Kael POV
The moment we step through Ashford Manor's doors, I smell it.
Poison. Old and new. Seeping through the walls like rot.
"Your house reeks of death," I tell Celeste quietly.
She doesn't look shocked. "I know. They've been killing my father slowly for months. Maybe years."
Smart girl. She's already figured out what I'm feeling.
A helper approaches—a middle-aged woman with scared eyes. "Lady Celeste, your stepmother requests your presence in the study immediately."
"Tell her I'll be there shortly," Celeste says calmly. "I need to show Kael to his quarters first."
The servant's eyes flick to me nervously. Good. She should be worried.
"Actually," the servant stammers, "Lady Helena said the... the shifter should stay in the servant rooms. With the other animals."
The temperature in the hallway drops ten degrees. Ice crawls across the floor from where I'm standing.
Celeste's hand finds mine, squeezing softly. "Kael is my bonded friend. He stays with me. In my rooms. Tell Helena if she has a problem with that, she can talk it with me personally."
The helper practically runs away.
I look at Celeste, impressed. "You're getting bolder."
"I died once from being too weak," she says frankly. "I won't make that mistake again."
Her rooms are on the third floor, far from everyone else. Isolated. Easy to poison or attack without anyone hearing.
They've been planning her death for a long time.
"Lock the door," I tell her once we're inside. "And don't eat or drink anything unless I taste it first."
"You think they'll try to kill me? Tonight?"
"I think they'll try everything now that you have me." I walk to her window, trying the locks. Weak. I could break through in seconds. "You're not the weak girl they thought they could control. You picked the most dangerous shifter in the kingdoms. They're scared."
Through our bond, I feel Celeste's happiness mixed with fear. She's glad to have me, but she's also worried about what comes next.
Smart. She should be worried.
Because what comes next is war.
"I need to go see Helena," Celeste says, going toward the door.
I block her way. "Not alone."
"She's expecting me alone. If you come, she'll know I don't trust her."
"Good. Let her know." I cross my arms. "Where you go, I go. That's how bonded pairs work."
Celeste studies my face, then nods. "Fine. But let me do the talking."
Helena's study is on the first floor, twice the size of Celeste's father's room. Already claiming land, I note.
Helena sits behind a massive desk, files spread in front of her. Vivienne stands beside her, both of them wearing similar cold smiles.
"Celeste," Helena says without feeling. "I see you brought your... pet."
"Kael is my bonded companion," Celeste corrects. "Not a pet."
I say nothing, just lean against the wall and watch. Let them think I'm safe. Let them underestimate me.
It'll make destroying them so much sweeter.
"We need to discuss your father's condition," Helena continues. "The doctors say he may not wake up. If he dies, someone needs to handle the Ashford fortune and businesses."
"That would be me," Celeste says strongly. "I'm his only legitimate heir."
Helena's smile sharpens. "Actually, according to your father's will, I'm named manager of the estate. Until you turn twenty-one, everything goes through me."
I feel Celeste's shock through the bond. She didn't know about this.
"That will was written when I was a child," Celeste says carefully. "Surely it needs updating—"
"But it hasn't been updated," Vivienne interrupts smugly. "Which means Mother rules everything. Your inheritance, your belongings, even this house."
"For now," Celeste says quietly, but I can feel her rage growing through our bond.
Helena stands, walking around the desk. "I'm not crazy, Celeste. If you agree, I'll make sure you're taken care of. A small income, a cottage somewhere quiet—"
"You want me to disappear," Celeste finishes.
"I want you to be realistic." Helena's voice hardens. "You made a stupid choice today. That cursed monster you bonded with will kill you within a year. Everyone sees it. When you die, your fortune will pass to the family anyway. Why not make things easier on everyone and step aside now?"
Through our bond, I feel Celeste's feelings warring—fear, anger, determination, and underneath it all, that cold calculation I'm learning to recognize.
She's planning something.
"I need time to think," Celeste says finally.
"Take all the time you need," Helena says kindly. "You have until tomorrow morning to decide. If you refuse, I'll have no choice but to question your father's bonding approval. Without his conscious permission, your bond could be deemed invalid."
That's a lie. The bond is sealed. But it would tie us up in courts for months, and Helena knows it.
We leave the study, and I feel Celeste shaking with suppressed anger.
"Breathe," I tell her quietly once we're alone. "Don't let them see you're affected."
"They're stealing everything," she whispers. "Just like last time. And I can't stop them because they changed the will—"
"They forged the will," I correct. "I could smell the fresh ink. That paper is less than a week old."
Celeste's eyes widen. "You can tell?"
"I'm three hundred years old. I know fraud when I smell it." I tilt my head, studying her. "But here's the interesting part. They wouldn't make a will unless they were sure your father was going to die. Soon."
"Which means they're not just poisoning him slowly anymore," Celeste breathes. "They're going to kill him. Tonight. Maybe tomorrow."
"Exactly."
"We have to save him—"
"No," I say strongly. "We let them kill him."
Celeste looks at me in horror. "What? He's my father!"
"He's also the man who ignored your stepfamily's abuse for years. Who let them steal from you. Who was going to let them murder you." I lean closer. "Your father made his choices. Now he pays the price."
"That's cruel."
"That's justice." I touch her face gently. "But if you want to save him, we can. Just know that if he lives, Helena keeps using him against you. If he dies, you can expose the forgery and claim everything that's truly yours."
Celeste closes her eyes, wrestling with the choice.
This is the time. The moment she picks what kind of ruler she'll be. Merciful or cruel.
Before she can answer, someone screams from the floor below.
We run toward the sound and find servants gathering around a body on the floor.
Not Celeste's father.
It's Vivienne's butterfly shifter, dead on the marble floor. Her colorful wings are torn. Her eyes are empty.
And written in blood on the wall above her are three words: "THE SERPENT HUNTS."
Everyone turns to look at me.
Celeste grabs my arm. "Kael, did you—"
"No," I say honestly. "But someone wants everyone to think I did." Because this isn't about killing a butterfly shifter.
This is about framing me for murder so they can break my bond with Celeste and kill us both.