50. Chapter Fifty
50
CHAPTER FIFTY
ELODIE
I didn’t know—nor did I care to acknowledge—how long I’d been sat up staring around the room in disbelief. Silk sheets pulled around me and fingers twisting in the gold bangles on my wrists.
I did know that I had spent the entire time after I’d fallen into this outrageously-sized bed trapped in a relentless cycle of deep, heavy sleep and sudden bursts of awareness. My conscious swimming to the surface for a few moments at a time before it sank back, unable to claw its way clear.
I could remember the sound of doors opening, of water being held against my mouth. A slight sweet aftertaste coating my tongue. I could remember hushed familiar voices whispered to my sleeping mind.
Hands tucking the blankets in closer.
Louder voices, angry voices.
Doors slamming.
More doors opening.
More sips of water.
Until finally the haze had cleared, and I’d woken. Alone in this room, unsure how much time had passed. The hollow ache in my stomach enough to tell me I’d missed more than a few meals.
But now, my body was well-rested and free of pain. The slight tight edge to my muscles the only indication that my body had been ripped open, bleeding in the mud. I urged magik to tease under the scars I knew still marked where The Darkness had struck. Energy kneading at the tense knots that ran deep, relieving the pull on the twisted flesh.
My mind was full of more than I felt capable of processing. Flashes of the previous day cutting through my thoughts until I blocked it all out, deciding to put my focus on this new place I found myself.
Never in my life had I seen such a display of wealth, and whilst I knew I was in an actual palace, it was still foreign to me. It was bigger than I guessed last night given the limited light, but calling it a room seemed a little insulting to the place that I was now supposed to be staying in.
Not for much longer remember, you want to leave.
Not right this minute, I don’t.
I was nestled in the centre of a bed that would easily fit another four people with grey sheets so soft, I could barely feel them against my skin. Pillows stuffed full of feathers cushioning my back. A thick fur blanket covered the bottom half, but I hadn’t been brave enough yet to touch it. I had no doubt it was real despite the fact it was black with streaks of red slashed through it, and wickedly sharp claws still attached to the leg sections. I tried not to think about what animal it had come from.
Black wooden posts jutted from each corner, and thick fabric slightly darker than the bedding was tied to each one. Flame lights flickered either side of the carved black headboard, black sconces matching the handle of the chests that sat below them.
In front of me—and something that had caused my heart rate to skyrocket when I’d first woken—was a floor-to-ceiling mirror framed by twisting black metal. The mirror itself was old, spots of age dotting its surface making it feel more decorative than functional, yet still beautiful. A white dressing table stood against it, gilded and painted with intricate patterns, a wide bench covered in black velvet tucked beneath.
While it was much nicer than the little grey room with the fruit painting, it felt altogether too much. Too big, too expensive. What cost would come with being given somewhere like this to stay?
Alouette had said my room had been destroyed, but the palace was huge; surely there was somewhere a little less... this , they could of put me.
Had anything survived whatever disaster had displaced me? Were the few things I had been able to call mine even still there? The flowers from Kaius, the book I had scribbled my pathetic escape notes in. The encyclopaedia that had been its own form of magik in the knowledge it had afforded me. Was it all gone now?
I hadn’t even finished it. I’d only got to the letter T.
They had been a connection, a tiny piece of control I had managed to claw back under the nose of my captors. I felt the loss of them keenly.
Gods, I’d even be grateful to see that fruit painting once more if given the chance.
This one room was probably bigger than the entirety of my first cage, and there were more out there, through the open door.
I didn’t move, mind warring over which event of the previous day to taunt me with. Settling on the not–so–unsatisfactory image of Kaius’ head between my legs, and the echo of my moans of pleasure reverberating through the cavern. I let myself fall into the memory of our bodies moving together, felt the ghost of his magik twining with mine. It was dangerous, allowing myself back there in his arms, but I couldn’t deny how right it had felt. I just didn’t know what it meant going forward.
He was one half of the reason I was here; ripped from everything I had known and forced into a world I knew nothing about. In a place I felt totally out of my depth.
A place I knew part of me belonged.
How long would I have carried on with my life, this secret part of me hidden by the people who were meant to love me the most? I suppose it didn’t matter now. It had been forced into the light, and now I was left facing the tangled threads of my being with no idea how to unravel them.
