Chapter 4

Crescent’s Pov

My eyes scanned around the crowd anything to avoid looking back at him. relief washing through me the second I spot Aaron, standing among the rest of the servants, he must have felt my gaze, because the minute he noticed me, he smiled, his usual carefree smile that felt familiar – comforting.

But Aaron’s smiles did nothing to ease the tension that was in the air. Not when Lycan Prince Anton’s enigmatic presence loomed in the arena.

 A guard rushed out, sword in hand charging at full speed at the Lycan Prince, who looked like he was bored of gracing us with his presence.

Just one fucking question, who is this fool running towards death?

I blinked.

The smell of blood filled the air; it was so thick that I could almost taste it in my mouth. The Lycan prince Anton Storm stood over the body of the dead soldier, his fingers dripping with blood as he looked around the arena.

The crime? He had tried to escape from his duty post. And maybe the fact that he had charged towards him with a sword. Trivial things, easily forgiven. But Anton didn’t think so.

No one said a word, other than the rest of the guards, who rushed in to pick up the weapon of their fallen brother. Something tugged at the back of my mind, the guard must have had families, a life, hopes and dreams. 

But dead men don’t dream dreams. He was gone.

I bit my cheeks, holding back the whimper that threatened to break out. I knew the face, it wasn’t hard to forget the face of the man who had dug his nail into my skin and just to prove his dominance had slammed his foot into my leg, making sure that my knee smashed hard against the cold, hard ground.

That had been a week ago.

Lycan prince Anton dropped the guard’s heart, his face scrunched in disgust as if he had stepped on a dirty rag. I quickly wiped the tear that had betrayed me and rolled down my cheeks.

 In a way, I couldn’t help but wonder if my mother’s killers had been merciful when they killed her. 

That was just a wishful thinking. In this world of ours, when your heart is at the tip of the sword, all you can hope for is a quick death.

“You,” he spat, his visceral voice snapping me out of my dazed state. “Clean this up!” he barked walking out of the arena.

Trying was over. He always finds me no matter how hard I try to make myself invisible. He always knows the scent of my fear – or maybe my truth. 

Anton doesn’t tell, he acts, pushes you to your limits. It has been just maybe over a month since he trapped me in the dark room.

But today, just as he is transfixed on me. I find myself fighting with logic, trying to break through this curse that looms over my head. It seems like I am curious.

Each man back to his duty, the blood of the dead man long forgotten. My feet moved right before my mind could register. I knew what it meant to breathe the wrong way in defiance. The memories of how long I had been locked in the dark room ran through my mind.

My fingers were shaky as I picked up the brush, walking towards the blood-stained ground with a thrumming heart. “Tell them I fought,” a voice whispered.

I gasped, my eyes searching around, looking for whose they belonged to.  It sounded familiar, like the gruff voice of the guard. I shook my head, “He has just been killed, Cory. Blood doesn’t talk.”

The ground trembled as my fingers grazed it, a sharp jolt surging through my veins, “Get out now, run far, Crescent. This land is only going to ruin you. Run!”

A startled scream broke out of me as I jumped away from the soiled ground. This wasn’t some dump trick; the blood had whispered words in my ears.  

My cheeks were flushed as I looked around the arena; my scream had attracted attention, and the few men that lingered stared at me as if I had lost my mind.

“Scared of a little blood?” one jeered, causing the rest to laugh at the joke that wasn’t funny in the slightest bit.

I shuffled closer to the spot, hands trembling as I reached over to the detached heart. Silence. Like I hadn’t heard the voice a few seconds ago.

“I must be losing my mind.” I whispered under my breath. Cleaning the blood stains as I waited for someone to claim his body.

His body hadn’t moved, the gaping hole in his chest still wide. It was his voice; I had heard him clearly. He said my name, Crscent, not Cory. Crescent died the night my mother died. The name Crescent had led evil to our front door. That was the person he had called out.

A sharp pain tugged at the back of my mind, an image slicing through my vision, the black journal, a page had turned, the words written in bold letters.

 “STORM BRINGER, HOME OR DEATH?”

It was my mother’s handwriting, the curve in her ‘R’ reminded me of memories I wished stayed locked up.

“What are you waiting for? Hoping that he would walk home?” a guard growled, glaring at me like I was disturbing the peace he had.

The fog cleared, my eyes unfocused as I licked my dry lips, unsure of what I was meant to say, “isn’t his family coming to take him for a proper burial?” 

The arena went quiet, the silence suddenly broken by the sound of loud laughter. “When the Lycan king claims a soul, even the Moon goddess knows better than to fight for it.”

“He is food for the crows,” one muttered with a slight head shake. With that, they walked away, barely looking back at someone who was once a partner.

I knelt beside the body, fingers trembling as I touched his hand, the hands that had caused me pain. Now they lay still – cold. “May the stars guide you home.” I whispered, shutting his eyes, hoping he wouldn’t remember his pain on the other side.

For a brief second, it felt like I could see through his memories, “We just have to make it past the border, we will be safe," this was the last promise he had made to his mate, her smiles made me feel warm and when she raised her hand to touch his face, I could feel the ghost of her fingers tracing through my face.

“You know you are really weird right?” Aaron hissed, placing his hand on my shoulder to alert me of his presence.

“Goddess!” I hissed; my hand placed on my chest as I stared at the unapologetic intruder. “Do you need a bell around your neck or something?”

He chuckled, “coming from the boy that is leaning over a dead man’s body.”

I wanted to tell him. 

Wanted to say that I heard his voice in my head, that I felt his mate’s touch on my face. But I also knew how crazy that would sound. 

Dead men don’t tell tales. 

“His eyes were open,” I said, in lack of a better thing to say. Aaron might be my friend, but in the Stormbringer pack, friends and foes all looked alike.

He smiled, a soft smile that hinted pity, “Sometimes I wonder how you found yourself in this mess-up place.” he paused. “But we are all messed up, aren’t we?” 

I let out a stiff chuckle, “We are,” but you are yet to know just how messed up I am. “Come on, you have to help me.” I said, grabbing the man’s arms.

He frowned, “What are you planning to do?” 

“If we are fast enough, we can bury him and return just in time for dinner.” I said.

He looked unsure, his head shaking slowly like he was trying to warn me of the bad idea that I was making. “Cory…”

“Please,” I muttered, my voice cracking slowly. “Won’t you like to know that if you die, someone would care enough not to leave you to the crows?” 

“Fine,” he grunted, picking up his legs as we tried to haul the huge man. “But if the lycan prince hears of this…”

“I will lay my life to save yours,” I quickly said. 

My mother would scream if she heard me say that. I was doing it again, letting the soft side of me believe that I could have friends. “Hadn’t Jonathan taught you enough?”

In the shadows, a few meters away from the arena, my eyes met large golden orbs. Lycan prince Anton was staring at us, watching me break his command.

“Move faster,” Aaron’s voice strained against the weight, unaware of the eyes that followed us in the shadows.

Something about his eyes scared me; they weren’t angry. He was curious. I had gotten his attention.

The air felt tense, and he slowly made his presence known, “Thoughtful, leaving the crows hungry?” his voice sliced through the air like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on us. Aaron froze, his eyes wide with fear.

I wanted the ground to open so that I could crawl into it and hide. But his eyes, I knew that they would have sought me out, no matter how far I thought I could dig.

“You should have listened to him?” he said in a cold tone.

Guards surrounded us, tearing us from the dead body.

“Run!” This time, the voice was louder.