Chapter 181 : Mastermind Revealed

Chapter 181 : Mastermind Revealed
Rayline. 

All of this was just a show to her, something that she viciously enjoyed. I looked up from the ground, where I had collapsed after throwing the dagger. Slowly, I regained control of my body, my breath catching. My eyes soon locked with Silas's, and there was something sparkling in his gaze... a doubt, or perhaps some kind of hope. 

"Silas..." my voice was low, barely audible, but enough to make everyone look at me. 

"Silas?" Lilith said his name again, this time in a sharper, sterner tone. "Are you questioning your loyalty?" 

He just stared at me for a moment before turning his gaze back to Lilith. "He won," he said in a voice that sounded shaky. 

"Does it look like I care?" Lilith hissed, clearly losing her patience. She held out her hand, demanding in a haughty tone. "Hand it over." Silas's eyes shifted to me again. "Now!" 

I mouth a silent plea, "Please." His lips twitched, hesitating between two conflicted decisions. 

However, Lilith was no longer patient. "Ugh, enough of this," she said in a piercingly bored tone. I felt my stomach drop as Lilith flicked her wrist. 

A scream of horror erupted from my throat at the sight of the sacred blade stabbed into Silas' stomach. Jesse and Taylor were speechless, their jaws dropped, shocked at what had just happened as blood gushed from Silas' body. He looked down, his eyes wide with shock and pain. He slumped over, and the stone slipped from his grasp, going straight into Lilith's clutches. 

"So much drama," Lilith muttered as she rolled her eyes. 

Silas fell to the ground, groaning in pain as blood began to pool on the ground around him, and my eyes met him, seeing fear and remorse. Levi and Chris swiftly made their way to their leader's side, and it did not go unnoticed by Lilith who gave them a quick glance, but her attention soon snapped back to Cole. 

"Give it," Cole demanded in a stern voice, his wings flaring out with the rage he could no longer hold back. "I won your game fair and square. Now, hand it over." 

"Hehe," she chuckled, but her grin faded as she fiddled with the stone in her palm. "No." She lifted a hand again, sending Cole tumbling back to hit the ground, crashing into the stone table you had been on and holding his wounded shoulder in pain. I rushed over to him, my knees feeling weak as I looked at the wound on his shoulder. 

"You promised," I say, my voice shaking, almost breaking. Holding onto him. 

She just snickered in mockery, making my whole body fill with resentment. "All this fuss over a little stone?" She twirled her fingers around the stone again. "Let's just deal with it then." 

Just as I stared with my eyes wide open as the stone hovered in the air, and black magic started to surround it, coiling like a dangerous viper. 

"What are you—" Taylor started to speak, but his voice trailed off as darkness covered the stone entirely. 

A loud cracking sound shook the entire room, making me gasp. A thick black mist rolled in, filling the air with a piercing metallic odor. Cole rushed to move, wrapping his body around me to protect me from whatever was coming. My heart skipped a beat, and I felt his breath on the top of my head. 

Slowly, I pulled away from his arms, staring with my eyes wide open as the stone dust began to fall to the ground, glistening faintly at Lilith's feet. The stone... had been shattered into pieces. 

She destroyed it. 

The only thing that could break the rune, save me from the rune... besides her, was gone. 

Cole slowly rose to his feet, his wrath radiating clearly from his face. "Is all of this just to mess with us?" 

Lilith just grinned wickedly. "We all enjoy a bit of entertainment, don't we?" she said sneeringly. "Now, it looks like you only have one choice. Do me a favor, and I will remove the runes." 

"No," I replied strongly, my voice echoing between the stone walls, making Cole's jaw tense. 

"Your choice," she shrugged nonchalantly. 

"Or I can kill you," Cole chimes in, tilting his head, his voice menacing, and his eyes flashing blood red radiating deep hatred. "Tear your body apart until there is nothing left." 

"I would really love to see you try that," Lilith countered with a defiant look. 

The ground trembled as Cole took a step forward, and a sly grin graced over Lilith's face. 

"You really think you can beat me? Save your friends?.... And don't forget." She lifted her hand, and I winced. Pain burns my shoulder... just like the first time I got this curse. Cole's head turns to face me. "Are you willing to risk it?" 

Cole sucked in a deep breath, his eyes glancing pleadingly at a worried-looking Taylor and Jesse. "You swear you are going to erase it? No tricks this time. You leave her, Taylor, and Jesse free, unharmed, and you won't attack them in the future. You will not touch them or use any magic or power to influence them." 

"COLE!" Jesse shouted hoarsely, desperation evident on his face, his tear-filled eyes pleading. 

She tilted her head, her smile thin but deceptive. "I swear it." 

Cole looked at her, then slowly dropped the sword to the ground. "Fine," he said in a heavy voice. 

"COLE..." I called, the pain in my tone clear. He slowly turned back to me, and my eyes met him filled with guilt. 

Lilith smiled smugly, her face shining with diabolical triumph. "Just like your foolish mother," she coos as she lifts her eyebrows arrogantly. "So selfless, always thinking of others." I saw Cole's eyes glaze over and flutter shut as he let out a deep breath. "Cursing her with that disease was one of my best ideas." 

An eerie silence fills the room. 

Cole's eyes slowly opened, the blood-red color shining from his eyes, illuminating the darkness of the room. He turned his head slowly, his gaze locked on the wicked creature sitting on the throne, the smile on Lilith's face remained unchanged. 

"What did you say?" His voice was low... and terrifying. making my jaw drop at the sound and shudder. 

It was her. All of his suffering, all of his mother's suffering, all of it was Lilith's doing. 

All because of her. To hurt him. To hurt her husband. 

"What? You think she got the disease on her own?" Lilith smirked again, wider this time, sadistic pleasure radiating from every word she spoke. "Seeing her struggle to breathe, seeing you cry for fear of losing her... who can describe that feeling?" 

Cole did not move. His body was completely still... frozen like a bucket of ice cubes. 

"What's wrong, boy? Is that upsetting you—" 

I could not see what was happening... he was moving too fast. Only the sound of screams could be heard amidst the blast of wind kicked up by his attack. When the dust finally settles, the sight in front of me takes my breath away, I can see his figure. Cole was hunched over the throne, his hands gripping Lilith's neck tightly with a fury that looked like a fire burning within him. Darkness began to swirl in the shadows as the ground shook again and the extinguished lamps burst to life in flames. 

Lilith struggled against his grip for an instant. She seemed not to have expected Cole to snap, or at least not that fast. But then she smiled, a cruel smile soon coming back to her face. She lifted her hand and motioned him backward, tearing his body away from her and sending him into the far wall before he collapsed next to Taylor, who could only get close enough to place her hand on his friend's back. 

"What's going on? Have I touched on a sensitive spot?" Lilith rose to her feet, stretching her neck to the side. "Half-breed," she spat. 

Cole slowly rose to his feet, his fiery red eyes glowing as his horns grew and black claws extended from his fingertips. "I'm going to rip you apart." Fangs showed through his teeth. "I will make you regret every decision you made to hurt the ones I love." 

Lilith's lips curled up maliciously. "Now this should be fun."