Chapter 205 My Angel | 098

Chapter 205 My Angel | 098
AZREN

I don't dare move a fucking inch. Because Nyxara's claw is still resting at Noelle's throat... and something in my bones is screaming that if I move...if I even breathe too hard... she'll do it.

"Please," I rasp, my voice shredded raw. "Don't—"

Nyxara smiles, and then she pulls. A thin red line opens across Noelle's throat, and then it splits.

Blood oozes instantly. It pours over Nyxara's hand and over Noelle's chest, soaking into her shirt as her knees give out beneath her.

"No—"

The word doesn't even make it out of me properly.

Noelle collapses.

Her body hits the ground hard, a choking sound tearing from her throat as blood bubbles at her lips. Her hands twitch weakly, grasping at nothing. And her eyes... gods...

They find mine, wide and full of utter terror.

"...Az..."

My vision goes black. It feels like a bomb just detonated inside of me.

Memories roll through me all at once. Noelle laughing, sunlight in her hair. Her voice calling me home. Noelle curled against me. Her lips on my skin. Her soft skin. Her perfect smile. Her eyes. Her eyes. Her eyes.

And now... they are fading. There's so much... blood.

A sound rumbles through the void. I don't recognize it at first. Then I realize...

It's me.

"AZREN!" My dad screams. But he sounds like he's underwater.

"LOOK AT ME—SON, YOU NEED TO CALM—"

I can't. I can't—I can't—

I'm suddenly so cold. My body drops twenty degrees in a second. A brutal shiver rattles through me so hard that my teeth slam together.

The voices come back. All at once. A thousand whispers screaming inside my skull.

You let her die. Too weak. You failed her. You always fail them.

"No..." I choke.

My fingers twitch. The glowing ropes that were draining me start to crack. And underneath all of it, an all-consuming blood thirst stirs.

My head lifts slowly, my eyes locking onto Nyxara.

Her lips are still curved in that same cruel smile. Blood drips lazily from her fingers.

"...you..." My voice doesn't sound like mine anymore.

It's deeper and broken.

The ropes snap one after the other. Then they shatter into pieces as power explodes out of me in a violent shockwave. The floor cracks. The walls groan. Lights burst overhead in a rain of sparks.

The entire building shudders.

"AZREN—!" Dad yells again.

I ignore him.

Because she's on the floor.

"Noelle..." I croak.

My head hurts too much. My face is wet. And I can't breathe.

I'm moving before I even feel my legs.

One second I'm across the room, the next I'm on my knees beside her, sliding in her blood.

My hands shake as I grab her, pulling her into my lap, trying to hold her together, trying to force life back into her body.

"Hey—hey—no—no, no, no—"

My voice is cracking beyond recognition.

I press my hand to her throat, trying to stop the bleeding, but it just pours through my fingers, hot and slick. It's everywhere.

"Stay with me," I beg, my forehead pressing against hers. "Angel—please—look at me—"

Her head lolls weakly. Blood bubbles at her lips again.

"NO!" I scream, my entire body shaking as I clutch her tighter. "You're not dying—you hear me? You CANNOT leave me like this—"

My vision blurs.

"I need you," I choke. "I need you—please—please don't go—"

My hands are useless. Everything is useless. I can't fix this. I can't—

The voices grow louder.

My head snaps up. Everything is shaking now.

The ground trembles beneath us. Cracks spiderweb across the floor. The air distorts, warping with raw, unstable power.

My useless power.

My arms tighten around Noelle's body, my chest heaving.

Then I smile. It feels wrong.

"...you took her from me." My voice is calm now.

I gently lay her body down carefully. My existence ends with her. But I have to end that bitch first.

So, I rise slowly.

The air bends, the shadows stretching.

My eyes lock onto Nyxara, but before I can unleash my vengeance, a red rune ignites beneath my feet. Then another appears. And another.

They spread outward in a dizzying pattern, carving themselves into the ground in a widening circle. The air thickens instantly, heavy with magic.

Around us, the robed figures drop to their knees. And they start chanting in low voices. The sound crawls into my skull like rot.

Dad finally moves, now free from the ropes.

"Azren—!" he shouts, trying to reach me, but shadows lash out from the glowing runes, forcing him back. He fights them, tearing through them, but they keep attacking him in their numbers.

Nyxara approaches as the runes hold me in place.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she hums. "The beginning of everything."

She lifts her hand, and the runes glow even brighter.

A tear opens behind her. It's a portal, I realize.

