Chapter 75 CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE | ASHES

Chapter 75 CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE | ASHES
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE | ASHES

DARIUS

I sat on the floor, staring at the pictures of my own children, Adrian and Devenity.

Both of them were smiling in the picture. I couldn’t believe they were gone.

The room smelled like alcohol and old pain. I looked drunk and tired as I stared at their faces. My hand shook as I held the frame. Tears dropped freely onto the floor.

I remembered my son’s last words. His voice was weak, but clear. “Dad,” he said, “promise me you’ll let me marry Aspen.”

My chest tightened. I squeezed my eyes shut. “Why?” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Why her?”

“That witch,” I muttered under my breath. Anger rose fast. I threw the glass bottle against the wall. It shattered, wine spilling like blood.

I turned to my daughter’s picture. Devenity smiled softly, innocently. “Why?” I asked her, my voice shaking. “Why did you follow her?”

The bottle was still in my hand. I lifted it and drank, letting the burn fill my throat. I didn’t stop. I wanted to forget. I wanted the pain to drown.

A knock came at the door. It sounded distant. “Sir,” a guard said. “You have a visitor.”

“Tell them to leave,” I snapped. “I’m not in the mood.”

The guard hesitated. “Sir,” he said again, “it’s Tarcuis.”

My body stiffened. I stood up at once. The room spun slightly, but I didn’t care. I wiped my face and walked out.

The waiting room was quiet. Tarcuis sat there like he owned the place. He smiled, slow and careless. “Hi,” he said, waving lightly.

He sat down deeper into the chair. His eyes moved over me, head to toe. “I can see you’re still mourning your children,” he said.

I clenched my fists. “Get to the point, sir,” I growled.

Tarcuis leaned forward. “I can help you get revenge,” he said softly.

My heart jumped. “What do you mean?” I asked, my voice low.

He smiled wider. “Aspen is not as far as you think,” he replied. “And I can help you find her.”

I stared at him. Hope and fear mixed inside me. “Why would you help me?” I asked.

Tarcuis stood up slowly. “Because we both want the same thing,” he said. “Aspen.”

The name burned. My jaw tightened. I felt the trap, but I didn’t step back. Not this time.

I nodded once. “Let me hear it, sir,” I said.

He smiled again. I could hear the thunder roll, and at that moment, I knew the storm was coming. I could feel it.

My children’s faces flashed in my mind. Smiling. Gone. I knew then that I would do anything to avenge their deaths.

Even if it meant burning everything else.

I followed Tarcuis, my heart heavy as the night swallowed us, because somewhere, fate waited. I didn’t pray. I didn’t cry. I just walked forward, ready to destroy whatever stood in my way.

The pictures stayed behind. The smiles haunted me. This was no longer grief. This was war.

And I was ready.

I would trade my soul if it meant answers, vengeance, and silence for the screams inside my head tonight.

Tarcuis looked at me for a long moment, like he was measuring how broken I already was. Then he began.

“Alettoi,” he said, his voice calm, “the leader of the Red Ones. He knows where she is, and he’s just playing games with us, making everyone search in circles.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“He wants control,” Tarcuis continued. “So he pretends he doesn’t know. He sends people out to hunt her, while he watches.”

I said nothing. My head was spinning.

“I had someone follow him,” Tarcuis said. “Quietly, making sure there were no mistakes. That’s when I noticed something strange. Alettoi keeps sending his men into the school.”

My chest tightened. “The school?”

“Yes,” he replied. “Again and again. Different men. Different days.”

I shook my head slowly. “I searched that place before. I turned it upside down, but there was nothing there.”

Tarcuis smiled, almost amused. “You have been searching the wrong places.”

The words hit me harder than I expected. “What are you saying?”

“Aspen is in that school,” he said plainly. “Maybe not where you looked. But she’s there.”

My hands curled into fists. I thought of Adrian and his last wish, and of Devenity who followed blindly. A sudden rage burned through me.

Tarcuis stepped closer. “Alettoi wants her power. He wants to extract it and own it. But why should he have it?”

I looked up at him. “What are you suggesting?”

He lowered his voice. “You and I make an agreement.”

I went quiet for a while.

“We would follow Alettoi,” he said. “We would also watch his moves, then we search the school again, properly this time. Then we will take Aspen.”

My heart raced. “And then what?”

“We kidnap her,” he said without emotion. “We extract her power ourselves. We won’t give it to Alettoi, but we will keep it.”

I stared at him, my mouth dry. “That’s dangerous.”

Tarcuis laughed softly. “Of course it is.”

“This could get us killed,” I said.

He leaned in, his eyes sharp. “The more dangerous it is, the more fun it becomes.”

I swallowed hard.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared now,” he added. “Not after what she did to your children.”

The words cut deep. My vision blurred. “Don’t,” I warned.

He didn’t stop. “Adrian is dead. Devenity is gone. And you’re sitting here drowning in wine.”

I stood up suddenly. “You don’t know my pain.”

“I know revenge,” Tarcuis said. “And I know power.”

A silence fell between us.

“You can stay a coward,” he continued. “Or you can stand up and avenge them.”

I looked down at my shaking hands. I saw my son’s smile and my daughter’s eyes. I felt the hole they left behind.

Danger or not, I was already empty. If Aspen was the key, then so be it.

I lifted my head slowly. “Tell me,” I thought, my heart pounding, “how far am I willing to go now?”