Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Darius
Alanna had ordered that I dress for court.
Court. Where I was supposed to stand before her kingdom and destroy Alice. Publicly reject her. Rip her heart out with words instead of claws.
The thought made me sick.
I'd claimed her. Made her mine. And now I'd have to look into those eyes and lie—tell her it meant nothing. She'd believe me. That was the worst part. After everything she'd been through, she'd believe every word.
I sat in a bathtub in the chambers Alanna had assigned me—right next to hers, of course.
Close enough for her to keep her eye on her new pet.
The word made my skin crawl. I knew what she wanted.
Once Alice was gone—rejected, discarded, believing I'd never loved her—Alanna would expect me in her bed.
Her hands on me. Her body against mine. And I'd have to let her. I'd have to pretend I wanted it.
The bathroom was obscenely lavish. Gold fixtures. Marble countertops. I stared at the water, still and silent around me. I'd never felt so alone.
The water lapped against my chest, warm and suffocating. This tub was large enough to drown in. I could slide under. Fill my lungs. End this before it began.
Escape Alanna and her games forever.
But I wouldn't. I couldn't.
Because if I died, Alanna would take her fury out on Alice. She'd make her suffer in ways I couldn't even imagine.
So I sat there. Defeated. Broken. Waiting to destroy the only woman I'd ever loved.
The door to my bedroom creaked open. Footsteps shuffled across the floor, hesitant and slow.
I didn't move. Didn't turn around. I knew who it was before he appeared in the bathroom doorway.
Rabbit.
I heard his breath—shallow, shaky. The sound of a dog bracing for a blow. I glanced over my shoulder. His eyes were red-rimmed and swollen, his pale face blotchy from crying. He'd always been a nervous, fearful fellow—wringing his hands, checking his pocket watch, jumping at shadows.
Fuck him. But it took guts to face me. One wrong move and I’d rip him apart.
Now he was something worse.
A yellow-bellied traitor.
I rose from the tub, water streaming down my body, and grabbed a towel to wrap around my waist. Let him see the scars Alanna had given me over the years. Let him see what he'd condemned Alice to.
"Get the fuck out of here. Before I rip you apart with my bare hands."
He flinched but didn't retreat. "Darius, please listen—"
"Shut the fuck up." I stepped toward him, and he stumbled backward—but he stayed. The fact that he was still standing there, still breathing the same air as me, made my blood boil. "You sold us out. You handed Alice to that monster. Do you have any idea what Alanna did to her?"
"I know. I know, and I'm sorry—"
"Sorry?" A bitter laugh tore from my throat. "Sorry doesn't fix the scars on her back. Sorry doesn't erase the sound of her screaming."
Tears spilled down Rabbit's cheeks. He dropped to his knees on the marble floor, his hands clasped in front of him like he was praying. Praying to a vengeful god who had a choice—mercy or no mercy.
Looking at him made me sick. This sniveling, pathetic creature had handed Alice to Alanna. And now he wanted forgiveness? My nails bit into my palms. It took everything I had not to kick him in the teeth.
"You don't understand." His whole body shook. "Alanna has ordered my family—my wife, my children—to work in the Shadowsteel mines. Along with Flint and Steel."
The words hit me like a punch to the gut.
The Shadowsteel mines.
I'd heard stories. Everyone had. The black ore was used to forge harpy collars—those twisted bands of enslavement that had imprisoned the harpy Alice saved.
But mining it came with a terrible cost. The ore was cursed, saturated with dark magic that seeped into your mind.
Miners who worked there too long went mad.
They clawed at their own eyes. Attacked each other.
Some simply walked into the darkness and never came out.
And Alanna had sent Rabbit's family there. His wife. His children.
My anger faltered. Just for a moment.
"Your children? But the oldest one is seven, isn't he?"
Rabbit nodded, a sob escaping his throat.
"Marcus. He's seven. The girls are five and three.
" He looked up at me, devastated. "Three years old, Darius.
Lily is three years old, and she's in those mines right now.
The queen promised to release them once you two are wed.
