Rebom: the Dragon God’s Bride Chapter 06
I barely recognized her. Her cheeks were hollow, dark circles under her eyes. The dress hung off her frame like a tent. Fresh bruises marked her wrists.
Oh god. It’s already started.
“Isadora…” I stood up slowly.
“Sister.” Her voice cracked. “I just… I wanted to see you.”
Behind her, Damien appeared. His face was completely blank. Cold.
Isadora, we’re leaving. Now.”
I just need a minute-”
Now.”
Now.” His hand clamped on her shoulder.
she flinched.
My hands balled into fists. “Get your hands off her.”
Damien’s smile was all teeth. “Or what? You’ll waddle over here and fight me?” His eyes dropped to my stomach. “How’s the monster baby?”
“Damien, please,” Isadora whispered. “Let’s just go.”
He yanked her backward. She stumbled, caught herself on the doorframe.
“Stay away from this filth,” Damien told her, “Our child deserves better influences.”
After they left, I stood there shaking.
Kael touched my arm gently. “She’s being drained. Just like you were.”
“I have to save her.”
“You will.” His voice was firm. “But we need proof first. Real proof.”
What kind of proof?”
He met my eyes. “Tonight, I’ll show you something. Something that will change everything.”
Past midnight, Kael waved his hand and the cell door swung open silently.
“How did you-”
“Later.” He pulled up his hood. “We don’t have much time.”
We slipped through empty corridors, Kael’s magic Hiding us from the guards. My heart was going so fast.
We reached Damien’s estate. Kael led me around back, to a hidden entrance covered in vines.
“Down here,” he whispered.
Stone steps descended into darkness. The air got colder, heavier. Smelled like… rot.
At the bottom, Kael pushed open a metal door.
I stopped breathing.
The room was huge. Chains hung from the ceiling. Stone slabs lined the walls. And on them…
Bodies. Dozens of bodies.
Some were just bones. Others looked fresh, skin dried and cracked. A few still moved weakly, soft moans escaping cracked lips.
“Oh my god.” My hand covered my mouth.
I recognized one of them. The bronze dragon girl who’d pushed me on the ice bridge. Her stomach was swollen grotesquely, veins bulging purple beneath her skin. Her eyes were empty.
“The sacrifices.” Kael’s voice was hard. “They made it to the temple. Then Damien’s family intercepts them. They struck after you lost consciousness. I was too weak to save them all then.”
“No.” I stumbled backward.
He caught me. “Look closer.”
didn’t want to. But I forced myself, Dragon scales covered one wall. Hundreds of them, different colors, nailed up like trophies.
A girl with copper wings reached toward me, her mouth opening. “Help… please…”
She’d been in the ceremony with me. We’d walked together.
“I don’t understand.” Tears burned my eyes. “Why? Why would he-”
“To maintain his bloodline fraud.” Kael moved to a table covered in books and vials. “Damien isn’t a true amethyst dragon. He uses this dark magic to fake his wing color. But it requires constant life force. That’s why he originally targeted you. Why he married Isadora instead. Why all these girls are here.”
My legs gave out. Kael caught me before I hit the floor.
“Every hundred years, they take the sacrifices,” he continued. “No one questions it because it’s tradition. The families are told their daughters died serving the dragon god. But really…” He gestured at the horror around us.
The copper–winged girl’s hand fell back down. Still watched her chest stop moving.
She was gone.
“We have to tell someone.” I grabbed Kael’s arm. “We have to-”
“Who will believe us?” His expression was sad. “Your father already condemned you. The priest is in on it.
Damien is the hero of the realm.”
“Then what do we do?”
He knelt down, pressing his palm to the stone floor.
Golden–red light spread out in a circle, forming intricate runes.
“We mark it. When the time comes, this magic will reveal everything to everyone who matters.” He stood, helping me up. “But first, you need to give birth. Your child is the key to exposing all of this.”
Why? What’s special about-”
“You’ll see.” He guided me toward the exit. “Come. We need to get back before anyone notices.”
As we climbed the stairs, I looked back one last time.
All those girls. All those families who thought their daughters had died heroically.
Damien. You’re going to pay for this.
Back in the cell, I couldn’t sleep.
Kael sat beside me, silent but steady.
“In my past life,” I finally said, “he did this to me too. Drained me slowly, I thought it was normal. That pregnancy was supposed to feel like dying.”
“It’s not.” Kael’s hand found mine. “What you’re carrying isn’t a curse. It’s a miracle.”
I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to.
But all I could see were those empty eyes staring at nothing.
All I could hear were those weak, hopeless moans.
This has to end. Whatever it takes.