All Chapters of Sacrifice Of The Heart: Chapter 21 - Chapter 25

The underground chamber was cold, the air thick with the scent of burnt herbs and old magic. The stone walls, slick with condensation, seemed to pulse with the energy of centuries-old enchantments. This was not a place meant for the living.Elara’s fingers trembled as she traced the rim of the silver bowl before her. Inside, dark crimson liquid swirled—their willingly given blood, the first requirement of the ritual. It had been taken just moments ago, a single deep cut on both her and Vesper’s palms, their blood merging into one.Across the chamber, Aerin worked fast, drawing intricate runes onto the floor with crushed lapis and enchanted chalk. The symbols glowed faintly under the flickering torchlight, humming with an energy that made Elara’s skin prickle.This was it.She glanced at Vesper, who stood beside her, his face unreadable. He was always unreadable. But tonight, something in his eyes burned differently—not just determination, but something deeper, something she wasn’t sur

Elara’s pulse pounded like war drums in her ears. It couldn’t be.She took a slow step back, her eyes locked on the figure standing in the eerie blue glow. He was exactly as she remembered—and yet impossibly different.Dark hair. Cold eyes. A presence that once made her feel safe… now laced with danger.Kael.Her breath caught. Kael, her childhood friend. Her first love. The boy who had vanished years ago—presumed dead.Yet here he stood, smirking as if he had never been gone.“Miss me?” His voice was rich with amusement, but there was an edge to it.Elara clenched her fists. “You’re dead.”His smirk deepened. “Clearly not.”She fought against the whirlwind of emotions crashing into her—grief, shock, anger. “You disappeared. We thought—”“You thought wrong,” Kael interrupted smoothly. He stepped closer, his gaze raking over her. “And you’ve changed, Princess. No longer the helpless girl who needed saving.”Elara’s heart twisted. Kael had once been her protector, her closest confidant.

Darkness swallowed everything.Elara’s breath came in sharp, uneven gasps as the world spun violently around her. The temple’s golden light had been consumed, its warmth snuffed out by the Wraith King’s presence.And Kael—Kael was gone.She wasn’t sure when it had happened, wasn’t sure if he had been dragged into the abyss or if the shadows had simply erased him. But his absence sent a jagged, ice-cold terror through her chest.“Elara.”The voice slithered through the darkness like silk over steel.She turned sharply, heart hammering. The Wraith King stood before her, the void of his gaze locked onto her like a predator studying prey.She swallowed hard. “What do you want from me?”His lips curved, slow and deliberate. “Everything.”Elara clenched her fists, forcing down the tremor in her limbs. “You won’t have it.”The Wraith King stepped closer, the shadows shifting around him like an extension of his will. “You misunderstand, little flame.” He lifted a hand, and the darkness at he