Chapter 12
MADDOX
The small, dilapidated tower was somehow warmer than the rest of the structure we were camping at tonight. Then again, with Maize’s power dancing through the air—now tangled with Charm’s—it probably shouldn’t have surprised me. The place practically hummed with the echo of their combined magic.
I couldn’t deny the possessive wave that crashed over me at the thought of them together—wanting to place my mark on Maize again. The wooden door of the tower groaned as I pushed it open, the sound slicing through the peaceful quiet but not loud enough to wake Maize.
Charm was still lying beside her, sprawled out on the bedroll like a smug bastard—his arm slung over her waist, head tilted toward her as if he were sleeping, though he was actually keeping watch. The moment I stepped inside, he shot me a narrowed, knowing look.
“Time’s up, buddy.” I flashed him a smile, and he knew damn well it wasn’t a request. We all needed rest, so we would have to switch off on watch duty. Well, except for Maize—she could sleep as much as she damn well pleased.
With an annoyed grunt, Charm untangled himself from our mate, dropping a kiss on her head before walking toward the door. He brushed past Philip on his way out, muttering something under his breath that I didn’t bother to catch.
“Tu as de la chance, enfoiré,” I murmured at his retreat.
Chait barked out a laugh from the next room, loud enough to make Charm scowl as he disappeared down the hall. The door closed behind him and silence settled over the tower once more, just the faint whistle of wind through cracked stone and the steady rhythm of Maize’s breathing to keep us company.
I crouched beside the fire pit, the last embers pulsing weakly against the chill.
Maize lay on her side, dark hair spilling over the thin blanket, her face soft but still shadowed by tension.
Even in sleep, her body held a faint readiness, like she hadn’t yet learned what peace was supposed to feel like.
Still, I had to admit, it was less than before she’d come in here to rest with Charm. It was progress of some kind.
Philip laid a second bedroll out on her other side, the rustling of fabric against stone making me know how uncomfortable those ‘beds’ really were. He met my gaze, gave a small nod, then leaned back against his pack—eyes closed but most likely not going to sleep anytime soon.
I sank down near Maize’s feet, close enough to feel the delicate dance of her magic vibrating through the air. It was faint, like static, but it brushed against me as if searching, testing if I was really there before relaxing completely.
“I’m going to keep tabs on her dreams,” Philip said, his voice quiet enough not to wake her. “If you’re in her head at all, you’ll probably see them too—because of the bond.”
“Sounds good,” I murmured, stretching out on my back with one arm tucked behind my head. Truth was, I didn’t mind. Not even a little.
If anything, it eased something in me to know I could keep watch from wherever her mind wandered.
Still, my chest tightened at the thought of being inside of her head—because we weren’t the only ones.
The closer we got to Oberon, the more I could feel him tugging at the edges of her mind.
And I didn’t like that. Not one damn bit.
It couldn’t have been an hour before the pull started—a tug at first, like drifting on a current.
Maize’s mind was quiet, unaware of the change, her magic whispering around the edges of my brain.
I’d grown used to the rhythm of her thoughts, that strange hum of power that was equal parts lethal and entrancing.
Suddenly, the air around me convulsed.
Heat surged.
Sound fractured.
Color exploded.
Everything warped until I couldn’t tell where I ended and the dream began. The firelight from the tower sputtered out, replaced by a sickly yellow glow crawling along cracked stone. I knew immediately this wasn’t just Maize’s mind.
It was a dreamscape—alive, shifting, and utterly wrong.
“Philip?” I called out. My voice sounded muffled, like shouting underwater. I had a gut feeling that calling Maize right now would be useless.
He flickered into existence at the edge of my vision, his outline shimmering before stabilizing. “I’m here,” he said tightly. “But this isn’t her subconscious. This is…something else.”
No shit.
The world around us expanded as if eager to show us what it was: a vast, moss-eaten chamber stretching into shadows.
The ceiling dripped with glowing spores, faintly illuminating movement in the corners.
I could make out shapes there but nothing solid, nothing I could grasp onto.
We were standing on a stone platform, cracked and worn, suspended above a gigantic cavern of nothing.
The air was dancing with power that didn’t belong to Maize.
