CHAPTER THREE.
Caelum's P.O.V.
We have heard of the witch. The first one in so many years. The abomination they were bringing for us to erase.
Witches were sick creatures without principles— dangerous, stupid and utterly useless.
I looked at the gates as they dragged her in like an animal with a mass of people behind her.
They seemed eager to watch her life end.
I got the thrill. The thrill of purifiying the pack. My brothers did, the pack did too.
Chains clinked behind her, heavy against the stone, and her bare feet left a trail of red.
Blood, smeared like ink across the floor but she didn't stumble.
Her chest was bleeding, like a claw had run through it and It looked like they must have beaten her up before deciding to bring her here. An action I didn't support.
We were supposed to kill her, not beat her up. She was still a lady as much as she was still an atrocity.
The witch didn't look like she had beg them to stop hitting her.
She held her head high, eyes forward, mouth set in that defiant twist I haven't seen before.
Who was she? And which god was she serving?
We have been feared, praised but no one had dared to raise their head up high in our presence.
The audacity was intriguing. Too bad that wouldn't be enough to save her.
My lips almost turned up at the scenario of her life draining out of her eyes.
I could see her more clearly now.
Her eyes found mine. Deliberate. knowing and I forgot how to breathe. Her eyes were of a color I haven't seen before, her hair black, but those eyes…they gripped me in a way that I didn't want to look away.
Did she cast a spell?
I was known for not having a heart. I should have felt nothing.
She was just another cursed girl awaiting justice. Another mistake born into our bloodlines, fouling our sacred thread.
But those eyes…they weren't just gold, they glowed like celestial embers and I caught my self staring, mesmerized by the fire in her gaze, like a flame that could burn and destroy.
It was so beautiful.
She should have repulsed me but she didn't instead she fascinated me and that was dangerous.
For the both of us.
"Caelum"
I hummed, not wanting to look away from her.
"The people are waiting. Stop staring at her for fucking sake."
Oh fuck. My heart stuttered, traitorous and beating violently in my chest.
What the hell was that?
I blinked, breaking out of whatever spell she must have had me on.
"Where is your head at?" Theron asked,staring at me like I had gone crazy.
"Her eyes…"
"Are brown, Caelum. Wrap it up."
He couldn't see it? He couldn't see the gold in her eyes?
"Don't tell me—"
"We will begin the purification." Kairo interrupted me.
I turned slowly, eyes narrowing.
We were the triad, We had rules. He knew them and this was mine to handle.
How dare him?
I leaned forward. Interrupting whatever he had to say.
This was my kill, not his.
My hand rested over the carved arms of the Triad seat and I turned my head to look at my brothers.
Rhysand stood silent by my left like he always did, watchful. He was our right hand man and the war general. The only hybrid we made an exception for.
And Theron was rocking on his fucking heels, his excitement waving off him in a blast that he practically vibrated with bloodlust while Kairo was seething for whatever reason I didn't care for.
"She reeks of death," Kairo spat. "She should have been killed in the hollow seat. Why did they delay the inevitable?"
"She is still breathing"I retorted flatly "That means we see this through."
Her gaze snapped to mine then, like she could hear us discussing her death.
"Do you people usually plan you murderingsomeone like a group of damaged kids?"
The chamber went still. I think Kairo did too. I couldn't even hear him breathing and Theron flinched, like she had physically hurt him.
I stared at her. Unblinking.
Her damn audacity.
"Shut that mouth of yours, you little witch" Kairo seethed, recovering faster than I expected.
"Is this what you tell yourself?"she asked, her voice raw. "That this is purification? That hiding behind that word makes you all less of the monster you are?" And spat out blood.
That sharp mouth.
I rose slowly, my steps deliberate as I descended towards her.
She stood at the center of the summoning circle, her hands still chained, shoulders held high, and I could tell that she was in pain, but her pride mattered to her more.
Isn't that cute?
"I would choose my words carefully, coven princess" I said "You are not in the presence of your friends or witchy members. You are in my pack and you are before the Triad. And we are not exactly known for our mercy."
She smiled.
Fucking smilled with her teeth all bloodied and I have never seen anything more beautiful.
I am tempted to see how much bloody she can get before she starts screaming.
Would she perhaps moan too?
"I know exactly where I am" She said "I am surrounded by people who take sick pleasure in killing. Spare me the fucking triad bullshit."
Is she being self-destructive right now?
Looking at her intently, I could see her lips tremble but here she was trying to be a rebel with that fear in her eyes.
The people around roared "Burn her! Kill the witch!"
They might as well shut their fucking mouth. I need to think.
Kairo raised his hand, calling for silence. "She is baiting us." He hissed. "There is nothing left to debate. Execute her now."
But I didn't move.
Something was wrong.
That mark on her neck. It sat just below her ear, barely visible unless the light hit just right— soft crescent mark, the color of old lavender and moonlight. Not a bruise. Not a scar. Just…something. Like the universe had pressed its thumbprint into her skin and decided to leave it there as a reminder.
