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“It did. Do you know where—” I don’t finish as my chest suddenly explodes with pain. This near crumbling pressure knocks the air out of me, and I lean on the wall for support.
“My King!” Tero yells, grabbing my arm to keep me upright. The throbbing is nearly unbearable. “What’s wrong? Why are you grabbing your chest?”
“I don’t know.” The alarm sounds then, coming from the southern tower, and the heavy footfalls of guards rushing follow. There’s screaming, the sound of women crying, and I take off running—I’m a blur through the courtyard.
I make it to where they’ve gathered. So many voices yelling.
“Murderer.”
“You will pay for this.”
“I command you to let me go.” It’s my general, the head of my army whose voice rises above the others. He’s thrashing, and I can see his arms flailing while a group of women and Marcia in her cobra form hover in a protective stance. “I did this for the crown!”
“What the fuck is going on here?” I say, the booming tone causing everyone to drop and kneel. Even my general whose arms are pulled out to his side by two soldiers, is forced to his knees.
The women, though, stay around a body who I now recognize as mine. My wife.
There’s blood on the ground. Her blood, and my legs feel weak. My stomach rolls.
Every muscle in my body seizes and the world shifts, shaking beneath my frozen form.
“Who?” This doesn’t come from me; I’m already looking at the culprit. Tero’s animal is coming forth, pushing against its owner, and the skin of his python begins to rise on his arms and face. He walks toward Veltross. “What the hell happened here?”
“Stop.” He does at my command, changing his course toward Gabriella. He kneels beside her; his body shudders and I steel myself for the worst. “Bring him to me.” The guards stand and drag a kicking, screaming Veltross to me. They toss him at my feet and step back.
“My King, I—”
“Stand up, General.”
“Please, listen to me.” When I don’t reply, he shifts a bit, looking for an out. To his bad luck, he’s being blocked by the same men he’s trained and led into battle. They are an impenetrable wall. “I did what I did for you. Our people deserve—”
He’s cut off by my hand on this throat, lifting him off the ground. He thrashes, tries to remove my hand, but I walk us to where Gabriella lies, her back supported by Tero. And my wife, she’s pale and her chest is red, a large gash crossing from side to side. It’s deep. She’s lost too much blood for me to seal the wound. He bled her. “I will never marry your daughter.”
“She’s better—”
“You and your offspring will die by my hand, no matter how long it takes.” My hand squeezes, and for each staggered breath my wife takes, I tighten my hold. With my other, though, I puncture his abdomen with the use of my nails, tearing out chunks at a time. His side. His dead organs. His bones.
I don’t stop until the bottom half of his body is on the floor, and his chest with the head attached is all that’s left.
“Dad!” Elise screams suddenly, rushing to where we are, but Meera flings her back and across the yard. She lands awkwardly and is knocked unconscious, yet no one checks on her. I also didn’t realize Meera’s set up to work. She has herbs and crystals surrounding Gabriella.
Did Tero call her?
Or Gabriella?
“We need to bind her soul, Theo,” Meera says from beside me, her hand on my shoulder.“We don’t have a lot of time. End him now, and I’ll do everything in my power to bring her back.”
Her pleading gives me breath, but the pain I’m experiencing intensifies when her eyes close. My wife’s chest still rises and falls, but those gems I love no longer have the energy to meet mine.
“You will never be a part of the royal family,” I snarl, holding him at eye level.
“Please stop. You will be so much—”
“Your children will never amount to anything, Veltross. Nothing but be outcasts in my kingdom.” With that, I rip his head off and toss it aside, leaving it for the guards to clean while I rush to my wife. Her body’s shaking as I pull her gently against my chest, tears running down from closed lids, and I’ve never felt more useless in my life.
I’m the king, and yet I can’t save the one person in this world I breathe for.
Meera whispers something in her ear, and the only sign of life is the small squeeze of my hand that’s barely perceptible. And I hold on to that moment, close my eyes, and control my body as a sob rocks me, my body covering hers as the last breath leaves her small frame.
