Chapter 395: Pushed Too Far
"We already have a bond!" Zyren replied as he continued to lie there face up, naked and staring upward, his eyes partly closed, not seeing any reason to cover himself.
"You know what I mean!" A sharper glint entered her voice as she spoke.
"I can feel you more!" she pointed out, and Zyren sighed before he began to speak.
"We can feel each other more. I turned you, so of course we’re connected in more ways than one," Zyren said, and barely had he finished speaking when Aira slowly nodded her head as she silently stared at him.
For a long while, she did nothing but sit there, staring at him wordlessly.
Zyren was handsome, and at that moment, in her eyes, he was even more striking than usual. She wanted to scoot closer and lean into him.
No, she wanted to do more than that. She wanted to kiss him and have him kiss her back. She wanted him in ways she could not even describe, and the intensity of it made her want to burst out laughing.
She did not know how much time had passed, but the same man her body yearned for was the same reason she had gone out of her way to make sure her body didn’t heal and that she died.
The same man she had been trying to reach the afterlife to escape from, and yet, at that moment, she wanted nothing more than to pounce on him.
It was maddening.
Tears gathered in her eyes as she smiled at him, fully aware of what was most likely going through his mind.
His intention was to give her time to process her new identity so that they could go back to whatever they had been before.
Something Aira had no intention of returning to.
Not to someone who could dig his own child out of its mother’s stomach and not even flinch. His blade hadn’t even shaken.
Did she want to spend her entire life with such a monster?
The answer was no.
Her hands trembled as she tightened her fingers together and slowly balled them into fists, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do.
It was something she would have preferred to do alone, but she knew that Zyren would not let her out of his sight.
She would have chosen the window if she had any way of knowing the time and any confidence that the sun was still up in the sky.
But since she had no clue, she had no choice but to take the second option.
In one steady motion, she raised her hand, her nails sharp and pointed, and drove them straight into her chest with as much speed as she could muster.
It was painful, but she refused to let it stop her as she aimed directly for her heart.
But barely had her nails pierced through when a strong grip stopped her.
Her eyes widened in shock.
Zyren, who hadn’t even been looking at her, had still moved fast enough to stop her just as her nails broke the skin and blood began to leak out.
His hand gripped hers in a crushing hold, tight enough to almost break the bones in her fingers.
But Aira didn’t flinch.
She met his gaze and held it, almost as if she were daring him to try to stop her.
There was a harsh tension in the air as neither of them spoke.
They didn’t need to.
Their eyes said enough.
Silence stretched between them as Aira slowly opened her mouth to speak, ignoring the rage she could see building in Zyren’s eyes—rage that frightened her a little, especially with the pressure tightening around her hand.
"...Since we’re connected, I figured it might be a good idea to let you know what death feels like," she said with a blank expression, her gaze drifting briefly toward the heavy curtains as she wondered whether she would make it.
Even if she didn’t, trying alone would be enough to ensure that Zyren gave up the moment he realized how determined she was to kill herself—and how nothing he did could truly stop her.
Unless he chose to spend the rest of their eternity watching her every second.
Still, he didn’t speak.
Neither did he let go of her hand.
He continued to stare silently into her eyes, the rage within him tightly contained but unmistakable.
She was surprised when he finally opened his mouth and began to speak, slowly, as though he were carefully choosing each word.
"...If there’s something... anything you want or need... I can—"
But Aira didn’t let him finish.
She looked straight into his eyes and spoke with a faint smile of her own.
"I want to die. I want to die. Kill me."
The words were direct. Clear.
But barely had they left her lips when she felt a sharp tug on her arm, hard enough to pull her right off the bed.
The next moment, she was being lifted as clothes were thrown over her, covering her bare body.
She stared in stunned silence as Zyren picked up a robe and slipped it on with practiced ease.
He set her down briefly, only to lift her again the next second.
This time, he tossed her over his shoulder.
Shock flashed through her.
Then anger.
Aira would have screamed in protest if not for what happened next.
He walked straight out of the room.
The last thing she wanted was to make a scene in front of the guards and maids.
They were already staring.
Several of them looked stunned the moment they laid eyes on her.
Most likely because of her red eyes.
But beyond that, there was Zyren.
She could feel his mood through their bond.
It felt like a storm.
A storm heavy and violent, one that could swallow anything and anyone if pushed too far.
He didn’t say a word as he walked through the corridors, his grip firm and unyielding.
The servants stepped aside quickly, lowering their heads, none of them daring to speak or even look for too long.
The tension around him was suffocating.
And even without words, Aira could feel it pressing against her through their connection.
Still, it wasn’t until she saw the direction he was heading that her anger cooled, replaced by something colder.
Something heavier.
Zyren wasn’t just walking aimlessly.
He was heading toward the lower halls.
Toward the stone passageways.
Toward the dungeon.
And in that moment, Aira realized something with growing certainty.
She might have pushed him too far.
