Chapter 2 Sai
Ten fucking days.
Ten days since I last saw her, heard her voice, touched her.
I hate waiting. I guess a few decades of taking whatever I want, whenever I want it, has ruined my patience.
But now it’s been ten days, and I’m losing my fucking mind.
And if I’m slipping, as the self-proclaimed loud-mouthed idiot of the unit whose job is to keep us from cracking, then let’s be honest.
We’re fucked.
“I mean, I get it. We fucked up!” I shout to absolutely no one, kicking a rock just to hear it skitter.
It clinks off the edge and vanishes into the pit below.
“We should’ve told her sooner. Hell, straight away.
If it was me, I’d be pissed too. Would’ve sulked for a few hours, maybe destroyed something, or someone, then moved on.
” I scowl at the scorched ground. “But ten days? Ten whole fucking days. No contact. Nothing.”
I let that word echo.
Nothing.
“And I’m just supposed to wait? Rot in the dark, tail tucked, hoping she’ll forgive us?”
The dark hums under my skin, waiting for permission—
I growl, actually growl, shaking my head so hard a damp curl smacks me in the eye. I shake again, and it falls right back.
Fuck. Off. Hair.
I never let it get this long, it pisses me off, gets in my eyes, reminds me of when—
No. No way am I going there tonight. I’m already way too close to the dark.
I try one more time to brush it back and… the strand falls forwards, again, covering one eye. So I just leave it.
There’s nothing worth seeing anyway.
My markings pulse as I stare blankly ahead, trying to calm the fuck down. Trying not to spiral. Trying not to think about what I should’ve said, and what I didn’t. Over and over and fucking over again.
Trying not to think about her.
But she’s all I think about.
My jaw tenses as I remember to breathe how Julien taught me. In. Out. Chill the fuck out. But my mind’s fogged to shit.
“If I could just talk to her, I’d explain everything,” I mutter, starting to pace. “I’d kneel, beg, play the fool… then offer to erase anyone who’d touched her before us.”
There’s a gargled sound, and my gaze flicks to it, only now remembering the guard pinned to the wall.
“What do you think?” My power oozes out in crackling vines that hiss around me, bright blue and pissed off. At his silence, my voice drops lower. “Say something.”
He tries to yank himself free from the rock he’s pinned to, my coils spitting and sparking as he struggles, but the spike lodged in his one good hand keeps him secure. He whimpers.
How pathetic.
I kill the glow and the air stills, the crackling of distant flames the only sound, until the body starts to mumble.
I tilt my head. “What was that, dead man? Didn’t quite catch it.”
“K—Kill me.”
I let out the longest, most theatrical sigh of my life, eyes raised to the flaming abyss above like the answer to everything might be written in the smoke. “Say something new, or nothing at all.”
“P—please… en—d this. I—”
My power slithers out like it’s bored. Same, buddy. Same. It crawls up his body, licks open skin, digs into old wounds and jolts him every time he tries to scream.
I stroll over, crouching down low so I know he hears me. “We’ve been through this. It’s getting boring.” I pat his shoulder—well, where his shoulder used to be, now it’s just a bloody stump. He shrieks, and I shock him for it. “I can’t just kill you. Remember why?”
Nothing. Fucker’s barely conscious, eyes are rolling back… Not on my watch.
I grab a fistful of greasy hair, yanking him up so his one swollen eye meets mine. If he had his lower half, I’m certain he’d have pissed himself.
“You touched our girl, remember?” I say it so calmly, but the anger inside me is scorching.
I’ll never forget finding Red like that, hanging from the ceiling, drenched in her own blood, red everywhere.
“Remember? In that cell with all your little buddies. Strung her up to bleed. Collared her. My girl? My bond?” My voice shakes with the effort it takes not to tear him apart mid-sentence. “Yet you’re still breathing.”
He stares at me, trembling, as I tighten my grip, making his hair taut between my fingers.
When his silence continues, my vision dips into the dark, and his blood turns grey.
“Answer me.” It comes out warped, demonic, Dark Sai begging to be let loose.
“I remember—I’m… so s—sorry. S—”
I release his hair slightly, patting the half of his face that isn’t falling off as his blood becomes red again. Dark Sai’s contained, for now. He’s not happy about it, but if I let him out, this fucker will be smoke.
“There we go. Now, what did I say? Why can’t I kill you?”
He shudders, but doesn’t speak, so I start to pull his hair again and his mouth opens on a silent scream. That’s when I notice almost all his teeth are missing.
Huh. Julien must’ve paid a visit.
“I—I don’t… deserve... d—death,” he finally admits.
“There you go.” I grin wide, yanking his head side to side with each word while he groans like a dying animal.
Then I twist his hair around my fingers, nice and tight, and stroll away. The tearing sound is immediate, screaming follows.
He’s so fucking pathetic.
Part of me thinks I should just kill him, put me out of my misery, but I won’t, he’s not mine to take.
