Chapter 67 Cold to Touch
COLD TO TOUCH
LUELLA
Meals were delivered—mere slop, shoved through the iron bars of Luella’s cell. It was a thick sludge, watered-down chunks of bread, soaked in thin soup.
She didn’t eat; instead, she stared at the walls listlessly.
That did not go on for long.
A clanging sound made her heavy head jerk up. Her arm twitched. It was sore, the skin tight over her bones and swollen. She wondered if it was infected. Dying from fever would be a terrible way to go.
Caliban stood before the bars, chin tipped high as he stared down his nose at her.
He wore dark, regal clothes, with many jewels that shone in the blue-tinted light.
"I heard you are not eating. Do you wish to die from starvation? Because believe me when I tell you it is a fucking terrible way to go. Your stomach will cave in, empty. Your body will start to use reserves for sustenance, then, when that’s gone, it will turn to other parts of you—needed parts.
But you’ll be too far gone to realize you’re being consumed from the inside out. "
The words were harsh, but Luella could only manage to stare up at him, knees tucked to her chest.
"You are so pathetic, sitting here like this."
The bars groaned as his hands tightened around them, shadows curling over the edges and drifting down the floor, seeking her bare toes. She tucked her feet beneath her thighs.
Frigid shadows curled around her shift, tugging incessantly as they wrapped around her calves.
"Eat—or I will force your jaw open and shove the food down your throat."
As if to back up his warning, the shadows rose over her flesh until they nudged her chin and jaw.
"Okay."
He waited before the bars, eyes black as pitch. "I do not trust you alone. If I leave, you may attempt to trick me. Eat," he ordered.
Slowly, she walked on her knees to the tiny stone tray of cold food. It had hardened into a clump. No eating utensils, as if he feared she’d try to use it as a weapon; however, at the present moment, Luella was more inclined to use it to hurt herself than anyone else.
She broke off a chunk of the bread. She closed her eyes as she took a small bite. It was flavorless, brittle on her tongue. It slid down her throat and filled her empty, aching stomach, assuaging a gnawing hunger she’d nearly forgotten about. The spikes dug in as she swallowed.
"Good. I am unsure why you seem to wish to die. This is not forever." Caliban waved a shadow-tipped hand to the cell. "You will stay here until you learn to obey me. This is the first step."
Luella looked up at him, fingers curling into the bread with anger. "What is the second, then? Torture?" Her words were bitter.
She was so tired she didn’t even stutter. She had lost it in the safety of the Isles, but she thought it would’ve returned by now—especially forced to endure this dark reality.
Maybe a part of her that had once been broken had healed so much that it was strong enough to never crack again. But she knew that only left other pieces of her vulnerable. What would be broken now? Her hand—would she ever be able to use it again? Had she replaced one burden with another?
"The second step is your magic. You need to learn to wield it. Have it bend to your will. But before that, your will needs to bend to mine." His eyes reflected the blue glimmer around them. She saw as they dropped to her chest. "That mark. I know what it is. He had you bound to him?"
"Vale did, yes." She loved saying Vale’s name in front of Caliban—it seemed to bother him greatly. "It was inked on my chest after I was named the Chosen for the Winter Solstice. You knew this already, did you not?" she challenged.
"I know much more than they ever thought I did.
" He pressed his face between two bars, and the image was frightening, his eyes crazed.
"Caliban fought at first, until he learned to stop. Fighting is useless. I know exactly what to do to break someone and use them how I see fit. You will break, too. Don’t try to fight it. Give in."
She jolted back, dropping the bread. They’d known that Caliban wasn’t… Caliban any longer. But—
"Do your Umbra know you are a god playing at a male?"
His lips turned up into a sinister smile. "My Umbra know. My shadows coil around their hearts. None would dare betray me."
The shadows around Luella tightened ever so slightly.
"And the rest suspect; though, they would never breathe a word about it, especially not in front of me. Outside Luna, I am merely a crazed King with profane fantasies, but that’s what everyone tells themselves.
It is easier for them to believe I am a fae male, than to face the truth: I haven’t been a male in long, long time—centuries.
You would have to be a fool to believe I am a mere male.
I am a god, and you all will learn to bow before me. "
Luella shrank away from him. "You—then it is true—you are… the Tenebrae?"
