Chapter Fifty-Five
Cadence
My mind was reeling, desperate to pick apart everything Fallon had just revealed. But I barely had time to collect myself before the air in the chamber shimmered, the temperature dropping so suddenly it stung my skin.
Shadows snaked across the cold, hard floor, filling the space with a dark foreboding I didn’t want to acknowledge. A crack of power tore through the room, jagged and uncontrolled.
For a moment, everything was still. Then Ryker stepped through the black mist, his jaw clenched and blood soaking his tunic. Our gazes met, and what I saw in his eyes made me recoil.
Wrath.
Pulsing and undiluted.
My gaze shifted to the lifeless form slung over his shoulder. Blood smeared his face, and more of it soaked his shirt, dripping in ugly splatters onto the floor.
A sound ripped from my throat, inhuman as it echoed off the walls, rough and desperate.
I ran toward my brother, shoving aside the armchair, as Ryker dumped him on the floor.
My knees scraped painfully on the stone as I dropped to Callum’s side.
My stomach lurched, and my hands shook so badly I could hardly reach for him.
“Callum! Callum, can you hear me?”
Ryker’s arm shot out, hauling me back by my dress. Rage twisted his features, and his eyes burned like coals.
“Don’t touch him.” His voice was a guttural snarl, but the threat was clear: one wrong move and my brother was dead.
I froze, my breath caught in my chest.
He knew. Gods, he knew.
All the hope I’d clung to shattered in an instant.
“Ryker, what have you done?” The words wavered, thin and fragile, barely making it past my lips.
“I should ask you that, wife.” He spat the word with so much venom it dripped from his tongue like poison, each syllable meant to wound.
I felt the balance tip, the tension coil too tight, and suddenly I wasn’t sure I’d make it out of this unscathed.
“Ryker, I —”
He moved quicker than my mind could process, his hand darting out to cup my chin, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of my cheeks to the point of pain.
“Before you think about lying to me, Temptress, remember, I hold your brother’s life in the palm of my hand.”
The sound of a nearby door hitting the wall spared me from responding, as hurried footfalls thundered toward us.
Riordan, Eamon, and Malesh burst into the chamber, all three lowering their weapons the instant they saw Callum sprawled across the stone.
Blood pooled beneath his head, a bright, damning stain.
Malesh swore under his breath, and Eamon’s face drained of color, his eyes darting from me to Ryker and back again.
But it was Riordan who broke through the tension. “Killer?”
He stepped forward, shoving past the others as he dropped to his knees, pressing two fingers against his pulse point. “He’s alive, but only just.” His attention turned to me. “Why aren’t you doing anything?”
The accusation in his tone was my undoing. Tears filled my eyes, and before I could stop it, a broken, wretched sob tore from my throat.
Riordan lifted his gaze to his brother, his face awash with confusion. “What the hell is going on here?”
Ryker didn’t flinch. He released my chin, moving his hand to my nape, holding me in place as if I were a wild animal about to bolt.
The tension in the chamber was thick enough to choke on.
“Let her heal him,” Riordan said.
My sobs grew louder, the pain hammering through my chest until it stole my very breath.
“You don’t give me fucking orders, Riordan,” Ryker growled. “You have no idea what they’ve done.”
Riordan’s eyes narrowed, full of challenge. “I know you’re acting like a fucking madman.” He rose from Callum’s side, shadowed by purpose. “Let her go, Ryker. Or are you going to allow Callum to bleed out just to prove a point?”
“Stay the fuck out of this, Brother. It doesn’t concern you.” Ryker said, his teeth bared. His shadows writhed, eager for violence.
Riordan moved before Ryker had finished speaking. The air snapped with power as he lunged, his fist crashing into Ryker’s cheekbone with a sickening crack. Ryker returned the blow, hard enough to split Riordan’s lip wide open.
They collided in a blur of muscle and rage; the impact shook the chamber. Fists slammed into flesh. Bone cracked. Shadows coiled around Ryker, while Riordan engulfed himself in flames.
