Chapter 68
We were cut off from our stare of by Emanuel’s torturous scream and I watched him trying to bend his arm in an unnatural position to reach the knife. He was a short moment away from dislocating it and everyone watched like it was some sick game.
“Help him!” Iliana screamed. The tears and snot ran down her face and her legs could barely hold her up any longer.
“You have ten seconds,” Darian said and began counting down.
“Darian,” I begged.
“Nine,”
“Please, tell me what to do and I’ll do it,” I promised.
He fixed his hand on Iliana’s head and her cries filled the ballroom like it was the music to which the guests would later dance.
“Eight,”
“Don’t do this,”
“Seven,”
“No!” Iliana cried out. “This is your fault, you did this,” she said. Her words were barely audible through the sobbing but they entered my ears like acid.
“I didn’t,” I said quietly and shook my head.
“Five,”
Fuck it.
I walked over and bent to grab the knife when a guard intercepted and yanked my hand away.
“Darian I swear on the gods!”
“Those gods that you cherish so highly, aren’t they the reason for all of this? Isn’t it the god’s way? Fate they call it. I’m not the forger of pain, puppet, I’m just the wielder of its power.”
Iliana’s cries stopped and her eyes widened dangerously when he tightened his arm around her neck and cut off her air.
Another guard walked up to Emanuel and removed the knife before plunging it into his side and his screams filled the ballroom, mixing with the earlier cries from his mate who now couldn’t breathe.
“Stop it!” I screamed and felt the tears burning paths on my cheeks.
I fought to break free from the guard’s hold but he grabbed both my wrists and locked them behind my back.
“Time is up,” Darian called.
I pulled from the guard, kicked his legs, and screamed for that menace to let her go but he fixed his grip while his guard removed the knife from Emanuel’s side and grabbed a handful of his hair. He pulled Emanuel’s head back and held the knife against his throat.
“NO!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
My skin was burning and my vision grew blurry and dotted.
“Don’t you dare! Leave them alone, please!” I cried.
Why wasn’t anyone doing anything?
1/2
Chapter 68
Iliana’s screams were the first to fill this room and then Emanuel’s. I stood screaming louder than I thought possible, my voice rang in my ears and I begged like I hadn’t begged before. And nothing. No reactions from anyone and nobody jumped in to help. The council members had power, almost as much as Darian, they could stop this but they chose not to.
The guard pressed the knife into Emanuel’s throat and with a defeated breath he called out his last words.
“I love you,” he said and a last tear fell from Iliana’s eye.
“No! Darian, please! I’m begging you!” My throat ached as though nails were being dragged against my skin with each word and then finally, after having tried for what felt like an eternity to get his attention, Darian locked his eyes on mine; dark and deep, glinting like the night sky.
Darian lowered his face and pressed a kiss to Iliana’s head before he opened his hands and she dropped to her knees in front of Emanuel. He took one step, pushed his chest out, and lifted his hands to his sides for show.
“And so she screams.” he mused victoriously and it felt like the air was punched from my lungs.
The Alpha’s Hunt