I might be a monster, but I’m no thief.
I quicken my pace, eyes drifting to the clumps of scalp in my hand. Ew. I toss it over the edge, watching them descend into the lower levels of the Pit where they catch fire and vanish.
I exhale hard, staring into the abyss. I’m just so bored of this.
So. Fucking. Bored.
But the Pit’s the only thing stopping me from falling into the Dark. I’ve already spent way too long there, already wasted too much of the guys’ time getting dragged back out.
So this is where I spend my time. In the Pit. Torturing.
Over the last ten days, we’ve spent more time apart than we ever have since we first met, but I guess we’re all to blame for that.
And if we’re not in the Pit, or the dark, there’s only a few other options:
Chasing after Prospero—the Lord who stuck a knife in our backs—unsuccessfully.
Trying to hunt down the Green-Cloaked prick from Red’s nightmare. A skilled mage spent days trying to scry for him, but trying to track down someone from a dream, especially when the guy’s face was basically smudged out, was only ever going to end one way.
Failure.
Then there’s searching for the girl Red found in the cells.
Another dead end.
Naturally, Zeek’s running himself ragged over all three, because that’s what he does. I can’t even tell which one eats at him more, being betrayed by a so-called friend, not being able to catch the bastard who haunts our girl, or trying to save an innocent.
Then there’s babysitting the dragon and stopping him from losing his fiery shit. Seems Julien’s given himself a new hobby with that one. Don’t blame the guy, I haven’t exactly been fun to be around.
And last but not least, and my personal favourite, playing a game of ‘who can pretend the others don’t exist’—although I’m a close second, Kane’s winning. Because blaming himself for everything is kind of his thing.
Daddy Darkness to a T.
“My dearest friend, please tell me you haven’t been down here all day again.” Julien steps out of the shadows like he’s stepping onto a stage, all calm and elegant, even over the background wails of the damned. Classic Julien.
He’s in our uniform too, but his is a lot less bloody. Man’s way too suave to be a slob.
I roll my neck, cracking it loudly, and flash him a lazy grin. “After this morning’s blow-up with Zeek? Didn’t fancy round two, mate. Not yet, anyway.”
We’d been fighting more than we ever have, over everything. This morning, it was over who got to call Kacey. We both got one good hit in before I told him to go ‘fuck himself’ and flitted here.
Julien steps closer, planting a hand on the shoulder of my chest plate. “We’ve been trying to reach you. But you’ve blocked us.” His gaze softens. “Even me.”
Fuck.
I almost brush him off, tell him to ‘fuck off’ too, maybe with a quick shoulder barge. But I don’t.
Because I know that look.
Julien’s hurt, and the guilt hits me straight away.
He’s the first person to ever give a shit about me, who saved me when he didn’t have to, and taught me not to explode stuff unless I meant to. He taught me how to breathe.
How to live.
And now, here I am, ghosting him like an ungrateful shit.
“Big man, you know—” I start, planning some joke about needing space for emotional growth or whatever—
“Kacey has agreed to meet with the dragon shifter.”
I stare at him, raising a single brow. “Andddd…?” Why would I give a flying fuck about that?
“And Jasmine will be with her.”
Oh.
Her name hits like a sledgehammer to the ribs. So fucking hard and painful, I tighten my fists with a wince. That name… it’s a trigger. A beautiful, horrible burn in the middle of my chest.
I rub at it, like that’ll help. I don’t even need to drop my mental wall to know Julien feels it too.
“Get to the point, big guy,” I rasp, but my next breaths sting.
He smiles then, but it’s small, a little too forced. “One of us shall accompany them.”
My markings flare hot and wild as I shove him hard, right in the chest plate. He stumbles a step, if that. Big, sturdy bastard. Anyone else would’ve gone flying.
“You teasing fucker!” I snap, then scoff. “You couldn’t have led with that? You should’ve—”
I stop, because his smile’s gone, and something in his eyes says this isn’t good news.
Julien doesn’t hesitate. But right now, he is.
What the hell could be wrong with this? This is it. This is our chance to get our girl back! So why is he looking at me like… that?
“What aren’t you telling me, mate?” I ask flatly, and my markings pulse in warning. My patience isn’t just wearing thin, it’s gone.
“Ezekial let her choose who.”
Ah. Right. So not me, obviously.
“Let me guess: Zeek, right?” I nod sharply, rubbing my face as I try to swallow it down.
Zeek. Of course. The soft bastard everyone trusts. Of course she’d pick Zeek. And though I loathe to admit it, he’s our best choice.
Handling tense, high-stakes situations? Check. Convincing people to see his side even when the odds are highly stacked against him? Big check. Zeek isn’t just the best option—he’s the only option.
Still stings, though.
And… Julien hasn’t said anything. Why isn’t he answering? Why are his eyes a little tight… Actually, his whole face looks… sour.
“She chose Kane.”
She… what?
Kane?
She chose Kane.
And that…
That’s it.
We’re finished.