Chapter Forty-Two
Brigid
I pace the length of my room, shadows flickering at my fingertips. Lochan ’ s words echo in my head. Fucking asshole. Just when I start hating him he does something that draws me back again. I know he was sincere, but it doesn ’ t make up for everything he did. Doesn ’ t make up for that night. I remember how savage it was when we crashed together, how exquisitely rough his hands were. Not like Tiernan with his precise, detached control. Not like Rory, with his playful dominance, or Callan with his manipulations that send me over the top. Not like Marius with his possessiveness.
No. With Lochan it was raw. Brutally beautiful.
A caw breaks through my spiraling thoughts, making me whirl around towards the window. A raven perches on the sill, its black eye boring into mine.
“ Go away,” I mutter, flapping my hand at the bird
The floorboard creaks behind me. I spin back around, heart pounding.
Marius stands in the doorway, silent as a ghost. His dark eyes rake over me, setting my skin on fire. I hate how my body reacts to him, even now, after everything. Like it has a mind of its own.
“ What do you want?” I say, crossing my arms. I ’ m in no mood for another conversation with any man right now.
He steps into the room, closing the door with a soft click. “ We need to talk, Brigid.”
“ About what?”
Marius sighs, running a hand over his tattooed arms. “ It ’ s complicated.”
“ Can it not wait? It ’ s been kind of a day, you know?”
He moves closer, and I want to step back. I should step back. But I don ’ t. My fucking body wants to slam into his, wants his lips on mine. She ’ s not going to get her way, however, and cross my arms over my chest, standing firm.
“ There are things you need to know,” he says, and I ’ m annoyingly disappointed that he doesn ’ t move closer. “ Things about the prophecy.”
My stomach drops. “ What do you know that I don ’ t? And why are you just telling me now?”
His eyes bore into mine, intense and pleading. “ Please, Brigid. Just listen.”
“ Talk.”
Marius hesitates and I see his eyes look at the window, then the door, like he ’ s waiting for something. But then he speaks. “ The prophecy isn ’ t just about the Morrigan. It ’ s about the Raven King too.”
My blood runs cold. “ What?”
“ The Council only knows half of it. They think it ’ s just about the Morrigan returning through a vessel. But there ’ s more.”
I shake my head, trying to process this. “ How do you know all this?”
His eyes darken, and I feel a weight drop into the pit of my stomach. Marius ’ voice is barely above a whisper as he confirms my fears. “ I am the vessel of the Raven King.”
My fists clench tightly, trembling with anger. “ How could you keep this from me?” My voice shakes with hurt and betrayal.
He speaks through gritted teeth. “ It ’ s not something I can just blurt out. I ’ m not supposed to tell anyone. Especially you.”
I take a shaky step back, unable to process this information. I ’ m reeling with questions and doubts, but all I can manage is, “ Why? Why you?”
Marius ’ eyes hold a trace of sadness. “ It runs in my bloodline. My family is descended from the Raven King. Every generation gives up a son as a vessel. This time it was me.”
The Raven King ’ s heir. It was about Marius all along. I feel like I ’ m on a fairground ride that won ’ t stop spinning.
“ Remember I told you that my childhood was kind of rough? That ’ s why. I wasn ’ t raised like a child, I was groomed to be a vessel.”
Marius looks at me with pleading eyes. “ Please try to understand,” he pleads. “ This burden was placed on my shoulders before I even had a choice in the matter. It ’ s all I ’ ve ever known.”
I ’ m barely processing his words when Marius steps closer, his dark eyes burning with intensity. “ Brigid, I was sent here for you. To guide you towards your destiny, to help you embrace your full powers. So you can be strong enough for the Morrigan.”
His voice drops. “ You ’ re meant for greatness. The shadow magic within you—it ’ s not something to fear. It ’ s a gift.”
I back away, my shoulders hitting the wall. “ You don ’ t know what you ’ re asking,” I choke out.
Marius follows, closing the distance. “ I do. Better than anyone.” There ’ s a desperate edge to his words now. “ The darkness isn ’ t your enemy. It ’ s part of you, waiting to be unchained.”
My hands shake as wisps of shadow curl around my fingers. The power pulses beneath my skin, eager and hungry. It would be so easy to give in, to let it consume me.
“ No,” I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut. “ I can ’ t. I ’ ll hurt people. I ’ ll become a monster.”
“ You won ’ t,” Marius insists, his breath warm on my cheek. “ You ’ ll be stronger than ever. Powerful enough to protect everyone you care about.”
The promise is tempting. So fucking tempting. Images flash through my mind. No more being the victim, no more feeling helpless.
But then I see myself consumed by darkness, a stranger wearing my face.
I snap my eyes open, shoving Marius back. “ No! This isn ’ t how it ’ s supposed to be. I won ’ t be your fucking puppet or the Morrigan ’ s vessel or whatever the hell you ’ re planning.”
Shadow magic erupts from my hands, filling the room with inky tendrils. They feed off my anger and fear.
“ I won ’ t let you manipulate me,” I snarl.
