Chapter 112: The Crown They Tried to Force

The gunfire finally stopped.

The silence that followed wasn’t relief—it was worse. It was heavy, suffocating, a silence that didn’t belong in a room full of bodies. Creed soldiers lay scattered, some dead, others groaning and bleeding out. Hybrids who had shielded me were sprawled on the concrete, their blood dark against the warehouse floor.

And yet the rest of them—the ones still alive—were still kneeling.

My knees felt weak. My hands shook. I wanted to scream at them to stop, to stand, to fight back, to be something other than this.

But they stayed down.

Waiting.

Selene’s voice cut through the stillness like a blade dipped in honey. “You see it now. Don’t you?”

“No,” I whispered.

She took another step closer. The lantern light flickered across her golden eyes, making them gleam like molten metal. “Yes. The blood knows. The body remembers. You are what they’ve been waiting for.”

Elena shoved her crossbow in Selene’s direction, her voice sharp. “One more step, and I swear I’ll put a bolt through your smug little—”

“Elena,” Aidan warned.

“What?” Elena snapped, her jaw tight. “She’s monologuing like a Disney villain, and you’re just letting her?!”

Selene didn’t even look at her. She only kept her gaze locked on me.

Aidan’s hand closed around my wrist. His voice was low, rough. “Rox, you don’t have to listen to her. She’s twisting this.”

“I’m not twisting,” Selene murmured. “I’m revealing.”

“Bullshit,” Ethan said from the back, his laptop tucked protectively against his chest. His voice cracked, but he forced it louder. “You think you’re so clever, hiding behind prophecy and creepy speeches. You’re just another manipulator in a long line of them.”

Finally, Selene turned her head toward him. “And yet you’re still here, boy. Following her. Protecting her. Because even you can feel it. She isn’t ordinary. She isn’t just a survivor. She’s the last Harbinger. And whether she admits it or not, that changes everything.”

Ethan opened his mouth to fire back, but Elena pressed a hand against his arm. “Not now,” she muttered.

The hybrids shifted slightly. Not standing, not fighting, but adjusting their weight as if a single word would send them into action.

“Why are they doing this?” I asked, my voice raw. “Why me?”

Selene’s expression softened—not kindly, but like someone staring at a puzzle piece finally sliding into place. “Because it’s written into their bones. They don’t follow choice. They follow blood. And your blood… is the oldest.”

“I’m not a queen,” I spat.

“Then why are they kneeling?” she countered.

My chest heaved. My blade felt heavy in my hand, but I couldn’t lift it. Not against her. Not against them.

Aidan moved in front of me again, his stance sharp, protective. “If you think for one second we’re handing her over—”

Selene chuckled. “Handing her over? My sweet wolf, I don’t need to take her. She’ll come on her own.”

Elena scoffed loudly. “Oh yeah? Big talk for someone who looks like she fell out of a Hot Topic clearance bin.”

Even in the chaos, I almost smiled. Almost.

Selene didn’t react. She just tilted her head at me. “You feel it already, don’t you? The hum under your skin. The way your pulse matches theirs. The way their breath syncs with yours. That isn’t loyalty. That’s bond. You’re bound to them. And them to you.”

Echo’s voice cut through then—sharp, controlled. “And what happens if she rejects it?”

Selene finally looked at her, eyes narrowing just slightly. “Then it breaks them. Every single one. They’ll wither. Fade. Die. Because without a Harbinger, they are unmoored.”

My stomach dropped. “You’re lying.”

Selene stepped closer again, her tone maddeningly calm. “Am I? Look at them. Tell them to rise, Roxanne. Go ahead. Order them to stand.”

Aidan growled. “Don’t do it.”

But something in me wanted to. Needed to. Just to know.

I swallowed, my throat dry. “Stand up.”

The hybrids moved. As one. Fifty bodies rising like marionettes pulled by a single string.

The sound of their claws dragging against the floor made my heart race.

Elena muttered, “Well. That’s not creepy at all.”

Ethan whispered, “Holy shit.”

Selene’s smile widened. “See?”

I shook my head violently. “No. That doesn’t mean anything.”

“Doesn’t it?” she asked, her voice soft and sharp at the same time. “Tell them to kneel.”

“I won’t.”

“Then watch,” Selene said simply.

The hybrids didn’t wait for my command this time. They sank back down onto their knees, heads bowed, perfectly synchronized.

Like they’d done it all their lives.

I staggered back. “No. No, no, no—”

Aidan grabbed me by the shoulders, forcing me to look at him. His eyes burned with defiance. “You’re not their queen. You’re not a prophecy. You’re Roxanne. And you’re mine.” His voice cracked on the last word, but he didn’t let go. “Don’t let her take that from you.”

For the first time, Selene’s expression faltered—just a flicker, gone as soon as it appeared.

“That’s sweet,” she said softly. “But even love can’t undo blood.”

“Then maybe steel can,” Elena snapped, cocking her crossbow.

“Or brains,” Ethan added quickly. “Which we have plenty of, thank you very much.”

Echo stepped closer to me, her gaze steady. “This isn’t about her. It’s about you. What do you want, Roxanne?”

My voice shook. “I want them to stop looking at me like I’m… like I’m—”

“Their savior?” Selene supplied.

“Their prison,” I hissed.

That stopped her.

For the first time, Selene didn’t have a reply ready.

The hybrids shifted again, restless, like they felt my words ripple through them.

“See?” I whispered, staring at Selene. “Even they don’t want this. Not really. They’re just stuck. Just like me.”

A long silence stretched.

Then Selene laughed. Low. Cold. Almost pitying. “You think you can run from this. But all you’ll do is drag it with you.”

She turned, her cloak swirling around her, and started walking toward the back exit.

“Wait!” I shouted.

She paused, glancing over her shoulder.

“Why me?” My voice cracked. “Why not you? Why not Gregory? Why not anyone else?”

Selene’s smile was razor-thin. “Because, darling… you’re the last one who can hold the crown without breaking. And soon, the world will need you to wear it.”

Then she was gone.

The door slammed shut behind her.

And fifty hybrids stayed on their knees.