Elara stumbled through the night, Mina's frantic grip on her arm the only anchor tethering her to reality. Her head spun violently, the mandrake poison mingling lethally with the adrenaline surging through her veins. Each step sent daggers through her lungs, the spiked corset digging cruelly deeper, shredding skin, drawing blood.
They fled into a shadow-drenched alleyway, where Mina halted abruptly, spinning Elara around to face her.
"Elara, we have to hurry. He'll find us—he always does."
"Why?" Elara gasped, her voice raw with confusion and betrayal. "Why did Lysandra poison them?"
"Because she wants Kael for herself," Mina hissed urgently, eyes darting fearfully around them. "And she'll kill anyone who gets in her way—including you."
Elara pressed shaking fingers to her temple, thoughts spiraling. She remembered Lysandra's cold, hungry gaze at the feast, the way the woman's stare had lingered possessively on Kael.
"Kael thinks I did it," she whispered brokenly. "He'll never believe otherwise."
Mina shook her head sharply, tugging at her wrist. "That doesn't matter now. We have to get you somewhere safe—"
A sudden rush of movement erupted from the shadows, powerful arms tearing Elara away from Mina's grip, slamming her back against a stone wall. Pain exploded through her ribs, silver spikes embedding deeper still, her vision whiting out momentarily.
"Found you," snarled a voice of lethal silk.
Elara lifted her gaze dizzily, staring into Kael's molten-gold eyes, blazing with feral rage. Blood stained his jaw, his powerful chest heaving with fury.
"You betrayed me," he hissed viciously, his fangs inches from her throat. "After all I've done for you—"
"I didn't!" she choked desperately, her eyes pleading, hands pressed weakly against his chest. "Kael, please—"
"Silence," he growled fiercely, fingers tightening around her throat, yet oddly gentle beneath the bruising force. "Do not insult me with more lies."
His thumb traced her pulse possessively, conflicting emotions warring in his gaze. Betrayal, desire, and agony intertwined dangerously.
"I should kill you," he whispered darkly, voice roughened by pain. "But death is too kind."
Elara gasped sharply as he lifted her from the wall, pulling her into his iron grasp, binding her wrists effortlessly in a silken scarf from his pocket. He dragged her roughly through twisting streets, darkness swallowing them as they approached the towering, ominous silhouette of his estate.
"Kael, please," she begged breathlessly, tears burning her vision. "I swear I had nothing—"
"Quiet," he snarled sharply, though his voice held a trembling note of anguish. "I will deal with your betrayal soon enough."
Kael's dungeon was a terrifying place of cold stone and whispered screams. Chains hung from dark walls like lifeless serpents, instruments of torment scattered on blood-stained tables. A single lantern flickered weakly, casting eerie shadows as Kael bound her wrists tightly in iron shackles, chains rattling ominously.
"You promised you'd protect me," Elara whispered brokenly, voice trembling with betrayal and pain.
Kael paused briefly, his eyes darkening with something tortured and desperate. "And you promised loyalty."
She shook her head weakly, tears slipping down pale cheeks. "Lysandra set me up."
Kael's fists clenched, tension radiating from his powerful form. He leaned in close, his breath warm against her skin, voice dropping to a tortured whisper. "Then prove it. Prove you had nothing to do with this."
"How?" she pleaded desperately, gaze locking onto his with raw vulnerability. "How can I prove my innocence when you've already decided my guilt?"
Kael stared at her, conflicting emotions storming fiercely within molten eyes. For a heartbeat, he softened, fingers brushing gently against her tear-streaked cheek, before his expression hardened once more.
"You'll find a way," he murmured darkly, pulling away sharply. "Or you'll suffer dearly."
Without another word, he turned, his footsteps echoing coldly as he left her chained, alone in the suffocating darkness.
Hours stretched endlessly. The cold gnawed at her skin, her limbs trembling violently. Yet her greatest torment wasn't the chill or pain—it was Kael's wounded, hateful gaze, searing itself relentlessly into her memory.
The silence was shattered suddenly by soft footsteps, barely audible. Elara tensed, heart pounding, expecting Kael's merciless return.
Instead, Lysandra stepped smoothly from the shadows, pale hair cascading like silver threads over a black gown. Her eyes glittered cruelly as she regarded Elara's trembling form.
"You're resilient, Elara," Lysandra purred softly, circling her slowly, fingers brushing against torture instruments lining the wall. "I thought Kael would have broken you by now."
"You poisoned them," Elara spat bitterly, anger overpowering fear. "Why frame me?"
Lysandra smiled coldly, her gaze fixated hungrily on Elara's shackled wrists. "Because Kael desires you. And I cannot allow that."
Jealousy burned fiercely in Lysandra's eyes, an obsession twisted beyond madness. She leaned close, whispering seductively, darkly, into Elara's ear.
"But perhaps I miscalculated," she murmured silkily. "Perhaps Kael must see you utterly ruined before he tires of you."
Elara struggled violently against her chains, panic surging as Lysandra lifted a blade, cold steel caressing Elara's collarbone, tracing Kael's bite mark possessively.
"If you harm me," Elara choked defiantly, voice shaking with fury, "Kael will kill you."
Lysandra laughed softly, the sound chillingly sweet. "He won't have the chance. He'll believe you did this yourself—just another desperate bid for sympathy."
The blade pressed harder, skin splitting gently, blood trickling in a thin line of crimson. Lysandra's eyes flashed victoriously, leaning closer, lips brushing Elara's cheek in a mockingly tender kiss.
"Enjoy your pain, dear," Lysandra whispered darkly. "It's only the beginning."
She withdrew silently, footsteps fading into the shadows, leaving Elara chained, bleeding, and helpless. The wound at her collarbone burned, her vision blurring as despair and fury tangled dangerously within her heart.
Yet beneath it all, a fierce resolve burned brighter, hotter, than the pain.
She lifted her tear-streaked face, staring defiantly into the endless darkness. Her voice trembled with quiet intensity:
"You'll regret this, Lysandra. I swear—I'll make you both pay."
In the suffocating darkness, as blood dripped silently from her wounds, Elara vowed she'd shatter every chain binding her—no matter the cost.