The Bound (Ascension #2)(58)

Viktor took a step back. “You want to go.”

“No,” she corrected him, “I must go. I want to stay here with you.”

“Then, stay!”

“Is it always this argument, Viktor? It becomes so draining.”

Cyrene noticed their surroundings for the first time. They were in some kind of cottage. It reminded her of the holiday home her parents owned in the country.

“You were the one who separated us, Sera. I’ve been fighting for us from the beginning.”

“By marrying Margana? My best friend?” Serafina snapped angrily. “Your wife is with child, and you stand here, begging for me to do what exactly? I cannot give up my powers any more than you can leave your wife and child.”

“I would do it for you.” He held his arms out for her.

“Oh, Viktor,” she said, falling into his embrace. “Why must this always be so difficult?”

“It has been difficult since the day you stepped into the castle. I feel you drifting away from me more and more, Sera. I can’t bear it. You are my one true love. Margana is the person my father chose, not who I chose. My choice will always be you.” He grasped her arms and drew her back, so he could look at her. “Find a way for us to be together forever, my love.”

“We will be,” she whispered.

“No. Use your powers. Then, you will know my love never wavered.”



Cyrene woke up to the feel of a soft cushion under her head and silk sheets covering her body. Her mind was hazy. Her head pounded. Her throat felt dry. Her fingers tingled. She blinked away her blurry vision and allowed the room to come into focus.

Where am I, and what has happened?

Her mind was still filled with Serafina and Viktor Dremylon. Why did they keep coming to me? She had always adored history, but no history she had ever read said that the supposedly evil Domina Serafina was in love with her archrival and the man who destroyed her, Viktor Dremylon. But the more Cyrene had these visions, the more she questioned if the history she had grown up with was accurate. And how could Serafina use her powers to make their love eternal? Cyrene doubted there was a force on this earth that could do such a thing.

“She’s awake,” a voice called out with relief.

Cyrene turned her head and saw a young woman looking down upon her. “What’s going on?” she croaked.

The woman didn’t say anything. She just rushed out of the room. Cyrene looked around at her surroundings and tried to remember what had happened.

Everything came back to her in sharp focus. Avoca had reached with her magic. The pulse of the Braj. Slaying the beast with Dean’s sword.

Dean!

She gasped aloud and tried to sit up but crashed back down into the bed as her body tried to recover.

She covered her face with her hands. She had passed out and left him there to fend for himself. He hadn’t acted surprised that one was there, but everything she knew about Braj told her that he couldn’t hope to defeat one without powers unless he was one of the best swordsmen in the world. That meant…he had likely perished. Her chest tightened at the thought.

Dean couldn’t be dead. Creator! She couldn’t even fathom that. She had only met him twice, but she just couldn’t believe it. The first man who had ever shown interest in her without any motivations…and she had likely led him straight to his death.

Cyrene slid slowly from the bed and walked across the small room to bring life back into her limbs.

She had just made it back to the bed when the doorknob twisted. Cyrene turned to face the door, wondering who exactly she was going to see. When the door opened, in strode Queen Jesalyn, and right behind her was Kael.

Jesalyn was smiling like she had just won a prize. Kael looked like the overconfident, mischievous Prince he was. Cyrene stood her ground even though she wanted to drive Jesalyn’s smile into the nearest bedpost.

“Haenah, it’s so good to see you,” Jesalyn cooed. “Or should I call you Cyrene now that we’re familiar?”

“Why are you holding me hostage?” Cyrene demanded.

Jesalyn snorted. “We gave you a proper bed and a nice room in the palace, and you say you’re a hostage.”

“Jess,” Kael said softly from her side.

She straightened, and it was easy to see that she really was only sixteen. In Byern, she wouldn’t have even reached her Presenting day, and she was here, trying to rule a country. Cyrene would have felt bad for her under different circumstances.

“We’re here to bring you back to Byern, where you belong,” Jesalyn said.

Kael sighed. He looked frustrated with his sister, but it wasn’t like he was letting Cyrene go. “At the present moment, your captors and friends have been detained.”

“Detained?” she asked with a cold pit in her stomach.

“Maelia is perfectly safe in the room next door. However, Orden will be charged with kidnapping. Aurum will hand over their Lord to the throne for trial. His accomplices—Ava, Roran, and Ahlvie—will be charged with aiding and abetting a known criminal. I will be escorting you back to Byern at first light. So, get used to your accommodations. You will be home soon.”

Cyrene stared at him suspiciously. Charging all of them for kidnapping? Kael knew that she hadn’t been kidnapped. He wouldn’t have spoken to her in such a way…toyed with her, if he had thought that someone was going to spirit her away. Is he doing this because, like Maelia had said, he needs to prove to himself and to Edric that he can do this right?