Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
When the Barrier Keepers were gone, Caelen took a moment to breathe. For now, everything was going according to plan. His gaze lingered on Daniel, his colorful mate, shining in ways the human was not even aware of. So bright. His light should have repelled Caelen, but instead, it drew him in. He wanted to pull him close again, to drink deep.
Take him, the darkness in him urged. While he's weak. While he's grateful.
Instead, Caelen watched Knox carry the unconscious siren into the house, Daniel hovering anxiously nearby. The incubus's power had grown since their last encounter, but it hadn't been enough. Without Caelen's intervention...
They're beneath us, the god snarled. Let them handle their own problems. Take what's ours.
Patience, Caelen replied. Look how he worries for them. Force his hand now and we lose everything.
The dark god's displeasure manifested as an itch under his skin, a constant urge to reach out and grasp what he desired. Caelen would not buckle under him, not now. He had years of practice standing up against that which possessed him, and he knew better than to squander this opportunity.
"Where did they go?" Daniel asked as they moved toward the house. "The Barrier Keepers?"
"Far enough," Caelen said. "My shadows repelled them, but they won't stay away for long." He followed Daniel inside, savoring his mate's presence. Once more, his bright energy tempted him.
Take more while he's close, the god urged.
Not yet, Caelen refused. It wasn't an easy refusal to make, but if he lost control now…
He suppressed the thought.
Inside the house, while Knox laid the siren down on a large couch, Caelen spotted someone he recognized. The boy who'd hosted him when he'd first come to this world. Such easy prey he'd been. Too easy. Caelen's gaze caught on Malik's crutches, an uncomfortable reminder of how things had escalated between them. He hadn't wanted to break the man's leg.
He angered us, the dark god purred with remembered satisfaction.
He angered you, Caelen corrected.
We are the same. A rush of power flowed through Caelen, as if to underline the statement, and the hint of regret he'd felt vanished.
It was the fate of weaker beings to be pushed around by those who were strong.
"Get out." Malik's voice cut through his thoughts, sharp with fear barely masked by anger.
"He's not going to hurt anyone," Daniel said, stepping forward, surprising Caelen. Who was this human to speak for him, to make promises like that?
My mate, Caelen reminded himself. My mate. The thought was clear enough to hold on to when part of him wanted to lose himself in the power the darkness provided.
He would not hurt Daniel.
Nor would he let anyone else do so.
While Caelen was pondering this, Malik lifted one of his crutches, the gesture eloquent in its accusation. "Really? Tell that to my leg." He made an unamused sound. "If he's staying, I'm leaving, and you should all come with me. My place is out of the way and it has plenty of room." He held up his phone. "You won't find any peace here. #MonsterTok is going crazy."
"That's actually a good idea," Daniel said. "We need somewhere less exposed, and your place is huge."
"Yes, you can all stay there. Everyone except him." Malik's voice hardened as he gestured to Caelen. "He's not welcome there. Never again."
Rip out his tongue, the god raged. Paint the walls with his blood.
But Caelen smiled, hoping to appear reasonable. "That's quite alright. Daniel and I have other concerns to address." He turned to Daniel, whose expression had shifted from worry to wariness. "Your brother's store? The one the Barrier Keepers threatened?"
Daniel's face paled. "Jamie."
Yes, Caelen thought as Daniel's protective instincts warred with his mistrust. It was so ridiculously easy to steer people who cared too much about others.
"I need to check on him," Daniel said, but Knox was already shaking his head.
"You're not going alone with him. "
Caelen struggled to keep his anger from his face at the incubus's words. Oh, how he hated that incubus. That wretched, loathsome stain on the earth. How dare he try to keep Caelen's mate away from him?
Calm, Caelen commanded himself. The time for our revenge will come.
"I just helped save you and your friends," Caelen pointed out to Knox. "Curious how quick you are to forget such debts when it suits you."
Knox's eyes narrowed. "You did not help without an ulterior motive, and this is it."
"You claimed your mate," Caelen gave back. "How can you begrudge me mine?"
"I'm not your mate," Daniel snapped, but Caelen sensed that he wasn't convinced of his own words. He wasn't stupid. He knew something was going on between them.
