OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: OF CHAINS, WHISPERS, AND THE HOLLOWED HEART

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: OF CHAINS, WHISPERS, AND THE HOLLOWED HEART

RIYEE'S POV

Darkness clawed at me, heavy and alive. My lungs burned as if the air itself refused to enter, and my heart slammed like a hammer in slow motion. Then—pain. A jolt through my wrists.

The cuffs bit deep, metallic barbs tearing into skin. Every pulse flared white-hot, gnawing at my muscles, rattling my bones. I staggered, teeth clenched, refusing to scream.

I blinked.

Shadows flickered at the edges, whispers curling through the air—echoes of voices I recognized but couldn't trust. My mother? KD? They twisted into something wrong, something probing. I shook my head, trying to anchor to reality.

My eyes caught a faint glint on the far wall. Artemis hung there, just out of reach. The stone floor stretched before me, slick with shadow, while the red sigils above pulsed like a heartbeat.

The orichalcum cuffs weren't just shackles—they were parasites. Each pulse gnawed deeper, drinking resistance like a living thing. Pain flared sharp and electric through my wrists. My teeth clenched against the cry rising in my throat.

And then the whisper came.

"You are weak."

My breath faltered. The voice wasn't external—it was inside. My mother's voice. Not real. Wrong. It wasn't her. "Run, Arielle. Don't fight them."

"No." My voice shook with fury. "You're not her. My mom does not call me Arielle."

I tried to move, but the cuffs pierced deeper into my skin, their barbs drinking me in. My knees buckled as another jolt ripped through me, violent and merciless, rattling my bones.

Then it hit me like ice. The Halcyon Pact got me.

A shadow peeled itself from the chamber's edge. Cloak. Bone-white mask. Only slits for eyes, yet the weight of his gaze pressed like iron.

"You shouldn't struggle, Princess." His rasp slithered through the air, metallic and calm. "You'll only bleed faster."

I forced words through clenched teeth. "Where am I?"

"At the heart of what your Court calls an enemy." He tilted his head, amused. " At the sanctuary your mother once destroyed, once ran away from. And now you are here—chained where she once was."

My throat split with desperation. "Where is she? Where is my mom? You captured her too—tell me where she is!"

Silence stretched. Then a chuckle, quiet, merciless. "Closer than you think. But you'll see her only when we decide it serves purpose. She surrendered for you. Believes she can save you." He leaned closer, red sigils burning faintly across the mask. "She is wrong. You will both break. And when you do... so will Kian. Or should I say—Khaizer Dylan Dela Vega?"

KD's name in his mouth made my blood roar. "You won't get him."

He laughed. A cold, terrifying laugh that echoed off the stone. "We have your mother. We have you. And we'll take Kian back too. He was ours. He was our Lucem."

"You won't get him. Not while I'm alive. KD is not Lucem. He is not your weapon." I snarled.

"Then that is why you'll die," he hissed, clapping his hands once. "So nothing stands in our way."

My glare met the hollow mask. He tilted his head, mock-pleased.

"Your Court isn't here. They'll never come."

"They'll come for me." My voice dripped steel, even through the pain. "They always do."

Another figure entered—taller, broader, draped in black plating traced with red sigils. The air thickened, bent under his weight.