Chapter 68
Belle
The flame of the candle danced, and a dribble of hot wax spilled over the lip of the pewter stand. The words on the page in front of me blurred. How long had it been? I felt like the weathered book in front of me, its spine broken and its pages curled and brittle.
I rubbed my eyes and sat back, glancing at the clock on the far wall of the library—a quarter past five in the morning.
Valen should be meeting with the general right now.
A deep unease settled over me. One way or another, we’d have our answer within the hour. Either Sarkis would refuse us, accept the mirror as payment, or he’d double-cross the king. Three paths forward, all of them as dark as a moonless night.
My nerves had been dancing on edge for hours, and unable to sleep, I’d confined myself to the library, trying to lose myself in research.
I’d scoured Valen’s collection for books on demonica and other infernal beings, hoping to find anything that might help us with the curse.
It was difficult to winnow facts from the husk of superstition and religious dogma, and my notes were gallingly sparse.
Demons (n). A class of supernatural beings who revel in the torment of mortals and feed on chaos and misery. Interactions with the daemonica can prove perilous, for their charm is inescapable, their corruption is contagious, and their contracts are binding.
That definition fit everything the king had told me. The being he’d encountered forced him into a verbal contract, giving him hope, only to crush him and ensnare him with it.
I’d underlined feed on chaos and misery. I assumed it was a metaphor, but was there a possibility that the demon fed on our suffering as the immortals fed on blood? My fingers drifted further down my page of notes.
Demons manifest in many forms, from the ghastly to the beautiful, but they will all exhibit a preference for magic, extreme cunning, and an insatiable hunger for power, suffering, and manipulation.
Some were formed from fire and shadow by the dark gods themselves, while others, like incubi and succubae, were born from a sexual union with mortals.
Some demons are malevolent spirits that possess the bodies of men and women, while others were mortals that offered their souls up to the dark gods in exchange for power.
I’d compiled an extensive list of types but could barely keep them apart. I rubbed the bridge of my nose. What were we dealing with? A greater demon? A possession?
Valen said that the demon had appeared as an old man. Was it an illusion to hide the demon’s true nature, or had it once been a mortal who’d given up his soul or become possessed by an evil spirit?
I sat back, my gaze drifting across the disordered mess that littered the table. A creeping cold seeped through me, like the first breath of winter. A dozen books or more, yet none of them explained how to break a curse or to kill a demon.
Perhaps the truth was self-evident: you didn’t.
There must be a clue here. I shoved the book I was reading aside and turned back to the first I’d pulled from the shelves. Maybe there was something I’d missed.
The library door groaned, and my heart leapt. He’s back.
I turned, and the relief on my face melted away.
General Sarkis loomed in the open doorway, a twisted grin forming as his gaze took in the large space before settling on me. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, dove.”
My chest tightened, and I gripped the edge of the table. How had Sarkis gained entry to the castle, let alone this wing?
Where were my guards? Where was Valen?
I rose slowly, as if I had nothing to fear, but I knew my pounding pulse would betray me. “Where is the king?”
He was alright. He had to be.
The general sauntered forward, something between amusement and murder gleaming in his treacherous eyes.
“He’s probably at our rendezvous right now, lugging his chests of gold and empty promises.
I do wish I could’ve seen the look on his face when he realizes what I’ve done.
No matter. I’ll see it soon enough—but by then, the damage will be done. ”
“He’s going to kill you,” I hissed as I skirted around the end of the table.
Sarkis laughed. “You give him more credit than he deserves. Not to worry though. Once I’m done with him, you’ll see him for the weak excuse of a king that he is.”
Don’t panic. Don’t let him see your fear.
“Why are you here?” I asked, silently cursing myself for not keeping a weapon on me. I’d grown complacent.
“To take what I’m owed.” He prowled closer, a deranged look in his eyes. “I wonder if you’ll heel like a good little bitch, or if you’ll give me the pleasure of teaching you what it means to be my pet?”
Bile rose in my throat. This man was the worst kind of monster. My eyes darted around the room, searching for an escape, but there was only the single door.
His mouth curled into a bloodthirsty grin. “Go ahead and run, dove. I’ll even give you a couple of steps on me.”
With immortal speed, the general would catch me before I made it two feet. I withdrew deeper into the library, desperate to keep as much distance between us as possible. “Stay back.”
“Is that a threat? How delightful.” He licked his lips, and I saw the hunger in his eyes. “We’re going to have fun, you and I.”
My stomach knotted. This is exactly what he wanted, but there was no way I was going to submit. I’d fight tooth and nail and make him drag me out of here, even if the screams and struggle got the bastard off.
The castle bells started tolling. His men must have been discovered.
The general lurched forward, and I jumped backward, heart racing. He laughed, delighting in my fear. It was just a single step to spook me. Just a sick game.