Soon enough, Caelen would have what he wanted. All it would take was a little patience, a careful push here, a gentle pull there. Already Daniel's gaze kept darting toward the door, his worry for Jamie beating out his distrust of Caelen.
"We're wasting time," Caelen said. "The barriers are weakening. The keepers will return. And your brother is alone in a dangerous location."
He could see the moment Daniel's resolve crumbled.
Soon, he promised the raging god within him. Soon he'll be ours completely.
When Caelen had Daniel alone, he would make the mortal see where he belonged, how special he was. Chosen to sit alongside him on the throne of the Shadow Court. Nothing less would do.
Daniel kept checking his rearview mirror, as if he could still see the rental house and his injured friend. He shouldn't have left while Lyrian was unconscious. What kind of person abandoned their friends like that?
The kind who needs to save his brother, he tried to tell himself, but the guilt sat heavy in his stomach.
Beside him, Caelen was a too-solid presence in the passenger seat, somehow managing to look regal even in Daniel's beat-up Honda Civic. Daniel had assured everyone that Caelen was no threat to him, but they hadn't been convinced.
Was he ?
God, Jamie was going to freak out.
That was a conversation Daniel didn't want to think about, so he let his thoughts stray back to what lay behind him rather than what lay ahead. "I shouldn't have left him like that. Lyrian was barely breathing."
"Sirens are remarkably resilient," Caelen said, his tone dismissive. "It takes far more than that to kill one."
"I guess you would know," Daniel muttered, then caught himself. Here he was, alone in a car with the Shadow King, and he was sassing him. He should probably stay quiet, but there were so many things he wanted to talk about. "I have a million questions for you," he blurted out. "But how would I know you're not just lying?"
"Ask." Caelen's green eyes fixed on him. "And if you allow yourself to tap into our connection, you'll know if I'm telling the truth."
Daniel forced himself to keep his eyes on the road instead of staring at Caelen.
He wet his lips nervously. Tapping into their connection sounded about as safe as diving into shark-infested waters. But... "Why did you help us today?"
"Because you called me."
"That's not—" Daniel huffed in frustration. "I mean, why did you actually come? I've already helped you come into this world. You could have ignored me."
"Could I?" There was something dark and hungry in Caelen's voice that made Daniel's hands tighten on the steering wheel. "I could never ignore you. Use the connection. You'll feel the truth of it."
"I'm not doing that." The words came out sharper than he'd intended. "I'm not stupid. That's exactly what you want, isn't it? For me to open myself up to whatever this is between us?"
"I guess then you'll have to take my word for it."
"Your word isn't worth anything, Shadow King."
"You hurt me."
Daniel glanced at Caelen. The Shadow King did not look particularly hurt. In fact, Daniel had no idea what was going on inside that head of his. Maybe he should tap into their connection, if it would allow him a clear view of the man he was dealing with.
But was it worth the risk of getting caught in Caelen's web?
Caelen seemed to sense his hesitation. "Think about it, pet. You may resist me now, but what will you do when we reach your brother's store and there's a barrier for us to seal? Will you deny me what I need to stabilize the area?"
Daniel hated this, hated that Caelen had a point. He would have to allow Caelen to make use of their connection again. He couldn't close himself to it entirely.
Bleakly, he thought back to the moment they'd first established it. When he'd been in Caelen's captivity. When he'd first glimpsed into Caelen's soul and found something that shocked him, something that remained a mystery to him even now.
And suddenly, he knew what he needed from Caelen.
Following an impulse, he brought the car to a stop by the side of the road. They were between two towns and there wasn't much traffic. No one would bother them.
"Why are we stopping?"
Daniel took a deep breath, steadying his nerves. "Because we need to deepen our connection. Right here, right now, before we continue."
Caelen's elegant features arranged themselves into a puzzled frown, and Daniel felt a small thrill of triumph. For once, he was the one with a plan, and the Shadow King was the one trying to catch up.
"It's the only way I'll continue working with you," Daniel said firmly.
"You need me," Caelen pointed out.
