Unwanted Mate Of The Lycan Kings (by jessica hall) novel Chapter 121

~Regan~

By the time we reach the city, the morning sun is rising over the mountains. However, the city is completely in ruins. A city that was once bustling is now a graveyard of buildings as we pass through. The city is nothing but rubble, black smoke fills the air and I can feel the heat from the fires, even safe in the car and at a distance. Yet as we reach the city square by the castle, it still stands but barely, the buildings badly damaged but not a mess of rubble and total decay like the rest of the city.

“What the hell?” I murmur as we drive through the wreckage when I spot a girl who comes running out of the only remaining shops. I recognize her as one of the witches who helped Zirah rise to power the day she burned. She bangs on the car windows with both dirty hands.

James hastily rolls it down. She steps back, and I can tell she was hoping it was Zirah inside. Her face is stained with tears and dirt. The dress she is wearing has been torn, she has a dark bruise on her cheek and a nasty burn up her arm.

“What happened here?” I ask her.

“The vampire king’s guard stormed the kingdom. They took down nearly all your guards when they came into the town, they took Kelly as a hostage, ordered the coven to come out, or they'd kill her.” She tells me. Yet, I am trying to figure out how he knows about the coven.

“You escaped?” I ask her and she shakes her head. “No,” She looks away, her eyes filling with tears as she shakes her head. She swallows, and I can see the guilt written in her eyes as she turns to look back at us.

“My grandmother stepped forward claiming she was the last coven member, she took my place,” she tells me and I can see the sadness in her eyes. “The coven played along,” she adds, her voice cracking.

“She was trying to protect you,” I tell her, she nods, but tears slip down her cheeks. “I know, but now they're powerless,” she tells us. I look at James, wondering what she means. “What do you mean?” I ask her.

“The Lycans weren't the only ones cursed, my King. We helped Litha finish the curse. We damned you, and a curse like that comes with consequences. You can’t play god without a sacrifice,” My brows pinch in confusion.

“But they sacrificed their lives for Litha, wasn’t that enough?” I ask her. She shakes her head.

“No, there are rules. Litha tempted fate, she altered the course of existence, her punishment was she cursed her daughter, cursed her coven with their deaths and cursed our magic. My mother and those that stood with her also had to be punished. That sort of magic isn't just a curse, it’s karma, the rule of three. Litha created an imbalance, the fated corrected three-fold.” the girl glances around.

“It's why we never left, we only have limited magic outside the death place of Litha, within the square we channel off Litha's energy. But outside the square, our magic is uncontrollable, or entirely redundant, we have nothing to channel to remain grounded.”

“I don't understand,” I tell her, they seemed pretty powerful the night Zirah died.

“The coven's magic is anchored here, just like Litha is until the curse is broken, or unless we have an anchor and I doubt those bloodsuckers will be willing to make that kind of sacrifice,” she tells me. I glance at James, it seems this curse has no bounds, not just cursing us, the Lycan population, the oracle, but even her coven.

“Get in,” I tell her.

“I can't, my brother,” she says, turning to look over her shoulder. “Bring him, you can leave him with the castle staff, surely someone is alive,” I tell her. She chews her lip. “Where is my priestess? She has magic, she can save them, she can bring the Vampire king down,” she asks pleadingly.

“I'll be going there once I check on my father,” I tell her, and James nods. She waves her brother to come forward, and he rushes to her side before they jump into the car.

With my heart pounding like a drum within my chest, we pull up at the castle to find guards strewn about, yet the maids are dragging them in. I stride inside with a sense of urgency toward the castle. As I step inside, I'm struck by the unsettling emptiness of the guard posts. The vampire guards who once stood tall as pillars of our treaty are conspicuously absent.

Glancing at the girl, she peers around in awe. “Those that stormed the city, were any of them in our guard uniform?” She nods.