Chapter 228: The Consequences Of Rejection

~Aveline~

I should have known from the moment I turned down Valerius's offer that there would be consequences.

Consequences I should have anticipated, but I'd been too consumed by the small victory I'd claimed from bringing down the Thorne household and Maribel to think beyond it.

And now, here I was, paying the price for that very decision.

A price I'd unintentionally, yet nonetheless, dragged Daisy into with me.

I took several steps backward, my eyes fixed on the hooded figure who had just collapsed onto his knees before pitching forward, his face striking the muddy ground.

The remaining three exchanged a few rapid words in their foreign language, their voices sharp and agitated. Then, almost in unison, their heads snapped toward me.

“Vaerak! Drael en mor! Kethra sa!” one of them barked.

I didn't need to understand what he'd said.

The next second, two of them charged straight at me.

One of them swung his fist—not at my throat, but at my midsection, as though he had no intention of killing me.

I dodged just in time, catching his wrist and wrenching his arm behind his back. Before he could react, I kicked the back of his knees, sending him down just as the punch the other man had thrown connected squarely with his face.

The sickening crunch of bone was swallowed by the relentless downpour.

I tossed his body aside and surged forward.

The other man swung at me. I dropped low, snatched the dagger from the lifeless body beside me, and spun beneath his arm. In the same fluid motion, I drove the blade into the space beside his spine.

He cried out, collapsing onto his knees.

I ripped the dagger free and, without hesitation, drew it cleanly across his throat.

A wet choking sound filled the air as blood spilled from his mouth. A moment later, he crumpled to the ground.

My chest rose and fell rapidly as my eyes darted across the scene.

Bodies littered the rain-soaked ground.

Then my gaze shot toward the cliff where I'd left her.

Daisy was still there.

Her eyes were wide, her chest heaving, but she was unharmed.

Relief flooded my chest, but before it could even settle, Daisy's eyes widened further, and then Serena's voice screamed inside my head.

“Behind you, Aveline!”

I spun around just as one of the hooded figures—one I'd somehow failed to account for—charged toward me, a dagger clenched in his hand.

He was close.

Far too close for me to counter the strike.

I braced myself for the pain.

But the next second—

He dashed right past me.

What...?

My brain lagged for a fraction of a second before the realization hit.

Dread washed over me.

I whirled around.

“Daisy—”

The rest of my words caught in my throat.

The hooded figures were standing directly in front of her.

They were utterly still, and Daisy's head was lowered, her wide eyes fixed on something beneath her.

The next few seconds seemed to unfold in slow motion.

Slowly, the hooded figure stepped backward, and then I saw it.

A dagger was buried deep in Daisy's upper abdomen.

The sight knocked the air completely from my lungs as my face went pale.

“No…”

The word slipped from my lips in a whisper, my throat tightening painfully.

Daisy looked up at that moment, and her eyes met mine.

There was no fear in them.

No regret.

And for one fleeting second, the conversation we'd had months ago surfaced in the back of my mind.

She'd been combing my hair then, and I'd found myself staring at her reflection in the mirror. I couldn't remember what had come over me that day, but the words had left my lips before I could reconsider them.

“Daisy, if there ever comes a time when you need to run and leave me behind to protect yourself, do it without hesitation.”

Her hand had stopped brushing through my hair.

She'd met my gaze through the mirror.

For a few seconds, she'd simply stared at me.

Then the edges of her lips had slowly pulled upward, her eyes crinkling into a smile.

That same smile she wore now as the hooded figure pulled the dagger from her abdomen and drove it into her again.

“No!”

The cry tore through my throat.

My body lurched forward, my feet carrying me toward her before I could even think. The hooded figure ripped the dagger free, and Daisy crumpled to her knees.

I stretched out a hand, desperate to reach her faster. To catch her before she hit the ground. To stop this.

To not fail her this badly.

Before I could reach her, a kick slammed into my midsection.

The impact knocked the air from my lungs and sent me stumbling backward. I crashed onto the ground, pain shooting through my body.

I immediately tried to push myself up.

Daisy needed me.

She needed me.

A violent wave of nausea suddenly rolled through me. I doubled over, bracing both hands against the muddy ground as my stomach convulsed.

I retched, my body heaving as though I were about to spill my guts.

But I didn't let it stop me.

I forced myself upright, palms slipping against the wet ground as I tried to push myself to my feet.

I had to get to her.

I had to—

A hand suddenly seized my hair.

Pain ripped across my scalp as I was violently hauled to my feet.

I stumbled, my legs unsteady beneath me as I struggled against his hold, my eyes darting toward Daisy every few seconds.

She was curled into a ball, her body trembling violently with pain.

I needed to do something.

“Let go!” I demanded, but my words fell on deaf ears as he dragged me toward the edge of the cliff, where Daisy lay crumpled on the ground.

“Tharek!” he spat, holding me directly above her.

“There are always consequences to every choice,” he added coldly.

My eyes stung, and it had nothing to do with the rainwater streaming down my face. Tears burned behind my eyes as I stared at Daisy.

“Daisy…”

She didn't respond.

“Daisy!”

My breathing turned sharp and uneven. I drove an elbow into his side, and his grip finally loosened.

I dropped to my knees immediately, scrambling toward Daisy.

Her body felt cold beneath my freezing fingertips.

“Daisy,” I called, my voice breaking as I gathered her into my arms. “Daisy, wake up.”

For one agonizing second, she didn't react, then her eyes fluttered open.

Relief flooded through me so suddenly it almost hurt.

“Hey,” I whispered, brushing damp strands of hair from her face. “Just stay awake. Everything's going to be—”

A sharp burst of pain tore through my scalp as I was yanked violently to my feet again.

This time, I refused to let go of Daisy.

I held her tightly against me, one arm wrapped around her limp body as I struggled against the man behind me.

“Kael va tharen, saeva? Veyra draen en sael. Nareth it ven,” he sneered.

I fought against his hold, one hand searching desperately across the ground while the other kept Daisy's body secured against me.

My fingers grazed something.

Cold, metallic and sharp.

I immediately closed my hand around it.

Pain bloomed across my palm as the edge bit into my skin, but I didn't hesitate.

With every ounce of strength I had left, I raised the object and drove it straight into the hand holding me.

“Argh! You bitch!”

He cried out, his grip finally breaking as he flung me away by my hair.

I staggered backward from the force.

One step. Then another, then suddenly—

The ground disappeared beneath my feet.

“Huh?”

For one suspended moment, everything seemed to stop. My eyes met the hooded figure's, his expression mirroring my own shock.

Then gravity took hold.

And we fell.

~☆~

Vaerak, thren! Morai kel! Seira— Stop standing there, fools! Seize her! Now!

Tharek! — Watch closely!

Kael va tharen, saeva? Veyra draen en sael. Nareth it ven—Why do you resist, foolish girl? You forged this fate yourself. Now bear it in silence.