66. Chapter Sixty-Six - Leigh
The sun rises in the east, its warm rays offering no solace as I cross the Charon Bridge to meet Zeus.
Each step upon the ancient stone feels foreboding, like crossing the Death River into Hell itself.
If I become Zeus’s prisoner, I’ll beg for Hell itself.
If I don’t get Wilder back, I’ll crave death.
Andif Alden betrayed me, absolutely nothing will stand in my way.
Did he not believe me about Desiree?
Or did I underestimate his loyalty to his brother?
It’s my word against Zeus’s, after all.
My friends and Eddo’s Blades flank me, their stances poised for battle, a silent promise that I won’t face the wolves’ wrath alone.
The city’s innocent inhabitants who didn’t flee last night, including the Erinye sisters, hide behind closed doors.
Ry is in position, in a building in East Aurora, ready to take down the wolves with his long-range rifle if negotiations go sideways.
Across the bridge, the wolves gather, some in human form, others as animals.
Their heavy breathing mingles with the gentle lapping of the Cora River below, the only sounds in the morning silence.
Even the birds refrain from their usual dawn chorus.
I lock eyes with Alden across the bridge.
His expression is inscrutable, revealing nothing of his true intentions.
My gaze shifts to his brother, Zeus, who is two inches shorter but no less imposing.
His eyes are calculating beneath the hooded expression obscures his face.
This is the man who orchestrated the vampire attack on Tanith just to secure Alden’s cooperation.
Saliva fills my mouth as disgust rises within me.
Such a monster doesn’t deserve to sit on my throne—a throne he’d stain with the same cruelty he inflicted on his own family.
“Glorious morning, isn’t it?” Zeus asks with false sincerity.
I force a smile.
“You are here at the wrong time of year. I’m afraid summer has our best sunrises.”
Zeus quirks a brow.
“Well, it is good that you are about to surrender your throne to us so I can visit whenever I want.”
I laugh.
Surrendering to this pitiful excuse for a man is a joke.
My fingers twitch to summon my magic, urging me to show him how unwilling I am to bend my knee.
But I still have faith that Alden will ally with me.
Zeus looks behind me.
“Are those useless numbers meant to intimidate me?”
I ignore him.
What we lack in numbers, we make up for in tenacity.
Instead, I turn to Alden.
Sweat dots his brow.
Maybe he isn’t the emotionless killing machine he pretends to be.
I study his expression, searching for a sign we are on the same side.
There is none.
My heart thrashes against my ribs, but as long as I stand, I can still convince him.
“Alden. Don’t do this.”
Alden shrugs.
“No hard feelings, Leigh.”
“You are helping your weasel of a brother take my crown. Of course, there are hard feelings.”
Zeus steps forward as if to attack me, but Alden slaps his chest.
“Easy, brother. On my count, remember?”
“She called me a weasel,” Zeus says through his teeth.
“You are the future king. Act like it,” Alden whispers loud enough for all of us to hear.
I cross my arms over my chest.
When Ravi told me what Zeus did to Tanith to control Alden, I felt sorry for him, but maybe he got it wrong.
It looks like Alden controls Zeus.
Perhaps I put my faith in the sibling with the most power.
I search for Ravi among the crowd behind the princes.
I don’t see him.
Did Alden leave him behind, or did Ravi expect me to fail?
I glance back at Alden, who just stares at me without a hint of remorse.
I don’t have a backup plan.
If he doesn’t help me, Corona is doomed.
He smirks, as if he can read my mind.
“Are you ready to surrender, Leigh? Or must I use force?” Zeus asks.
“Where’s Wilder?” I ask, stalling.
If Alden hurt him, then I’ll know he betrayed me.
Zeus’s answering smile reminds me of the Harborym daemon.
It’s straight from Hell.
“Bring the prisoners forward!” he calls, his voice echoing off the stone bridge.
A guard dressed in forest green pushes a bound and bruised Wilder and Marlowe forward.
With a cruel kick, the guard forces them to their knees.
“Don’t forget to kneel before your queen,” the guard sneers.
I gasp.
Wilder’s face is battered beyond belief.
Dried blood cakes his hair and stains his dark clothes.
His eyes meet mine, and they hold reassurance, but also a plea for me not to panic.
But panic is far from my mind.
In its place, white-hot rage singes my veins.
Zeus’s grin widens, relishing in their humiliation.
I want to throw him into the river below, preferably with weights attached to his skinny ankles.
“That’s enough, Heinrich. Fall back in line,” Zeus commands.
When Alden nods, the guard obeys.
He melts back into the ranks, but I memorize his soulless eyes.
I will make him pay in this life and the next.
“You tortured them,” I say to Alden, who sighs.
“They shouldn’t have broken into our camp or taken what didn’t belong to them.”
Zeus nods.
“A monarch should never be so soft-hearted, Leigh.”
“A compassionate queen isn’t a weak one,” I counter.
Zeus clicks his tongue as Alden groans, no longer meeting my stare.
Instead, he glares at the ground.
I clench my roiling stomach.
“Face it, you lost.” Triumph gleams in Zeus’s eyes.
“You were so busy trying to detect corruption within your Council that you never anticipated our invasion. And now, you have nothing left to do but surrender or watch as your people suffer.”
Traitor.
I shoot a menacing look at Alden.
He let me believe we were on the same side.
We were supposed to be allies, not enemies.
“I told you the truth. Yet you side with Zeus? He’s your enemy, not me!”
Zeus scowls at his brother before frowning at me.
“Alden told me everything,” he says.
My jaw drops.
“He mentioned you would give him the cure to save Tanith in exchange for him turning against me.”
No.
“You told him?”
