Chapter 37 · Forbidden City Finale: Ashes on the Throne

"Get your hands off her, you pathetic little leach!"

Caine’s voice cracked across the throne room. He wasn't commanding; he was pleading. He was shaking—not with rage, but with the kind of terror that hits when the monster you created grows teeth and decides to eat you first.

I didn't move. I couldn't. Silas had his arm locked around my waist, his palm searing through the thin fabric of my dress. He pulled me flush against his chest, his body heat the only thing keeping the S-grade corruption from shredding my veins. He was my leash. My anchor. The only reason I wasn't a pile of ash on the floor.

"Leach?" Silas let out a low, dangerous hum against my ear. I felt the vibration rattle in my own ribs. "I’m the one keeping her heart beating, Caine. You’re just the one waiting for the funeral."

Caine sneered, though he stumbled back. He looked pathetic. Royal robes torn, crown tilted, eyes wide. Those cold, calculating eyes that once promised me eternity were now swimming in panic.

"She’s a freak! A glitch!" Caine screamed.