Chapter 1244

Chapter 1244:

“Useless!” My voice exploded through the hall as I sent the small table beside me crashing to the floor, golden chalices and silver plates scattering with a metallic clatter.

My chest heaved, vision blurring with rage. “The secret chamber is fortified with thirty-six traps and seventy-two hidden sentries! How could anyone break in so easily?”

Unless… unless someone had leaked the route map.

The thought coiled around my mind like a serpent.

I squinted my eyes as I turned sharply, my robe slicing through the air in a fierce arc.

It had to be them… my traitorous sons! Yet again, they plotted against me, conspiring in the shadows like the vipers they were.

“Guards!” I bellowed, my voice cracking with rage. “Drag every soldier guarding the secret chamber into the square. I want them executed—all of them!”

Makenna’s POV:

I stepped into the hospital, the ward door yielding under my touch as the acrid tang of disinfectant stung the air.

Alden lounged against the headboard, his long fingers toying idly with a bandage, its white marred by crimson stains.

“Alden!” The cry slipped from my lips before I could stop it.

His head snapped up, amber eyes flaring with recognition, their warmth like a hearth’s glow.

But the spark faded swiftly, dimming into a quiet shadow.

Pouting, Alden’s voice carried a soft edge of grievance. “Makenna, what kept you so long?”

My gaze drifted to the metal tray beside his bed, where a small pile of blood-soaked cotton balls gleamed starkly in the sunlight, their vivid red a jarring contrast.

R3ad th3 l4t3st 0n g4ln0v3ls.c0m

My throat tightened, and I hurried to his bed, sinking into a chair, my fingers clutching the hem of my dress as if it could anchor me. “Don’t you realize how dangerous—”

Before I could finish, a warm embrace enveloped me.

Alden, defying his frailty, had risen and wrapped me in his arms, his heartbeat a steady rhythm against my back through the thin hospital gown.

His chin nestled atop my head, his voice a muffled murmur. “I just… wanted a few more moments with you.”

The reprimand teetered on my tongue but dissolved into a sigh.

I melted into his hold, my eyes catching the faint outline of bandages beneath his gown.

This reckless soul, bleeding yet clinging to me so fiercely.

“The ancient manuscript is in our hands now,” Alden murmured, his fingers brushing through my tousled hair. “What’s your next move, Makenna?”

My body tensed, Dominic’s resolute silhouette from earlier that morning flashing in my mind.

Could the ever-steady Dominic, provoked by our rift, rush headlong into something irreversible?

“Makenna?” Alden’s voice softened with concern as he drew back, searching my face.

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