Ryker shoved Riordan against the wall, forearm braced against his throat, unaffected by the heat of his brother’s flames.
“You want to challenge me, Little Brother?” His tone was cold, piercing my fragile heart. “For a traitor!”
Riordan’s eyes widened, and he glanced toward Callum’s crumpled form before shifting his gaze to me.
Ryker chuckled, the sound terrifying. “Now you see. We wanted to find the traitorous spy, well, there you have it,” he said, gesturing to me. “They were right beneath our noses the entire time.”
Riordan’s storm-grey eyes begged me without words to prove his brother wrong.
“Cadence?”
“I… I…” My chest heaved, unrelenting sobs racking my frame.
“I met your precious Callum on the battlefield, working with the rebels,” Ryker ground out, releasing his brother.
Riordan shook his head, jaw clenched so tight it looked like it might shatter. But whatever he was feeling, he quickly pushed it aside.
“Save the dramatics, Ryker. Remove her cuffs and let her work. We can dissect the whys and hows later, but if you want answers, you need him alive.”
“Ah, but my wife plays a far prettier captive, don’t you think?”
“Ryker, let Cadence heal her brother.”
My husband’s furious gaze settled on me, and despite my fear and heartbreak, I met his glare with one of my own.
“If he dies, you will get nothing from me.” I straightened my spine, my hands curling into fists in the fabric of my skirt.
“You’ll never know how far this goes, or who is plotting against you.”
I prayed Ryker couldn’t detect the lie slipping between my lips.
His answering grin was full of menace.
“You want to play games, wife, then let’s play.” Turning to face his brother, he said, “Your knife, now.”
Riordan didn’t hesitate, yanking the dagger from his belt and tossing it, blade-first. Ryker caught it midair, eyes never leaving mine. He pressed the steel beneath my chin, forcing my head up so I couldn’t look away from him.
“You want to save him?” he asked, menace seeping into his tone. “Then swear a blood oath to me, here and now. You will never make a move against me again. Or your brother dies at your feet.”
“No.”
The instant the word left my lips, I wanted nothing more than to snatch it back.
“No?” Ryker repeated, amusement lacing his tone. “I guess you care little for your brother’s well-being after all.”
A blood oath wasn’t just a promise. It was a binding of two souls. Ancient fae magic entwined their spirits, sealing a vow that could never be undone.
It was invasive and unnatural. Not born of love or loyalty, but of authority and subjugation.
The very thing I had been fighting against all this time.
It wasn’t a choice. It was a life sentence.
And Ryker knew it.
He lowered himself to his haunches, his eyes level with mine as his fingers returned to my jaw. I tried to wrench myself free, but his grip only tightened.
“Bind yourself to me.”
My heart pounded against my ribcage, trying to escape the bones that confined it. “You’ll kill him anyway,” I said, hating the tremor in my voice.
Callum’s breath rattled, wet and uneven, a deadly reminder that time was not on our side.
“Every second that you hesitate, your brother slips closer to death. Decide. His life is hanging by a thread, and soon enough, the fates will decide for you.”
The dagger pressed harder against my skin, cold and sharp. I could smell the metal, the wildness in Ryker’s breath, the tang of iron that hung thick in the air. Every muscle in my body screamed at me to move, to fight, to claw my way free.
But Callum’s blood kept pooling beneath him. His lips were blue, and his chest was hardly moving.
“Don’t make me choose like this. Please,” I said, unsure if I was begging the gods or pleading with the man in front of me.
But Ryker wasn’t capable of mercy, and the gods had abandoned me long ago.
My hands shook as I stared at Ryker, desperate to find even a sliver of compassion in his expression. But there was none. Only the predator, waiting for my surrender.
I could feel Riordan’s stare on my face. He wanted me to concede, to bind myself to my very own monster.
“Do it,” I said, my voice splintered and raw.
Ryker’s triumphant grin sent a surge of bile climbing my throat. Shadows coiled around my wrist, dragging my hand up. Ryker sliced my palm with Riordan’s dagger, crimson liquid welling at the site. Then he mirrored the motion with his own palm.
