Chapter 260

Selene’s POV

There was only one person who came to my mind when Lyra told me someone had offered something. But it didn’t make sense that she had made an offering to the devil just to kill Gwen and confirm she was a traitor, it was a long shot, because she had no obvious reason to do that for Lyra. But still, which other female could have been responsible?

Definitely not Zoe, because up until recently she had mostly hated Lyra, and I had a feeling she still did. She was only being courteous because of what was going to happen to the pack if she wasn't civil and working with her. Then there was no one else from our land or our pack who fit, simply because they had no idea about Lyra being Mina. They had no idea about Gwen training her. They had no idea about anything that went on in SilverClaw. Even now that everybody knew Lyra’s true identity, there were only two women, other than Gwen herself, who had been with her and known about her training and everything else: Violetta and me.

Violetta was not close to Lyra. Everything she did was simply because of her position as Thorne’s second-in-command. She might as well have been his queen if he were not so madly in love and obsessed with Lyra.

As soon as I walked away from Lyra, I went to find Violetta in her guest quarters. She was carving something from a wooden stick.

“Oh,” she said when she noticed me. “I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

I shrugged, walked over to the window, and peered out before going to sit on a wooden chair at the side of the room.

“You know, most people would knock before entering,” she said.

“I am not most people,” I replied.

“You have a look on your face,” she commented as she continued carving the wood.

“Which is?” I asked.

“I don’t know, like there’s something you want to talk about. Something that’s eating you up.”

“Well, yes, there is,” I deadpanned at her. “So, you and Azythar… do you often work together?”

She looked at me weirdly, her brows furrowing together. “I don’t understand. Why the fuck would I work with Azythar?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe for your own interests. Maybe for the interests of another person.”

“Where the hell is this coming from, and why are you suddenly asking me that? If I worked with him, I would never have risked my life here fighting for the wolves. I would have left, gone back to our lands, and joined the retribution against Thorne.”

“Azythar mentioned something to Lyra. I am not sure when, but it was before he died. Something about Gwen.”

“What is this shit about Gwen?” Violetta asked, looking thoroughly irritated. “She was a treacherous bitch who sold Lyra out. She deserved what happened to her. I have no remorse or guilt about her death.”

Something clicked in my brain just then. “Why? Why would you even bring up having remorse or guilt?”

She avoided my eyes. “I don’t know. Do you have remorse or guilt?”

“No, but I never even thought about remorse or guilt regarding her death. I couldn’t care less about it. I mean, good riddance to bad rubbish.”

“Exactly. I feel the same way.”

“You feel the same way, yet you specifically brought up having no guilt or remorse?”

“Yes. Do you know why people feel guilty and why they feel remorseful about things?”

“I am not sure what you are driving at, Selene,” Violetta replied, standing up with her carving. She dropped it on the bedside table and looked at it with feigned satisfaction before lying down on the bed and pulling the covers up. “I’d like to sleep now, thank you.”

“Why are you getting so defensive just from my statement?” I asked her.

“I am not getting defensive,” she answered. “I am just tired and exhausted, Selene.”

“You weren’t tired a few minutes ago.”

“Says who? Did I mention that to you?”

“I know that very well, but I think people only feel remorse and guilt when they’ve done something wrong.”

“Exactly, and I have not done anything wrong, so why would I feel remorse or guilt?”

“Well, I mean, some people also don’t feel remorse or guilt when they’ve done something wrong if they believe the person deserved it.”

“Are you accusing me of murdering Gwen?” she asked, looking at me incredulously. “And even if I did, why do you fucking care? I mean, you care so much about Lyra and you're obsessed with protecting her, and Gwen was a thorn in Lyra’s path. So why should you care that she died?”

“I don’t care that she died. I care that somebody made a deal with Azythar that drove us deeper into this war—that brought more destruction, that got people killed, all just to kill Gwen! Gwen could have been dealt with—”

“There was no other fucking way to kill her!” Violetta snapped, losing her calm as she stood up and threw the sheets off her body. “The girl could project herself in two places at the same time! If you kill one of her bodies, the second one still remains, and her soul stays alive! She would still carry on doing the same thing. And still be able to be in two places at a time. So you couldn’t just kill her off with a sword to her belly, or through her throat, or by cutting off her head. She was that powerful of a Fae!”

“So you thought setting ravagers free from beyond the lunar realm was a better idea? We could have played her! Played her while Lyra led her! We could have kept her occupied working for Azythar, and once we killed Azythar, taking her down wouldn’t have been as hard!”

“I don’t think you know what Gwen was truly capable of. That girl was evil, and I have always known that about her, but everyone else was too blind and obsessed to see it because she was the finest student at the academy. I had my one chance. So, fine! I admit it! I worked with Azythar to get her killed! Yes, I fucking did that! But I did not make a deal to get ravagers released! I gave him something insignificant, knowing it would be useless to him!”

“Well, that ‘insignificant’ thing opened the lunar gates! Not permanently, but long enough for him to pull as many ravagers through as he could!”

“God, Selene, are you hearing yourself? There are only two things that can open the Lunar Realm—open the fucking gates. One is Lyra herself, and the other is the blood of an angel. But this was only temporary, so I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking—”

Violetta’s voice trailed off slowly.

Her face drained of colour completely.

“Oh, fucking Goddess…” she breathed.

“What? What is it?” I asked, staring at her. Then the realization hit me. “Oh my God… are you telling me you have angel blood? No, that’s not possible. You’re a Fae. You’re a hybrid—a wolf and Fae…”

Violetta wasn’t hearing me anymore. Her eyes had turned a dark, eerie shade that frightened me.

“What are you talking about, Violetta?” I asked again, my voice trembling.

It was supposed to be impossible for an angel bloodline to mix with Fae. That kind of heritage killed the vessel, didn't it? Hybrids of Fae and angel, or Fae and demon, died before they ever drew their first breath. Only in exceptionally rare anomalies could a child survive.

Was Violetta one of those rare cases?

“Violetta,” I said in a hoarse voice, stepping closer. “What the hell are you not telling me?”