جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 50

DAISY'S POVI reached the old cemetery just as the blood moon hit its highest point in the sky. The whole world was bathed in red light, and I could feel dark magic thick in the air like smoke.The cemetery was old - older than the town, older than my father's castle. The headstones were worn smooth by centuries of weather, and most of the names had been erased by time.As I crept between the headstones, trying to stay hidden while I figured out what was happening, I began to notice things that made my skin crawl. The symbols carved into some of the stones weren't Christian crosses or normal cemetery decorations. They were the same dark symbols I had seen in my father's box. This was a supernatural cemetery - a place where vampires and werewolves and other creatures had been buried for hundreds of years.And right in the center of it all, I found what I was looking for.Noah was chained to a large stone altar, his shirt torn off and his chest covered in cuts that spelled out symbols I

LUCIEN'S POVI watched the ground crack and split as something massive began to push its way up from the depths below. The red light was getting brighter, and I could feel ancient power washing over us in waves. This was much worse than I had expected.But even as fear filled my chest, I couldn't help but smile. Everything was going exactly as I had planned.You see, when I killed Klaudius, I had one simple goal - to take his place as the vampire lord and marry his daughter. It was the perfect plan. Kill the king, marry the princess, rule the kingdom. But in all the chaos of the fight, I had forgotten about the most important part.The crown and staff.Every vampire lord needs the symbols of power to truly rule. Without them, I was just another vampire who had killed his way to the top. The other vampire lords would never accept me as their king without proof that I had the right to rule.By the time I remembered to go look for them, they were gone. I searched Klaudius's castle from t

LUCIEN POV "What?" she asked."It's about your father," I said. "About Klaudius. I didn't kill him in a fair fight."Daisy and Noah both stared at me."What do you mean?" Daisy asked quietly."I mean I had help," I said. "The ancient ones. They spoke to me in dreams, told me how to find Klaudius's weaknesses, told me when he would be most vulnerable. They wanted him dead because he had promised to free them but hadn't kept his word."This was partially true - the ancient ones had mentioned that Klaudius had made promises to them. But they hadn't helped me kill him. I was just using the truth to create a more convincing lie."So you're working with them," Noah said, his voice filled with disgust."I was," I said. "But I didn't know what they really were. I thought they were just older, more powerful vampires who wanted revenge on Klaudius. I didn't know they wanted to destroy the world.""And now?" Daisy asked."Now I want to stop them," I said. "But they're expecting me to bring you

LUCIEN'S POV "I was going to," I lied. "But then all this happened with the ancient ones, and I didn't want to distract her."Noah was quiet for a long moment, thinking about everything I had told him."So if we find Daisy's mother," he said finally, "she can tell us where the crown is hidden.""Right.""And with the crown, we can open a portal to wherever the ancient ones took Daisy.""Right.""And you know how to find Daisy's mother."I nodded. "I know the ritual. It's complicated, and it requires ingredients that are hard to find, but I can do it."This was all complete nonsense, of course. Daisy's mother was dead, just like everyone thought. I had no idea how to find her because there was nothing to find. But I needed Noah to believe that I was his only hope of saving Daisy."What ingredients?" Noah asked."Blood from a werewolf who truly loves the hybrid," I said. "Hair from the hybrid's father. And a piece of jewelry that belonged to the hybrid's mother.""I can give you the bl

LUCIEN'S POV Laughter. Cold, ancient laughter coming from somewhere outside the castle."Too late," a voice called through the stone walls. "We already have what we came for."Noah and I looked at each other, our fight temporarily forgotten."What do they mean?" Noah asked.I walked to one of the tall windows and looked out into the night. What I saw made my blood turn cold.The ancient ones were back. All of them. But they weren't alone.They had Daisy with them. And she wasn't struggling anymore.She wasn't moving at all."No," Noah whispered, seeing what I was seeing.The ancient ones had arranged themselves in a circle in the castle courtyard. In the center of the circle, they had built some kind of altar made from human bones. And on top of the altar...Daisy was lying on the altar, the Authority Staff still clutched in her hands. But the silver light that usually came from the staff was gone. Instead, the crystal at its tip was glowing with the same red light as the ancient one