What I wouldn’t give to have Polly here, she would be able to pick this apart and put it all into order. She’d probably had flashcards and spreadsheet and gods knows what else she would pull from her never-ending cupboard of dead crafts.
She would know I was missing by now. I didn’t know how the fuck Nanna was explaining my absence. Especially in any way Polly would accept.
But let’s face it, she was well versed in lying by now, so what’s one more?
With thoughts of Nanna and the mess she had made of my life, my head span. Rage, betrayal, disbelief. It all joined together, mixing into a cocktail of emotions that had me wanting to simultaneously tear this room apart and bury myself under the covers until I turned into nothing but a dehydrated husk.
I breathed deep instead, fisting my hands in my hair until each inhale came easier than the last.
Unfolding from the nest I had made within the blankets I slipped from the covers before my anger got of a hold on me, bare feet hitting the fur rug that covered the floor beside the bed. I needed a distraction from the thoughts circling through me, the same questions over and over. It was all too much.
Grabbing one of the blankets, I draped it around myself in a cloak of security and I carried the book that had been waiting when I had arrived with me, fingers running delicately over the stamped title, cradling it in my hands.
Leaving the room, I held the blanket closer, ignoring how it trailed on the floor. The table where my dinner had been left last night was long and sleek, made of black marble that shone under the light of the fire, red flames reflecting over the surface. There were eight chairs around it, and I huffed a laugh at the realisation that they were never going to be full.
Maybe I could have filled one by convincing Alouette to have lunch with me, except I had no idea where she was now she wasn’t needed to stand guard outside. The room was too big. I fought the tears that threatened to spill as I found I couldn’t escape the feeling I had traded one prison for another.
My steps were cautious as I continued my explorations, eyes running over every stunningly extravagant detail. From the thick, grey, jacquard paper lining the walls, to the carved mantel above the fire studded with onyx that glittered like inky pools of oil. It was no surprise the fire which had warmed the room last night was still blazing, flames stoked higher and lighting the room.
Thick black curtains covered the entire wall to my left, the material pooling generously onto the dark floor. Not a single beam of light penetrated through. On the wall opposite were two more black doors. Handles again made from onyx, though no rubies studded their surface. Both were closed.
I went to the curtains that doused the room in darkness, my bare feet going from soft carpet to smooth marble and back again before I made it there. Unsurprisingly, heat warmed my feet with every step, as it always did here.
Still holding the book to my chest, I let the blanket fall in a heap on the floor, to pull the curtains back. Their weight making it difficult with only one hand as I yanked them to the sides. Light flooded in through gauzy curtains which covered windows that filled the wall, floor to ceiling. Walking through them I blinked rapidly as my eyes adjusted to the brightness.
A set of double doors led to a generous balcony, and I reached for the handle. Predictably, it rattled under my hand as I turned it.Locked.
It didn’t matter; the windows were more than enough. I stood in awe, watching the sun shine down on the landscape before me, feeling my magik settling into my body. I knew without testing it that it was back to full strength, that hollow part of me that had grated uncomfortably inside now overflowing.
Beyond the castle grounds, the huge stretch of the forest I had glimpsed from my old room continued, blanketing further than I could judge. The leafy canopy of trees blowing ever so slightly, turning its presence into a roiling ocean of green.
Past the impossibly vast expanse, a volcano reached its way towards the sky. White smoke curled from its depths, twisting with the white clouds above as the occasional spray of molten rock leapt into the sky. Despite its distance, I could see the rivers of magma that twisted down its rocky side, snaking their way towards the ground like veins of blood. It must have been ridiculously big considering how far the forest stretched, and just how much of the horizon was taken up with its dark slopes. Jagged mountains rose behind it, framing its grandeur with their snow-covered peaks. I wondered what was beyond. Was that the way back home? Back to my life before palaces and power and tattooed men with skillful tongues.
A single thought rang clear through my mind.
This is where I belong.
This should have been my home all along. I should know the name of those mountains. I should know about the kingdoms and power levels. I should have been sent to a school where I was taught to harness the power that set me apart from others. Not spend the last twenty-eight years as a watered-down version of who I was born to be.