That was the deal. Betray you and Alice. .. and my children get to live."
“Fuck.” I dragged my fingers through my wet hair, water dripping onto the marble floor.
Rabbit slowly rose to his feet, wiping his face with the back of his hand. “I’m supposed to help you get ready for court.” His red-rimmed eyes swept over me. “You’re still a mess. Let me help you.”
“Do you think I give shit how I look?” I grabbed the towel around my waist and threw it at his feet. “I’m about to destroy the woman I love in front of Alanna’s entire court.”
“Think of Alice.” His voice was quiet. Strained. “She’ll pay the price.”
The anger in my chest twisted, shifted. Away from Rabbit. Toward the real monster pulling all our strings.
“I hate that fucking bitch.”
“I know.” Rabbit picked up the towel, folding it with trembling hands. “But until we can find a way out of here, we’re trapped. All of us.”
I studied him—this broken, terrified man who had sold us out to save his children. He was hoping Alanna would honor her deal. But I knew her. Honor wasn't in her vocabulary. She'd string him along, keep those kids in the mines, and use them as leverage until they weren't useful anymore.
He'd damned us all for nothing.
Part of me still wanted to kill him. But another part understood. What wouldn’t a father do to save his family?
“What happened to Chester, Caterpillar, Grump, and the others?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Did you betray them too?”
Rabbit shook his head quickly. “No, I was able to spare them. I led them away from the grotto before Alanna, Ari, and the guards arrived. Told them to wait in the forest near the Whispering Hollow until dark, then rescue Brynn, Flint, and Steel.” He swallowed hard.
“It was the only way I could keep them from being captured too.”
A small mercy. My friends and the Uncrowned were still free. I knew Grump. He and the others would be working on a plan.
It was too late for me. Any rescue attempt would only make things worse—Alanna would punish Alice for it. But if they focused on her, if they got her out before the wedding...
Grump could still save his only daughter.
“Where’s Brynn?”
“She’s still a servant in the castle. Alanna hasn’t harmed her—yet.” Rabbit met my eyes. “But that could change any moment.”
“Alanna’s holding all the cards,” I muttered.
“Please, Darius.” Rabbit gestured toward the tub. “Get back in and let me make you presentable. The queen is growing impatient, and when she’s impatient, she’s dangerous.”
“She’s always been mad.” I stepped back into the water, the warmth doing nothing to ease the cold dread in my chest. “Now she’s turning everyone mad too.”
Rabbit picked up a cloth and began scrubbing my back without another word. I let him. Not because I cared how I looked. Not because I wanted to please Alanna.
She wouldn’t take her vengeance out on me. No, she was far too clever for that. She’d take it out on the people I loved. On Alice. On Flint and Steel. On Rabbit’s children working in those cursed mines.
She had us all exactly where she wanted us.
Rabbit washed my hair, and I sat in the tub, detesting every minute of it.
Here I was, being scrubbed and pampered like a king while Alice rotted in the dungeon below. Filthy. Bloody. Alone. The thought was a knife in my chest, twisting deeper with every splash of perfumed water.
On Alanna’s orders, Ari supposedly had given her Drink Me—the healing elixir.
But I couldn’t trust either one of them. Alanna’s promises were empty. Nothing but lost hope and lies. Ari was nothing but her pet, doing whatever she commanded.
“Rabbit.” I kept my voice low. “Do you know if Ari gave Alice Drink Me?”
Rabbit’s hands paused on my scalp. “Yes, he did. I saw the empty vial myself.” He resumed washing. “The queen kept her word on that.”
One small mercy. At least Alice wasn’t suffering in agony anymore.
But I knew why Alanna had healed her. It wasn't kindness. A broken, bleeding Alice wouldn't feel the full impact of my rejection. Alanna wanted her whole. Healthy. Alert. So that every word I spoke would cut deeper than any whip.
The relief was hollow. If I didn’t do exactly what Alanna demanded—if I deviated even slightly from her script—she could hurt Alice again. Worse than before.
And this time, she might not bother with the elixir.
