The king dismissed us.
When we returned to the deck and picked up our cards, Val leaned across the table and whispered, “Should I have told him about my parents’ axe?”
I tapped my finger against the back of my cards. “He didn’t ask if weknew someonewho had wielded an axe. ‘Cause I knew quite a few axe-wielders during our war with Oberon. He asked ifwedid. And you didn’t.”
“I don’t think my mother and father got the chance to swing it, anyway.” She sat back in her chair. “But why would Duncan Hinde be asking about an axe?”
I smiled. “We’ll have to break into his cabin and find out.”
Twelve
Kalen
“Back already?” I asked with a smile.
The storm fae slithered into view. He held another vial of valerian in his trembling hands. He tried to hide his shakes, but his fear was echoed in his slow, shuffling steps and the way he kept glancing at the chains. My words from our last encounter had gotten into his head, and now he couldn’t help but wonder…
Could a little steel truly hold back the Mist King?
“I’m not to speak to you,” was all he said.
“What time is it?” I asked. “We’re still in the Kingdom of Storms, I assume. So is it day or night? Is the mist still cloaking these lands?”
He narrowed his eyes. “I won’t answer any of your questions. You’ll find a way to use that information somehow.”
I jerked the chains, and their rattling echoed through the cave. “How could I possibly do that?”
“Not sure how, but they warned me about you.” The warrior smirked. “I don’t know what all the fuss is about, really. Look at the monstrous Mist King. You can’t even stand on your own fucking feet.”
With my eyes locked on the warrior’s face, I wrapped my hands around the chains and wrenched them free from the manacles attached to the rocky ground. I stood, lungs heaving from the exertion. The onyx pillars blocked my elite shadow fae power, but they did not fully dampen my strength. It had taken every ounce of my concentration to pull it from the depths of me, to call upon the ferocity I’d always feared.
But no more. I would gladly let it loose upon my enemies. I was not the monster here.
I stepped out of the circle of onyx. My full power flooded back to me.
The storm fae gasped and stumbled back. He turned to run, but I grabbed his shoulder and hauled him back to me. He shook as I gripped his belt and snapped it in half, reaching for the key ring. With one hand still on his shoulder, I shoved the keys into his hands.
“Unlock the manacles.”
He shook his head, his bottom lip trembling. “I can’t. They’ll kill me.”
“Look into my eyes,” I said evenly.
He blinked, but he did not turn away from my steady gaze. The fear in his expression deepened. I knew what he saw. I’d just spent the past few days trapped in a cave with no wife, no bedroll, and no food but the scraps he’d brought me just to keep me alive. My power burned within me now, and the sapphire of my eyes glowed brightly. The deep blue color spilled across the warrior’s face, illuminating his terror.
“Yes, they might kill you,” I finally said. “But f you don’t unlock the manacles, so will I.”
He swallowed. “Fuck.”
“Every second that ticks by is another second you’re keeping me from my wife.”
“You can’t go near her.” He tried to jerk away from me, but my grip on his shoulder was too strong. “She vowed to stay away from you. Threaten me all you want, but that won’t change anything. Only Andromeda can release her from the vow, and she would never do it.”
“I don’t think you understand. Nothing can stop me from getting to my wife. Now unlock the fucking chains.”
“Even if you manage it, Tessa Baran won’t be the same woman you knew before. The gods made her go through trials that stripped her of her humanity. She’s like them now. Not like you. Bet she’ll try to kill you if—”
“You’ve made your choice.” My body powered by the enhanced strength running through my veins, I swung my chains around the warrior’s neck and squeezed. He choked, dragging his nails across my arms. His legs flailed, his chest heaved. I grit my teeth and held on until the breath fled from his lungs. His convulsions stopped. I released him and let his body hit the stone.
