Chapter 165
The cold hit me first when I stumbled into the cell. Then the pain.
Kaelos flung me into the cell so hard that my knees scraped against the uneven ground, and I barely had time to catch myself before the cell door slammed shut behind me.
The echoing clang tore through the silence like thunder, sealing me in.
“Kaelos,” I gasped with a cracked voice, spinning my head around.
He stood just outside the bars, his silver eyes unreadable in the dim torchlights that draped an ominous light. The guards behind him kept their heads low, almost as if afraid to look at either of us.
“Please… I didn’t kiss him,” I said with a whisper, my fingers curling around the cold bars. “I didn’t cheat on you. I don’t know how that video even happened.”
However, he didn’t flinch. He didn’t even blink. He just stood there silently, his eyes scrutinizing me for what felt like an eternity.
I was forced to lower my head, overwhelmed with embarrassment and his emotions again. Until…
“That’s not the main issue here, Odessa.” He said at last.
My breath hitched as I raised my head and met his gaze again. But I didn’t find the mercy I was hoping to see in his eyes.
Then his next words came, cutting at me like a blade.
“And it doesn’t matter.” He remarked.
I stared at him, blinking as the air in my lungs froze.
“The entire continent saw what you are tonight, Odessa,” He said plainly. “A Hybrid. And whether you meant to or not… You brought destruction with you.”
“I didn’t I let out with a choked-out voice. “It all started with Celine holding me back with those guards. And then Lucinda tried to attack me. You saw it yourself, Kaelos. Why—”
“They won’t care,” He interrupted bluntly, his eyes going away from me briefly. “Opposition will rise. Some are already calling for your execution. Others like Lucinda want you sent back to the witches for judgment.” Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on (.)net
My hands slipped slowly from the bars. My heart fell to my stomach as my eyes quivered with despair.
“And what do you want?” I asked quietly. “Do you believe I betrayed you?”
His eyes glinted with something for the first time. Not with anger. Not with pity. Just… something I couldn’t quite place my finger on.
“It doesn’t matter what I believe,” He muttered, his voice firm. “What matters is what comes next. And whatever I choose… Will decide your fate.”
He turned without another word, walking away and leaving me in the darkness of the dungeon.
Just like that.
I watched his back as he walked away, his shadow looming over me before slowly receding. The torch lights flickered, and then he disappeared into the dark.
The moment he was gone, something broke inside me.
I collapsed onto the stone floor again with a strangled cry, clutching the remnants of his suit still wrapped around me. The fabric smelled like him. It was still warm from his body.
But it felt like a stranger’s coat now. Like a memory of someone I wasn’t allowed to miss.
Hot tears poured from my eyes, streaming down my face in an endless waterfall of grief and despair.
“I didn’t do it… I didn’t do it I whispered over and over, as if I could compel the world to believe me with the sound of my voice.
’Odessa.’ A voice murmured inside my head, gentle and familiar.
Sirena.
’Don’t fall apart now, love. You must hold on. I’m still here.’
I buried my face in my hands. Her presence was soothing, but it couldn’t mend the gaping wound left by Kaelos’ coldness.
“I tried, Sirena. I did everything right… Didn’t I? I kept my head down. I stayed away from the witches. I wore the damn dress. I smiled. I danced. And still
I paused, sniffling.
Still, they turned on me.
Even after all that, I ended up here.
A chill passed through me, and I clutched Kaelos’ coat tighter. But even as I curled up on the dungeon floor, my mind started spinning.
The night had spiraled too fast. Something wasn’t right.
“The goth witch My lips formed the words before I realized I was speaking them aloud.
The mysterious woman I bumped into.
At the time, I thought nothing of it, brushing it off as a clumsy accident with a weird-looking witch. But then again… something wasn’t right about her.
Then there were Celine’s magical earrings. Who could’ve been communicating with her through them?
Could it be the person who made that fake video of Marcellus and me? Could the culprit in question be that mysterious woman? Was that why she had smiled at me weirdly?
My stomach twisted the more I thought about all of this.
Someone had definitely helped Celine to orchestrate this plan to the very last detail.
Someone who either also wanted the world to see what I was… or was doing it merely for fun.
But it didn’t matter.
Because the truth meant nothing if no one would believe it.
I laughed bitterly, shaking my head at my situation.
No one would believe me. Not Kaelos. Definitely not the Alpha council. Not the witches or the wolves. To them, I was the unstable half-breed who kissed her husband’s Beta and destroyed their grand monument, killing people while at it.
“No one will believe me I repeated out loud with a whisper, using the back of my hand to wipe at my already swollen eyes.
I subconsciously stretched out my right hand, struggling to connect with my magic again. It was faint after the explosion of fire magic, but it was still there.
All I needed to do was reach out deeper and…
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out, startling me and forcing me to withdraw my hand to myself.
“I believe you.”
I raised my head instantly.
A tall figure stepped into view from the darkness, her silver-streaked hair braided down one shoulder, her white robe glinting faintly in the firelight.
Elder Davina.
My mouth fell open when I saw her, but she didn’t say anything else. She just scrutinized me with steady eyes, filled with an emotion that confused me.
Hope.