Chapter 45 Chapter 45

Chapter 45 Chapter 45
Dante

“Can you not see?” I snarled, walking to Lucian’s front. I pushed him with a finger, his cold blue eyes staring above me. “Did I warn you?”

“Dante please—”

“She is not going to want to help us again. The catalyst would not want to help us, and it is not all your fault,” I screamed.

“Please,” he snorted, walking around me. “She already said she did not want to help us, so don't act like it is me.”

Everyone else was fucking silent, acting like I was not right. “Besides, she had become way too comfortable,” Lucian continued. “Despite all our efforts and the amount of time she spends training with Althea, she has not progressed one single day.”

I closed the distance between us, my nose flaring. I wanted to hit him so bad, my hands clenching and unclenching at my side, my nose flaring. Lucian’s eyes flashed with heat, and he moved closer.

“Have you started developing feelings more than necessary for the Catalyst, king of the West? Should I remind you, that she is nothing more than a fucking blood servant, a slave here to just break our curses? Not to warm your bed or be pampered? She is nothing different from any other blood bag we know?”

My eyes flashed red. My fangs descended, and I screamed, reaching out for his neck.

“Stop,” Caspian said, pushing me away. “We cannot be fighting, not right now.”

My chest still rose with fury, while LucIn looked smug as fuck.

“Lucian,” Caspain sighed. “No matter how much you try to deny it, Sera is more than a blood bag. The fact that her blood is silver already makes her different. She is a catalyst, and you need to start acting and showing her some respect.”

“Please,” Lucian scoffed. “I'm not going to take advice from someone who can barely separate their imagination from reality.”

Blood drained out from Caspian’s face. Lucian was just standing by the corner, and the more I watched him, the more I realized something.

I always thought he had gotten the better end of the curses. He was made cold, and all that would affect him might be the weather.

But his curse was worse, just as worse as ours. Lucian’s coldness had spread to his heart, his mind and I realized that no matter what, he did not care about us.

Despite all the things that had happened, the number of catalysts that had died, our hope rising and falling, Lucian had remained the same. No empathy, no fear. He did not get happy, he was never sad.

Lucian was dead to the world, or rather, everything else seemed dead to him.

Pity flared in my heart. My fangs retracted, even as Caspian wanted to speak

“Please,” Althea stepped forward, stopping him. “I agree with Lucian.”

“What?” Caspian asked, turning to face her. “What do you mean by that?”

“Lucian was right. His method was extreme and she could have died but he has done something different. He has given her a reason to actually fight back.”

“What do you not mean?” I sighed, resting my hand on the wall.

“Sera has been subconsciously holding herself back. She has always been more focused on her hatred of vampires," Althea explained. “Now, she has come face to face with her worst fear and she has seen how easily her life will easily be taken, no matter how hard she fights.”

I listened to her words, hating yet agreeing with them. “The fear will not change her,” I said quietly.

“But it will, Dante,” Althea replied. “the feat would push her to use her powers, to show us just exactly what she can do,” she turned to Lucian, “thank you.”

I stared at the cold king. His face had barely changed expression, instead he was looking at a shadow on the floor. “I expect progress soon,” he informed Althea.

“I can stay here,” I groaned, standing straighter.

“Dante—” Caspian started.

“Yes,” I shook my head. “I am not going to my room.”

The hallways were silent as I walked back. Certainly, the guards had sent every single guest home, because if I saw someone, I might take out my rage on them.

Poor Sera.

No matter what she did, the only thing everyone was obsessed with was the fact that her blood was a different colour than other humans. It made her special to us, but it also meant she was a target for death.

The way her face was white, how she was staring at the wall. The small quiver in her lips. How she sounded broken, just before she left the room.

I had to speak to her.

“Sera,” I called through the bond. “Sera?”

Something was wrong. Where her mind was, where I could send her messages was shut. I tried to reach out again, but all my words were stuck in my head.

Something was wrong with her.

I turned around, heading towards her wing. I had to see her, to know if she was fine. By the goddess, I hoped she was.

Something moved behind me.

“Who is not there?” I asked quietly. The figure stepped out from the shadows slowly.

“Theron,” I sighed. “Why are you still here? The ball is over.”

Theron walked to my front. “I need to speak to you my Lord,” he replied. “The court is losing their patience.”

“What?”

“The court, my king,” he replied. “They want to know how long it would take, till the catalyst is able to break the curse.”

I rolled my eyes. “Tell the court I will address them when I am ready. For now, everything out the catalyst is confidential.”

“Why?”

Did he just question me?

“Is it because this one is useless? Even more than the previous ones? For Lucian to go through such an extreme measure, scaring her half to death, it means she has not made a single progress since she was here. I was there, I watched her. She was so helpless, I could taste her fear in the air.”

I sighed. “Listen Theron—”

“And if I hadn't seen her adding vervain to the food, and then getting the caterers to change it before anyone got poisoned, the outcome of your little ball wound would have been very different.”

I snapped. Theron's legs dangle in the air, his face turning blue. I tightened my grip on his neck, holding it so he knew I could snap it so easily if I wanted to.

“Be grateful you are my least favorite advisor,” I hissed. “If not, your head would have been together with your neck.”

He nodded. I released my grip on him, then let him down. “Tell everyone what you saw,” I said, as he bent over, catching his breath. “Everyone should know about the vervain.”

He straightened and nodded. “I am sorry, my king.”

I nodded, glad we had come to an understanding. There was no point in going to Sera's room again.

“My king?”

“Yes,” I paused.

“I just think you should know,” Theron said. “The court will soon start asking questions, one we cannot avoid. I hope when they think about it, your catalyst will be able to prove her worth.”

I gritted my teeth and continued walking, not bothering to reply to him.