Seraphina's POV
We're running through the palace halls when the floor behind us explodes.
Black smoke shoots up like a geyser, and I hear screaming. Not human screaming. Something worse. Something that sounds like a thousand voices crying out in hunger.
"Faster!" Draeven pulls me around a corner just as the wall where we were standing crumbles. His hand is still gripping mine, warm and solid. Three hours ago, this hand held a sword to kill me. Now it's the only thing keeping me upright.
My legs are shaking. Using my power to break Morganna's chains drained me more than I expected. Every step feels like I'm walking through mud.
"I can't—" I stumble, and Draeven catches me before I hit the ground.
"Yes, you can." His golden eyes lock onto mine. "You've survived two hundred forty-seven years. You can survive another hallway."
He's right, but I'm so tired. So tired of surviving.
Another explosion rocks the palace. Through a window, I see dragons in their beast forms flying in panic. The entire kingdom is waking up to chaos.
"Where are we going?" I gasp.
"The Archive," Draeven says. "If there's information about the Void and what you really are, it'll be there."
We burst through a door and into a massive library. Books stretch from floor to ceiling, thousands of them. The smell of old paper and dust fills my nose.
Draeven releases my hand and starts pulling books off shelves. "Help me look. Anything about ancient seals, blood magic, or immortality curses."
I stare at the endless shelves. "This will take days. We only have three."
"Then we'd better start now."
I grab the nearest book and flip it open. The words swim before my eyes. I'm so tired. When did I last sleep? Really sleep, not just die and regenerate?
"Seraphina." Draeven's voice is softer now. "When did you last eat real food?"
I look up at him, surprised by the question. "I... don't remember. The guards bring me scraps sometimes."
His jaw tightens. "For a month, I've been trying to kill you. And all that time, my guards were starving you?"
"It doesn't matter. I can't die from hunger."
"That doesn't make it right." He pulls a small bag from his belt and tosses it to me. Inside are dried fruits and nuts. "Eat. Now."
I want to refuse out of pride, but my stomach growls loudly. I shove a handful of nuts into my mouth. They taste like heaven.
Draeven watches me eat with an expression I can't read. Then he goes back to searching books.
We work in silence for what feels like hours. My eyes are burning from reading ancient text by candlelight. I'm about to suggest we take a break when I find something.
"Draeven." My voice comes out as a whisper. "I think I found it."
He's beside me in seconds, reading over my shoulder. The page shows a drawing of a woman with silver eyes standing at the center of a circle. Around her are dragons and witches, all holding hands. Beneath the drawing are words in an old language I barely recognize.
But I can make out one phrase: "Luna Priestess."
"What's a Luna Priestess?" I ask.
Draeven's face has gone pale. "It's a myth. A legend. They were supposed to be blessed by the Moon Goddess herself—women with power over life and death. The last one lived over a thousand years ago."
"What happened to her?"
"She sacrificed herself to trap the Void." He looks at me, and I see fear in his eyes for the first time. "They used her life force as the seal. When she died, the Void was locked away forever."
My blood turns to ice. "Morganna said I'm the lock."
"Which means you're not cursed with immortality," Draeven says slowly. "You're blessed with it. You're a Luna Priestess, and your life force is literally holding the Void in its prison. That's why you can't die."
"But Morganna cursed me when I was twelve—"
"She didn't curse you. She awakened what was already inside you." Draeven runs his hand through his hair, frustrated. "She killed your village to force your powers to manifest early. She's been preparing you for this your entire life."
I sink to the floor, my legs giving out. Everything I thought I knew about myself is wrong. I'm not a mistake. I'm not a monster. I'm a lock on a prison for ancient evil.
"So what happens now?" My voice sounds small even to my own ears. "If I die, the Void breaks free. If I live, Morganna will keep trying to kill me. Either way, everyone loses."
Draeven kneels in front of me. "There has to be another way. The ancient Luna Priestess couldn't have meant for this to last forever. There has to be a way to seal the Void without you dying."
"How do you know?"
