All Chapters of The Lycan King’s Pawn: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Heat blasted my face as the floor dissolved into a sea of liquid fire.The fifty crossbow bolts melted into red droplets mid-air before they could touch us. The sheer force of the explosion blew the imperial guards off their feet, throwing them into the burning rubble."Valeria!" Kaelen roared over the sound of roaring flames.He grabbed my waist with one arm and pulled Leo tight against his ribs with the other. Using the raw, golden power flowing from our unbroken mating bond, Kaelen formed a shimmering light shield around the three of us just as the stone beneath our boots gave way completely.We plunged twenty feet straight down into the smoking subterranean tunnels beneath the stables.We hit the hard stone floor of the volcanic riverbed with a heavy thud. The golden shield absorbed the worst of the impact, but the air down here was thick, hot, and suffocating. Glowing rivers of orange lava flowed through channels in the dark rock on either side of us."Is everyone alive?" Kaelen

My breath caught in my throat. The cold mountain wind suddenly felt like ice against my skin."My... my father?" I stammered, my voice barely a whisper. "That's impossible. My father was a low-ranking Omega guard. He died when I was five!""That was a lie created by your stepbrother's family to hide what you truly are," General Bane said heavily, his scarred face grim under the dim canopy of the pine trees. "Your biological father was Lord Vane the original King of the Shadow Realm before the Supreme Sovereign overthrew him and locked his soul beneath the volcanic gates."Kaelen squeezed my hand tightly, his icy blue eyes fixed on the scroll. "If Vane's soul has been raised from the Underworld, he isn't a man anymore. He's a mindless, dark spirit controlled entirely by the Sovereign's blood-spell."Leo shrank back against my side, clutching my cloak. "Valeria... does that mean the dark magic inside you comes from him?"I looked down at my hands. The faint purple mist of the Shadow Que

My eyes widened in utter horror.The spectral hand around my throat felt like liquid ice, cutting off my air. The red chains connecting Lord Vane to the Sovereign weren't binding him he was feeding his own ancient dark magic directly into the Sovereign's crown!"He lied to you, little Queen!" the Supreme Sovereign laughed, stepping up beside my spectral father. "Your biological father didn't fall to my army. We were partners! He willingly sacrificed his own pack to unlock the power of the Underworld!""Valeria!" Kaelen's furious roar echoed from the bottom of the platform.Kaelen blasted three undead soldiers back with a wave of Alpha power and leaped up the obsidian stairs three at a time, his eyes burning gold with desperate rage."Stay back, Lycan!" my father's hollow voice boomed across the sky.With a flick of his phantom wrist, Vane released a massive wave of black shadow-fire. The blast hit Kaelen dead in the chest, throwing him backward down the high stone stairs. Kaelen slamm

Valen’s shadow blade trembled against Kael’s throat, but he didn't cut. His hands, usually as steady as mountain stone, were rigid with a cold, desperate fear."Don't do it, Valen!" Lyra cried out, her voice breaking. She pulled Aurora tighter into her chest, shielding the glowing black mark on the little girl's neck with her hand. "If he dies, the curse wakes up!"Kael’s ugly grin widened. "Smart girl," he hissed, his eyes gleaming with dark satisfaction. "Every second my heart beats, your little princess gets to live. But the moment you strike me down, the poison in her blood will finish the job. You can't kill me, Lord Valen. You are my prisoner now.""You are no one's master, traitor," Valen growled.With a fast, brutal flick of his wrist, Valen didn't slice Kael's throat. Instead, he slammed the heavy hilt of his sword directly into the side of Kael’s jaw.CRACK.Kael’s head snapped back, and his body went limp as he hit the stone floor, knocked completely unconscious."Is he bre

Valen looked at the picture of the glowing blue lotus, his eyes grim. "The Frozen Peaks are two days north of here if we ride fast. But the cold up there can freeze a man’s blood in minutes."Lyra looked back at Aurora. The toddler’s face was pale, her breathing shallow and uneven under the thick wool blanket. Every hour they waited was another hour the dark magic fed on her life force."We don't have two days to waste on horses," Lyra said, her voice steady and hard as steel. "We take the griffin."Valen nodded once. "I will command the elite guards to lock down the entire lower level. No one enters the Obsidian Dungeon while we are gone. If Kael dies, Aurora dies."Ten minutes later, they stood on the high stone balcony of the Citadel's highest tower. Wind whipped Lyra’s hair across her face as a massive, dark-feathered creature dropped from the clouds, landing with a heavy thud on the flagstones. It was Valen’s personal mount a beast with the body of a giant black lion and the head