“Teacup.”
Maize appeared a heartbeat later, gasping softly as if she’d been yanked from sleep and delivered straight into hell. Her eyes darted around the chamber, recognition and panic flashing across her gorgeous face.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she breathed, her voice breaking. “Neither of you should’ve followed me—wherever here is.”
“We’re not going anywhere.” My words came out more as a promise than a statement.
I stepped closer and slid my arm around her waist, feeling the faint tremor in her body as Philip’s gaze swept the rotted ceiling.
Both of us were searching for the source, the pull, the reason we’d been dragged into this decaying nightmare.
Then I saw it.
A flicker of movement—too fast, too dark. The air split open in front of us, tearing like fabric under a blade, and from the rip he emerged.
Oberon.
A fragmented, sickly green form that reeked of corruption.
He looked fucking radioactive, and the roar that tore from him bellowed so loud it nearly flattened us against the stone.
The air tasted of burnt metal and decay, and before we could say a word, his shadow splintered into thousands of elemental shards, all of them screaming straight for us.
And not just them, either.
The creatures that had been whispering in the dark began to move faster, skittering along the walls as their twisted forms bounded forward to surround us, to tear us apart.
Maize staggered back, trembling from the effort of holding her magic in check, and without a thought, my own instinct took over.
Protecting my mate came before everything else.
My power erupted in a violent surge, emerald green streaked with crimson searing the air as it formed a solid wall of protection between Maize and the oncoming storm. The shards of Oberon’s magic slammed into the barrier and splintered instantly, hissing and cracking against my power.
“Stay behind me,” I growled, my voice rougher than I meant it to be.
Philip didn’t argue. He was already moving, pulling Maize back with one arm as his own power flared gold and pink, forming intricate patterns in the air that looked like shattered constellations.
I’d never seen our magic manifest like this, but I wasn’t about to complain—not when it was holding off our attackers so damn well.
Oberon laughed—or at least, I assumed that’s what the distortion of sound was.
It cut through to my very bones, a jagged vibration that made the entire dreamscape tremble.
The smoke around him thickened as black shadow creatures slammed into our barriers, throwing themselves against the light without hesitation.
Their cries of raw agony pierced the air and Maize let out a furious growl in response.
These creatures were trying to kill us, but I could see it still tore at my mate that they were suffering.
“Fuck this,” I hissed, slamming my hands into the cracked stone beneath us.
Power unfurled in a violent wave, lighting the chamber like a lightning strike.
Vivid green fire carved through the shadows, and every impact against the barrier sent sparks crawling up my arms, hot enough to burn but not enough to stop me.
“Hold him off!” Philip barked. “I’m going to try to drag us out of here.”
“Wasn’t planning to invite him over for tea,” I shot back, gritting my teeth as another wave of creatures slammed into my shields.
Maize’s magic was starting to falter, flickering like a dying flame.
I didn’t think she could use her power, even if she wanted to.
I could feel Oberon clawing at her mind, that invisible tether between them tightening, his hunger pressing through the dreamscape.
He wanted her power—wanted to feed from it, even here.
“Philip!” I shouted, voice hoarse, unsure how much longer I could hold the line.
He didn’t answer. Instead, the entire chamber began to tremble, light bleeding from each crack in the stone beneath us.
Philip’s magic spiraled outward like a storm, but something dark and jagged hit it, twisting the energy mid-air.
The two forces collided, ripping through the dreamscape as the world exploded.
The last thing I saw was Maize’s hand reaching for me through the brightness, her lips shaping my name—
A flash of blinding light. Searing heat. Then nothing but silence and darkness.
The quiet that followed was thick enough to choke on. My mind wouldn’t stop spinning—confusion, worry, and a hundred questions crashing into each other.
What the hell just happened? Did we escape? Why wasn’t this like before, when he reached through her head and trapped us within a ‘prison’? Why did it feel like a nightmare? Did that mean he was more connected to her…or less?
Before I could get any answers, the world began to put itself back together.
The void peeled away, light and color bleeding into focus until shapes started forming around us.
My panic eased just enough for me to take in where we’d landed—a gigantic cavern of molten gold and black, the walls pulsing like veins alive with fire.
“What the…?”