Andras cackled as the blood, so dark it looked black, dripped down the shredded remains of his shirt. “You think you can win? You think I’m scared of you?”
Even with the cool air flowing through the dungeons, sweat began to form on my back, on my palms. Something I’d wished to happen for so many years was just moments away.
“You should be.” Slowly I started making tiny cuts up and down his arms, and small swirls of darkened mist seeped from the wounds. “Tell me, will you be so brave when the darkness is drained out of you?” I whispered.
Andras smirked. “You can’t purge the darkness out of someone when it has become a part of their being. This power has coursed through my veins for years and years. No dagger or magic will ever be able to rid me of who I am. No dagger can eliminate darkness this deep without death. If you were hoping for that, you lose.”
Catching my breath, my eyes wandered to Kade’s. His words were most likely meant to hurt us. Despite the fear at what it meant if he told the truth, I refused to analyze it here. This wasn’t the time nor the place to delve into those thoughts and feelings.
Instead, it was time to end this. Time to rest with the people I loved and walk away from this cell, physically and mentally, forever.
“Ah, there’s the doubt creeping in,” he needled. “It’s always there. It’s who you are.” He snorted, his movements to escape slowing down now. “Princess, you will live with my marksforever. My death will not end the torment I’ll impose for the rest of your pathetic life.” He spit a bloodied glob at my face.
Lucien roared, and the room heated, on the verge of unbearable. The fire from his snout threatened all of us. How the rest of my friends stayed so calm, I will never know. I wiped the spit from my face and flicked it right back to him.
“I will live despite my heartbreak. Despite the torment you have caused. I will live remembering my loved ones who’ve been lost by your hand. But I willlive.You? You will die. You will be nothing. Your name will be nothing. Not even a memory.”
Gathering all of my strength, I slammed Apollo directly into Andras’s heart and the darkness living inside of him for so long exploded outward. Using the blade didn’t drain me like I thought it would. Instead, the magic inside of it seemed to beckon my light, fueling it instead of using it.
The room temporarily turned so dark, it swallowed us whole, but the dagger glowed through it all. I pushed harder and harder, letting my light flow into the blade until the smoke cleared and Andras’s body slumped forward, as he breathed his last breath.
“And it’squeen, you worthless piece of shit.”
Chapter 27
Lana
“Little Rebel,” Kade whispered, his voice wrapped around me along with his shadows, which were trailing down my arms.
I blinked, trying to wake up. My body felt like a thousand pounds. After dealing with Andras and releasing all of the vengeance I’d been holding on to for so many years, the adrenaline had faded. My mind immediately turned to Corbin, another loss I’d carry forever.
Once I’d made it outside my chamber doors, my knees gave out and Kade carried me to my bed. I didn’t even remember falling asleep.
The dim light of the setting sun illuminated my bedroom chambers. “How long was I asleep?” I asked, stretching my arms above my head as I tried to move despite how heavy everything weighed on me.
Kade wrapped his arm around my waist, turning me to face him. His soft smile grew as he looked me over. “A few hours. You needed to rest.”
My lip trembled as Kade looked at me like I was something precious. “Andras is dead, so why don’t I feel better?”
His blood would be on my hands forever, and while the world would be a better place without him, I couldn’t describe the strange mix of emotions flooding my body.
Kade pulled me closer, and I let my emotions take over, crying into his chest. He let them flow, running his hands over the back of my head, massaging my neck. “It feels better for a brief moment, but people like that—their deaths don’t magically erase the pain they’ve inflicted. We have to do that part ourselves. We have to be stronger than the scars they left behind.”
My head nuzzled into his side, letting his comforting presence soothe our bond and my heart. This pulsing light inside of me containing Kade’s soul alongside my own thrummed with contentment until I could breathe again.
“Thank you for helping me destroy him.”
Kade lifted my chin, kissing my lips gently. “I promised you he would be dead when you were ready.”
A knock sounded from the main entryway.
“It’s Storm,” Kade advised, rising from the bed and heading out of my bedroom.
A moment later he returned, Storm trailing behind.
Adjusting the pillows on the bed allowed me to sit up as Kade crawled over back to his spot.
He has a spot.I smiled briefly at how normal it all felt. Kade had a place that was his in my bed.
