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October 13 - October 14, 2025
I couldn’t do it. You will, Vincent whispered in my ear. Show them how strong you are.
The first time in weeks I’d seen something that looked like fight in her eyes. Goddess, I could’ve fucking wept for it. There she is, I thought.
Vincent had been a very cautious man. He’d renovated this castle to add passageways and tunnels and confusing hallways that led nowhere—infinitely aware of the possibility that, one day, his fortress could be turned against him.
It was all her. Deadly and stunning. Even her hatred was fucking beautiful.
“I know better than to make a deal with a desperate man,” I said. “Besides, you’re right. I am tired of being caged. I recognize bars when I see them.”
falling to his death, reaching for something that was never going to reach back.
The room was so loud, his voice so low, and yet I heard nothing but his words: “I’d spend a lifetime at the tip of your blade, and it would have been worth it.”
“You have nothing but me,” I said. “And yet, you’d let me go?” “I have nothing but you,” he murmured. “So I am letting you go.”
“Let me make you the queen that you are. Let me guard your body, your soul, your heart. Let me spend the rest of my fucking pathetic life at your mercy. If I need to die, then let me do it by your hand. Please.”
“Yours,” I ground out. “It’s yours.” My blood. My body. My soul. I had given her all of that a long time ago. I even had given her my life. And I’d do it all again.
He was diving down after me, wings spread, covered in blood, a single hand reaching out for me. Something about this image looked so familiar, and then it clicked—the painting of the Rishan man falling, one hand outstretched. I’d always thought he was reaching for the gods. He was reaching for me.
“Go,” he said. “You don’t have much time.” His voice sounded so far away. He gave me a gentle smile. “Don’t forget those teeth of yours, little serpent.” And Goddess, despite everything, I hesitated. Despite everything, I was not ready to let him go. I would never be ready to let him go. “I love you,” I said. Because it was still true. After everything, it was still true. I didn’t wait for him to say it back to me. I wiped the tears from my cheeks and turned away. The image of Vincent withered away into darkness. I didn’t look back.
“You called,” she said simply. You answered,
