After He Forced Me to Drink Poison, I Shattered Our Bond and His Sanity

I swallowed the last bitter herb and scraped the chalky residue from my tongue. The potion hid my twins’ heartbeats from the castle magic. My brother, Silas, had secured the final spatial stone. In a few hours, we were supposed to leave. My children would be out of Kaelen’s reach and safe from the royal “Purity Chamber,” where half-bloods were sent to die. The heavy oak door burst inward before I could hide the cup. Two Royal Guards stormed in. One caught my bruised arm in his gauntlet and pulled me into the corridor. “Prince Kaelen requires your presence,” the guard said. “Lady Seraphina is feeling faint.” Of course she was. They hauled me through the empty corridors. My bare feet slipped on the stone as they dragged me toward the Central Spire and the Sanguine Chamber. White marble covered the Sanguine Chamber. In the center stood the extraction chair: steel frame, crimson velvet, leather straps. Rows of crystal vials waited beside it. Kaelen kept his back to me while the guards strapped my wrists and ankles to the chair. To him, the True Mate mark was only a way to take my blood. Seraphina lay on a divan with one hand to her forehead and watched through half-closed eyes. “The extraction will be quick, my love.” Kaelen bent close to her as he spoke. At the control panel, his hand went to the main dial and turned it down two notches, an old habit from before Seraphina. I stared at his hand. “Kaelen.” Seraphina pressed her fingers to her temple. “My head. It hurts so much.” Kaelen stopped. Then he turned the dial the other way, all the way to maximum, without looking at me. “Your blood is your only use. She needs a full vial. Now.” A thick silver needle plunged into my arm. Pain shot to my shoulder. I bit my lip and held the veil over my twins in place. The dial kept climbing. My concentration broke. The veil around my womb slipped, and the twins’ life-auras pulsed through the room. The pulse lasted less than a second. Kaelen frowned and glanced toward me, then turned back to the controls. But Seraphina didn’t. Her eyes opened and settled on my stomach. Then she smiled. She turned the same smile on Kaelen. As the guards unfastened the straps, I covered my stomach with one hand.