Was I a lost child who had made a wrong turn and found herself cut off from everything she knew? Were there family somewhere beyond those hills who still mourned for their little girl? Or had I been taken, hidden? Swapped with another child who was now left with the uncertainty of who she was, too?
None of it made sense. Not in any way. But I was more than ready to find the answers I needed, and my gut told me that would mean a trip back home.
Turning away, I looked around the room instead. Now clearly lit, beams of light arched through the space, speckles of dust dancing within them. Long grey sofas with embroidered pillows faced a huge TV mounted in the wall; I didn’t bother trying to turn it on.
While the room was lavishly furnished, it still felt empty—lonely.
It felt unused and uninhabited. There was not a single personal item within the space, nothing to say that anyone had ever called it their own, and part of me wanted the chance to do just that.
Moving to the two closed doors I had walked past, I pushed the first open, finding an opulent bathroom consisting entirely of black marble. The floor-to-ceiling windows extended here, but instead of the heavy grey curtains, light-weight black voiles hung down to brush against the floor. I could see the handles of double doors peeking through the fabric leading to another balcony, or perhaps it was the same one. It didn’t matter, as I doubted I would be opening it anytime soon.
A huge, black, claw-footed bath was situated in the middle of the room, and I felt a flicker of excitement at the thought of soaking in it. While I was glad I’d been given the ability to have showers, I missed melting into the warmth of a bath.
In the corner of the room was a shower that could easily fit the same amount of people as my bed, multiple jets pointed in every direction. The double sink and toilet were of the same design as the bath, and a tall shelving unit contained rows of grey towels along with coloured bottles, which I tentatively hoped were filled with bubble bath.
Knowing I had nothing better to do than make use of what I had, I put the book still clutched in my hand, on the highest shelf I could reach. Covering it with a towel in case by some freak accident it jumped off the shelf and into the bath. Digging through the bottles lined up, I found one that smelled like candy floss and poured half the bottle into the tub as I turned on the shiny gold tap. The rush of water filled quicker than expected, and I stripped, folding my clothes neatly in the unit. I would likely be putting them back on.
Sinking into the hot water, the bubbles now outrageously high, I turned off the tap. I willed my mind to remain blissfully clear as I sank under the water, holding my breath until my lungs screamed. The water was a painful comfort I didn’t want to escape, and as the memory of Kaius’ tattooed hand squeezing my neck invaded my mind, I broke the surface, wiping the water from my eyes. Heat that had nothing to do with the temperature of the water, and everything to do with the grey-eyed god who had made me come on his tongue flooded me, and I groaned loudly in annoyance.
As if my life wasn’t complicated enough without finding myself naked with one of the men who had made me a prisoner here to begin with. I couldn’t deny I had enjoyed it, and wouldn’t say no to round two, but that was definitely not a good idea.
Wrapping my arms around my knees, I stayed there until the water began to cool and the ache of hunger gnawing at my stomach grew too much to ignore. Hauling myself from the tub, I wrapped a towel so achingly soft around me that I considered adding some to the pile of blankets already covering the bed.
Standing in front of the mirror, I stared at the bright eyes blinking back at me. No longer the muddy pools I was used to, now they were rich and dark—flecks of gold dusted through them. A contrast to the white hair falling around my face.
I was sure it had been my mum I’d got my colouring from, though I couldn’t be sure. Now, as an adult, I could see why I was always othered by the children around me. I was just a little different. With white hair and eyelashes and eyebrows almost as light, I didn’t look like any of them. I wasn’t like any of them.
My gaze caught on the pink lines now marking my skin. I brushed my finger over the slightly raised scars that crept over my shoulder; the real reason I was trying so hard not to think. I shuddered as the phantom pain of my wounds pierced me, smelling the sharp tang of lemons mixing with blood and dirt. Could feel Marcellus’ comforting presence behind me as he carefully cut away at my ruined clothes. Fingers dancing across my skin, a light wind tangling through my hair, a palace shaking as I fought and lost my ability to hold back my agony.
I knew that something within me called to him, as it did with Kaius. But that was wrong... wasn’t it? Wanting two men. Did Marcellus even want me, or was I picking up all these signs wrong?
