Chapter 29: Marcus Vale Returns

Emergency lights flashed red across the Moon Court chamber.

People shouted.

Security moved toward the judges.

My wolf surged instantly.

I smelled silver.

"Rowan!"

He was already moving toward me.

A blast shook the eastern gallery.

Stone cracked.

Smoke filled the chamber.

Someone screamed.

Cassian shifted.

Nightvale guards formed a wall around Adrian.

Stormridge guards pulled Knox and his father toward cover.

Silvercrest representatives scattered.

Then a voice came through the chamber speakers.

"How disappointing."

Adrian froze.

Rowan's face changed.

"Marcus."

The voice laughed.

"You remember me after all."

A figure appeared on the upper balcony.

Older.

Silver-haired.

Lean.

His face resembled Adrian enough that nobody needed an introduction.

Marcus Vale.

Alive.

He looked down at us.

"Eighteen years hiding behind ruins and ghosts, and Lunaris still crawls back."

My wolf snarled.

"You killed them."

Marcus looked at me.

"Aurelius's granddaughter."

His smile widened.

"You look disappointingly healthy."

Rowan stepped in front of me.

"Don't speak to her."

"There he is. The dutiful little heir."

Marcus tilted his head.

"Do you know why your bloodline was matched so highly with hers?"

"I don't care."

"You should."

His gaze returned to me.

"Lunaris wasn't valuable because its wolves were pretty. It was valuable because a bonded Lunaris Luna could amplify Supreme Alpha authority."

I thought of the compatibility charts.

"That's why you wanted control of them."

"I wanted balance."

Cassian roared, "You wanted power!"

Marcus ignored him.

"Nightvale was becoming too dependent on a sentimental Alpha. Orion refused to use the advantages available to him."

Adrian's voice was cold.

"So you massacred a Pack."

"I corrected a political threat."

My stomach turned.

"Children were a political threat?"

For the first time, Marcus's smile faltered.

"Necessary losses."

Golden light exploded across my skin.

The entire chamber vibrated.

Marcus's eyes sharpened.

"There it is."

My wolf pushed forward.

"You don't get to call dead children necessary."

Alpha pressure burst from me.

Not as strong as Rowan's.

Different.

It spread through the chamber like a pulse.

Several hidden attackers jerked involuntarily.

Security spotted them.

"There!"

Chaos erupted.

Marcus cursed.

His people had been exposed by my Pack instinct.

Rowan shifted.

His black wolf launched toward the balcony stairs.

Marcus retreated.

Cassian followed.

I started after them.

Mom grabbed me.

"Nessa!"

"He'll escape."

"You're not trained for this."

"Neither were the people he killed."

I pulled free.

Knox appeared beside me.

"I'm coming."

"Why?"

"Because apparently I have terrible judgment."

"At least you're self-aware."

We followed.

On the upper level, Rowan had cornered Marcus near a shattered window.

Cassian blocked the other exit.

Marcus held a silver blade.

"You won't kill me," he told Rowan.

"You're Nightvale. You still worship law."

Rowan's wolf shifted back into human form.

His eyes remained silver.

"You're right."

Marcus smiled.

Then Rowan stepped aside.

"She decides what happens to the man who destroyed her Pack."

Every eye turned toward me.

Marcus laughed.

"The child?"

I walked forward.

"No."

Golden light burned beneath my skin.

"The heir."

For the first time, Marcus Vale looked afraid.