The Villain Alpha's Cursed Mate-Chapter 180: Bring Her Here

Donovan melted into the shadows, unseen by the maids who bustled past. When the archway cleared, he slipped back to his position near the rear of the palace.

The prisoners toiling nearby stiffened when they saw him approach, their tools faltering in hand. None dared to utter a word as he passed by, their unease palpable in the chilled silence that followed him.

"What are the royals thinking?" one of the prisoners murmured under his breath after Donovan left, his voice quivering with fear. "Letting a monster like that roam freely? What if he attacks us, like he did the other prisoner on that day? I don’t want to end up dead yet."

"Stop overreacting," another prisoner muttered while chipping a stone. "He hasn’t touched anyone since. As long as we leave him alone, he leaves us alone. He made that clear from the start."

The prisoner scowled at his prison mate who was busy chipping stones, but said nothing in retaliation. The prisoner paused in his activity, whilst his gaze followed the boy, who disappeared around a shadowy corner, swallowed by the dimness. For a moment, an unexpected pang of pity stirred within him.

He had grown up despising the demons who brought chaos to their land, despising everything they represented. Yet, watching this solitary figure vanish into the dark, he couldn’t help but wonder why he felt a flicker of sympathy for someone who should be his enemy.

Meanwhile, Donovan stumbled into an alcove, his legs giving way beneath him as he lost his footing. He fell to the ground, but didn’t bother to rise. The whispers of others finally faded into silence, and he no longer sensed their heartbeat, which was enough sign to let him know he was alone.

Sitting up, Donovan pressed his back against the unyielding stone wall, and he curled forward, resting his head heavily on his knees. A bitter question slipped from his chapped lips, barely louder than a breath.

"What did I do wrong?" His voice trembled, laced with frustration and sorrow. "Maybe... maybe I should stop caring about anyone at all. I wonder if that’ll save me from enduring another loss."

The first thought that came to his mind was reciting a few subtle words written in the form of a poem. Whenever he felt sad, angry, he crafted his pain into something he could recite in a vague manner. It was easier to vent that way, but today of all days, he didn’t feel like it.

Leaning back, he clenched his fist so hard that his nails bit into his palm, but the pain he got from it was nothing compared to the one he felt within. A sigh escaped him as he unclenched his fist, the sound long and drawn, as if his very soul deflated with it. The air felt suffocating, and his chest felt heavy with a grief he couldn’t let go.

He never chose this life, so why must he suffer and bear the weight of sins that weren’t his?

It had been a long time since someone who wasn’t his mother or brother gave him peace. But the one who offered it to him was currently teetering on the edge of death. He closed his eyes behind his blindfold, seizing his tears..

It wasn’t fair. None of it was.

"What do I do?" His voice broke as his trembling hands raked through his hair, gripping his head as though he could crush the torment out of his mind. "This can’t keep happening to me. Not again. I couldn’t save Mother. I gave my brother away like he was nothing to me. Everything I touch crumbles before me, and I don’t know how to stop it."

His words faltered, choking on the bitterness rising in his throat. He bowed his head, as if the heavens themselves were pressing down on him. "What should I do? Do you hate me that much?" his voice cracked as he looked skyward. "I thought a moon goddess was supposed to bring peace and protect the innocent, to heal what’s broken, but all you’ve ever done is curse me. Curse us. I hate you!".

The confession spilled out, raw and venomous, and it left him trembling in the echo of his own despair. "If she dies..." his voice quivered at first, only to grow with a surge of anger and desperation. "If you can’t even protect the ones you chose, then you’re no moon goddess to me, you’re just a heartless tormentor. I hate you for doing this to us! She just wants to live, can’t you give her that?"

For some reason, Donovan felt he was being mocked. He was the one who wanted death, but it never came for him. Instead, it went after those who meant something to him, punishing him further.

Tears blurred his eyes, only to be soaked by his blindfold. "Why can’t you just take me instead? I’m tired. I can’t do this anymore."

His words dissolved into silence, and it left him trembling in the heavy stillness that followed. He didn’t notice at first, but the air around him had shifted. The faint chill prickling his skin grew heavier, darker, as though the atmosphere itself recoiled in response to his plea.

Donovan staggered to his feet, and his head snapped up as a strange tension crept into his space. Yet, no matter how hard he focused, he couldn’t pinpoint the source of the oppressive energy closing in around him.