“I’m a generous man, dove.” His eyes flashed with amusement. “If you learn to obey, I might even put you on the throne of the Bloodvale beside me. People love continuity in the royal line.”
“I’d rather die.”
“You don’t know the meaning of those words—not yet at least.”
The door flung open behind the general.
For a second hope rose, then it crashed to the ground as an immortal officer in crimson mail burst through. “Sir! They launched a signal from the camp. The king and his sorcerer are on the way back!”
The general cursed. “Did you find the mirror?”
“We ransacked his chambers, the council room, and the treasury, but couldn’t find it.”
“Then find it!”
“We don’t have time. Someone’s raised the alarm. They must’ve found the bodies. The guards will be here soon.”
“Then kill them.” The general’s attention snapped back to me. “I guess I’ll have to wait to play with you.”
He closed the distance between us before I could draw a breath. His fingers crushed around my throat, squeezing hard. I clawed at his hands, choking, but his hold on me was iron.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” he said in a husky tone as he dragged his nose along my jaw.
No. He’d regret it.
I forged a connection with a pewter candle holder on the table and pushed my magic into it. It flipped forward and slammed into the back of his skull with a dull crack. The general staggered and dropped me.
I collapsed against the shelf, gasping for breath through my aching throat.
“That was a dirty trick, little dove. You’ll pay for it.” He seized the pewter candle holder, and my connection to it instantly cut off—I couldn’t control things held by others.
My gaze snapped to the dagger at his belt. That would work.
I thrust my hand out. Stab him.
The weapon slipped free and then shot forward, sheathing itself in the gap in his armor between his shoulder and chest.
The general released a feral snarl, then seized the hilt of the dagger and wrenched it free. My connection to it evaporated. “Get the little bitch!”
The immortal officer shot forward in a blur. I redirected my magic to the ladder and hurled it at him. His head cracked back, and he crashed into one of the tables.
The general leveled me with a dangerous glare, switching the dagger to his right hand. “I see why the Dragon King is so interested in you.”
In a breath, he was before me. Pain burst across my cheek as he backhanded me, the force throwing me to the ground. Little bright lights flashed behind my eyes as I scrambled onto my hands and knees, adrenaline pulsing under my skin, dulling the agony in my face.
The general’s arm snaked around my waist, then he pulled me up, my back crashing against his chest as his lips pressed into the sting of my cheek. “I’m going to have so much fun teaching you to obey.”
I screamed and thrashed in his hold. “Let me go!”
My hand caught the shelf, and I poured my magic into it. Books hurled forward, pelting his back and sides. He cursed, and his arm loosened a fraction.
I rammed my elbow up into his shoulder, aiming for the knife wound, and he grunted.
“I’m going to slice you from end to end, cunt,” he snarled as he stumbled back beneath the deluge of books. They swirled in the sky like wheeling crows before slamming down into my attackers.
Sarkis and his officer cut through the storm of books with their swords, and the sound of paper tearing and spines snapping twisted my stomach.
Cold tremors racked through me as my magic bled out. How long could I keep this up?
Wood splintered, and the library door crashed open. A silhouette towered in the torchlight, then flashed forward in a blur of midnight.
He seized the officer by the throat, then ripped it out in a shower of blood. The immortal’s body crumpled to the floor, leaving only the dark figure whose feral gaze was locked on me. Hungry. Possessive. Murderous.
The dragon king.
Blood and dirt painted his body like a twisted god of war. I should’ve been terrified. Disgusted. Instead, my blood sang and my body purred for this male.
His eyes narrowed on my throbbing cheek, and they blazed gold. He stalked forward through the maelstrom of books. “Sarkis!”
I released my control, and they dropped to the ground like stones around us.
The general had his blade drawn, and his body poised like a viper ready to strike. “I’m so glad you could join us, Your Highness. I’m going to take your little whore, and when I’m done with her, she’s going to be begging me to end her. I’d let you watch, but I doubt you’d be willing to sit still.”
The muscles in Valen’s forearms flexed, hinting at the storm beneath his calm facade. “You should’ve taken what I offered. Now, your only payment will be death.”
Air rushed past me as Valen shot forward. The pair crashed into the bookshelf, wood cracking and books falling. They were a blur of fists and snarls, and I couldn’t begin to track their movements.
The general’s nose crunched under Valen’s fist, blood spattering across my cheek.
Valen was stronger and faster, but the general was a trained fighter, and he ripped his dagger twice across Valen’s chest. The king roared and hurled Sarkis against the wall, but the general only grinned, his teeth red with blood—whose, I wasn’t sure.
Steel flashed in the general’s hand, and his arm whipped forward, heading straight at me.
Valen spun, snatching the general’s dagger out of the air, inches from my chest. For a second our eyes met, then the general kicked Valen’s knees out and seized him from behind.
His hands clamped around the king’s neck and head, and with one sharp movement, he twisted.