The Lycan King and his Dark Temptation novel Chapter 104

VALERIA

The magical artifact had taken the form of this ship but in miniature, sailing above the map the Vampire King had placed on the captain's cabin table.

"Where is it taking us now?" he asked, sounding exasperated.

"I don’t know. I just want to get to the Lunar Gate. I don’t know the exact path," I replied just as irritably.

The night had passed, and the first rays of sunlight were peeking over the horizon, yet the dense mist surrounding us made visibility difficult.

"I want to see my friends—"

"Land ahead!" someone shouted from the deck before he could answer me.

He hurried out, shoving me aside rudely, and I followed him, climbing the ladder to the deck.

My feet touched the wooden planks as I emerged. Many of his soldiers were already there, all staring in the same direction. I fixed my gaze on the point they were looking at, the direction we were heading.

Soon, the silhouette of what looked like a small island began to take shape. No one spoke; the atmosphere was oppressive. I pulled my shawl tighter around me to shield myself from the cold.

I looked up at a high cliff, where an old structure stood—a crumbling house with a dilapidated bell tower.

The ship sailed on, revealing a larger island, the main one.

Small boats passed us by, their occupants—presumably fishermen—didn’t even lift their heads to glance at us. Their indifference was unsettling.

The whole place gave me a bad feeling, and when the ship docked itself at a rickety pier, I realized we would have to disembark at this eerie site.

"Valeria, Celine isn’t doing well!" Quinn’s alarmed voice suddenly burst into my mind, startling me and putting me on edge.

I ran to where they were staying.

"Let her do whatever she wants. Prepare to disembark!" I heard the King order behind me.

I rushed down into the ship’s depths, nearly running through the narrow hallway of cabins until I reached theirs.

Before I could knock, the door opened from the inside, and Quinn, his face full of anguish, invited me into the cramped space.

"She’s gotten worse suddenly. It’s those attacks she used to have, but it’s been years since the last one," he explained as I hurried to sit on the small bed where Celine lay trembling, her body burning with a dangerously high fever.

She suddenly started coughing violently, clutching her chest with a pained expression as if she were suffocating.

"Celine!" I supported her as she sat halfway up, and Quinn quickly positioned himself behind her to hold her upright, ensuring she didn’t choke on her own blood.