Chapter 228: This Clusterfuck Had Layers
Maddox Drakencrest had seen a lot of shit in his life.
Nothing, not a single goddamn thing, had prepared him for the absolute clusterfuck unfolding now.
Five mental images were about to be burned into his retinas for eternity.
DOMINO 24: WHAT THE FLYING FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE
LUNARIS KEEP - PRINCESS’S TOWER - 7:38 PM
The doors flew inwards with a BANG because Maddox kicked the door instead of using the handle.
His eyes found Kael first on the bed, not moving, then his jaw dropped.
Mental Image 1: Dead Man, Bleeding Man, Kneeling Man
Three men. One on the floor. One kneeling. One standing.
First, an old man was lying flat on the ground, staring blankly at the ceiling, completely still.
Second, Renwick Lunaris was on one knee with two fingers pressed to the old man’s neck, presumably searching for a pulse.
Third, Cassian stood, holding a blade at Renwick’s throat with one hand, and pressing his other hand to his ribs.
That was the first thing Maddox saw.
It lasted half of a second.
Mental Image 2: The Reverse Uno
Renwick was vertical in a blur holding an already bloody blade at Cassian’s throat.
Maddox blinked a few times. Unexpected.
Father versus son.
Cassian’s eyes were wet, but his expression was calm, like a man with nothing left to lose and had accepted he was going to die either way.
"You should have killed me, Renwick. That’s your own rule. But you couldn’t."
"I don’t kill investments, Cassian. Even bad ones. I liquidate them. The dragons have come to collect."
Renwick’s blade bit deeper causing a bead of blood to run down Cassian’s collar.
None of them acknowledged the six-foot-five Dragon King who had kicked in the door.
That was freeze-frame number two.
Maddox had been ready to torch both of their asses. Now he couldn’t look away.
Apparently that was the warmup. Enter player four.
Mental Image 3: Surprise, Bitch
"Let him go."
A woman came out of the closet with a blade in hand.
Maddox’s soul temporarily left his body. An armed woman had been inside that goddamn closet this entire time like a psycho jack-in-the-box.
What the hell was this shit?
Crown. Red hair. Young. Renwick’s wife. The Luna Queen.
She stepped forward with the blade out like she meant business.
Which throat did she press it against?
Cassian’s right?
Wrong.
Maddox’s face did the visual equivalent of a man stepping on a rake.
Maria pressed the edge against the back of her husband’s neck.
This Luna looked like she’d been through the shredder of life and was done with the entire fucking game.
Renwick didn’t spare her a glance or flinch in the slightest.
"Predictable."
One second of the current shitshow image. Then someone poured gasoline on it.
Mental Image 4: The Lazarus Of Lunaris
The corpse on the ground blinked.
"FUCK." Maddox jumped, his back hitting Ryker’s chest. Ryker, who had just arrived, grabbed the doorframe.
The old man, the dead one, sprang to his feet like a spring chicken who was feeling seventy and unstoppable.
Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. The old man looked around at all of them like they were the weird ones.
He dug in his medical bag muttering to himself like there weren’t three blades behind his back, fished out shears, and set them against Cassian’s carotid like he was trimming hedges.
"Drop the weapon, son," he said with a sigh.
His shaking hands made it a bit less threatening but the shears were there, nonetheless.
It held for two seconds. Neither Ryker nor Maddox could look away.
Two seconds of silence. The universe used them to reload.
Gasoline, meet match.
Mental Image 5: Veni, Vidi, For Fuck’s Sake
The lit match was a winded Beta who was wheezing like he’d just escaped a fire. Ironic.
His first thought was, Fuck, the dragon king’s brother is dead.
He peered through the crowd, caught the scene, and snapped, "For fuck’s sake," shoving his way through.
His blade was kissing Cassian’s throat in a flash. A Beta defending his Alpha. Simple, right?
"Tell me, wife. Is that my son or my grandson?" Renwick asked, voice conversational.
Maria’s composure didn’t waver.
"Everything in this kingdom is yours, Renwick. You made damn sure of that."
"That wasn’t an answer."
"It was the only one you’re getting while you hold steel on your son. Put it down, and let’s all take a breather," she replied.
"Answer my question. A woman pointing a blade at her husband to protect a man her own age. You want to reword that, Maria, or should I diagram the sentence for the room?"
"You want to talk about age, Renwick? YOU married a woman young enough to be your daughter and then act SHOCKED that she has more in common with your son than with you. You have the emotional depth of a straight line."
Renwick didn’t blink.
"Pretty speech. You’ve been rehearsing. I can tell because you never speak that clearly unless you’ve practiced in a mirror. Now answer the question."
"I already did."
"You deflected. You’re talented at that. Almost as talented as you are at spreading your legs for a boy you were supposed to mother."
"MOTHER? I am YOUNGER than Cassian. And we all know what happened to the last woman who tried to be a mother to him." She glanced at Cassian. "No offense."
Cassian didn’t look at her.
"Maria, stay out of this," he said. "You and Draven both. This is not your fight."
She jabbed the blade harder against Renwick’s neck. "He STABBED you, Cassian. Look at yourself. You’re bleeding on his floor defending his feelings and he doesn’t HAVE any."
"Careful, Maria," Renwick said lightly. "You’re starting to sound like his mother, and we both know how that ended."
"Maria," Cassian repeated. "You are pregnant and emotional. You don’t mean any of this."
"No I’m not," she said, forcing her voice calm. "Renwick, your son is impulsive and an idiot sometimes, but he’s YOUR son. You can’t write him off. When you play political chess, your son is the man running this Keep. He’s not perfect but neither are you."
"Not perfect," Renwick repeated. "Thank you, Maria. Truly. I hadn’t noticed."
"Oh please, you have more bodies buried and we both know it," Maria said. "Instead of mentoring him, you are cruel to him, and you wonder where he gets it."
"So you fucked him out of pity. How noble."
"No," Cassian cut in. "She didn’t."
"Luna Maria," Draven spoke for the first time. "Please."
"Excuse me," The Luminari healer whispered, as if he didn’t want to interrupt the scene unfolding.
He gently pushed past Maddox, which knocked him back to reality. He was here for Kael.
Not this soap-opera circus.
He followed the healer to Kael’s bedside. One glimpse and his blood ran cold.