Nobela ni Ozzy Man Solace

CHAPTER 104: The Patient ManGareth’s POV“Leave the tray on the desk,” I told the young servant standing in the doorway of my private study. “Close the door behind you.”“Yes, Councilman,” the boy replied, bowing quickly before retreating into the hallway.I poured hot water from the silver kettle into my porcelain cup, watching the fragrant steam drift over the rims of my reading glasses. Picking up Lila’s printed casualty report, I scanned the numbers. My heart rate remained perfectly steady.Fear is a useless luxury for a man playing a game of centuries. I refused to let a minor setback ruin my evening tea.I had lost the Hollow Chapel rite tonight for one simple reason. Declan succumbed to a tragic bout of sentimentality at the altar. The boy chose his brother over the crown. I held Jasmine’s magical lock responsible for the rest of the failure, but the core issue had always been the Frostvale bloodline.They were soft.For forty years, I had methodically dismantled this kingdom’

CHAPTER 103: The Left HandIlyana's POVI dropped to my knees beside the dead archivist, letting out a long breath as the metallic smell of blood pooling on the floorboards filled my nostrils. Atlas stood right behind me, his jaw locked tight. Corwin hovered near the door, waiting for an execution order. Queen Victoria remained pressed against the far wall, staring at the white access card clutched in the dead man’s hand as if it were a live grenade.I leaned forward to study the corpse. Black veins traced a violent path up his neck, mapping the exact route the synthetic venom had taken to shut down his nervous system.“Everyone needs to use their brains for a second,” I said, gesturing toward the archivist’s right hand resting near the keyboard. “Look at his index finger.”Atlas stepped closer, following my gaze. A fresh smear of blue pen ink coated the man’s right index finger and thumb, matching the handwritten edits on the audio transcripts scattered across his desk.“He was righ

CHAPTER 102: The Stitched KingSara's POVI sat in the wooden chair at the base of the dais, wrapping my arms tightly around my stomach. Thick bandages bound my crushed legs, while the quiet absence of my wolf left a constant, dull ache in my chest.Kolt held the burner phone high above his head. The deep, authoritative voice repeated its command for Boyce to kill the Queen.Kolt drew a tactical blade from his belt and took a slow step toward me, clearly intending to eliminate the loose ends. Boyce's knuckles turned white around the hilt of his dagger, the sharp metal pressing against Queen Victoria's throat.I had spent my entire girlhood memorizing King Lucien's public speeches. I studied his cadence, vocabulary and the distinct rhythm of his voice, desperate to mold myself into a Luna worthy of a royal court.Now, as I listened to the pause echoing from the phone speaker, something felt fundamentally wrong. The spacing was mechanical, lacking any trace of natural breath.“Boyce,” I

CHAPTER 101: The Voice and the CrownDeclan's POVPitch-black darkness swallowed us whole. The candles died without even a flicker, leaving the ruined sanctuary in complete darkness. The only illumination came from the infant. Jasmine’s tiny wrist glowed like a beacon, the crescent moon mark now rimmed in a vicious, bleeding red.I looked down at my arms and watched the black veins halt just below my collarbone. The venom burned through my chest, twisting my nerves into knots, but it refused to climb any higher toward my neck.It tickled, honestly. A minor inconvenience for superior genetics. I was built for endurance and a little poison wasn't going to break me.Ilyana dropped to her knees beside the altar. Ignoring the blood staining the stone floor, she placed her palm over the baby's glowing wrist. She whispered the guardian words she had memorized from her mother's hidden letter, her voice steady despite the chaos surrounding us.The shadows recoiled at the sound of the ancient s

CHAPTER 100: The Firstborn's ChoiceAtlas's POVI stayed on my knees, staring at the wet blood coating my fingers. The wolf inside my skull clawed at the edges of my mind, desperate to drag me back into mindless violence, but the sight of Ilyana's torn shirt anchored me to the stone floor. Declan crouched a few feet away, his palm sealed to the glowing altar, watching me battle my own beast.“He burned the northern line to hide me,” Declan stated, tracing the ancient carvings on the stone table with his free hand. “My mother, Nerissa, fled the palace with a firstborn son the pack was never allowed to know. King Lucien hunted her to the borders and slaughtered half my adoptive family just to ensure his perfect royal image remained intact. He built his legacy on my mother's grave.”I rubbed my bloody hands against my dark trousers before finally looking up at the man I'd spent my life fighting.“My father was a murderer long before his death, Declan. He poisoned his rivals and lied to h

CHAPTER 99: The Stone SpeaksIlyana’s POVAtlas tore through the last northern guard and dropped the broken body onto the floor before turning his attention to the next available target. His head snapped in my direction. The feral red in his eyes burned bright and recognized nothing.The silver collar squeezed my throat. The metal blocked my wolf and buried my alpha command under a wall of static. I could not shift and I could not run. I just squared my shoulders and prepared to take the hit. Having my husband murder me in a forgotten church was not on my schedule for the week, but the universe rarely cared about my plans.Declan stepped out of the shadows. The northern leader walked right past his slaughtered men and snatched a small silver key from Ivar’s belt. He marched up to me, shoved the key into the lock on my collar and twisted his wrist. The mechanism clicked open. Declan ripped the metal off my neck and tossed it aside. He did not look at me and he did not say a single wor

