CHAPTER 88: READY TO LEAVE

Elyndra suddenly lowered herself into a slow crouch, Seraphina’s hair falling forward like a curtain around her stolen face. She gripped the jagged ice shard in both hands, her expression calm and even serene as she aligned it with Seraphina’s stomach.

"Time to erase the mistake she made," she whispered.

Lucian’s heart stopped.

"Elyndra—!"

But she didn’t pause. Totally did not hesitate as she drove the shard down.

Lucian lunged forward on instinct, pure, blinding panic, grabbing her wrist the same moment the shard struck. His sudden force shoved her hand harder than she intended, causing the shard to sink forward.

"NO!"

The tip brushed Seraphina’s skin, just a graze, a shallow streak of red but right at that second Lucian felt the world tilt.

He saw the blood.

Her blood and probably their child’s blood.

Something inside him snapped cleanly in half.

Without thinking, he slammed his palm against the side of her neck, freezing the nerves in a burst of desperate ice magic.

Elyndra’s eyes widened and then her body went limp instantly, collapsing sideways against the floor.

Lucian caught Seraphina... his Seraphina before she fell.

Elyndra collapsed sideways when Lucian struck her nerve point, her body going limp in an instant. Lucian caught Seraphina before she hit the floor, his breath breaking violently as he pulled her into his arms.

"Help!" he roared, the sound ripping out of him raw and desperate. "Someone—now!"

The manor reacted instantly. Footsteps thundered across the upper halls, and the hidden stairway door flew open.

Ena, the head maid, skidded to a stop at the entrance, eyes widening in horror.

Thorne, Lucian’s butler, followed close behind with two house guards.

"My lord—!" Thorne gasped.

"Take Lady Arienne," Lucian ordered sharply, his voice shaking so hard it barely held together. "Carefully. Do not drop her... she’s breathing but barely."

"Yes, Your Grace!" the guards rushed forward.

Lucian didn’t wait to see more.

He gathered Seraphina tighter against his chest...and burst out of the chamber, climbing the hidden staircase with a speed that forced the others to scramble behind him.

Ena’s voice trembled as she ran. "Prepare the medical room! Someone go fetch Dr. Darian immediately... now!"

The manor exploded into motion.

Lucian carried Seraphina straight to the healing wing, barely aware of the servants scrambling around him. Ena pulled open doors, nurses rushed ahead to prepare equipment, and two house guards lifted Lady Arienne with trembling care.

"Lay her here, Your Grace," Ena urged.

Lucian placed Seraphina onto the medical bed, his hands refusing to stop shaking. Her skin was cold... too cold. A thin line of blood marked her lower abdomen, small, but enough to send panic screaming down his spine.

"Start stabilizing her," Ena commanded the nurses. "And Lady Arienne too... keep her warm. Hurry!"

"Yes, ma’am!"

Lucian stepped back, breath unsteady. He walked restlessly in the hallway, waiting for Darian to arrive.

Ena approached him cautiously. "My lord... Dr. Darian was in the east district. He is on his way now, but it will take some minutes."

Minutes.

Minutes felt like a lifetime.

"You—" Lucian suddenly grabbed Ena’s arm, the grip too tight, too desperate. Frost crept along his fingers before he forced himself to pull back. "You’re a mix... right?"

Ena froze, her breath catching.

Her eyes widened in shock, a tiny flinch betraying how deeply she had kept that truth hidden.

"My lord..." she whispered, voice barely more than air. "How did you know?"

Lucian’s expression twisted, not with anger, but raw panic.

"That’s not the point!" he snapped, the words slamming through the hallway like a jagged blade. "Tell me... did you know any phoenix who has ever been possessed by a fairy?! Anyone—any case—any lore—anything!"

Ena swallowed hard, her hands trembling.

"M-my lord... possession between species is forbidden magic. Extremely forbidden." She clutched the fabric of her apron as if steadying herself. "It isn’t supposed to be possible. Especially not with phoenixes... their spirits burn too fiercely for foreign souls to come near."

Lucian’s chest tightened painfully.

"So how..." His voice cracked. "How did she do it?"

Ena shook her head, fear tightening her features.

"She shouldn’t have been able to," she whispered. "Not unless... not unless the phoenix’s spirit was weakened. Very weakened... I mean in a way she couldn’t do anything anymore..."

Lucian’s breath stopped. His mind replayed the memory.

Seraphina on the ground, blood spilling from her lips, her flame nearly gone as she poured everything she had into saving his mother.

Weakened.

Drained.

Vulnerable.

Ena’s voice trembled. "My lord... a fairy’s soul is slippery. Deceptive. If they find even the smallest crack, they slip through. But phoenixes..." She swallowed again. "Phoenixes don’t make cracks. They burn them shut."

Lucian felt cold settle deep into his bones.

"So," he said slowly, voice shaking with restrained terror, "the only reason Elyndra got in is because Seraphina nearly died?"

Ena lowered her eyes, hands twisting nervously in her apron.

"I’m afraid so, my lord. It is either nearly dead... or when her soul is ready to leave the body."

Ready to leave.

The phrase sliced straight through him.

Lucian’s hands curled into fists, the temperature around him plummeting until the hallway tiles crackled under a blooming circle of frost.

Before Ena could say another word, footsteps thundered down the staircase.

"Dr. Darian has arrived!" a maid shouted breathlessly.

Lucian turned sharply just as Darian burst into the hallway, carrying a leather satchel, his phoenix-marked eyes glowing faintly with urgency. His usually calm expression was nowhere to be found.

"Where is she, my lord?" Darian demanded, already pulling on his gloves as heat began radiating from his palms. "How long has she been unconscious?"

Lucian didn’t answer with words.

He simply stepped aside and pointed to the closed medical-room door, his jaw clenched so tightly the muscle in his cheek twitched.

Darian nodded once, sharply, then rushed past him.

The door swung open.

A wave of warm phoenix magic spilled into the cold hall.

Lucian stood frozen in place, watching Darian disappear inside.