Darkness bleeds through it, thick and endless. On the other side is a shimmering pale blue wall with small gaps.

The Veil.

The chanting grows louder, the runes pulsing. It only makes me madder. So, I fight the pull, determined to coat my hands in Nyxara's blood.

"STOP—!" Dad roars again, his voice breaking through for half a second. "AZREN, THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT—!"

Too late.

The first head comes off clean. I don't even remember moving. One second the cultist is chanting, the next, his body drops, his head rolling across the floor like discarded trash.

I move like lightning. I just want them to shut the fuck up. But they won't FUCKING stop!

Bodies fall one after another. Blood sprays across the walls, across the runes, across my clothes.

The chanting turns into chaos. But I don't stop.

I can't stop.

Because that bitch is still there. After taking EVERYTHING from me.

The ground cracks beneath my feet as I launch at her. My hand slams around her throat.

Her back hits the stone behind her with a thunderous crack, and the entire room shakes.

Nyxara’s eyes widen with surprise.

"Y—"

She doesn't finish. Because I lift her straight off the ground.

The Veil howls behind her, feeding off the chaos, widening, tearing further open.

The voices in my head grow deafening.

"You took her from me," I growl, my voice layered with darkness.

Her body jerks as I start tearing through whatever she’s made of.

She gasps, struggling.

"You—" she chokes, her nails digging into my arm, trying to pry me off. "You don't—understand—what you're doing—"

"I do."

My grip tightens. I think I'm bleeding from my eyes. But I don't care.

"I'm ending you," I growl.

Heads keep falling around us like ripe fruit. Blood sprays in thick arcs, painting the sterile walls, turning the corridor into a slaughterhouse. The place becomes a river of blood. It sloshes under my boots.

The Veil tears wider, screaming as reality strains against it.

Nyxara's lips curl despite the strain.

"You'll die," she hisses. "I am a goddess! You can't hold this much power—you'll burn out—"

"I AM a god," I snarl, my voice cracking into something monstrous. "And I'll kill you even if it means we both die screaming."

The energy swells to unstable levels. It tears through my veins like fire and ice at once. I'm losing myself.

My body trembles under the strain. The voices are unbearable now. A million screams.

Nyxara screams as I tug harder.

"AZREN!"

I freeze, a tear sliding down and freezing on my face.

It can't be...

"Az... look at me."

My grip falters.

“Noelle?" I breathe, my head spinning.

Time seems to freeze as I turn, my gaze colliding with her terrified ones.

Hope hits me so hard my knees buckle. And right in that breathless moment, a sharp, brutal pressure pierces into my chest. For a split second, I don't understand it.

Then, I choke on the liquid that rushes up my throat. I lower my gaze, my eyes widening.

Nyxara's hand is buried straight through my chest.

Her claws punch out through my back, soaked with my blood.

A wet, broken sound tears out of me.

"—ah—"

My grip on her weakens, and she smiles.

"I told you," she whispers, her voice trembling with satisfaction, "you're not built to hold me."

Blood fills my mouth. It spills over my lips, dripping down my chin.

My body jerks, my knees almost giving out. But I don't let go.

I refuse to.

Because I hear her again. My Angel.

"Mm—!" My head snaps up at the sound of her voice.

Air rushes out of my already starved lungs.

She's right there across the room. This time, Jake…..no. Haden?

How?

He stands behind her, one arm locked tight around her throat. The other is clamped harshly over her mouth.

Her eyes are wide, tears streaming down her face.

"Mmph—!" She struggles, trying to break free.

Haden just tightens his grip, smiling.

"Oh, don't look so surprised," he drawls, his voice laced with mockery. "You really thought I'd miss the main event?"

I try to move, but my body doesn't listen. Nyxara's hand is still inside me.

I cough again. More blood spills out.

"Az..." Noelle chokes against his hand, her voice barely escaping. "—please—"

My vision blurs.

No.

No no no no—

"Let her go," I rasp.

It comes out wrecked.

Haden laughs softly against her ear.

"Or what?" he whispers. "You'll kill me? While you're already dying?"

Nyxara twists her hand inside my chest.

I scream. The sound punches out of me raw, echoing through the collapsing chamber.

This… can’t be it.

"Look at you," Nyxara croons, leaning closer, her lips brushing my ear as her claws flex inside my chest. "You’re losing. How tragic."

“FIGHT! Azren! FIGHT!” Noelle suddenly growls, her eyes turning a brilliant gold.

And those words wake me right up.