Chapter 161. Fight Me

Xerina’s POV

I woke with a start, my chest heaving as though I had just surfaced from drowning. The ceiling above me was unfamiliar—dark, oppressive, the heavy beams crisscrossing above like the bones of a great beast. My pulse thudded in my ears, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Every muscle in my body felt weighted, pinned down by the remnants of the nightmare that clung to me like a second skin.

I blinked, my throat dry as sandpaper. The room was still, too still, save for the faint flicker of a torch in the corner, casting long shadows across the walls. The scent of damp stone and blood lingered in the air, and I fought the urge to gag. My mind struggled to orient itself, to separate the nightmare from reality.

But then the memories came flooding back.

Kaelem. The throne. His hatred. My betrayal.

I closed my eyes, my breath hitching as I remembered his hands around my throat, the weight of his words heavy in my heart. You’