He offered his hand to me. “Swear the oath, Cadence.”
I clasped my hand with his, our blood mingling. The sensation was vile, but it was nothing compared to the magic spreading throughout the room, suffocating me.
“Say it.”
The words felt like broken glass as they scraped their way up my throat. “I swear to never make a move against you. I will not betray you or aid anyone who wishes you harm. By my blood, I bind myself to you,” I said, holding his victorious gaze.
Heat burned up my arm as the magic took hold. The room spun, and Ryker’s shadows bit into my skin, crawling beneath the surface.
“You’re mine now, Temptress. Irrevocably mine.”
“I hate you.”
Ryker’s smile twisted into something sinister. “Good, you’ll need that hatred before I’m through with you.”
Ignoring the shiver that worked its way down my spine, I held my wrists up, the nullifying cuffs catching the fading light. “Take them off.”
Ryker slipped his hand into his pocket and retrieved the key before unlocking them.
I resisted the urge to rub at my bare flesh. Callum didn’t have the luxury of time.
Taking a steady breath, I placed my hands on my brother and let my magic delve into his body. A shocked gasp broke free when I felt how little of his life force remained.
“What is it?” Riordan asked, unable to conceal his fear.
“I need you to remove the branch.” Ryker moved as though to do as I’d instructed. “Not you,” I snapped. “Riordan, Eamon, can you help me?”
The men didn’t hesitate as they took their positions on either side of my brother’s prone form. I could feel the weight of Ryker’s glare on me, but I did my best to block him out.
He would never lay a finger on my brother again. I would slit my own throat just to cripple him before I let him harm Callum.
“On the count of three,” I said, and they both nodded.
“One.”
My hands were slick with blood. My brother’s blood. The severity of his condition hit me all at once, and I whimpered.
“Look at me,” Riordan said, pulling me from my impending breakdown. My eyes lifted to his, and he smiled. “You can do this, sweetheart.”
I nodded, exhaling slowly.
“Two.”
Magic pulsed in my veins, and I channeled it to where it was needed most.
“Three.”
Together, Riordan and Eamon pulled. Callum convulsed beneath my palms, blood gushing as they yanked the branch free.
Sweat beaded on my brow, and heat pricked my skin as I forced my magic into the wound.
Bones were shattered. Veins had been ripped clean through.
Every inch of him screamed with pain, but I shoved the agony aside and worked on knitting his flesh back together, drawing on my power until the bleeding slowed.
Eamon’s hand landed on my shoulder, grounding me, but I barely registered it. My vision narrowed to the ugly wound beneath my palms and the faint rasp of Callum’s breath.
“Stay with me, Callum,” I said, but he was beyond hearing me.
I gritted my teeth as my magic grabbed hold of a vein and stitched it. My brother’s body bucked again, but Riordan pinned his shoulders.
I sent my power deeper, heedless of the fatigue spreading through my bones. Heat swarmed my temples, and something wet trickled from my nose, salty and metallic.
Pain lanced my skull, a jagged bolt that threatened to take me under. I sucked in a shuddering breath and poured every remaining drop of power I had into the failing light inside my brother.
Callum’s body arched off the stone, a wet gasp tearing from his lips. Blood fountained from the wound, slick and hot. For a sickening heartbeat, I thought I’d lost him. Then his pulse hammered against my palm, frantic but alive.
“He’s stabilizing,” I said, my voice cracking around a sob.
My vision swam. Every inch of me trembled on the edge of collapse, but I didn’t dare let go. I pushed my magic further until the coppery tang of blood filled my mouth, thick and choking.
Another hand landed on my shoulder, but this one was not gentle and offered me no comfort.
“Enough,” Ryker said. “You’ve pulled him through the worst of it. Now, all he needs is rest.”
He waved toward Riordan, signaling for him to remove my brother.
“Ryker, please. Let me stay with him. Just until he wakes up.”
He clicked his tongue, dismissing my plea. “I don’t think so, wife. You and I have a few things to discuss.”