Ink

Chapter 39

"You're not being serious, right?" Laughter escapes me until I am leaning on the table for support. "You want to kill the former king?"

A few glances are exchanged.

"Why is she laughing?" Caleb whispers to Ryder who is standing next to him. Ryder shrugs his shoulders.

"I think she's finally lost it." He whispers back.

My sister, Cleo, crosses her arms over her chest, completely unfazed by my reaction.

"Yes, that is the plan, Alliana." I nearly flinch at the sound of my name coming from her lips. I have not heard her say it in years. She looks slightly surprised as well as the foreign word slips out.

"That's crazy!" I say."You know the kingdom will have extra precautions especially with all of the word of rebellion and word spreading around. It will be a suicide mission to even attempt to enter the kingdom."

"We have no other choice!" Cleo raises her voice slightly, casing Ryder and Caleb to back up slightly. I, however, am unmoved.

"There's got to be another way that won't result in all of you getting killed!" I plea."I'm not asking you to abandon your plan, I'm only asking-"

"Really? Because it sounds a lot like you want me to abandon this plan." She cuts me off."What's next? You want us to make peace with the king and end the suffering of humans and dominance of the vampire species?"

"I mean, that would be nice." Caleb mutters. Ryder nudges him.

"You think I don't understand the severity of the situation? You think I don't want to see equality reign free throughout Illinkus...throughout our world?"

"Oh is that true?" She bites back."Because someone that was marked by the man that is responsible for all of this is not the first person I would expect to be concerned about equality."

I raise a brow in question.

"How do you know about that?"

She nods at Ryder."I told you, squad I had eyes everywhere."

"So that's what you think?" My voice drops."You think that I am only concerned for Mephistor?"

"What else am I supposed to think?"

"Maybe that I fought the bond that was forming between us and escaped our mating because I knew it was wrong?"

She shakes her head."You think you escaped the bond because you got rid of the mark?"

"What are you getting at?" I ask, concerned.

"Just because you are marked and do not complete the mating process, does not mean that the bond does no longer exist, it simply does dormant until it is awakened again." She begins."You are just as unstable as he is because we don't know when he's going to reach you and convince you to tell him where you are so he can come and kill us all." My brows furrow as I look into her blazing eyes."That is why I cannot trust your opinion on the topic of the plan or any other topic related to the resistance, Alliana. And until we have successfully dealt with the situation, you will be under the supervision of either Caleb or Ryder at all times."

Anger builds within me. The lights in the room begin to flicker as a result of my growing power.

"You know what, Cleo?" I seethe."When you're done trying to convince yourself that Mephistor is the villain, you need to take a good look in the mirror and consider who made the virus that infected him and caused him to become a monster." Her eyes narrow on me."Because in the end, it is not him, but you, that is responsible for the downfall of Illinkus."