The violet in his eyes was evident now, the mark of the Royal bloodline. "You're the Prince? You were spying on me at the Academy?"
I was watching you, Faith. There's a difference, Leo said, his voice stripped of its stuttering Beta mask. It was calm and authoritative. "My father, King Valerius, has been obsessed with your mother's research for decades. He sent me to the Academy to see if the 'Dud' daughter was really as powerless as the rumors said."
He looked toward the heavy steel doors where the guards were frantically trying to reboot the exploded monitors. "But I didn't expect you to be a Catalyst. And I certainly didn't expect Killian Nightshade to fall for his own asset."
He didn't just fall for me, Faith snapped, her protective instinct for Killian flaring despite her anger at his secrets. "He saved me. Where is he? Vane said the King has an executioner."
The 'Executioner' is a ritual, Faith, Leo said, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward a hidden service hatch in the floor. "In an hour, at the lunar peak, the King will try to bond with you to steal the Grid's frequency forcefully. To do that, he has to 'cut off ' your existing ties. He's going to execute Killian in the Sunken Arena to break the Mate bond while it's still uncompleted."
Faith felt a cold spike of horror. "He'll die because of me."
"He'll die if we stay here," Leo corrected. Follow me. There's an old drainage system that leads to the Arena's sub-levels. If we can get there before the moon hits the apex, you might be able to use that silver pulse of yours to short-circuit the executioner's silver-laced blades."
The tunnels were narrow and slick with damp moss. Faith ran after Leo, her mind a disorganized mess of blueprints and bloodlines.
"Why are you helping me, Leo?" she asked, her voice echoing off the stone walls. "You're the Prince. If your father gets the Grid, your family rules forever."
Leo stopped and looked back at her. In the dim light of the tunnel, his violet eyes looked haunted. My father doesn't want to rule, Faith. He wants to evolve. He thinks the White Wolf is a weapon that will allow him to bridge the gap between shifters and humans by force. He'll create an army of monsters. I've seen the 'failed' experiments in the lower wards. I won't let that be your future."
They reached a rusted iron grate. Below them, the Sunken Arena was bathed in an eerie, artificial moonlight.
Faith gasped.
Killian was in the center of the pit. He was stripped to the waist, his muscular back covered in fresh lashes from silver-tipped whips. He was chained to four obsidian pillars, his knees forced into the sand. Even bloodied and bound, he looked like a god of war. He wasn't begging. He was staring straight up at the King's viewing box, his teeth bared in a silent, lethal promise.
"The hour is met!" King Valerius's voice boomed from above.
The King stood at the edge of the balcony, draped in white furs. Beside him, Sarah was held by two Guardians, her face streaked with tears.
"Alpha Nightshade," the King called down. You have lived a life of luxury built on a debt you refused to pay. Tonight, the debt is settled. Your Mate-bond is a virus in the Royal bloodline. It ends now.
Four executioners, wearing faceless silver masks, stepped from the shadows of the Arena. They carried long, curved blades that shimmered with a deadly, violet poison, A Wolfsbane.
"Faith!" Killian's voice suddenly burst out, a roar that shook the very foundation of the Arena. He didn't look at the blades. He looked at the shadows where Faith was hiding. He could scent her. "Run! Don't look back! Run!"
"No Killian, I'm not running!", Faith screamed, throwing herself against the grate.
The silver pulse in her veins didn't just hum this time, it exploded. The rusted iron of the grate broke down under her touch, turning into fine grey dust.
Faith descended from the ceiling, landing in a crouch in the center of the Arena, ten feet from Killian.
The executioners froze. The King leaned forward, a look of twisted triumph on his face. "The Catalyst reveals herself! Guards, seize her!"
But Faith didn't look at the guards. She looked at Killian. Her hair was whipping around her face, glowing with a brilliant, blinding white light. Her eyes were solid silver, no pupils remaining.
She reached out and touched the obsidian pillars holding Killian's chains.
"The Nightshades built the cage," Faith's voice echoed, sounding like a thousand wolves howling at once. "But the White Wolf….breaks the world."
As she spoke, a shockwave of pure silver energy blasted outward. The obsidian pillars shattered into a million black diamonds. Killian was free. But as he stood up, his eyes weren't gold anymore. They were turning a deep, dark violet—the King's own color.
"Killian?" Faith whispered, the light fading.
Killian didn't look at her with love. He looked at her with a hunger that made her blood run cold. He stepped toward the King's balcony, his voice a distorted, royal echo. "Thank you, Faith. You didn't just free me. You just gave the King his perfect vessel."