Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
The wrought-iron gates of Malik's mansion stood open when Daniel pulled up: he was being expected. His hands tightened on the steering wheel as memories flooded back: waking up confused in that upstairs bedroom surrounded by stuffed toys, the panic when he realized that the Shadow King had taken him prisoner.
His life had become so weird in such a short amount of time.
Now he was back here, voluntarily.
And he was disappointed that Caelen would not be.
Definitely weird.
He parked the car and looked up at the house. Somewhere inside was the room where he'd been kept until Adrian had found him. Where Caelen had toyed with him.
Where he and Caelen had first connected.
Would Malik think it weird if Daniel asked to see that room again?
Probably.
The front door opened before he could spiral further into those thoughts. Adrian stood in the doorway, waving at him.
"Finally," Adrian said, approaching the car. "We were starting to worry when we heard nothing from you."
Daniel climbed out of the car to talk to his friend. "Traffic," he explained. "How's Lyrian?"
"Better. Come on, everyone's in the kitchen."
Daniel followed Adrian into the house. It smelled like coffee and something baking, an almost offensively normal scent given what had happened here. Daniel didn't know how to deal with that contrast.
In the kitchen, Leon stood at the marble island, peeling carrots. A rainbow of other vegetables—bell peppers, cucumber, tomatoes—waited their turn. Knox leaned against the industrial-sized refrigerator, watching Leon work with a bemused expression while Malik sipped from a mug of coffee, scrolling on his phone.
"That's... a lot of vegetables," Daniel said.
"Guinea pig food prep," Leon replied without looking up. "Can't stop taking care of my pets just because the world's going crazy."
Daniel blinked. "Pets? Plural?"
"Nutmeg needed a friend." Leon's matter-of-fact tone suggested this should have been obvious. "Her name's Butterscotch. Found her at the pet store this morning."
"You went guinea pig shopping in the middle of all this?"
"Like I said," Leon swept the carrot pieces into a small ceramic bowl, "life goes on. Even in crisis mode, Nutmeg deserves a good life. She's been missing Nugget for long enough."
Daniel didn't know how to respond to that except for, "Congrats on your new furball, I guess." He looked around. "Where's Lyrian?"
"Upstairs, resting," Adrian said, moving past him to the coffeemaker. "The Barrier Keepers came by earlier with some kind of medicine."
Daniel stared at him. That made zero sense. "The Barrier Keepers brought medicine? Why would they do that?"
"That's what we'd like to know," Knox said, his expression darkening. "They showed up this morning, all apologies and concern. Said they had something that would help him recover."
"And you let him take it?" Daniel couldn't keep the disbelief from his voice.
"We didn't let him do anything," Leon said, starting on a bell pepper. "Lyrian made his own choice. Zev's still up there sulking about it."
"But why would he take anything they gave him?"
"Because apparently," Knox cut in, "if he didn't take it, he'd lose his powers completely. At least, that's what they claimed."
Daniel shook his head. "I'm going to check on him."
"Up the stairs, second door on the right," Adrian called after him as Daniel headed for the stairs.
Daniel's mind whirled as he went. The Barrier Keepers had shown up with medicine? After everything they'd done? After hurting Lyrian in the first place? What was their goal?
The upstairs hallway was quiet except for the murmur of voices coming from behind the door Adrian had indicated. Daniel recognized Zev's low rumble, though he couldn't make out the words. He knocked softly.
"Come in," Lyrian called.
The bedroom was bright with afternoon sunlight streaming through tall windows. Lyrian sat propped up against a mountain of pillows, looking better than Daniel had expected. Some color had returned to his face, though dark circles still shadowed his eyes. Zev stood by the window, arms crossed, radiating displeasure.
"Daniel," Lyrian smiled. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
"How are you feeling?" Daniel asked, hovering uncertainly near the door.
"Better. Whatever they gave me seems to be working."
"He shouldn't have taken it," Zev snapped. "We have no idea what it really is."
"We've been over this," Lyrian sighed. "I could feel my powers slipping away. What choice did I have?"
"Your powers were slipping away?" Daniel asked.
Lyrian nodded, a grave look on his face. "After the fight. My voice... it wasn't working right. And I could feel this emptiness where my magic should be." He shuddered. "I felt foreign to myself."
"They did that to you," Zev growled. "They want to do that to all of us."
"Maybe they did," Lyrian conceded, "but they must have changed their plans or they wouldn't have given me the potion."
"Evidently," Zev said, "they're manipulating us. They say they have a new solution but won't tell us what it is? That's suspicious as hell."
"A new solution?" Daniel looked between them. He hadn't heard anything about this.
"They want to talk to you directly," Lyrian said, ignoring Zev's glare.
"To me?" Daniel did not like that.
