Chapter 72
“You!” Zion shouted as he stormed across the room and hurled the Sonar against the glass wall. The room seemed to shake as the bulletproof glass absorbed the impact. Shadows spread through the space like black veins of pulsing darkness. “You knew everything, you bastard.”
He grabbed the man by the collar of his tunic, crushing him against the glass. The general’s eyes were wild, his face flushed red from the sheer irrationality the information had triggered.
“Which of the archangels is inside her?”
“Angel.” The Sonar’s voice came out choked.
“You knew this would happen! You always knew they’d come after her, and you let it happen,” he roared in the man’s face.
“It had to be this way.” Julius, bloodshot eyes wide, gripped Zion’s hands.
When the general finally released him, it was only to land a punch square on the man’s right eye.
“Idiot! They’re going to kill her, and you knew!”
He grabbed the seer by the collar again, foaming with rage.
“She won’t die if we help her!” The Sonar raised his hands in surrender. He blinked his injured eye, clearing away the blood dripping from his brow. “That’s why I’m here. I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t know what to do. You need to listen to me!”
“It was me, wasn’t it?” Serguei’s voice echoed through the room. “I was the one who caused the voracious to come.”
Zion stopped his assault and looked at the psychic. Serguei sat in the armchair, seemingly oblivious to everything happening around him. His hands trembled, and his eyes had a glassy look.
“What are you talking about?” Zion demanded, still gripping the seer.
“That night, when I killed your mother, I knew something bigger had happened… Now it all makes sense. She had a fragment and was after another. She said it could protect our people.”
“What?” Zion released the Sonar and moved closer to his father.
“When I found her in the tunnels, Ravena had already discovered the fragment in a cave of light and was carrying one in her hands. During the fight, the stone she carried fell into the well where the other one lay. That’s where I killed her and left her body beside the spring.
I couldn’t bury her right away—I needed to return quickly to the king and report that I’d completed the job, so he would free the descendants he’d imprisoned and sentenced to death in the public square.
But before leaving, I retrieved the fragments from the bottom of the cave and brought them with me.
I climbed back up and saved my people, promising myself I would return to give her a proper burial. ”
“And did you go back?”
“I returned after proving to the king that I’d done the job.
I made my way down through the underground corridors toward the cave.
But halfway there, I sensed a different presence.
It felt like Ravena’s gift, but it wasn’t.
It was a chaotic version of the power that had once been clean and precise. ”
Julius interrupted the psychic:
“When you killed her, you didn’t know the sacrifice would cause a rupture. You knew nothing about what that meant… Not even Ravena herself understood. The blame wasn’t yours alone, Serguei.”
The seer’s rotten breath drew Zion’s attention once more.
“But you knew this would happen. Why didn’t you intervene?”
“Of course I warned your father! Do you think I didn’t want to intervene?
” For the first time, the man fixed the general with a hard stare.
Something like hurt showed in the downward curve of his lips.
“I paid a high price just for that warning, son of Darkness. The voracious and the gods know who I am. They know I know many things I shouldn’t, and that the weight of my words can tip the scales for either side.
That’s why they hunt me. I’m putting another target on my back by helping you tonight. ”
“And which side are you on?” Zion stared into Julius’s eyes.
“Neither the gods’ nor the voracious’s. I’m on the side of mortal life, and my goal is to keep this world spinning with as many living souls as possible.”
Zion stared at him. He wanted to rip out his teeth one by one. As if anticipating this, Julius ran his tongue over his yellowed teeth and raised his hands even higher. Then, with a snort, the general looked away.
“And what happened next, Serguei?” It was the first time he was hearing the story of his parents.
He was curious. “Since we have to wait, I think it’s time you told me about that day.
Tell me why my mother betrayed you. In fact, you owe me an explanation for why you modified some of Kyller’s memories and have been keeping secrets all this time. ”
Zion willed the shadows to anchor his feet to the floor so he wouldn’t lose control with Serguei or the Sonar. There was so much desperation and hatred in his chest that he didn’t trust himself to stay sane. He felt betrayed by everyone around him, kept in the dark like a mouse walking into a trap.
