Chapter 75
Chapter 75
Chapter 75
I take three more steps before my body finally betrays me.
Not because I’m weak.
Because the air shifts.
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Someone ahead of me is standing too still for a room this loud. Too solid. Like the chaos hits him and just…
stops.
My vision swims. Tears, adrenaline, the leftover burn of humiliation sitting hot behind my eyes. I blink hard, drag in a breath that tastes like rain and perfume and fear.
Then everything sharpens.
Alaric.
He’s a few yards ahead, right in the center of the corridor, posture locked tight like a drawn bow. Shoulders squared. Jaw set. His eyes are lit up–not confused, not questioning.
Furious.
Not loud fury. Not explosive.
The kind that calculates how much damage it’s allowed to do before the world starts screaming back.
Cassian stands just behind him, a shadow with a pulse. Watchful. Ready. I barely register him.
All I can see is Alaric.
For half a second, something in his gaze softens when it catches mine. Not relief. Not reassurance.
Acknowledgment.
Then it freezes over.
He moves.
He doesn’t look at me again. Doesn’t speak. Doesn’t slow.
passes me like I’m smoke.
The crowd gasps as one, a sharp intake that ripples down the corridor. I turn, heart slamming, just in time to see him reach Ariel.
It happens fast.
One moment she’s crumpled in Wade’s arms, trembling, saintly, fragile as spun glass.
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Chapter 75
The next. Alaric’s hand is in her hair
Not gentle.
Not theatrical.
Firm. Absolute.
He wrenches her back, pivots, and drives her toward the open window in one clean, brutal motion. The wind screams through the corridor, rain slashing sideways, cold and violent. The storm smells sharp and metallic, like it’s waiting.
Positions reverse in a blink.
Ariel is over the edge.
Her back hits the stone frame hard enough to knock the breath from her. Alaric’s grip is iron at her throat and shoulder, his arm braced, his stance wide and immovable.
If he lets go, she’s gone.
No railing. No safety. Just black sky and rain and a long, ugly drop.
Her scream rips out of her.
It’s not soft anymore. Not holy. Not curated.
It’s raw. High. Cracking with real terror.
“HELP!” She claws at his arm, nails scraping skin, curses spilling out between sobs. “YOU CAN’T—! PLEASE
–! I’LL FALL p>
Yeah.
That’s the point.
Wade lunges forward, panic detonating across his face. “ALARIC! STOP-! LET HER GO p>
Alaric doesn’t look at him.
He looks at Ariel.
Tilts his head slightly, like he’s assessing weight.
“Should I?” he asks calmly.
Not loud.
Not angry.
Just… curious.
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Chapter 75
The way someone asks before pulling a trigger.
He shifts his grip a fraction.
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Ariel shrieks, a sound so sharp it makes my teeth ache. Her hands scramble uselessly against his arm, her legs kicking air, skirts plastered to her thighs by rain.
“I’M SORRY-! I’M SORRY-! PLEASE p>
The crowd explodes.
Shouts overlap. Someone yells the word King. Someone else says saintess like it might save her. No one steps forward.
No one is stupid enough.
My body moves before my brain signs off on it.
I surge toward them.
Because of course I do.
Because somehow, every disaster still feels like it’s my job to stop it before it turns permanent.
“Sorin p>
Cassian catches me mid–step.
His hand clamps around my arm, solid and unyielding, hauling me back like I weigh nothing. I whirl on him, fury snapping hot and immediate.
“Let
go
of me,” I snap. “What the fuck are you doing p>
He doesn’t raise his voice. Doesn’t flinch.
“Preventing you from ruining this,” he says evenly.
I stare at him like he’s lost his damn mind. “He’s going to kill her p>
Cassian’s eyes flick to the window. To Ariel. To Alaric.
Then back to me.
“Maybe,” he says. “That’s the point p>
My breath stutters.
I twist back toward the window.
Ariel is full–on sobbing now. Not the pretty kind. Wind rips the tears straight off her face, smearing everything raw and red, her expression twisted into something desperate and unrecognizable. Whatever
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Chapter 75
saintly mask she wore carlier is gone. This is just fear. Pure, ugly survival.
Wade’s voice cracks as he shouts again, panic clawing its way out of him. “Please–Your Highness, put her down! She’s pregnant p>
Mine.
The word lands wrong. Heavy. Sour. Like something dropped where it doesn’t belong.
Alaric finally turns his head.
