The door to the infirmary clicked shut, leaving me alone with my thoughts. The quietness of the room settled on my chest like a weight, and I closed my eyes, exhaling slowly. My body still ached, but the real pain wasn't just physical—it was the mess of confusion swirling in my head.
Seraphina. I couldn't stop thinking about her, no matter how hard I tried.
Her face lingered in my mind: those intense, captivating eyes that seemed to hold so much more than she let on, the way her long hair shimmered with a strange iridescence under the light, the fluidity with which she moved—like water flowing, like a siren should. But it wasn't just her looks that haunted me. It was her strength, her spirit. She wasn't just beautiful; she was fierce. Fierce enough to face whatever dark forces had come after me. Fierce enough to save me.
A dragon and a siren. It was a forbidden thought—one I shouldn't even entertain. The elders would call it blasphemy, a betrayal of my lineage. Dragons and sirens were not meant to mix. Interbreeding was frowned upon, almost sacrilegious. The tension between our species had gone back centuries, long before I was even born. And yet, despite all the rules, all the warnings, I couldn't shake the way I felt about her.
There was something about Seraphina that pulled me in, something deeper than the attraction I tried to ignore. It was like she understood me in a way that no one else ever had. When I was around her, the world seemed... quieter, more bearable. And that feeling—that sense of connection—scared me more than anything.
What would my mother, The Lyric, say if she knew? The Queen of the Dragons, proud and fierce, ruler of our kind. She had high expectations for me, expectations I had shattered when I left for Draconic Academy to pursue my own path. She had wanted me to become a general in her army, a symbol of strength and leadership among our people. Instead, I'd run away to this place, to learn things she didn't value—things about myself.
If I went to her now, asking for advice about Seraphina... it would be a disaster. The Lyric wouldn't understand. She'd see it as weakness, as treason against our kind. I could already picture the look on her face—those sharp, piercing eyes narrowing in disappointment, her wings flaring in anger. No, I couldn't ask her. Not now. Maybe not ever.
And yet, the thought gnawed at me. What if I did ask her? What if, somehow, I could convince her to see things differently? Maybe she'd understand that the world wasn't as black and white as she thought, that love—or whatever this was—didn't follow the rules of old traditions.
I shook my head, trying to clear the swirling thoughts. It was impossible. I knew that. Dragons and sirens couldn't be together. It wasn't just taboo—it was dangerous. The consequences of breaking those boundaries could be catastrophic. But still... Seraphina made me question everything I thought I knew.
Then there was the shadow of the woman I didn't even know yet, but whose face haunted my memories like a nightmare.
Her eyes—cold, unfeeling—flashed in my mind as she tortured me, taking pleasure in my pain. I clenched my fists, feeling the anger rise up inside me again. I didn't understand her, didn't know why she had done what she did. But there was something about the way she looked at me, the way she spoke, that made me think she knew more than she was letting on. She had some connection to Seraphina—I could feel it in my bones.
But what? How?
I thought back to the moments in that dimly lit room, when she had tried to break me. She had spoken about power, about control, about making me bend to her will. But there had been something else in her voice—something personal, like this wasn't just about me. It was about Seraphina, too.
Had she hurt Seraphina the way she had hurt me? Had Seraphina known her from before, from the academy? Or was there something deeper between them, something I didn't understand yet?
I wanted to ask her, wanted to demand answers. But I couldn't do that—not after everything Seraphina had been through, not after the way she had saved me. She deserved better than my suspicions, my doubts. And yet... the questions wouldn't go away.
I thought about the orphanage, the stories Seraphina had shared with me in the rare moments she opened up. She had been there with someone else—a friend, a sister-figure, someone who had meant everything to her. Could she have been that person? Had something gone wrong between them?
My thoughts spiraled, each one leading me down a darker path. I didn't know the answers, and I didn't know where to start looking for them. All I knew was that something was deeply wrong, and I was caught in the middle of it.
I sighed, staring up at the ceiling of the infirmary. The pain in my body was dull now, manageable, but the pain in my chest—the confusion, the uncertainty—that was something I couldn't shake.
Seraphina. The Vampire. The Queen. The academy.
Everything was falling apart around me, and I didn't know how to stop it.
I had to figure this out. For Sera, for myself, for whatever future might still be possible. But I didn't know where to begin.
As I lay there, the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor became a background melody to my chaotic thoughts. Every tick felt like a countdown, reminding me that time was slipping away. I needed to act, to find answers, but how? I was trapped within these four walls, and the world beyond felt like a ticking bomb waiting to explode.
With a sudden surge of determination, I sat up, ignoring the sharp stab of pain in my ribs. I needed to move, to plan. I couldn't just wait around for someone to figure it out for me. Seraphina was out there—innocent and possibly in danger—and I couldn't let her down again.
The door had just closed behind the investigators, but I realized I could still use my connection to them. If they were looking for the truth, perhaps I could steer them in the right direction. I had to find a way to gain their trust, to convince them of Seraphina's innocence, to make them see that the real enemy lurked in the shadows.
I took a deep breath, focusing on my resolve. I needed to reclaim my strength—not just as a dragon, but as someone who could stand up for the truth. Whatever secrets lay beneath the surface, I would uncover them. And I would do it for Seraphina.
With renewed determination coursing through me, I swung my legs over the side of the bed, the cool floor grounding me in reality. I would not be a pawn in this game. I would be a player, and I would not back down until I found the answers I needed. The door to my future swung open; it was time for me to step through.