SAGE
Darius knocked at my mind like soone afraid to break glass.
I felt him before I answered. The brush of his presence, layered with urgency. I opened the door to him slowly, letting him in, and in the sa breath, I reached outward—touching his thoughts, his awareness, the thread that linked him to Adam.
And I knew. He was with Adam.
Adam had felt my distress. Adam had co for .
The knowledge ward . A tear burned at the corner of my eye. I refused to let it fall.
Not now. Not here.
Not in front of people who had driven a wooden stake into my body with surgical precision because they already knew what I was—half Ancient—and exactly how to destabilize .
They had planned this. And they had been right.
The stake pulsed beneath my ribs, humming with dark enchantnts that scrambled my magic, turning my power into static instead of fla.
Strength bled out of in slow, humiliating incrents. Every breath felt thinner than the last.
Still, I did not tell Darius that the Queen herself had taken . I would not let that kind of weapon be turned on him. I needed answers first.
Why had she lost her mind? Why had Raul betrayed ? How had they known about my Ancient blood?
How deep did this rot go?
Raul’s hand locked around my arm and yanked.
I hissed as he dragged across the rocky floor. Stone scraped skin. My flesh split, healed, split again—pain looping in a sick, endless cycle. My body struggled to keep up with itself, regeneration stuttering where the enchantnts interfered.
He hauled forward like cargo. Like a trophy. Like sothing already dead.
The others were seated already.
The Queen reclined at the head, spine straight, expression regal, composed—like this was a dinner party instead of an execution.
Duke lounged at her right. Rachel leaned against the table’s edge. Raul released with a careless shove that sent collapsing.
I caught myself trembling. What have they planned for ?
Rachel stepped closer. Her smile widened, slow and cruel. She leaned in, laughter curling over my face. "Did you really think we could ever be friends?".
Her eyes glittered with glee.
"The guards inford Mother the mont you entered the palace," she added lightly. "You made it so easy, Sage. Still playing royalty. Still pretending."
I said nothing.
Makeh’s warning whispered through my mory—don’t trust the Queen’s children.
Too late.
I turned my gaze instead to Raul. My chest tightened. My eyes softened despite myself. The betrayal lodged in my throat like glass.
"Why?" I asked quietly.
Raul scoffed.
Up close, the wickedness in him was impossible to ignore. This wasn’t the anger I had known. This was rot. Sothing cultivated. Sothing fed.
How co I hadn’t seen it? Why was I so blind?!
"Don’t try to guilt-trip ," he said coldly. "You were sleeping with Adam. And his brothers. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?"
A broken chuckle crawled out of my mouth, turning into a rasp halfway through.
"So that’s why?" I croaked. "That’s why you agreed to this?"
There was no point pretending anymore. No more masks. No more performances. If I was here, it ant the Queen already knew I had realized she had played .
Raul’s smile sharpened. "I’ve always been with my mother," he said. "Always known the plans."
The words hit harder than the stake.
I stared at him, disbelief hollowing my chest. All this ti... I had thought I was the confidant. The strategist. The partner.
I laughed bitterly under my breath. They must have mocked behind closed doors. A pet witch. A useful fool.
The Queen tilted her head, studying with faint amusent.
"Did you truly believe," she asked smoothly, "that I would ever choose you over my own children?"
I held her gaze and said nothing.
"They are my partners," she continued. "They know everything."
Her lips curved.
"Even your second death. Dora."
My spine went cold.
Raul lifted his chin slightly, smug.
"It was Raul," the Queen added, voice silk and venom, "who first told you carried sothing else inside you. Another presence. Sothing that governed your power."
My stomach dropped. The realization stung. Another layer of betrayal. Another knife.
"You’ve been a delight to study," the Queen went on calmly. "And Claire... ah. Yes. Claire was my student once. A good one still, instruntal to your almost death."
Rachel’s grin widened. She was literally enjoying herself.
"Her mother," the Queen said, "was careless. Drunk at a palace gathering. Slept with one of the guards."
A faint shrug. "To preserve appearances, Claire was taken in. Secret lessons. Private guidance."
My jaw clenched. Every puzzle piece snapped into place with sickening clarity.
The Queen leaned forward slightly.
"And since we’re being honest," she murmured, "I was behind the deaths at the borders. Fear keeps people loyal."
Her gaze flickered over . "I orchestrated the vampires’ incursions. The chaos. The beast that infiltrated the pack hunt weeks ago."
Her smile deepened. "I needed blood. And terror."
Rage boiled behind my ribs. "So many people," I whispered. "Dead... because you wanted to soak in their blood?"
She did not deny it.
When I forced out the question about the blood bottles, her laughter rang soft and delighted.
"Longevity," she replied. "My children help with the delivery after the vampires have hunted the choiced goods down. It secures our claim to the throne."
They all looked proud. Evil lot of them.
"And the pack region?" I rasped. "The abstenum?"
Her gaze sharpened. "They hoard what should have belonged to ," she said. "Abstenum prolongs life. Strengthens magic."
Then she laughed again. "I just need it. No hard feelings."
"But the souls in the barren land?" I demanded. "That too? Longevity?"
Her mirth turned darker.
"No. That feeds my power," she said lightly. "And it rots the wolf regions from the inside."
I swallowed hard. She had poisoned an entire land just to watch it decay.
"And you," she added, eyes staying on , "were ant for my son."
My pulse stuttered.
"You would have strengthened our bloodline," she said. "Ensured the throne."
Her expression hardened. "But your bond with Adam ruined everything."
A flash of satisfaction sparked through my exhaustion. At least I had not ended with Raul. At least that fate had been denied.
"How did you know," I whispered, voice thin, "that I was Ancient?"
The answer landed like a blade.
"Isla," the Queen said simply.
My chest caved inward. Another betrayal. Another fracture.
The room tilted. The weight of it all—lies, deaths, manipulations, years of cruelty—pressed down on my ribs until breathing felt optional.
Their laughter blurred at the edges, worsening the condition.
My heart could not hold much more. So I let myself fall. I loosened my grip on consciousness deliberately.
Not because I was weak. But because I needed to survive what ca next.
As darkness rose to claim , I kept my mind open. Kept the link alive. To Darius. And of course, to Adam.
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