"Stupid heirus. Don’t tell me you were happy to bury your head in the sand like all the rest. I’ve heard even my half-brother hasn’t been willing to admit it. I thought it to be rather obvious that Caliban is long gone."
She’d known, but that did not stop his words from making her dizzy. This was the male she was prophesied to defeat. They were all doomed. She couldn’t fight him and win. He’d kill her in an instant. Then no one would survive him.
She remembered the way he’d screamed as he had been pulled into the darkness of the cave, shadows wrapping around him. The day it had all changed.
She felt sorry for him, in a way. What could he have become if he’d never been possessed by a god of darkness?
"I knew you weren’t Caliban. Vale does too.
I know he does. He’s not foolish, but hopeful.
He hoped that you were alive still, because if you were still you, then at least he would be able to reason with you.
" Luella stood, ankle throbbing as she slowly walked to the iron bars. The shadows didn’t stop her.
"He’s loved you all this time, did you know that? Vale loves you, Caliban."
Luella knew Vale did, even if he never said it. The few times he’d spoken to her about his half-brother, his tone had turned melancholic, as if mourning the irretrievable.
She watched as the darkness in Caliban’s eyes retreated—a flicker of green emerged.
"Please—" Caliban broke off into a dark, twisted scream as he fisted his hair and pulled.
"No! Shut up." His hand reached through the bars and tangled in the front of her shift, pulling her forward until her chest slammed against her bars, knocking the breath out of her.
"Shut up before I sew your lips closed like a Temple Mother.
Would you like that—being silenced forever with thread between your lips?
I could even cut out your tongue. If you ripped the stitches free, you would still be silenced. "
At the threat, she gasped. The image of the Temple Mothers was burned into her mind.
"Did you know it was I who demanded they take a permanent vow of silence? Any who serve the gods must remain silenced, so as not to share the corruption of me in comparison to my sister."
Luella stilled. "Sister?" she breathed.
"Lux." Caliban drew out the word.
The Lux and the Tenebrae. Light and darkness. Two halves of the same golden piece. Siblings…
Luella didn’t speak, afraid to anger him further. This was the mercurial rage he’d shown Enora. She knew how that story ended.
His finger pressed against her chest. "If only I could mark you like he did, then you’d be forced to obey me."
She wanted to know why he didn’t.
He saw the question in her eyes and laughed darkly.
"A being can only be marked with a Binding mark once. It is forever, once it is done. It can only be absolved by the one who placed the mark. I guess my half-brother knew, deep inside himself, that one day I’d get my hands on you.
He wanted to keep you safe from me. But that just means I can work to get your obedience in much more entertaining ways. "
He oscillated between claiming the name Caliban and the Tenebrae, as if even now he questioned whether he was truly Caliban—or something else entirely. The truth became clearer when Luella saw the green in his eyes flicker and vanish.
Caliban was alive. He had to be—somewhere in his body. Trapped.
He let her go, and she stumbled back, hand cradled to her chest, hair hanging in tangles around her shoulders.
Her wings had been tucked close to her back the whole time.
She nearly forgot about them. Their weight was so comforting and normal to her now, but as his eyes fell on them, she wished she could cover them up.
"The conquered Princess is a pretty little angel. Those wings make this all so much more fun. It’s like your innocence is bare for all to see.
When you finally bend a knee before me, and I claim you as my bride, I will ensure your gown highlights them.
Pure white feathers, yet you’ll be so dark for me, won’t you? "
Luella shook her head, mute. She would be dark for no one, good for no one.
He smiled, and a delicate clinking sound from behind her made her jump and turn.
Shadows drifted on the ground by the tray of half-eaten food. A tiny stone cup filled with water had been dropped near it.
"Drink. Fae can live without food longer than water. If you try to deny yourself water, you may find your food taken away, so you can experience what true hunger is before you foolishly die of thirst."
She felt an iciness travel up her legs, forcing her to walk to the cup. She bent and lifted it with her good hand. She drew in a faint breath. It was clean, clear water. She doubted he’d poison her. He wanted her alive.
Luella drank the water, forced into it, with no choice. When the little stone cup was empty, she pulled it away from her lips, droplets trickling from the corner of her mouth.