Chapter 139

VALENTINA The court buzzed like a living beast, whispers curling around me like smoke, biting at my skin. Even after the relic shattered, its remnants lingered—not in metal, not in crystal, but in me. In the black-gold fire coiling beneath my veins, itching, hungry. Kira growled inside me, a low, warning rumble. “It’s coming. They want to see. Are you ready?” I swallowed against the tightness in my throat. Ready? I wasn’t ready, but hiding had never been my way. Not now. Not ever. Andres’s hand brushed mine as he leaned close, his golden eyes flickering with both worry and fire. “Val… you don’t have to do this.” I turned to him, letting the dark pulse in me flare slightly, a warning, a tether. “Andres… if I hide, Alessio wins. He wants me weak, scared, and unsure. If I fight… if I step into this fire, I choose who I am. Not him. Not anyone.” His jaw clenched, and I could feel the tension radiating off him like a second sun. “It’s not just Alessio. The council… the nobles… they won’t un