Slow. Intentional. The kind of movement that makes the air feel tighter.
He looks at Wade the way someone looks at gum stuck to their shoe–annoyed, unimpressed, already deciding how to scrape it off.
“Say that again,” Alaric says.
The corridor stills.
Rain batters the stone outside. Wind claws through the open window, tugging at sleeves, hair, nerves. My pulse thuds so hard it’s almost embarrassing.
“She’s–she’s carrying my child,” Wade stammers. “She didn’t mean p>
Alaric exhales through his nose, short and sharp, like he’s done listening.
“I don’t give a shit who you fucked,” he says quietly. “What I care about is that she laid hands on Sorin p>
The name lands heavier than any
title.
Ariel chokes out, “I didn’t hurt her! She tried to p>
“You probably deserved it.” Alaric mutters. What? Is that really his defense right now?
Alaric’s mouth curves, barely. Not a smile. “Amazing how everyone’s innocent once things catch fire.” His voice drops. “You lit the match. That’s where the story ends p>
Wade doesn’t move. He looks like he’s just realized how badly he miscalculated.
Alaric doesn’t raise his voice. He doesn’t need to.
“No one touches her,” he continues, eyes never leaving Ariel. “Not here. Not ever. And if she dies from what you did-” His jaw tightens. “There won’t be a place you can hide where I won’t find you p>
“Especially not someone who tried to burn my mate alive in front of half the fucking court p>
Wade doesn’t move. Doesn’t breathe.
The word slices through the crowd. Any whispers that spark up die instantly, like they’re afraid of being
overheard.
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Chapter 75
Ariel’s head snaps up, eyes blown wide with terror. “That’s not! I didn’t p>
Alaric loosens his grip another fraction.
She screams again, hysterical, incoherent.
“Careful,” he murmurs to her. “You’re slipping p>
My stomach drops.
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I press my free hand to Cassian’s chest without realizing it, fingers curling into his jacket. He doesn’t move. Doesn’t stop me. Just stays anchored.
Wade takes a step forward, desperation bleeding through his anger. “Alaric, listen to me. This is between me and Sorin. You don’t get to p>
Alaric smiles.
It’s not nice.
It’s not warm.
It’s the kind of smile that doesn’t promise anything good. The kind you see right before someone makes a decision they’re not going to walk back from.
Alaric exhales, almost bored. “You know what happens,” he says quietly, “when people get confused about where they stand p>
His eyes flick to Wade first. Then Ariel.
“Both of you seem real confused p>
The silence stretches. Thick. Pressurized. My ears ring, my skin prickling like my body knows this moment could tip either way and hurt no matter how it lands.
Ariel breaks first, dissolving into ugly, panicked sobs. “Sorin–please–tell him to stop p>
She looks at me then.
Really looks.
Not like an enemy. Not like a rival.
Like someone drowning who just spotted a piece of driftwood.
As a lifeline. And fuck me, that almost works.
My mouth opens.
Cassian’s hand tightens around my wrist–not restraining, just anchoring. A reminder. You’re not alone. You don’t have to do this again.
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Chapter 75
I swallow.
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Because if I step in now, if I save her, this doesn’t end. It just mutates. She becomes the fragile one. I become the problem. Again.
And I am so fucking done bleeding so other people can pretend they’re clean.
Alaric’s gaze snaps to me, sharp and assessing.
I don’t nod.
I don’t shake my head.
I just hold his eyes and let him see how empty I feel about it.
That’s enough.
He turns back to Wade, voice dropping low–casual, almost conversational. The kind that crawls under your skin because it doesn’t need to be loud.
“You brought accusations into my hall,” Alaric says. “You stood there while she went after Sorin. You watched it happen p>
He tilts his head slightly. “And now you’re panicking because things stopped going your way p>
Ariel lets out a broken sound.
Alaric ignores it completely.
“You don’t get to touch her,” he continues, tone flat. “You don’t get to speak for her. And you definitely don’t get to hide behind excuses when she’s the one who paid for it p>
He steps closer to the edge.
Ariel whimpers.
“And now,” Alaric adds, almost mildly, “you’re going to stand there and learn what it feels like when I stop being patient p>
Wade’s face drains of color. “You can’t–No p>
“Oh,” Alaric says. “I can p>
The wind surges.
Ariel slips.
Just a little.
Enough that her scream rips through the corridor like shattered glass.
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Chapter 75
I suck in a breath.
The world holds as she slowly slips.
Shit!
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