Chapter 113 - 115

Chapter 113: Chapter 115

Chapter 115

Nathan stepped to the side, allowing me a clear view.

"This is my workshop." He said with a sidelong gaze, his eyes squinting as though to observe my reaction.

Though I masked indifference, on the inside, I burned with a thundering heart.

"What sort of work do you do here?" I asked.

I ventured into the room, my hands clutching the rails as I gawked, eyes wandering. The place was cluttered with strange artefacts lined across many tables, ancient scrolls well preserved in column shelves, and objects bearing undecipherable sigils.

But that was only the surface. As I took in the entire view, my jaw nearly hit the floor. Loads of wires spread across the upper floor, channelling electricity into a perilous creation of weaponry.

All the armaments stolen by Leo were stuffed on the lower floor. Finally it made sense—the silent, deserted streets. All the men of the House of Steele were here, working themselves to the bone to forge an utter beast out of these weapons.

"What are you creating?" My shock was evident in my tone. My eyes were wide as they found Nathan to my left.

A wistful smile spread across his face, stretching his lips. He inhaled the scent of triumph, relishing the fear he sensed coursing through me. Nothing truly escaped his calculated mind.

"I’m creating a new world, for the old ways must die." He simply stated.

As though he hadn’t just mentioned death.

"What...what..." I failed. The bite on the inside was greater, but on the outside I was utterly stunned, disbelief a coat I couldn’t shed.

My eyes settled on the dark work before me again, and my stomach twisted. A churning sensation rose as the storm sky roared above.

"And here I thought you knew of my tyranny, Alex. Did you underestimate how far I could go?" He tsked, amusement dripping from his tone.

"To what end?"

He chuckled. "Good question."

Following that, he suspended me by magic, my body rising into the air as did his. Together, we floated down until our feet met the lower ground. I took the chance to observe more of the sinister work unfolding around me. The darkness was merely a facade, but this...whatever he was mutating within these weapons, it ran far darker.

"When Leo first sheltered me, his ego made him open up. To him I was nothing more than a weapon." His tone grew more dangerous with each word, like venom slowly reopening old wounds. "Until I surpassed him. Then, when I claimed his home, I knew I could do the same to these weapons. Mere guns with useless bullets meant for lowlifes, mutated into magical instruments that would turn these knights into deadly assassins. Imagine the chaos, the ruin...all done by me. To purge the world of its rot, creating a new beginning. Me, Nathaniel Dustfang."

Right there, I watched him. Without spite, I simply observed. And then I saw what he had become. He was entirely changed. I no longer recognised the man I once dated or even the man who had once trembled at the thought of being caught for doing drugs.

Yes, he had lived a messy life even then, but he did it because he wanted to survive. And in this moment, as strange as it sounded, I found myself wanting to know what had changed in him. Was it truly because I exposed his toxicity and he was arrested for it, banished and sent to Moonblade? Or had he been playing me from the very start?

Just as I had grown from a mere, feeble Omega into a Luna and the blood of Aetherblood, he too had grown...towards the darker side.

"What do you plan to do with these weapons?"

My eyes continued to wander until they caught a stretcher at the far end of the room, beyond where the weapons were stored and beside the scrolls. Though the sight was unsettling, I steered my focus back to Nathan.

His answer came like a lecture. "Simple. A great purge is coming, and I shall name it The Awakening. The people will live under new rules."

"You’re mad. Beyond mad. You’ve become a true tyrant."

"If I’m not wrong, I believe tyrants are meant to take whatever they want. Sounds rather fitting to me."

My face dropped. There was no convincing him. But come to think of it, if he had all of this and could genuinely march into SilverFang right now, why wasn’t he doing so already? Why did he even need me in the first place?

"What’s my use then...why keep me here?" I asked, more thoughts reeling through my mind.

The revelations were bombarding my senses all at once.

According to his story, if truly I was never meant to be an Aetherblood, why hadn’t he simply killed me at my most naive and groomed a new Aetherblood from birth?

Come to think of it, I was the last of my bloodline, which meant the Aetherblood line would certainly shift to a new blood. The Walters would be erased from the records.

Unless...

As if Nathan were reading my mind, or perhaps he actually was, he met my gaze, that dark ghostly smirk on his lips, and inclined his head towards my bump.

"You can’t be that vile, can you?" My own question sounded wild and hollow to me, the same foolish hope that had cost me Leo...and now, it was happening to my...

My thoughts went haywire, a silent alarm ringing in my ears, followed by the thunderous rush of blood through my vessels as I came to recognise his true motive.

"You can’t take them from me." I muttered, low, stepping back.

"No, Alex. I’m not taking them from you to groom them. As you’re aware, during your meeting with the One Tree, you came into contact with your parents. The same will happen with them, and I cannot allow that." He began advancing. He took one slow step towards me while I took two back, until my back met the wall and I realised how cornered I truly was.

That I had always been cornered. My fate had always been tangled around Nathan and the destruction that trailed him.

He delivered the rest of his intentions like a curse. "When you give birth to the twins, naturally the two will each inherit half the share of Aetherblood power. When combined, they become whole. While I’ve already drawn a measure of that power, I shall consume their souls at once, completing my transition into becoming the first Seer to successfully wield the power of Aetherblood."

Successful? Had there been one who attempted this madness before?

But to ask more questions meant drearier answers than I could stomach. This was entirely maddening.

"You’re fucking insane, you beast..." I rushed towards him, sending blows into his chest.

But he didn’t flinch. Not once.

"I’m sorry it had to be you, Alex. I’m sorry you had to be born into a family such as this."

He turned away from me. Behind me, two hefty men appeared from nowhere and seized me.

I screamed against them, one hoisting me over his shoulder, and I was forced to adjust as it wrenched at my belly. But they didn’t care. For all Nathan cared, even if I perished, the babies were ripe enough to be torn from my womb.

More grotesque imaginings swept through my mind and I finally fell silent when they deposited me in my room, closing the door behind them.

I didn’t even attempt to run. This was a moment where I knew it was futile, and as I sank to my knees, hands cradling my stomach, I sobbed harder.

"I need you, Kai. I need you more than ever." My own voice drowned beneath my tears.