Chapter 94: The Tribunal Verdict’s
Melissa’s POV
I realized this was true as soon as they shackled my hands.
As the warriors of the tribunal pulled me into the foggy forest, cold iron sank into my wrists. I didn’t fight back. What was the purpose?
Kane had engaged in combat. He had attempted to prevent them. But they were too numerous. Even he was unable to defeat the Council’s fighters by himself. Additionally, I wasn’t certain if I wanted to.
Did I pose a threat? Was there something Darius had left in me?
As we arrived at an old stone archway tucked away in the woods, the thought tormented me. Runes surged with an unearthly vitality, covering it.
The runes flashed as the silver-eyed envoy held up his hand. The air glistened. Then the world changed, dragging me into the shadows.
Before I knew it, we had entered a huge subterranean room.
The tall people who sat before the tribunal were shadowed by the strange green flames of the torches that lined the curved walls. There were twelve of them. Each one is stronger than the others.
Leaning forward was a woman in flowing black robes with piercing blue eyes. Melissa Cade. We’ve brought you here to answer for the darkness within you.
I got a lump in my throat.
The silence was broken by Kane’s voice. “She is not guilty.”
The woman glanced in his direction. The purpose of our presence is to ascertain that.
She fixed her gaze on mine. Tell us, kid. Can you hear his voice?
I gasped. Whose voice is it?
The woman’s mouth curled a little. “You know who.”
I felt a chill go down my back.
Darius.
I didn’t hear him. Not quite yet. However, I had a feeling. A whisper, just out of reach, in the back of my mind.
I paused.
There was a long pause.
I realized that it made no difference if I heard him or not.
My fate had already been determined by them.
The stone floor was smashed by Kane’s fists. “You don’t have any evidence that Melissa did anything improper!”
His rage did not affect the elders, who stood motionless.
The previous emissary, with the silver eyes, moved forward. “There is evidence.”
He flicked his wrist, and a glimmer of light showed us an image hovering in front of us. An old scene.
My heart stopped beating.
I was the one.
With blood on my hands, I stood in the center of the pack’s domain. My eyes are as dark as the darkness.
I stumbled back. “That’s why I’m not like that.
The blue-eyed woman cocked her head. “Isn’t it?”
Kane snarled. “That is manipulation.” She is being framed by someone!
An elderly man with silver hair, another senior, spoke. “There is more evidence than this.”
A second picture showed up. A dead warrior close to the edge of the group. He smelled of me.
I was ill.
Kane gave a headshake. “It would never be Melissa-”
“Would she not?” The woman with the blue eyes cut in. “Then, Alpha Kane, tell me, where does she get her darkness from?”
Kane remained silent. as he was unaware. I didn’t either.
She bent forward. “She has something inside of her. And we have to determine if it is controllable.
Her eyes become stony. “Or destroyed.”
Something in my chest constricted as their shouts reverberated all around me. My vision became hazy.
Then all of a sudden-
Darkness.
The tribunal no longer included me.
I was standing in a huge, unending space. The air was heavy and oppressive.
The silence was filled with a deep laugh.
“You see at last, don’t you?”
I pivoted.
He was standing there in the shadows.
Darius.
He should have been dead. He had been killed by Kane. I had witnessed it.
And yet
He was present. Grinning. Awaiting.
“You didn’t anticipate it being that simple, did you?” His laughter was evident in his voice.
I took a deep breath. “You’re… gone.”
He took a step toward her. “Am I?”
I was immobile. I was having trouble breathing.
His eyes shone with gold. Melissa, I left a piece of myself inside of you. A seed. And I’ll bloom shortly.
“No,” I muttered. “I will not permit you to.”
Darius laughed. “You have no other option.”
Then I was completely engulfed by the darkness.
I came back to reality with a gasp.
The chamber of the tribunal swam back into sight. I felt my chest heave.
Kane gripped my shoulders. Melissa? What took place?
My lips quivered as I turned to face him. “Darius… He is still there.
There was silence.
The woman with the blue eyes then sighed. “We only needed to hear that.”
She got up. “The tribunal has rendered a decision.”
I didn’t breathe.
The woman spoke in a chilly tone. Final.
“For the evil within you, Melissa Cade, for the threat you represent to the paranormal realm”
Kane’s hold on me became more firm.
Everything was destroyed by the woman’s subsequent remarks.
“You have been given a death sentence.”