Chapter 123
Chapter 123
The Price of Revenge
Aurora’s POV
The dagger hovered, its edge gleaming red in the blood moonlight. My arm trembled, though not from weakness, it can never again be weakness, but from the sheer weight of the moment. My enemy was here, at my mercy.
Tiffany’s chest rose and fell in frantic rhythm, her eyes wide, yet even cornered she wore her mask of mockery,.like I wouldn't kill her l. Like my actions were just a facade.
I wanted to drive the blade home. I wanted to end her, to silence her poison forever. My breath came hard, my heartbeat deafening, drowning out everything else.
“Aurora.”
Dominique’s voice cut through the night. He stepped forward, his tone a dark command. “Do it. What are you waiting for?. End her. She’ll haunt us until she’s nothing but ash in the ground.”
His words wrapped around me like fire, urging, demanding. He was right, wasn’t he? Tiffany deserved nothing less than the edge of my blade.
But then, before I lunged at Tiffany.
“Stop!”
Damian’s voice thundered, sharp and desperate. He shoved Dominique back a step, his eyes blazing, fixed on me. “Aurora, listen to me. If you kill her like this, you’ll lose yourself. You’ll become the very monster she says you are, you wouldn't be able to live with her bloods on your hands.”
My grip on the blade weakened.
The brothers stood inches apart, their voices clashing like steel. Dominique’s fury, Damian’s plea. Both clashing the same time in my head.
“She destroyed everything,” Dominique spat. “She tried to break her, Damian. How many more graves should we dig before enough is enough?”
“And what then?” Damian shot back. “We let Tiffany define who Aurora is? Killing her won’t free her, it’ll chain her to this night forever. See would never be the same again, Dominique”
Their words struck deep, pulling me in two directions. My hand shook harder, the blade trembling over Tiffany’s skin.
Tiffany laughed then, a ragged sound that scraped against my bones.
“Pathetic,” she sneered, her lips curling. “All this fire, all this rage, and you still can’t do it. You’ll never be free of me. You’ll always be weak. Just like your mother.”
Her words burned deep into me, but I refused to flinch,or sow any sign her words did anything to me.
I looked down at her, seeing not just Tiffany, but every scar she had carved into my life.
And still, I hesitated, there was no reason why, I just couldn't take her life.
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Tiffany’s POV
I stared up at her, blood buzzing hot in my ears, my heart pounding like a drum of war. She had me. She actually had me.
But she wouldn’t do it.
I saw the falter in her eyes, the tremor in her hand. She wasn’t built for this, she never was. Aurora Thompson could play predator, but underneath, she was still prey.
My prey.
I let my lips peel into a sneer, forcing venom into every word. “Go on then. Be the monster. Kill me. Or let me walk away, knowing you’ll never have the strength to do what is needed.”
The sight of her shaking made my heart swell with twisted satisfaction. She was still Weak. Always weak.
If I could just stall her, wait for an opening… I could turn this around, even before she could notice.
But then chaos exploded.
\---
Aurora’s POV
A shadow moved, Alex lunged at me.
He came from behind, his blade flashing for my side. But Dominique was there in a heartbeat, intercepting him with the ferocity of a storm. Their clash was violent, primal, every strike carrying years of buried hatred.
Steel clashed against steel. Fists cracked bone. They moved across the broken courtyard like titans locked in their last war.
I stumbled back, torn between watching Dominique fight for me and holding Tiffany at bay. My breath heaved, my dagger still poised firmly.
Dominique caught Alex’s wrist, twisting hard until the blade fell, clattering against stone. Alex’s snarl was feral and raw.
“You think you’ve won her?” Alex spat, driving his fist into Dominique’s ribs. “She’ll never belong to you. She’ll always crave revenge more than your love.”
Dominique growled, blood dripping from his lip. “Maybe. But at least I’m not you, hiding behind obsession and fear.”
They slammed into the wall, dust exploding into the night. Dominique drove his knee into Alex’s chest, pinning him hard on the ground.
Alex gasped, coughing blood, his arrogance unraveling. His eyes flickered, not with hatred anymore, but something rawer. Acceptance of his fate.
“Then take her,” he rasped, his voice breaking. “Take her… and burn with her, be with her.”
Dominique didn’t hesitate, like I did. As the knife drove clean into his chest.
Alex’s body stilled. His eyes locked on me one last time, dark, hollow, and then dulled forever.
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Aurora’s POV
Silence rang louder, even though gunshots rang arround us, than the fight had.
Dominique stood over Alex’s corpse, chest heaving, shoulders taut with rage and exhaustion. His eyes lifted to mine, and for the first time, I saw not just the Devil’s ruthlessness, but something else.
He had killed for me. He had chosen me, above everything.
But I didn’t have time to breathe it in.
Because Tiffany moved sharply.
\---
Tiffany’s POV
Idiots. They forgot I was still here, they took their eyes off me.
My fingers found the cold press of the hidden blade strapped to my thigh. Aurora’s eyes were still locked on Dominique, her hand limp, her dagger lowered.
It was the Perfect opportunity to strike.
I surged up, steel flashing in my grip. I aimed for her throat, for her heart, for anything that would spill her blood over mine.
“You should have finished me!” I screamed with so much intensity.
Let's end this once and for all.
\---
Aurora’s POV
My Instinct roared through me.
Her blade came fast, but my body moved faster. I caught her wrist mid-air, twisting until the knife turned against her. She shrieked, fighting, thrashing, but I was no longer prey.
I was fire.
With a scream tearing from my chest, I drove my dagger straight into her stomach. The sound that escaped her lips was strangled, disbelieving. Her eyes went wide, mouth gaping in shock.
I didn’t stop there. With every ounce of strength, I shoved her back. Her body reeled back, staggering toward the edge of the ruined platform where we fought.
Her hands clawed for purchase, her face pale with terror. For the first time, she looked at me as though I were the nightmare.
“No… no, you can’t kill me….”
“Yes,” I hissed, my voice low, final. “I can.”
One last shove.
Her body toppled, a scream tearing into the night as she plunged from the high ledge.
The sound of her impact was sickening. But it was the Final act, and Tiffany was gone forever.
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Aurora’s POV
Silence.
My dagger dripped red. My chest rose and fell, shallow, uneven. My eyes stared at the empty space where Tiffany had stood, where she had breathed her venom, her poison, her endless cruelty towards me.
She was Gone forever.
Dominique’s hand was suddenly at my shoulder, grounding me. “It’s over.”
But his words didn’t feel like the truth. They felt like ashes in my mouth.
Because even as Tiffany’s body lay broken below, I felt the weight pressing in. I had done it. I had avenged everything she had taken away from me.
My father , My peace.
And yet…
I didn't feel free.
Her last laugh still rang in my ears, mocking. Her blood stained my hands, soaking into me.
I closed my eyes, whispering into the silence of the blood moon, “At what cost?”
And the night gave me no answer that I needed.