PRIMUS ALEXANDER’S POV
Levi’s gaze snapped toward me like I’d lost my damn mind
“You gave it to them?” His voice cracked with disbelief, almost like I’d smacked him in the face. “You handed the Core Fang to The Order?”
I didn’t flinch. “For extra precautions, Levi. I had a talk with Leonard and insisted on the ritual being completed before I do the final sealing myself”
Levi looked like I’d just told him I gave a starving wolf a taste of my throat. “Why would you–2”
I waved my hands, “I believe you heard me well enough. I’m doing the final sealing, that way there will be no stealing of The Core Fang or any other relic”
Levi ran a hand through his hair, stepping back like the air had loft the room. “You just handed it over to the same people who stole it years ago.”
I tilted my head toward him, calmly wrapping the final leather strap around my forearm and picking up the piece of paper he dropped. “Jayden is gone. Even though I don’t like the ways of the Order, I trust only those three.”
“Trust?” Levi still wasn’t breathing property. “They shouldn’t even touch it, Alexander. You said that yourself. No one, not even the Elders. It chooses who it responds to You-
“It will be sealed inside a vessel only I can open. There’s nothing to worry about,” I interrupted coolly
But Levi wasn’t done. His fists clenched. “There is something to worry about. The Luna. She doesn’t have much time. The pact she took is killing her
“There is no pact,” I snapped, finally turning to face him fully. “And you’re a fool for believing there ever was.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Don’t you get it, Levi?” let out a sharp laugh, humorless. “She said she was dying so we’d hand over the Core Fang. So we’d rush to save her and give her exactly what she needed. It’s manipulation. All of it.”
Levi’s voice was low. “You don’t believe that, but you believe the earthworm that was crawling all over you minutes ago.”
“I don’t believe Aqua,” I stepped closer. “She played all of us. And maybe, I made a mistake by listening to your advice too.”
“What?” Levi’s eyes narrowed.
“Wasn’t it your idea?!” I yelled. “To get close to her, spend more time with her, to pre-
“Shut the fuck up, Alex!” Levi eyed me with a look of disgust on his face. “I did that for you. So she won’t think about running away or killing herself because of your damn attitude.”
Thissed.
“Do you think a normal person would stay in this castle for close to 2 months? After a series of attacks from within this castle? Has anyone ever done that?” He growled, staring at me dead in the eyes. “You need her more than she needs you, don’t forget that. And with this animalistic… thing you have been doing to her, better pray she wouldn’t do what I fear she would or else it would be over for you.”
My eyebrow twitched, his words struck a cord. I should be furious, but I wasn’t. I clenched my fist and grunted. “I’m going to get the Core Fang back You can follow me, or stay here.”
Levi’s face reddened with anger and his jaw clenched in frustration. I could see the words trembling on his lips. He looked like he might strike me, but he didn’t. “Fine, but this conversation isn’t over, The Luna must be free,” he muttered. “Let’s p
Together, we made our way to The Order’s secret lair. Inside the main hall, but behind the furthest statue, there was a hidden door
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Chapter 63
Only the highest Seven were allowed inside. By the time we entered inside, Levi’s anger still hadn’t died down, instead, it was worse
He didn’t even acknowledge the people present, he just glared at Leonard and Zedd, standing around the sinne altar in the middle of the large room.
“Esmeralda?” asked immediately.
Leonard shook his head.
Saw her an hour ago. She said she’d be late.”
“And the Core?” Levi asked.
“She has it,” Zedd added. “We can’t begin without her.”
And so, we waited.
Seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to hours and I was already growing impatient
I stood arms crossed, glancing at the door and trying to keep my anger at bay. Levi just stood, lost in thoughts while pacing, while Leonard and Derek started murmuring
“Esmeralda is never late,” I muttered, earning a nod from Levi. It had to be sealed before dusk, before its power starts seeping off beyond the castle walls
and yet Esmeralda is nowhere to be seen.
“We’re going to her room,” I said sharply “Now”
I might not have been to the East wing in a long time but I never remembered it being… this cold. It wasn’t because of the thunder booming outside, or the warm lanterns that seemed like they had been off for days.
it was something else. There wasn’t even a single guard on the corridor,
“What the hell… Levi muttered, pinching his nose.
