Chapter 28 When Darkness Consumes
Riley
She must have hesitated. I knew The General had been close to catching us, but if she had jumped at the same time as I did, she would have made it. Why did she hesitate? Now he had her. That bastard had her, and I had allowed it to happen.
I should have made sure she had gone first. I should have stayed closer.
I should have done something, everything differently.
The guilt crawled beneath my skin like fire ants, burning, gnawing, making it impossible to breathe.
All I could do now was everything in my power to get her back.
Surely, he would keep her alive. He needed her for something.
I just didn’t know what. But whatever it was, I would find her before he got what he wanted.
She was my girl.
After all these years, I had finally opened myself to her, finally trusted someone enough to let them in, and now she was gone.
Taken. The thought made my stomach twist until I thought I might be sick.
She was the one person in this world who mattered the most to me.
I couldn’t lose her… not like I had lost the others.
The number of monsters at the prison she had rescued me from was staggering.
Not just the size of the army, but the fact that they had weapons, human-made and deadly, mixed with their unnatural powers.
It was suicide to go back there alone and even attempt to rescue her now I knew he would keep her close.
She had the element of surprise once. I wouldn’t.
They would be ready now, waiting for me.
Still, I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t forget about her. Not a chance.
I tracked them as best I could, keeping my distance but close enough to see signs of their movement.
Even from far away, I could feel them. The General’s power was a living thing, sharp and heavy in the air, like lightning that was always about to strike.
I kept downwind, careful to mask my scent in mud.
They were supernatural. They would smell me if I wasn’t careful.
The days blurred into each other, a haze of exhaustion and fury.
When night fell, I pressed on, searching the city, knowing he had her hidden somewhere.
Some nights I could barely keep my eyes open.
When my legs gave out, I forced myself to stop, just long enough to sleep a few hours.
Every minute I rested felt like another piece of her slipping away.
But I kept moving.
She had to be alive. She had to. Because the alternative was something I couldn’t let myself imagine.
And then, at the edge of dawn, I saw them.
Or rather, I saw him.
The General.
He sat high on his monstrous black horse, armor gleaming in the sun.
And in his arms, held against his chest like something precious, was Alex.
Her hair caught the light, that strawberry-blonde color I had always been fascinated with.
It was wild and loose, which she never did because it always annoyed her.
It was why I ruffled it so much. I knew it irritated her and I would be gifted with that frustrated grumble along with something about kicking my ass.
An ass-kicking that never came. But now, for him, her hair was loose and flowing freely.
Her head tilted back as she laughed at something he said.
My blood ran cold.
They dismounted, and the way his hands held her waist had me gritting my teeth until they ached. There were others there with them, and I forced my eyes from her to scan the potential other threats.
“What… Tiff, and the new guy, Aster?” I questioned aloud, whispering my disbelief. I shook my head again. What was happening? I couldn’t understand it, I also couldn’t understand the way she let him pull her in close and put an arm around her.
An older man exited the hotel next and looked just as surprised by the sight of them as I did, if that were possible. However, what came next was the kind of pain I never knew existed, because after the others went inside, they hung back, and my world tilted before it came crashing down.
The General kissed her.
It was not a fleeting thing, not a whisper of affection. It was deep, fierce, consuming, and what’s more… she didn’t resist. No, instead of pushing him away, she melted into him, her hands rising to his chest.
My own chest tightened, and I felt my knees weaken. For a long moment, all I could do was stare, unblinking, as that kiss broke something in me. I stumbled back, my breath ragged, the sound of my pulse roaring in my ears.
She had been with him willingly.
No. No, that couldn’t be right. She had been under his control, she had to be. The bastard must have used magic, must have bewitched her somehow. She would never choose him over me. She wasn’t capable of that.
She loved me.
Didn’t she?
I tore my gaze away and turned, walking without thought as to where my footsteps took me, my boots crunching over the gravel.
By the time I reached the park on the far side of the city, the sun had begun to sink, painting the clouds in bruised shades of purple and red.
I didn’t know why I chose the park. Maybe I just needed air.
Maybe I needed to think. The place was so empty.
Not like that wasn’t unexpected, but the silence screamed at me, the kind of quiet that only made the noise in my head louder.
I sat on a cold stone bench, my knife turning over and over in my hand. I would go back for her, I would find a way to break whatever spell he had her under. I would save her. No matter what it cost.
Then, I heard it.
A whisper. Soft. Familiar. My name.
“Riley… Riley…”
I stood sharply with my blade drawn, my body tense. The shadows between the trees thickened. Something moved within them, and I knew instinctively that it didn’t belong to this world. I stepped forward, my grip tightening around the hilt.
“Show yourself,” I growled.
And it did.
A figure stepped from the darkness, though stepped wasn’t quite right. It glided, soundless, its shape flickering between solid and ghostly, a phantom of dark mist. The air grew cold, and my breath came out in pale ribbons. Its voice, when it spoke, was both smooth as silk and as sharp as glass.
“Oh… you won’t be needing that.”
Before I could react, the air rippled. The creature dissolved into a shadow and rushed forward, sinking into my chest like a blade.
I gasped, dropping to my knees, the knife clattering uselessly to the ground.
My veins burned as something ancient and wrong spread through me. It twisted and filled me, consuming me.
And then a single breath in was all it took, and I was standing again.
But I was not the same.
No, I was strong.
So very, very strong.
A dark heat pulsed beneath my skin, steady and intoxicating. My thoughts, once tangled with grief, were now razor-sharp, cruel, and clear. The ache for Alex remained, but it had changed.
It was no longer love.
It was something darker.
If she had chosen him, then she would soon learn exactly…
What that choice would cost her.