Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
"Daniel. Daniel! "
Jamie's voice cut through the fog in Daniel's head, accompanied by hands shaking his shoulders. Daniel groaned, trying to orient himself. He was... on the break room floor? His head felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it.
"I swear to God, if you don't wake up right now, I'm calling an ambulance."
"'m fine," Daniel mumbled, forcing his eyes open. Jamie's worried face swam into focus above him. "Stop shaking me."
"Daniel! Thank God, I thought…" Jamie sat back on his heels, running both hands through his hair in a gesture so agitated it made Daniel's head hurt worse just watching it. "We need to get you to a doctor."
Daniel pushed himself to sitting, immediately regretting it as the room spun. "No doctors. I'm fine, it was just…"
"Just the man you're turning yourself into an idiot for?" Jamie's voice cracked. He got up and paced the small break room. "Jesus Christ, Daniel. He knocked you unconscious ."
"He fixed the barrier." The words came out slurred. Daniel's tongue felt too big for his mouth. "He saved the store. Saved you ."
"Saved me?" Jamie wheeled around. "He's not some sort of savior, Daniel. He took you and drained you until you collapsed. Do you have any idea what that looked like? What it felt like to be trapped behind his magic wall, unable to help you?"
The guilt hit Daniel hard. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
Jamie laughed, but there was no humor in it. "I'm way past scared, Cracker. I'm terrified . Because my little brother is letting himself be used by the same creature who kidnapped him. And he thinks it's fine because what? Because the monster's sexy?"
Daniel flinched. "It's more complicated than that."
Jamie stared at him, wordlessly demanding an explanation.
"I saw inside him," Daniel said quietly. "When we connected. There's... there's something in there, Jamie. Some kind of darkness pressing in on him. If I could just…"
"No." Jamie's face hardened. "Absolutely not. You are not going to fix the Shadow King. This isn't one of your romance novels where the power of love saves the villain."
"That's not?—"
"It is. God, it is exactly what you're doing." Jamie pressed his fingers to his temples. "You know what the worst part is? This is Marcus all over again. You're finding excuses, reasons, explanations for why he?—"
"Stop it!" Daniel burst out. "This isn't about Marcus. This is about Caelen, and magic, and the things that I saw that you can't understand."
"You're right. I don't understand." Jamie's voice dropped. "I don't understand how my brilliant, caring brother can be so stupid about this."
The words landed like a punch to the gut. Daniel watched as Jamie stalked to the door, movements stiff with anger.
"I need to close up the store," Jamie said without turning around. "And then you're coming up with me. I'll find something to eat for us. Maybe some painkillers for you."
The door clicked shut behind him, leaving Daniel alone with his pounding head. He wanted to cry. Jamie never closed the store early.
But in spite of his obvious frustration and disappointment, his brother still cared about him. For a moment, Daniel didn't feel like he deserved that care, because he was going to let Jamie down all over again.
He couldn't turn away from Caelen and all he'd found inside the half-fae.
Not now.
Their last kiss was still replaying in his mind. He'd kissed Caelen then, not the Shadow King, not whatever possessed him. There'd been no arrogance, no power play, just the soft press of mouths and a vulnerability that had knocked the breath right out of him.
Daniel pressed his fingers to his lips, remembering.
He remembered too the joy their connection had sparked in his soul, the way Caelen had struggled not to drain him again. Jamie wouldn't understand that, but Daniel did. Maybe that was what it meant to be mates. This ability to see past the darkness to the light still fighting underneath. To recognize something in each other that no one else could see.
God, he sounded like a total goner, even to himself.
Jamie would absolutely lose it if he could hear these thoughts. Roll his eyes so hard they'd probably get stuck that way. Call it the desperate romanticizing of someone who spent too much time organizing the paranormal romance section by trope. But Daniel couldn't shake this new conviction.
Maybe he really was a romance novel protagonist now. The kind readers yelled at for making stupid decisions.
He didn't give a fuck.
Let them yell. He would fix the Shadow King. He would figure out what possessed Caelen, and then he'd break him free of it.
He would get his happily ever after.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, startling him out of his spiral of thoughts. It was Leon's name on the display, and reality crashed back in with all the subtlety of a book falling on his face during bedtime reading. He'd completely forgotten about his friends. About Lyrian.
Way to go, Daniel. Get so caught up in your own drama that you forget about your actually injured friend. A+ friendship skills there.
Daniel swiped to answer, pressing the phone to his ear. "Hey."
"Hey yourself. I've tried to call you twice already!"
"Oh, did you?"
"Yes, so tell me what's going on."
Daniel leaned his head back against the wall. "We fixed the barrier at the store. Everything's... stable now." It was the best way he knew how to describe the situation without going too deeply into what had happened. "How's Lyrian doing?"
There was a slight pause before Leon answered. "He woke up about an hour ago. He's... well, he's a bit out of it."
"Out of it how?" Daniel sat up straighter, worry cutting through his exhaustion.
"He seems confused. Like he's not quite sure who he is. The others think it might be like a magical concussion or something." Leon's voice carried a note of concern. "But physically, he's doing okay. We've finished moving everything over to Malik's place. Your things as well."
"That's good." Daniel closed his eyes. At least Lyrian was alive and recovering. "Any sign of the Barrier Keepers?"
"Not a peep. Knox thinks they might be getting nervous now that the Shadow King's involved."
"Yeah, maybe." Daniel licked his lips.
Another pause, then: "Speaking of. Is he there with you?"
"No," Daniel said quickly. Too quickly. "No, I don't know where he is."