Alden meets my stare head-on.
“He’s my future king.”
“He hurt Tanith.”
“My brother is better off,” Zeus says over us.
Alden doesn’t so much as wince.
With a sharp glare, I shoot daggers at him.
“You disgust me. Tanith is better off.”
His hands turn into claws.
His fingers elongate before my eyes.
“Am I making you angry?” I taunt.
“Good. Be fucking angry. She would be if she saw what a coward you are. You had a chance to save her, and you didn’t. I hope she hates you for it.”
“Leigh, it’s okay. You tried,” Wilder says.
But I can’t look at him.
I’ve condemned him to death for a stupid decision to trust someone who never earned it.
I knew better than to think Alden could be won over.
People cling to their secrets.
They don’t change.
“You doomed her,” I say to Alden, my voice low and cruel.
The ghosts inside my head scream and kick as the wind whips my hair.
“You claim that she’s your mate.” I laugh.
“But if she were, you’d fight for her, not for this piece of shit beside you.”
Zeus growls.
It is a deep, menacing sound.
But I don’t care.
He doesn’t scare me.
Losing my country, dooming my people—that scares me.
I give Wilder one last look, pouring all my love, my every waking thought, into that fleeting moment.
I should have told him the truth in all our intimate moments, expressing how much I care about him.
There is no one else for me.
He sees all of me—even the ugly parts—and still chooses to find beauty in them.
My longing to kiss him one last time threatens to cripple me.
If only we had more time together, we could have grown old side by side, weathering the storms of life until we were both ghosts haunting the halls of Rowan Palace.
I want a life with him, but now, our only chance to reunite might be in death.
“I love you, and I’ll find you in the afterlife,” I say before meeting Zeus’s hateful stare, challenging him to do his worst.
Beside him, Alden is now snarling in his wolf form.
Zeus raises a hand.
“Wolves, prepare to?—”
In one swift, razor-sharp bite, Alden tears his brother’s head clean from his body.
I scramble backward as the head rolls down the bridge, stopping where my feet just were.
Zeus’s face is frozen with the same hateful sneer he wore seconds ago.
Gianna screams somewhere behind me.
I stand speechless.
What the hell just happened?
Alden emits a mournful howl, and several wolves join in lament.
The haunting, anguished sound pierces my ears.
Is it pain for Tanith?
Or Zeus?
Or both?
But I am still trying to understand why he did it.
He told Zeus about the cure.
He taunted me for it.
“Alden?” I mutter.
Beside me now, Brigid and Isolde lower their weapons.
Brigid makes a fist, signaling her father’s Blades not to advance.
Pallas gawks at the blood pooling from Zeus’s headless neck.
Alden whimpers and trots forward through his brother’s blood.
He rubs his sizable canine body against my legs.
“Does this mean we are on the same side?” I trail my hand across his soft, yet bloody, fur.
Alden whines and then transforms back into his human form with the sound of bones snapping.
I gag.
My hands rest on Alden’s solid stomach.
He is naked as the day he was born and speckled in blood.
“Ugh!” I push him away.
Alden catches himself before he falls, laughter rumbling in his chest.
“Excuse you, I just saved your life,” he retorts.
“You lied!” I screech.
“You told him everything! You made me think I couldn’t trust you!”
“I did,” Alden replies, his tone somber.
“But I had to make him think he’d beaten you to keep his guard down. I spoke to Ravi, and he told me everything. He corroborated your story.”
I scream, emotions overwhelming me to the point my entire body trembles.
“I was ready to fight!”
“Now, you don’t have to. My brother is dead.”
I pause.
Holy shit.
Zeus is dead.
Alden stops laughing and peers down at the fallen body.
“He deserved worse.”
I peer at the obnoxious prince.
He didn’t give up on Tanith.
“You must love her,” I whisper.
“With the force of the full moon,” he replies as the wolves behind him blink as if coming out of a daze.
A few of them approach Alden with their hackles raised.
They bare their teeth as Alden bares his back.
“Listen up!” Alden roars, his voice like a whip.
“Lua will not be invading Corona today or any other day. We’ll return to our land and bring my father Zeus’s body. Anyone who has a problem with that or my leadership should challenge me now.”
The advancing werewolves pause.
My breath catches as they bow their heads to their future king.
“Smart choice,” Alden says.
Unable to wait longer, I rush toward Wilder and Marlowe, dropping to my knees.
I wrap my arms around Wilder’s shoulders, but I question why he isn’t hugging me back.
“I’m kind of tied up,” he says, a hint of amusement in his voice.
“Alden!” I screech, causing him to jump.
“Get these restraints off and, for the love of the gods, put on some damn clothes!”
Alden smirks.
“Heinrich, release these prisoners.”
The guard I vowed to kill earlier releases Marlowe first, who scampers to her feet with flames swirling around her clenched hands.
The threat is clear: if Heinrich dares to touch her again, she will fry him to a crisp.
He retreats, but not before bumping into Wilder.
“Now him,” I command.
Heinrich removes Wilder’s restraints, but isn’t quick enough to get out of the way.
Wilder punches him clean in the throat.
Heinrich falls to his back, choking for air.
Next, Wilder shifts to advance on Alden, who grins in anticipation of a fight.
I step between them.
“It’s over,” I say.
The fire in Wilder’s eyes slowly fades.
“Desiree saved us.”
“You saved us, Leigh.”
Wilder smiles as he wraps his arms around me.
I do the same, holding him tight.
We don’t kiss; we just stand there in the center of the Charon Bridge, our hearts beating as one, until we hear a camera go off.
Wilder and I pull away from each other to see Stellan taking our picture.
“This will make front-page news!” he says, a smug grin on his face.