Chapter Four
Reign
The pungent odor of trapped salty air infiltrated my nostrils as I descended into the murky depths of Duskridge Manor with Ruhl and Gideon trailing behind me like overbearing shadows.
As if my own weren’t enough to contain. It had been fortuitous that Gideon’s grandmother’s home had been designed with an underground level, a perfect dungeon of sorts.
The slap of our rapid footfalls against the stone mirrored the wild frenzy of my pulse.
The thought of Aelia waking in the dead of night, lost again to Helroth’s call, clawed at something primal inside me.
It awakened a torrent of energy I couldn’t control.
I’d nearly lost her once before. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—survive it again.
If Kaelith didn’t have answers, I’d never rest again knowing her grandfather had unfettered access to her, access I couldn’t prevent.
He could summon her at any time, force her to do unspeakable things at his whim.
With every step closer to the end of the torch-lit hallway, the fury grew more potent.
My shadows hissed and swirled, thickening in power until an orb of darkness surrounded us.
The potent scent of zar permeated the air, only spurring on my anger.
It was a constant presence now as pervasive as my own nox.
I’d been so preoccupied with Aelia lately, I’d simply ignored it, but I feared it would be an issue I would have to deal with sooner rather than later.
A hand clamped down on my shoulder, and I spun around, an umbral blade appearing in my fist. I blinked quickly to find the shadow dagger pressed at my brother’s throat. Gideon stood just behind him, his eyes wide as he regarded me.
“You see? This is what I mean.” Ruhl eyed the umbral weapon, twisting his lips. “You’re out of control, Reign. You can’t make logical, rational decisions when it comes to her.”
“You’re right,” I snarled, dropping the blade. “I may not be logical or rational right now, but I will do whatever necessary to protect my mate at all costs.”
“As will I,” Ruhl snapped. “Only with a clearer head.”
“I hate to say it, Reign, but your brother’s right,” Gideon interjected. “If you go in there and destroy the Night Fae before we’ve had a chance to get the truth out of him, it won’t help Aelia.”
“I know how important this is,” I hissed, and a wave of darkness eclipsed the torchlight.
“I can handle myself just fine. Noxus, just the idea that Helroth can skulk into her mind at any time and compel her to kill me…” I shook my head of the vivid images sure to plague my nightmares for days to come.
“You weren’t there. You didn’t see her. Aelia was gone. ”
“But you got her back,” Gideon said gently as he stepped beside me, his hand firm on my shoulder. "She’s your cuoré, Reign. And no matter how deep Helroth burrows into her mind, the love you share and the bond you forged will always burn brighter."
A sigh pursed my lips, utter defeat lacing my tone. “I’m not so sure, Gid.”
“Well, that’s the spirit, brother.” Ruhl smirked before his lips flipped into a frown at my murderous scowl.
“All I’m saying is that you went through so much to get here.
As much as it pains me to admit it, the gods, in their infinite wisdom, chose her for you.
Do not squander that blessing because of some irrational rage. ”
“I don’t believe it’s his fault,” Gideon threw in, wagging a finger at my infuriating brother. “He’s always been able to control his nox, even before Draven shackled him with those siphoning cuffs. This is different.”
“Well, of course it is, it’s Aelia’s zar. It’s unraveling him from the inside out.” Ruhl shrugged. “He’ll have to learn to block the flow through the bond.”
“I don’t believe it is coming from the cuorem,” I hissed. “I thought it was at first, but after completing it, I was certain I would feel it surging through our mystical connection. Instead, it only seems to be growing more powerful from within me.”
“The cuorem has been known to amplify the abilities of mates.” Gideon’s dark brows drew together, and I could almost see the gears in his brilliant mind twisting and turning.
“Amplify, yes, but create completely new powers?” My gaze swung between both males. Focusing on the looming shadows, I called upon the zar, thick, oily coils invading the whispering tendrils. The air grew heavy with power, and sparks of hellfire danced along the smokey shadows.
For a long moment, Gideon stared at me as if I were a stranger. Then his expression schooled to neutrality. “I’ll have to look into it further once I return to Arcanum.”
“Cheers, Gid, I appreciate it.”
“Anything for you, old friend.” He gave me a tight smile.
The iron door loomed only a few yards away now.
“We’ll go in together.” Ruhl stepped to my side with a sharp nod.
“Fine,” I grumbled, my eager feet gobbling up the little distance that remained between me and the Night Fae. Pausing in front of the entrance, I drew in a deep breath and attempted to still the chaotic tangle of nox and zar pummeling my insides.
I had to remain in control. I had to do this for her.
The iron door groaned as I hauled it open, the sharp sound echoing off the stone. Ruhl and Gideon trailed behind me as I stalked into the center of the murky space.
Kaelith didn’t flinch. Of course he didn’t. The bastard was lounging against the roughhewn wall, his hands shackled in warded cuffs etched with Light runes thanks to Aidan, his head tipped back like he was meditating.
