Alpha Asher By Jane Doe

Chapter 240

“My Queen.”

Tristan, my first in command. The man I considered both a friend and a worthy enemy. A Vampire I had once hated with every fiber of my being, only to now trust him with every beat of my heart.

He was dead.

Cold. Unmoving. Not a spark of light in his eyes.

He pushed me out of the way. He took the blow that was meant for me. He gave his life for me and its broke Freya’s spell.

Tristan loved me.

Holly’s head was bowed, her hair a dark veil that covered her face as she wept. Her hands were stained red with Tristan’s blood, but she didn’t seem to notice. She continued clutching at his shirt, whimpering, and whispering under her breath.

Without warning the blood ruby unleashed a blast of light that left me seeing spots. Holly ripped the blade from Tristan’s unmoving chest, dropping it as though it were poisonous.

Freya’s face had lost its triumphant luster, taking on a more sinister expression. It looked like her skin had been pulled too tightly

over her bones, stretching across her face in a way that emphasized every dip and curve. Her cheeks were just a touch too hollow, her eyes bulged from their sockets ever so slightly. Her teeth pressed at her lips, pushing them outward.

Her eyes flickered from the dagger to where I sat in the grass, the start of some sickening plan or idea taking form in her head.

Before she could react-before any of us could react, Holly stumbled to her feet.

I should’ve noticed something off when she went silent, no longer crying or whispering under her breath.

Long strands of inky hair hung over her face, partially shielding it from view. From where I sat, I managed to catch a single glimpse of her eyes. My stomach plummeted as I took in the haunted light that filled her entire being.

Holly, the sister that betrayed me, the one I craved since I was a little girl, unleashed a wail that made my hair stand on end.

For a split second, I thought she was going to attack me. After all, it was my life Tristan died for. Never could I have anticipated

Holly charging at her own mother, grabbing onto her dress with blood-stained hands as she screamed and snarled like a wild animal.

“You killed him, you killed him, you killed him! Holly wailed, her voice cracking several times over.

Freya’s lips pulled back from her face in a distasteful sneer. “Get off of me, girl. Have some class. We do not cry over men.”

She shoved Holly away, who stumbled backwards but didn’t fall. Her shoulders were hunched as she took in breath after breath.

Bloody handprints littered Freya’s skin from where Holly had made a grab for her.

Digging my fingers into the dirt, I pushed myself off the ground and onto my feet. I inched closer to Breyona, hesitating when I caught the unearthly glow of magic in Holly’s eyes.

Suddenly, the bloody handprints on Freya’s body began to smoke.

Freya noticed the same time as I did. Her bulging eyes went wide, so wide that I could see the network of veins running across them like spider webs. Unlike normal veins, these ones were black-tainted with darkness.

“You... You dare use blood magic on me?”

She scoffed at Holly. “l am your mother.”

Holly didn’t so much as blink at her mother.

Her lips barely moved, forming words that came out as a cold whisper.

“You're nothing but an empty vessel.”

I hadn't witnessed it myself, I wouldn't have known what to make of the sound. It was the crash of a vase against a hard floor. The crack of a bone snapped in two, it’s splintered echo ringing in your

wasn’t a vase or a bone

It was Freya.

of a chasm,

Freya's neck, another across her chest and cleavage. A third inched up

and the widening cracks flooding her body, a look of bewilderment

possible. You're nothing! You're not powerful enough to kill me!” She half- shouted at Holly, who stood there

mother. You killed him, and it's his lifeblood that's killing

I stared down at Tristan’s body, noting how even in death his eyes were trained on my younger sister, I realized she was right. As disturbing as it was, there was a sick sort of beauty behind watching the Blood Witch

like Tristan was here with us, dealing one

a furious scream. Her jaw opened wider than it should have, more cracks crawling

alone was deafening, sending a sharp wave of pain straight into my head. I barely noticed the difference as I slammed my hands over my ears. Breyona's wolf was several feet away, writhing in pain as tendrils of shadow danced off her

Holly with her arms raised and

up her legs until her flesh crumbled in a sea of cream-colored shards, raining down into the grass. Freya screamed a second time, but this sound was

her face caved in, her jaw becoming just as brittle as the rest of her.

seconds, there

Witch

Holly had killed her.

was ripped from her face. There was only one problem. The

empty. His blood staining the grass was the only

and despite everything we'd been through, the only thing that passed between us was panic. That panic quickly turned to grim realization when Breyona let out snarl that froze the

turned to face the source

looked like Tristan, blonde hair

but it wasn't him. The way he moved was off. Many times

the attention of Tristan and had him turning in our Direction.

They were my father’s.

darker than Tristan’s stared out at us. With the slickness of oil, they slid to Holly's face, registering the grief that painted her

did you do, Holly?” The voice that emerged didn't belong to

lifted as her body coiled, seconds away from

mouth. Several times she mouthed the words, but it wasn't until the last time that they finally

thing.”

youngest daughter had done, our father let out a furious roar that

fled from the tree’s, melting into the night to escape the fury of

his eyes flickered, deep blue fading in and out like an old radio that couldn’t quite settle on one station. The answer drifted through my head, carried on

their life

don’t.” I warned her, a

no good,

turned his head in my direction. A rueful smile crossed

I couldn’t help

power in the world, and you’re too much of

stumbling as he did so. The light in his eyes flickered once again, his voice growing weaker with every breath that rattled in his

fell to his knees in the same spot

“Such a disappointment.”

out completely. Tristan, his

and trembling, a broken sob tore itself

Goddess...” Breyona

shot nerves. Tree's blurred into one as I spun around, only to

healed. There was a lot of blood, but most of it had dried. It ran down his sculpted

him warmed me from the inside

was, until a certain blonde came to

struggling to

hadn’t seen in months. He held my face in his hands, running his thumbs over my cheeks. in slow circles, a glimmer of joy in his eyes at the fact

not an