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64 The Real Villain
My heart stopped, and I blinked, surprised. Was that really Rolan speaking? It couldn’t be, but I knew my brother’s voice as well as I knew anyone in my family. It didn’t make sense. If anyone was going to do the threatening, it would be Alaric, not Rolan. And who was he threatening to kill? Alaric didn’t say anything for a moment, then I heard him. “How can you speak like that?” The usual charm and lightheartedness in his tone were replaced with fear and uncertainty. It was almost like he was like me unable to believe what he was hearing.
I tuned in more, to make sure that I wasn’t just hearing things.
“You heard me,” Rolan barked. “Do what I brought you here for, or I will not spare her. Her death will be on your hands. There was so much evil in my brother’s voice that I felt a chill run down my spine.
“She is your sister,” Alaric said.
My heart dropped to my stomach. Rolan was threatening to kill me? My cars were ringing, my mind spiraling. I was mistaken; this couldn’t be happening. It was just a trick of the void. I realized now that this was the true punishment the void had laid out for me because of my intrusion. This never happened all those years ago. It could never have.
Rolan and I had our differences, but he would never hate me to the point of threatening Alaric with my death.
“The moment he sits on that throne and is pronounced Alpha, I want you to slit his neck. Make sure he doesn’t rise from that throne alive.” Horror washed over me like a cold torrent. Rolan wasn’t asking for just anything. He was calling for Cassian’s death. My head was reeling. This was a trick; it had to be. There was no other explanation. But I knew that Rolan had always envied Cassian’s crown ever since it had been decided that he would take the throne because of the curse attached to it. But he would never call for Cassian’s death because of it. The void was trying to drive me
to madness.
“The moment he is Alpha, the curse will be placed upon him, but the moment before it fully manifests, you kill him, so that the curse dies with
him.”
I almost gasped, but I quickly clasped my hand over my mouth.
“You call me a maggot, yet you do this to your own family.”
“You have no right to talk like you are righteous,” Rolan sneered. “You agreed to this for your father’s throne as well, or have you forgotten? With Cassian Obsidian’s head, you can be the Alpha. Your elder brother will stand no chance.”
“That is different-”
“It is the exact same,” Rolan cut him off. “So don’t you fucking lecture me.”
“But this will destroy our family…”
“Family and power are two completely different things. I chose power. Any wise Alpha would choose power,” Rolan ground out.
Alaric said nothing, but I could hear the wheels of his mind turning. He was in a dilemma.
“I know you love her,” Rolan said, his voice like disgusting, oily venom. “You can’t hide it. So why don’t you save her from certain death? It’s simple: if you kill Cassian, I will pay you well and let you take Ione with you, even if she doesn’t want to. I can sell her to you for this simple favor. She will be yours to do as you please–a slave, a wife, a whore…” He laughed, then stopped abruptly. “Or else she dies, and I will not let it be quick. You might not be here by the time I give her to my men to ravage as they like, but your wolf will hear every scream and every agony as though it were you in her place. I will make her wish she were dead.” He whispered.
Alaric said nothing, but I could imagine the face he would be making. It would be something akin to horror and anger.
“Make your choice, maggot,” Rolan prodded. “Kill Cassian, or I kill Ione?”
My mind reeled as I strained to hear Alaric’s response. The silence stretched, thick and suffocating, as if the very air was waiting for his decision. Finally, Alaric’s voice broke the tension, cold and resigned.
“I’ll do it,” he said quietly. The words were barely above a whisper, but they carried the weight of a thousand betrayals.
Rolan chuckled, a sound devoid of warmth. “Good. I knew you’d see reason. Remember, the moment Cassian is pronounced Alpha, you’strike. Not a second later, or I’ll consider our deal null and void.”
I could barely breathe, my chest constricting with fear and disbelief. Alaric had agreed to kill Cassian, and all for what? To save me? To gain power? It didn’t matter; the outcome was the same–Cassian would almost be killed.
I stumbled backward, needing to get away, to think. The truth was too much to bear, a heavy burden pressing down on my soul. I had to warn Cassian, but how? He wouldn’t believe me; no one would. Not without proof.
