Chapter 168: Chapter 169

Chapter 80 – Survival Pt. 2

“I don’t usually lose my temper, but if I get angry, it’s true- I’m scary.” – Eva Mendes

Third Person POV

A fang pricked the bottom lip of a toothy smile, a bead of blood sprouting from the incision. The shadows slithered through cracks and corners as a traveling witness to the bloodied spectacle. Trepidation tainted every air molecule while Neron sprinted through corridor after corridor to escape his fate, clutching her dagger, following him at a languid pace.

The Prince bloodline was nearing its end. Osiris stifled a chuckle in his throat as glee dipped his mind in a pleasant haze, knowing his success will be beautiful.

From the dungeons, to the basement, to the bottom floor of his home. Steel to drywall marked the trail of the maroon–eyed marauder, screeches ringing like sirens. Orange glow from the torches faded to fluorescent lighting, later fading to miniscule sunlight, spotting the darkness from the windows,

How long will the chase go on?

“She’ll never hurt again! I’ll burn everything to ash!” Lady Sanguine screeched before buckling over on her knees because of another violent jerk of her body. Osiris noticed her condition and arched an eyebrow in curiosity. His attention focused on his lady. The woman sucked in a sharp breath; hand pressed against her chest like she was having trouble breathing. “I’ll show her…” She muttered, pushing herself on her feet again with the support of the wall. “I’ll show Kiya that I love her more than you!”

She slipped off her pumps and ripped the heels from the insole before throwing her damaged shoes to the side. Newfound vigor pulsated through her ferality, urging her to surrender into the fiery lust of murder. She dashed toward Neron, eyes narrowing on his backside. A sharp whistle cut through the air near the shell of Neron’s ear, and a sharp yelp left his mouth from two violent pricks of pain sinking in his back.

The woman embedded her heels in his back.

“Onyx, any suggestions?” Neron beseeched. “I can’t keep running where there is not an exit in sight!”

“You need to fight her.”

Neron nearly skidded to a stop. “I can’t-!”

“She is winning because you’re scared! I don’t like it, but Lady Sanguine is thriving from you running instead of fighting. She expected this. The more you run, the more ammunition you give her to kill you. Running instead of facing is why people are dying left and right. We need to face the anger we helped create, Neron! You won’t be hurting her, but simply proving that you aren’t a coward.”

Continuous proclamations of hate burned hotter against the flesh of his back more than his wounds. Every word from Lady Sanguine’s frothing mouth stabbed him in the heart as he winced, eyes and hands desperately searching for a refuge. He couldn’t believe he caused this. Did killing his father in front of her give the same effect as her killing him herself?

The mind is a complex object; a mind dipped in a pool of hatred, more so..

Chapter

Neron didn’t want to fight Kiya, but was that his only option?

It is the only way.

at the thought of raising his hands

His heart thudded in against his mate again, for his sake.

You won’t hurt her.

Lady Sanguine’s steps pounded in his ears, drawing closer with each passing door. It was a deadly game of cat and mouse. The cat wanted death. The mouse wanted survival.

Stop running and start fighting for your survival.

Doors flung wide and Neron entered a spacious area, dimly lit by the dotted specs of sunlight from the drawn draperies of windows lining the wall to his right. Pristine tiles reflected his dusty and appearance as blood continued to drip from his back, the crevices drinking in every drop. A set of winding stairs extended several floors above him, permeating bleach, and other cleaning products. Neron’s nose flared, hoping to detect stray. scents of who or what might be housed in this maze of a mansion, but he found none.

But Neron didn’t have time to admire the space because a violent tackle to the ground destroyed his train of thought. Two bodies collided onto the hard ground in a sea of struggle and restraint, grunting and yelling with the dangerous blade pointed above their heads. Lady Sanguine kneed Neron in the stomach and elbowed him in the nose, a nasty crack echoing in the air.

Don’t let her kill you! Fight back!

“Your life is mine!”

“Kiya, no!”

“Shut up!”

Stab. Unsheathe.

The first stab to the

to the shoulder unleashed lightning strikes of pain through Neron’s body, incinerating every pain receptor around the wound. The pointed tip of the blade soaked up the blood like a hungry monster, searching for more as it sliced through the flesh of Neron’s torso and chest. Teeth stained with red gritted against each other as another stab perforated his right bicep. Onyx’s howls, enhanced by the searing pain of both silver and wolfsbane, bombarded the inner chamber of Neron’s mind and bombarded his eardrums. His wolf writhed in pain while his eyes watched the insanity on the woman’s face grow each second, her manic laughter crackling through the air.

