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“What?” Calvin hisses.

I don’t know why this announcement comes as a shock to him, But I have to admit, I’m not accustomed to the laws of lycans.

“As a lycan wolf who committed a crime against a member of one of the royal families, you will be held accountable there. Say goodbye to your wolf spirit. He’s probably better off without you anyway. Your wolf spirit, your lycan, should be allowed to be set free to rejoin the goddess, and once he is free… I wonder what will be left of you then?”

“Then everyone will know what I did to you,” Calvin yells, and I can see the panic rising in him. Was he hoping to rot in a cell here or what? Or did he expect to lure his way out of here? Was he really that delusional?

“I don’t care. The people who matter to me already know, and they still love me. I couldn’t give a shit about the rest of the world. Tell as many people as you want; I couldn’t care less. Your punishment will be carried out by the Council,” Marius says with finality. “I doubt it will be fast, or painless. So, good luck with that. I will make sure to find out later if you screamed or not.”

I look at him in awe, honestly admiring how he’s handling the situation, and for how strong he is. For a moment, I forget where we are. It’s just Marius and me. Marius leans in as I lean toward him, our lips brushing against each other. I don’t even realize how weird it is to be so intimate with each other… right here, right now.

Calvin tugs at his restraints. “I had him first,” he yells. “He’ll always be mine!”

Just once?Danica begs.

I smirk and nod, allowing my witch senses to take over. I easily move past the enchanted barrier, balling my hand into a fist. Together with Danica, I punch him as hard as I can, feeling content when I hear his nose break. Calvin groans, spitting out two teeth from his mouth while I decide to try something new. I’ve trained my witch powers a lot recently… I can meditate and attach my mind to other beings… maybe… I let my powers pour out of me, Calvin is close by, so it should be easy. It’s like a wind that suddenly engulfs us, a fog, and little by little, droplets of the fog make it into Calvin’s body. He screams in pain, and I make sure to tune his screams out so I can stay focused. The droplets of the fog swirl through his body now, and I try to move them upwards to his mind.

Calvin pants heavily, his eyes widening in panic. I pull my powers back again, making sure to leave the droplets in his body, though. A part of my anger and hatred is with him now in his mind, where they will haunt him as long as he lives.

I slip through the barrier again and take my place next to Marius once more.

Marius looks at me, stunned.I have no idea what you did. But wow. You and Danica are stunning.

Danica looks pleased and happy at his words, although she would never admit it.

I return my attention to the sick psycho in front of us. “No one owns Marius. He belongs to no one,” I finally say calmly. “But I hope he will choose to be with me for the rest of his life.”

Marius entwines our fingers. Aside from all the sadness and sorrow I feel through our connection, I also feel a spark of joy. He turns to me. “Let’s go,” he says. “Dad said the kitchen prepared apple pies. He promised to save us a piece.”

I nod, well aware that neither of us has any clue what kind of dessert the kitchen prepared. “Hopefully, he’s saved us more than one piece. He should be thinking about his future daughter-in-law too.”

“I’m sure he has, he loves you already,” Marius says, while opening the door that leads us away from the dungeons. The guards scurry inside again, as Vincent heads toward us.

I nod to Vincent as he passes us in the hall, to reassure him that we are okay, while he follows the guards into the cells. I can hear Calvin yelling obscenities at us and tugging at his restraints.

Vincent’s voice reaches my ears, cold as ice, along with the sound of bones breaking. Marius winces, but doesn’t look back. He just keeps walking forward, his face devoid of any emotions, but his fingers are wrapped around my hand tightly as if he is holding on for dear life.

Once we’ve closed the door behind us, he starts gasping for air. I let go of his hand and grab his face instead, forcing him to look at me. “Look at me, it’s alright. One breath after another.” I can feel Danica reaching out to Cyrus as well. Hopefully, together we can get him to calm down again. “You did so well down there. Breathe, breathe with me, slowly.”

He clasps to my arms, holding on to them while he breathes with me and keeps looking into my eyes—open and vulnerable. Eventually, he starts to calm down and rests his forehead against my shoulder. I carefully brush through his hair. “Thank you,” he says quietly. “I can’t begin to tell you what it meant to me that you were in there with me and how wonderful you were down there. Thank you for playing along.”

I reach out my hands to cup his cheeks and make him look at me. “I didn’t play along,” I say. “I stand by everything I said.”

He looks up at me in surprise and cautious joy.

I feel myself getting flustered. “But don’t let it go to your head too much,” I tease.

He squeezes my hand, smiling, “I won’t.”

As we slowly make our way back upstairs, I ask, “Do you want to stay here tonight, with your family?” I ask quietly.

“No,” he mumbles. “I… I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay at Silverlake tonight. As long as he’s here, I won’t find any peace.”

“Then let’s go to Red Claw,” I offer.

“Will you stay with me?” he asks, both surprised and hopeful.

I nod. There is no way I would leave him alone in this state. We both catch up to Elden, and Marius tells him about his decision to have the Council deal with him. Elden seems to agree with his decision. Apparently only the most serious cases get brought in front of the Council.