~ Seraphina's POV ~
The world narrowed to the sound of Uncle Walder’s labored breaths.
But Regis was watching.
He still didn't leave.
He fed on weakness. If I faltered now, he'd win. Again.
Behind me, Alaric hadn’t moved. But I could feel him. A silent storm, coiled and waiting. Rage pulsed from him like heat, but he let me lead—let me stand.
I pulled my shawl tighter around my shoulders.
“You don’t recognize him anymore, do you?” Regis said lazily, his voice cutting through the silence like a serrated knife. “Then I suppose he’s of no use to you.”
There was a time I would’ve cried at his voice—cried because I missed him. Because I loved this bastard.
Now I cried because of what he was.
He dragged the merely alive body of Walder in front of me, so I followed him.
Regis threw