FIGHT BACK!

“Get off me!” Neron shouted, tossing Lady Sanguine off his body, where she landed on her back some feet away from him in a heap of giggles. The Alpha groaned and rolled to his side, coughing as a small pool formed. underneath his body. The pain was intolerable, reaching to the blurred edges of his vision. He grimaced as he gingerly pushed his body on his knees.

He didn’t scream. He didn’t cry. Showing weakness wasn’t an option.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?!” The woman cackled, her body unconsciously thrusting to the side as she grimaced, one

hand over her stomach. “There is no doctor here to patch your sorry ass up, just like there wasn’t to patch Kiya up!”

“I… know.” Neron squeaked as he watched his blood drip from his wound. Everything was coming in full circle; all Kiya had felt is what he is feeling now. He hissed with every inhale, his lungs drowning in the from the assault.

Don’t give up. Keep fighting.

Something dropped to the ground with a dull clank. Neron’s eyes went to the shining object resting upon smears of red–Kiya’s full–moon pendant. Promising himself that he would get it fixed, he kept it pocket. The cut Lady Sanguine made on his thigh severed the stitches of his pocket. Thus, the necklace slipped out. His hand, trembling, picked it up as his eyes watering at the dyed silver.

Kiya’s smile before their first date flashed in his mind–her pearly whites glittering under the lights of his home. For the first time, he made her smile. Then he remembered her forlorn expression the day she left his territory. She also wore it then. Pride and happiness bubbled in his chest whenever he spotted Kiya wearing this pendant.

Broken or not, it meant something to him. It meant something to her.

He couldn’t die without seeing Kiya wear it one last time,

You can do this.

Lady Sanguine groaned as she pushed herself back on her feet, glaring at the man staring at his hands. “Have you already accepted your fate?” Neron didn’t answer. “I’ll take your silence as a yes.”

The woman burst into a run toward the kneeling Alpha, bloodied blade raised to strike him in the neck. However, Neron shot up on his feet and grappled at her wrists, restraining her from executing him. Through the blood on his face, Lady Sanguine saw his scowl and the determination burning behind his eyes. A twist to the wrist forced the woman to drop her knife with a yelp, and the Alpha kicked it away from them.

She released a fierce snarl. “No! You won’t stop me! Black branched from the woman’s fingertips to her elbows, mapping out her veins underneath the snake emblem on her skin. The dark touch burned Neron’s palms, but he refused to let go. He refused to show his pain. “Release me, bastard!”

“I won’t, Kiya!” Neron shouted, grunting with effort as his arms began buckling under Lady Sanguine’s strength and powers. “I’ll never understand the full extent of how I hurt you, but I won’t walk away from yout You’re so much stronger than this, not because of what you went through, but because you’re a good persons”

“Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Lady Sanguine screeched, pulling her head back and slamming her forehead on Neron’s jaw, rewarded with a deep yelp. “I’m the better protector! I’m better than you, stronger than you, faster than you–everything! You don’t deserve her, at

A shot of pain interrupted her tirade, impaling through her stomach, dispersing to her ribcage and the apex of her thighs. A pained mew! rolled from her lips as sweat dripped from her temples, the agony forcing her knees to tremble. Breathing became harder and her thoughts scrambled like eggs. “No! She must… stop!”

Chapter

“Let me go!”

“I won’t!” Kiya strained, her arms looped under Lady Sanguine’s armpits. She pressed her back against her front, keeping her still while she wiggled like a worm trying to escape.

“You can’t do this to me!”

“I can, and I will!”

Lady Sanguine’s screams rocked the realm once again as she tried all means to escape her twin’s clutches, from stomping on her feet to hitting the back of her head against her jaw. But Kiya didn’t relent. It motivated her to tighten her hold.

“All I wanted was to protect you, Kiya! Why is that a fucking crime?!”

“Not in this way, Lady Sanguine.” The woman panted, her eyes filling with tears. “I told you I didn’t want this -all this death and killing, this isn’t me. You don’t need to protect me all the time!”

“Yes, I do! You would never be safe as long as they were alive! I did what I had to do to protect your heart!”

“I understand, Lady Sanguine, but…” Kiya grunted, and used the rest of her incredible strength to still the wiggling woman, pressing her face into the crook of her neck. Lady Sanguine froze. I don’t need continuous protection. Destroying the world won’t protect me. You should be angry at me.”

“W–Why?”

