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Chapter 180
~Riven’s POV~
The Vampire King never punished . He never said a word when I was reported. I had wiped a quarter of his council mbers.
And so, when I saw Kieran lean in to force himself on Valerie, I saw that sa terror begin to flicker in her eyes that had once filled my mother’s dead, mortified eyes—sothing black broke loose inside .
I didn’t even blink.
One second I was still, and the next... I was on him.
I grabbed him by the collar and flung him off her like trash. I didn’t care how many were watching. Didn’t care what title he held or what punishnt would co for touching the nephew of an Alpha King.
He would never do that to her. Not Valerie or anyone.
My fist t his face with a satisfying crunch. Blood flew. His nose shattered.
I saw red, not anger but bloodlust. I felt the aura before I saw him.
Kieran had opened his mouth to speak, but Dristan was already beside , his fist slamming into Kieran’s jaw.
We didn’t speak or need to, our rage spoke for us and it was loud.
But even I knew if I kept going, if I let that part of loose again, there wouldn’t be a body left for the Council to question.
So I pulled back barely enough when his maid interfered. I could never be seen hitting a defenceless woman, but that was not to say I wouldn’t hit one who was an ard enemy.
Valerie watched us from the side, staring widely like she had seen a ghost or sothing.
Shock. Fear. Maybe sothing else I couldn’t na, and just that sight brought an unfamiliar pain twisting in my chest like a flickering pain.
I turned away before I could na it. Before it grew teeth and made a fool of .
My shoulders slumped as I recalled a beautiful mory of my mother. And replacing her was Valerie’s defiant face.
I couldn’t stop the smirk that curled at my lips, sharp as broken glass.
"If you keep looking at like that," I murmured. "I don’t know what I’ll do to you, Nightshade..."
I tilted my head back, licking the blood from the side of my hand.
"...or how many bodies I’ll be forced to drop just to keep you safe and by my side."
I walked off then, disappearing into the hallway.
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~Dristan’s POV~
The second I saw her, my mood shifted.
Silver.
That’s what they called her. Pretty na. Masked girl. Too pretty and too loud. Furthermore, she is too familiar with Valerie.
She halted when our eyes t in beyond the east arch, a box of sothing in her hand—books or trouble, likely the last.
My brows pulled together on instinct. Not that I had proof. Not yet. But sothing about her grated at the sa way a crooked blade did.
Sharp. Dangerous. Pretty but not clean.
Valerie noticed. Of course she did. Her attention was a string I never stopped feeling tug at my chest, especially the day she challenged .
She should have been squashed buit she was Valerie’s friend.
I ignored Silver for a beat and turned to tuck a loose strand of Valerie’s hair behind her ear, letting my fingers linger just a second longer than I should have.
That mont—the calm after chaos—I didn’t want to share it with Silver or with anyone.
I didn’t like that girl.
I didn’t trust her. There was sothing off about her energy. Sothing... fractured. And the way she always hovered close to Valerie, smiled too widely, slipped in and out of places she had no business being.
Every instinct in scread she was hiding sothing. And whatever it was—I didn’t want it around Valerie.
"You good?" I asked her softly, ignoring Silver entirely.
Valerie gave a small smile. "Yeah."
But her voice was tight. Shaky, maybe. Still riding the edge of what had happened earlier with Kieran and the crowd. I wasn’t done tearing him apart, and my rage was pulsing but Valerie had stopped with that kiss.
That single kiss had ripped through every rational thought in my head like wildfire through dry wood.
I could still taste her on my lips.
"I should go," Silver said then, snapping out of the spiral. She didn’t even glance at . Her eyes went straight to Valerie like I wasn’t even standing there.
I didn’t answer. Didn’t nod. Didn’t blink.
She brushed past , and I caught the faintest whiff of sothing sharp beneath her perfu—ash and ozone. Spell remnants.
I didn’t like that either.
When she was gone, I tilted my head just enough to look at Valerie again. "You know her well?"
Valerie gave a small shrug. "She’s... new."
Valerie’s reply was too casual and overly careful.
And Valerie? She didn’t do casual unless there was a reason. Unless there was sothing-or soone—worth protecting.
Interesting.
I leaned a little closer. "I don’t trust her."
"I know," Valerie murmured.
I raised a brow. "That obvious?"
"You don’t trust anyone close to , Dristan."
"But I do trust Isla."
"She is your cousin. It doesn’t count."
Dristan arched a brow. "It does, after all, Xade’s cousin is that scumbag, Kieran. And he doesn’t just not trust him, but like him as well."
"True." Valerie smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. "Well... You look at So... Silver like you’re ready to bite."
My ears caught the na mistake, and she smiled it off. As well, I only nodded. "I’m considering it."
Her laugh ca out quietly and unexpectedly. It did sothing to . Loosened a coil in my chest that I hadn’t realised was there.
"She’s just... Silver," Valerie said after a beat, but her tone was laced with sothing deeper. Guarded.
Noted.
I didn’t press but I logged it.
My mind didn’t let go of things easily. Especially not when they’re near the girl I’m learning to breathe around.
The girl who kissed back, who let hold her hand, touch her lips, and taste her.
Gods, the taste of her... I wanted more. All of it. Again.
"Save that thought for when you actually eat our mate out, and have her scream," Soren corrected, and I smile in my mind already seeing it happen.
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