Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Daniel woke to a deep, bone-heavy exhaustion that made even opening his eyes feel like too much effort. His body ached as if he'd run a marathon, but underneath that physical drain was something worse, something hollow, like someone had scraped him clean from the inside.
The silk sheets whispered against his skin as he sat up. The movement sent a wave of dizziness through him.
Something felt wrong.
Not just the exhaustion or the strange emptiness inside him, but something deeper. More fundamental. Like the world had shifted two inches to the left while he slept.
The space around him had certainly changed. What had been a hastily transformed corner of the theater was now a vast chamber with a high ceiling and plush carpet on the floor.
A fresh change of clothes waited on a carved ebony chair beside the bed, a black shirt, pants, underwear and socks.
The clothes he'd arrived in were gone. Caelen must have taken the rest of them off after…
Daniel sighed.
He didn't want to think about what had happened before he passed out… and why was that?
It made the feeling of wrongness intensify.
Because he woke up alone?
Because Caelen wasn't here now?
Had he ever been here?
Daniel bit his lower lip as doubt made his stomach twist. Caelen must have been here.
Discarding the thought, he made himself get up—and then waited for the room to stop spinning.
Briefly, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Caelen must have taken a lot from him.
That was okay, though, as long as it helped…
Near the bed, Daniel found a small table that held a covered silver tray. When he lifted the lid, the scent of fresh coffee hit him, and beside it sat a plate of chocolate chip pancakes. His favorites.
This was better than the last time he'd been kidnapped. No, strike that thought. He had not been kidnapped again.
He had gone with Caelen willingly. He was going to set this right.
And he wasn't hungry.
Taking in the rest of the room, he found two doors. The one that led out to the main hall, and a new one that stood slightly ajar to reveal a bathroom.
He made his way there on unsteady legs, trailing one hand along the wall for balance.
The sight that greeted him stopped him in his tracks. The bathroom was larger than his entire bedroom back home, all black marble and gold fixtures. A deep soaking tub dominated one corner while an open shower took up another. The mirror above the sink stretched the full length of the counter, reflecting his pale face back at him.
His skin had a grey undertone, like all the color had been leached out of him. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and even his colorfully dyed hair seemed to have lost its vibrancy.
He watched himself touch his own face.
Frankly, he looked like shit, and his brother would lose his goddamn mind if he saw him like this.
But Daniel was doing what needed to be done.
Funny.
Somehow, he'd always imagined dating a villain would be more glamorous.
He averted his gaze and splashed water on his face.
He needed to wash up, get dressed, and then he needed to figure out what was going on.
Dressed in clothes that didn't belong to him but that seemed to fit as if they had been tailored to his body, Daniel paused with his hand on the door.
He didn't like to admit it to himself, but he was scared of what he might find on the other side. He wanted to think that he had reached Caelen last night, that he'd helped him come back to himself…
But nothing he'd found so far convinced him of this.
If anything, the magic that twisted this place seemed to have grown stronger.
Did that mean Morthul had grown stronger?
There was only one way to know for sure.
Taking a deep breath, Daniel pushed the door open—and then horror settled in his bones all over again.
The hall had grown impossibly larger during his sleep. Where before there had been maybe fifty followers, now hundreds knelt in neat rows across the endless floor. Their whispered prayers created a constant susurration that made Daniel's skin crawl.
At the base of the shadow throne, copper-bright symbols had been drawn on the black stone.
Was that blood?
Had Morthul taken a blood sacrifice here?
Daniel raised a hand to his mouth.
This was wrong. This was so fucking wrong.
He'd skipped breakfast, but he still felt like throwing up.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Daniel spun around. Caelen stood there. No, not Caelen. Those black eyes gave him away. The thing wearing Caelen's face smiled, reaching for Daniel's cheek.
Daniel jerked away from Morthul's touch. "Don't."
Morthul raised an eyebrow at him. "Now you reject me again?"
"I always reject you." Daniel glared at the dark god, not caring that he was trying to stare down a deity who'd evidently just gorged himself on blood. "Where is Caelen?"
Morthul looked at him for a long moment. "I already told you he's gone."
"But he's not!" Daniel insisted, temper running hot. "Last night?—"
"Last night?" Morthul interjected. "Last night you accepted my touch willingly."
All the heat dissipated from Daniel's body, turning to ice instead. Was Morthul implying…? No, that couldn't be right. That wasn't what happened. "It wasn't your touch I accepted."
Morthul's smile widened, and then his black eyes shifted, returning to Caelen's familiar green. When he spoke again, he sounded exactly like Caelen. "Please, Daniel. I can fight him if you give me your energy."
Daniel stumbled backward, bile rising in his throat. "Stop it."
A mocking expression twisted Caelen's features. "You really thought I couldn't imitate the host whose skin I've been living in for the past decade?"
Daniel's stomach lurched. The memory of last night—of what he thought had been Caelen finally breaking free, of giving himself willingly—twisted into something horrific. Something violating.
"You—" His voice broke. He couldn't even form words around the revulsion climbing up his throat.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Morthul's laugh was cruel. "That all he needed to come back to you was your love ?" He spat the word like poison.