Rabbit fussed over me—drying my hair, brushing it until it shone, shaving the dark stubble from my jaw. He even polished my boots.
This wasn’t me. I wasn’t a pretty boy. Never had been. I was a fighter, a rebel, a demon who’d spent years covered in dirt and blood and sweat. Not some pampered nobleman preening for court.
But the man in the mirror wasn't me anymore. He was whatever Alanna wanted him to be. A fucking puppet.
I would endure this for Alice.
I pulled on the fancy jacket Alanna had chosen—deep green velvet with gold embroidery that matched my hat perfectly. The tights were the same shade, fitted and ridiculous. I looked like a costume, not a man.
My hat. I missed the weight of it. The power. Without it, I was just a demon in a pretty cage.
Rabbit stepped back, examining his work. He was trying to act normal—professional, even—but his hands shook and his smile didn't reach his eyes. “I think the queen would approve.”
I didn’t answer him. What was there to say? Yes, Alanna would approve. She'd dressed me up like a prize stallion for her own amusement. And soon I'd trot out into her court and perform exactly as commanded.
I'd considered fighting. Running. Tearing through the guards and finding Alice before any of this happened. But every escape plan ended the same way—with Alice paying the price for my defiance.
So I'd do this. I'd break her heart. And I'd hate myself for the rest of my existence.
He led me to Alanna’s door and rapped his knuckles against the wood. “He’s ready, Your Majesty.”
Everything in me tensed as I waited for the door to open. Nothing would be the same after this. My whole world would be crushed forever, and I’d become a slave.
But Alice would be safe.
The door swung open.
Alanna stood before me, looking every inch the queen. Her black hair flowed over her shoulder like dark silk. A red and black sequined dress hugged her figure, glittering in the torchlight. She was beautiful—the kind of beauty that lured sailors to their deaths.
But underneath the glamour was pure evil.
I thought of Alice borrowing Archer’s too large tunic. Wearing tights that bunched at her ankles. Hair tangled and wild.
No jewels.
No sequins.
No pretense.
And underneath her garments was a goodness that healed my shattered heart, that unlocked forgotten memories.
God, I missed her. Not the version Alanna would parade into court—cleaned up and broken. The real Alice. The one who laughed at my jokes and challenged me with those fierce eyes. The one who'd given herself to me completely.
My chest ached with it. A physical pain, sharper than anything Alanna's dungeon had dealt me.
But I had to play the game.
“You look lovely, Alanna.”
Each word took a piece of my soul.
She smiled, pleased with herself. “I have something for you.” She disappeared into her chambers and returned holding something familiar. Something that made my heart stop.
My hat.
“I wanted to dye it pink,” she said, turning it over in her hands like a toy. “But the color wouldn’t stick.”
“Because it’s magical.” My voice came out rough. Strained.
“Hmpf.” She thrust it toward me. “Here. You’ll need it for the ceremony.”
I took it from her hands.
The moment my fingers touched the worn fabric, something shifted inside me. Warmth flooded through my chest. The hat hummed against my palm—a gentle vibration, like a heartbeat. Like it was welcoming me home.
I clutched it to my chest, breathing in the familiar scent of leather and smoke and something indefinably mine.
This hat had been with me through everything. Through years of running. Through torture and darkness and despair. It held my memories—the ones Alanna had tried to steal. It held my identity—the one she was trying to destroy.
It was the only thing that was still real. The part of me that was still sane.
The part that still belonged to Alice.
She swirled her finger through my hair. “Show me how grateful you are. Kiss me.”
She might as well have asked me to rip out my own heart.
I’d never kissed her. Never wanted to. The thought alone made my gut hurt.
But I had no choice.
I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. Bile rose in my throat. Her mouth was cold, her lips too soft, too eager. Nothing like Alice's warmth.
I wanted to recoil. Wanted to scrub my mouth until the taste of her was gone.
But I didn't. I played her fucking puppet. Put on the best act of my life. And somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt the madness creeping in—the part of me that wanted to laugh and never stop.
Alanna slipped her hand around my neck and deepened the kiss. I shuddered.
Not from cold.
From shame.