Chapter 194: 194 - watching me
194
~Lisa’s POV
The man spat on the floor and twisted his body, trying to pull his arm free. Damon’s grip was iron. He pivoted, slammed the man against the wall, and threw him to the floor. The sword skittered away and hit the base of the bed, the metal ringing.
I stood frozen. My breath came fast, not from running now but from the shock. Damon was on the man in a second, his hands like steel. He had him pinned, one knee across the man’s back, a hand on his throat, the other pinning his wrists.
"Who sent you?" Damon demanded, every sound a strike. His voice was low, dangerous.
The man coughed and spat blood, or maybe it was from the hit he took, I couldn’t tell. He choked on the air under Damon’s palm. "No one," he rasped. "No name."
"Liar," Damon said. He thrust his face close to the man’s, so close I could see the white of his knuckles. His eyes burned like a brand. "Name."
The man gagged and then, with a wet sound, he croaked, "I did this myself."
The man’s words, "I acted alone", still rang in my ears, but I didn’t believe him. My body shook, my hands never leaving my stomach. My child.
I blinked. My mind struggled to catch up with his words. Alone? That couldn’t be true. No assassin walked into a palace without orders, without a hand pulling the strings.
Before I could think, the door slammed open. I gasped and turned, only to see Kael and Rowan storm inside. Their faces were full of anger, eyes sharp like blades.
"What’s going on here?" Rowan snapped, his voice booming. His gaze swept over me, then Damon, then the man pinned to the floor.
I froze, my throat dry. How did they even know?
Rowan stepped further inside, his tone sharper. "Damon! What is happening here?"
Damon didn’t even look up. His voice came low, steady, deadly. "He tried to kill Lisa."
My stomach twisted. Hearing it out loud made it too real.
For a heartbeat, silence. Then Kael’s head whipped toward me, his eyes blazing. "Is the baby okay?" His voice cracked with fury, not fear.
I swallowed, nodding quickly. "Yes," I whispered, though my voice shook.
That was all he needed. In the next breath, Kael lunged forward, his fist slamming into the assassin’s face with a sickening crack. I gasped, stumbling back a little. The man groaned, blood spraying from his lip.
Rowan didn’t stop. His fists were sharp and brutal, fueled by a rage I had never seen before. Each strike made the assassin stumble and grunt in pain. Kael was no different; his blows were just as wild, his anger almost animal.
"How dare you?" Rowan’s voice cracked with fury as his knuckles smashed into the man’s ribs. "How dare you try to hurt our child?"
The assassin coughed, blood spraying from his lips, but Kael didn’t give him time to breathe. He stepped forward, his face twisted in rage, and slammed another punch into the man’s gut.
"You think you can come here?" Kael roared, his tone low and thunderous. "You think you can raise a hand against her? Against our blood?" His fist crashed down again, harder this time.
The assassin groaned, his knees almost buckling, but Rowan grabbed him by the collar and yanked him upright. His eyes were blazing, his voice harsh and raw. "You’ll pay for this," he snarled, landing another punch across the man’s jaw. "You’ll pay for even thinking it."
The sound was sickening, flesh hitting flesh, the wet crack of bone, the assassin’s choked cries. Kael’s breath came fast, heavy, sharp with rage. Rowan’s face was a mask of pure hatred.
I couldn’t move. My legs felt like stone. My whole body was frozen in place as I stood there, watching them both lose themselves in fury.
The air was thick with violence, heavy and suffocating. It drowned everything else out, the world outside, the gifts scattered around my room, even my own thoughts.
All I could hear was fists slamming into flesh, the assassin gasping for air, and the alphas’ snarling voices.
My arms wrapped tighter around my stomach. My hands pressed hard against the small swell of my belly as though I could shield the baby from everything happening in front of me. My heart pounded so hard it hurt, my chest rising and falling too quickly.
Fear gripped me.
Rowan’s fist landed again, snapping the man’s head back. His lip split, blood dripping down his chin.
Kael leaned in, his voice sharp and venomous. "No one touches her. No one touches what belongs to us."
I shuddered, my breath catching as tears burned the back of my eyes.
Then Rowan’s voice cut through the chaos, commanding, merciless.
"Take him," he barked at the guards, his tone like steel. "Drag him to the torture room. Don’t let him breathe free air until he tells us who sent him."
Two guards stepped forward immediately, grabbing the man under his arms and yanking him upright. His face was swollen from Kael and Rowan’s blows, blood dripping down his chin. I watched with wide, unblinking eyes, trembling so badly I could hardly stand.
My chest ached with each breath. Torture room... confession... My heart pounded, not out of pity but from sheer terror. I wanted, needed, to know who had sent him.
But before they could reach the door, it happened.
In one swift, shocking motion, the man twisted his body and wrenched the sword from one of the guards’ scabbards. My breath caught in my throat.
"No!" I screamed, my voice raw.
He didn’t hesitate. He turned the blade inward and drove it straight into himself. The sound of metal piercing flesh filled the air, followed by the heavy thud of his body hitting the floor.
I stumbled back, my knees weak. The room spun around me, the edges blurring as I stared at the blood pooling beneath him. My hands shook violently as I clutched my stomach.
"He... he killed himself," I whispered, my voice thin and broken. "He...he just..."
Shock froze me in place. My heart raced faster, harder, until it hurt. My breaths came shallow, ragged. And then everything went dark.
When I opened my eyes again, the world was softer, blurred. My head felt heavy, my body weak. Slowly, I turned my head and froze.
Damon was sitting at my side, his hand clenched tightly around mine. His face was pale but hard, his jaw tight.
Rowan stood just behind him, arms folded, his eyes never leaving me. Kael hovered close too, his brows drawn together, his expression fierce but strangely... worried.
All three of them.
All three, watching me.
My lips trembled. "W-what... happened?" I whispered, my throat dry, my voice barely more than air.