A breathtaking smell hit us before Leonard and Zedd even showed us Esmeralda’s door.
The smell was sharp and acidic. Like rot and chemicals.
I stepped in first.
The room was a mess. The walls were littered with strange symbols. Small bottles and pots lined the shelves, some shattered. Herbs and bones and places of… other things.
It looked like something Esmeralda would do, after all, she’s the pack’s healer but that wasn’t what I was after
“Let’s get the Core and get out,” Zedd choked.
But after minutes of searching, the Core Fang was nowhere in sight. Yet, the stench in the room grew worse.
Something drew my attention, a black pot on a small stove, filled with thick black liquid. Floating inside were bits of…. jargons.
“That better not be what Esmeralda is feeding Aquamarine,” Imumbled. “What sort of fertility drink stinks?”
I moved toward it and placed my hands above it. It was still hot. So we might have missed her already
“Alexander!” he yelled and ran up to me. His eyes were soo wide that it seemed they would pop out of their sockets “Look at this.”
He held up a small glass vial.
My brows creased as I stared at it. “Why is this herez Irmuttered. 1hed this to Aqua after Gaia’s attack and it didn’s serm like the babid It
Chapter 63
Did she? Did she hate the scent? I remember the sound of her giggles and how she immediately used it on herself seconds after I gave her. She even sprayed some on me because she wanted us to have the same scent.
-The Luna showed it to me, Said it’s what she used to hand over the blood to the person she made the pact with. The one who made her steal” Levi’s voice rose as he ran his hand over his hair.
“No,” I whispered “That’s impossible
*For fuck sakes! Open your damn eyes, Alex Levi snapped. “This smell in the room, Acid, dirt, alcohol, it’s just like she said. You just confirmed that you made this specifically for her and now it has blood in it! It’s in Esmeralda’s room!”
I felt a chill run down my spine as I grabbed it from Levi’s hands. I searched the bottom of the glass. The tiny flame I had crafted was there.
“You’ve made a grave mistake Alex. You foolishly handed Esmeralda the Core Fang and locked up The Luna!” Levi yelled. “You see where your trust and blindness have taken you?!”
My knees almost buckled as my breathing hitched. I left Aquamarine locked in a cage to punish her while the real traitor was spinning webs from inside my walls.
And I’d let it happen.
I’d laughed in Lew’s face and called him a fool.
My heart raced as images of Aquamarine begging and crying flashed in my mind.
Shit.
Leonard and Zedd’s loud gasps made me spin. Their eyes were wide with shock and horror. He and Zedd were at the far end, just past the inner curtain, We rushed there, but what we saw made my blood run cold.
I stood frozen, staring at it.
A cocoon.
Large and dark. Stuck high on the wall, like a nest. Part of it had peeled open just enough to reveal a face.
Esmeralda’s.
Her eyes were shut. Her skin looked… sunken and dry. Her cheekbones were very obvious.
She looked like a skeleton wrapped in a thin layer of cloth. It’s either that she was dead or extremely close to death. Whatever had consumed her wasn’t
normal.
Levi whispered, “That looks… weeks old.”
I couldn’t speak. Nothing made sense even as I stumbled back.
If that was Esmeralda, trapped here for days or maybe even weeks,
then who the hell had we given the Core Fangto?
My heartbeat thundered in my ears and my beast that had been silent for days immediately roared within me
Restless and angry. Like it was trying to knock down the cage I had locked it in.
My hands subconsciously reached for my pocket. I took out the place of paper Levi had given me earlier. My fingers trembled as opened it. The sheet : was stained with blood on the corners. Aqua’s blood. With her dancing chicken handwriting, in a line:
Sori bot I hav to. I mayd a pakt wit ha sink.
06:23 Mon, 1 Sept TTO
Chapter 63
Levi turned toward me. “What does it say?”
I couldn’t speak. My chest was too tight. I could picture her struggling to write this already I could picture the way she would scratch her head and chew
on her nails.
God. I felt like punching myself
I turned the papers
or over to see another note, Unfamiliar lit clear writing.
It had two items.
Primus Blood and
My eyes locked on it and I forgot how to breathe. The room was spinning now.
The last item wasn’t the Core Fang
It was. Aquamarine’s
C
