CHAPTER 369: _HOW COULD YOU?!

After zooming through a void, I hopped out of the other end of the spatial tear. My chest heaved when my feet landed on the black marble floor, my instincts already on high alert.

What surrounded me was a massive throne room which already seemed like it was on the verge of collapse. Pillars were cracked. The ceilings trembled, bringing down dust.

The air was thick with the scent of burning flesh and the unmistakable metallic stench of blood.

I glanced behind me and noticed a back entrance on one of the walls.

"What the..." I whispered to myself but before I could think, a voice yelled up ahead.

"The undead monsters... They stopped coming!"

"Does this mean it’s over?"

"Where’s Alpha King Kaelos?!"

I turned my head to the direction of the voices, squinting when I saw our army of wolves and witches.

They were a mess—ash, blood, and exhaustion binding them together like a wounded pack

And standing in front of them were faces I was beyond glad to see.

"Odessa?" Caroline frowned, her voice shaking with disbelief and relief. "By the moon!"

She rushed, leaving the others and running to me first.

My lips broke into a warm smile as I subconsciously spread out my arms, expecting her to phase through me as always.

But she didn’t.

When Caroline got to me the force of her hug was enough to make me stumble backwards. My eyes widened, a shocked gasp leaving my lips when I felt the strength of her embrace.

Physical... Actually tangible.

No way.

"C–Caroline?" I immediately pulled away from the embrace, placing my hands on her shoulders.

The soldiers and witches had noticed my presence and were now all either whispering or staring.

But I didn’t care.

"How is this possible?" I blinked back tears. "Are you... Are you alive? Or... Wait..."

My brows furrowed when I remembered how I’d made Marcellus tangible in his ghost form. Because my subconscious sought "comfort" and manifested it into reality.

"Am I..." My breath hitched. "Am I doing this? Am I making you tangible? I—"

"Odessa, relax." Caroline grabbed my wrists, chuckling softly.

It was then that I noticed. Her body still had that soft silver glow. Ethereal. Like a phantom.

Even her curly ginger hair was like a spectral cloak behind her.

"I believe my Silverborn nature has something to do with it." Caroline continued speaking, forcing me to look into her hazel eyes. "I still don’t quite understand it... But so far I’ve been able to use my former abilities. Well, except my wolf and—"

"Luna Queen Odessa." A familiar voice boomed behind Caroline.

My eyes fleeted past her, landing on Alpha King Thorian as he waltzed toward me. His sharp eyes were knitted into a frown, his golden armour clanking like the march of a hundred men despite being battered.

Sigh... As imposing as ever.

Moving alongside him were Luna Queen Janelle, Regina, Isaiah of Mexico City and—

My blood ran cold, my heart beat quickening when I met the gaze of those purple eyes. Those purple eyes belonged to a woman whom I’d always looked up to.

Those purple eyes belonged to someone who had watched me bleed and weep to the gods when I lost my baby. Knowing fully well that she was behind my loss.

Althea.

She looked weak, holding on to her staff. Her dark purple robes shimmered with the faint light of runes, but were stained with black blood like almost everyone else.

When her eyes met mine it was raw with guilt. And something else.

"Luna Queen." Janelle reached me before her husband, forcing Caroline to step aside. "What in the name of the Olympians are you doing here? You’re supposed—"

"You were supposed to remain at Blood Oak." Thorian thundered, arriving beside his wife.

His aura was intimidating, his eyes flaring with sharp resolution as he continued. "Ryker and your husband were sucked into another dimension. I could feel the energies of their battle spilling from here—"

"They’re out of the pocket dimension now." I raised a hand in front of his face, my attention fixed on Althea, who still stood a few meters away from the army.

She placed a hand on a pillar that looked like it was on the verge of collapse. Her eyes were almost pleading, her lips shaking like she wanted to say something.

Too late.

"Out of the pocket dimension?" Janelle repeated my words. "How do you know this? If that’s the case, it makes things much worse. Ryker could sniff you out at any moment and—"

"You." I couldn’t hold myself back anymore and walked past Janelle and her husband, heading straight for Althea. "How could you?!"

My voice broke, equal parts sorrow and rage. The dark sigils in my blood ignited, magic reacting in response to my emotions. And this time I was under control.

Althea gasped as an invisible force gripped her, squeezing her until the sound of her bones snapping echoed through the throne room.

"Odessa Pierce!" Coven head Arachne, who was standing close to my aunt, tried speaking up, but one cold glare from me was enough to shut her up.

I dragged my eyes back to Althea, every shred of pity evaporating as the invisible force lifted her off the ground.

"O–Odessa..." Her staff dropped to the ground, hands clutching her neck as she struggled for basic breath.

The same way I struggled when I drank her poisoned tea that night.

"You poisoned me. Didn’t you?!" I snarled, my voice echoing like tens of people were screaming through me at once.

When I got close enough to her, I made sure I got a good look at her features. Every wince. Every strained muscle. Every gasp for life.

My lips curled into a bitter smile. "You killed my baby. You watched me suffer and pretended to be on my side."

She blinked weakly, her eyes watering. With tears.

Actual fucking tears.

My fists clenched so hard my knuckles snapped. "What? You’re not going to say something now? How long has it been going on for, Aunt? How long have you been pretending?"

’She can’t talk if you’re choking the life out of her, girl...’ Sirena whispered in my head, although her voice was faint. ’You’re tapping too deep into the Vein right now. You—’

’I don’t care!’ I snapped but listened to her reasoning on letting Althea speak.

With a grunt, I released her from my telekinetic hold. She plopped to the ground, a whimper leaving her mouth. Her black hair scattered in waves over her face as she panted, slowly raising her head to look into my eyes.

Dead silence.

The throne room was more silent than a graveyard, the soldiers, witches and everyone else staring at me like I’d gone mad.

Screw them all.

"You’d better start talking," I took a few steps forward, tilting my head. "Or I swear I’ll burn this fucking mountain down if it means burying you in it."

Her jaw tightened, lips parting. She tried sitting up, a trail of blood leaving the corner of her lips.

"You... You don’t understand, child." She finally spoke, voice raspy like she was choking on her own blood. "I... I did that because... Because—"

Suddenly, the throne room shook, a tremor surging from underneath. Dust fell from the ceiling.

Looking past the soldiers, I finally noticed something behind them that I’d missed.

Something I saw during my visions in Blood Oak a few minutes ago.

A black pool.

Shivers ran through my being when a clawed hand emerged from the pool, a figure slowly helping himself up with it.

And when the figure was finally out—body soaked with black liquid—his red eyes locked on me like a predator finally spotting prey after weeks of hunger.

"Ryker..." I muttered, ignoring the soldiers who fled for their lives, avoiding the black pool like it was death itself.

And Ryker? He grinned.