"And you obviously want to deepen our connection, so what's the issue?" Daniel stepped out of the car. His heart beat furiously in his chest as he walked around to Caelen's door and pulled it open. He tried to keep his nervousness from showing and tried even harder to hide how eager a part of him was for this.
Caelen looked up at him, studying Daniel's face. After a moment, he rose from his seat and joined Daniel outside.
"I don't understand what you plan to do," Caelen said slowly.
Daniel couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "You don't have to." He reached for Caelen's hand, ignoring how his own trembled slightly. "You only have to kiss me and feed off me."
Caelen's gaze narrowed, but Daniel could see the hunger there, the way Caelen's body tensed like a predator about to pounce. Whatever suspicions the Shadow King might have, he couldn't resist this offering.
When Caelen's lips met his, Daniel didn't fight it. He deepened the kiss, throwing their connection wide open in a desperate rush. He felt the moment Caelen's defenses lowered, felt the dark power surge between them—and seized his chance, pushing forward into Caelen's soul for another glimpse at what he'd seen before.
He needed to see it again. He needed…
There.
Like catching a glimpse of sunlight through murky waters, Daniel sensed it: something warm and bright and suffering , reaching for him with such desperate hope that his heart clenched. He pushed forward, trying to see more clearly, to understand what this helpless presence was that seemed so at odds with everything else he knew about the Shadow King?—
The darkness slammed down like an iron gate.
Cold. So cold it stole his breath, froze his lungs, turned his bones to ice. This wasn't just darkness. This was something ancient and vast and wrong , and it pressed against him like the weight of an ocean, like being buried alive, like…
Daniel wrenched himself back with a strangled gasp. His legs shook as he stumbled backward, the lingering cold burrowing deeper into his chest with each breath. He stared at Caelen, horror crawling up his throat.
What the fuck was that?
The Shadow King hadn't moved from his position against the car. His bright green eyes studied Daniel with an expression that might have been regret, might have been warning. "Careful what you go looking for, pet."
The words seemed to come from very far away. Daniel couldn't stop shaking. What was that? The question played on loop in his mind. What had he felt inside Caelen? That brief glimpse of warmth followed by something too dark for him to comprehend.
He'd been with 'bad boys' before, but this was on another level. Daniel was never so aware of that as he was now. Not even when he'd been kidnapped had he truly understood the kind of monster he was dealing with.
"What are you?" Daniel finally managed to ask.
"I am the Shadow King." Caelen's voice came out flat. "Did you expect to find something else?"
Daniel didn't know how to respond to that. Of course Caelen was the Shadow King. A villain, through and through. And yet Daniel had been so convinced that there was something more to him, something that only he, Daniel, was special enough to see.
His mind kept circling back to that brief warmth he'd sensed, so different from the crushing darkness that followed.
"Have you satisfied your curiosity?" Caelen asked. "Should we get going?"
The bone-deep chill still lingered in Daniel's body. Every instinct screamed at him not to get back into that car with this creature. But as he moved toward the driver's side, he found himself shaking his head. "The Shadow King isn't all you are."
"I have shown you all of my darkness, and you still claim that?" Caelen's lips curved into something that was almost a smile, except there was no joy in it. "You are more foolish than I thought."
Daniel couldn't argue with that. He was being a goddamn idiot. Caelen was literally dressed in red flags and Daniel acted like he was colorblind.
But what choice did he have? He had to get to Jamie, and then connect with Caelen once more to save his brother.
And then what? Would he leave Caelen after that? Would Caelen let him go?
Daniel wasn't shackled to a bed now, but still, the Shadow King had him in his grasp. It wouldn't be easy to be rid of him.
It was something Daniel would have to find a solution for later. For now, he climbed into the car, his movements stiff. As he started the engine, the persistent cold reminded him of another question that had been nagging at him. "Why don't you ever use ice magic like you did in my dreams?"
Caelen's eyes fixed on him, and for a long moment, he said nothing. Finally, he spoke, his words measured: "Because I'm the Shadow King."
It wasn't a satisfying answer—not even close—but Daniel knew he wouldn't get a better one.
One more hour to go until they reached Oakridge. It was all Daniel could do just to pull his car back on the road and keep driving.