Chapter 90 Lose everything

Chapter 90 Lose everything
Chapter 90: Asher

The air in the manor was thick with tension as our men prepared for the operation. It was going to be a one window plan.

There was no room for failure. Because any flip would send us a hundred steps back and Willow—

She would probably kill Scarlett and Axel, just to prove her cruel point.

“Asher!” Albert suddenly called, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I blinked my eyes away from the window and turned to find him standing at my bedroom door dressed in his armor.

“The first team is out,” he said in a sharp tone. “We’ll go with the second.”

“Any news from the scouts?” I asked instead.

A flicker moved through his eyes. “I am afraid Beta Greg and Lady Emily insisted that news about the scouts should only be given to them.”

My eyes instantly narrowed.

The words felt like an arrow had gone right through my chest, tearing open the muscles around my heart.

But I swallowed down the pain. I didn’t have to say a word. It was clear that even after confessing and apologizing to them, they still didn’t trust me or my men…

And I could only blame myself for it. Not them.

Still, I had to make sure that Scarlett and her brother were fine. I needed to know in what direction we were headed and I could get that from the scouts’ updates.

But since that wasn’t possible, I had to use another way. And that was by mirroring their moves.

If the scouts had confirmed the location or any sighting at all, then the entire Talon Black family would storm there.

And I would follow them like a shadow.

“When are they leaving?” I asked instead.

Albert once again stiffened. “Lady Emily and—“

“The entire Talon Clan.” I cut in, waiting for his answer.

“I left them getting ready… they should be—“

“Then we move behind them,” I cut him off again, already marching out of my room.

I couldn’t be on a different trail. I had to be with them whether they liked it or not.

Because ever since Fiona completed the ritual, everything inside of me had gone silent.

I couldn’t feel Scarlett anymore. There was no spark, no sizzle, nothing.

And to make it worse, even my wolf had gone silent.

It was like walking without a heartbeat.

Yet, somehow I had to keep living.

At least long enough to make sure that Scarlett was safe.

I marched straight to the parking lot where I caught sight of Greg and the rest of the family getting into a pickup, just as their troops moved ahead.

“Hurry, we must not miss them!” I growled, jumping into our own pickup.

Albert got into the back with Bee and Fiona following us for magical backup.

Within seconds, we were swerving roughly down the roads that led to the old kingdom.

The whole of me was on edge but on the surface, I appeared very calm.

My plan was simple, make sure that Scarlett was safe and then I was going after Willow. I was going to end her once and for all.

This would be the end of her story.



When we finally got to the place, my aching chest froze.

The old kingdom was a broken city— I had expected chaos, but not on this level.

The place was deserted. It was like walking into a ghost town, yet something else was alive.

A strange energy moved with the wind. The sort that made everything inside stand erect in fear…

Danger was lurking and it felt too close.

The Talons and the convoys ahead slowed down, clearly also feeling the evil in the place.

The air reeked of decay, and the ground pulsed faintly with that same unnatural energy… like the soil itself was alive.

And somewhere inside me, the unease was no longer for me. It was for Scarlett.

If we just got here and we already felt this way, how about her? How was she doing?

“Stop the car!” I suddenly growled.

I could feel Albert’s eyes on me but he stayed silent.

“My King we need to be careful,” Fiona whispered, her voice suddenly distant like she was in some sort of trance.

I turned my narrowed eyes at her but she wasn’t even looking at me. Her eyes were wide with surprise and fear as she stared at the empty city—

“It’s not empty… they are here,” she whispered, sending shards of panic through me.

My bones turned cold as I turned to the direction they were all looking at…

“She has awakened the shadow warriors…” Fiona said and I felt a cold travel up my spine as my eyes took in the horror before us.

There was a see of Black twisted figured with blazing red eyes that glowed.

They filled the streets like a stained carpet to the entrance of the old palace. There were thousands of them.