"Daniel." Leon's voice had that tone, the one that meant he wasn't going to let Daniel away with telling him bullshit. "What happened?"
"He just... left. After fixing the barrier." It wasn't technically a lie.
Silence stretched between them, heavy with everything unsaid. Finally, Leon spoke again, his voice gentler. "Want to tell me what's really going on between you and the Shadow King?"
Daniel's fingers tightened around the phone. "Nothing's going on."
"Daniel."
"I mean it. It's just…" He swallowed hard. "It's complicated."
"Try me."
"I can't," Daniel broke off, frustrated. How could he explain what he barely understood himself? "You'll think I'm being stupid."
"I already think you're being stupid," Leon said, but his tone was gentle. "Tell me anyway."
The words burst out of Daniel in a rush. "I saw inside him. When we were fixing the barrier, we had to... connect. And there's this darkness in him, Leon. This crushing, horrible thing that's pressing in on him all the time, and he's fighting it, but he can't—" The words tumbled out faster and faster. "And Jamie thinks I'm being stupid, that I'm romanticizing everything like I always do, but he didn't feel what I felt. He's fighting it," Daniel repeated. "Even though it hurts, even though he could have just taken what he wanted from me. He tried so hard not to."
"Daniel." Leon's sharp tone cut through his rambling. "Breathe."
Daniel did take a deep breath then, and while he did so, the silence on the other end of the line stretched so long that Daniel checked to make sure the call hadn't dropped.
"Leon?"
"I'm here." Leon sighed. "I'm just trying to figure out how to say this without you getting defensive."
Daniel's stomach clenched. "Say what?"
"That your brother might have a point. This is the Shadow King we're talking about, no matter how much hidden good you see in him. He's hurt you, and so many other people."
"I know that," Daniel whispered.
"Do you?" Leon's question was genuine. "Because it sounds like you're ready to throw yourself into the fire to save someone who doesn't deserve saving."
"But what if he does?" Daniel insisted, realizing there was no point anymore in pretending this wasn't what he wanted. "I just need to figure out what's possessing him."
"Daniel…" Leon almost sounded pained. Pained by the sheer level of Daniel's stupidity.
"Leon," Daniel echoed back at him, annoyed now.
Leon sighed. "You won't let go of this idea, will you?"
"No," Daniel admitted because that moment he'd seen Caelen struggle not to hurt him had burned itself into his memory and refused to let go. There was something worth saving inside of him, a spark of light that cared so fiercely about Daniel.
How could Daniel abandon it to the darkness?
After another pause, Leon cleared his throat. "You know... there are some theories about the Shadow King."
Daniel sat up straighter. "What kind of theories?"
"Just fan theories, based on hints dropped in the novels," Leon said casually, as if he didn't want to show off what a giga nerd he was. "But my favorite one suggests that Caelen is possessed by Morthul, the dark god his parents used to make blood sacrifices to before Knox killed them."
"You're saying his parents offered him to that god?" Daniel's heart clenched at the thought.
"No, actually. According to the theory, Caelen offered himself . Later. After everything fell apart." Leon paused. "He needed power to reclaim his kingdom from the puppet government the Night Court tried to install. The theory goes that he made a deal with Morthul: his soul in exchange for the power to take back what was his."
Daniel considered this. "That... I guess that makes sense." The all-consuming darkness he'd felt, ancient and hungry…
Had that been a god?
Daniel shivered all over.
"I thought it might," Leon said quietly. "The Night Court wasn't kind to Caelen after they took out his parents. They said his parents' dark magic had tainted the land, that installing their own government was the only way to cleanse it. But really, they just wanted control of the shadow paths that ran through his territory."
"The what?"
"Ancient tunnels that connect different parts of Veridia. They're supposed to be neutral ground, but the Night Court has always wanted to control them. When the king and queen went mad, they saw their chance." Leon's voice took on that scholarly tone he got when sharing particularly juicy lore. "They expected Caelen to just... give up. He was young, alone, half-fae in a full-fae court. But instead..."
"Instead, he made the deal," Daniel finished. "How do you know all this?"
"It's all in the novel if you pay attention to something other than the sex scenes," Leon said. "Well, most of it. Some of it is just…"
"A fan theory?"
"I believe it has merit. In any case, it doesn't matter. Making a deal with a god is not like signing up for a gym membership. Caelen can't cancel that contract."
"There has to be a way," Daniel said, more to himself than to Leon. "There has to be a way to break out of the contract."
"Are you sure that's what he wants?" Leon asked. "Maybe the power is worth the price to him."
But Daniel remembered the way Caelen had kissed him, soft and desperate and human . "No," he said. "No, I don't think it is. Not anymore."
Leon didn't seem equally convinced. "Just... be careful, okay? If there really is a dark god involved…"
The break room door opened, and Jamie poked his head in. "Store's closed. Come on." He motioned for Daniel to follow him.
"I have to go," Daniel said quickly into the phone. "Jamie's calling."
"Daniel, wait!"
"I'll text you later," Daniel promised, then he hung up before Leon could protest further. He looked up at his brother, who was watching him with a mix of concern and resignation.
"Was that about the Shadow King?" Jamie asked.
Daniel pushed himself to his feet. "No. I was checking on my friends."
Jamie's expression said he didn't believe that for a second, but he just shook his head. "Let's head up. I think I still have some pizza in the freezer."
As Daniel followed his brother up the stairs to his apartment, his mind was going over everything he'd learned…
He already knew what he would be doing for the rest of the day; read the webnovel again for any information he could find on Morthul. If there was a way to free Caelen from his influence, Daniel would find it.