Bride To His Darkness-Chapter 361: Sacrificial Lambs

Kneeling in front of Ivan were Carmela’s coven members, and they were roughly brought down to their knees by Ivan’s soldiers, their hands tied behind their backs. The hostility in their gaze did not waver, neither were they worried about being found– it felt as though they already expected it, and that ticked on Ivan’s suspicions even more.

His gaze darted to the tree where his soldiers had fished them out from, and he had to admit that it was one hell of a demonic tree, with the barks splitting open revealing a dark hidden passage from the root, deeper down the earth he could not see.

They’ll have to cut it down before the raw energy spreads even further. Ivan’s soldiers returned from their scouting, and they bowed their heads politely.

"We’ve checked every other place within the forest, your Majesty, but no sign of the demon and Carmela." the soldier in charge reported.

Ivan simply nodded and finally faced the five witches kneeling in front of him.

"Where is Marius, and that crazy woman who sticks with him?" Ivan had no time to prolong this discussion, whilst his chain materialized in his grip. The sight of it sent multiple cold shivers down the women’s spine, their gaze finally hinting at what Ivan depicted to be fear, cause who wouldn’t be afraid?

"I won’t ask for the third time, where is Marius?" Ivan’s eyes blazed at their defiance, but it was not enough to make them speak. Their loyalty to Carmela was unbelievable, and Ivan wanted to laugh at their stupidity, even if he did admire it.

Sacrificing themselves for useless souls like Carmela and Marius was equivalent to expecting diamonds from coal. They were basically throwing efforts into an already lost abyss, offering devotion to an unworthy cause, but he would put an end to that negative potential.

"Why don’t you just return to your land and leave us alone?" One of the witches dared to question him, having had enough of his intimidating aura. "You don’t belong here! Our Queen owns this part of the realm, and what you are doing is trespassing the southern borders. If you want to find them so bad then go look for them! Leave us out of it!"

"Now what kind of a Queen does your land serve anyway? Hmm? A Queen who chooses to sacrifice all her aids in the name of attaining power, how heroic of all you." Ivan sighed and snapped his fingers.

"Bring her forward."

"What?" The witch’s face paled when two of Ivan’s soldiers pulled her forward till she was kneeling a foot away from Ivan. The remaining five witches watched in pure horror as Ivan’s spike-filled chain wrapped around her neck, the sharp spines penetrating her skin, plunging deep, but an agonizing scream resounded within the forest.

However, Ivan hadn’t pulled on the chains, and his intention was merely to inflict pain, but not kill. They needed to face the consequences for daring to conjure Marius’s soul and putting his wife through another series of stress and worry – if he can’t pour his temper on Marius and Carmela, the ones who supported them will have to pay the price for his rage.

The witch on the other hand ceased her cries, and with her hands tied behind her back, there was absolutely no way she could defend herself, or at least get the chains off. Something wet trickled down her neck, staining her clothes, and she needn’t look to know it was her blood.

None of them expected he’d bring harm to them. They’ve heard about the vampire King and how he gets once his temper is messed with, but they didn’t believe it until now – he was indeed as scary as they had been told. The lady’s breath hitched in fear when Ivan tugged at the chain gently, and any further pull, she would lose her head.

"There are different methods to punish each and everyone of you, do you know that?" Ivan’s lips curled subtly to the side, "I can ask my men to drain your blood, one by one, ever so slowly, and you will feel the pain heighten till you can’t feel it any more. Or, since you love sacrificing children I can cut off your hearts and burn your useless bodies to ashes. I’ll make a ritual on your behalf to appease those crying souls, turning you into the sacrificial lambs you portray yourselves to be. Your souls will burn in hell, but it won’t be as bad as having to hear the cries of innocent children, is it?"

The witches exchanged nervous glances as they listened to the horrors coming out of his mouth, and they knew he wasn’t bluffing, not when he had one of their coven members at death’s door. When was the last time they cowered in fear like this? Maybe agreeing to become the sacrificial lambs was not worth it.

Marius promised to resurrect their souls even if they died, his token of gratitude concerning their sacrifice, but this man standing in front of them, he has no intention of killing. He was going to inflict so much torture on them, they’d be begging for death, and no one wanted to be in the same state as the witch whose neck was wrapped with Ivan’s deadly chain.

"Think about it." Ivan added, "if you can tell me where Marius went, a painless death shall be given, you won’t even feel a thing, but if you continue to play smart with me...?"

"Arghhh!!" The lady cried out when the spike sank into her neck after Ivan pulled gently, tears rolling from her eyes, down her face that had turned red from the pain she was presently going through. At this point, it was getting harder to breathe since the object had pierced through her windpipe, and screaming was no longer an option, because he broke her vocal cords afterwards.

It felt as though the chains had a deadly motive on their own.

"Next time, know your place." Was Ivan’s warning to the witch before he released his chains from her neck. Blood escaped the hole his spikes created, and the witch fell to the other side, not moving, but still painfully alive.

"I’m not going to ask for the third time, and I have done my best to show you mercy. But now–"

"Marius went back to the tent!" One of the witches blurted out due to the fear that had taken over her, "he’s gone to your hideout, and he... he plans on luring your wife out with the help of Carmela, they didn’t give us the details."

"The tent."

"This was well orchestrated," Cassian added, "they were stalling for time."

Ivan’s black feathered wings suddenly spread wide on his back, and his gaze was on Tobias. "Bring Blaze with you and meet me at the tent, I’m going back."

"What about them?" Tobias hinted at the witches, but the coldness in Ivan’s gaze did not lessen as he gave the orders.

"I don’t have time to decide a punishment, do what you must with them, but I need them dead."

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