Chapter 198 Day of reckoning

Chapter 198 Day of reckoning
Kai’s POV

Finally. Today is the day that King Geo will cease being a king. I’ve been waiting for this exact moment for months. After this is done, I’ll finally be free to open up to Lyra. I haven’t seen her in the last two days because I’ve been away from the academy, rounding up my plans in secret. But since my scouts said that she has not left her apartment once in the last two days, my mind is at rest. 

I can’t wait to do this and then go back to her. I can’t wait to ask her to be my future queen. I don’t care if she thinks it might be too early. It feels too right.

The heavy rain pours down all over the outer perimeter of the royal palace, masking the quiet, lethal movements of me and my strike team as we circle the whole place. Beside me, Damon adjusts his grip on his laser pistol, his eyes glittering with excitement and readiness. Behind us, dozens of my elite wolves and Lycan guards stand in the shadows, their beasts growling silently against their ribs. They aren't loyal to the crown anymore, they are loyal to me.

"Every guard rotation at the north gate has been neutralized, Kai," Damon whispers through our private mindlink, his voice razor-sharp. "The inner sanctum is completely unguarded right now."

"Good," I say with a growl, letting Vlad’s power swell inside my chest. "No mercy for anyone who stands with the King. Move in."

We move like absolute phantoms. My guards fan out through the corridors, slicing down the King’s remaining loyalists before they can even draw their weapons. Clashing steel and choked screams echo through the halls as we breach the heavy oak doors of the grand throne room. Thankfully, my mother heeded my warning when I told her to take an emergency trip away from the palace. She had been hesitant, saying my father may not allow her, but the moment I looked straight into her eyes and told her that she wouldn’t be able to stomach whatever she sees tomorrow if she doesn’t leave now, my mother had understood me silently and packed her bags and left.

As I enter, I spot King Geo standing near the base of the dais, and he already has a sword in his hands, as if that will stop me from doing what I came here to do today. He stares at me in shock for a second.

"Traitorous bastard!" King Geo shouts, his voice echoing off the walls. "You think you can take my crown, Kai?"

"I'm not taking your crown, old man.” I growl, stomping my boots on the floor as I charge straight at him. "I'm taking your life."

I swing my heavy blade down with savage, bone-shattering force. King Geo raises his sword to block, and the clash of metal sends bright sparks flying through the air. The force of our colliding power rattles the stained-glass windows. He swings at my ribs, but I slip under his punch, turning around and jamming my shoulder hard into his chest.

King Geo staggers back, coughing up a mouthful of blood before he lunges forward again, swinging wildly. Vlad violently takes over my reflexes. I block his strike with a sharp twist of my wrist, disarming him completely. His sword clatters loudly across the ground. Before he can even pull out a gun, I violently drive my heavy boot straight into his knee, snapping the joint backward.

An agonizing roar rips from the King's throat as he collapses heavily onto his knees.

I step in front of him, panting hard and ragged. I grab a fistful of his hair, yanking his head back to show his neck, and press the hot edge of my blade right against his throat.

"It's over, father," I whisper, my red eyes burning into his.

Instead of begging for his life, a sick, blood-stained smile slowly spreads across King Geo's face. He lets out a raspy laugh that makes my stomach violently churn.

"You think you've won, Kai?" he wheezes, his dark eyes glinting with pure malice. "Well, I'm happy to let you in on this news boy. You're too late. While you were playing war in my halls, your precious little Phoenix was already being delivered straight into the hands of the Demon King."

My heart violently stops beating. An icy, paralyzing shock strikes my chest, completely shattering my concentration. I don't care that he actually knows who Lyra is. All I care about is what he just said. I hope he's fucking lying. Lyra has to be safe. She has to. 

"What the fuck did you just say?" I ask him, tightening my grip on his hair as I dig the blade deeper into his skin, causing a thin bead of blood trailing down his neck. "Where is she? Where is Lyra?! Tell me right fucking now, or I will tear you apart piece by piece!"

"She's already halfway to the dark realm, you pathetic fool," King Geo spat, a dark, raspy cough shaking his frail chest. "And your cousin, Roman... he's part of the—"

Before he can finish his sentence, a shadow suddenly cuts through the air from nowhere.

A slender form rushes forward at an impossible, demonic speed. In a split second, a sharp blade flashes through the dim light and the next thing I hear is...

SLASH!

King Geo’s words die instantly in his throat. Blood violently spurts from him as the blade cleanly slashes straight through his neck. His eyes roll back into his head, and I watch almost in slow motion as his lifeless body slumps forward, hitting the floor in a heavy pool of his own blood.

I freeze in absolute, freezing shock, stepping back as my father dies at my feet. He's dead. 

I look up and recognize the person who just killed my father. The strange Lyra lookalike, Marina, stands directly over his corpse, flicking the dark blood off her curved dagger. Her long black hair spills over her shoulders, and her eyes lock onto mine, a wicked, terrifying smile spreading across her lips.

"Since you were wasting so much time, I finished it for you." Marina purrs, her voice carrying a chilling tone. She turns her eyes to me, smile widening. "You're too late, Prince Kai. Lyra will be completely done before you ever manage to reach her."

A violent, blinding fury explodes inside my chest, completely obliterating my shock. Vlad roars in pure, murderous agony inside my mind.

"You fucking bitch!" I roar, lunging straight for her throat with my sword raised.

Marina doesn't even flinch. She simply snaps her fingers.

Suddenly, dozens of demon guards with pitch-black skin, glowing red eyes, and swords, erupt into the room like a nightmare.

Warriors! Let's fight and take them all down!" Damon shouts, rushing over to me as he swings his sword, chopping off the head of the first demon that comes our way.

"Damon, watch out!" I yell, spinning around to slash through two demon soldiers who try to pin me down.

The chaos in the room is absolute. My royal guards fight viciously, but the demon soldiers are completely relentless, their dark magic swirling through the air and overpowering my men because of their large numbers. No matter how many I slaughter, three more step into their place. I fight like a demon myself, my blade coated in dark blood, desperately trying to carve a path straight to Marina. But they're way too much.

"Get out of my way!" I roar, decapitating another beast.

Suddenly, three demon guards jump on me from behind. Their heavy bodies crash me down hard onto the cold floor. I fight back with everything I’ve got, straining my muscles to toss two of them off me, but four more instantly pile on top, pinning my arms flat against the stone, crushing my chest under their weight.

"Kai!" Damon screams from across the room. “No!”

I force my head up just in time to see a demon guard swing a heavy iron club straight into the side of Damon's head. A sickening crack echoes through the room. Damon’s eyes go completely blank, and his body collapses limply to the floor, passing out in a pool of blood.

"Damon!" I roar, thrashing frantically against the heavy demon guards holding me down. "Fuck! Let me go you bastards!" this is not going how I planned it to!

Marina slowly walks across the bloody room, stepping over the fallen bodies of my guards. She stops directly in front of me, leaning down so her dark eyes are level with my furious, blood-red gaze.

"What did you do to Lyra?!" I yell, my voice breaking with a raw, desperate agony that tears my throat apart. "What did you do to my mate?!"

Marina gives an amused chuckle, tilting her head like I just asked something silly.. "Oh, nothing much, Lycan Prince. She's currently being bound to my master as we speak... and he asked me to bring you along so you can watch every single second of her destruction."

Before I can even process her horrifying words or scream her name, something hard violently strikes the back of my skull.

A blinding burst of white pain explodes through my head. The bloody throne room spins out of control, the desperate roars of my beast fading into a dull hum, and I pass out into complete darkness.