Rolling my shoulders to relieve the stiffness of being sat in the bath for so long, I redressed, rubbing my hair with a towel as my stomach grumbled again. Intent on finding something to eat, I had just stepped out of the bathroom when the sight of flaming hair and a freckled face made my heart skip more than a few beats.
“Morning, Killer,” Alouette called from her seat on the sofa, boots propped on the low table in front of her.
“What if I had been naked?” I answered, recovering quickly, and not bothering to fight a grin as I saw her, a lightness filling my heart.
“Blondes aren’t really my type.”
“I’m not blonde.” I threw my wet towel at her, which she caught easily.
“True,” she said as she stood, chucking the towel back into the bathroom.
“How you doing today?”
“Let’s come back to that question after you tell me what I’ve got to do to get fed.”
She laughed. “We’re going to Arden again, so we’ll eat with him. Also, I brought you these.” Without warning, Alouette launched a pair of shoes in my direction.
I flinched as they flew towards me, throwing my hands up automatically, and a pulse of magik flooded my fingertips. Before I had a chance to think of anything other than not getting hit in the face, both our eyes widened as we stared at the shoes now frozen in mid-air halfway between us.
“Well fuck me,” I murmured, staring ahead at what I’d just done.
“As impressive as that was, no thank you.” Her already big eyes rounded as she, too, looked at the footwear hovering between us.
We both started laughing at the same time, the shift of energy causing the shoes to crash down to the floor and inciting another round before I recovered enough to grab the shoes and put them on.
“Of course they fit,” I said as I laced them up.
“Just like magik.” Alouette winked at me as she crossed to the door. I followed, my steps lighter than they had been moments ago, looking up at the carvings above it that I had missed earlier. Deep etchings of a woman twisting in fire covered the doorframe, runes I couldn’t see properly from below twining through it. Alouette’s hand reached the handle, and the flames around the room began to dim.
A different light assaulted my eyes, and I blinked hard, trying to adjust to the change. I felt strange, untethered. No longer present within my own body, and as my eyes focused, I realised why. I wasn’t looking at the back of Alouette’s head anymore. Now I was looking at two men, the edges of my vision blurred.
“What has Arden told you?” the first one asked, voice laced with demand.
“Arden’s told me nothing,” the second man replied, and I moved further into the room towards them, heart thudding.
It was full of light, yet dark all the same. Everything in varying shades of black, from the walls to the furniture. The only colour were the rubies set into most surfaces, and the huge fireplace that blazed with flames taller than me.
No heat pressed against me as I watched them. Nor did they seem to affect the man who stood so close that I didn’t know how they hadn’t pulled him into their embrace.
Long dark hair fell over the arm of one of the sofas arranged next to the fireplace, and as I willed myself forward, Kaius’ angelic face came into view. The memory of it buried between my legs had heat flaring over my body. He was sprawled across the cushions facing away from the fire, eyes closed and a wry smile on his face.
“But you do know something, don’t you?” The first man spoke again.
I knew it was Bastian without needing to see his face. The fire silhouetted his large frame, golden curls moving slightly from the force of the fire.
“I know lots of things, Bas,” Kaius said, running his hands through his hair.
The flames roared in response, and Kaius laughed. “I see you’re wearing your cranky pants today then. Maybe calm down, it’s too early for this.”
“I am calm,” Bastian gritted out.
“That fire would say differently.” I turned then, and saw that the fire was spitting and hissing, flames fighting to escape the confines of the alcove. I flinched away, the fear of my dreams still residing within me. Kaius watched it too, face now tensed in discomfort as he rubbed at his chest.
“People saw her.”
“So?”
“They saw the power she holds, that she’s a match for us.” Kaius sat up then, heavy boots thudding onto the floor.
“I fail to see your point. If you’re going to tell me your dick don’t twitch just a bit watching her using all that power, then you’re a liar.”
“Focus on your own dick.”
“Oh, I do,” Kaius said, his tongue flicking over his bottom lip.
“Our magik connected, Kaius,” Bastian said, frowning into the fire.
“And that’s giving you a face like a smacked ass because?”
Bastian scowled, and the flames cracked and hissed as his friend’s eyes sparkled deviously. “Because it didn’t need to happen!”
“Right.” Kaius laughed. “You can sit in that denial for as long as you need, but you know she saved all our sorry asses yesterday.”
