Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 141 - Chapitre 150

Drogo’s POVI lunged mid-stride straight through the tree line as the invisible barrier snapped into nothingness, my boots tearing through damp earth where an unyielding wall of force had blocked me only moments before. Whatever ancient ward held this sacred ground collapsed under the raw explosion ripping through the yard, shattering like thin glass beneath an iron hammer as the entire clearing exploded into brilliant silver.The scene hit me in fragmented, adrenaline-sharp pieces. Liana stood trapped at the center of the clearing, engulfed in a towering pillar of light so bright it washed out the dirt and bent the thick branches of the surrounding trees back. Corwin staggered across the grass with his curved ceremonial blade still dripping in his hand, his face twisted in a hideous mixture of shock and triumph. On the lodge porch, Liana’s mother twisted wildly against her ropes, her screams swallowed by the massive spectral wolf rearing over the yard with a fury that bent the very

Liana’s POVI froze as my mother’s fingers tightened around my wrist, the icy sharpness in her voice cutting through the fragile hope I had allowed myself to hold just moments before. I had wanted to believe that somewhere buried beneath decades of calculated cruelty, a faint flicker of actual maternal concern had driven her frantic warnings on the lodge steps. That foolish hope sourly dissolved, replaced by the familiar, weary realization of who this woman had always been. She played the victim only when it bought her leverage and I silently cursed myself for almost taking the bait a second time in one afternoon.I did not yank my hand back right away. Instead, I leaned closer to her face, matching her quiet tone with a steady grip on my own composure.“What do you mean by that?” I asked. “What exactly do you think woke up inside me?”My mother’s lips curved into a thin, humorless smile that did not touch her eyes at all.“You really have no idea, do you?” she scoffed. “You think y

Liana’s POVI stared at the crumpled parchment in my hands while the silence inside the war tent grew suffocating. Carl had named the youngest recruit on purpose, knowing that a fourteen-year-old boy sitting in a cold cell would cut through whatever political caution I possessed. I felt the sharp tug of his cruelty right in my chest. It was not a calculated tactical problem to me; it was a child who was about to die simply because my grandmother’s blood ran through my veins.Drogo moved before anyone else could react, stepping his broad frame directly between me and Carl’s messenger. His shoulders blocked my view of the man completely, his hand resting near his sword hilt as his voice cut across the room with a lethal edge.“You will take no answer back to Carl tonight,” Drogo stated, his eyes locked on the envoy.The messenger did not flinch, bowing his head with a cool, mocking grace. “Dawn is a fixed hour, Lord Drogo. My master does not care if you choose to spend it talking or ri

Liana’s POVI kept my horse at a steady walk along the frost-dusted border road, completely oblivious to the fact that our carefully rehearsed plan had just collapsed behind me. My mind remained fixed on the stone gates ahead and the fourteen-year-old boy I refused to leave in a cold cell. The tall grey walls of Crescent Moon slowly rose out of the morning mist, but as I drew closer, a cold knot formed in my stomach.Something was deeply off about the picture waiting for me. I had prepared myself for Carl’s towering, arrogant figure flanked by dozens of heavily armed guards. Instead, a single man stood atop the stone parapet. It was Baylor, watching my approach with a tight, unreadable expression.I brought my mare to a halt at the base of the gate and dismounted deliberately slow. I smoothed down my riding coat, refusing to let my posture betray a single trace of nerves.“Open the gate, Baylor!” I called up, pitching my voice so it carried clearly across the quiet courtyard. “And br

Liana’s POVI stared at the dried dark stain on the metal blade, the phrase 'freely given' echoing through my head like a bad dream. Carl was a man who spent his entire life fighting for control, stepping over anyone who stood in his way, so the thought of him walking into that ancient ritual circle to offer up his own blood voluntarily made no sense at all. It did not sound like him, unless something powerful had compelled him to step onto that land in the first place.“Did you find anything else out there, Den?” I asked, looking up from the bloody dagger resting on the fabric. “Was there a body or a trail leading away from the circle?”Den shook his head slowly, rubbing his cold hands together as he leaned against the wooden bench. “Nothing, Liana. No body, no drag marks and no blood trail leaving the clearing. It was as if he walked straight to the center of those stones and simply vanished.”“That sounds entirely impossible,” Soren argued, crossing his arms over his chest as he f