CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE #2
He nodded, as if my words had been permission. “Verena Vale—” Here we go. “Are you a rebel?”
A long, lazy yawn poured from me as I rolled my shoulders, stretching my arms behind me. The shackles shifted with a soft drag of metal that I chose to ignore. Seems I still had full control over myself, even with Killian’s magic seeping through my skull.
Callum’s jaw flexed across the room, his signature neck roll already full of tension.
Killian’s voice came again. Don’t make me look bad, kitten.
“Don’t call me kitten,” I hissed, more serpent than feline.
His mouth twitched but held, I could see the way he bit the inside of his cheek to stop the grin from spreading.
Obrann, however, waved an impatient hand, liquid sloshing in his goblet. “What is the hold up?”
“One more time, Ms. Vale.” Killian stepped closer and the air changed with him, mountain-cold and honey-bitter, enough to sting my throat. “Are. You. A. Rebel?”
Each word dragged out. A few minutes with me and he was hopefully already regretting every decision that led him here.
My head lifted. “No. I. Am. Not.”
The smart thing would’ve been to shrink. But if I was going to die tonight, I’d at least have my fun first.
A goblet slammed against limestone, wine spraying across the pale. Obrann lurched to his feet, fury blotching his face scarlet. “Did you murder my son, you worthless, vile little vermin?!”
Elva didn’t flinch as his cape blew up near her face when he charged by. The only movement from her was the gentle sway of hair across her cheek.
Killian lifted a hand, as if to intervene, but let it fall again, deliberate in his inaction as each clack of Obrann’s boots slammed nearer.
A shutter flashed across my skull, Killian’s hold releasing, not unlike shivers I’ve felt down my nape before.
Seizing me by the hem of my shirt, Obrann jerked, trying to haul me upright. A pathetic attempt. My boots stayed planted to the stone, weight refusing him.
His crown tumbled free when his head slanted, clattering against marble, forgotten. Those black eyes narrowed, searching for an answer he thought was maybe written on my skin. The oiled dark of his hair shifted, and for a flicker the light swayed, catching the point of his ear in a curve.
His breath was sour enough to choke as he dragged me closer, words dripping between gritted teeth. “I know what you did, you fucking snake.” I forced myself to inhale through the rot, until his next whisper stole the air from me altogether. “I know who you are.”
My eyes darted to Killian. Had he told him? Slipped the truth along the same mental thread he’d wound through me?
But no, his face wasn’t smug. It was afraid.
Obrann flung me aside, chains rattling as I crashed to the floor. Straightening, he folded his hands neatly behind his back as a servant scurried, setting the crown upon his head once more.
He looked the part of a king again. Composed. Calculated. Laughter filled the space as he loomed above me, pacing.
“And here I thought you’d live up to the stories of the horror and dread. You have spirit, I’ll give you that. A fire in you.” Slowly, Obrann turned, eyes finding mine. “Shame it’s wasted on someone so painfully insignificant.”
I lifted my chin, an unhurried motion, and said, “You need me beneath you to forget how small you truly are.” His grin faltered. “But even from my knees,” my eyes dragged up his frame, “I still look down on you.”
His hand twitched toward his sword, as if he really contemplated carving me down that very second. Casually, he asked, “Do you admit to killing my son?”
He knew. He’d always known. Killian had nothing to do with it. This was all a performance. Power dressed as justice.
So, I gave him what he wanted. “I hope his last breath was the most excruciating second of his life.”
Gasps cracked across the room, faces turned, outraged and horrified, as Obrann spun back to me, wine-dark fury flashing in his glare.
“Actually,” I added sweetly, “with that poison, it was probably five minutes of agony.”
The venom had melted seamlessly into the berries and grapes of the wine, undetectable as perfume in a crowded hall. By the time they’d found him, Perseus was already beyond saving.
And Mina, she wasn’t here. Which meant she was far away. Exactly where she should be.
Obrann swallowed, a tight click in his throat. But instead of exploding, he nodded, calm, almost serene, and stepped toward Killian, giving him one look.
Bowing, Killian withdrew, back to Elva’s side.
Then Obrann turned back. “You used the poison from your fangs, yes?” His hand shot toward my mouth.
The floor dropped beneath me. “What?”
He uttered the words no one should have dared to within these walls. “Verena Vale, I know you’re the Viper.”
A sharp cry cracked through the ringing in my skull. Elva shot up from her chair, arm outstretched for me—
But it was caught before she even got a step, tugged back by Fritz. Her eyes found mine, pleading and terrified.
Chaos shattered around us in a fit of glass—goblets and anger hurtling toward me across the marble. I lifted my arms to shield my face, but none reached me.
All at once they disintegrated mid-air. Not from impact, but from light. Blinding, searing beams that left only dust at my feet.
Elva.
She collapsed back into her chair, her skin whiter than snowfall, where a servant fanned her frantically.
That didn’t stop the defamation.
“Cursed scum!”
“Kill her now!”
“She’ll damn us all!”
The words sliced deeper than glass ever could. I had imagined this moment a thousand times. Still, it stung.
Heat rolled under my skin, begging to be free, to become.
They finally see us, it said. Now let me show them why they should fear us.
I didn’t kill him because of the curse. I did it for Elva. It was my choice. But maybe that was a lie.
Maybe that’s who Gemma’s tears had been for after all.
It was part of the villainy, to make me think the voice was mine. That was the corruption, to make me think it was ever mine at all.
Killian didn’t move, but he wanted to. The conflict in his eyes was quiet but stirring. He’d seen the venom in my veins and kept it sealed.
Why? I didn’t know.