"Who’s there?!" he barked, the irritation in his voice clear and loud. If it was another prisoner looking to provoke him, they had certainly chosen the worst possible time ever.

But before he could issue a threat, Donovan’s words faltered, his breath catching as he noticed a shadow stirring within the suffocating darkness. Then, to his shock, a figure emerged, indistinct and distant, but undeniable.

His pupils contracted, and it narrowed to that single, haunting silhouette. Instinctively, his hand shot to his face when he sensed something was amiss. Just as expected, the familiar texture of his dark blindfold was gone, whilst panic coiled in his chest as his fingers explored his face, confirming what his mind refused to process.

His blindfold was gone, and he could see. In the middle of gathering his disoriented thoughts, a familiar voice pierced through the walls of his consciousness.

"Donovan!"

Snapping his head up, his eyes shifted as the figure he saw minutes ago stepped into the dim sliver of light ahead. It was a woman, and she was running towards him, her ash-colored eyes brimming with tears that reflected the pain she had carried for a lifetime. Behind her loomed another mysterious figure, but he couldn’t see who it was since the figure, unlike the woman before him, was standing in the darkness that seemed to want to swallow whoever was coming towards him.

"Donovan!"

His breath hitched at the familiarity of the voice. He didn’t know his mother’s face, since he had been denied that privilege from birth. But her voice, soft and broken, was like a lullaby he wouldn’t forget.

"Mother?" he whispered, and the ghost of recognition in her gaze tore him apart.

Without thinking, Donovan’s instinct propelled him forward, and he sprinted toward her. Panic clawed in his chest as the shadowed figure pursuing her loomed closer, the darkness surrounding them threatening to consume her.

"Mother!"

Her hand stretched towards him, and he reached for her, but in a cruel instant, an invisible force yanked her back into the void from which she fled. The world around him shattered into a suffocating blackness once again, and he found himself utterly alone in the endless abyss.

"What is happening?!" Donovan’s head pounded, as though it would split apart under the weight of his confusion and fear. He spun around frantically, but there was nothing in sight. It seemed as though the darkness was coming for him too.

But then... he heard her voice.

"Don!" Esme’s voice rang out, bright and warm, and it pierced the suffocating void like a ray of sunlight. "Are you cold? I brought you a cloak today!"

"Esme?" He searched the impenetrable darkness, but couldn’t find her. "Where are you?"

"What are you doing over there? Come to me, quickly!" her voice was close, almost playful, but he knew there was more to her presence. His heart clenched as he turned towards the sound of her voice, and there, glowing softly in the dark, her hands appeared, outstretched and radiant, beckoning him with gentle urgency.

It seemed like a barrier, and she was daring enough to get her hands through, just to call out to him.

"Come come," she whispered.

As Donovan sprinted toward the light, who was no one other than Esme, a sudden, brutal force seized him. It was as though an invisible chain had lashed out of the void, coiling mercilessly around his neck.

The force yanked him backward, cutting off his momentum with a choking violence. He clawed at the unseen restraint, his fingers trembling with desperation.

"Don?"

Esme’s voice reached him, and Donovan stretched his hand toward her, but the chains tightened whenever he crawled closer, forbidding even an inch of freedom. The closer he fought to reach her, the harsher the pull that was determined to keep him away from her. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

A cold dread swept through him as he sensed another presence beside him, its breath chilling his skin like frost. The voice that had always plagued his mind became clearer as the dark presence lingered.

"You will never escape this place," the voice whispered, its tone final and venomous. "You have no right to know what lies beyond that barrier. You belong here."

Those words sliced through Donovan like a blade, and before he could resist, he was immediately plunged back into the suffocating void. As his body was swallowed by the darkness, he caught a glimpse of his mother’s lifeless corpse, along with other innocent bodies sprawled in the shadows. These were the lives that were sacrificed due to the kingdom’s unyielding fear, and the bodies were left to rot in the abyss of his despair.

Donovan’s gaze flickered frantically between Esme’s outstretched hand and the twisted remnants of his mother’s body. The choice tore at him, like a jagged wound that refused to heal.

"Kill them all," the voice hissed, the sound seductive and cruel. "Every last one of them. Only then will you find peace."

A hand materialized in the void, pale and spectral. Its claw-like fingers pointed toward the light flickering in the distance.

Toward Esme.

"She waits for you," the voice continued. "But first, the blood. You cannot reach her without it. Bring her here instead."