Page 34 of Monster's Obsession

In this situation, there was no light. No savior. Only the need to finish what had started all those years ago when our city had been thrown into chaos from the death of our queen. This ended now.

A drop of perspiration ran down the side of Steele’s face, his mouth opening with what I could only imagine were well-calculated words at his last attempt at survival.

“I call for a Red Battle,” he commanded.

“Fuck that,” Seven stated. “We destroy him now and the curse will be lifted.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Steele blurted with a growl. “I never killed the queen, and I didn’t curse the city. You know me better than this. Give me the chance to prove my innocence. And if I’m guilty, then kill me in front of everyone.”

I drew in a sharp breath, part of me wanting him to be guilty so we could finally end this and move on from the shitstorm of our past. But another part considered his request. He’d been like a brother to me growing up. We shared everything, and fought side by side. To have someone I trusted infinitely kill our queen, it felt like he'd gutted me and destroyed a part of me that day. Blake came to mind…if I allowed this…she’d see his guilt firsthand.

“Maybe it’s not a bad idea,” Ash muttered, pushing to stand alongside me. “We’re all unsure, so this will give us concrete knowledge. The truth needs to come out, so what’s another day to wait?”

Seven roared his protest.

I stilled with the wordtruthin my mind. Something I’d been wanting since the queen’s death. Killing Steele now would never give me absolute closure to her murder. But maybe the Red Battle would.

So I reluctantly nodded, giving the man I once protected with my life his last chance.

“Agreed. We hold the Red Battle. And if you’re found guilty, Steele, you will be killed in front of Blake once she discovers who you really are.” My arms dropped by my side, my tense muscles across my back knotting.

“That’s all I ask,” Steele stated with relief in his voice.

My stomach clenched, and bile spilled into the back of my throat that I still had no solution to my starving city.

Without another word, we marched out. The cell locked with a click and we left him hanging in there.

“Are you sure about this?” Seven grumbled.

“Why not?” Ash retorted before I got a chance. “How could he possibly cheat his way out of this?”

“If anyone can find a way, it’s Steele,” Seven answered with a growl.

“I don’t think he’ll be cheating his way out of this,” I murmured under my breath. I hadn’t once considered the Red Battle because, in my mind, Steele had been guilty of the queen’s death. “Whatever happens, we’ll get the truth and finally settle this. Get preparations underway for the Red Battle as soon as possible.”

Time was running out to find a solution to our city before everyone tore it into the lava…with us in it.

But with that thought, an idea came to mind…

CHAPTER 9

ASH

Just visit the Cliffs of Doom to set up the Red Battle, Creed had said.It’d be fun, he insisted. “Like fuck it is,” I groaned under my breath, hearing the thump of footsteps behind our beast-drawn carriage, the hissing breaths of the creatures tracking us.

The hot breeze speared through my hair, bringing me their scents, and I shifted in the front seat of the carriage, whipping the reins over the animals drawing Seven and me faster through the dusty deadlands.

I inhaled the dry, dusty-scaly smell, telling me we were dealing with reptilian fuckers. By the sounds of it, I calculated there to be at least half a dozen of them and they’d been following us for a while.

Seven and I raced through the worst part of the city where only the most dangerous and desperate lived. Considering everyone had been starving for the past couple of days, many residents were at a breaking point. Of course, if they attacked us, it would mean their immediate death, but when you were already so close to dying, what did you have to lose?

Everyone was pissed and wanted revenge for their suffering, and in truth, I couldn’t blame them.

“Stop whining like a fucking baby,” Seven growled, shifting around in his seat, whipping his reins over the several Derins who drew our carriage, large creatures who snorted fire. Tempest once told me that the Derins had eight legs and constantly walked around with a hard-on, hence their name meantnine-legged beastin our language. I suspected he was bullshitting me, but I also wasn’t going to touch them across their underbelly to find out if it was true.

With so many of the staff at the castle struggling to carry out the most menial of tasks, Creed didn’t trust them to set up for the upcoming Red Battle. So guess who got roped into doing a servant’s job?

“You whine too much,” Seven continued.

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