Chapter 103
Nathan’s POV
I grabbed the witch, my fingers locking into her hair as I slammed her against the rocky wall near the cave
entrance.
“Where is it?” I snarled. “Where’s your damn portal?”
She cried out, her nails scratching at my wrist. I was here! I swear it was!”
The tunnel in front of us was a graveyard of shattered rock
“They destroyed it,” the witch gasped. “They’re smarter than you think. There was a portal inside the mountain, but it’s gone now. Look for yourself.”
For a second, the urge to end her right there was overwhelming. Instead, I shoved her away from me.
“Blake!”
My Beta stepped up immediately.
“Maps. Now.”
He dropped several old territory maps while Liam and guards gathered around us.
The witch rubbed her scalp shakily while I stared at her.
“Do it again,” I ordered coldly. “Use your crystals. Find another portal.”
“There might not be another active now-”
“Stop talking and do it.”
The air around me cracked with Alpha pressure.
The witch swallowed hard and quickly pulled out the small crystal pendant hanging from her neck. Dark energy
lickered through the stone as she closed her eyes.
The woods went still. The rustle of the trees stopped.
I looked toward the dark peaks of the mountains ahead. Somewhere in that wasteland, she was waiting.
I’m coming for you, sweetheart.
No matter what I have to burn to get there.
Emily’s POV
וידי
31.1
1:17 pm PPTM
The moment I stepped inside, nausea twisted my stomach.
Silas sat near the fire He was shirtless, his massive chest covered in jagged scars. Black veins spread from the wound along his side like poison crawling beneath his skin.
The closer I got, the worse the smell became.
It smelled like decay. Like something that should have died a long time ago.
“Come here,” he said, his voice dangerous.
Every instinct I had told me to run, but the silver collar around my neck hummed against my skin. It was a cold
reminder of who owned me here!
I forced my feet to move. Silas watched me with pale, amused eyes, like a cat watching a bird.
“Let’s see if you’re useful,” he murmured.
He twirled a silver dagger in his hand. A big red ruby was set in the handle, and the sight of it made my power stir.
It felt like it was reaching deep inside me, pulling my power out and forcing me to use it.
I knelt beside him and reached out, pressing my palm near the black, pulsing wound.
The second my power touched him, pain exploded through my body.
I gasped sharply. This wasn’t just a cut or a bite. Something ancient and foul was pushing back against my power.
“What is this?” I whispered.
Silas leaned back, enjoying the way I flinched.
“My punishment from Moon Goddess,” he said.
A chill ran down my spine as the black veins pulsed beneath his skin again.
“She was my first mate,” he said casually. “My first Euna.”
“What happened?” I asked, my voice barely a thread.
Silas smiled. It wasn’t warm, and it wasn’t sad. It was just a hollow, empty curve of his lips.
“I killed my mate, my Luna.”
Silas watched my face closely, enjoying every second of my horror.
“She had something rare,” he said, his fingers grazing the black veins on his chest. “Eternal life. When I took her rears for myself, the Moon Goddess cursed me.”
Disgust surged in my throat, hot and bitter. “You murdered your own mate for power.”
1:17 pm P PTM
Silas’s smile grew. “And now I get to watch myself rot forever because of it.”
I finally understood. That was why the Rogue King had lost his mind. He had been without a Luna for years, and his mind had simply snapped..
The anger and the hatred inside him had only fed the darkness, making him more unstable and dangerous by the day. And then, the curse had finished the job, breaking whatever was left of him.
I forced myself to focus. I pressed my hands back to the blackened skin, pushing every bit of healing energy I had
into him.
It was agonizing. The same rot started spreading across my own body as I pulled it into myself. But it worked- slowly, the rot around his neck and face began to fade.
Silas let out a long, heavy breath. Relief flickered across his face for the first time.
He was actually in pain. The monster could feel.
Part of me wanted to stop just to let him suffer, but I pushed harder. But when I tried reaching deeper toward the wound itself, my power failed completely. Like something inside the injury refused to heal.
I pulled back. The rot I had taken from him started to clear, and my own skin began to knit back together.
“I can take away the pain,” I said carefully. “But I can’t heal the wound.”
Silas’s expression darkened instantly. “Why not?”
“There’s something inside it,” I said, looking at the jagged opening. “Something stronger than my healing.”
Suddenly, I remembered something Liam once told me. He thought that my power could work both ways. It wasn’t ust for healing. I could use it in reverse. I could drain strength. I could pull the life right out of someone.
Silas stood slowly from his chair, and looked in the mirror.
The black veins on his throat were gone, replaced by pale, scarred skin. He looked pleased. It was a terrifying
expression on a man like him.
ľ
“You’re becoming useful,” he murmured, stepping toward me. “Maybe I won’t kill you after the trials.”
I wanted to sink a blade into his chest.
Instead, I looked at the floor, playing the part of the broken prisoner. Silas reached out, his fingers gripping my thin, forcing me to look up at him.
“You’re going to save me eventually, little Queen,” he whispered.
Silas finally let go and waved a dismissive hand.
“Take her back,” he ordered.
Cindy stepped out from the corner. I hadn’t even noticed her standing there. The second we left the chambers and
:17 pm P P TM.
the heavy doors shut behind us, I grabbed her arm.
Take me to Declan. Quickly,” I whispered.
Cindy searched my face for a second but didn’t argue.
She immediately turned, leading me quickly through the corridors until we reached Declan’s chambers.
The moment the doors opened, he looked up from his desk immediately.
I turned to Cindy. “Please. Leave us.”
Her brows pulled together. “Emily—”
“This conversation is only between me and him.” “I kept my voice steady.
She clearly didn’t like it.
Her fingers tightened briefly around the silver ribbon at her throat before she finally stepped back into the
hallway.
The doors shut behind her. I immediately looked at Declan.
He caught the look on my face instantly, his eyes narrowing. He already knew I’d realized something.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice low.
I stepped closer, my heart thumping against my ribs.
“What if we could actually kill him?” I asked. “What if we could end the King?”
Declan went completely still.
‘Emily…”
I swallowed hard, looking him straight in the eye. “But I need your help to do it.”
Declan stared at me for a long moment.
Then slowly…he smiled.