Where have I seen it before? The familiarity of it stopped me from moving.
I stepped closer and I could feel her magic flicker.
"Who are you?"
Her eyes widened for a fraction then she laughed, hoarse and bitter. "What does it matter? You have decided what I am anyways."
"She is corrupted"Kairo said "Her thread snapped. She has no bloodline. No pack to claim. The trial is over. What are you waiting for Caelum?"
"And yet" I muttered, "She's still breathing"
Rhysand finally spoke, his voice a quiet rumble. "Something has changed."
What?
The witch raised her chin. "You are all the same. You dress your murder kinks in tradition but you are just boys with powers pretending to be gods."
I leaned closer to her. "Want to test that theory?"
She glared.
"Don't tempt me to fuck you before I kill you. I bet you'd be screaming so loudly. We would probably take turns with you. What do you think? My dick is already hard thinking about it"
Fuck if that wasn't true. I got a boner for a girl who is about to lose her life.
Talk about a traitor.
I am not supposed to feel. I don't even remember what it means to want something that bleeds.
"You are a sick fucker."
And I threw my head back and laughed. Glad to know she is fun.
"Caelum, something is happening. What did you say to her?" Rhysand spoke again and this time I could feel it.
Her power snapped again. This time, lightning cracked across the sky, webbing through the summoning circle. Wind burst through the chambers , twisting around us like a living thing. The oxygen thinned and the people gasped, struggling to breathe.
Kairo cursed, staggering back but I couldn't help but stare at her.
This witch was powerful but not in my presence.
I took two strides to her and held her by neck, constricting her airflow as she struggled to breathe too.
"Be a good girl and undo what you just did, coven princess or the gods help me, I will choke you to death"
"You are going to kill me anyways." She choked out.
"Me beheading you would be mercy compare to what I would do to you if you do not undo what you just did."
Her eyes glazed over, rolling to the back of her head and I don't want she did but in seconds, the air didn't feel so thick anymore.
The people around began coughing, moving back, suddenly frightened of her.
Smart choice.
I let go of her neck and dropped her, stepping back before my demons morphed into something I couldn't control.
"She shouldn't exist," Kairo growled. "She is unnatural."
"You are nothing but monsters"She snarled.
Easy for her to say when she forced everyone on their knees while being chained up.
She just needed a little push to become a weapon but I couldn't control weapons like her, I could break her but never control.
That makes her a risk.
I clenched my jaw."Enough"
The executioner stepped forward.
"I would have wanted you around. You would have been honored to be around me. Too bad you are a witch, Coven princess"
"Fuck you"She spat out even as her eyes were pleading at me, but she would never beg.
She was still on her knees, Her shoulders were trembling from pain or from the realization that she was about to die, wrists torn raw from where the chains bit in. She should have been broken. She should have been begging yet her spine didn't bend. Blood still clung to her lips and I suddenly felt the need to lick it off. But she looked up at me like she still had the upper hand.
And then, she said it.
"Caelum..."
My name, soft and cracked like it was bleeding out of her throat, but there was no mistaking the way it sounded. Like she owned it, like she had the right to call it.
Something snapped in my chest. Something ugly and uninvited.
I didn't speak. Didn't breathe. Just stared down at her, unsure if I wanted to hit her or—
No. Don't fucking go there.
A coven princess. My—
"Caelum…"
She called again.
My name. She said my name.
"What did you just say?" I asked, low, lethal.
"I said your name," she murmured. "Caelum."
My throat burned.
"You don't get to say my name." I took a step toward her, and another. "You haven't earned the right to use it."
"Can't handle how much of a monster you are?"
She was distracting me. That was it and yet I couldn't help but clench my fist.
"Say it again," I dared, my voice low. "And I will make you bleed for it."
Her splitted lips curved, feral and slow. "Caelum."
And I hesitated.
For the first time in my life, I fucking hesitated.
She knew I wouldn't do it if she called my name like that.
She knew I would be torn and I hated her for it.
I hated myself even more for letting her cast a spell on me.
She had no pack. No thread. No lineage to protect. Nothing. Just a broken body and a mouth that made me want to lose all control.
But somehow, she made me hesitate.
And that made her dangerous.
More dangerous than even she understood.
I exhaled, slowly and quietly, then stared her in the eyes.
"Do it," I said louder, like I was proving something to brothers who were looking at me with doubt . "Behead her."
I saw her flinch. Just a breath.
The executioner stepped forward again, raising the axe.
The girl, Elo, closed her eyes.
And then a pulse ripped through me like a shattering bone. I could feel everything in me crack and I stumbled, for the first time in years. I looked towards the Theron and Kairo as Theron fell to one knee and Kairo braced against the wall—We were the only one affected.
My breath caught in my throat as I realized what this is.
"Don't kill her!"Theron rasped before my mind could formulate anything.
I looked at Elo.
The witch opened her eyes, and she smiled at us knowing now that we can't kill her.