Chapter 906
Seraphira and Angus were like two magnets drawn toward one another, unable to resist the pull between them. Angus stopped right in front of her and for a moment neither of them spoke. They simply stared at each other, unsure of what to do.
It had been years. The last time Angus had reached out to her through the dream, Seraphira had not exactly been pleased to see him.
Then, to Angus’s surprise, Seraphira lifted a hand and gently cupped his cheek. Angus leaned into the touch immediately. His eyes fluttered shut.
For a brief second, he looked less like a tyrant and more like a man who had finally found something he had spent years searching for.
“Oh no, we’re doomed,” Alaric groaned into his palm.
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Violet, but this was Seraphira. The freaking Fae Queen.
She possessed centuries of experience, and terrifying power. Combined with Angus and whatever abomination of magic he had turned himself into, they would be nearly impossible to stop.
Angry tears gathered in Violet’s eyes. Sure, she understood the pull of a mate bond. She had her own mates after all. But Angus was a monster.
If one of her mates ever became a threat to innocent people, it would destroy her, but she would still do what was necessary.
Her mother apparently disagreed. Because right now, Seraphira looked exactly like a woman who had gotten her mate back.
In the end, she would always choose Angus.
“I missed you,” Angus whispered, meaning every word.
He turned his face slightly, pressing further into her palm, afraid she might disappear if he let go. He closed his eyes and inhaled her familiar floral scent greedily, committing it to memory. For years he had dreamed of this moment. Had imagined having her beside him again. Now she was finally here.
Yet Seraphira’s expression remained unreadable.
“Is that why you’re hurting our daughter?”
Angus’s eyes opened. His gaze flickered toward Violet’s angry expression before returning to Seraphira.
“I was only teaching her a lesson,” he said dismissively. “But now that you’re here, I’m sure she’ll be on her best behavior.”
That piece of shit. Violet nearly launched herself at him, only for Asher to grab her arm.
“Wait.” His expression was deadly serious.
So Violet did. Barely.
Angus, meanwhile, seemed oblivious to the danger. He was staring at Seraphira with the expression of a man seeing his future unfold before him.
“You know,” he said softly, still holding onto her hand, “now that you’re here, we can finally be a family.”
His smile widened.
“I achieved my dream. I’ll become the most powerful Alpha in existence. You’ll stand beside me as my queen. Violet will be our heir.” His eyes gleamed. “It’ll be exactly how we imagined it all those years ago.”
Seraphira remained completely unmoved.
“Is that why you think I’m here?”
Angus paused, the certainty on his face faltering. For the first time, it occurred to him that perhaps they were not imagining the same future.
“And have you forgotten something?” Seraphira suddenly laughed, except the sound held no warmth.
“I’m already a queen.”
Angus’s expression changed immediately. He released her hand slowly, the realization having sunk in. They were not on the same side.
Seraphira straightened confidently while the atmosphere rippled with power. Gone was his foolish mate. Standing before Angus now was the Queen of the Fae.
“Eighteen years ago, you used me,” she said, her voice carrying throughout the throne room. “You stole my daughter.”
Her words struck harder than a blade.
“You treated me like a fool, and now you dare lay a hand on my child?” Her voice boomed with authority such that the walls themselves seemed to shake.
For the first time since her arrival, Angus swallowed nervously.
“Seraphira, calm down,” he pleaded. “I was only disciplining our daughter. She came here with her mates to kill me.”
Unfortunately for him, the Seraphira standing before him was no longer the woman he remembered.
“In that case,” Seraphira said calmly, “the Goddess has a message for you.”
Angus stiffened.
“What message?”
Seraphira’s face became completely blank.
“It is time for you to face divine judgment, Angus.”
Angus’s expression soured instantly.
“You bitch.”
Immediately vines burst from the floor.
They slithered across the surface and twisted around his wrists, waist and legs. The more Angus struggled, the tighter they constricted.
Violet and her mates were speechless. The Queen had completely pulled a one-eighty on them.
Moments ago they had been preparing themselves for the possibility of fighting both Angus and Seraphira together. They had already imagined the nightmare scenario of two powerful mates standing side by side against them.
Now the Fae Queen was the one trying to kill Angus.
Seraphira commanded simply, “Begin.”
Only then did they realize the Fae Queen had not been the only person to step through the portal.
Lila stood there. Alongside her were four other Fae dressed in identical white robes that made them resemble priests. At the Queen’s command, they immediately began chanting. The words were ancient and unfamiliar, flowing together in a rhythm that sounded suspiciously like a spell.
The effect on Angus was immediate.
He grunted and pulled furiously against the endless vines restricting his body. The muscles in his arms bulged from the effort while the vines only tightened further, refusing to release him no matter how hard he fought.
Then Violet acted.
With a flick of her fingers, flames licked across Angus’s clothes, burning away the fabric and exposing his bare chest.
That was when Violet saw it. The runes were disappearing one after another.
The glowing symbols carved into his skin flickered and faded as the Fae priests continued their chants.
No wonder he was panicking. They were stripping away the very magic that had made him untouchable. Real fear entered Angus’s eyes. The kind of fear a cornered animal felt.
“I’m going to kill you, you bitch!” Angus roared. “I’ll rip out your fucking throat and feed it to the pigs!”
The threats only became more colorful from there. One after another he hurled curses, promises of torture and every insult he could think of in a final desperate attempt to intimidate her.
But Seraphira’s expression remained completely blank, utterly unaffected by her mate’s threats. If anything, she relished his helplessness as the runes continued disappearing.