“Yep. That’sexactlyhow I thought it was going to go.” I hear Raelle say, and I can’t help but let a laugh out in a huff.
“How waswhatgoing to go? Who the fuck are you?” I hear Trent’s voice starting to rise just before a groan breaks free of my lips, and I turn the corner. Their voices trail behind me as I create more distance between us before I kill my brother, who is supposed to bealreadydead.
Stomping into the kitchen, I hop up, plant my ass on the counter, and take an overly aggressive bite out of an apple just as my lyingbrother walks through the doorway. I roll my eyes as I chew angrily on the crunchy fruit. He has some nerve to just show up like that. ‘Hello sister.’ A sneer pulls my lip up at the corner as I think about the whole interaction. What the fuck is that? Like we weren’t only siblings but best friends up until he fucking went off and DIED?! But he didn't, did he? He fucking lied.
“I know you’re upset.” Looking to the doorway where his voice comes from, I watch as he approaches me like I’m a wild animal, poised to attack him at any minute.
Good.
Smart of him to be cautious. Because I’m fucking about to.
He gives me a wide berth as he rounds the island to meet my eyes. I hope my gaze burns him. Slowly, he inches closer, his brows pinched as he looks me over.
“I—Listen,” He starts, but I jump down from the counter, my shorter stature only bringing me eye level with his chest, but I lift my chin as I stride forward into his space. I lift my onyx blade—the blade he gave me before he died—to his throat.
“No. You listen.” I suck my teeth as I push the blade to his throat, and a line of blood is drawn as he swallows. “You fucking DIED, Alaric! You died, and you took Pa with you. You shattered our world. Nothing has been the same since you died.” When I drop my hand, he shakes his head, and I mock the motion with my own.
“You don’t understand… I…” His voice comes out a croak.
“You’re right. I don’t understand. I don’t understand how you could walk away from us—from me! How could you not even reach out to us!? Let us know that you were alive?” Tears well in my eyes, but I push them back as I turn away from him. I throw the apple into the wastebasket and the metal bin clangs as it is knocked over from the force, crashing to the hard stone ground.
He doesn’t say anything but crosses his arms and leans back against the counter as he just watches me. I’m pacing now and just seconds from throwing my godsdamn knife at his fucking face. His quiet smugness is so unlike him, it stops me in my tracks. “I don’t even know who the fuck you are anymore.” I spit as my gaze burns into his hardened eyes.
“You’re right… Ric really did die all those years ago. The brother you knew? He doesn't fucking exist anymore.” His voice is dark, and his eyes darken as he pushes away from the counter and walks toward me. He closes the distance in a few strides, and I don’t realize I’m backing up until my body presses against the wall and he’s caging me in with his arm placed by my head. His head tilts as he studies me. “But you’re not the same either, are you, sis? Pick up one of Mom’s tricks, did you? Maybe more than one?” I flatten my lips as I meet his steady gaze. I know he knows I tried to read him. He knows how to block out and sense the mental shields just like I do, because our mother taught us. My not answering is enough for him, and he smiles as he leans in, whispering into my ear. “Guess we aren’t too different are we? We both have secrets we can’t tell just anyone.”
“The queen knows. About both of us. I told her. I pledged myself to her as her war maiden.”
“You did what?” Trent’s voice cuts through the tension in the room, and Alaric’s gaze drifts to the doorway, then back to me as he stands upright. “Do you know what that means, Ambriel?” he asks, and Ric pushes off the wall and turns to Trent.
“We’re busy right now, tough guy. Take a hike, yeah?”
“The fuck did you just say?” Trent growls.
Oh, fuck no, we’re not doing this. I walk up between them and place my hand on Trent’s chest as he advances toward my brother, being a possessive ass.
“Trent, this—is mybrother. Alaric.” I glare at Ric and roll my eyes as I push on Trent’s hard chest, not moving him in the least bit but showing him I want him to back up. “We’re done here.” I pin my brother with a look of pure spite. “Please take me anywhere far from here.” I say, turning back to Trent. His eyes burrow into my brother’s for a silent moment. When they finally leave him and he looks into mine, they soften as he wraps an arm around my shoulders. He turns from the room, but of course, Trent being Trent, looks over his shoulder for the last word.
“Next time you upset her, it will be my fist you fucking eat.” A sinking heat enters my stomach as he defends me, even if it’s not needed, and I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Trying hard to block it out. I’m so done with this day already, and it’s barely just begun.
Chapter twenty-one
Darkness surrounds me everywhere.Since I was just a kid, I knew that the darkness would be my end. My mother would tell me that there was nothing to fear from the dark. What she didn’t understand was that it wasn’t the dark I was afraid of. It’s what the dark could hide in its shadows that made me scared. Now, though, having gone through everything I have in life, I know that it is the darkness within a Fae that is what one should fear.
There is a constant drip coming from one of the deep corners of the dungeon I woke up in. I can’t move from the hard stone floor they’ve placed me on. My body is a prison in itself, but they have not gone to the lengths they have to leave me just lying here. I am also bound and behind bars. I can feel my magic stirring withinme, but something they have done leaves me unable to access it. Something new, though, is tingling under my skin. I can’t place my finger on what the sensation is.
I don’t know how long I have been here. It could be days now. I’ve been in and out of sleep, but every time I wake, I’m alone, only listening to the beat of my own heart and the drip of water that I can’t reach to drink. When I close my eyes, though, I see her. I see her ascension and the pain that laced over her face from whatever was happening to her. All I wanted was to reach her. To comfort her, but every time I wake, my heart is clenching as I’m blasted by the magic that stole me away from my life. From one of the only reasons I have left for living. I don’t know if she, Trent, or any of the others are okay, and all I want is to fucking rip Cano’s head off. Instead, I’m here. Wasting away to nothing once again.
“A man who’s lived in the shadows of his own creation; now condemned to the shadows to die alone in them.” My voice is so low that it doesn’t reach the walls to echo from. The gravel has it buried deep, and it doesn't even sound of my own. I close my eyes once again. Each time I drift to sleep, I wake up to find that I can move a little more. My magic is healing me from whatever they did to me. Only much too slow… So for now, I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping for sleep to steal me away once again.
I wake to a loud bang and multiple sets of boots stomping toward me, but as I roll to my side, a smile spreads across my face, realizing I can move my body. I prop myself up and push my body to the edge of the tomb they left me in. When my back presses against the stone, I sit there waiting for the bastard to come in here, spewing shit about how he beat me. But what I’m most interested in is why the fuck I’malive. If all he wanted from me was Raelleand Ravendene, why am I still here? And where is Raelle? I have to believe that she and the others got away.
Sconces all around the room flare to life moments before soldiers fill the room and line each of the walls on either side of me. They don’t look at me or one another—they keep their eyes fixed forward, their faces blank, and I watch for the bastard to enter next. Shock rocks the very foundation under my feet when my eyes lock with the man who enters the room.
“Well, fuck me,” I say under my breath as the fire lights his face fully, and I know in my gut that I’m not seeing things.
“Hello, Dax. It’s been quite some time, hasn’t it?” A saccharine smile spreads across a face I once knew. My head spins with a million questions, and he can see it on my face. When the toes of his boots reach mine, he crouches down so he can look into my eyes on the same level. “It’s good to see you, son.” My eyes narrow to slits, and I gather all the saliva I can manage from my dry mouth and spit at his feet.
“I’m not your fucking son. Where is he, though? The coward he is. Does he know what you’ve done? Has he known all along?” Soren Croix stands, and his already black eyes darken even further as he looks down on me. His tongue snakes out, wetting his lips as he eyes me. An evil laugh vibrating from his throat.
