Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
Killian
Ipaced my penthouse, my emotions at a boiling point, fear for my mate icing my veins. Tyson clawed at my insides, both of us unraveling with every second that passed.
“One more day,” Cade said. “Let us organize the forces properly…”
“She doesn’t have one more day.” The words came out part snarl, part dragon roar. “I’m not playing politics with armies and supply lines while my mate might be half-dead. I’m going to get her. Now!”
Fates pity those who stood in my way.
I took six of my most trusted men: Cassius, Rock, Archer, Voss, Jax, and Theron. Warriors who had bled with me. Each had proven himself a dozen times over. More importantly, each one would die for my queen without hesitation.
Underhill had sent two of its shadow beasts, creatures of living darkness and claws.
The dark forest had sealed itself away for centuries, until Barbie crashed through its barriers with her raw charm and signature disregard for rules.
Now, it considered her its own. Kinship was everything to the wild magic, and Underhill wanted Barbie back.
I managed multiple portal jumps in rapid succession, each one bringing me closer to my mate. When the final leyline spat us out, half my team doubled over and vomited.
The blackened lands spread before us under a sky the color of old bruises, the air thick and hostile. The ground squelched beneath our boots—not with mud but with earth saturated by blood.
Rising from the desolation was a palace of bones. Skulls mortared into walls.
My men swallowed hard, faces grim, eyes burning.
“Shit,” Rock growled. “This is a house of horrors.”
“This abomination must be stopped,” Cassius said. He was my right-hand man, a warrior of few words but unwavering loyalty.
“Quiet,” I ordered. “I feel her.”
I felt my little scorpion.
The mating bond between us blazed to life like a bonfire in my heart, no longer muted. She was here, and she was—
In pain. So much pain filtered through our link that I had to lock my jaw to keep from screaming. My dragon roared in rage, urging me on.
“Fourteen Shriekers at the entrance,” Voss reported. While Cassius was the spymaster, Voss had led the scout team for a decade.
“Then they’re already dead,” Rock said.
The shadow beasts darted past us, flowing across the dead ground and hitting the Shriekers with the force of battering rams. Mechanical parts scattered.
Black oil that served as blood splattered the bone walls.
While our supernatural army needed special blades dipped in spells and mixed with Barbie’s blood to kill the Shriekers, the shadow beasts could simply tear the abominations apart!
My men charged after them, their blood blades held tight, violence humming in the air.
Rock wielded Deathsong with disturbing fondness. He’d inherited it from Barbie, and now he barely let that evil blade out of his sight. When he thought no one was watching, he even talked to it. Once, I’d overheard him telling it a joke, and the evil blade had giggled.
We carved through the entrance guards in minutes. No finesse, no mercy. Just brutal efficiency and hatred.
Inside, the palace was even more grotesque. Corridors lined with bones. Chandeliers of skulls. Carpets that might have been woven from hair. My men didn’t flinch, didn’t slow down. They stormed the place of horrors after me, hell-bent on rescuing their queen.
“Archer, hold the entrance with the shadow beasts,” I ordered. “Nothing gets in behind us.”
“Yes, my king.” He took position, his blade dripping black blood.
The rest of us ventured deeper into the bone palace.
“Where should we go, sir?” Theron asked as we reached the end of the corridor, which split into three others.
We were inside a maze of bones.
I raised a fist, and my men halted. I concentrated on the mating bond pulsing inside me like a second heartbeat. Then Barbie’s scream tore through the space.
She’s down! Our mate is hundreds of feet down! my dragon roared. Get to her now! NOW!
“She’s deep underground!” I hissed, fighting to keep icy panic at bay and rage from clouding my mind. “That motherfucker is torturing her.”
“Stairs will take too long,” Cassius said, already knowing what I would do.
Dragon fire erupted from me, making the air steam and melting the palace floor like wax—bone, stone, and the void god’s wards. I burned through level after level, each one revealing new horrors before dissolving into ash.
The hole I carved plunged so deep it seemed bottomless. Spatial magic made the interior vast, far larger than the outside—more room for atrocities.
Without hesitation, I leaped into the abyss.
My men followed without question. My shadow wind caught us, turning our rapid freefall into a controlled descent through a darkness that had weight.
Then I heard the voice of the unholy god that haunted my mate in her nightmares.
“Daughter of mine,” he said, his voice like poisoned honey. “Did you really think eons of existence left me without contingencies? I am void, older than the stars. I can shed this mortal shell like a snakeskin. No being or god can cage me. I’ll be free in moments.”
I hit the ground running, following our bond, his vile voice, and the copper scent of her blood. My men were still landing when I burst through the final doorway.
Into the feeding chamber.
Stone tables were darkened with layers of blood. Surgical tools lay arranged with sadistic care. A blood fountain rose in the center of the room. Walls made of skulls and spells illuminated the horror within.
At the far end, on a sacrificial altar, my mate lay splayed like a specimen for dissection.
My dragon roared and thrashed, so enraged I could barely rein him in. I bit my tongue, my own rage meeting his, and tasted blood, lightning, dragon fire, and ash.
The evil motherfucker had opened her up—her chest cavity exposed, organs visible. Blood pooled beneath her in a dark, spreading stain. Her left leg was dismantled and shattered. The void fucker hunched over her like a carrion bird. He’d been feeding on her. Feasting on her.
No words could describe the grief, rage, and hatred I felt. I would repay him tenfold for every torture he inflicted on my mate, my love, my queen—and even that would not be enough, not even close.
“Tell me where the last drop of old magic is,” Ruin hissed, reaching for a bone saw, “or let us see how much more of you I can take—”
Cassius and Rock’s composure shattered. Nothing else had shaken them. These were men who’d held the line against abomination armies, who’d faced the worst monsters without blinking. But the sight of their queen’s suffering shook them to their bare bones.
“Kill him! Kill that motherfucker!” Rock surged forward, Deathsong screaming for blood.
Cassius had already reached the middle of the room.
I yanked them back with my shadow power before they could throw their lives away.
“He can kill you before you take one more step,” I said.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass!” Rock struggled against my hold. “Look what he did to Scorpion! To my queen!”
“And she’s my mate,” I said, my voice hard and inhuman. “I’ll deal with him. Only I can match him. Get her to safety the second you have an opening. Do you understand?”
“Yes, my king!” my men answered in unison, their fury at our enemy like a furnace against my back.
My beauty turned her head slowly, her gaze finding me.
Everything else ceased to matter.
“Killian!” Her voice was like broken bells and dying hope, and my heart broke all over again. “Killian! You came.”
“Always, baby.” I made my voice as gentle as possible, just for her. “I’ll always come for you. I’ll tear apart heaven and hell for you, let alone this filthy motherfucker.”