Chapter 86
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX
Ryker
When we arrived at the chopping block, the amsirah on the stage practically salivated as they swarmed. The duke cringed away from them but somehow managed to keep his revulsion evident on his face. The prick would go to his grave an arrogant asshole.
As we came to a stop, I suspected I’d have to knock his knees out from under him, but the duke knelt elegantly. He remained staring straight ahead, unwilling to acknowledge all those who couldn’t wait to see him dead.
“I wish you realized that your actions are what brought you here today, but you still blame everyone else for your downfall,” I told him.
“I only blame my fucking traitor of a son,” he snarled.
“It’s funny you still consider me your son. I stopped thinking of you as having any relation to me months ago. You’re nothing to me. So much so that I have no intention of watching this.”
I hadn’t known I planned to walk away until the words left my mouth. To him, my presence, even though he loathed me, would reassure him that a part of him would never die.
Perhaps that was true, but no part of him resided inside me other than his blood. My children would know only joy and only hear tales of caution when it came to this man.
He’d have no legacy in this realm, not even his castle, and he wouldn’t have the satisfaction of me watching him die.
I looked at Ellery, who stared at me with her eyebrows in her hairline. She squeezed Scarlet’s hand before releasing it and striding toward me.
When I held my hand out to her, she clasped it within both of hers and followed me down the stairs. Scarlet, Ruby, and Tucker followed us; they’d had enough of the blood and death too.
The amsirah parted to let us pass, though many still crowded the stairs. Finally, we made it through the throng and were walking away when someone shouted.
I glanced back as the amsirah surged up the steps. They’d forgotten it was to be a beheading as the teeming mass encapsulated the duke.
Veni screamed as a bloody arm rose triumphantly into the air. The amsirah’s savagery didn’t unnerve me; I’d seen and unleashed worse, but Ellery shuddered beside me.
As they continued tearing the duke into pieces and passing them through the cheering crowd, we entered the Revenant Woods. Veni was still screaming when Farley found us.
“I spotted the boy, Lery,” he said.
Ellery perked up. “Mouse?”
“Yes, he’s in the woods near your manor.”
“We have to get there now,” Ellery said, and I opened a portal.