CHAPTER 32: Three Steps ForwardElodie's POVA few days after the accident the hospital sounds had become familiar. The beeping, the soft shuffle of nurses in the hallway and the distant roll of a cart. The pain was still there but it no longer swallowed everything the way it had right after surgery. I could bend my fingers more easily now and could sit a little higher against the pillows without the room spinning. Food stayed down and I stayed awake longer before exhaustion pulled me under again.A physical therapist arrived mid-morning with a calm smile and a clipboard.“Ms. Moreau, we need to start gentle work today. Nothing dramatic, it's just getting the body used to moving again.”I nodded, though my stomach tightened. The doctor had said the first forty-eight hours were critical. Those had passed but now came the part I both wanted and dreaded.“We’ll start simple,” she said. “Sit on the edge of the bed first. Use your arms. Don’t rush the leg.”Sitting already made my leg t

CHAPTER 31: Cracks in the CurtainRebecca's POVI left Metro General with my shoulders tight and my mind still stuck on the doctor’s voice. Elodie had survived and was awake but the rest of the news sat heavily in my chest. The doctor gave no clear timeline or a promise about the stage. Only careful words about rehabilitation and the next forty-eight hours.I bought a coffee on the way out and barely tasted it. In the taxi I stared out the window while the city moved past in a blur. Every conversation I had ever had with Elodie about pushing through pain replayed in my head. The way she brushed off fatigue to the way she insisted she was fine even when her focus slipped. I should have stopped her the last time she left the studio looking exhausted. Now all I could do was hold the production together long enough for her to come back.The driver glanced at me in the mirror once but said nothing. I was grateful for the quiet.When I walked into Lincoln Center the air felt different. C

CHAPTER 30: First LightElodie's POVThe beeping came first. It was steady and sharp. Then came the ache running through my body in dull waves and settling deepest in my leg. .I opened my eyes slowly and saw a white ceiling, mild lightning and machines beside the bed. Bandages held me in place and for a moment I didn’t know where I was.I tried to move my foot but pain shot up my leg so hard I sucked in a breath. My fingers twitched against the sheet as something cold pressed against my arm. It was an IV. The strong smell of antiseptic, ozed in the air.Then the headlights returned in my mind. For a brief moment, I heard the screech of tires, the impact and everything after that stayed blank.A doctor stepped in with a nurse beside him. He checked the monitors then looked at me.“Ms. Moreau, you’re awake. That’s good. How’s the pain on a scale of one to ten?”My voice came out rough. “Seven. Maybe eight. What happened to me?”“You were hit by a vehicle. The emergency surgery was su

CHAPTER 29: Soft Notes and Quiet LiesReese's POVI left the office later than I meant to. The lobby was almost empty when I finally came out and a security guard nodded as I passed. Outside, the city lights blurred a little from fatigue. I didn’t feel like explaining myself to Betty over the phone. I was too tired for pleading or long excuses and I quickly figured a gift would smooth things over faster.I stopped at a high-end jewelry store near the avenue. The place still had its lights on and soft music played inside. A clerk in a dark suit looked up as I walked in and immediately straightened. He tried to compose himself but I noticed how tired and exhausted he looked. “Good evening, sir. Looking for anything specific tonight?”“yes, diamond earrings. I need something elegant and not too large but of the highest quality.”He smiled professionally and led me to a glass case. “Of course. We have several new pieces sir. May I ask the occasion?”“Just something for my fiancée.”“Un

CHAPTER 28: Quiet PlansBetty's POVI left Bennett Technologies with a smile still on my face. Reese had actually smiled today. It was faint and brief but it was real. I held onto that as I walked to the car. The afternoon light felt a little softer because of it. Once the product launch was over, things between us would settle. That I was sure of.He just needed the pressure to ease. The long hours, the closed-door meetings and the constant tension in his shoulders, those would pass. Then we could go back to the way things were supposed to be if also he forgot about that goddamn ballerina he was talking about. The thought of the ballerina woman made me shake. What if he remembered her eventually? What if Reese has been seeing her? What was going to happen to me? No. I wasn't going to let that happen. Reese is mine and I wasn't going to let some woman, who's job was jumping in some colorful panties to rob me off.Never. I had to do something.The drive to the foundation took longe

CHAPTER 27: Unsettled EchoesReese's POVI blinked, realizing the words had left my mouth out loud.Betty looked at me, still holding the coffee cup. “What did you just say?” she asked, staring at me with wide and scared eyes. I straightened in the chair and forced a casual tone. “Nothing important. I passed an accident last night on the way home. A young woman got hit by a car. I don’t know why but I’ve been wondering if she survived.”Betty’s expression softened as she set the cup down and gave me a warm smile.“You’re always softer than you like to admit, you know that? Maybe you should have become a doctor instead of a CEO with all that quiet concern.”I managed a faint smile. “Not likely sweetheart. I hate hospitals.”She laughed lightly and leaned against the desk. “Still it’s nice to see that side of you. You hide it so well most days and sometimes I forget it’s even there.”“I didn’t mean to bring it up.”“I’m glad you did.” She reached over and brushed a speck of lint from