The sound came first.
Chains rattling down the hall, heavy boots striking stone, the low growl of a crowd gathering in the judgment chamber.
Then the door to my isolation cell screeched open.
Kaylan filled the frame like a blade drawn from a sheath. Armor gleamed black, her silver-gray hair coiled tight, her eyes bright with that storm-born cruelty I had come to know too well. She didn't speak. She only held up the keys, jingling them once before locking the iron cuff around my wrists again.
"You'll want to see this," she said.
Her tone was cold, almost amused. As though this were a performance meant for me alone.
The guards dragged me from the cell. The corridor reeked of damp and rust. My body ached from confinement, ribs sore, muscles weak, but Kaylan kept me upright with rough jerks of the chain. I had no choice but to follow.
The judgment hall glowed with fire. Torches lined the walls, their flames bending in the draft of so many bodies pressed into one place. Vampires filled the benches, their pale faces gleaming with hunger, eyes catching the light like predators in a pit.
They weren't here for a trial. They were here for blood.
And they would have it.
The altar of onyx still loomed in the center, veined with iron like an open wound. I had knelt there once before. Tonight, I would watch.
Because Liam was already waiting.
He was dragged into the circle, chains biting into his wrists. His shirt hung in rags, his skin a map of bruises, cuts, burns. His lip was split, his jaw swollen. And yet—when his gaze lifted, when his eyes found mine across the hall—he smiled.
Faint, bloodied, but real.
That broke me worse than any chain.
The Court hissed and jeered, some chanting for death, others for spectacle. The sound echoed like a storm.
And then Marcus rose.
From his throne at the dais, he descended, cloak trailing like a shadow given flesh. His eyes swept the chamber once before pinning me in place.
"Aria," he said softly, and the crowd stilled. "Last time, you refused me blood. You claimed loyalty could be proven by choice. Tonight, you will see the cost of defiance."
He turned, and the weight of his gaze fell upon Liam. "Bring him."
The guards shoved Liam forward. He stumbled but did not fall.
Marcus didn't lift his hand. He didn't need to. Kaylan stepped into the circle, glaive in hand, her smile cutting sharper than steel.
"Your little hero," she said, circling Liam like a predator. "Your shield. Your rebellion wrapped in mortal skin."
Her blade's butt slammed into his gut. He doubled over, coughing blood.
I surged forward, chains jerking me back. "Stop!"
Kaylan's head tilted. Her eyes flicked toward me, cold amusement sparking. "Oh, she finds her voice again." She pressed the glaive's edge to Liam's throat, just enough to draw a line of crimson. "How many screams do you think he can swallow for you, Aria? How many bones can I break before he begs?"
"Don't listen to her!" I shouted, but my voice cracked under the roar of the Court.
Liam straightened despite the blade. His breath was ragged, but his eyes—steady. He looked at me, only at me. "I'm not afraid."
That only enraged Kaylan more.
Her fist slammed across his jaw. His head snapped sideways, blood spraying. The crowd cheered.
She struck again. And again. Each blow echoing like a hammer on stone. His knees buckled, but he forced himself upright every time, as though to prove to me—prove to her—that he would not break.
My chest felt like it was splitting open. My shadows stirred violently, writhing at my feet, clawing at the chains as if they could tear through iron.
Kaylan noticed. She sneered. "Do you see, Marcus? Even bound, she writhes. She thinks her darkness will save him. Let us show her the truth."
She spun her glaive, the steel singing. The blade slashed across Liam's chest. Blood welled, dripping down his torso in gleaming rivers.
The crowd erupted into cheers, a frenzy of hunger.
"No!" My voice tore out raw. I lunged, shadows snapping around me like black fire, but the chains yanked me to my knees. Sparks of pain shot up my arms. "Stop this! He's done nothing!"
Kaylan crouched in front of Liam, lifting his chin with the tip of her weapon. "That's the point, girl. He is nothing. And still, you cling to him."
Liam spat blood at her boots. His voice came hoarse, defiant: "You'll never have her loyalty. No matter what you do to me."
Kaylan's eyes blazed. She struck him with the glaive's shaft, a crack splitting the air as he collapsed to his knees.
The Court howled, bloodlust spilling like fire through the chamber.
I couldn't breathe. My heart slammed against my ribs, shadows crawling higher up my arms, desperate, uncontrollable. They whispered, Strike. Kill. Tear.
But the chains—silver, merciless—burned where the shadows touched, searing my skin.
Marcus finally spoke. His voice cut clean through the frenzy: "Enough."
The chamber silenced.
Kaylan froze, breath hard, glaive dripping.
Marcus stepped forward, slow, deliberate. His eyes lingered on Liam, broken but unbowed, before shifting to me.
"Do you understand now, Aria?" His voice was calm, a knife hidden in velvet. "Mercy is weakness. Compassion is a chain. Every time you defy me, this is the price others will pay."
Tears blurred my vision. Fury and guilt twisted inside me until I thought I would choke on it. "Please," I whispered. "Please, stop."
Marcus studied me for a long, cold moment. Then he turned, ascending back toward his throne.
"Take him away," he commanded. "Leave him breathing. For now."
Guards yanked Liam to his feet. His knees buckled, but he forced himself upright once more, eyes finding mine across the hall.
He mouthed one word.
Endure.
Before I could speak, they dragged him back into the dark.
Kaylan lingered, wiping her blade clean. She glanced at me, her smile cruel. "Every time you resist, I'll carve another piece from him. Until nothing is left but screams. Remember that."
She turned, cloak flaring, and followed Marcus.
The hall emptied, voices fading, until only the echo of chains and my own ragged breathing remained.
I collapsed to my knees, shadows pooling around me, seething, desperate. They whispered in my ear, urgent, fevered.
Break the chains. Break them. Break them.
I pressed my hands to the cold stone, shaking. My body was bound, my heart shredded.
But one truth burned through the agony:
I could not let this continue.
Not for Liam.
Not for me.
If the shadows wanted me to break free, then I would.
Even if it meant becoming the very monster Marcus wanted me to be.