Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
SILVANUS
He didn’t want me.
It hurt, it burned, it gutted me with rusty blades. But I understood. In the name of Selene, I respected his decision.
No spark in the dark…
We weren’t meant to be. My desires clouded my judgment, made me believe in the possibility of love. Again. A repeat of the Aidan fiasco, falling for dangerous men who weren’t good for me.
If it wasn’t love, though, then why the bite of heartbreak? Why this searing layer of ache added to the rest of my lamenting soul?
Because you yearn for him…
My goodness, I was an expert in the art of sorrow.
Mental fissures split me open, fury flooding through the gaps, my mind slipping away into a darker corner.
Yes. This is where you should be.
Was it?
I headed for the roof of the tallest spire, sitting on its sloped point and basked in the fresh ocean air to think, to plot my next move.
Being rejected was the least of my worries. In fact, it helped me focus, along with this cool wind in my face.
Yes. Paris had been too much of a distraction, and this snapped me out of it.
I’d get over the pain, draw on it to fuel the war ahead.
To claim vengeance.
To destroy Aidan.
Yes. Yes. Yes. I would evolve, become a better king.
It was time. No more diversions, no more obsessions—only with vengeance.
But Paris…
My anger became a flood of white-hot power. A weapon ready to obliterate, ready to scorch Aidan from existence.
Because of him, I’d lost my homelands.
Because of him, my brother died and my sister was missing.
Because of him, I’d doomed this world with frostbrood and brought war here.
Because of him, I’d met a shining elf and misplaced my heart.
“I’ll destroy you,” I growled, vitriol in every syllable.
This wasn’t a time for foolish infatuations, but a time for blood. There would be war in Quintrealm again. Aidan wouldn’t fall so easily, his power already great. But he wasn’t infallible.
I’ll break you.
Let Paris and Caer do what they had to do. I would gather my army and stalk the nights, destroying every Aidan-touched thing until I saw him crumble.
But his kiss, his touch, his everything.
Another wave of agonizing want hit me, which only encouraged my anger.
Balling my fists, I fortified myself against desire. It was my enemy now, a weakness.
No more pining.
No more mourning.
“Let the war begin,” I said.
A quake drew my attention to the waterborne frostbrood in the water.
When did it appear?
Vaughn ran onto the causeway in a state of panic. “Majesty! The waterborne—”
Hurried footsteps sounded in the room beneath me, a chorus of voices tearing through the night.
I stood, watching the mortals and my people take action, sirens screaming their warnings.
“It’s the frostbrood!” Vaughn bellowed. “Its fucking eyes are gold!”
As if existing inside a vortex of delayed responses, I noticed those eyes then.
I launched into the air, returning to my chambers.
Honeyed blood stained the balcony floor.
“Paris?” I crouched, touching the precious liquid.
“He’s missing,” Medusa said behind me.
“Aidan,” I growled. “He—”
The room shook violently and the frostbrood rose from the ocean.
It stretched taller than the palace, a serpent made of glacial blue ice spikes with jaws big enough to swallow a ship.
Two icy tentacles flickered back and forth from its head, a beard-like expanse of spiked skin flapping beneath its neck.
“By Selene,” Medusa spoke.
My rage boiled at the sight of this thing under the control of Aidan.
I’ll kill you…
With haste, I fetched my breaker gun from my bedside drawer. The bullets in this weapon were strong enough to destroy a frostbrood. They weren’t effective on the nests, but were on the filth that crawled out of them.
Giant or not, this thing would be dead within the next few minutes.
I fired, striding onto the balcony, emptying the chamber into the wretched thing.
The frostbrood hissed, opening its ginormous mouth. I reloaded, firing again as more breakers thundered from all directions.
Chunks of ice fell from its body as the ice spikes burst, but the monster didn’t flinch.
Blue light blazed in the back of its mouth. I released a third round of bullets into it, standing on the balustrade.
This thing should at least be thrashing with rage by now.
A gale of cold breath tore from its mouth, crashing into me. I flew back, slamming into the far wall with my friend.
Ice spread across the room, everything freezing, including me. I tried to move, but the beast unleashed more of its freezing breath at me, layering me with ice, trapping me inside a freezing cocoon too overwhelming to break free of.
My limbs froze, my blood plummeting to a paralyzing temperature. But the breakers continued to fire, taking chunks out of the bastard. It would soon fall. There were breaker canons on those mortal ships. They knew what they were doing.
The ice continued to spread, leaving no inch of my chambers untouched.
Curse it!
The frostbrood groaned, opening its jaws wider as it inhaled, the same velocity of wind now pulling at my icy prison. The ice broke around the edges enough to free a chunk with me still trapped inside. It flew into the jaws of the monster for a moment before the filth flung me into the water.
What in Selene’s name?
A barrage of firepower from mortals and vampires alike continued to tear into the frostbrood with little effect. Damage was being done, but nowhere near enough as the beast continued to attack my palace.
I watched helplessly, bobbing in the waves on my back within the ice.
Again and again, I tried breaking free. But not even my little finger could muster any warmth to wiggle. The ice held me in a completely paralyzing grip.
My palace. By Selene! It was frozen solid, completely coated in glacial blue ice.
The frostbrood turned its attention back to me, unleashing more of its freezing breath around me, ignoring the attacks, freezing the sea until it solidified into a nest.
My goodness! A new nest!
Three more of the giant monsters rose from the water, launching an attack on the ships and aircraft zipping around the island.
No. No. No. This wasn’t happening, this couldn’t be another failure. I should have ordered the frostbrood destroyed the first time it appeared, but I’d been too preoccupied with other matters, not thinking it much of a threat, seeing as it never attacked.
You failed.
You’ve brought suffering again.
The first frostbrood giant’s golden eyes met mine until another layer of ice blocked out all light, a voice creeping into my head.
Gold dust danced in my vision, his laughter following seconds later.
“There, there.” Aidan mocked me through a mental spell. “Peace will be here soon. I’m just figuring out some pesky details. Don’t worry, though, the sunlight won’t touch you in here. Not that it would make any difference.”
My insides squirmed, my rage having nowhere else to go.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to be.
Hold on. It wouldn’t make any difference?
“For now, I’m going to play with your kin. But I’d like you to feel a few deaths along the way.”
A vampire died. Bobby. The Heart of All wept, and my fury screamed with the force of a thousand storms.
But the ice remained firm.
“Oh, and don’t worry about Paris. He’s in good hands.”
His laughter scorched my core, taking an age to fade away until there was just me with my raging thoughts.
I wouldn’t let this be the end.
I wouldn’t fail.
This isn’t the end…
I’d save them all. My people. Paris. The elf didn’t have to want me, and his rejection wouldn’t stop me from wanting to keep him safe. He deserved to live, to be happy, to have a future free from this mess.
I started this, I’d end it.
I’m coming for you, Aidan.
Be ready to scream.
Moonlight shimmered across my skin as it did on the hillside when I’d…I’d…
He doesn’t love you…
“Yes, Silvanus.” A woman’s voice entered my mind. “Yes.”
My thoughts stilled with surprise.
“Who are you?” I thought back.
The moonlight brightened.
“I am a gift, a delightful consequence.”
“Of what?” I returned haughtily.
“Manipulation. Be patient, give me some time. But know you will be free, and you will have your war with my power coursing through your veins.”
I hated this vague nonsense. “Just tell me who you are!”
The moonlight gleamed, my body warming.
“I am Selene, dear king. And soon I will help you cleanse Aidan’s rot once and for all.”