Chapter 189: The Last Dance

IVY’S POV

The room went dead silent after Daniel’s comment.

Cole shifted uncomfortably by the door, pretending not to hear, but his jaw ticked. The priestess kept her eyes shut as though she was meditating, but I could tell she was listening too. Daniel just stood there, arms folded, smirking like an idiot.

“You reek of sex, princess,” he repeated, like he wanted to provoke me.

I tilted my head and gave him a slow, deliberate smile. “You’ve always had a big mouth, Danny boy. Want me to give you details about it or will you just shut up?”

He actually stepped back, blinking, but his nose wrinkled again. “You’re different,” he muttered. “You don’t smell like Ivy anymore.”

He wasn’t wrong. I didn’t. Something inside me had changed since Leo. Nyxara was pacing in my head, claws dragging over my skull like sparks. She wasn’t the only one ready to tear someone apart if they messed with us.

The king’s beta inhaled sharply, his nostrils flaring as he caught the scent clinging to my skin. His eyes narrowed, head tilting as he leaned in toward my neck. A knowing gleam sparked in his gaze before a laugh ripped from his chest, low and mocking, echoing through the chamber.

With exaggerated flourish, he bowed deeply before me.

Cole followed instantly, dipping his head in reverence, and even the priestess bent low. Everyone but Daniel.

“You’ve been marked,” the beta declared, voice ringing with both triumph and mischief. His eyes danced as he traced the invisible claim upon me. “And not just once…” He sniffed again, savoring the discovery. “Two… no…three times?” His voice rose with gleeful disbelief.

He straightened, grin spreading wide as he turned proudly toward the others. “I never thought such a thing could exist. But then again…” his smirk deepened, mischief curling in his tone, “we are speaking of the king. A man of… unquenchable appetite.” He let out a low, knowing chuckle, eyes glinting with a twisted pride that made my skin crawl.

Before I could speak, the priestess finally opened her eyes. “You’ve sealed him,” she said quietly, almost like a prayer. “The king is finally free!”

Daniel snapped his fingers impatiently. “Then why are we still here? Why did you come back? Did he…throw you back in the dungeon? Did he use and dump you?” He fired the questions like bullets, not giving me a second to breathe.

“Woah. Chill out,” I hissed, smacking his hand off my shoulder. My whole body still ached from everything…Leo, Nyxara, the curse breaking. All I wanted was a bath with jasmine oil, soft jazz, and macarons.

Instead, I was back in this dark hole with my so-called prison buddies.

“It’s sealed. He’s free,” the priestess repeated. “But why are you back here, child? Why are you not by his side?”

I straightened, shoulders rolling back. “Because we’re not done yet. There’s one more piece I need to dispose of.”

Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me you’re not planning something insane again, princess. You get that look on your face, and it never ends well.”

“Have a little faith, will you?” I said, smiling with a flash of teeth. “I’ve got it all figured out. I want to give my darling sister one last dance before sending her to hell.”

“By one last dance, you mean killing her?” Daniel asked and I nodded with a smirk.

The priestess’s voice cut through the air like a blade. “As long as Dina’s magic runs through her veins, you can’t kill her. She bound her life to a spell. She already knows the king is free and she will be conjuring her puppet back as we speak.”

“By puppet, you mean…” I started.

She nodded grimly.

“Shit,” I spat, spinning toward the door. “We have to leave now!”

Cole didn’t even hesitate. He shoved the door open and we poured out, our little “prison crew” moving fast down the hall. My heartbeat thudded in my throat as I mindlinked Leo.

‘Change of plans, baby. We need to capture her before she vanishes.’

His reply was a feral grunt, vibrating through my skull. Good. He was ready.

We burst into the grand hall…and everything froze.

Lila had turned the place into a playground of nightmares. Pack members hung suspended midair by chains, gagged and gasping, while she flicked her fingers lazily, ordering the guards to keep torturing them.

Was this Cole’s grand plan? Damn.

Blood streaked the marble floor. She was laughing…actually laughing…as one of the men tried to crawl away, and she dragged him back with her good hand like he was a toy.

The smell of fear was so thick it choked me.

As soon as the heavy doors slammed shut, she snapped her head toward us like a predator scenting fresh prey.

Her grin dropped, eyes going wild and frenzied. All at once, the pack members scattered, scrambling behind columns, crawling toward exits. For a second, I thought they were running away, but no…they were running to us. Running like we were salvation.

Lila’s voice cracked like a whip. “Guards! Capture them! Drag them back to the dungeon or I’ll have your heads!”

I didn’t waste a second.

I blurred forward, faster than she could blink. One moment she was shouting orders, the next I had her off her feet, my fingers clamped around her throat, lifting her high into the air. Her eyes went wide with shock before twisting with rage.

She clawed at my arm, struggling, spitting. “Put me down, you bitch!”

“Why do you hate me so much, Lila?” I asked, my voice raw. I didn’t even know why I said it. Did I expect an apology? A sob story? Anything?

Her only answer was to smash her forehead into my nose. The crack was loud. Blood poured down my face. But I didn’t let go.

“You killed your own mother,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “You don’t deserve to live, Lila!” I screamed and squeezed harder. Her face went pale, lips trembling as she gasped for air, nails digging into my wrists. I could feel her life slipping away and I pressed harder.

Then…something whipped around my waist like a live wire, yanking me backward.

Lila started laughing. Not normal laughter…wild, frantic, broken. Her eyes rolled as her form began to blur, like smoke fading from a fire.

“Ivy, let her go! I got you,” Leo’s voice came in my ear as his arms locked around me. But I held on, teeth gritted, even as the invisible force stole the air from my lungs.

The harder I squeezed, the tighter it wrapped around me, cold and suffocating.

With a ferocious growl, Leo separated me from Lila and I collapsed into his chest. He held me, wiping the blood from my nose with so much tenderness.

“You’ve not seen the last of me!” Lila shrieked as her body continued dissolving. “I will go to hell, Aria! And I’ll take you with me!”

“Now!” the priestess shouted.

From the corner of my eye, I saw her and a circle of women dressed like her holding hands, chanting. A cold wind whipped through the hall, biting into my skin. My body started to shiver violently, my teeth clattering like glass. My lungs felt empty, frozen.

“Take the queen out of here until we are done sealing the wall!” the priestess barked.

Leo moved instantly, scooping me up against his chest and striding out. My heart was hammering so hard I thought it might break my ribs. The cold had sunk so deep it felt like I’d been thrown naked into ice water.

What was that? What just happened?

It felt like he was taking three steps at a time because the next minute, we were in his chamber.

He carefully laid me on his bed. The sheets were warm and soft beneath me but that didn’t stop the cold.

My clothes were gone in a blur, covers tucked around me, his body sliding in behind mine. His arms locked around me, heat pouring off him and seeping into me.

I pressed my face into his chest, breathing him in, clinging to that warmth like a lifeline.

“I got you, baby. You’re with me,” he murmured into my hair.

I let the exhaustion drag me under, falling into the dark with his scent in my lungs and his heartbeat in my ear.