Chapter 129: The Eve of Vengeance
Zaliver’s POV
As soon as I stepped out of the room, I knew I hadn’t done a great job of hiding it from her. I’d tried, but I couldn’t fake calm not when I was this close. My vengeance was within reach, and pretending everything was normal around Vivian just didn’t feel possible.
I moved quickly through the shadows of the forest, the last stretch of night clinging desperately to the edges of the sky. The heavy clouds above thickened, dark with unshed rain. The scent of moisture and electricity lingered on the wind. A storm was coming in more ways than one.
By the time I reached the farthest edge of the island, the air was charged. Two of my men stood guard at the hidden entrance, silent and alert. I nodded once before descending into the cave system below.
Each step deeper into the earth brought me closer to the core of this operation closer to the reckoning I’d spent years planning.
When I entered the subterranean war room, the others were already there: Hogan, Albericus, Lexero, Fern, and Venom bent over the massive wooden table, its surface completely buried under tactical maps, old parchments, and intelligence reports. Their hushed voices cut off the moment I arrived. No one met my eyes directly.
Good. They understood what today meant.
"Report," I commanded, in no mood for delay. They knew the line between my tolerance and fury had worn dangerously thin over the course of this mission.
Venom stepped forward first, his voice like a low hiss through smoke. "We’ve located the door. I’ve locked it down and reinforced the parameters. We await your word, my lord."
Even after all this time, that title coming from him still felt strange.
Venom wasn’t like the others. A serpent shifter, his loyalty ran deeper than blood. He towered over most men at seven feet tall, all lean muscle and coiled menace. His white hair was slicked back, his sharp features made even sharper by golden eyes slitted like a viper’s. He had the kind of past that even I didn’t press him on.
When we first met, it took time time and a lot of blood for us to build trust. Now? He’d die for me without hesitation. Still, I’d never convinced him to drop the "my lord" bit, no matter how often I told him I didn’t rule over snakes.
Today, I wouldn’t argue. Today, I needed total loyalty. Precision. No distractions.
We were almost there. The door was found. The pieces were in place. And soon... everything that had been taken would be reclaimed.
Blood for blood. Betrayal for betrayal.
Let the storm begin.
Lexero stood before me, his posture stiff and sharp like a drawn blade, his voice steady as he delivered his report.
"The men are ready and have been preparing themselves with the dosages you ordered. Four hundred in the front line, forty thousand in the second, and another four hundred held back as reserves," he said.
He was always precise, always composed.
Lexero was an anomaly in our world a half-lion shifter, unable to fully transform. It hadn’t stopped him from clawing his way to the top, and every scar carved into his dark chest was a testament to that. His chocolate-brown skin gleamed under the warm light, taut over a frame honed by years of relentless combat. His long, dark hair was tied in a messy knot atop his head, and his mismatched eyes one black rimmed with gold, the other gold with a black ring never wavered when they met mine. Shorter than the rest of us at five-eleven, but no less formidable. His pride radiated off him, an aura as thick and heavy as my own.
Next was Hogan.
"There have been reports of divine presence gods and goddesses spotted more frequently in the last three weeks. The past few days have been particularly intense. Temples across the globe are reporting stolen artifacts. Things ancient and nameless. Their origins are unknown, as is the significance of what’s been taken." He paused briefly, his eyes darting nervously toward me then away. "Werewolves on the East Coast are noticing a change. Tension in the air. Uneasiness. No signs of violence yet, but the atmosphere has shifted drastically. I believe their hideout may be located in that direction. The fact that they’re not hiding their presence could mean they’re planning something big."
He was right to be cautious.
I said nothing, but I absorbed every word. Hogan clung to the corner of the room like a shadow, his clipboard and notebook clenched tightly in his hands. The others made him nervous. I never asked why. I didn’t need to, as long as he did his job.
Then came Albericus. His tone was clipped, heavier than the rest.
"As for the rat Jack Ruston’s been released. I tracked down four individuals he spoke to, but no one seemed to believe his claims. They dismissed him, said you had no soul... so obviously no mate." His jaw tensed at the mention. "I’ve planted some rumors near their location just in case. But what’s eating at me is how he got the information in the first place... and who the first person he told was. Someone matching the description you gave."
His gaze twitched slightly, like he was holding something back. He always did that when he was close to finding something critical. I’d wait for him to get full confirmation before pressing.
The others shifted uncomfortably at the confirmation that I had a mate. I felt their quiet curiosity like static electricity in the air. Let them wonder.
Finally, Fern stepped forward. He always looked like something straight out of a twisted legend Filipino descent, skin darker than most, his canines subtly exposed even when he wasn’t snarling. His stark white irises against pale sclera made his eyes nearly glow in the dark room. His loyalty, like Venom’s, ran deep. I respected that.
"My sources say something is stirring in the heavens. The gods... they’re assembling forces of their own. Not just preparing, but withdrawing pulling back into their golden citadel in the clouds. Some say they’ve got a secret weapon. Something big. Something they’re terrified of losing."
His words made me pause.
I studied him for a moment longer, waiting for him to say more. But when he gave a slow shake of his head, I accepted it with a brief nod. Whatever it was, it wasn’t ready to be spoken aloud.
I moved away from them, stepping up to the wide map spread across the center of the war table.
The storm was coming. And we were going to meet it head-on.