Chapter Fourteen: The Ones Who Returned
1061 Words
The Devourer’s laughter echoed through the prison like thunder beneath the earth.
Selene could not move.
Could not breathe.
Kael’s words repeated endlessly inside her mind.
You’re not the only one who came back.
Impossible.
She had spent every waking moment believing she alone carried memories of the destroyed future. Every decision, every careful move, every act of revenge depended on that certainty.
But if others remembered too—
Everything changed.
Lucien’s sword remained pressed against Kael’s throat.
The northern king looked entirely unconcerned.
“You’re shaking,” Kael observed softly to Selene.
She hated that he noticed.
Lucien’s voice turned deadly quiet. “Explain. Now.”
Kael finally glanced toward him lazily.
“You really don’t remember anything yet?”
Lucien’s jaw tightened.
Yet.
The word unsettled him more than he cared to admit.
Fragments still clawed through his thoughts.
Blood.
Chains.
Selene crying.
Every time he looked at her lately, unfamiliar grief twisted inside his chest like something trying to wake up.
Kael smiled faintly at Lucien’s silence.
“How tragic.”
The Devourer shifted within the abyss below, chains rattling through darkness.
“The thread reconnects slower for the king,” it murmured. “But it always returns eventually.”
Lucien’s eyes flashed dangerously.
“What thread?”
Selene finally forced herself to speak.
“Enough.”
Both men looked at her instantly.
The prison trembled around them.
More cracks spread across the walls while black corruption climbed upward toward the palace above. Time was running out.
Selene stared directly at Kael.
“What do you remember?”
Kael’s smile deepened slightly.
Ah.
There it was.
Confirmation.
“You first,” he replied smoothly.
Selene almost laughed bitterly.
Of course.
Predators never revealed weakness first.
Lucien’s gaze moved sharply between them now.
The realization settling inside him looked ugly.
These two understood something he didn’t.
And he hated being excluded from knowledge—especially inside his own kingdom.
The robed figure suddenly stepped forward.
“This conversation is pointless if we all die here.”
For once, no one argued.
Another violent tremor shook the prison.
The Devourer lifted its massive head higher through the abyss while silver cracks spread across its enormous body like glowing veins.
The seal was failing completely.
Selene closed her eyes briefly.
Think.
Survive first.
Answers later.
She looked toward the robed figure.
“If the prison collapses fully, what happens?”
The figure’s expression darkened.
“The corruption spreads through every kingdom connected to the old lunar lines.”
Lucien frowned sharply. “Meaning?”
Kael answered before the figure could.
“Meaning your continent becomes a graveyard.”
The underground chamber fell silent again.
Even Lucien looked disturbed now.
The Devourer laughed softly.
“Such fear,” it purred. “You mortals always panic when extinction approaches.”
Kael glanced toward the beast with visible irritation.
“You’re remarkably talkative for something chained underground.”
The Devourer’s silver eyes gleamed.
“And you’re remarkably arrogant for a wolf carrying dead memories.”
That got his attention.
Very slight.
But Selene noticed the change instantly.
Interesting.
Kael crossed his arms slowly.
“What exactly do you think I remember?”
The creature smiled.
“Enough to seek her before fate intended.”
Selene’s stomach tightened.
Kael came here for her.
Not the prison.
Not Lucien.
Her.
Lucien clearly realized the same thing.
The atmosphere around him turned lethal.
“You crossed my borders because of my future queen?”
Kael looked openly amused by the possessive tone.
“She hardly sounds like yours.”
Nightfang pressed harder against his throat.
Kael’s smile widened.
Gods.
He enjoyed provoking Lucien.
Selene rubbed her temple tiredly.
Even standing beside apocalypse, men remained exhausting.
Another roar erupted from above the prison.
The palace.
Something had reached the upper levels already.
The surviving guards looked terrified.
One knight stepped forward shakily. “My king… the capital…”
Lucien’s expression hardened instantly.
Duty.
Always duty first.
Selene remembered that too well.
The Alpha King lowered Nightfang slowly but did not step away from Kael completely.
“We seal this prison now.”
The robed figure shook its head immediately.
“You can’t.”
Lucien turned sharply. “Why?”
The figure hesitated.
Then looked toward Selene.
“Because the seal recognizes only moon blood.”
Silence settled heavily across the chamber.
Lucien’s eyes narrowed.
Kael looked unsurprised.
Of course he already suspected.
Selene felt exhaustion crash through her.
Everything always came back to her blood.
The Devourer lowered its head closer.
“Little queen,” it rumbled softly, “you were born for this.”
“No,” Selene whispered instantly.
The creature’s smile deepened.
“You already died once trying to save them.”
Lucien froze.
Kael’s gaze sharpened.
The robed figure closed its eyes briefly as though dreading this exact moment.
Selene’s composure finally cracked.
“Stop talking.”
The Devourer ignored her.
“This king watched your execution.” Its silver eyes shifted briefly toward Lucien. “And the northern wolf arrived too late to pull your corpse from the ashes.”
The world stopped.
Lucien staggered back half a step.
Kael’s expression vanished completely.
Selene felt physically sick.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Because the Devourer had just confirmed the impossible.
They remembered.
Or would.
Lucien’s breathing became uneven again.
Fragments slammed violently through his mind now.
An execution platform beneath crimson moonlight.
Selene in chains.
His own silence while crowds screamed for blood.
Pain exploded through his skull.
He dropped to one knee abruptly.
“Lucien!” Selene moved instinctively toward him before stopping herself.
Too late.
He noticed.
Even through the pain twisting across his face, Lucien noticed she still cared.
Kael noticed too.
And suddenly looked furious.
Interesting.
The Devourer laughed quietly.
“Yes,” it whispered. “There they are. The broken pieces finding each other again.”
Selene wanted to scream.
Instead, she forced herself to breathe through the panic clawing at her chest.
This was spiraling beyond control.
The future was changing too quickly.
Lucien slowly looked up from the floor.
His silver eyes looked different now.
Haunted.
Confused.
And filled with something dangerously close to guilt.
“What…” His voice roughened painfully. “What did I do to you?”
The question shattered her.
Because for the first time—
He truly wanted to know.
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