The Crown's Fire

"Frankly, I honestly thought you would all be smart enough not to take the bait," Devon mocked, his applause slow and mocking. "Apparently, I was wrong. And you even took Zoran with you. For that, I thank you for removing the hassle of killing him remotely from me." "Devon," Nikolai growled. "So you knew this whole time?"

Ezekiel remained silent, his glare fixed on Devon. The pungent scent emanating from him confirmed Ezekiel’s suspicions; it was the same scent he had detected on Tarah.

Despite the betrayal he felt, he couldn’t ignore the purpose behind continuing this mission. Tarah had shown him a vision where his sister Mineah broke her curse in this very scenario. Also, he was aware of the spell on Tarah, leaving her no choice but to follow whatever Devon wanted her to do.

"Of course, I did! What do you all think I am? Stupid?" Devon laughed as he rose from his chair, advancing slowly toward them.

"I’m not going to leave my castle so blatantly undefended without having an ulterior motive to it. Thankfully, you idiots proved me right. In fact, I was almost tempted to put in fake copies of the books you all currently have with you, but since you’re all not going to escape anyway, why bother with all of that effort?"

Zoran stood torn between fighting and begging for mercy, rooted to the spot where he stood. Beside him, Ezekiel looked poised for battle, while Nikolai already had his fists raised, ready for the potential confrontation.

All he could do now was wait for things to happen, all while hoping that everything would turn out alright.

Meanwhile, Nikolai took in a steady breath as he stared Devon right in the face. In truth, he already knew that this was going to happen. Tarah had told him about this vision, and for his wife to get rid of that dagger within her, it also meant that he had to follow those visions.