Chapter 202 My Angel | 095

Chapter 202 My Angel | 095
AZREN

Vesper's spine goes rigid under my claws. I've got four of them pressed right between his vertebrae, the tips kissing bone. One twitch and I could turn him into a puppet with cut strings. The demon in my blood is already humming, starving for the first real taste of payback.

He doesn't move. Smart choice.

"If you kill me," he spits, trying to sound like he's in control, "the others will know. The whole facility goes into lockdown. You won't make it ten feet out of this room."

A laugh rolls out of me.

Dad's hand lands on my shoulder before I can answer.

"The audacity," he growls, "to stand here and threaten my son right in front of me."

Vesper doesn't even get a chance to sneer.

Dad's fingers snap out in a blur of motion. He grabs the man's left ear and yanks hard. The whole thing comes off with a wet rip. Vesper's scream is instant, raw and beautiful.

Dad doesn't even blink. He just holds the ear up like it's a piece of garbage, lets it drip, then flicks a tiny spark of hellfire across his thumb. The ear catches fire, curls, and burns black in seconds. The smell is awful. I love it.

Vesper's knees buckle. I keep my claws exactly where they are, steadying him so he doesn't fall and ruin the fun.

Dad leans in close, his voice calm and terrifying. "What the hell are you people up to? Talk."

Vesper’s eyes are wild, but his jaw is locked tight. "Go to hell."

Wrong answer.

The manic switch in my head flips the rest of the way. Everything goes bright and sharp. The beast purrs so loud I feel it in my teeth.

I let the power flood out of my fingertips, demon energy sliding straight into his nervous system. His body locks up. Paralyzed from the neck down. Exactly where I want him.

Then I grab the base of his spine with my other hand and twist.

The crack is loud and satisfying. Like snapping a fresh chicken bone, but bigger. Way bigger.

Vesper's mouth opens in a silent scream. No sound comes out, my poison saw to that. But his eyes... oh, his eyes are doing all the screaming for him. They are wide and wet. Full of the exact flavour of terror I've been dreaming about since I was marked by the devilish runes.

I lean down until my lips are right next to his remaining ear.

"You built a chair to unmake me," I whisper, my voice syrup-sweet. "Custom design. With needles and runes and everything. I'm flattered, really. But here's the thing, Ves. I don't break so easily. And I really detest people who try."

I push more poison in, letting it burn through every nerve like acid. His body jerks in tiny, helpless spasms even though the paralysis should keep him still. The contradiction is gorgeous.

Dad watches, his arms crossed, that proud little smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. He doesn't stop me.

I'm about to go for the second vertebra—make it a matching set—when my phone vibrates in my back pocket.

I ignore it for a second. Then it vibrates again, and something cold slides down my spine that has nothing to do with demon energy.

I pull it out one-handed, keeping Vesper pinned with the other.

There's a text from my beta.

'Az. Nyxara's gone. The cell's empty. Guards say she was summoned thirty minutes ago. New Order pulled her. The whole place is on high alert.'

I arch a brow, amazed. They sure moved fast.

I look back at Vesper. He's still paralyzed, and in agony, but there's a shimmer of something ugly in his eyes now. Triumph, maybe. Or the ghost of it.

Dad sees the change in my face. "What is it?" he asks.

I turn the phone so he can read it. His jaw tightens until I hear the bones creak.

Vesper tries to laugh. It comes out as a wet gurgle because his lungs aren't working right anymore.

I shove the phone back in my pocket, my claws digging deeper into his spine until fresh blood wells up over my fingers.

"Change of plans," I tell him, my voice flat and cold now. "You're not dying yet. You're coming with us."

Dad steps forward, grabs Vesper by the throat, and lifts him clean off the ground.

"Time to move, kid," he says. "We have to find Nyxara as soon as possible."

We're halfway to dragging Vesper's broken body towards the door when a familiar voice slides through the air.

"It won't be necessary."

The doors at the far end of the chamber yawn open with a hydraulic hiss. Nyxara walks through it, smiling. Looking as ugly as always. And right beside her—

Noelle.

My wife's wrists are bound in front of her, Nyxara's clawed hand is wrapped tight around the back of her neck. Noelle's eyes find mine instantly. They are wide and filled with terror, shining with tears she's trying so hard not to let fall.

My ears start ringing. A high, piercing whine that drowns out everything else.

"No..." The word tears out of me before I can stop it.

Behind them, the corridor fills with black-robed figures. New Order elites. There are too many of them.

I lunge.

Thick, glowing, ropes drop from the ceiling like striking serpents. They whip around my arms, my torso and my legs, cinching brutally tight.

I snarl, thrashing around, my demon energy flaring across my skin, but the cords only glow brighter and squeeze harder. They drink my strength like leeches.

Dad roars. I catch a glimpse of him shooting into motion. Then another set of ropes catches him mid-leap, yanks him sideways, and slams him against the far wall with a sickening crack. They pin him there, spread-eagled, his boots dangling inches off the floor.

"Azren!" Dad's voice is thick with pure fury, but the ropes are draining him too.

Nyxara tilts her head, frowning at me like I'm a disappointing pet.

"You have something that belongs to me, darling."

She raises her free hand. My chest suddenly burns as though someone shoved a molten hook between my ribs and yanked. I scream.

The raw sound tears out of me as Haden's essence is ripped from deep inside my soul. Black-violet light streams out of my body in jagged ribbons, writhing in the air like it's in agony too.

I hear my dad calling for me but he sounds faraway.

The pain is white-hot. It feels like she's tearing out part of my spine.

Nyxara opens her mouth and inhales. The essence rushes into her, and her yellow eyes glow brighter. She shudders in pleasure, her nails digging harder into Noelle's throat until a thin line of blood trickles down my wife's skin.

"Noelle—" My voice cracks. I can barely breathe through the pain still radiating in my chest. "I left you with Mum. You were safe. How—"

Noelle's tears finally drop. "They came through the mirrors," she whispers, her voice trembling. "I'm sorry, Az. I tried—"

Mirrors? That's not possible.

"Shhh." Nyxara presses one razor-sharp nail right under Noelle's jaw. "No more talking, nosy thing."

The sight of that single drop of blood on my wife's throat drives every sane thought out of my head. The beast inside me howls, throwing itself against the magical ropes so hard my shoulders pop. I don't care if they cut me in half. I need to get to her.

"Please," I rasp. "Let her go. She has nothing to do with this."

Nyxara's smile widens.

"Give me the rest of Haden's essence and I'll consider it."

I stare at her. The ringing in my ears intensifies.

But then, it all clicks.

The "ritual" they wanted me for. The chair built to drain me. The way Nyxara told me about Haden's essence just enough for me to feel hopeful.

It was all bait.

I narrow my eyes, breathing hard through the pain still stabbing at my ribs.

"It was never about closing the rift," I say slowly. "Haden's essence doesn't seal anything. It rips it wider. You want the gates torn open. You want everything to spill through. You’re willing to sacrifice even your own son.”

Nyxara laughs.

"Smart boy. Took you long enough."

She drags one nail slowly down Noelle's throat, not cutting deeper—yet—but leaving a red line that makes my vision tunnel with rage.

"Now... the rest of it, Azren. Or I start carving pieces off your pretty little wife while you watch. And trust me—" Her eyes gleam with pure malice. "You don't want to provoke me."