Obrann noticed as he returned to the dais, dismissing him with a wave, ending the internal fight before it began.
Killian bowed, stepping away from the throne, but not before his eyes glanced at me with a flash of warning. We’re not finished.
Sorry, Angel. Pretty sure I’ve only got a few moments of life left.
It was Elva who stopped him in his tracks, though not purposely. She was still laying back on her chair, eyes fluttering, trying to stay awake. He lingered by her side, gaze pinned, though she never looked back. Not even when he studied her like he already knew every secret she kept.
Obrann rubbed his jaw, intention darkening his expression. And for a fleeting breath, when I realized Killian hadn’t sunk his claws into Gemma’s mind, I almost believed she’d been spared.
“Guards,” Obrann murmured. “If you’d be so kind as to bring Ms. Hale forward.”
Callum blanched, shifting forward, shackles biting as his hands rose in protest. But the guards were faster. They shoved Gemma hard, and she stumbled, collapsing only feet from the dais.
“Do you admit to conspiring with the rebels against the throne of Luamis?” Obrann asked her, hastily, ready for this all be done with.
At this point, he no longer cared about truth. Only blood.
Though hers would be the cleanest out of us all.
Gemma lifted her chin, her voice carrying without falter. “I do.”
My breath hitched. What the fuck? Gemma. No.
No—
Callum collapsed to his knees, head shaking in a desperate plea. He knew what she was doing, knew what she was sacrificing...
Her calm did not waver as she said, “I have served you many years, Your Majesty. Every time I healed you or one of your wretched courts, I never once regretted it. I wanted you alive and perfectly healthy.” Her mouth tipped at one corner. “So that fate might deliver you every horror you’ve earned.”
A small, wordless tremor of denial pulled through me as I balanced on my knees toward her. I needed to reach her, to get to her before she said anything else she couldn’t take back.
Obrann clicked his tongue, a sound like a breaking heart as he strolled forward, only a few steps.
“A pity. You were a remarkable healer. But a lousy rebel.” Three more steps as he closed in.
“We’ve known about you for years. Fed you lies dressed as secrets.
Every strategy you clutched was sabotage.
” He stopped in front of her, his smile all teeth.
“You haven’t led your little fantasy troop to freedom, only to ruin. ”
Gemma’s face faltered and for a heartbeat, she looked struck. But I didn’t buy it. He wouldn’t have waited years if he truly knew.
Callum was telling her the same in her mind, I could feel it, because a beat later her frown was gone.
“Gemma Hale.” Obrann inhaled, greedy, as though tasting the moment. “You are hereby sentenced to death for high treason against your king, the crown, and the kingdom of Luamis.”
“NO—” The sound ripped from me.
My body rose from my knees, ready to sprint to her, only to be ripped back again, shackles biting, a guard’s grip crushing my arms. I kicked, wild, knocking over the goblet still at my feet. The wine, poison or not, splashed across the marble.
“It was me!” My throat burned as I screamed it. “All me. I led the rebellion. I killed Perseus. I am the Viper. Kill me.”
Ignored. All of it.
The masked executioner stepped forward, not Ronan’s trick this time, no smoke and mirrors. This was real. Bile rose, thick and sour, hovering in my throat. I was going to be sick.
This was a dream, a nightmare. My mind refused to believe anything else. My body refused as I tore against the shackles, skin splitting, muscles screaming, desperate to be closer to her.
To bury my face in the lavender oil on her skin. To hear the hum she made when she taught me how to heal, how to survive, how to live.
We didn’t share blood, didn’t share eyes, but she was mine and I was hers. In every other way.
Another guard forced her to her knees, and I reached for the Viper where it hovered, watching as I burned. I clawed inward, dragging nails down the door in my mind, screaming for it to rise.
It refused.
Gemma’s voice wisped through, steady, holding together what I no longer could. “My son and daughter are innocent. They had no knowledge of my actions nor were they ever part of the rebellion. You’ve seen it for yourself.”
My head shook, curls sticking to lashes, to tears that refused to stop drowning me before the blade could as I tried to memorize her, every line, every breath.
She turned to me. “My love.” Her voice was a tender, unshakable thread. I tried to memorize that too. “Remember who you are. You are our light. Our courage. And you are worthy of the life you know you deserve. I am so proud to have raised you. To have loved you.”
A sob broke from my chest. Loud, uncontrollable and shattering. The Viper waited. Even as I begged.
“Do not forget,” her focus locked to mine, “some find solace in the darkness. Don’t hide behind yours, Verena. Not when you were born to wield it.” Tears streaked the pink in her cheeks, but her eyes—her eyes burned with certainty. “I’m so proud of you.”
Fuck waiting for the Viper. I charged for her.
Chains slackened, ripped from the guards’ hands as if my fury alone had snapped them. And I was free. Two strides, three, almost there—
A grip seized my braid, yanking so hard stars burst behind my eyes. My scalp screamed, my hiss turned feral and before they could realize what had happened, I spun, my canines sinking into the soft flesh of their neck.
Servants reared back in horror as I turned back to Gemma, only for a fist to land directly across my face, splitting my lip as bone shattered.
My head turned, eyes catching on the guard, an inhumane growl working its way up my throat—but it caught when Gemma, still steady even as the enforcer stood above her, whispered her last to Callum. “Protect her, like you always have. She is still everything.”
I was nothing. Only doom. Only the promise of an end.
“Enough!” Obrann roared. “Kill her. Now!”
My body went fever hot as I reached for more of that venomous quiet. For power. For anything—
It never came. And as the sword came down in one clean arc, Gemma’s body collapsed forward, where blood ran red across ivory stone.