Page 53

Chapter

Forty-Nine

K YSON

Thirty minutes earlier.

Tanner’s lifeless body lies splayed on the rack, his unseeing eyes fixed on the ceiling as the last wheezing breath escapes his lips.

I scrub the blood from my hands and face, not wanting to startle the staff or children with the gory remnants.

The copper tang of blood fills my nose despite my efforts.

I must act quickly, strategize our next move because his last words mean the hunters are close.

I need to send out some scouts to ensure that there are no hunters or council members on the premises. As for Tanner’s body, it will have to be dismembered and disposed of in the furnace by Gannon and Liam.

I head to the stairs when the ground rumbles violently, knocking me unbalanced. Choking smoke and dust billow through the air as debris rains down. My ears ring from the thunderous noise above. Blinking through the haze, I spot Gannon and Liam’s hazy figures. Bruised and bloodied but alive.

My ears finally stop ringing as I get to my feet in fear for Azalea.

I sprint for the stairs when white-hot pain rips through my side.

The acrid scent of wolfsbane fills my nostrils.

Hunters - they are in the tunnels with us.

Rage boils up inside me and I shift, my vision coming into focus through the red haze of my rage.

They have taken enough from us - made orphans of our young, refugees of our people.

I see Gannon and Liam shift too, their golden eyes burning with fury.

We move as one, ripping through the hunters, shredding them until no heartbeats remain but our own.

I scream to the others through our mindlink, ordering them to the tunnels and bunkers.

Gannon and Liam rush to protect Azalea and the others, not that they have a choice with the pact oath. It would be instinct to them, leaving me to check the tunnels. I stalk through the back tunnels, making sure there aren’t any hunters left hiding, while all I want to do is find Azalea.

I get no reply from Azalea, yet I can feel she is alive, although panicked. Trey, I know, is trying to get her and gives me a run-down of what is going on above while I scour the tunnels, ripping the wires from bombs planted beneath the castle everywhere.

The ceiling above explodes, sending rocks and debris crashing down on me as I hit a fork in the tunnels.

I turn to my left, wanting to take the tunnel that comes out by the river, when the tunnel starts exploding, I am forced to run in the opposite direction toward the tunnels leading to the stables and forest.

As I approach the entrance located directly beneath the charred remains of the stables, the clash and din of battle above echo through the tunnel.

Amidst this turmoil, a faint whizzing sound barely registers in my ears before a scorching pain brings me to my knees.

A dart is lodged in my torso, another strikes my chest as I collapse onto the cold ground.

I wrench it free, and am immediately assaulted by the pungent smell of wolfsbane.

Lifting my head with a growl, I strain to see through the thick smoke for whoever has attacked me.

The dose of wolfsbane won’t be deadly, but it’s enough to hinder me; too many could knock me out.

Using one hand against the stone wall for support, I struggle back onto my feet, swaying as the poison courses through my system.

A voice that ignites deep resentment echoes from ahead - Ester’s voice.

“You just had to claim that whore as your mate! I would have ignored Crux’s plan altogether if you hadn’t chosen her!

It should have been me as your queen!” she spits venomously, waving a dart gun aimed at my heart.

“I was ready to abandon Crux’s deal until she showed up like some damned ghost from the past!

Should have killed her when we found them in that forest!

” She pulls the trigger just as I hurl myself against the opposite wall.

The dart narrowly misses its mark and clatters behind me on impact with another explosion overhead causing tremors throughout the tunnel.

Her eyes widen with fear as she realizes we’re about to be buried alive.

With a low growl, I retrace my steps towards an alternate tunnel leading into the nearby forest.

Ester’s furious roars echoes behind me along with her relentless tirade, while dust and smoke provide some concealment from her aim.

The chances of getting close while she carries that gun are slim leaving me no option but to run.

The wolfsbane is burning my veins, draining my strength with each passing moment.

I wince and duck as another explosion shakes another nearby tunnel.

‘Trey found the Queen!’ comes a voice through the mindlink as I navigate through the debris of the collapsed tunnel towards a new route which will deposit me into the forest adjacent to our bunkers.

The metallic echo of Ester discharging her weapon follows by a dart whizzing past my head.

