Chapter 147 147
Venessa’s POV
I could not believe Donovan had betrayed us. Not in my darkest thoughts, not in my wildest nightmares, had I ever imagined he would turn on us like this.
He had betrayed us. And worse he had killed my father.
It was a lesson learned far too late.
I felt it then the invisible cord binding me to my father snapping cleanly apart. A sharp, hollow emptiness followed, and I knew, with devastating certainty, that he was gone. Truly gone.
Nyla urged me to focus, her voice sharp and insistent in my mind, but how was I supposed to do that when my heart had just been torn open?
I was grieving my father.
Tears streamed freely down my cheeks despite my efforts to restrain them, blurring the carnage around me as grief and fury collided inside my chest.
Keon fought at my side, unwavering, lethal. I could feel his devotion burning fiercely he was prepared to die beside me without hesitation. And even as we cut through our enemies, I couldn’t stop wondering how his king could be so foolish. So blind.
We slashed and carved our way through the attackers a grotesque mix of zombies and traitors who had once stood with us. We moved swiftly, desperately, because stopping meant dying.
I already knew Tyrell and Jalisa were gone. Their absence screamed louder than any cry on the battlefield. And I found myself wondering who would be next?
“We’re all moving toward you so Tremaine can reach you,” Denzel said through the chaos. “He’s avoiding you.”
I didn’t need him to explain why.
Tremaine stood for Eshera. I stood for Atabey. He wanted no direct confrontation, and that alone told me everything. He knew what I was capable of. He knew I was dangerous.
He would only agree to face me one-on-one if victory was guaranteed.
And it wasn’t.
So he stayed back, watching, waiting hoping I would weaken, hoping exhaustion or grief would create an opening for him to strike and finish me.
I intended to make that impossible.
You are on the losing side, dear niece, a deep, alien masculine voice echoed inside my mind.
I didn’t need to ask who it was. Only those of the royal Lycan bloodline could form such a link without belonging to one another’s packs.
“You’re on the losing side, uncle,” I shot back.
Thunderous laughter rang through my head. Whether he found my defiance amusing or was trying to rattle my confidence, I couldn’t tell but it worked. The sound unsettled me. Still, I kept fighting.
Bow to Eshera. Join us, he pressed. I will spare their lives.
Their lives?
I tried to push through the thick mass of bodies on the battlefield, but it was impossible. It felt as though they were pouring out of the forest in endless waves an unending supply of warriors spilling into the fight.
I was still trying to understand what was happening when I saw the zombies overwhelm Devon.
I didn’t need to see more. I felt it the moment his light flickered and vanished.
He wouldn’t be getting back up.
I hadn’t been especially close to him, but he was gentle. Kind. Loyal to the very end.
Devon had made it possible for me to heal Rayon and Denzel after Fabian and Tyrell poisoned them. He was the one who had found them bleeding out, dragging them back from the edge of death. He had always been there. Always faithful.
A great soldier had fallen.
But the battle raged too fiercely for mourning. There was no time to stop. No space to grieve.
I wanted to use the light but it was useless here. Most of those fighting against us weren’t carrying Eshera’s life force. They were our own people. Former comrades twisted into enemies. It was impossible to tell who was who.
So we did the only thing we could.
We killed those who attacked us.
They came for me with murder in their eyes, and I struck them down without mercy. At least they couldn’t use silver dust against me it would harm their living forces as well, and they couldn’t risk that.
“Give yourself to me, Venessa, and I will let the rest live,” Tremaine called out.
It was pointless.
Too many had already died.
I was watching my dream unfold before my eyes, just as I had seen it. And if this was how it ended, then I would take as many souls with me as possible.
Fabian finally reached my side, fighting fiercely beside me. Then I saw Tremaine move toward Rayon.
Rayon was trying to get to me but I knew he wouldn’t make it.
There were too many traitors blocking his path. His movements were slowing. Exhaustion weighed him down, and I saw it then the resignation in his eyes.
Knowing it was over, I cried out in agony even as I cut down the attackers around me. I knew I couldn’t reach him in time.
I watched Tremaine take his head.
Rayon’s body crumpled to the ground, lifeless, and something inside me shattered.
I wanted to give up.
He was my friend. My confidant. He had been with me from the beginning steadfast, loyal, unwavering. He was the reason I had endured this far. A true comrade in every sense.
I felt like a failure.
My heart screamed in anguish, but even as despair threatened to drown me, I knew I had no choice but to keep moving. Still, my will was faltering, breaking under the weight of loss.
We continued fighting through the endless sea of traitors, and I knew the truth now.
It wouldn’t be long before we all fell.
They were winning.
Just like in my dream.
Keon was dead.
Only Fabian fought beside me now. Every general had fallen. Every one of them except King Fabian and Denzel.
And even then, I knew it wasn’t enough.
“We can’t make it, Nyla,” I told my wolf, surrendering to the inevitability of our fate even as I forced my body to keep fighting.
The Lycans had inflicted heavy damage on the attackers, but it didn’t matter.
It was only a matter of time.