Spurned Queen

Chapter 51: A Different POV

Rowan

I stood at the window, staring out at the setting sun. Yes, it was setting, bringing on the night. I was certain it would be another long, restless night. Another night when the weight of my wrongs would crush me. Another night where I would be forced to bear them a little longer. Then, finally, it would break into another morning. But mornings no longer held promises of hope or newness for me. They had become bitter; simply signaling another day when I would have to bear my miserable existence with the same horrible emptiness inside me. It would be another long day of labor and strife, punctuated by the irritating smiles of people who were actually full.

It was a miserable cycle. But it would be broken soon. Soon, all my hard work would pay off, and all my suffering would be buried and forgotten in the shadow of my happiness.

Had I not come this far? Had I not stirred up a war, tickling all the gullible races into fighting with each other? Had I not prospered under the chaos?

Did I not have the Ythincans under my thumb? Did I not control three High Covens? Did I not have Old Caesar himself doing my bidding?

Yes, some things had gone wrong. I had made a stupid mistake, bringing that vampire into my base not knowing he was the king. It had cost me my base, a hundred good soldiers, and my ultimate prize. The loss still irked me greatly. But though she could run, she could not hide. Success would not elude me forever.

Success... the day she would surrender, and give herself to me, the day she would swear to be mine and mine alone, the day she told me she loved me; the day she would do as I requested simply because of who I was to her, the day she turned her back on that despicable race of mutts and chose to be purely witch... that would be the day of my success. And it would come soon. Indeed, it loomed just beyond the horizon. So close I could taste it.

A screech echoed through the halls, making me grind my teeth.

The creation I once knew as Mirabel ducked into my study, shutting the door silently. She was dressed in something bright red and flowy, blending in with the Indonesians.

"Devin."

"Hush, don't call me that," snapped Mirabel. "Just because you know, doesn't mean everybody has to."

Indeed, I knew.

Mirabel had never truly been Mirabel. Originally, Mirabel had been Devin. For reasons I did not care about, he had chosen to disappear, instead using one of his carbon copy puppets as his identity.

Precisely what I was doing with Dahlia; only that instead of forming a copy, I simply took over the mind of the original.

Footsteps pounded down the corridor accompanied by yells and shouts.

"Why are you here, Devin?"

"Me?" he said innocently. "I'm hiding... keeping out of sight of a few of the guys. They wouldn't come into the office of the Head Witch. Unfortunately, they don't know that you aren't really he Head Witch they think you are."

"Silence, and get out," I growled.

"Why, wanna return to brooding?"

I grabbed the hourglass off my desk and hurled it at him. He ducked his slender, woman's body, allowing it to shatter on the door. "You're getting violent Rowan. Are you still mad that the all-elemental witch got away?" he sneered.

"Yes and I'm feeling murderous, so get out."

"You have no right to kick me out of an office that does not belong to you," he growled.

I used Dahlia's wield to gain a tight grip on his lungs. I squeezed until he fell to his knees, unable to breathe. Then I relaxed my hold.

"You would do well to remember who is your superior, Devin," I said coldly. "This office does belong to me, as does every wielder in these islands currently. Now get out; I have better things to do than deal with you."

He gave me a bitter glare as he climbed back to his feet. He obeyed me, but just before he shut the door, he added, "Oh, and one more thing; the Ythincans are missing."

***

Gone.

All my Ythincans, gone. Not a single one remained. My wildcard, my surety. They were all fucking GONE!!

It was Lexi's doing; she was the only one who knew where the veil was besides Dahlia and myself. How she had known to show it to them was a mystery; I was sure they had not told her about my deceit. None of them had been in contact with her. I hadn't allowed any of the Ythincans to see her while she was captive and I had kept them under close watch since she escaped. No, it wasn't them.

Who had told her? Had that vampire mate of hers overheard something? Or was it her little friend, Dylan?

Either way, the result was the same. She had taken my best asset from me. She had done it to spite me.

But what she didn't know, because nobody knew it but myself, was that I still had the means to break her. I could still reach out any time and bend her to my will. And when she finally handed over the Pearl Sea, not only would she be mine, but so would all the worlds.

Oh, Lexi, my love, just wait. Wait till I catch you.