Bastian only grunted in reply, eyes focused on the dancing heated tongues.
“I’m going to tell her.”
“Tell her what?” Bastian turned then, emerald eyes fighting with the flames I knew lay hidden beneath.
“She deserves the truth.”
Bastian nodded, his shoulders tensing. “And what about your truth, will you be telling her that?”
“Everything. Anything. Whatever she wants, basically.”
“That’s not your ?—”
“It’s mine just as much as it is yours. We should have come clean from the beginning, and I can’t keep —" Kaius cut himself off, sighing heavily as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose.
“Can’t keep what?” Bastian’s eyes narrowed.
Kaius ran a hand over his face before pushing up from the sofa. “I can’t keep being around her and not giving her the full story. Plus, I have a feeling she will be staying a while.”
“And why would that be when all she’s ever demanded is to be taken home?”
“Call it my innate ability to read the future.”
Bastian rolled his eyes, an easy laugh leaving him. His posture relaxed just a fraction, and my eyes widened at the sound that was so far removed from anything I’d heard from him. “You can do no such thing, Kaius.”
“Sure, I can. My great-grandmother on my father’s side was a Seer,” he said as they crossed the room together, heading towards a closed door. I drifted behind them.
“No, she wasn’t.” Bastian punched his arm in that way men did with their friends that had me blinking in disbelief.
“Alright, she wasn’t. She was a crazy old lady who liked to collect acorns and got into a ridiculous amount of fights with squirrels. But I do have a good feeling about this.”
They both burst into laughter as Bastian reached for the handle of the door.
I sucked in a breath as I settled back into my body, ears picking up the deep laughter floating towards me moments before my eyes focused on the door Alouette had just opened. She raised an eyebrow in question before striding out, and I followed on shaky legs behind her.
They had stepped into the corridor the same time as us, and my eyes snapped up to be caught in Kaius’ steely gaze. I wanted nothing more than to cross the space between us.
Instead, I froze. Heart hammering as he moved towards me, and the corridor suddenly felt much too small for us to both be here.
Stopping in front of me, he leaned down, tucking a white strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers just grazing my skin before he was pressing his lips to my cheek. My skin flushed under his touch.
“Morning, Goldie.” His low voice rumbled and my lungs filled with the scent of him—cedarwood and petrichor. My magik sung.
“Morning,” I managed to mutter as he pulled back slightly.
“You good?” His voice was quiet, eyes focused intently on mine. If I wasn’t careful, I’d find myself lost in them.
“Yeah,” I managed to say, the soft caress of his breath from his answering laugh brushing across my lips before he straightened.
“You’re on your way to Arden, I hope.” A harsh voice pulled me sharply from my Kaius-induced daze, and my eyes hardened as I took in Bastian who unfortunately hadn’t kept walking and standing before me.
“Yes,” I ground out, hating I was doing anything he wanted, and wishing I could defy his demand with every second I was in his presence. “And after that, I’m getting those answers you owe me. One way or another.”
Knowing that getting the information I was so desperate for aided him was a double-edged sword I was going to have to swallow. That didn’t mean it went down any smoother, and the longer I looked into his cold, handsome face, the greater the urge to shove my metaphorical sword up his ass grew.
“Oh, are you?” His brow arched as he oozed sarcasm, tucking his hands into his pockets.
My hands clenched with the need to release magik. His eyes flicked down to them, the smirk on his lips growing wider.
Bastian stepped towards me with fire dancing behind his eyes. “Looks like you need some lessons in control, Princess.”
“Why’s that? Scared of me, are you, Big Man?”
“Of you?” His laugh rang through the hollow space, its barbed edges lodging inside me as he moved past without another look my way. His arm brushed against mine sending angry sparks of magik igniting over my skin.
“I’m getting those answers,” I shouted at his back as he strode away.
Kaius moved in front of me, hand tilting my chin up towards him and brushed his thumb against my lower lip. I opened my mouth on instinct, pussy pulsing as his eyes locked on the movement and flared with desire. His face dipped to mine as he pressed the lightest of kisses on my lips.
“You’re getting anything you want, Goldie.” With that, he turned, too, following his asshole friend out the hall.