Chapter 153 chapter 153
Chapter 153 chapter 153
Carlota’s POV
The council chamber was a graveyard of stone and shattered magic. Marble tiles cracked, pillars splintered, and the place was still filled with the power I had released. Dust floated like sparks caught in sunlight, and the elders stared at me as if I’d just torn their world apart.
"What have you done?" one of them came, looking at me like I had killed someone.
"What exactly does it look like to you?" I replied to them.
“She broke the Rite,” one whispered, voice trembling. “The moon won’t forgive this.”
I lifted my chin, letting the glow of gold and silver in my eyes fade into something colder, something sharp. My heartbeat was steady, my breath even. “Then let it come for me,” I said, my voice sounding across the ruined hall. “The same moon has already ruined a lot of things for me. What else do you think I have to lose?”
A moon heir being threatened about what the moon will do. It looked like I was controlling the moon, and now that I am having a hang of my powers, I don't think the moon can do anything to me even if I have to fight against it.
I'm very sure I didn't stutter when I said it. I never asked for any of this, but if it's going to use me, then I'm going to do the same thing back. No one gets to control my destiny. I choose my life myself.
Gabriel stepped forward, moving to stand at my side. He looked like he would attack any of them that came close to me, and he didn't say anything to me either, but I could know already what he was doing. His presence alone was a warning.
Paxton lingered behind, his gaze locked on the marble floor. I followed his line of sight and saw it: the cracks. He was probably terrified of me now, and I couldn't say less than that because I knew the sight haunted him as much as it did me.
The eldest elder finally found his voice, slow and measured despite the tremor in his hands. “You’ve defied fate. You’ve made yourself the storm.”
I let a faint smile curve my lips, sharp and small but full of challenge. “Then I hope you brought umbrellas,” I said, my voice calm but carrying the weight of everything I’d become.
The chamber was silent after that. The elders stared, unsure whether to cower, speak, or flee. They all looked like they were all talk and no substance. Of course they wanted someone they could control and make into whatever they want. Everyone wants my power, but no one would dare come close to me.
If they could have a fraction of my powers being controlled by themselves, I'm very sure no one would be looking my way. I would probably be a slave to them and be locked up somewhere. Now that they can't control me, they feel like I am defying the moon. What a stupid thing to say.
Gabriel’s hand brushed mine briefly, a silent promise. Paxton’s gaze never left me; he looked like he wanted to say a lot to me; however, he was controlling himself. And I, standing in the center of the ruins I’d made, felt something I hadn’t allowed myself to feel before: absolute power, tempered with the clarity that I wasn’t just surviving. I was commanding them now.
The storm had begun. And this time, I was leading it. Even if it meant that I was going to put myself in danger, I won't let anyone control me anymore. The moon already did what it wanted, and now it was my turn.
"What are you all afraid of exactly? Are you afraid that I'm going to rule over everyone and you can't stand someone like me telling you what to do, right?" I asked them.
The elders looked at each other before looking at me. They bowed their heads because they didn't want to say something that would make me angry again.
"That's not exactly what we meant. If you don't control your powers or do what the moon requires, it might become a disaster to everyone. We are all trying to survive here."
I shook my head. "Not exactly. You are all scared of dying, but you are also scared of me because there's no such thing as consequences of my actions. You just don't want me to be powerful."
They were not saying anything again, and I realized that I already said everything that needed to be said. I'm going to go out of this place. I'm not going to stay here anymore. Why should I stay in prison because of them? Why should I keep hiding myself just because I want to protect other people who don't actually care about me?
"Your mouth is sharp, and you have no discipline at all," the head elder said to me.
I shook my head. "I do have discipline. I just don't want to be a doormat for anyone. Maybe that is goodbye. It looks like I don't have any discipline."
I wasn't able to answer any of them before, but what they had for me to fear? It's not like I can't force myself to control them anyway. Even if my powers would go out of control, that is exactly what they don't want me to do. If they want me to obey them, I'll just do the opposite.
"You all are going to go back to the manor for now while we discuss what is going to happen. I hope you can at least obey that," they said to us.
Paxton looked angry. "Excuse you. Why do we have to go back there? Then we can always go on. Do you think we're going to run away or what?"
"For the sake of your safety and everyone else's, you have to stay there," the elder replied again. "We're still the council after all, and I don't think you want to go against us now."
I wasn't exactly scared of going against them, but I didn't want the two of them to have many issues with these people as they were from important packs, and it might affect them in the future.
"You don't have to say anything else. Let's just go for now. Let's see how they are going to deal with things," I told him, but I wasn't restless inside because I felt like they were planning something that I couldn't get from them.
Maybe they're going to take me out this time around and make sure that I never resurface again, and they can make use of my powers to control everyone. Let's see if that's going to happen anyway.