Chapter 4

Maximilian's retaliation came faster than I expected.

The preparations to break the seal would take three days.

In those three days, the entire Night Alliance descended into chaos.

Because Maximilian had forcibly rejected his fated mate — even if the bond had been a fake one — his bloodline began showing severe signs of rejection. The elite guard he controlled through the dominance of his bloodline started breaking down en masse, erupting into fits of uncontrollable rage.

Every day, half-beasts were losing control and attacking people in the streets.

Maximilian was losing his grip.

And Tiffany, that fool, decided to deflect the blame by spreading rumors through the Alliance — claiming that I, the so-called "cursed one," had stolen a sacred relic from the Cross family and brought this disaster down on them all.

She even showed up with a squad of fully armed mercenaries and surrounded the Ghost Doctor's underground clinic.

"Serena! Get your ass out here, you little bitch!"

Tiffany stood in the pouring rain, a megaphone in her hand, her voice sharp enough to cut glass.

"You throw yourself at some other man, betray Max, and now you want to destroy the whole Alliance? Get out here and face what's coming to you!"

I stood in front of the clinic's security monitors, staring coldly at Tiffany's twisted face.

Jax was on the couch behind me, calmly running a cloth along the blade of his combat knife.

"Want me to go out there and twist her head off?" he said, his tone as casual as if he were commenting on the weather.

"No."

I stood up. A cold flash crossed my eyes.

"My enemies. My revenge."

I shoved open the clinic's iron door and walked out.

The rain was pouring down in sheets.

Tiffany spotted me and stumbled back two steps, jabbing her finger in my direction. "You actually came out! Grab her! Dead or alive, I don't care!"

More than a dozen mercenaries raised their weapons and closed in on me.

I didn't move.

I stood in the rain and slowly closed my eyes.

Over these past three days of treatment, the Soullock Herb's toxins had been nearly purged from my system.

The power of the Blood Spirit Healer was awakening inside my veins.

My eyes snapped open. My pupils bled into a deep, unnatural crimson.

An invisible wave of psychic force — absolute, crushing, unstoppable — exploded outward from my body.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The mercenaries at the front of the charge dropped like they'd been hit by a sledgehammer. Blood poured from their eyes, their ears, their noses. They were dead before they hit the ground.

Tiffany screamed and stumbled backward, landing hard in the mud.

"You — what did you do?! You're supposed to be useless!"

I walked toward her, slow and steady, and looked down at her from where she sat in the dirt.

"You're pathetic, Tiffany. Maximilian would rather suffer the backlash than touch you, and you still crawl around protecting him like a dog."

"Shut up!" she shrieked, her voice cracking.

I crouched down and grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her head back.

"Go tell Maximilian to say his prayers. Everything he owes me — everything he owes Jax — I'm coming to collect. Every last bit of it, with interest."

I slapped her across the face. Hard. The force sent her skidding across the ground.

Tiffany spat out a bloody tooth, then scrambled on her hands and knees back to the car.

I hadn't noticed Jax move, but he was standing behind me now.

He was holding a black umbrella, angled so that I was sheltered beneath it.

"Does your hand hurt?" He lifted the hand I'd hit her with and pressed his lips gently against my knuckles.

My heart skipped.

"No," I said.

"Then let's go home." Jax's eyes darkened. His voice carried a quiet authority that left no room for argument. "Tonight, we break the last seal."