SERINA POV
"You're more beautiful than I expected," Cassian said, studying me like I was a painting he wanted to buy. "The Ashveil bloodline always produced striking features. Elara was lovely too, before I killed her."
I lunged at him, but the chains around my wrists yanked me back hard. I hit the floor, gasping.
Cassian didn't even flinch. "Such fire. Just like your ancestor. She fought too, right until the end. Begged me to spare her infant daughter." He smiled. "I told her yes, of course. Then I burned the baby's nursery myself."
"You monster—"
"I'm a visionary. There's a difference." He stood and walked closer. "Your family was a threat to progress. Void Mages who could bend reality, bonded with dragons who could destroy cities? Too dangerous. The world needed order, structure, ranks that made sense. Your ancestors represented chaos."
"So you murdered them all. Children included."
"Every single one. Except you, apparently." He crouched in front of me. "Who hid you? Who was smart enough to tattoo a Zero over your real marks and throw you into the slums where no one would think to look?"
I stayed silent. I didn't know the answer anyway.
"No matter. You're here now, and that's what counts." He grabbed my wrist, studying the violet patterns bleeding through my fake Zero mark. "Three thousand years I've searched for pure Ashveil blood. Three thousand years of failed experiments trying to replicate Void Magic. And then you just... walk into my hands."
"Drakthar will come for me."
"The dragon?" Cassian laughed. "He can't enter Academy grounds. Ancient wards prevent it—built specifically after his last rampage. He's probably still trapped in those binding spells, thrashing uselessly." He released my wrist. "No one is coming to save you, Serina. You're mine now."
Fear tried to choke me, but I pushed it down. Think. There had to be a way out.
"What about Kael?" I asked. "You said if I surrendered, you'd release him."
"I lied." Cassian's smile widened. "Your brother is far too useful. A Rank Three is perfect for draining—not strong enough to resist, not weak enough to be worthless. We've already extracted his first core sample. Very profitable."
Red filled my vision. "You promised—"
"I promised nothing. I made an offer you were foolish enough to believe." He walked to the wall and pressed his hand against it. A hidden door opened, revealing shelves lined with glass vials. Each one glowed with different colored light. "These are magic cores. Stolen from children like your brother. Each one powers a month of my research."
I was going to be sick.
"You're wondering why I'm telling you this," Cassian continued. "Why I'm being so honest about my plans. It's simple—because there's nothing you can do to stop me. You're powerless here. Literally and figuratively."
"Then why keep me alive? Why not just drain my magic and be done with it?"
"Because I don't want to drain you, Serina. I want to use you." He turned back to me, eyes glittering with obsession. "Draining leaves the subject dead. Useless. But if I can bond with your bloodline—truly bond, the way dragons bonded with Void Mages—I could access Void Magic myself. Keep you alive as a living power source."
Horror crawled up my spine. "You want to bind me like... like a slave?"
"Like a battery. You'll live in this room, feed me your magic daily, and watch as I use your family's power to ascend to Rank Ten. To become a god." He knelt beside me again. "And the beautiful part? You'll be conscious the whole time. Aware of every moment. Every spell I cast using your stolen magic. Every person I hurt with your power."
"I'll never agree to that."
"You don't have to agree. The binding ritual works whether you consent or not." He stood. "In fact, your suffering might make the magic stronger. Ashveil Void Magic was always tied to intense emotion. Your pain, your rage, your despair—all of it will fuel my ascension."
I tried to pull on my Void Magic, tried to bend probability or reality or anything. But exhaustion from the death magic practice had drained me. Nothing came. I was completely helpless.
"Don't bother," Cassian said, watching my failed attempts. "This room is specially designed. Void Magic doesn't work here. I learned that from studying your family's corpses—Void Mages need connection to other dimensions. This room is sealed off. You're cut off from your power source."
He was right. I could feel it—the emptiness where my magic should be. Like a limb that had been severed.
"The ritual begins at midnight," Cassian said. "Six hours from now. I suggest you rest while you can. Once we're bonded, you won't sleep much. Can't have my power source nodding off." He walked toward the hidden door, then paused. "Oh, and your brother? He's scheduled for full core extraction tomorrow morning. I thought you'd want to know. Family and all."
"Wait!" I scrambled to my knees despite the chains. "Please. Don't hurt Kael. I'll do whatever you want—"
"You're already doing whatever I want. Begging just makes it sweeter." The door started closing. "See you at midnight, little princess."
He disappeared, leaving me alone in the white room.
I yanked at the chains until my wrists bled. Screamed until my throat was raw. Tried everything to break free.
Nothing worked.
Kael was going to die tomorrow. I was going to become Cassian's slave tonight. And Drakthar couldn't reach me.
I'd failed. Failed Kael. Failed myself. Failed everything.
I slumped against the wall, tears streaming down my face. For the first time since this nightmare began, true despair crashed over me.
Maybe I should've just stayed in the slums. At least there, Kael was alive and safe and—
Wait.
My hand touched something cold on my wrist. Not the chains. Something underneath them.
The violet Ashveil marks.
Cassian said Void Magic didn't work in this room because it needed connection to other dimensions. But he was wrong about one thing—my connection wasn't just to dimensions.
It was to Drakthar.
Through our life-bond. Through the contract I'd accidentally triggered in the shrine.
I closed my eyes and reached for that golden thread connecting my heart to his. Found it pulsing weakly but still there.
Drakthar, I thought desperately. If you can hear me, I need help. I'm trapped. Kael's going to die. Please.
For a long moment, nothing happened.
Then the thread blazed to life like someone had set it on fire.
And Drakthar's voice exploded through my mind, furious and terrified and so loud I gasped:
SERINA. STAY ALIVE. I'M COMING.
But the wards—
I DON'T CARE ABOUT WARDS. His rage shook through the bond. You're mine to protect. No human-made prison will stop me from reaching you.
He's going to bind me at midnight. Use my magic like a—
He won't live long enough. Drakthar's voice dropped to something deadly calm. Listen carefully. The bond between us is stronger than any seal Cassian can create. When he tries to bind you, I want you to pull on our connection. Pull hard. It will hurt like hell, but it will anchor you to me instead of him.
What about Kael?
I'm already moving toward the Academy. I'll find your brother while you survive that bastard's ritual. Trust me.
The connection started fading as distance stretched between us.
Drakthar—
Don't give up, little Ashveil. I failed your ancestor. I won't fail you. Not even if I have to burn down the entire Academy to prove it.
Then he was gone, and I was alone again.
But not hopeless. Not anymore.
I looked at the hidden door where Cassian had disappeared. At the walls that blocked my magic. At the chains binding my wrists.
Six hours until midnight. Six hours until he tried to make me his slave.
He thought I was powerless. Thought I was trapped. Thought he'd already won.
But he didn't know about the dragon bond. Didn't know Drakthar was coming. Didn't know that while he studied my family's corpses, he'd missed the most important thing—
Ashveils never gave up. Not while we had people to protect.
I closed my eyes and started pulling on the bond to Drakthar, practicing for midnight. Each pull sent pain through my chest, but I didn't care.
When Cassian came back, he was going to learn why the gods themselves had feared my family.
And why betting against an Ashveil was always a fatal mistake.