Marius ’ s face hardens, but there ’ s a flicker of... something in his eyes. Regret?
“ You think this is a game to me?” he asks. “ You have no idea what I ’ ve been through.”
I laugh bitterly. “ Oh, please. Spare me the sob story.”
“ You want to know the truth?” Marius growls. He yanks up his sleeve, revealing the intricate, inky black tattoos that cover his body. “ My family ’ s been preparing me for this since I was a fucking kid. Training, rituals, punishments—all to mold me into the perfect vessel for the Raven King.”
“ Every day was a test,” he continues, eyes haunted. “ Fail, and you ’ d wish for death. I learned to embrace the pain, to find power in it. Because the alternative was so much worse.”
The shadows around us flicker and dim, responding to my shock. “ Marius, I—”
“ Don ’ t,” he stops me. “ I don ’ t want your pity. I ’ m telling you this so you understand what ’ s at stake. The prophecy, the Morrigan, the Raven King—it ’ s all real. And it ’ s coming, whether we like it or not. We don ’ t have a choice. But you need to let her in before the Council gets to you. We ’ re running out of time, Brigid.”
I blink, trying to process the bomb Marius just dropped. “ Wait, back up. You said the Council doesn ’ t know the full prophecy?”
Marius steps closer, his voice low and urgent. “ They only know about the Morrigan ’ s return. The Morrigan created this prophecy to bring back her lover—the Raven King.”
My stomach twists. “ Bring him back from where?”
“ Death,” Marius says flatly. “ But the price was steep. The Morrigan sacrificed her own life. Now she only has one shot, one vessel—you. The Raven King, though? He can come back every generation, over and over again. And that ’ s what he ’ s done. Waiting for her.”
I feel sick. “ That ’ s where we come in?”
Marius nods grimly. “ Once they ’ re reunited, they ’ ll be unstoppable. More powerful than the Council, the King, anyone. They ’ ll put an end to the persecution of the shadow witches and mages, stop the Council in their tracks.”
“ So what, I ’ m just supposed to roll over and let some goddess take over my body?”
Marius ’ s eyes flash. He crowds me against the wall, one hand braced next to my head. “ You don ’ t have a choice, little bird. Neither of us do.”
“ There ’ s always a choice,” I whisper, but even I don ’ t believe it. I straighten my spine, meeting Marius ’ s intense gaze. “ We make our own destiny.”
His eyes narrow, but there ’ s a glint of something—in their dark depths. “ You don ’ t know what you ’ re up against, Brigid.”
“ Maybe not,” I concede, my voice steadier than I feel. “ But I refuse to be a pawn in some ancient love story. There has to be another way.”
“ Many have been anticipating the reunion of the Morrigan and the Raven King for a long time. They want this to happen. It ’ s not just the Council that you ’ ll be up against.”
“ Then help me understand,” I challenge. “ We ’ re in this together, aren ’ t we?”
He laughs, a bitter sound. “ Together? I was sent here to ensure you embrace your destiny. To make sure you ’ re ready to be her vessel.”
“ And now?” I almost don ’ t ask.
Marius hesitates, conflict etched across his face. “ Now... I don ’ t know. This fucking fated mate bond is complicating everything.”
He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small object. He holds it up—a polished black stone, shot through with veins of silver. It glows with a faint, otherworldly light.
“ What is that?” I ask.
“ The key to my transformation,” Marius says grimly. “ Given to me by the Raven King himself, in a deteriorating vessel. He needs me as his new host.”
I stare at the stone, horrified. “ And you ’ re just going to let him take over your body?”
Marius ’ s laugh is hollow. “ It ’ s what I was bred for, Brigid. My entire life has led to this moment.”
The weight of his words hits me like a punch to the gut. I want to argue, to tell him he has a choice too, but the resigned look in his eyes stops me cold.
Marius ’ s fist clenches around the stone, his knuckles turning white. “ But this goddamn bond... it ’ s fucking everything up. I can ’ t—” He breaks off, frustration twisting his features. “ I can ’ t let him have you.”
My heart races, a mix of fear and something else I can ’ t name. “ What do you mean?”
He steps closer, his eyes burning with an intensity that makes me shiver. “ Even if it ’ s not really you anymore once the Morrigan takes over, I can ’ t stand the thought of him possessing your body. Because you ’ re mine, Brigid. You ’ re fucking mine.”
His words hit me like a physical force. I stumble back, my legs hitting the edge of the bed. “ Marius, I—”
“ I know,” he cuts me off. “ I know it ’ s fucked up. But this bond... it ’ s making me want things I shouldn ’ t. Things that go against everything I was raised for.”
I struggle to find words, to make sense of the storm of emotions swirling inside me. Finally, I manage to ask, “ What happens if you don ’ t do what the Raven King wants?”
Marius ’ s shoulders slump, the fight seeming to drain out of him. He looks... lost. It ’ s an expression I ’ ve never seen on his face before, and it scares me more than his anger or intensity ever could.
“ I don ’ t know,” he admits, his voice almost inaudible. “ I don ’ t fucking know, Brigid. And that terrifies me.”