CHAPTER 1220: CHAPTER 131 : THE END OF THE DERANGED CRUSADE

*Rion*

Daphne had to be right. It all made perfect sense. The magic from the forcefield was coming from Eva, so of course my blood wouldn’t have the desired effect. Eva was too powerful, even in her weakened state.

I had to convince her to lower the field before she would be able to heal.

“I’ll do my best to get her to stop shielding us,” I told Daphne through the link. “Are you guys alright out there?”

“We’re fine,” Jasper answered but the concern was evident in his tone. “Just hurry, man. I didn’t like the look on the Drogomor Alpha’s face. I don’t think we’re welcome here any longer.”

“Got it,” I said, cursing inwardly at the news. “Jasper, protect my family.”

“Of course,” Jasper said immediately.

We severed the mind-link, and I turned my hard gaze to my sister’s pallid face. The boys were still concentrating solely on keeping their own magic flowing into her.

Although they were showing no signs of tiring out themselves, it looked like their efforts weren’t going to be able to work for much longer. Eva was even paler than before, her smooth skin starting to resemble paper in color.

“Mama looks like she’s getting more sleepy,” Tarik noted, his large gray eyes locking with mine.

I sucked in a breath and forced a smile onto my face. “She’s still really tired, but she’s going to be okay. Keep concentrating on helping your brother, okay?”

Tarik nodded and obediently shut his eyes again to focus.

“Rion.”

My eyes shot back to Eva’s face when I heard her soft voice. Her eyes were still closed but her eyebrows were furrowed.

“What’s going on out there?” she asked between deep, labored breaths.

I hesitated briefly. She could barely speak due to her weakness. “Daphne and Jasper are waiting outside of the forcefield,” I told her. “We have to leave as soon as possible, Eva, but we can’t do that until you lower your shield.”

“I’ll move the shield with us,” Eva said stubbornly, though her voice was shaking.

“No, Eva,” I said firmly. “I’ve been trying to heal you with my blood, but it won’t work while you’re blocking everything out with your magic. You need to stop so that I can heal you.”

Eva’s breathing quickened and her eyes suddenly opened. She couldn’t move, but her gray orbs gazed at my face and were filling with tears. “I just got them back, Rion,” she murmured. “I can’t lose them again. I won’t lose them again!”

“Shh,” I soothed, smoothing her hair away from her face. I lowered my voice to a gentle, persuading one. “Eva, we can’t stay under this forcefield forever. The only way to keep your sons safe is to leave, but we can’t do that until you’ve been healed. I won’t risk losing you either.”

Eva clenched her jaw and her eyes fluttered shut again. “There is no safe place for my boys anymore, Rion.”

“That’s not true,” I argued, gripping her hand tightly. “I love them, Eva. They’ll always be safe with me.”

Eva sucked in a breath but then sighed and relaxed a moment later. The shimmering shield flickered a few times before disappearing completely. After another moment, a touch of color returned to my sister’s cheeks. Her breathing even began to even out.

“Rion!”

I looked up right as Daphne, Jasper and the girls burst through the door of the infirmary. They all glanced at Eva anxiously.

Jasper, who was holding Ayla in his arms, started to move forward, but I stopped him by raising a hand. “Jasper, I need you to collect the remainder of the Thorn Forest warriors and secure transport back home.”

Jasper clenched his jaw, clearly wanting to be by Eva’s side, but he understood the direness of the situation. He wordlessly handed Ayla over to Daphne before sprinting out of the room.

Daphne rushed forward with the girls in her arms and looked down at Eva with concern etched all over her face. “How is she?”

I hugged her briefly and gave each of my daughters a kiss on the forehead, relieved to have them back with me. “A little better now that she’s not using all her energy on that shield.” I smoothed my hand over Eva’s forehead, hating how clammy it felt. “It feels like my blood is beginning to work now, but not as quickly as I would have hoped.”

“Perhaps she needs more of your blood?” Daphne suggested fretfully.

“You have given her ample amounts of blood,” said the head healer. Her withered face looked even more grave as she focused on me. “You could give her more, but it would make little difference. The magic from you is only a temporary solution.”

I gritted my teeth as Daphne began to shiver.

“There must be something we can do,” Daphne urged the healer, stepping forward, her wide hazel eyes desperate.

The healer nodded solemnly. “Your only hope is to take the young lady to the Celestial City, just north of Valoria.”

“Of course,” Daphne murmured, her eyes widening with recognition.

The healer explained for my benefit. “Legend has it that powerful ancient magic resides there. Take Eva Stormfall there to heal her.”

Daphne and I glanced at each other with wide eyes. Eva was in no condition to travel and Valoria itself was days away.

“Let’s go.”

Eva’s voice was still weak, but sure. We all turned to look at her to see that her gray eyes were open. “We need to get the boys far away from here,” she said. “I don’t trust Alpha Oliver to play nice for much longer.”

I looked to Daphne, who nodded firmly. “Okay,” I said. “We’ll leave as soon as we know you’re stable enough to do so. Right now, though, I have some business I need to attend to.”

