Dark Hunger

"Please," Laurel begged in a pitiable tone. "I did everything on someone's orders. There is a group of people who want to harm you."

Those words caught Elize's attention. She stopped in her tracks. 

Laurel snapped her fingers again and she felt a feeble jerk of electricity. Her magic hissed. Her shoulders sagged in relief. One more time and her portal would appear. 

"On whose behest?" Elize asked, tilting her head. 

"Ivana," Laurel blurted, and then named the other five councilmen. She didn't name Urhan. On the inside she was happy that that piece of information would surprise and shock Elize. "They don't like that you have become their queen. They are spreading hatred amongst the netizens of Ixoviya. In their opinion, a vampire can never be their queen." She became quiet after that and pursed her lips. She snapped her fingers again. The electricity crackled around and charged the air around her. All she had to do was to keep the vampire queen distracted. She would form a tunnel in front of her and jump into her. Elize or Caleb would be able to do a thing. 

Listening to Laurel's words was as if someone had poured ice cold water on her. She suspected it long back. However, now her suspicions crystalized. She shouldn't have felt this bad, but then she did. She had been a good queen to her subjects, but people still hated her. Her heart stuttered. Some people had selfish intentions and it was their selfishness that drove them to the extreme. Well, she couldn't really complain about the netizens of Ixoviya. Her own brother and his wife were so self-centered that it broke her heart. It broke her soul to the point that she stopped caring about the blood relation. Standing here in the alley, her mind wandered to Owen and Nessa and wondered if they were charred to death by now or still holding on to their dear life. Either way, she had no intention of meeting them ever in her life. She had to look forward. She had to stand by her husband's side and take care of Ixoviya till she met her end. She was sure that she would never have children, and so she was going to treat the subjects of Ixoviya as her children. Elize narrowed her eyes. "Tell me more, and I might let you live," she rasped. 

Laurel took the opportunity. She was going to tell all to her. She would filter the details and let her brother out of it because in her heart she knew that if she got killed today, Urhan would take his revenge. And he was going to kill the queen. His sorcery was ancient. It was in his genes, unlike Elize's—a borrowed one. She said, "They are also trying to sabotage the kingdom by influencing weather patterns."

At this point Caleb walked to stand beside Elize. He glared at Laurel with wrath in his eyes even though his features were that of utter calm. In a cold, deadly voice he asked, "Who all is involved in influencing the weather of Ixoviya?" 

Laurel repeated the names. 

"You have missed out one name, haven't you?" Caleb surmised. Blue mist dropped from his hands.

Laurel's heart plummeted to her feet. Did the king know about Urhan's involvement? That would be catastrophic. She had to weave her way out of this situation. Why wasn't her portal forming? Her voice was mixed with fear when she said, "I don't know if anyone else is involved." She tried not to stutter because if she faltered, she was going to face the wrath of the sorcerer king. 

"I think your work here is done then," Elize growled. 

Eyes slightly wide, Laurel looked at with fear rising to her throat. "You said that you would let me live." 

"No, I said I might let you live, and I am in no mood to spare you." 

"Y— you can't do that!" Laurel squeaked. She started snapping her fingers. Why wasn't her portal forming? In fact, the little bolts of electricity that were forming on her fingers—those too disappeared. Thorns of panic and fear dug in her heart. Sweat formed on her brows as dread skittered down her spine. 

"Why can't I?" Elize asked, tilting her head. "I know you haven't spoken the truth. You are still hiding the name of the leader of the group. Hiding information in this case is akin to a lie."

"Wh— what?" Laurel blabbered, her mind numb. "You are being unjust." The sword of death was hanging on her neck and she felt that all the air from her lung had whooshed out. She gasped. "I have told you everything I knew and you are falling back on your words." She snapped her finger rapidly. She flicked her wrist, willing something to come out, anything. A wisp of magic came out like smoke from a candle that just extinguished. 

"And stop snapping your fingers," Elize hissed. 

Laurel was utterly shocked. How did she know? Her eyes snapped to Caleb. She realized that the sorcerer king had come to stand next to Elize to suck her magic away. She looked at Elize's wrist. The Amber Moonstone glowed over there with the addition of her remaining magic. "You have hoodwinked me!" she accused him. "You are no king. You are nothing but a lowly soul. Sedora was so much better than you. Your mother was what Ixoviya needed. She was strong and fearless and didn't get into stealing other people's magic. You are a leech, just like your wife! She drinks blood from you while you leech magic from others!" 

"I won't refute that," Caleb replied with coldness. "Yes, mother couldn't steal magic… because she didn't know how to. And you Laurel—you are going to pay for the sins you have done so far. You are going to pay for your greed, your treason against the king and queen and your lies!" Saying that he blasted his magic towards her. Laurel's screams died in the blue mist that surrounded her. When the mist cleared, Laurel was found frozen to the spot, her mouth wide open, her hands thrown in front, her face fixed in the expression of fear. She was frozen like an ice statue. 

Laurel lived inside the statue. She was trying her best to move, but she couldn't even wiggle a finger. Her gaze was fixed and on the periphery of her vision she saw Elize and Caleb staring icily at her. 

"What would you like to do with her, Elize?" Caleb asked.

With a roar, Elize whirled in the air. She swung her leg high and brought it down to the side of the statue. It shattered on impact into a thousand pieces that scattered on the road everywhere. Elize was breathing heavily when she looked at those pieces. She sent a wave of her magic over them. It traveled like a viper, touching every piece, which melted upon contact. And when the pieces melted, blood flowed out of them. 

Caleb placed his hand on the small of her back. "Let us go back, Lizzy. We need to eradicate scumbags from our kingdom." 

With one last look at what was left of Laurel, Elize turned her face from her. 

Daryn had created a portal. When they entered it, Daryn muttered, "Your wife is a… badass!"