Chapter 25
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Daniel's head felt stuffed with cotton, his thoughts moving slow and sticky. He was on the floor. When had he fallen off the couch? Someone's arms were around him, Jamie's voice in his ear saying something urgent that he couldn't quite process.
Because across the room, Caelen had his hands on Tarian and Galen.
The Barrier Keepers' faces had gone slack with shock. Their skin turned grey, then ashen, then began to crack like old paper. Magic poured from them in visible streams of dark energy, flowing into Caelen like water into parched earth.
"No," Daniel tried to say, but his voice was too quiet to reach Caelen.
Tarian and Galen collapsed like puppets with cut strings. They didn't move again.
Thick shadows surrounded Caelen, and when he turned toward Elysia, his eyes were solid black. Daniel's breath stuck in his throat. There was nothing of his Caelen in that face anymore.
Elysia stood alone, her silver-streaked hair wild around her face as she raised her hands in defense.
"Jamie," Daniel managed, pushing weakly at his brother's restraining arms. "Jamie, I have to stop him."
But he couldn't even stand. Could barely move. Could only watch as Caelen—no, as Morthul —advanced on the last remaining Barrier Keeper.
The magic Caelen had stolen from Tarian and Galen crackled around him like black lightning. Elysia's spells shattered against that darkness like glass. She backed away, realizing that Caelen was too strong now.
Daniel wanted to go to Caelen, to show him that he didn't have to do this, but his body felt too heavy, his thoughts still scattered. Jamie's arms tightened around him.
Caelen's hand closed around Elysia's throat. She clawed at his arm, silver magic sparking uselessly between her fingers. The shadows wrapped around her like hungry creatures, eager for their meal.
"You hurt what's mine." Caelen's voice wasn't his own anymore. It echoed with something dark and terrible. "Now you will pay for that."
Elysia screamed. The sound cut off abruptly as her power joined the maelstrom of darkness around Caelen. When he let go, she crumpled to the floor like the others, her skin grey and lifeless.
In the horrible silence that followed, Daniel could barely breathe.
Caelen turned to him. Those black eyes should have been terrifying, but Daniel's heart still lurched at the way Caelen's expression softened. He extended one hand in offer.
"Come with me, Daniel." The voice was gentler now, almost like Caelen's own. Almost. "Let me keep you safe."
"Don't," Jamie hissed, trying to pull Daniel back. "That's not him anymore."
Daniel knew that, but he didn't want to believe it.
Knox materialized between them in a blur of motion, Zev appearing at his side a heartbeat later. Their power hummed in the air, but after what Daniel had just witnessed, it felt inadequate against the darkness surrounding Caelen.
Caelen's soft expression vanished. The shadows around him surged forward, wrapping around Knox and Zev. They struggled, but their movements became sluggish, as if they were trying to fight underwater.
"Insignificant creatures," Caelen taunted. "You will not disturb me again."
Daniel's stomach lurched.
No. He couldn't let Knox and Zev come to harm.
Daniel wrenched free of Jamie's hold, stumbling forward on legs that barely worked. He grabbed Caelen's arm, fingers digging into cold skin. "Don't."
Those black eyes fixed on him, and for a moment Daniel thought he'd made a terrible mistake. But then Caelen's expression shifted, a smile formed on his features.
"Let's just leave here," Daniel said. His voice shook, but he didn't let go.
Caelen's free hand came up to cup Daniel's face, thumb stroking over his cheekbone. There was something purely possessive in that touch.
"Mine," Caelen breathed, and darkness swallowed them both.
The last thing Daniel heard was Jamie screaming his name.
The darkness released Daniel into a large, dim space, Caelen's arm wrapped around his waist, holding him steady while Daniel's heart beat way too fast.
Where were they?
As his eyes adjusted, he recognized the abandoned theater where he'd pulled Caelen into this world, but already, the building was changing. Shadows pulsed around them with stolen power and reality gave way to magic.
Theater seats twisted and melted like wax, reforming into ornate black columns that stretched toward the ceiling. The sloped floor flattened and transformed into polished stone, while at the far end, where the screen had been, something like a throne dais rose from the shadows. Above, the ceiling simply... opened, revealing a star-filled night sky that Daniel knew wasn't real.
His stomach turned. He'd read about a place just like this. This looked just like how he'd imagined the Shadow King's court in Veridia.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Caelen's voice still held that ancient echo that made Daniel's skin crawl, but his touch remained gentle as he guided Daniel toward a massive four-poster bed that had formed in a corner in the back. The sheets were black silk, the pillows deep crimson. "Soon all of this world will be remade."
Daniel's knees gave out entirely. Whether from magical exhaustion or the weight of his horror, he couldn't tell anymore. He'd tried to save Caelen, and instead his actions had turned him into… this.
Caelen caught him, laying him carefully among the silk sheets. Those black eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he brushed Daniel's hair back from his face. Daniel wanted to pull away from the touch, but his body wouldn't respond.
"Sleep, my love."
The words seemed to carry their own magic. Darkness crept in at the edges of his vision. Sleep pulled him under like a tide, and he surrendered to its depths.