“Because I ran. I kept you in here… just like I did to Halima.” Hot tears burned on Lady Sanguine’s arm like acid. She winced and jerked, but her efforts were futile under her twin’s strength “Every time I felt angry, felt you, I kept it down. Swallowed it like water and moved on. I repressed you and kept burying you deeper inside of myself until I couldn’t feel you anymore. I hated you because I feared what I could do if you came o you can see, you’re pretty damn terrifying”

“Protect…” Lady Sanguine whimpered, resting her head on Kiya’s. “I just wanted to protect…”

“You did, but it has gone too far. You can’t hurt anymore people…”

“But… Neron….

“You’ve done enough damage on him. You made your mark, and it is time for you to rest

“I don’t… I don’t want to! Please, just let me kill him.”

“Stop, please!” Lady Sanguine felt a small bundle of warmth wrap around her legs. She looked down to see Halima latched on her like a koala, her puffy brown eyes gazing into her reds. “Lady Sanguine, please stop. We can’t do this anymore. We… I’m not happy. Osiris lied to us.”

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The trio collapsed to the ground as the woman in black wailed in frustration, pain, exhaustion, and melancholy. An endless trail of Let me kill him rolled out of her tear- stained lips while tremors from her sobbing shook her body. Artemis ran over and supported Kiya from the back by taking her in her arms, burying her nose in her ebony curls.

“1-1-1 just-!”

“It is time to stop.”

After a minute of crying, Lady Sanguine slumped over like a sack of potatoes. Her knife fell from her hand, in which Artemis kicked away. Her sniffles echoed through the empty space, tugging at Kiya’s heart strings when she raised her head to face her angry half.

“Am I evil?” She asked in a labored whisper. “Did I make you a bad person?”

“No.” Artemis spoke up, capturing everyone’s attention. “You didn’t do anything to make Kiya a bad person, Lady Sanguine. I believe…” She sighed. “… like me, you know Kiya deserves the world–peace, happiness, and more. You were reacting against her trauma and mistreatment.”

“Until Osiris came and messed everything up.” Halima mumbled, rubbing her small head against Lady Sanguine’s knee. “We can fix this, right?”

Kiya nodded slowly, eyes still glued to the irate woman. “I’ll do my best, but that is if you give me my body

back.”

Lady Sanguine wanted to argue more, but the weight of the world rested on top of her body, expelling her last breaths. With her eyes downcast, she nodded.

“It was fun while it lasted.”

Neron took every punch to the face. Every kick to the legs. Every headbutt to the chin. Blood continued to leak like rivers, but that didn’t stop him. Lady Sanguine screamed at him to let her go, but the Alpha tightened his hold. Not just to protect himself, but to show her he wouldn’t give up on her.

His hands burned under the radiation of her dark touch, skin splitting and blood staining bronze. His body cried for relief and his knees beckoned him to fall, but he remained standing. Despite being on the verge of fainting, Neron found peace.

“I won’t abandon you again, ever. Lady Sanguine or not.” Neron breathed, his lungs burning. “Please Kiya! Come back! I… I don’t want you to hurt, anymore. Come back… for all who love you.”

Lady Sanguine’s hard, noisy inhales and exhales echoed in the smoldering space between their bodies in rapid succession before quieting down to complete silence. She ceased struggling and stood still, eyes concealed in the shadow of her messy fringe. Neron held his breath, waiting for something to happen, readying himself for another attack. Or worse.

Instead, the woman collapsed to her knees, taking the battered Alpha with her upon the miniature pool of blood. Small whimpers escaped through tight, plump lips as her wrists weakly tried to escape his loosening grip.

“Lady Sanguine?”

She shook her head.

“…Kiya?”

Kiya raised her head, gradually, to meet Neron’s face, silent tears staining her cheeks. A sigh of relief left the

Chapter 10 – Survival Pt 2

Alpha as, once again, he peered into a pair of beautiful browns. All words stuck to the base of her throat, reluctant to escape. All Kiya could do was sigh and close her eyes as Neron’s palm caressed her cheek.

Both Neron and Onyx wanted to sing their praises, as if it weren’t for the hairs on the back of the

man’s neck sticking up in full salute. Crackles doused the air. Something was coming toward them, and it was coming fast. Without hesitation, ignoring his frail state, Neron gathered Kiya in his arms, pressing her face into his shoulder.

“I got you.”

A door stood some distance from him, but he wouldn’t make it, given his state. So, like any many, he opted to leaping through the nearest window, barely avoiding contact with a crackling strip of dark energy following him.

A roar of utter fury shook the castle.

He had angered the snake.