Daphne looked at me in concern when malice dripped into my voice. “What business?”

I spoke through my teeth. “I’m going to pay dear old Varge a little visit.”

***

It took some convincing for Alpha Oliver to allow me into the impressively fortified prison to meet with Varge. I could feel the suspicion rolling off him, but I was able to assure him that there would be no funny business and that I was more than happy to let Varge rot in that jail cell once I got some answers out of him.

Alpha Oliver agreed to allow it so long as his top guards were right outside and that Varge would remain completely immobilized.

I was more than happy to comply.

I felt a dark satisfaction go through me as I was led down some dark steps where a single cell sat at the bottom. Chained to the cold stone wall was Varge, his dark eyes trained on me.

I wasn’t allowed inside of the cell, which was completely fine with me. Although, if the bastard refused to give me answers, I was sure I could convince Alpha Oliver to let me in there so I could torture the fucker until he talked.

“Ahh, little Orion has decided to pay me a visit,” Varge finally said scornfully.

This wasn’t good, I was already starting to lose my cool and he had said one mere sentence. My hands were already forming into fists at my sides as I regarded the man, who was hanging just a few inches off the dirty prison floor, his wrists clamped tightly into cuffs that were attached to the stones above his head.

“If you start talking immediately, I might just think about sparing you from the unspeakable torture that you so richly deserve,” I spat out.

“You’re just as stubborn as your mother, if not more so,” Varge said while rolling his eyes. He shook his head. “And here I expected more from you, boy, especially after all the extra attention you got as a child.”

Red tinted my vision, but I sucked in a breath and just glared at him, tightening my fists. “You’re mere inches from losing the luxury of being able to speak. I suggest you take it.”

Varge narrowed his eyes but seemed to understand his compromised position. “Surely you’ve figured it out by now,” he spat mockingly. “Yes, your mother and I are direct descendants of Dark Lord Lycaon. For generations, our bloodline carried this sacred heritage. So, naturally, we felt that it was our obligation to produce heirs strong enough to be worthy of being called Lycaon’s reincarnation.”

I kept my expression neutral, even though my mind was reeling at his words. I felt my jaw clench so hard that pain shot through my mouth. “So, you decided that the way to do that was to experiment on infants,” I said flatly.

“The children in our family always failed to exhibit the Dark Lord’s true power,” Varge explained, his lips curving upward in a cruel smile. “Hestia assured me that she could bring out yours and your sister’s through a series of trials.”

“Trials,” I spat the word. “We were just infants!”

Varge wasn’t affected by my outburst. “Your mother felt similarly to you and regretted agreeing to the tests, so she went against our agreement and attempted to flee with you.”

Flashes of my mother’s horrified face as she ran with Eva and me appeared in my mind. I had trouble regaining my composure as I digested the full story of what led to her death.

Red completely engulfed my vision for a brief second and I slammed my hand against the bars separating Varge and me. The harsh sound bounced off the stone walls, but Varge was once again unaffected.

Thinking about my nephews brought me back into control. “Do you truly believe that one of Eva’s sons could be Lycaon reborn?” I demanded.

Varge pursed his lips, dark eyes glinting. “It is a possibility,” he admitted at last. “However, it will remain uncertain until the child comes of age and gains his wolf form.”

I felt unfathomable rage once again as Varge spoke of my nephews, but something in his tone brought on suspicion as well. I refused to believe that one of Eva’s bright-eyed, compassionate boys could be Lycaon reborn, and it almost sounded like Varge was giving me a reason to stand by that disbelief.

“If we were truly descendants, then there would have been no need for the cruel experimentation,” I pointed out, watching Varge’s face carefully as I spoke.

The uncertainty was clear despite Varge’s attempt at covering it up. “As I’ve already stated, the Dark Lord’s true power just hasn’t been able to manifest in any of the descendants.”

He was repeating himself.

I just stared at him as he began to retell the story he’d already told, reiterating that Hestia had assured him that the Dark Lord’s power would return.

Varge’s obsession had been nothing but a deluded fantasy this whole time. In his madness, Varge had destroyed our family chasing after a legend.

“Open this door,” I growled ferociously.

The guards hesitated briefly, but one look at my dark countenance had them jumping to comply. Once the bars were thrown open, I stalked forward and grabbed Varge by the neck, my nails digging into his flesh.

“You are cruel and mad.” I spat right in his face, giving him a violent shake. “You’d best stay away from Eva, the boys, and the rest of my family. We will have no part in your deranged crusade. You’d better hope that you rot in here for the rest of your life, because if I ever see you again, you’ll be begging for death.”

I tossed the bastard against the wall, causing his back to slam into the stone painfully. I strode out of the cell without another word.

I didn’t look back, even when Varge began to laugh loudly and maniacally behind me.

The mad sound just caused my resolve to harden. I was going to take what remained of my family far away so that we could start fresh. We would be free from Varge’s poisonous legacy.

I was going to make sure of it.