Chapter 49 The Ghost of a Queen

Chapter 49 The Ghost of a Queen


Selene’s POV : The Ghost of a Queen

The warmth from the Moonstone was still thrumming through my palms, but as I looked down at Cael, my own heart seemed to stop.

The silver light had closed the worst of the spear wound, but the toll had been too high. His eyes, which had just been burning with a terrifying, protective fire, rolled back. His grip on my hand loosened, and he slumped forward, against me until we both hit the blood-stained floor.

"Cael!" I cried out. I caught his head before it hit the stone, "Cael, wake up. Please! I didn't mean to…I don't know how to control this!"

"He’s out, Selene, move."

Riven was suddenly there. He looked at Cael with a flash of something that looked dangerously like resentment.

"Is he dead?" I whispered, my eyes stinging. "The stone... I felt it taking something from him."

Riven knelt down, he pressed his fingers onto the pulse point on Cael’s neck. He stayed silent for three agonizing seconds before he spat on the floor. "He’s breathing, barely. The magic probably was too strong, even an Alpha’s body isn't built to handle the Rogue Queen’s direct line."

I let out a shuddering breath, as I leaned my forehead against Cael’s. The "Mate" bond made my wolf growl within me. I could feel his pain as a dull echo in my own ribs.

"We have to get him help," I said, looking at Riven. "The Council... His father... they’ll have healers."

Riven let out a short, bitter laugh. "Healers? Selene, listen..."

I stayed still, listening to the distant, synchronized shouting of men in the forest. It was them, the sounds of their vans were loud and scary.

"The Shadow Units," I breathed.

"They’re less than two minutes out," Riven said, He grabbed my wrist "You killed the guards, you scorched Kael. You think the Alpha King is going to come in here and give you a medal? He’s going to see his son half-dead and you holding the stone, and he’s going to execute us both before we can say a word."

I looked at the Moonstone. It was quiet now, leaving a pale, shimmering weight in my hand. "I’m not running, my bloodline is still in that Academy and Tiana is still in a tank."

"I know," Riven snapped, his jealousy finally breaking through his voice. "I know you want to play the hero for him and the others. But look at him! He’s the Prince! If he wakes up and tells them the truth, it’s over. We need a plan. Now."

I looked at Cael’s unconscious face, then at Riven’s bruised, desperate one. My mind, trained by the old general for a decade, began to click into place. The "Lira" mask was gone, but the "Infiltrator" was still there.

"Riven," I said, my voice dropping into a cold, regal calm. "Pick him up."

Riven blinked. "What?"

"Pick him up," I commanded. "The King is coming for his heir. Give him what he wants."

Riven’s jaw worked. "You want me to surrender? Hand the Prince over like a peace offering?"

"No," I argued, standing up and smoothing the blood-soaked fabric of my Gala dress. "I want you to be the hero. You found the Prince. After you were spared, You rescued him from Kael and his men. You’re the reason the reason Cael is still breathing."

Riven stood, digesting what I had just said as a small smile spread across his face as he realized what I was suggesting. "And the girl? What happens to Lira the Omega?"

I looked at the charred remains of Kael’s guards. One of them had been about my height, his body burned beyond recognition by the stone’s flare.

"Lira is dead," I muttered. "She was caught in the crossfire. The rogues took her body when they fled into the deeper woods. Tell the King that the Moonstone was taken by the Rogue General's men. Let him think he’s lost the prize."

"He’ll search the forest for weeks," Riven pointed out.

"Let him," I replied. "By the time he realizes the 'corpse' he’s looking for is breathing, I’ll be inside his walls."

"Inside? Selene, you can't just walk back into the dorms."

"I'm not going to the dorms," I said, walking toward the back of the room. "I’m going to the morgue levels. The 'Failed Candidates' move through the Academy as bodies, Riven. No one looks at the faces of the dead."

Riven stepped toward me, his hand catching mine "And Cael? The bond? His father will feel you through him."

I looked down at the Moonstone. I reached out with my mind, not to the power, but to the will of the stone. I imagined a shroud. A silver veil. I wrapped it around the golden tether that linked me to Cael, muffling the vibration until it was nothing but a faint, distant hum.

"He won't feel anything," I whispered. "Not until I want him to."

The front door of the house groaned under a battering ram.

"Go," I told Riven. "He’s losing blood, If you don't get him to their healers, the plan doesn't matter because he’ll be dead and you'd also be killed."

Riven didn't hesitate anymore. He hoisted Cael’s limp body over his shoulder, groaning under the weight. He looked at me one last time. "I’ll find you. The moment I can get away from the barracks, I’m coming to the lower levels."

"Be careful, Riven," I screamed.
I ran through the back thinking of Lyra’s smirk. I thought of the Alpha King’s cold eyes. I thought of my mother’s voice in the wind.

They thought they had captured a spy. They thought they had killed an Omega. They had no idea that they had just invited the plague into their house. The new rogue queen.

I walked to the nearest empty table and climbed onto it, pulling a sheet over my head. I lay perfectly still, my heart rate slowed down as I summoned the silver veil to hide my life force.

I was Selene Veyra, I was the Rogue Queen. And I was going to watch this Academy burn from the inside of its own grave.

Above me, I heard the heavy, muffled vibration of a hundred boots hitting the courtyard floor. The "Return of the Prince" had begun.

Underneath the sheet, I smiled. Wait for me, Cael, I thought, the golden ring pulsed faintly. The show is just beginning.