Daniel's back hit his door. He fumbled for the handle behind him, unable to look away from the thing wearing Caelen's face.
"Poor, sweet Daniel." Morthul shifted closer, still wearing that twisted smile. "So desperate to believe in true love's power. So willing to give everything to save someone who's already gone."
"He's not gone." The words came out barely louder than a whisper, but Daniel clung to them. "I know he's not."
"Believe whatever fairy tale you need to." Morthul waved a dismissive hand. "You'll continue to feed me either way."
Daniel's fingers finally found the door handle. He yanked it open and practically fell through the doorway.
The last thing he saw before slamming the door was Morthul's satisfied smirk, black bleeding back into Caelen's green eyes.
He barely made it to the bathroom before his legs gave out. Collapsing in front of the toilet, he retched, though nothing came up. His whole body shook as the full weight of what had happened crashed over him.
He'd given himself willingly. He'd thought—he'd really thought?—
Another wave of nausea hit him. This time, bile burned his throat.
How could he have been so stupid? So naive? He'd wanted so badly to believe Caelen was fighting back that he'd fallen for Morthul's act completely. Had given that monster exactly what he wanted.
Daniel pressed his forehead against the cool marble of the bathroom floor, not even caring how undignified he looked. His skin felt too tight, too wrong, like he wanted to crawl out of it.
The memory of last night twisted in his mind, transforming from something passionate into something horrifying. Every touch, every kiss, every moment of surrender had been with Morthul .
Another wave of nausea at that thought. He pushed himself up on shaking legs and stumbled to the sink, desperate to wash his face, to do something—anything—to get that image out of his head.
The image of himself he glimpsed in the mirror wasn't any better. If possible, he looked even worse than before.
How had all of this gone so horribly wrong when he'd only tried to do the right thing?
He should have listened to Jamie.
Maybe there was never any way for him to help Caelen.
He washed his face as if he could wash that sinking feeling away with the water. Was Caelen really dead? Or was that just another lie?
How could Daniel trust anything Morthul said?
Morthul lied about everything.
Maybe he was lying about last night as well?
Daniel clung to that thought as he dragged himself back to the bedroom, unable to stand the sight of himself in the mirror any longer. He would not let this stupid god get to him, not in any way.
His eyes fell on something on the bedside table that he hadn't noticed before.
His phone.
Daniel stared at the device for a long moment. It felt surreal, this piece of normal life sitting here in this nightmare. Was this another one of Morthul's games? Giving him a connection to the outside world just to torment him?
Or maybe he was so convinced that Daniel wouldn't leave him, that no call Daniel could make could hurt him, that he didn't care to take Daniel's phone from him.
The worst part was that he was likely right.
Daniel wouldn't walk away as long as there was a chance he could help Caelen, and who could he call? An exorcist? The Ghostbusters?
The phone's screen lit up at his touch. Full battery, full signal. Notifications cascaded down. Twenty missed calls from Jamie. A string of texts.
I swear to god Daniel if you make it out of this alive I will KILL YOU MYSELF. What were you thinking going with him?
Where are you?
What are you doing?
It feels like the whole world is ending.
Please just let me know you're alive .
Daniel opened his browser, found a news page and scanned the headlines. The latest one made his blood run cold: "Reality Distortions Reported Across City - Officials Advise Residents to Stay Indoors."
Daniel sank onto the edge of the bed, looking at videos that showed shadows writhing across buildings in broad daylight. Streets opening into swirling black holes that swallowed residents. People claiming they'd been attacked by monsters.
How could all of this be happening?
He'd wanted to help stabilize the barriers. Not… not this.
His thumb hovered over Jamie's contact. What could he even say? How could he explain any of this?
He read Jamie's last message again. Please just let me know you're alive.
He could do that much, couldn't he?
I'm alive , Daniel typed, then deleted it. The blunt statement would just invite more questions.
I'm okay , he tried instead, but that was a lie. He was about as far from okay as he'd ever been.
Finally, he settled on: I'm safe. Please don't worry.
Jamie's response came instantly: Don't worry??? The whole city is going insane. There are SHADOWS eating people. Tell me where you are.
Daniel took a moment to think. What could he possibly say? I'm trying to fix this.
By doing what? Sacrificing yourself? Three dots appeared as Jamie kept typing. The bookstore is GONE, Daniel. Just... vanished into thin air. Along with half the block.
Daniel stared at the phone in his hands. Bookmark'd was gone? The store that had been their sanctuary, their home, their everything... just gone?
His vision blurred with tears. This was his fault. All of it. He'd thought he was helping, thought he could save Caelen, but instead he'd made everything worse.
The phone buzzed again. And again.
Daniel?
Are you still there?
Please answer me
Daniel did answer. I will fix this, he typed. And then he shoved the phone in his pocket as something hot and fierce erupted in his chest, burning away the exhaustion and fear.
Morthul had gone too far, hurting everyone Daniel loved, and Daniel stormed out of the bedroom.
He ignored the worshippers and marched straight toward the shadow throne, where Morthul lounged like a king.
