Chapter 38 You will never be a god #2
He lied. My whole life, he said, she sold me just like others for money and status. But she didn’t. She didn’t. Every memory I’ve ever had of her feels poisoned now.
She died trying to save her baby—me—from a life of enslavement.
Tiberius turns, gripping my arm hard enough to bruise.
“Don’t worry, I’ll erase this memory. I don’t want my favorite son to remember I killed his mother.”
Son.
I have a brother?
Who watched my—our—mother die at the hands of this monster?
Is this a trick? Is he lying, or did he really…
I can’t think. I can’t breathe.
Maralyn. My mother. I have a brother. I don’t know where he is or if he’s even alive.
My head spins. The world tilts, and I can’t stand, I can’t think straight.
I don’t know what Tiberius was trying to achieve by showing me this memory, but all it leaves me with is rage. Something inside me snaps, not clean, not quick, but slow and violent. It floods my veins, my vision bleeding red until I rip free of his trance.
My hands shake as I push up. My knees buckle, but I force myself to straighten up, blinking out of the daze. I’m shaking with rage, tears streaming down my face, but no sound comes out of my mouth.
Tiberius gasps, shocked that I managed to escape his clutches, but I’m done playing games.
He took everything from me. I could’ve had a life.
He… he killed my mother, ripped me from her arms without any remorse.
Her pain still clings to me, choking the air from my lungs.
I never had a chance. He broke me until I didn’t recognize myself, and he’s doing it again… but I won’t be the only thing that breaks tonight.
I don’t care if I die, but he’s not walking away with his life after ruining mine.
A sharp pain explodes in my chest, grief twisting into something dangerous, blinding me before everything sharpens at once. My heartbeat roars as my wounds seal shut.
Tiberius goes for my throat, and I catch his wrist on instinct, twisting his arm until I hear a sickening crack.
Not enough. It’s not enough. Nothing will ever be enough.
I’m not scared anymore. I’m rage. I’m revenge. I’m his worst fucking nightmare.
Tiberius screams, tries to pull his arm from my grip, but I dig my fingers deeper until he’s howling in pain, forced to his knees.
A deafening silence blankets me, a blue hue drowning my vision. I can’t see anything but blurred shapes around me, but I know everyone has frozen in place.
My eyes squeeze shut. The urge to sing claws its way out, pain ripping through my chest as a whimper escapes me.
I look down at Tiberius, who is kneeling before me, expecting him to enjoy my pain, but his eyes are wide with fear.
I’ve never seen that look on his face before, and the fact that I put it there feels so good, a laugh bubbles out of me… but it comes out like a broken, raspy tune.
Instead of ripping his arm off completely, for some reason, I let it go, holding his head steady in my hands.
I didn’t know I could hold a king still. He’s screaming, trying to break free, but can’t escape my grip.
A memory snaps into place as if I’ve been looking for it.
I see my mother’s face inside his head, and the tears start flowing, but this time, they’re all mine.
She’s lying on the ground. The woman I never touched, never held, because he took her from me.
I’m back in the same memory, but this time I’m not watching. I’m standing over her.
I’m… Tiberius.
My stomach turns, and just before I can pull away from the memory, my arms shoot out to grab the little girl, ripping her away from her mother as she screams and thrashes.
The agony I felt in the memory before is completely missing, replaced by something worse. Hunger.
A greed so vile it floods every part of me, the same hands clutching the child, aching to reach back for the lifeless woman on the ground.
This isn’t just his memory. It’s his desire.
My fingers tighten around Tiberius’ head, bone cracking under my grip, but I don’t look away. I can’t. A warrior drags my mother’s body into a warm room, and I follow.
He drops her on the carpet without a care and barely hesitates before walking away. His head bows as he passes me.
The doors slam shut behind him, and I step closer to the body, nudging it with my foot.
She’s covered in blood, but he checks anyway.
Hope sparks in my chest, fragile and desperate.
Is she alive? Is my mother still alive?
But my blood turns to ice when hands jostle her on the floor. He rolls her on her stomach and starts tearing the clothes off her cold body.
My head jerks back, and I snap out of the memory with a scream that shakes the ground. It tears through me, burning my throat raw.
Tiberius slumps forward, writhing in pain, but I don’t let him crawl away.
“Stay.” The word slips out, a chill running down my spine when he obeys.
Tiberius doesn’t move. I don’t think he can.
There’s a dagger in my hand, but I don’t remember grabbing for it. But I drive it into Tiberius anyway.
I wait for relief, but it never comes. The pain doesn’t ease.
So I keep stabbing. Again and again.
“You monster!”
Tears blur my vision as I stab him over and over, my voice shredding with every scream, but nothing helps.
“You killed her!”
He doesn’t die. Why isn’t he dying? He keeps crying out in pain, but he’s still breathing, so I don’t stop. I can’t stop.
“She was dead… she was d-dead… dead!”
Tiberius goes still, but I don’t. Why can’t I stop?
“You… you didn’t stop. You r-raped her!”
The dagger slips from my hand, and I fall back, screaming into the ocean above, praying for it to drown me so this pain ends.
A cry cuts through the noise in my head. Then another. Then hundreds.
My eyes snap open, and I watch in horror as every single person is writhing on the ground, screaming in pain.
Dean…
My eyes search for him, my mate, the only person who can stop this pain from swallowing me. When I find him, he’s already crawling toward me… but before he can reach, he falls on his side.
The fog in my eyes fades, and I see the blood spilling from his ears. He’s hurt… because of me.
I need to stop. I can’t hurt him. Not him. Never him.
Tiberius can barely move, blood pouring out of his eyes, ears, and mouth.
But I feel nothing. There’s no joy in watching him like this. A massive weight is crushing my chest, making me hurt my mate, my family, my friend, my allies.
Something digs in my side, and I finally realize what I have to do.
My hand trembles as I pick up the dagger I stole from Tiberius and press it against his throat. He gurgles, begging me to spare his life, but I can’t… I can’t hear him.
I drag the blade down his throat to the center of his chest. I don’t think I’m breathing as I finally push it into his heart.
And this time… he stops moving.
I thought his death would fix it. It doesn’t.
I don’t know how long I keep screaming until my voice cracks on a broken hiccup, releasing everyone from my trance.
I force myself up, desperate to reach my mate, to hide, to disappear, but the world tilts violently beneath me.
Something warm drips from my nose to my lips as I sway. I swipe under my nose and freeze when my fingers come back red. Blood.
A high-pitched ringing in my head makes me wince.
Then everything goes black.