I stepped into the flickering torchlight, and still, he didn’t move. “You have exactly three seconds to explain how to get Helroth out of her head,” I growled.
Kaelith’s citrine eyes peeled open, glittering with the same infuriating calm as when I came to him about Aelia’s growing astral possession abilities. “And if I don’t?”
My shadows struck before I even thought to command them.
“Reign!” Ruhl grit out.
Ignoring him, I gained control and directed my dark minions. They surged from the corners of the chamber, coiling like smoke around his ankles and wrists, slamming him flat against the wall with enough force to crack stone. The impact sent a sickening jolt through the room. Still, he grinned.
“I’ll tear your mind open piece by piece if I have to,” I snarled, stepping closer. “You will tell me how to break his influence over her, or I will break you.”
His breath hitched just slightly, but I caught it.
“Even if I knew,” he said, voice strained, “do you really think pain will jog my memory?”
“No,” I whispered, letting nox slither down my arms, “but it makes me feel a whole lot better.”
I thrust my hand forward and the shadows obeyed, black tendrils pressing into Kaelith’s temples, probing, searching, clawing at the seams of his mind. He gritted his teeth, body trembling as I poured my fury into the nox, allowing the darkness to spiral out of control.
“You trained her. You were inside her head every day. She trusted you. You had to know her control was slipping, and you said nothing.”
His lips peeled back. “I didn’t know. I felt… something… but I didn’t know it was him.”
I didn’t believe him. Not entirely. But gods, I wanted to because he’d had unfettered access to Aelia for months.
Zar pooled beneath my skin like molten oil, slick and sickening. I let it bleed into the shadows, corrupting them. The tendrils darkened, then sharpened. Kaelith screamed.
“Breathe, Reign, just breathe.” Gideon’s voice was nothing but a murmur through the chaos.
“You think you’re angry now,” Kaelith gasped between ragged breaths, citrine orbs fixed to mine. “Wait until Aelia is screaming your name and doesn’t even know why.”
My control snapped. The room exploded in black.
Shadows morphed into razor-edged blades of umbral wrath. Chains writhed like snakes, wrapping around Kaelith’s limbs, lifting him from the floor and dangling him midair. I stepped into his space, my voice a quiet storm.
“You will never speak her name again.”
The torches extinguished in a burst of windless dark. Only the pulsing glow of the runes on his cuffs remained. Darkness encroached into my vision, and I knew I was losing myself to the power.
But I didn’t care.
I couldn’t.
Splaying my fingers to summon more shadows, a flicker of hellfire lit up my palm. Kaelith’s eyes went wide with fear… and confusion? I could only imagine his expression mirrored my own. Noxus, I commanded hellfire now?
“How?” he rasped, smoldering amber irises aglow beneath the crimson flames flickering across my hand. “You wield zar?”
“Apparently…” My fingers danced through the hellish flares untouched. “I suppose I can thank your king’s blood running through my cuoré’s veins for that.”
Undeterred by this new revelation, I delved deeper into his mind, my wild shadows clawing at his memories desperate to find an answer. Was it the cursed illusions? The astral possession? What exactly had Helroth done to break her?
Scouring the dark recesses of the Night Fae’s mind as he dangled mid-air, I zipped by the unimportant bits, a flash of images I cared nothing about. Blood, war, torture, heated confrontations with Helroth. I sifted through the endless memories, my dark minions poking and prodding to no avail.
I could feel him weakening, the influx of nox and zar too much pressure for his mind. His eyes rolled back, a tremor racing through his enormous form.
“Reign!” Ruhl, damn it. “You’re going to kill him.” His shadows curled around me, their icy touch extinguishing some of the rage and the hellfire still growing in my palm.
“I know what I’m doing,” I ground out. Flicking my wrist, an orb of crimson hellfire ignited, dispersing my brother’s shadows into ash.
“Noxus, help us.” I could barely make out Gideon’s hiss from over my shoulder.
Still, I pressed on, searching through the maze of neurons and murky brain matter to pluck out the information I needed. There had to be something. I refused to believe there was no way to save her.
Reign. Aelia.
Her voice wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.
And yet, it slipped through the chaos of my mind like a balm through wildfire.
My shadows recoiled, hesitating.
Reign, stop.
She was real.
I turned slowly, breath ragged, finding Aelia framed in the open doorway. Light spilled around her like a halo. Her eyes met mine, not afraid, but pained.
“This isn’t you,” she said softly. “Kae doesn’t know. You’re only hurting yourself now.”
Kaelith slumped in the air, blood dripping from his nose and mouth, barely conscious.
The shadows shrank from him.
And I let go.
The tendrils withdrew, evaporating into the stone like mist at dawn. Kaelith crumpled to the ground in a broken heap. My heart thundered in my chest, a deafening rhythm that sounded like failure.
I couldn’t save her from Helroth. Not yet.
But gods help me, I would, and next time, I wouldn’t stop.
Not even for her.