In these constricted tunnels, she holds an advantage not only because of her smaller size but also her weapon, which will stop me from getting too close to her.

One more hit and it’s game over for me - she knows it too, hence her relentless mockery as I push myself to keep moving.

“Marrissa told me Azalea was dead. Stupidly, I believed her. Had I known she was alive, I would have finished her off too! Her father ruined me! He used me!” she screams as I try to keep moving.

I just need to burn it out of my system.

If I stop, I know I won’t get back up. What is in those darts?

I curse, my legs faltering as my pace slows.

“I thought he loved me!” She laughs like a maniac, and I can hear her drawing closer.

“Turns out he was fooling around with me to piss off my brother. What better way to get back at his wife’s mate than to fuck his sister? Prick!” she curses and I try to focus on moving, each step, taking serious effort on my part.

“Then he tried to destroy me and take my baby from me! I kept thinking maybe Garret would change his mind once he was born. How was I supposed to know he wouldn’t inherit the Landeena gifts?

And he shunned me again, but I made him pay for that mistake!

Crux was right. Garret Landeena was nothing but a manipulative asshole!

” I hear her rambling like she has something important to say, but do my best to ignore her.

Seeing the light up ahead, I feel another dart skim past me, the feathers grazing my cheek as it narrowly misses me.

The sounds of panicked servants reach my ears, and relief floods me, knowing they got out and are near the bunkers to take cover, so I know Azalea must be close by.

I just have to get to her. Seeing the narrow opening up ahead, I push harder, forcing myself to run, and drop my shoulder.

This one comes out on the mountainside, with a wire gate blocking the entry. I see kids rush past the exit heading for the bunker with the castle servants, and my shoulder crashes against the mesh, making them jump just as Peter runs by me.

I crash through the mesh just as she growls and tosses the now empty dart gun at me. It hits me on the downfall as I burst through the meshed gate and spill out onto the ground. My body rolls as my momentum is off, and I slam against a tree.

Ester growls, stepping out of the open tunnel, and stalking toward me. Yet, the wolfsbane in my system burns my veins like acid and scorches my insides as it makes its way through muscle and tissue, rendering me incapable of moving forward.

I groan, pushing up off the ground with one hand, knowing I have to get to Azalea, but first I need to end this bitch.

My vision blurs as she stalks toward me, and I force myself up, swaying as I clutch the tree I rolled into.

Staggering, I swing wildly at her, and she laughs, jumping back as my vision doubles.

Yet, I can feel it is slowly and painfully burning out of my system.

Whatever she gave me was stronger than just wolfsbane.

However, the more I push through the pain, the toxins burn out, slowly.

My muscles no longer spasm the way they had been, though my vision is dangerously blurry.

“I enjoyed killing Claire, but I think I will enjoy killing the Lycan King more!” Ester laughs when I see a shadow move behind her.

My eyes flick back to her. She flexes her fingers, her claws slip free, and she raises her arm to swing at me.

My reflexes are slower yet still, my hand whips out at the last second, catching her wrist, when I hear a scream.

Ester tenses and staggers, forcing me to let her go as she stumbles toward me and falls onto her knees.

Only when I do, I notice Peter behind her, a branch in his hand.

He lifts it, swinging it again at her head before turning into a frenzied rage and raining blow after blow down on her as I try to remain upright.

“I loved you! I loved you, but you didn’t love me! You were my mother! Why didn’t you love me?” he roars, repeatedly swinging the branch at her head, caving her skull in.

Tears streak down his face as he bashes her head in, crushing her skull into the earth.

Brain matter spills out her ears and through the back of her skull as it cracks open like an egg.

Still, he swings, the branch breaking in his hands when I grab him, hauling him back with my arm across his chest.

He screams, brandishing the broken branch, and I look down at Ester.

Her head is crushed under his blows and no longer distinguishable to the eye.

“Enough Peter.” I rasp. “She’s dead, you’ve killed her,” I tell him, and he breathes heavily, taking in her remains.

He drops the branch, catching his breath.

“Where is Azalea? Where is your sister?” I gasp, and Peter looks up at me over his shoulder.