Chapter 170: Ryder’s True Form
The people gasped. Of course, they thought the same!
"Look! Her corpse is fresh! Did she just die?"
"She’s cursed for–!"
Chaos broke out as everyone started shouting over one another, their faces twisted in fear and suspicion. Some pointed accusing fingers at the broken gravestones, others at the trembling Madam Katherine, who had not been able to pull herself from the trauma that had hit her. Her eyes were wide as she stared at her daughter’s charred remains.
"She brought this on us!"
"She angered the Goddess!"
Suddenly, Kael, who’d also been shocked, growled, silencing everyone. All eyes turned to him, furious, cold, and malicious. No one was scared of him now. If anything, they wanted to eat him and his mother whole.
Kael himself didn’t look any better from the rest. His hair was mussed, his clothes torn and singed, a gash bleeding sluggishly at his temple. Smoke still rose from parts of his coat. His normally composed face was tight with fury, confusion, and something else – something much darker.
His golden eyes, usually so commanding, looked wild now, as if struggling to contain the whirlwind of emotions inside him. He took a step forward, and the crowd instinctively leaned back, their anger trembling under the surface, barely restrained by the fear of what might happen next.
"You dare point fingers at my family?" Kael’s voice was low, almost a whisper, but it sliced through the graveyard like a blade.
The girl who had first spoken flinched and stumbled back, but the older man – the burly man – stepped forward, fists clenched, face twisted with something between terror and hatred.