Chapter 235: The Taste of Vengeance

Zahliver’s POV

"You will pay dearly for what you did to my family, Fate. I will make damn sure of it," I growled, my voice sounding raw and laced with something far more beast than man.

He chuckled softly, low and careless. "What on earth can you possibly do to me that I will not easily recover from? I am a god, you fool. I simply cannot die," he said smugly, acting as though he had not just casually signed his own eternal damnation.

A dry, humorless laugh escaped my throat as I leaned back slightly, only to lunge forward again with blinding speed. My sharp claws sank deep into his soft shoulders, and the pristine white fabric of his divine robes instantly bloomed with bright scarlet blood.

"I am heavily counting on that fact," I told him darkly.

The smugness bled completely from his face in a single second. His eyes went wide with real, unadulterated fear, and I knew right then that he finally understood I was not bluffing.

My gums throbbed painfully, aching in that exact way they always did right before I gave in to the dark bloodlust. Back on the chaotic battlefield, that feeling had been utterly unbearable. The intense urge to bite, to sink my sharp teeth deep into warm flesh it was not just mindless rage driving me. It was absolute purpose.

My toxic venom was not like the venom of other creatures. Mine was not merely a poison meant to kill it was an eternal punishment.

I looked Fate dead in the eyes, letting each cold word fall like a heavy sentence carved into stone.

"For every single soul you toyed with for your own amusement, every desperate scream you deliberately ignored, and every innocent life you crushed for your twisted games... you are going to feel every bit of it. You have ruled without mercy for ages, turning your back completely on the cries of the helpless. But now..." I paused for a beat, my sharp fangs glinting in the light as I smiled grimly, "now I bring hell directly to your doorstep."

And I did.

With a deafening roar, I drove my fangs deep into the tender flesh right between his neck and his shoulder. He shrieked in absolute agony, his body writhing violently beneath my weight, but I refused to stop. My dark venom surged from my body into his veins not just the physical toxin, but all the buried rage, the crushing sorrow, and the heavy darkness I had carried inside me for years. It all flowed steadily through that single bite.

His piercing screams did not stop. In fact, they only intensified.

I opened my eyes, now glowing fiercely with supernatural fire and fury, and drove my claws straight into his chest. Bone cracked loudly beneath the pressure. My fingers curled tightly around his still-beating heart. With one deep, steady breath, I gathered everything I had left inside me the fierce hatred, the crushing weight, the endless torment and forced it all directly into his soul.

A violent magical pull yanked hard through my frame as every shadow I had ever carried tore free from my spirit, drawn into his body like a relentless curse. I swayed unsteadily on my feet, nearly collapsing from the sudden, massive drain of power, but I knew precisely when it was time to finish.

I tore myself away forcefully, my fangs and black claws ripping free from his ruined flesh.

Fate collapsed heavily to the floor like a broken marionette with all its strings abruptly cut. His wide eyes stayed completely open horrified and frozen forever in an eternal loop of agonizing pain. That terrible expression would never fade away from his face. I made damn sure of it.

Breathing heavily, I shifted my shape back into my human form. The heavy air in the room suddenly felt much lighter. My chest, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, did not ache with bitter emptiness. I kneeled down slowly beside his limp, broken form.

"That fatal bite... I saved that special gift just for you," I murmured softly. "And I have got to tell you sweet vengeance? It has honestly never tasted sweeter than this."

I patted his pale cheek gently, mocking his misery. "Sleep tight, Fate. And when you finally wake up from this nightmare... remember this. I will still be right here waiting. I always will be."

With trembling limbs and a deeply shaken heart, I finally turned away from the corpse and made my slow way over to where my brother lay on the cold stone.

He was still. Far too still.

I dropped quickly to my knees beside him and nudged his shoulder gently. Warm. He was still warm to the touch. I pressed my ear closer to his chest his steady heartbeat. I heard it clearly. A massive wave of relief crashed over me like a tidal wave.

Then his eyelids fluttered slightly.

Slowly at first, his gaze blinked against the glaring light. For a breathless moment, I was not entirely sure if he was truly back in his right mind. Then he shifted his weight, groaning softly as he slowly sat up.

And then he smiled.

"Hello, brother," he said softly with that exact same warmth I had feared was lost forever to the darkness.

Overwhelming emotion clenched tightly around my chest, entirely stealing my voice.

"I... I am so s "

He gently placed a steady hand on my shoulder. "You really do not need to say those words. I already know everything in your heart."

His touch felt steady, strong, and real. Maybe even just as strong as my own.

"Do you think you can stand up?" I asked him quietly, reaching out to help him to his feet.

He nodded, though he stumbled slightly on his legs. I caught his weight without a single moment of hesitation.

"And where exactly are we going now?" he asked with a faint, wry grin touching his lips.

"Home," I said simply, the word tasting brand new and entirely real on my tongue.

He glanced over at me, his eyebrows raised in surprise. "Home?"

I nodded firmly. "Yeah. There is someone very special I want you to meet."

"Who is it?" he asked, clearly trying his best to piece together everything that had just happened.

"My mate. Her name is Vivian," I replied, grinning broadly just at the thought of her.

He repeated her lovely name slowly, as if testing how it felt on his tongue. "Vivian..."

I turned to look directly at him again and caught a strange flicker at the very corners of his lips. A smile. Though... there was something deeply unreadable hiding quietly behind his dark eyes.

"Yeah. Vivian," I said again, this time a little softer, lost in my own thoughts.

Er looked at me for a long, silent moment, looking thoughtful and quiet.

Then he finally spoke. "Well, I honestly cannot wait to meet your Vivian."

His tone sounded light and casual, but his intense gaze... it felt somehow heavy.

And yet, for the first time in a very long time, I felt like the future whatever it might eventually hold for us was finally mine to walk toward. With my brother by my side. With my mate waiting for me.

With real hope in my heart.