Oh, sure, Seiji. Live your dreams. It’s not like it took me days to organize those papers.
“We need a plan.” He hops up on the table, spreading the map out like it’s going to whisper answers to him.
With a determined nod, Grace snatches the notepad from my desk and starts scribbling furiously. “I might have an idea,” she mutters, distracted by whatever’s running through her head.
Hazel leans in, examining the locations Grace is marking on the map.
Fates, I’ve never been more grateful for them.
The need to have my sweetheart back is clouding my mind, and the guilt of hurting her is strangling my every thought. I can’t even form proper sentences, let alone an elaborate plan.
“Of course you do,” Harvey smiles, but he hides it when his mate glares at him.
“None of you are forgiven. I’m doing this for my sister and nephew.”
Fates have mercy on me. I have a lot of bridges to mend.
39. Conquer above all
Anxo
Sending a frustrated groan heavenward, I force my legs to keep moving.
I haven’t had a decent night of sleep in over two weeks. Not having my sweetheart to hold at night has taken a significant toll on my health. The purple bags under my eyes are proof of what her absence has done to me.
Every thought revolves around Nevaeh. Every moment I spend with her keeps playing in my head like a broken record. Each memory brings a fresh round of pain when I remember how lost and numb she looked that day.
My life has become a never-ending cycle of loving her more than life itself, yet forced to live it without her. She left with half of my soul, and the other half yearns to be with her.
Even my Divine keeps clawing at my insides because it’s my fault she’s not here.
After Grace forged a plan, I had to stand before the kingdom and announce that the Princess of Death was now a rogue. I publicly denied her right, her Fate, and her bond to me.
The uproar was immediate. I watched angry, disappointed faces demanding I take my decision back. And while their fury lit a spark of hope in me, I didn’t miss the undercurrent of excitement.
Up there on that stage, it was easy to see the traitors trying to smother their glee. They were thrilled Nevaeh no longer had the kingdom’s protection.
Those reactions only solidified my resolve to continue with the charade. And when Grace asked me if I was ready for the final step, I didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.
That same night, Horseman Nakaya, Harvey, and I carried out a discreet ritual that altered the original enchantments on every portal and barrier. Now, anyone harboring harmful intentions toward the Horsemen wouldn’t be able to enter or leave the realm.
We knew we were breaking every oath we’d sworn, but protecting the kingdom and our families from those poisoned with treachery was necessary.
The ruse worked better than we’d imagined. Exactly two nights after I declared my mate an outcast, hundreds of soldiers marched toward the portal under the cover of darkness.
They took enough weapons to level an entire realm to catchonewoman. The sight nearly split me in two. Rage boiled in my veins, but I couldn’t ignore the lengths they were willing to go to cause a single scratch on my mate.
The Princess of Death has always lived up to her title.
When the first wave of warriors tried to cross, the power rippling from the altered portals reduced them to ash. The rest of the traitors quickly realized they had been lured into a trap and tried to flee, but a defensive wall of the Tetrad kingdom’s new and refined army was waiting for them on the other side.
Every traitor was captured and dragged to the dungeons, where they would rot until their punishment was decided.
Hazel and Khatri are currently leading the interrogations, uncovering which mythic nations have pledged allegiance to the coven.
It was fun to see how a single visit from Hazel and me to each kingdom was enough for more than half of those so-called allies to tuck their tails and abandon the coven to fend for itself.
For the first time in Horsemen history, the loyalists and elders reached a unanimous verdict. No trials. No drawn-out formal proceedings. No public executions. Death was the punishment for anyone found guilty of treason… swift and absolute. Even the families of those warriors refused to plead for mercy.
