car, shadows coiling from the cracked door like obedient serpents.
He extended a thick black cloak toward me, face pale with concern. "We need to get you out of the light."
"I know." My voice was a rasp, barely there.
He crouched beside me as I slowly, painfully, let him wrap the heavy cloak around my shoulders. The moment the fabric met my skin, the blistering eased. Not healed. But contained.
Still-I stayed crouched.
Still.
Shaking.
Watching the direction the ambulance had gone like I could will it to return. Like I could keep it from taking the one thing I couldn't replace.
"He'll be alright," Conrad said gently.
I didn't answer.
Because I wasn't sure.
Because I'd seen too many mortals bleed out in too little time. Cassian was strong. Stubborn. But this world didn't care about strength or stubbornness. It devoured without mercy.
I pressed a hand to my chest.
My ribs ached. Not from injury.
From fear.
"To the Dahlia, I need blood, hurry"
" Yes, my Lady."
-------------------------------------------
I barely finished the second bag of blood when I felt it.
That old, cold pressure in the air—the one that made the shadows curl tighter and the temperature drop like death had walked in wearing perfume.
He was here.
I turned, already knowing.
Mavier stepped out from the corner like he owned the damn place. As if I hadn't barred him from this villa centuries ago. His black hair was longer than I remembered, loose around his face, eyes gleaming obsidian rage. He looked like wrath carved into marble and dipped in velvet—and I hated that I still recognized every inch of him.
"You're hurt," he said smoothly, eyes dragging over the peeling skin on my arms, the faint tremble in my hands. "All this… because a fucking human wrapped his car around a stop sign?"
I didn't move. Just wiped the blood from my lips and glared. "What the hell do you want, Mavier?"
"How many times has he fucked you, Seraphine? How many times has that warm-blooded piece of shit been inside you while I waited centuries for you to say yes?"
"Mavier," I warned, but he was past listening.
"You let him in you," he spat, stepping so close I could feel the heat of his fury. "You let him fuck you raw and walk around with your scent on him like he owns you."
Couldn't help but shove him hard against the stone pillar behind him, my fingers at his throat, fangs half-drawn.
"If you fucking say his name again," I growled, "I swear on your throne I'll tear your tongue out."
He laughed. The sound made my blood boil.
"Still got fire," he rasped. "No wonder he keeps coming back for more."
I slammed him harder. "You're jealous."
"I'm furious," he snapped. "Because you were mine. You still are. No matter how many times he's buried inside you, no matter how sweet he makes you moan—he will never be me."
I leaned in, close enough he could see the burn still healing across my cheek.
"And thank the gods for that."
His eyes gleamed with rage. And something far worse.
"Lady Seraphine D'Argent," he sneered, voice warping with madness. "The coldest, cruelest woman in the old courts. The untouchable winter flame. I waited centuries. Fought wars. Turned down queens—for you."
I let him fall and turned away, fangs still out, breath trembling.
Mavier straightened, brushing himself off like my rage was a dusting of lint.
"You said no to every proposal. Every offer. Every goddamned gift. But a mortal—a fucking weak-limbed, cocky little human fucks you, and suddenly you're his?"
My jaw locked.
He was spiraling now—circling me like a storm, hands flexing at his sides.
"Does he even know what he's had between his legs?" he spat. "Does he realize he's shoved his dick into royalty? Into legend?"
"Shut the hell up—"
"Do you moan for him, Sera?" he snarled. "Do you ride him in that ridiculous mortal bed and let him come inside you like he's earned it? Do you scream for him the way you never once did for me?"
I moved so fast even Mavier didn't react in time.
My hand was at his throat, nails digging in, slamming him back into the stone pillar hard enough to crack it. Blood beaded beneath my fingers.
He laughed.
Fucking laughed.
"You're insane," I said through gritted teeth.
He looked drunk on it. The pain. The fury. The closeness.
"I'm in love," he whispered, voice soaked in venom. "And you gave yourself to a human who should've died screaming today."
"Mavier—"
"I planned it, Seraphine. The crash. The intersection. The goddamn truck. I wanted to watch him break. I wanted to see if you'd run into the sun for him."
"You bastard," I hissed.
"I wanted to see how far your pretty little cunt loyalty went," he said, voice feral. "Now I know."
I punched him so hard his head cracked the stone behind him.
He coughed blood—and laughed again.
"I'll have him killed, you know," he said quietly. "Next time, I won't just crash his fucking car and I'll make sure you come crawling back."
let go of him, breathing hard, shaking.
"Get out," I whispered.
"I'm not done."
"I. Said. GET OUT."
Mavier looked at me—burning, bleeding, trembling with a fury that only obsession can build—and then disappeared into shadow.
I collapsed into the nearest chair.
The blood bag still dripped beside me.
I didn't feel strong.
I didn't feel powerful.
I just felt… afraid.
Because if Mavier wanted Cassian dead, he wouldn't stop.
And I'd already run into the sun once.
I didn't know if I could do it again.
"CONRAD GET THE CAR READY!"