"Yeah." Zev looked him up and down as if he failed to see the reason himself. "To you." He huffed. "I wish they'd told us what they want to talk about, but I suppose they're too in love with being mysterious." His purple eyes narrowed. "They have something to hide and I don't like it. I don't like any of this. We need to be prepared." One of his hands went to his belt as if he were expecting to find his sword there. Force of habit for him, probably. "I should find myself some juicy nightmares to eat and gather power."
"Where would you get those?" Lyrian cut in. "I hope you're not talking about inspiring nightmares for you to eat."
Zev glanced at him grumpily. "Homemade food always tastes best."
Lyrian raised an eyebrow. "Depends entirely on the cook, and you, my friend, are rusty."
Daniel could tell by the expression on Zev's face that this had been the wrong thing to say, but before either of them could say more, they heard raised voices from downstairs. Something was obviously upsetting people.
Adrian came up the stairs only a moment later. "Daniel?" he called. "You wanna see this." There was an urgency in his voice that made Daniel's stomach clench.
Zev left the room first, and Daniel followed.
Downstairs, people clustered around the TV.
"What's going…" Daniel started to ask, but then he saw what was on the screen. His words died in his throat.
It was Caelen.
He stood in front of a church altar, his white hair floating above his shoulders as if underwater, darkness coiling around him, eyes glowing. The footage seemed to have been captured by someone's phone, but even so, the Shadow King was mesmerizing.
Could anyone look at him and blame Daniel for finding the man really fucking hot?
"Your gods have abandoned you," Caelen's voice rang clear and beautiful through the church. "But I am here. I offer you truth instead of false comfort, power instead of empty prayers."
"This is coming to you live," a reporter's voice trembled slightly over the footage. "What you're seeing was filmed just moments ago inside First Baptist Church, where witnesses say this man appeared out of nowhere."
As they watched, Caelen raised his arms and every shadow in the church detached from its source. The shadows of the congregants, of the wooden crosses on the walls, of the very pews themselves; they all rose and began to dance through the air like ribbons of black silk.
"Let me show you what real divinity looks like," Caelen continued, his voice taking on an otherworldly resonance. "Your world is changing. The old boundaries are falling. Who will protect you when they crumble completely?"
"I saw him at another church earlier," Daniel said, his throat tight. "But I had no idea he was planning anything like this."
On screen, Caelen smiled, orchestrating the shadow dance like a conductor. "Accept my blessing," he commanded, and streams of darkness flowed from his hands, touching selected members of the congregation who gasped and shuddered at the contact. "Feel what true power tastes like."
"He's recruiting," Adrian said quietly. "Back to old tactics."
Daniel watched silently. Was that really what Caelen was doing? What he'd come to this world for?
"This is Morthul's doing," he said out loud.
Adrian glanced at him. "Whose?"
"There's a theory," Leon said, "about a dark god called Morthul possessing Caelen."
"Morthul?" Zev's gaze snapped to Leon. "Why would a god that powerful lower himself to possess someone like Caelen?"
Everyone turned to look at him. Daniel's heart picked up speed. "You know about him?"
"Every Fae knows about Morthul," Zev said, his expression grim. "Especially the Night Fae."
"What kind of god is he?"
Zev's laugh was bitter. "Not the good kind." He crossed his arms, watching the shadows dance across the TV screen. His gaze narrowed in thought. "There was a prophecy about him. Something about a half-fae..." He shook his head in frustration. "I can't remember the exact words."
"Caelen is half-fae," Daniel pointed out. He needed to know that prophecy. Maybe it would give him a clue how he could get through to Caelen. "Try to remember."
Zev remained silent for a moment, then he said, "Lyrian would know. Maybe. Sirens live for this kind of thing. Prophecies, ancient songs, dramatic proclamations of doom."
"I'll ask him!" Daniel headed for the stairs.
Zev followed.
Lyrian sat up straighter when Daniel entered the room. "Finally," Lyrian said. "Will someone let me know what's going on downstairs?"
"Caelen was on TV," Daniel said. "He's in a church, but that doesn't matter. Zev says there's a prophecy about Morthul and a half-fae. Do you know it?"
Lyrian shot him a confused look.
"I'll explain to you later," Zev said. "Humor him."
"Morthul?" Lyrian asked.
Daniel nodded. "Yes! Do you know him?"
Lyrian thought for a moment. "You must be talking about the Prophecy of the Shadow's Bane. It's actually a rather beautiful piece of poetry."
"Could you give us the short version?" Zev asked.
Lyrian shot him an annoyed look. "Will you ever learn appreciation for proper dramatic delivery?"
"Not in this lifetime."
"Shush you." Lyrian closed his eyes, took a breath, and when he spoke again, his voice carried that haunting, almost magical quality that made Daniel's skin prickle. "Between two worlds, the shadow's doom shall rise. In blood, both mortal-born and fae divine. The ancient dark shall fall beneath these skies. When dual-nature breaks the shadow's spine."