"Because I refuse to accept that you survived two centuries of hell just to die as a sacrifice." His eyes burn into mine. "You deserve to live, Seraphina. Really live. Not just survive."
Something in my chest cracks at his words. No one has ever said that to me before. No one has ever acted like my life matters.
"Why do you care?" I whisper. "This morning you wanted me dead."
"This morning I was a fool." He reaches out slowly, giving me time to pull away. When I don't, he touches my cheek gently. "This morning I saw you as a prophecy. Now I see you as a person. And I don't sacrifice people."
Before I can respond, the door behind us slams open.
A man storms in—tall, with silver eyes and dark hair. He looks like Draeven but younger, less hard. This must be Kael, the brother Draeven mentioned.
"We have a problem," Kael pants. "A big one."
"The Void?" Draeven stands, pulling me up with him.
"Worse." Kael looks at me with something like pity. "Your coven has arrived. All twelve High Priestesses. They're demanding the king hand you over immediately, or they'll declare war on the dragon kingdom."
My heart stops. "All twelve? That's never happened. The covens hate each other."
"Apparently they hate the idea of the world ending more," Kael says. "And they all agree on one thing—you need to die to reseal the Void. They're calling it your 'sacred duty.'"
"No." Draeven's voice is steel. "I won't hand her over."
"They have three hundred witches with them, brother. We have maybe two hundred dragons ready for battle, and half of them think you've lost your mind for protecting a witch." Kael looks between us. "If you refuse, they'll attack. Dragons and witches will go to war. Thousands will die."
The weight of it crushes me. If I live, the Void breaks free and kills everyone. If I die to reseal it, I'm just a sacrifice. If Draeven protects me, his people go to war.
"Let me go," I say quietly. "Let them have me. It's the only way."
"No," Draeven says immediately.
"Thousands of lives against one? The math is simple—"
"I said no." He steps between me and Kael like he's shielding me from the whole world. "I'll talk to the High Priestesses. I'll make them understand there's another way."
"What if there isn't?" I ask.
He looks back at me, and in his eyes I see something fierce and protective and utterly insane.
"Then we'll find one," he says. "Together."
Kael shakes his head. "Brother, you have one hour before they attack. One hour to either hand over the witch or prepare for war. What are you going to do?"
Draeven opens his mouth to answer, but before he can speak, every candle in the library goes out at once.
We're plunged into darkness.
Then I hear it. A voice. Not from the doorway or the windows. From inside my own head.
"Little priestess," it whispers, and the sound is like ice sliding down my spine. "I'm coming for you. And when I'm free, I'll devour your king first. Let him feel what it's like to be unmade."
I gasp and grab Draeven's arm. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
The voice laughs inside my skull. "Only you can hear me, child. Only you can feel me getting stronger. Every second you live, my prison weakens. Every breath you take brings me closer to freedom."
"Stop it," I whisper.
"You know what you must do," the voice continues. "Die, and I go back to sleep for another thousand years. Live, and watch everyone you're starting to care about burn."
The candles flicker back to life, and I'm standing in the middle of the library, shaking. Both Draeven and Kael are staring at me with concern.
"Seraphina?" Draeven touches my shoulder. "What happened?"
I look at him—this man who went from my executioner to my protector in a single day. This man who's offering to start a war to save someone he barely knows.
"The Void," I say, my voice breaking. "It's in my head. It's talking to me."
Draeven's face goes white. "That's not possible. The seal should—"
"The seal is breaking." I grab his hands, needing him to understand. "Every moment I live, it gets weaker. Morganna was right about one thing—I can't live without destroying everything."
"We'll find another way," Draeven insists.
"In one hour?" I laugh, but it comes out more like a sob. "You need to let me go, Draeven. You need to let them end this before—"
The door explodes inward again, but this time it's not Kael returning.
It's Lord Casimir, Draeven's uncle, with twenty dragon guards.
And every single one of them has their weapons pointed at me.
"Forgive me, nephew," Casimir says coldly. "But you've left me no choice. The council has voted. The witch dies. Now."