Chapter 266 The Puppet Master

Chapter 266 The Puppet Master

Ryker and Lyra walked down the stairs to the prison.

The two night guards opened the gate, and they walked down the corridor.

Dax sat on his bed. His shoulder was bandaged from the crash and his face was bruised. He looked up at them.

"Back so soon? Did you come to watch me bleed or you're here to lecture me?"

Ryker stood in front of the bars. "We just came from the clinic. We spoke with Maya and we know you hypnotized Rex."

Dax laughed. "Maya? You take the word of a servant over your brother? I haven't been near the library."

"Stop lying, Dax," Lyra said. "She saw you three nights ago. You used some sort of medallion to lock her mind and made her destroy the maps. The doctor checked her results and verified it. Why did you do it?"

Dax stood up and walked to the bars. "What if I did?"

“You piece of shit!" Ryker growled.

"Fine. I did it. I hypnotized the archive girl. She was always whining about the rejected bond and frankly, she was a distraction while I was trying to get Lyra back. So I gave her a loop to keep her brain busy so she would stop looking at me."

Lyra stepped up to the bars. "How could you do that to her? You rejected her, and then you broke her mind? You are selfish and wicked."

Dax slammed his hand on the metal bars and looked right at Lyra. "You know I don't care about Rex. It is you I want. You're the one being selfish, staying with my brother. I had to get rid of Rex to clear the path. Who wants her anyway?"

Ryker punched Dax through the bars.

Dax fell backward across the cell and hit the wall, sliding down to the floor with a bleeding mouth.

"Listen to me, Dax," Ryker said. "I loved you like my brother. You're the only family I have left since we lost mother. I always thought I had to protect you, but I am done. I can't let you keep hurting people."

Dax wiped the blood from his mouth and stood up. "Protect? Is that what you did when you suspended Rex? Or when you let Lyra die because you were with that witch? You are the one who ruined everything here, brother, not me."

"I did what I thought was best to protect my family," Ryker said. "I may have been stupid and made silly decisions, but you've been trying to destroy us from the start because you are envious."

The two brothers started shouting at each other about the past.

"Enough!" Lyra yelled. "I've heard enough of this nonsense. I understand if you did not want Rex to be your mate. You broke her heart and she was ready to move on. But to hypnotize her and make her go crazy is just wicked."

Dax glared at her. "If I can't have what I want, why does she get to be happy?"

Ryker stepped in front of Lyra. "That's enough. You are evil, Dax. I am going to give you one chance to save your life. Go to the clinic and release Rex from the hypnosis. If she doesn't fully recover, you will pay for your sins. Do you understand?"

Dax stayed silent.

Ryker grabbed Lyra's hand and turned around to walk back to the stairs.

"You can't kill me, Ryker!" Dax screamed behind them, shaking the bars. "I am your brother! You're supposed to protect me! This is your fault! If you weren't selfish you would let me have her! She belongs to me!"

He kept screaming, but Ryker ordered the guards and they grabbed Dax by his good shoulder.

He grunted in pain from his broken bone, but they dragged him out of the prison cell anyway.

Ryker and Lyra walked behind them as they moved up the stairs and down the stone corridor toward the medical clinic.

They entered the observation room and Rex was still sitting on the bed, scratching at her sheets and muttering about the ‘cure’.

Ryker stood near the door and looked at his brother. "Release Rex from the hypnosis right now. That is your only job."

Dax leaned against the wall, looked at Ryker and smirked. "And what do I get in return, brother? I want to be released from the prison. I am not doing this for free."

Lyra stepped forward and glared at him. "Have you lost your bloody mind?! You don't get to bargain, Dax. Look at yourself. You are a prisoner and you are in chains. If you refuse to help Rex recover, we will just throw you right back into the prison and you will rot there forever. You have no leverage to bargain with here."

Dax looked at Lyra, then down at the floor.

He grumbled under his breath, his shoulders slumping. "Fine. I'll help the girl. But I need the medallion to trigger the release phrase. I can't do it without the silver."

"So the maid was right? You really did do this?”

Dax shrugged, "It's her fault. She was being too much of a persistent desperate bitch.”

Ryker turned to the guard at the door. "Watch him. I'll go down to the library and bring another medallion from the storage box."

Ryker left the room and the two night guards stepped outside the door to keep watch, leaving Lyra alone in the room with Dax, and Rex who was still chanting.

Dax turned his head slowly, eyes locking onto Lyra's face. He took a step toward her, his metal chains dragging against the tile floor.

"You're really going to pick him over me, Lyra?" Dax asked in a frustrated tone. "Do you have any idea what I could do for you if you just gave me a chance? I could end the world for you. I could destroy entire cities for you. I’ve loved you since I was a child, Lyra. What does my brother have that I don't have?"

Lyra didn't step back. She looked him right in the eyes. "He is sane and he is a man who actually knows what it means to love and protect the people who depend on him. He is a leader, Dax, and that is something you could never be. To think I actually once thought that maybe I could learn to love you as a brother-in-law. I guess I was completely wrong about you. You are crazy, insane and you are psychotic."

"I am crazy in love with you! Don't you get it?!”

“No, you're crazy because you are crazy!"

She pointed a finger at the girl on the bed. "You hurt Rex just because you didn't love her enough to be her mate. And as if that wasn't enough, you let the human prisoner run away and then you lied about it. So tell me the truth, Dax, was Sylvester even attacking you last night, or was that injury on your arm also a complete lie so you could talk your way out of trouble?"

Dax let out a short laugh, shaking his head. "None of that matters now, Lyra. You could still come with me. You know Ryker loves you too much to ever hurt you. If you just tell him that you want to be with me, he will let you go. He won't fight you on it."

As he said this, Dax moved closer to her, lifting his chained left hand.

He reached out, his fingers hovering just inches away, about to touch her face.

Lyra slapped his hand away. "Stop this. You are crazy, you know that right? It is
over. We can never be together, Dax.”

“Why?! You could love me! I could change for you!"

“No! You can't! I love Ryker, he loves me and I'll never leave him for anything, he's everything I've ever wanted in a man."

“You're lying, he's brainwashing you!"

Lyra looked at him pitifully, “You need help, Dax. And I can't help you."

Dax sighed and then looked at her desperately, “Listen to me, I'll be perfect, I'll change, I'll get help, therapy, whatever you want!"

He looked at her and a tear rolled down his face. "Please, Lyra. We can start a family!”

"We can't! I am pregnant with your brother's child."

Dax froze, his eyes widening as the words hit him.

He stared at her stomach and whispered. "You... you betrayed me."

Lyra looked at him with a cold look. "I never belonged to you, Dax."

The glass door slid open at that time and Ryker walked back into the room holding the silver medallion by its chain.

He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes moving to how close Dax was standing to his wife.

Immediately, Ryker hissed, "Get away from my wife, you piece of shit!"

Ryker stepped between them, his large frame completely blocking Dax from her sight.

He grabbed Dax by his shirt collar and violently shoved the silver medallion into his chained hands.

"Now fix what you broke," Ryker growled, his face inches from his brother's nose. "Do it right now, or you'll be facing a lot worse than just a prison sentence in the dark."

Dax looked at Lyra and then turned around to face the bed where Rex was still muttering words.