Blood and Betrayal

The city had changed.

Gone were the towering castles of stone and banners of kings. Now steel and glass reached for the skies, their windows glowing like captured stars. Machines roared through the streets where horses once trod. Humanity had moved on, forgetting the queen who had once ruled their night.

But I had returned.

Beside me, Kael walked stiffly, his steps reluctant, every muscle tight with resistance. The blood bond tugged at him like a chain, dragging him where he would not go. His storm-gray eyes scanned the rooftops, the alleys, every corner where shadows lingered. He wasn’t looking for prey. He was looking for allies.

And then it happened.

His breath hitched. His stride faltered. He pressed a hand to his temple, stumbling slightly.

I turned, crimson eyes narrowing. “You feel it.”

Kael’s face contorted. “What—what is this?”

“Fragments,” I said, stepping closer. “The bond is opening. My blood inside you is whispering what it knows.”

He looked at me sharply, but before he could speak, it struck again. Images—not his—flashed across his mind.

A throne of obsidian, its seat carved from the bones of kings.

A battlefield drenched in fire, mortals screaming as shadows consumed them.

And at the center of it all, me—Nyxaria Veyra—crowned in black gold, drenched in blood, laughing as I tore kingdoms apart.

Kael staggered back, his chest heaving. “You… you were a monster.”

I smirked, unashamed. “I was a queen.”

But there was more.

A softer memory slipped through—the touch of rain on my face as I stood alone on a balcony, watching a world that feared me. The hollow ache of eternity, the silence of an empty throne. The crushing loneliness of immortality.

Kael’s jaw clenched. For a moment, his anger cracked, and something like pity flickered in his eyes.

I stepped closer, my voice low. “Do you see now, hunter? You cannot fight me without also knowing me. My pain is yours. My hunger is yours. My power is yours.”

His lips curled, but his voice was unsteady. “I’ll die before I let you break me.”

I tilted my head, smiling. “Then you’ll die with my memories burning in your veins.”

Before Kael could answer, movement stirred above us. Shadows shifted on the rooftops. The faint creak of bowstrings, the glint of steel in the moonlight.

I smelled it instantly. Hunters.

“Kael!” a voice called from the dark. A man emerged from the shadows, clad in the same armor as Kael, but older, his hair streaked with gray. His bow was aimed at me, but his eyes were on Kael. “You’re alive!”

More hunters appeared around him, dropping from the rooftops, weapons ready. At least a dozen.

Kael froze. His eyes widened. His brothers-in-arms. His family.

“Get away from her!” the older hunter shouted. “She’s the one—the Queen of Eternal Night! We’ll take her together!”

Kael’s lips parted. He tried to speak, tried to warn them, but no sound came. His body trembled violently, caught between his will and mine.

I stepped closer, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder. “Kill them,” I whispered.

Kael’s entire body jerked as if struck by lightning. His eyes widened in horror. “No—”

His hand reached for his blade. His body moved against his will.

The older hunter’s face lit with relief. “Kael, strike her down!”

But instead, Kael turned—blade flashing—and drove it into the man’s chest.

The world froze.

The hunters stared in shock as their leader fell, gasping for breath, silver arrows spilling from his quiver. Blood stained Kael’s hands. His own scream tore from his throat, raw and broken.

“No!” he choked. “No, no, no—”

I smiled cruelly, my crimson eyes gleaming. “Yes.”

The other hunters roared in fury, charging at me, but Kael’s body moved again, faster than thought. His blade struck another down, his fists cracked bones, his every motion as deadly as if he were still their commander. But his face… his face was twisted in anguish, fighting with every strike.

When the last hunter fell, silence returned to the street. The smell of blood hung heavy in the air.

Kael dropped his blade, falling to his knees beside the corpse of the older man. His hands shook violently as he gripped the dead man’s armor.

“I killed him,” Kael whispered hoarsely, his voice breaking. “You made me kill him.”

I knelt gracefully beside him, my pale hand resting on his cheek. He flinched, but couldn’t pull away.

“No, Kael,” I murmured. “We killed him.”

Tears of fury and grief burned in his eyes. His hands clenched at his sides. “I’ll never forgive you for this.”

I smiled, leaning close until my lips brushed his ear. “I don’t need your forgiveness. I only need your obedience.”

His breath hitched, his body trembling under the weight of the bond.

And in that moment, Kael Ardyn, the hunter who had sworn to kill me, realized the truth. He wasn’t just my servant.

He was my weapon.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***