I disappeared from the comfort of my chambers and landed on the outskirts of an Endarkened forest. Elementals rushed about in a frenzy. Some were dead and already being burned, while some lay broken and bloodied on the ground, barely clinging to life. I recognized every face.
Kodiak lay unconscious and seeping blackened blood from a cavernous wound in his chest. He’d always been softer than the other men—perhaps that was his downfall. Or maybe he should’ve trained harder and focused more on his speed.
Void sat at his side, tending the wound, River resting her head onhis shoulder. Both of them looked hollow as they stared at Kodiak's pale and unmoving body.
Sporadic fires continued to blaze up. Black smoke reached for the sky, the pungent odor of death permeating the area as the deceased were burned. Onyx stared blankly into the flames. I did miss his banter, but there was no place in my life for any of them anymore. I followed Onyx’s amber gaze that glowed in the inferno, realizing he focused on Shadow.
I frowned, spotting Shadow among the Elementals. My lip twitched. I wanted to consume his soul and watch him drop dead, as he was supposed to be. But there would be plenty of time for that later.
A pile of entrails and feathers sat contained in the clearing. I skimmed over the familiar faces of the exhausted Elementals, searching for one exclusively.
Gray’s drive to deplete fueled me, spurring me closer to the edge of the wood, but just out of eyesight. It was a siren song, tempting me closer to her until she swallowed me whole in her drive for power.
My eyes darted from left to right, seeking my queen. But I did my best to draw her to me through the bond, hoping she would find me. It was clear that she was deep in the thralls of Elemental magic deprivation. She must’ve had something to do with the dead griffin. I expected nothing less from her—my equal.
A fight broke out, and I watched as Slate straddled Gray. My rage climbed to unyielding heights as he pinned her wrists above her head.
I found myself drifting forward, ready to snap his neck for daring to lay a hand on what was mine. He had his time. And that time was over.
A part of me bristled at the dark thoughts gnashing their teeth at my cousin. And while I didn’t like the fact that he straddled her right now, that old part of me screamed his gratitude for keeping my other half safe.
I shut down the old feelings, not having any space or need for them now.
Slate shoved his fingers in her mouth. That would’ve been weird had I not known that he held mushweed in his fingers. I squeezed the bark of the tree, the inky poison coating my skin. Thankfully, it didn’t affect me since I was also a product of the same magic that made this tree bleed supernatural toxins.
Gray stilled in her fight against my cousin, and the bond went cold once again. My fury ratcheted, more than it ever had since being turned Infernal. Without thought, I punched the tree that I had been squeezing. My knuckles bled, but I watched the wound stitch itself back together, letting it mesmerize me to a calmer state.
When I glanced back up, Slate was caressing Gray’s cheek. I wouldn’t stick around to watch this, especially seeing that she wasn’t coming to me, after all. A sense of relief clashed with my sinking disappointment. The pesky old part of me wanted her to stay away and be safe from me, but still longed for her. For the last time, I locked the vulnerable feelings away.
So close. She was so close to coming to me, only for Slate to stop her at the last minute. I never resented Valik more than I did then. If he could’ve just left Slate alone all those years ago, Gray would be in my arms now, and probably on the fierce course of devolution. But she wouldn’t have to suffer through it like I had. Had I only succumbed to its throes sooner, I would’ve saved myself so much misery.
Once Gray rose to her feet, I traveled back to Goshen Castle, this time landing in the courtyard where a few Infernals passed by, seemingly unaware of my presence as they were entirely under Celanea’s mind-control, following her orders. My fists shook from anger. I grew more pissed at the old feelings that should be nonexistent, but also at Slate’s audacity. How dare he take her from me again? I couldn’t wait to finally make him pay for his betrayal.
I stormed to the empty Great Hall, which contained only a table filled with Endarkened floral arrangements. As often as they were replaced to bring a splash of color to the castle, the flowers were shriveled within the next day. Nothing survived here. Suddenly, a vase ofblack roses set me off, and I struck it with my arm, knocking it to the floor with a crash. Glass shards shattered across the floor, while the roses and their petals swam in the water that had once kept them alive.
It was fine. This was a long-haul game. She was on a slippery slope, and it would make my job that much easier to persuade her to join me, to give in to the call of depletion.
Deep within me, acute clawing starvation scored bold gashes into my soul. I gasped, clutching my chest from the pain. Stumbling, my knees buckled as I hunched over, hugging my midsection. I coughed, wheezing for air through the pain. Fuck, this was the downside of being Infernal.
I cried out from the agony as sweat formed on my forehead and my body heat rose to unnatural temperatures. I managed to lean my shoulder against the wall to help me stay upright. Blackness closed in on the edges of my vision while my body and head grew lighter.
After all the traveling, I was drained. I needed to replenish. Instead of searching for a soul to feed from in between my destinations, as I should’ve done, I’d traveled too much, too fast.
Orion’s soul and the others I’d consumed on the Hollow’s battlefield several days ago had taken me far, but it had been too long.
“Chrome?” a voice said from the shadows. It sounded too distant. Leofric, or Leo as I called him, because there was no way I was going to say his whole name every time I addressed him, blurred in the darkening edges of my sight. He was one of Celanea’s favorites, as he had been one of her biggest conquests when he’d been Celestial. Before he’d turned Infernal, he’d been the Celestial King’s most loyal and beloved warrior. When Celanea captured and bonded herself to him, turning the Celestial’s most powerful warrior against them, it had been the beginning of the end for them. The betrayal and loss must have struck deep at the heart of their rule.
“What are you doing?” Leo asked, his energy drawing closer as my vision waned.
I stayed silent, save for my haggard breaths. Vicious hatred roaredsomewhere deep in my soul, causing my entire body to vibrate from the restraint. I hated him, because to me, he represented Celanea. When I looked at him, I saw myself. Both loyal warriors being controlled and wielded to serve rulers who never gave a shit about us.
Leo needed to die, not only for his own freedom, but as a reminder to Celanea that I wouldn’t ever be entirely controlled like him.
My arms grew limp as shadows ejected from them and my chest, latching onto the Infernal in the corridor. The second they touched him, I pulled his soul toward me, channeling it through the shadows. My physical pain began to ease, but my rage increased. After nearly two minutes, Leo’s soul belonged to me as it rejuvenated my aura and magic while leaving behind a lifeless corpse. My vision cleared and my strength returned. But it was the overwhelming power of my magic that felt intoxicating.
I gazed down at Leo. Celanea would be pissed. I was the newest Infernal creation in over a millennium. The only other ones were left over from before Celanea cast all of the Celestials out of Arcadia.
I wouldn’t be able to escape Celanea’s wrath, but I smiled anyway. She wouldn’t kill me for it, so any punishment I suffered would be worth the blow I’d dealt her.
