Chapter 114: Ice
MAXINE.
My entire body goes numb at Draco’s words. I know very well that he could just be messing with me or just straight-up lying, but considering how messed up this family is and how crazy they can be, I wouldn’t put it past him and the Alpha Supreme.
It doesn’t help that I can sense the sincerity in Draco’s voice as he tries to continue speaking with his ruined jaw. “It’s true. I know that Father doesn’t think that I’m fit to rule this place anymore. Look at me.”
He manages to let out a laugh. Even though his jaw is indeed healing in real time and mending itself back to the rest of his head, the other parts seem to be hopeless. The burns from the frost I unleashed on him in particular don’t seem to go away at all. In fact, I can almost say with utmost certainty that it’s getting much worse. Not only are the burns still bright pink, the blisters still full and oozing, but the actual muscle under all of it seems to be deteriorating. It’s emitting that familiar sulfuric, metallic smell that you can only get from something that’s about to fester.
And as fucked up as it sounds, I find myself satisfied with this.
“Just look at me,” he says in a humorous tone but it sounds like he wants to punch himself in the face. “You ruined my fucking face. And now my father thinks I’m too fucked up to set out there and do what he intended me to do in the first place. How cruel is that? And now he has his two last sons fighting for a spot. And fighting for you too.”
His eyes find mine and all I can do is stare back at him in utter horror.
“Are you really going to stand for that?” he asks me, his tone coaxing but I can still sense the malice in his words. “Are you really going to let them do that?”
I know he’s manipulating me. That much is painfully obvious. I know that he’s just trying to play me like he played me many times before, but a part of me just can’t bear the thought of anyone fighting over me, or any kind of reason that has something to do with me.
“Maybe you already placed your bets,” he continues, getting more and more fired up now that his jaw is getting fixed by the second. “Maybe you already chose dear Theodore. I mean, I know for a fact that it’s always been him. You’ve always loved him. You rejected poor Ajax for him. And maybe when Ajax dies it’s all going to be okay. You would be with an actual heir rather than someone who just sleeps in the forest….”
He trails off, and I don’t know what kind of power he has but his words roll over me like honey.
Only when it’s too late do I realize that the grip I had on him is completely loose, and now he’s free to swing at me.
Draco is quick, and I should have known that. I should have kept it in mind. But I didn’t. I was too caught up in all his bullshit that I don’t notice him wringing a slim knife from his pocket and slashing it at me.
The tip of the blade catches the side of my neck, grazing my skin just enough to draw blood. I feel the warmth of it dripping down onto the collar of my overalls, soaking the lining easily. I stagger back from Draco, but he’s gone crazy, it seems. He’s now trying to catch the drops of blood on the floor with his fingers, looking disappointed when he sees that the blood is mixing with the muck on the floor, becoming completely useless.
“No,” he whispers like a madman. “No, no, no!”
Anger flares in his face and he finds me. He starts to swing at me with the blade again, and this time my instincts are intact and acting fast.
I wait for him to come, kicking the knife right out of his grasp. My blood seems to be drawing him in because he tries to burrow his face into the crook of my neck as though needing to taste it, but I just grab him by the face the moment he gets close enough.
And with that, I think about the frost and the coldness, the way it can end him.
In a single blink, frost starts to form on his skin. At first it’s just like a light dusting of powder, thrown on him like a shower of snow. But then it spreads. Solidified and crystallizes. Soon enough, cracks start to spread around him. But they don’t fall to the ground like normal ice.
It takes his skin and his muscles along with it.
More and more pieces of him crack and drop, not even shedding blood. The image of it is gory, and part of me wants to look away. But the bigger part of me stays there and stands still as Draco falls apart into nothing but solid blocks of bone, muscle, skin, and madness.
The rest of his torso slams on the ground, remaining intact, and wordlessly, I step onto his chest and break him like a heap of ice being played on the ground.
I no longer feel remorse or mercy.
The only thing I feel is the need to find Theo and Ajax, and end this once and for all.
* * *
THEO.
I’m not one to scream. I’m not one to panic and just lose my head. But when I see Ajax going down with the blade of the axe deep in his abdomen, everything in my mind just goes dark.
“It seems that your fate has been decided for you,” the Alpha Supreme says, clapping his hands together as though this is a wonderful feat that he couldn’t have done without me. “After all, you should know that you were my top choice. You always have been.”
How many times have I dreamed about getting recognized by my father? I can’t count. All I would do when I was a kid was step into my dreams and think about a faceless kind man coming to save me from the brutality of the Unclaimed Camp. But now that I’m face to face with my father, perhaps the most powerful man in the world, all I can feel is emptiness.
I kneel beside Ajax. He’s still alive, breathing and looking at me. I know better than to take out the blade and make him bleed more, but I also know that it’s not good to keep it in place for that long, especially now that he’s lying on his back and the weight of the blade might just push it to cut through him.
I gently push him to his side, his eyes welling up with tears. I find that I’m teary-eyed as well, but not much out of sadness. Rage is pumping in my veins.
“Leave him alone, son,” the Alpha Supreme says. “You need to come with me. We have so many things to arrange.”
He turns around and starts to walk down the hallway. I follow him like a zombie, but in my hands is the sword that I was going to use to fight my brother.
When he turns his back, I run at full speed, with the full intent of running his body through the long blade.
But the Alpha Supreme is quick. He turns around and kicks the sword right out of my grasp, breaking it into shrapnel with a single hit of his fist.
“Your mother was my mate,” he suddenly spits out. “You’re supposed to be the rightful heir! But you’re a disgrace just like the rest of them.”
He stops, dusting the shrapnel off his suit. Now we’re facing each other in the narrow hallway.
And I lunge.