"Well, well, well, haven't I co at the right ti."
Adina's heart stopped for a second; she could hear a loud, pitiful cry that made her heart clench. Whoever let out such a cry was so damn pitiful.
"Oh, make it stop," Carter said, and only then did she realize the pitiful cry was coming from her. She scurried backward to the table, her body still bloody from the birth.
"C-Carter," she stamred.
"The one and only. In the flesh," he grinned, a sadistic expression that made Adina want to gag.
His gaze drifted slowly from her to the pup in her arms, and in that mont, Adina wanted nothing more than to shield her baby. Thorne hadn't even laid eyes on the pup, so how could Carter see the pup?
Sothing dark glinted in his eyes as he stared at the pup in her hands. It was tiny, sared with blood, pitiful, he'd even say, but in all, it was Thorne's blood.
He took a step forward. "Ah…" he breathed. "So this is her."
Adina tightened her hold instinctively. "Don't—"
Thessara jumped right in front of him, holding her dagger tight. "Don't you dare take another step," she gritted out.
Carter glanced at her and scoffed. Thessara, the lesser one of the sisters. He'd always hated her, hated how she'd walk like she knew it all, like she was a sacred being to be worshipped. He despised her so much, and yet, her biggest hater was her own sister.
"You will not touch her majesty nor the newly born princess. Have so sha, Carter!" Thessara strained, the dagger held out as she stood protectively before Carter, her eyes darting about to the beasts behind him.
For a mont, Carter said nothing, only watched with irritation. Then he struck. He struck Thessara so hard that her body was sent flying, crashing into the wall with a sickening force before collapsing to the ground.
"Thessara!" Adina scread.
But before the woman could move, the beasts grabbed her, pinning her down, forcing her into submission no matter how hard she struggled.
"Let go of !" Thessara snarled, fighting against them.
Carter didn't even look at her. "Pointless," he muttered.
He stepped much closer now. "No one is saving you tonight."
Adina shook her head weakly, clutching the baby tighter as her body trembled uncontrollably. "You ca for the core, didn't you? You want the core—" she reached for the core under her clothes, still bloody. "Here, take it. Please… just take what you ca for…"
Carter tilted his head, eyes on the core.
"Oh?"
Her hands shook as she grabbed it. Her fingers barely had the strength to hold it.
"This…" her voice broke. "This is what you want, right?"
She threw it toward him. "Take it and leave!"
He caught it effortlessly, staring at it in his hands, knowing Alma would be over the moon. The last missing piece to reawakening Khaos. Carter smirked; things were going perfectly.
He was more than satisfied, and for a brief second, it felt like everything might stop there.
Except it didn't. Carter slipped the core away and chuckled lowly. "Not so fast." His voice ca out cold.
Adina's blood ran cold at his words, her heart thumping harder in her chest.
No, no, no, no.
She shut her eyes, trying to summon her powers, but they wouldn't budge. With her body being this weak, there was so little that she could do.
Carter's eyes settled on the pup in her hands, now crying. A poor child that hadn't even been washed or fed.
This ti, his eyes didn't leave her.
He stepped closer, so close she could perceive the rot coming from him. "You must have felt sothing," he began slowly.
Adina's eyes watered as she shook her head.
"When your mate had my daughters killed. When he executed them like re criminals." The more he spoke, the more his voice hardened.
"No…please…no." Adina sobbed, clutching her pup who was now also crying.
Carter's expression didn't soften. If anything… It darkened.
⸻
"Do you know what they did before they died?" he asked quietly.
Adina shook her head frantically, tears blurring her vision.
"They begged. They wanted to live too. Your mate took their lives while I watched," he continued. "Just like you, they begged."
Her chest heaved. "I wasn't there," she cried. "I didn't—"
"But you benefited," Carter cut in smoothly. "You stood beside the man who gave the order. You carry his blood. His legacy."
His gaze dropped slowly to the child in her arms. "And now… so does she."
Adina's grip tightened instantly. "No—"
The beasts moved before she could react. They surged forward, grabbing her arms, forcing her back against the desk.
Her body scread in protest; she was too weak, too broken to fight. "No! Let go!" she cried, thrashing uselessly.
"Thessara!" she scread.
But Thessara was still pinned, struggling, blood staining her lips.
"Caelum! Caelum!" she scread, but he wasn't there.
Carter chuckled. "Your dear beta has been wounded… if not dead. How pathetic." He grinned.
"Don't touch her!" Thessara roared, fighting harder even with the beasts still pinning her down. "Carter, don't you dare—!"
Carter stepped forward. He leaned closer, their eyes eting. "Tell your mate I said. An eye for an eye."
Adina shook her head wildly, panic consuming her whole. "Please, she's just a baby—she hasn't done anything—please—!" Her pleas fell on deaf ears.
He reached out and forcefully snatched the pup from Adina's arms.
"NO!" Adina scread, fighting with all she had even as the beasts pinned her down.
Virelle wailed, her tiny body trembling as Carter took her.
Adina's scream tore through the room. A raw, animalistic scream.
Broken beyond repair.
⸻
"Give her back!" she sobbed, struggling harder, her body shaking violently. "Please—please—!"
Carter looked down at her, his eyes darker than the soul of the devil. He grinned sadistically.
"An eye for an eye. A daughter for a daughter." And he turned.
⸻
"No—!" Adina's voice cracked completely. "Please! I'll do anything—take instead—please!"
But he was gone, and so were his beasts.
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