If this was not a trick by the void, a way to punish me. If any of this was true, it would mean that Alaric was the devil I had thought him to be. He would be a pawn; a man at a crossroads, forced to choose between protecting me or letting me die.
I had to do something, but what could be done? I did not fully understand this realm or its rules. What could I do? I was as helpless as I had been all those years ago. I began to run toward Cassian. Even if he wouldn’t believe me, I had to warn him to be wary. He had to know, but I realized something strange. My steps were slow, but everything around me was fast. I watched Rolan and Alaric leave the room and pass me at the speed of light. I was moving too slowly. Was it the void? That could be the only explanation, but why?
But I didn’t stop moving; if I could make it… maybe, just maybe.
Setting
21:05
64 The Real Villain
It took ten times longer for me to reach the hall and back to where I had left Cassian. But now, a large crowd had gathered. The guests. I was still too slow. The guests had happy expressions on their faces, they were clapping and cheering. I turned to face where they were looking, and my blood ran cold. Cassian was already on the throne and had just been pronounced Alpha. The ceremonial cloak draped over his shoulders shimmered in the dim light, a symbol of the power and responsibility he now held. But all I could see was the danger that loomed over him, unseen by the cheering
crowd.
I pushed through the throng of people, my heart pounding in my chest. It felt like wading through thick molasses, each step an agonizing effon. Time seemed to stretch and warp, the sounds of celebration blending into a haunting, muffled roar.
As I reached the front, Cassian stood to acknowledge the crowd, a proud and noble figure. A steady smile was on his face, despite the uncertainty in his eyes, which had already begun to glow red. My eyes darted around, desperately searching for Alaric. He was there, standing off to the side, his expression unreadable. My heart seized as I saw his hand subtly move toward his belt, where a dagger gleamed faintly in the torchlight
“No!” I screamed, but my voice was lost in the cacophony. The world slowed even more, as if my desperate shout had broken the illusion Alarie’s eyes met mine for a flecting second, and in that moment, I saw the torment and conflict within him. But then, his gaze hardened, and he moved to
attack.
As Alaric’s blade sliced through the air, 1 felt a sickening lurch in my stomach. Time seemed to slow as the dagger’s edge met Cassian’s throat. The moment it did, a dark, shadowy energy erupted from the wound, enveloping Cassian in a swirling vortex of darkness. The entire scene around us began to warp and distort, as if reality itself was being torn apart.
I screamed, a raw, guttural sound, but it was swallowed by the chaos. The world around me twisted and contorted, the colors bleeding together into a nightmarish swirl. The ground beneath my feet felt unstable, as if I were standing on shifting sands.
Cassian’s eyes widened in shock and pain, and for a brief moment, I saw the curse manifesting, its dark tendrils reaching out to consume him. But then, everything was swallowed by the void. The hall, the people, the lights–all dissolved into a suffocating darkness that pressed in on me from all
sides.
I struggled to move, to breathe, but the void’s grip was relentless. It felt as though I were being pulled into a black hole, my body stretched and twisted. The air was thick with an oppressive silence, broken only by the faint, haunting echoes of what had just transpired.
“No!” I cried out, fighting against the pull. My hands clawed at the nothingness, desperately searching for something to hold onto, something real. But there was nothing–only the void, endless and consuming.
As I flailed in the darkness, images flashed before my eyes: Cassian, falling to the ground; Alaric, staring at his bloodied hands in horror, Rolan, a twisted smile on his face. The scenes flickered like a broken film reel, each one more distorted than the last.
Then, from the depths of the void, I felt a cold, creeping presence. It was the same darkness that had plagued my nightmares, the same sinister force that had threatened to consume us all. It was the void’s true nature, revealed in its full, terrifying form.
I struggled against it, fighting with every ounce of strength I had left. But the void’s darkness was relentless, its cold tendrils wrapping around me, dragging me deeper into its abyss. The more I struggled, the tighter its grip became.
In that suffocating darkness, I felt a pull, an insistent force drawing me further into despair. It was as if the void was trying to erase my very existence, to bury me in the shadowy recesses of forgotten memories. Panic rose in my chest, and I fought harder, desperate to escape. Suddenly, a voice cut through the darkness—a familiar, calming voice. “Ione, can you hear me?”