"You destroyed my brother's store!" Daniel's voice rang out across the hall, cutting through the whispered prayers.
Morthul's eyebrows rose, amusement flickering across Caelen's features. "Did I?"
Oh, this fucker was not getting it. "Don't play games with me." Daniel climbed the steps to the throne, not caring about the gasps from the followers or the way shadows curled threateningly around him. "That store was everything to us. It was our home ."
"Your home is with me now." Morthul waved a dismissive hand. "And I'm creating something far greater."
"You're not creating shit!" Daniel got up close enough to spit in Morthul's face. "You're just destroying what other people love because you don't know what love is!"
Morthul rose from his throne, power radiating from him in dark waves. "You dare!"
"Yeah, I dare!" Daniel stepped right into his space, jabbing a finger at his chest. "You're not as scary as you think you are. You're just a bully who has to possess other people's bodies because you can't do anything on your own! You're pathetic."
For a moment, everything went still. Then Morthul's hand shot out, wrapping around Daniel's throat. "I could crush you right now."
"Then do it." Daniel met those black eyes, refusing to back down even as his heart pounded against his ribs. "But you won't, will you? Because you need me. You need my energy to keep Caelen's body functioning."
Morthul's anger twisted into amusement. "And isn't that why you won't leave, no matter what I do to you?" He shook Daniel. "You're so blinded by love, you'll keep giving me what I want. So tell me, who's more pathetic between the two of us?"
Daniel spat at him. "I'm not giving you anything."
"Is that so?"
Before Daniel could protest or try to move away, the god's mouth crashed against Daniel's in a bruising kiss. Acid rose in Daniel's throat at the wrongness of it—at this thing wearing Caelen's face, using Caelen's lips. Power drained from him in a violent rush, like blood from an open wound. His knees buckled as darkness flooded the space where his energy had been.
But beneath his revulsion, resolve sparked. Caelen was in there somewhere.
And Daniel would find him.
This was his chance.
He forced himself to stop fighting. Instead, he let himself follow that current of power, let it drag him deeper into Morthul's essence. Darkness pressed in from all sides, corruption so profound it made his soul recoil. His consciousness scattered, trying to escape the horror of what he touched.
Caelen had to be here. Had to be.
Daniel reached through the void with everything he was, everything he had. Past the wrongness. Past his own terror. Past the screaming instinct to pull away.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
His mind began to fragment.
But there?—
Darkness. Always darkness.
Caelen floated in the void of Morthul's consciousness, a ghost in his own skin. He could only watch through eyes that were no longer his as Morthul grabbed Daniel's chin with fingers that had once belonged to Caelen. Forced a kiss on him with Caelen's lips.
No. Please, no.
He'd given himself to Morthul to protect Daniel, not to become the thing that hurt him. But he could only watch as Morthul used his body to drain Daniel's energy, could feel Daniel's life force flowing through what had once been his veins.
And then, Daniel's presence pierced the darkness, reaching, searching. Terror seized what remained of Caelen's soul. Get out, get out, get out. Not here. You can't be here. He had to protect Daniel from this horror, had to?—
But Daniel's essence called to something in him that even Morthul couldn't corrupt. The heart that had recognized its match in an exuberantly colorful bookstore clerk who talked too much and loved too fiercely. The soul that had refused to stay away from him in spite of all the danger he posed.
Even now.
Before he could stop himself, Caelen reached back.
The connection seared through him like fire. Daniel. His Daniel. Still hoping, still believing?—
Morthul's rage crashed over him like a tsunami, drowning him in darkness once more.
It was too much for Caelen to hold on to anything. All he could do was watch, anger burning brightly, as Morthul flung his beloved mate's exhausted body down the steps.
He'd surrendered everything to keep Daniel safe. And still, he was the instrument of his pain.
He'd rather have died.
Daniel's head connected painfully with the stone floor.
"Insolent child of man!" Morthul's voice shook the hall and sent his followers scrambling.
Daniel tried and failed to push himself to his hands and knees, blood trickling down his temple. But even so, he couldn't stop smiling, couldn't contain the wild joy bursting in his chest. He'd found him. Caelen was alive in there, fighting, reaching back.
"Look at you." Morthul's voice dripped with derision. "You think you've accomplished something? That you can challenge me? You can't even stand."
Daniel's fingers scraped against stone as he tried again to rise. His vision swam.
"No, no. Don't struggle." Shadows wrapped around Daniel, lifting him like a rag doll. "Since you're so certain of your... victory, come sit with me and let me show you the truth."
The shadows deposited Daniel onto a smaller chair that materialized beside Morthul's. More shadows bound him in place as the copper-bright symbols began to glow across the floor.
"You see, while you were sleeping, I began preparing something special." Morthul spread his arms wide. "The merging of two worlds. And you'll have the best seat in the house to watch everything you love transform into something new. Something better."
Daniel's head lolled against his chest. He'd been used so hard he could barely keep his eyes open and he knew he should be scared of what this psychopathic god planned to do with him and the rest of the world, but inside all of that darkness, he found something that kept him going: hope.
Caelen was alive. And Daniel would bring him back and end all of this madness.
Nothing else mattered.