Silence fell after the prophecy's last words faded.
"So..." Daniel said slowly. "A half-fae will be Morthul's downfall."
Zev pondered this. "What if that's why Morthul possessed him? To prevent the prophecy from coming true?"
"Actually..." Daniel shifted uncomfortably. "According to the theories Leon heard, Caelen offered himself to Morthul. After what happened to his parents."
Lyrian's brow furrowed. "The Night Court came down on Caelen's parents because of their worship of Morthul, but why did they turn to the dark god in the first place? That was never the custom in Elucia before."
"His mother was fae," Daniel said.
"Not night fae," Zev disagreed. "Winter fae. Morthul would not have been her god."
"Then I don't know." Daniel threw his hands up. "I'll go back downstairs. See what else the reporters are saying."
"I'll stay up here," Zev said.
"I don't need a babysitter," Lyrian pointed out.
Daniel left the two of them to their bickering.
He found the others still gathered around the TV, but Caelen was no longer on screen. Instead, a reporter interviewed shaken church-goers, who described feeling "touched by divine power" and "transformed."
"He's gone," Knox said. "Disappeared through another dark portal."
Daniel processed this quietly, reminded of the way Caelen had run away from him earlier. Where was he now? Outside, the sun was already setting and Daniel's stomach growled, reminding him he hadn't eaten since breakfast.
"I ordered Chinese," Adrian said, as if reading his mind. "Should be here soon."
They tried to maintain some semblance of normalcy while they waited, though conversation kept drifting back to Caelen's television appearance. When the food arrived, they gathered around Malik's massive dining table, passing containers back and forth.
"We could use the Barrier Keepers' magic," Malik said quietly after they'd all started eating. Everyone turned to look at him. He scratched the back of his neck. "What they did to Lyrian…if it can strip supernatural powers, maybe it could separate Caelen from Morthul."
Knox's expression darkened. "There's no telling if he would survive that."
"Would it be such a bad outcome if he didn't?" Malik's voice was steady, but his hand was wrapped too tightly around his chopsticks. "After everything he's done?"
"Malik," Daniel started.
"No, he has a point," Adrian cut in. "If Caelen's gathering followers, recruiting people into whatever Morthul is planning— again —we have to consider stopping him, no matter the cost. He can't keep doing this."
"The Barrier Keepers said they wanted to talk to Daniel tomorrow," Leon reminded them, setting down his fork. "Maybe they also want to stop Caelen."
Daniel scoffed in disbelief. "Suddenly you're siding with the Barrier Keepers?"
"Better than siding with the Shadow King," Malik said. "I warned you he would try to manipulate you. Now I see he's already succeeded."
"No," Daniel insisted. "You don't get it! He's possessed."
"Yeah," Malik said, "and I bet underneath that he's all sweet and caring and couldn't hurt a soul cause that's the kind of person who makes a deal with a god that requires blood sacrifices."
Daniel flinched. "That's not…"
"Not what? Not fair?" Malik pointed his chopsticks at Daniel. "He chose this. He made a deal with Morthul willingly."
"After his parents died!" Daniel pushed his chair back and rose. "After his whole life fell to pieces!"
"And that makes it okay?" Malik asked quietly. "My whole family died too. My parents, my big brother, my twin sister. All of them. Why do you think this huge house is so fucking empty? But I didn't turn to dark gods for revenge."
Silence fell heavily across the table. Daniel stared at his plate, his appetite completely gone. "I didn't know…" He looked across the table at Malik. "I'm sorry."
Malik shook his head. "What happened to me is in the past. What matters now is what happens to you and everyone else who follows the Shadow King."
The weight of Malik's words pressed down on Daniel. He'd known, in some abstract way, that this massive house was too big for one person. But he'd never thought to ask why, never had a minute to even think about it. Now that he knew… How could he argue about second chances when sitting across from someone who'd lost everything?
He blew out a breath. "I can't do this right now." He wanted to leave the dining room and have some time to himself. "What room should I take… should I take a room?" He looked at Malik. "I can check into a hotel if you'd rather I leave."
"No." Malik's expression softened. "First door on the left upstairs. There's… no need for you to get a hotel room"
"Thank you." Daniel excused himself from the table. As he went up the stairs, he reconsidered his position, everything he thought he knew. Was Malik right? Was Daniel caught up in Caelen's manipulations?
No. That moment they'd shared together in the break room… that had been real. No one could convince him otherwise.
The others hadn't seen what he'd seen, hadn't felt what he'd felt. They couldn't understand.
Once more, he reached for his connection to Caelen, searching for... something. Anything. But all he felt was exhaustion, and he couldn't tell if it was Caelen's or his own.