My chest tightened, but I welcomed the fear. This was it!

“Fiona, find a way to connect with Scarlett, Bee stay with her. Albert, order the men to begin the attack… I am going into that palace!” I said, jumping out of the vehicles.

The troupes ahead were also doing the same, clearing preparing for an attack and like in an enchanted moment, the battle began.

I pushed out my claws and sliced my way to the front, my mind focused on my goal— the palace!

For Willow to guard this place up like this, then surely she was in there with my Scarlett. And the quicker I cleared a path, the faster she was saved.

The fight roared around me, and I fought on, hard.

My resolve was simple. If I couldn’t feel her, then I would bleed for her. I would fight till my bones snapped.

I kept pushing forward like a suicide bomber, tearing my way through the shadow blocked path. Because Scarlett’s safety was all that mattered.

But the closer I got to the cracked gates, the fiercer the shadows became. They lunged at me, with their arms like jagged blades.

I tried to slash through them, but one stepped closer, facing me head on.

“Asher, what the fuck are you doing?”

Someone yelled around me, but I refused to break focus.

I kicked the shadow beast but it came at me even stronger, slashing a gash on my right arm.

“Fuck!” I hissed, not for the pain it caused but the delay.

Pushing my strengths, I ducked just as it came at me again and seeing a good opening, I drove my claws upward, cleaving through its torso.

Black blood splattered over my face, burning where it touched, but I didn’t care.

Another came, snarling almost immediately, and I also didnt wait. I slashed across its neck, feeling the dark skin tear open.

But this didn’t stop them. They never stopped.

And neither did I.

I was already heading to fight another in front of me when a silver blade sliced it just as I got there and Nathan appeared before me.

“What the fuck is wrong with you man?” He shouted over the chaos, glaring at me with cold calculated eyes. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Death might be my only salvation after I find Scarlett!” I snarled, shoving past him to tear through another shadow. “Her life matters more than mine!”

For a heartbeat, Nathan froze.

His eyes locked on me, disbelief flickering there. And then something shifted. His rage cracked and in just that second, I saw pity.

Pity, I didn’t need.

I resumed fighting, my fearlessness even growing as I went straight into their line.

The sky was darkening and I could feel their energy increasing. But whatever controlled them was what I was after for I knew Willow would be nearby.

Around me, I could hear Albert and Greg closer now as they commanded the soldiers, rallying them into a tighter more secured line behind me.

I knee what they were doing. A battle formation.

But I didnt have time for that. I tore through the enemy line. And the courtyard drowned in their black blood.

Yet that didnt stop them. They kept coming.

Every time one fell, two more surged forward.

My chest heaved and my lungs were starting to burn. If my wolf was still alive inside of me, I could have tapped into its strength…

But I was all alone. My wolf had gone with the memories of Scarlett.

I was fighting with only my human strength, and it was failing. Yet Scarlett’s name kept me moving.

I kept fighting, drawing strength from the fact that I could now see the entrance and it was clear of shadows— it meant that Fiona and Bee now had a chance—

“Aah!” I hissed as pain shot through my chest.

It was a shadow that had clawed at me. It aimed again and this time, I tried to move out of the attack point, but it was faster.

I stumbled back in pain, yet trying to retaliate but it raised its blade-like arms to strike once again— and this time, there was no way out for me.

Time froze.

My eyes moved to the side and I caught Fiona and Bee’s movement, they were in.

Scarlett would be saved.

Making peace with it, I let the shadow descend its aim at me.

But just before it could strike, Nathan intercepted the movement. He drove his bloodied silver sword straight through the shadow’s back, instantly dragging me out of the way.

“I am not going to let you die on me, Asher!” He yelled, shaking me back to focus.

I tried to shove him once more. “Leave me alone—“

“No!” He hissed, holding me down with the strength of his wolf. “I hate what you’ve done Asher. But if you die here, Scarlett loses everything. And I won’t let that happen!”