Chapter 222 Fighting the enemy
Chapter 222: Fighting the enemy.
Damon's POV
“Aldrich!!”
His name left my mouth like a Forbidden curse. The Queen's right hand. Her most trusted commander. The architect of a hundred atrocities, the most wanted man in the kingdom. And he was standing there in that blood-soaked room with his arms casually spread, as if inviting me to try.
I didn't need an invitation.
My blade was already moving, before I could think twice about it. a silver arc aimed at his throat. Fast. Faster than I'd ever moved before, driven by weeks of helpless fury and the desperate need to reach Milo. The blade sang through the air, and for one perfect moment, I knew I had him.
At the last moment, he moved.
My blade found air where Aldrich's throat should have been. He twisted away with speed that should not have been possible for someone his size, and suddenly we were both in motion, circling each other while Daphne pressed herself against the wall.
“Aggressive," Aldrich commented, his voice maddeningly calm. "Though I suppose I should have expected that. You have had weeks to imagine all the creative ways you would use to kill me."
I didn't waste another breath. I lunged again, feinting left before striking right. He blocked with his forearm, and the impact sending shock waves up to my shoulder.
The bastard had used the Queen's twisted science on himself.
But enhanced or not, I was faster. Rage made me faster, coupled with the curse power that I was leeching from. I pressed the attack, driving him back toward the wall, my blade managing to catch the hem of his clothes tearing into his skin.
It was not enough to decide the fight, but it was proof enough that he wasn't invincible.
"Where is he?" The words came out more growl than speech.
"Where is he?" My voice came out as a growl, barely human.
Aldrich's smile never wavered. "You have to be more specific”
"Stop playing games. Tell me where my mate is or I will carve the answer out of you piece by piece."
"Your mate." Aldrich laughed, the sound echoing off the blood splattered walls. "Is that what you call him? The Queen had other names. Experiment. Vessel. Breeding stock. My personal favorite was incubator, though I thought that lacked a certain poetic quality."
my vision turned red. I threw myself at him, all strategy forgotten, just pure animal fury demanding blood. We crashed into a medical table, sending instruments flying. His fist caught my ribs, cracking something, but I barely felt it through the haze of it all.
"Damon, stop!" Selene's voice cut through the chaos. Apparently she had finally caught up, the Silent Dancers with her taking position around the room. "He is baiting you. He wants you to be angry and do something stupid."
She was right. I knew she was right. But knowing did not make it easier to pull back when every fiber of my being screamed to tear this man apart limbs to limbs.
I managed to step away, breathing hard with one hand pressed to my damaged ribs. "Last chance. Where is Milo?"
Aldrich straightened his uniform, that infuriating smile still on his face "That depends on which version of events you want to hear. The truth? Or the version that will not make you do something incredibly foolish?"
"The truth," I spat.
"The truth." He gestured around the room at the dead doctors, the blood, the evidence of violence. "Is that your precious mate was strapped to that table three hours ago, about to have his baby cut out of him ahead of schedule. The Queen's orders. She wanted the child extracted before she marched to battle, insurance in case things went badly."
My stomach turned. The image of Milo restrained, helpless, facing that nightmare alone made me want to retch out.
“Kill him, spill his blood” dax chanted in my head, the curse that was barely at rest, choose that time to react. Further sending me to the point of no return.
One second I was feet away from him, the next moment my hands were clutching his throat, a dark secret dagger I had brought out was pressed against his throat hard enough to draw blood, my other hand fisted in his uniform.
"Last words," I snarled. "Choose them carefully."
"Damon, wait!"
Daphne's voice cut through the red haze. I'd forgotten she was there, forgotten everything except the need to end this man's life. But something in her tone made me pause, the blade still pressed to Aldrich's throat.
"Please," she whispered, and when I glanced at her, I saw tears streaming down her face. "Please don't kill him."
"He's the Queen's right hand," I said, not moving the blade. "Dont forget that he chose to serve the Queen. Every torture, every experiment, every…"
"He's my mate."
The words hit like a physical blow. I stared at her, unable to make a decision.
"Aldrich died five years ago," Selene said from behind me, her voice carefully neutral. "Everyone knows that. This is not him, daphne, he has been modeled by the queen, into her own personal war machine."
"I didn't die." Aldrich's voice was strained with the blade at his throat, but he spoke anyway. "The queen saved me, I won't deny it." His eyes found Daphne's. "But I have been trying to find my way back ever since."
"Lies," I spat. "You serve the Queen. You have been at her side for years."
"I have been surviving." Something shifted in his expression, the casual arrogance falling away to reveal something raw beneath. "Playing the loyal soldier while waiting for the right moment. Do you think I enjoyed watching what she did to that omega? Watching her plan to cut his child out of him?"
My grip tightened. "If you cared, you would have stopped her."
"And died accomplishing nothing." His eyes were hard now. "I have been working with the Shadow, sabotaging operations from within. Small things at first. Delayed orders. Lost supplies. But tonight..." He gestured weakly at the dead doctors. "Tonight I had the chance to do something that mattered."
"You freed Milo?" The words came out skeptical.
"Not personally. But I made sure certain... allies... knew where he was and when the doctors would be vulnerable." His gaze shifted to Selene. "Your distraction was perfectly timed, Commander. Almost as if someone had sent word about the Queen's planned march."
Selene's expression didn't change, but I saw the calculation in her eyes. She was weighing his words, looking for the lie.
"He could be telling the truth," one of the Silent Dancers signed. "Or he could be playing us. Either way, we need to decide quickly."
"Please, Damon." Daphne stepped closer, her voice breaking. "I know you don't believe him. I know you have every reason to kill him. But the mate bonds..." She pressed a hand to her chest. "It's there. Dormant all these years, but it's there. I can feel him."
I looked between them. Aldrich, bleeding from my blade, his enhanced body already trying to heal. Daphne, tears streaming down her face, radiating desperate hope. The bond between mates was sacred, unbreakable. I, of all people, know it more than anybody.
But that didn't make him trustworthy.
"You have thirty seconds to convince me not to kill you," I said, pressing the blade harder. My hand trembled, as a thin line of blood trickled down his neck.
"Talk."