Chapter 95

[ 795 words ]

Dual death

95: 95.

Dual death Theo

Ronan exhales sharply through his nose.

“Enough. We’re all on the same side,” He looks at all our allies, letting his gaze tell them that that is an order for them all.

Slowly, I see them start to nod.

Then he levels a warning look at Ransom, “Temporarily.”

Ransom mutters, “How generous.”

“Wait, there’s something else I have to say. Kane is dead,” Aria swallows her throat, working like it’s painful for her to do so.

“My mother killed him.”

Her breathing hitches, and Ransom puts his hand on her shoulder in comfort, continuing for her.

“They had her mother bound to Kane. From what I gather, they’d been using her for some time to power they vail. It was a dual death.”

Gods.

The shock rippled across our group.

Binding yourself to someone isn’t done.

It was only done in earlier centuries when powerful families assigned guards to their children, their heirs.

But bonds like that are dangerous.

They join their lives, tie their lives together, even if one or the other party has mates.

The danger of it eventually got the tradition banned.

It was too easy to abuse power.

Now it makes sense.

Lorain’s death was just the catalyst.

Someone, her power over the veil must have been weakening, so they needed Aria.

They always knew, my wolf snarls.

Ronan grabs Aria’s shoulders.

“Well, make them all pay, I swear it to you.”

She jerks her chin in a barely perceptible nod.

Aria starts to lead the way, Ronan following beside her, and the rest after him.

I wait, holding my position in front of Ransom, really looking at him as we stare at each other.

Something about him puts every instinct on edge.

He is too calm.

Too observant.

Too dangerous, judging from the kill count I see around us.

I step close enough that only he can hear me.

“I’m watching you.”

He glances sideways at me, completely unbothered.

“Good thing for you I’m an exhibitionsit.”

I wait for him to move first.

There is no fucking way I want this asshole at my back.

He sighs, then jogs ahead to catch up with the others.

“I’m such a fucking simp,” he mutters.

I jog after him, bringing up the rear.

When we merge with a group, it’s at a gate leading out to the massive courtyard where Liam and a woman stand facing us.

Liam’s body looks bigger, pumped up in that way that lets me know he is halfway to letting his beast out.

But there’s a different kind of edginess to him, a coiled aggression I’ve yet to see him unleash.

When I take a closer look at the woman, I recognize her golden hair.

Hazel.

The friend Aria came to save.

Her eyes land on Aria, and a flurry of emotion passes through her eyes, shock, relief, pain, anger, and guilt.

All of it flashes between them so quickly I almost miss it.

Aria is completely still.

“When this is over,” Aria says quietly, dangerously, “we are going to talk.”

Hazel swallows.

“Sure.”

Ransom weaves through the bodies and walks into Hazel’s personal space, snapping her attention to the present.

His cousin, I realize.

Shit, this just gets wilder by the minute.

My wolf seconds that.

Her gaze lands immediately on Ransom.

“Did you disable the doors?” she asks.

He nods.

“All of them. I’ve put them into the same system. Should be able to control it from here.” Then he pulls out a control device and offers it toward her.

Before she can take it, Liam snatches it from Ransom.

Hazel glares.

“You serious?”

“You’ve done enough dramatic villain entrances for one day,” Liam says.

She narrows her eyes at him.

“I had just about enough of your shit.

You seem to forget who got your fucking cuffs off.”

Before Liam snaps back, I ask, “What is all this?”

Hazel looks at me, blowing out a breath to calm herself.

“This is a cage.” She turns to look at Ronan.

“One you control.”

Ronan’s eyes widen, and we turn to look down from the elevated entrance above the courtyard.

The steel barriers of the doors that are exits and entrances to the round grassy space.

Inside, Assembly members, warriors, and hunters beat at various gates trying to get free.

Elliot whistles.

Dex sucks his teeth.

“Well, isn’t this wrapped up in a pretty bow?”

“Goldlocks captured her bears,” Liam says with a smirk.

It is clever and fucking vicious to herd them like cattle rounded up for the slaughter for us.

To think that Hazel and Ransom were responsible for this development sets me on edge.

Not because I think they would betray us, but because I know that those skills, to some extent, were molded by the enemy.

Kade looks over at me with his eyebrows nearly at his hairline.

Still, this is working out better than we could have hoped.

You know what they say, you can’t go hungry if you’re shooting fish in a barrel.

I glance toward Aria.

“I think I like your friend.”

Liam growls.

Low.

Possessive.

When my brows rise, his eyes widen.

As if he just realized he was doing it and smothered the sound.

Okay.

“Well, let’s not keep Aldren waiting,” Ronan says grimly.

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