The Abandoned Luna's Journey to Power Chapter 95: Ugly Plea For Mercy

Evelyn's POV:

So the vampires had pulled together an army of 300 thousand just to hunt me down?

The moment that truth hit, a freezing terror sank deep into my bones.

"No ... it's not my fault..." I shook my head wildly. Rain and tears slid into my mouth, bitter enough to make me gag. "It was a misunderstanding! It was war! No one shows mercy on the battlefield! I didn't know he was a prince! If I had known—"

"If you had known, you would've been even crueler just to earn credit from your superiors, right?" Ivan cut me off. He pushed the dagger closer. The edge bit into my skin, and a thin trail of warm blood ran down.

He seemed hypersensitive to the scent of blood. His nose flared, and the red light in his eyes burned brighter. "Don't use the word 'war' to stain that massacre. When Eric died, there wasn't a single fatal wound on his body. He was tortured, toyed with, and humiliated until his heart gave out! Evelyn, your heart is darker than the filth at the very bottom of the abyss."

Death was already hanging over me.

I watched him lift the dagger, silver light stinging my eyes.

If I didn't act now, I'd die here, rotting in the mud like a stray dog.

Survival stripped me bare—my pride, my humanity, everything I had left.

My thoughts spun out of control as I grabbed at anything in this pit of despair.

"Don't kill me! I can help! I know someone way more important than me!"

I yelled, my voice so shrill that it barely sounded like my own.

Like a crazed animal fighting for its life, I stared straight at Ivan, searching for even the smallest flicker of doubt.

"Cindy! Yes—go after Cindy!"

I screamed incoherently, throwing the blame at the woman I hated most. "She's Duchess of Silverpeak! A real Alpha! She led the attack on Bloodmoor Castle! She killed tons of your people—she's the key force in Southreach! I'm just a nobody on the sidelines. I've already lost all my power! Killing me won't change anything, but killing her will end the war!"

I spat the words out, my eyes wild.

Yeah. That had to work.

Cindy was a remnant of Silverpeak Pack, the symbol of Northmere.

To vampires, she had to be worth way more than I was.

If they turned their attention to Cindy, I might get time to run, or at least hold on until James arrived.

Even if it meant selling out Cindy just to buy myself one more second, I didn't care.

"Cindy..." Ivan repeated softly, his hand stopping midair.

My heart jumped. I thought I saw an opening and rushed on. "Exactly! She's Benjamin's daughter! Don't you hate the Silverpeak Pack? She's in the city right now! I know where she is—I can lead you there! Just let me go—"

I completely missed the cold flash in Ivan's eyes. The disgust deepened, thick and heavy, as if he were staring at garbage.

That look scared me more than his intent to kill ever had.

"Duchess of Silverpeak, Cindy?"

Ivan slowly stood up and looked down at me, a mocking smirk curling at his lips.

"Do you think we don't know who she is? Do you think we don't know who won this war?"

He shook his head, staring at me like I was a hopeless clown.

"Evelyn, you've taken 'shameless' to a whole new level. At a moment like this, instead of feeling sorry, you try to sell out your own people—someone actually worth respecting?"

He suddenly lifted his foot and stomped down hard on my face, grinding half of it into the icy mud.

"You're not even worthy of saying her name."