Chapter 14 – A Dangerous Truth

Elara’s pulse pounded as she met Vesper’s piercing gaze. His golden eyes were unreadable, yet the tension between them crackled like a storm about to break.

How much does he know?

She steadied her breath, forcing calm into her voice. “What are you talking about?”

Vesper took a slow step forward, his presence swallowing the space between them. “Don’t play coy, Elara. I followed the magic trail. You weren’t alone just now.”

Her fingers tightened around the spectral dagger hidden in the folds of her cloak. A lie would only dig her deeper into the pit, but the truth? That could shatter everything.

She lifted her chin. “I was gathering information.”

Vesper’s lips curled into something cold and knowing. “From the Wraith King?”

Elara’s heart stilled. He knows.

Her mind raced. If she admitted too much, he might see her as a traitor. But if she denied it outright, he would tear through her defenses like a blade through silk.

She exhaled sharply. “Yes.”

His gaze darkened, but he didn’t lash out. Instead, he took another step, close enough for her to feel the warmth radiating from his body. “And what did he ask of you?”

Elara’s fingers trembled, barely noticeable, but Vesper’s keen eyes missed nothing.

Say it, Elara. The words burned inside her throat. Tell him you were ordered to kill him.

But she couldn’t.

Not yet.

She forced a smirk. “He thinks he can turn me against you.”

Vesper’s jaw clenched. “Can he?”

Their gazes locked, tension simmering between them—dangerous, unspoken.

“No,” she whispered.

Silence stretched. Then, so suddenly she barely had time to react, Vesper reached for her wrist. Before she could pull away, he grabbed her hand—the one holding the spectral dagger.

Elara stiffened. The moment he saw it, his expression turned to ice.

“This is his,” he murmured, his voice eerily calm. “He didn’t just speak to you. He gave you a weapon.”

A pause.

“He ordered you to kill me.”

Her stomach twisted. Damn it.

Vesper’s grip tightened. “Is that why you’re hesitating? Because you’re still deciding whether to do it?”

Her breath hitched. “It’s not like that—”

“Then what is it like?” His voice was low, controlled, but beneath it, she heard the sharp edge of betrayal.

Elara yanked her wrist free, stepping back. “I’m not your enemy, Vesper.”

His gaze burned into hers. “Then prove it.”

The dagger felt like a curse in her palm. The Wraith King’s demand echoed in her mind.

One must die for the other to thrive.

Elara tightened her grip on the weapon, then—

She threw it.

The dagger sailed through the air, embedding itself into the trunk of a tree with a dark pulse of energy. The magic hissed and crackled, then vanished.

Elara turned back to Vesper, her chest rising and falling. “I make my own choices.”

Vesper studied her for a long moment, then, slowly, his lips curled into something dangerous.

“You’re playing a deadly game, Princess.”

Elara let out a shaky breath. “Then I suppose I should make sure I win.”

Vesper’s expression remained unreadable as he stepped toward Elara, his presence overwhelming. The spectral dagger still quivered where she had thrown it, its dark magic seeping into the air. A challenge. A declaration.

“You expect me to believe that was your choice?” he murmured, his voice dangerously low. “Or was it just a performance?”

Elara’s hands clenched at her sides. “You think I would pretend to defy the Wraith King?”

Vesper tilted his head slightly, his golden eyes narrowing. “I think you’re too smart not to have a plan.”

He was right. But she wasn’t about to confirm it.

Instead, she took a deliberate step forward, closing the space between them. “If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be standing here questioning me.”

His lips curled into something resembling a smirk. “Confident, aren’t you?”

“I have to be.”

A moment of silence passed between them, filled with the crackling tension of unspoken truths and dangerous choices. The forest around them seemed to hold its breath, as if waiting for the next move in their deadly game.

Then, unexpectedly, Vesper reached out. Elara flinched—just slightly—but he didn’t go for a weapon. Instead, his fingers traced the inside of her wrist, where her pulse thrummed violently. His touch was searing, possessive.

“You’re shaking,” he murmured.

Elara hated that he noticed. Hated that he always saw through the cracks in her armor.

“I just had to decide whether to kill you or not,” she shot back. “Forgive me if my heart is still racing.”

Vesper chuckled, a deep, dark sound that sent an unfamiliar heat curling in her stomach. “You really are something else, Princess.”

She swallowed. “I told you, I make my own choices.”

His fingers lingered for a second too long before he let go, stepping back. The loss of contact sent an unexpected shiver through her.

“Then choose wisely, Elara,” he said, voice laced with warning. “Because sooner or later, you won’t be able to stand in the middle. You’ll have to pick a side.”

She knew that. She had always known.

But the real question was—when the time came, would she choose Vesper? Or would she betray him to save herself?

Elara turned away before he could read her thoughts. “Let’s go. We have bigger problems than each other.”

Vesper didn’t stop her, but she could feel his gaze burning into her back.

Neither of them spoke as they left the clearing, but the air between them was charged, as if an invisible thread was pulling them closer, even as the world threatened to tear them apart.

The path ahead was dimly lit by the ghostly glow of the enchanted mist that clung to the forest floor. Every step Elara took felt heavier, the weight of her choices pressing down on her like an invisible chain. She could feel Vesper’s presence behind her—steady, silent, unrelenting.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he finally said, his voice breaking the fragile quiet.

Elara didn’t look back. “Which one?”

“You threw that dagger.” He paused. “Was it for show, or did you truly mean to sever your ties with the Wraith King?”

She stopped walking. The damp earth beneath her feet felt unsteady, mirroring the uncertainty twisting inside her.

The truth? She didn’t know.

“I did what I had to do,” she said carefully.

Vesper exhaled sharply, stepping closer. “That’s not an answer.”

Elara turned to face him, tilting her chin up defiantly. “Then what do you want me to say? That I regret it? That I made a mistake? That I want to go crawling back to him?”

His golden eyes locked onto hers, unreadable yet piercing. “I want the truth.”

She clenched her fists. The truth. If only it were that simple.

“I was never loyal to him,” she admitted. “But that doesn’t mean I trust you either.”

A flicker of something unreadable crossed Vesper’s face. Amusement? Disappointment? Whatever it was, it was gone before she could grasp it.

“I don’t expect your trust,” he murmured, stepping even closer. “But you should know that every move you make has consequences.”

His words sent a shiver down her spine, but she refused to back down. “And yet, here we are. Both walking a path neither of us chose.”

Vesper studied her for a long moment. Then, suddenly, he reached out.

Elara’s breath caught as his fingers brushed against her throat—not in a threatening way, but with something far more dangerous. His thumb grazed the faint mark that had been left behind by the Wraith King’s spell, the binding that had once tethered her to another.

The spell was broken, but the remnants still lingered—an invisible scar.

Vesper’s gaze darkened. “He left his mark on you.”

“It’s fading,” she whispered.

His jaw tightened. “Not fast enough.”

There was an edge to his voice that she couldn’t quite place. Anger? Possessiveness?

Elara swallowed hard. “Does it matter?”

Vesper’s eyes flickered with something intense. “It does to me.”

The air between them thickened, charged with something neither of them were willing to name. For a moment, the world beyond the forest seemed to vanish, leaving only the two of them in a precarious, dangerous dance.

Then, a sound broke the moment—a low, distant howl that echoed through the trees.

Elara stiffened.

Vesper cursed under his breath. “We need to move. Now.”

The Wraith King’s forces were coming.

And this time, there would be no escape.