Chapter Twenty
Riven's POV
The council chamber was colder than I remembered. Their shadows loomed tall, their gazes sharp, piercing through me like knives.
"Riven," one of the elders said, voice heavy with disappointment. "We have heard troubling reports. Your cousin has spoken of your… entanglement with a vampire."
My stomach tightened. I wanted to lie...Gods, I needed to but I knew Eira had already told them. Any denial would only fuel their wrath.
So I told them the truth. Not all of it...never all but enough.
"Yes," I said, voice flat, almost mechanical. "I have crossed paths with Lior Solavar. More than once. The bond between us is real. But I do not want it."
The chamber buzzed with whispers, faces twisting with anger, disgust, fear.
The punishment was swift.
A spell was cast, burning cold chains around my chest, a tether designed to mute the bond, to suffocate its pull. It didn't sever it...it couldn't ...but it made breathing heavier, my heart aching in a constant dull throb.
"You are grounded until further notice," the elder decreed. "No missions. No roaming. You will remain here, and you will forget him."
I bowed stiffly, hiding the storm inside me.
For days, I stayed locked in my home. I told myself I deserved it...deserved the cage, the silence, the emptiness. I told myself it was easier this way.
But at night, when sleep wouldn't come, I could still feel him.
---
It was at the market that I saw the figure. Hood pulled low, moving too quickly, too deliberately. My instincts flared, and I followed, weaving through stalls until the crowd thinned.
He stopped in the shadows of a corner alley. Slowly, he lifted his hood.
Lior.
My breath caught, my body burning at the sight of him.
"I missed you," he said quietly, voice hoarse, eyes glassy.
I forced my face into stone. "I don't. In fact...I hate you."
The words sliced my own chest, but I spat them anyway, sharper than any blade.
"Don't say that," he whispered, stepping closer, anguish carved across his face. "You can curse me, beat me, reject me...but don't ever say you hate me. Knowing that you love me… that's the only thing keeping me from going insane."
I clenched my fists, nails biting into my palms. "It doesn't change the fact that I do. Ever since I met you, my life has been a mess. Nothing you say will ever make me yours. Loving you is like being trapped in a cage."
His lips trembled, eyes wet.
"You're cursed, Lior," I continued, my voice breaking despite myself. "You need to get cleaned. Move on. We can never be."
I turned sharply, forcing myself to walk away, each step heavier than the last.
But his hand caught my wrist.
"Please… don't do this," he begged, voice raw, breaking.
I yanked free, shoving the pain down deep. "I was never yours."
His face fell, shattered.
The words tasted like ash in my mouth, but they were the only shield I had left.
"This pretense," I whispered, barely holding myself together, "is the only way I can survive you. I can never be with someone as selfish as you."
His hand dropped, lifeless.
And I walked away.
My heart stayed behind.