Finally, the psychic met the general’s eyes.
“You’re right. Sometimes I wonder if I have a heart… or a tomb.” Serguei took a deep breath, pressing his chest. “I can no longer hide the decomposing corpses buried inside me, and I think it’s finally time for you to know about my shame.”
Zion watched him for a long moment, but the psychic seemed frozen, unsure how to begin despite the speech he'd rehearsed in his head.
“Well?” he prompted.
Serguei took a deep breath, steeling himself. His shoulders hunched as if the weight of hidden truths was too much to bear. Then he let it out:
“Your mother didn't betray our people.”
The room fell silent. Outside, the rain fell harder, and lightning struck somewhere in the forest, illuminating the horizon. The crack of thunder rattled the window.
“Then why is she known for that?” Zion stood with his arms crossed, trying to keep his expression neutral. The Sonar just watched the rain, seemingly unsurprised.
“It was a setup,” Serguei sighed, “a well-crafted trap to destroy the woman who played games and kept secrets across three different nations.”
“How?”
“Ravena was intelligent, Zion. She was a descendant of a Drutes primary, with genes stolen from a Vinturian captured during a forest skirmish. Her body was Drutes, but her mind was an even greater weapon. Her power was like mine, but different in nature. While my gift was always about expansion and attack, hers was about defense and illusion.”
The psychic twisted the gold ring on his ring finger. Zion knew it was the wedding band he'd never taken off.
“When we arrived in Interion, there were five leaders in the Night Squadron: Amenadiel, Lea, Luanda, Ravena, and me. Young fools, dreamers foolish enough to believe the walls would become our home. All except Ravena. She never agreed with how we handled the Drutes refugees. Back then, Elaizer reigned and opened the gates to our people. He was a good king who wanted to help, but the city feared us, and that fear turned to hostility.”
“We should have left,” Julius whispered to no one in particular.
“At first, there were nineteen of us, and we were placed at the edge of the human quarter, where crime was rampant.
It was a clear message that we weren't welcome—only tolerated.
Back then, I believed it was just a matter of time before the city got used to us, but Ravena always knew we'd never be accepted.
She hated being inside the walls from the day she set foot in them.
It was hard for her to deal with the Interions, with their scornful looks and repulsive thoughts.
She wasn't happy with the way things were going, and we argued about it almost daily. I wanted to stay and fight for our place, but Ravena wanted to find somewhere else.” Serguei paused briefly and took a deep breath.
“After we settled in, Elaizer held military meetings with our people and gave us the option to fight alongside Interion on the front lines against the forced breeding camps.
Ravena and I were placed in different squads.
Mine was made up of Interions; hers, only descendants.
I suppose that's when things started to go wrong.”
“No, dear friend. With Ravena, everything was doomed from the start,” Julius murmured restlessly, but Serguei ignored him.
“She'd disappear for days or months with her squad in the forests, and whenever she returned, she'd report finding no camps. When people started getting suspicious, I began altering information and ideas in their minds so no one would scrutinize the expedition reports too closely. I made them believe she was on territorial reconnaissance.”
“Did she ask you to do that?” Zion frowned at these revelations.
“No. Your mother never had to ask me for anything.
She had this gift for manipulating my choices in silence, as subtle as a spider spinning silk.
And I covered for her because that was always our dynamic.
Even now, I think she never cared how big a problem she'd cause, because she had faith I'd save her no matter what she did.” He kept twisting the ring around his finger.
“Despite what I saw in her mind when she died, I still wonder whether your mother truly loved me as a man or just saw me as a valuable pawn.
Ravena always had the personality of a hurricane: no laws, no scruples, no consequences.
I knew that. But by accepting such a storm into my life, I couldn't blame her for following her course and destroying my world.” The psychic looked toward the window, where lightning streaked the sky in silver.
“When Ravena was gone, I understood why they name hurricanes after women.”
The room fell silent. Zion tried to control his empathic gift, but that putrid anguish poured off Serguei like blood in water, drawing his power toward it. After a moment to compose himself, Serguei continued: