My jaw clenched at that word. I hated that Kaden had any sort of bond with her, forced or not.
“Nismera tried to kill you. Both of you. Didn’t she?” I asked.
Kaden’s eyes flicked to mine. “She needs our blood for something, and she tried to take it by force. Only mine is … tainted.”
“Their blood?”Dianna asked, her voice a cool balm against my mind.
“Unless she is doing some form of dark magic, I cannot see why she would want it or try to take it by force.”
“How does it feel to be used as you carelessly used so many before?” Dianna asked. “Hurts, doesn’t it? I hope it does.”
For what it was worth, Kaden was quiet. He did not snap or snarl like he had when I beheaded him. No, he just stared as if he could look right through us.
“We get it.” Isaiah sighed. “So what? You’ve come to taunt us, then? Can we get on with whatever the fuck you guys came down here for?”
Dianna and Kaden were staring at each other again. I hated it, but then I noticed she had her hands clasped in front of her, the ring I’d placed on her finger proudly displayed. It shone like a shield against him, a totem that showed him who she loved and belonged to, now and forever.
Isaiah continued to rant and mouth off, but all I saw was her. Dianna did not shut me out as I reached across our bond for her. She loved and trusted me enough to leave her defenses down for me. After viewing the thoughts and feelings going through her mind, a part of me wished she hadn’t.
A thousand and one emotions flooded her brain as she showed me everything. Dianna let me see the man who had saved her in the desert, their attempted relationship, and its many failures through the years. She let me feel how her shame and pain manifested as anger when the man she thought she knew manipulated and hurt her. She laid herself bare and shared with me the wounds he inflicted on her soul each time he used the promise of keeping her sister alive to force her to do what he wished. The worst was the annihilation of her heart when it was all for nothing. I felt her grief rise from its tenebrous grave, reaching for the surface to drag her back into the cold abyss. I saw her soothe it to the best of her abilities.
Death had used Dianna as an anchor, utilizing the fractured and weak connection to Kaden to form the bond between the three of them. He had woven it into her emotions, and she wasn’t just remembering the bad parts but the good as well, memories of before he became cruel.
I knew it wasn’t rational, but in some primal part of my brain, it hurt to know she’d found any sort of peace or comfort with him. To know he had tried to occupy the heart I held and cherished had jealousy biting at me with vicious teeth. I wanted all of Dianna’s everything, her firsts, her lasts, all of it.
They had history together. It was why his betrayal had caused her such blistering pain, shaping her into the woman she was today. The kind of hate she felt for him could only be spawned from love, even if it was fleeting and died eons ago. After centuries of him feeding her hatred and her nurturing it, her rage now burned brighter than any wild flame, tempering her pain into wrath. Their time together was filled with violence and cruelty. When she looked at him now, all she saw was a liar, a manipulator, and her greatest enemy.
Kaden was such a fool. He’d had her love and attention, and instead of getting on his knees and thanking the gods, he repudiated it all and rejected her. After it was far too late, he tried to force his so-called love upon her, willing to use blade or magic to reclaim her. For his final and worst betrayal, he’d ripped her heart out when he killed her sister, stealing the last tether to her mortality. Now, to add insult to injury, she was bound to the one being in all the realms she wished to be rid of. It was a cruelty beyond measure. Rage flared through me. We were truly stuck in an impossible situation, and the fact that I couldn’t kill Kaden only made me hate him more.
Within her mind, I felt flaming red eyes turn toward me. A large, jet black beast rose with feline grace and padded toward me, massive paws meeting the floor of her mind. Enchanted, I watched her approach, the shadows forming her body solid one moment and then swirling nebulae in the next.
She’d known I was there and hadn’t hesitated to show me all that she felt. It was an offer of true trust and utter devotion. My heart swelled. She wasn’t hiding herself from me, no matter how ugly she thought certain parts were. At some point she had decided to strip off her armor and lower her walls, trying so damn hard despite the pain she had experienced at Kaden’s hands. Now this magnificent and deadly beast circled my soul and nestled close, seeking safety and comfort, begging for protection from the demons that had risen to yank her back into the abyss with them.
Dianna could have fought on her own. We both knew it. She was beyond powerful, beyond strong, but she sought the safety of my arms, allowing me to shelter her. In an act of unrivaled bravery, she laid her burdens at my feet and trusted me to keep her safe. I wrapped my power around her like wings, vowing without words that no matter what came, what the world threw at us, she was and would always be my main priority. Her ears flattened as she curled up against me and slept.
Gods above and below, I loved her, and I would raze the realms to dust and ashes for her. I reached out my hand and entwined my fingers with hers.
“We need to go to the Otherworld,” I said.
Isaiah scoffed. “I’m not going anywhere with you all.”
“You are,” I snapped, my power surging beneath my skin, my adyin glowing softly. “Because you have no other choice in the matter. I do not trust you enough to leave you locked in my home. So either you come willingly, or I bind you, gag you, and drag you the whole godsdamn way.”
Crimson flames flared in Isaiah’s eyes as he snapped. “I fucking dare you.”
“The Otherworld won’t allow you in,” Kaden said.
“Well, I have no choice. Death said that’s where we go to find some information about this damn medallion. We bring that to him, and you’re all free.” I smiled. “And then I can kill you again, but as long as you two are bound to Dianna …” I sighed deeply, rubbing my brow. “I truly hate saying this, but you’re under my protection.”
Isaiah let out a bitter laugh. “Your protection? That’s not saying much. Look at how well you’ve done so far?” he said, looking toward the other occupied cells.
My temper flared. “As I recall,” I waved toward Logan and Nev, “this is your fault. Both of you aided in the plotting and scheming that made this a reality, not me. It’s just one more reason I’d rather you both be nothing but a bad memory and better forgotten history.”
Isaiah shook his head as he motioned to Kaden. “You’re okay with this?”
Kaden sat in that corner with his hands resting over his knees, watching us toss words like a ball. My blood boiled at the sight of him. I hated that he was alive. Even sitting and at ease, he was a formidable figure, and he had no hesitation in forcing those under his command to bow to him. I didn’t know how I hadn’t seen it before. His resemblance to Unir was uncanny, and I hated that we had that in common. It was another slice on my soul, adding to the pain of the festering wound my father had left. He had lied and kept so many secrets, and even in death, I could not forgive him. Trust was such a fragile thing, and once broken, it was nearly impossible to repair.
Kaden’s gaze locked on our hands. I wondered if it bothered him seeing how she so naturally reached for me, eagerly accepting my touch. Did the sight of her ring, the symbol of our connection and love, burn him? I hoped he felt it like a rusty, jagged blade in his gut. I hoped it felt like acid in his veins.
