Chapter 40 The nightmare you cannot escape
The nightmare you cannot escape
KADE
The air in the corridor bristles with latent energy, a tension so thick it clings to my skin like oil, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be free of its vile taint.
Darius and I slip through another jagged opening, moving deeper into Malric’s stronghold.
The place feels alive, ancient spells twisting in the stone walls like malevolent veins.
My magic stirs, a restless flicker in my chest that sharpens with each step.
None of this feels good.
It doesn’t feel right.
I presume that’s the fucking point of the magic we’re working against.
Darius walks beside me, his expression grim, knife drawn and gleaming faintly in the dim light. His magic crackles in the air, jagged and raw, a reflection of his mood.
“Stay focused, Kade,” he warns, his voice low but firm. “This place isn’t just an underground fortress. It’s a trap designed to kill us.”
“I’m counting on it,” I reply, a grin tugging at my lips.
My magic hums brighter, stronger, like a predator waking from slumber.
Each ward we’ve broken, each step closer to Zara, has made me feel more alive, more powerful and whole.
The thought I hold this much magic should trouble me, but it doesn’t.
Not when I’m this close. Not when I’m this strong.
Not when it’s this fucking intoxicating.
We round a corner, and another trap springs to life. The corridor transforms, stone walls rippling and twisting into a jagged maze. Spikes shoot up from the ground, forcing us to leap back. Runes flare to life, glowing sickly green, and a pulse of energy lashes out at us.
I throw up a shield of fire; the flames licking hungrily at the magic and devouring it. Beside me, Darius’s blade cleaves through a spike as it shoots toward him. The trap disperses and my brother stares at me, almost shell-shocked, as if he’s never seen anything even close to this.
“This is nothing,” I say, my confidence swelling.
The runes dim, their power broken under my will.
“It’s not nothing,” Darius snaps, his eyes narrowing. “You’re not stronger because you’re winning, Kade. You’re stronger and she’s losing.”
Fuck.
The magic flows between us, along the blood weave to where it’s needed most. It’s a delicate balance, and if I’m stronger, that’s because Zara’s letting me draw on her magic.
She’s sacrificing herself to give me an edge, whether she knows it or not.
The blood weave will take everything it needs from her and give it to me, and it’ll leave her exposed and vulnerable.
Galen and Malric will hurt her and they’ll try to take advantage of any weakness they can find or make.
And if they’ve harmed her, I’ll kill them.
Both of them. Again and again and a-fucking-gain if necessary, until Zara found some sort of peace in our revenge.
“We’re getting her out of here.”
Darius says nothing, but his jaw tightens as he steps forward, the unspoken promise between us clear: no one walks away from this unscathed.
We press on, as the traps grow more vicious with every step.
The floor crumbles beneath our feet, forcing us to leap to safety.
Shadows lunge from the walls, snarling and clawing, but my magic burns them away.
Each time, the fire in my veins burns hotter, stronger, as though it feeds on the challenge.
We keep moving, fighting back against spell after spell.
The fucking corridor is a minefield of traps and wards, and our progress is faster than it should be, but not as quick as I’d like it.
By the time we reach the final barrier, I’m practically vibrating with energy.
The door before us is a slab of black stone, etched with runes that radiate malice.
It’s a masterpiece of dark magic, designed to keep even the most determined intruders out.
It’s crafted by a warlock whose skill is beyond expert, and my former tutor has outdone himself when he put this in place.
I place my hand against the cold surface, and the runes writhe under my touch, resisting with a force that feels almost sentient. The dark magic embedded in the door pushes back, lashing at my senses with searing intensity.
I grit my teeth, forcing my magic forward.
The air crackles as I focus, weaving my power against the barrier.
The runes twist, digging into my consciousness like claws, throwing images of pain and failure into my mind.
My breath hitches as the magic retaliates, sending sharp stabs of energy down my arm, but I don’t back down.
Malric’s magic thinks it can stop me, but I will not be held back.
I will not be overcome. I am hell and its damnation, a thousand furies unleashed by the Gods themselves.
I am the nightmare you cannot escape, the haunting that follows you to your grave.
I am an act of retribution, so despicable few will speak its name, and I will bring all I am to bear for her.
In her name, and in her name alone.
My magic roars in response to the challenge, a searing torrent that blazes through the barrier. The runes flare one last time, their defiance shattering as cracks splinter across the stone.
The resistance breaks in a violent crescendo, the door collapsing inward with a deafening crash.
My arm feels like it’s on fire, my magic sparking erratically, but I don’t care.
We’re one step closer to Zara, and that’s all that matters.
It’s all that will ever matter, from now until my dying day.
I’ve made my peace with that, and I pity anyone who stands between me and the object of my affection.
“Stop showing off,” Darius mutters. “We both know this is only because of that girl of yours. The one you ought to be focused on rescuing, instead of prancing around like a goddamn fucking peacock for.”
Zara lies crumpled on the cold stone floor, her body a canvas of pain and torment.
Deep gashes mar her skin, blood pooling beneath her in dark, viscous puddles.
Her arm twists at an unnatural angle, the bones clearly shattered.
Bruises bloom across her face and neck, vivid and violent.
Her magic is a faint, fractured hum, struggling against the oppressive weight of the room.
Every shallow breath she takes rattles with effort, a testament to the brutality she’s endured.
“Zara,” I breathe, moving toward her.
Darius grabs my arm, stopping me. His gaze sweeps the room, his instincts honed from years of battle.
“It’s not over,” he says. “Look.”
I follow his gaze and spot the body crumpled on the floor. Malric. His lifeless form lies in a pool of blood, his crimson eyes dull and empty. But it’s not relief that washes over me.
It’s dread.
The chamber is flooded with something else, something wrong and corrupt.
Malric’s magic, once overpowering, is gone.
It’s vacuumed out the room like a dark storm cloud ripped from the heavens before it can break and rain down devastation.
I feel it in the pit of my stomach, a gnawing sensation that writhes across my skin.
The blood beneath him stills, but he was drained by more than death.
His magic is missing. More than the man is gone and everything that made him dangerous is somewhere else. Somewhere even more deadly.
“Galen,” Darius says, his voice heavy.
As if summoned by the name, the shadows in the room deepen, coiling like a living thing.
The air chills, and a figure steps into view, his presence commanding and terrifying.
Galen. His eyes burn with dark amusement, his hands still stained with Malric’s blood.
Galen’s lips curl in a smile, but it’s not amusement that colors his expression.
It’s triumph, a victor savoring its win, despite the horror and abomination of the victory itself.
Galen’s mere presence freezes me in place for a heartbeat too long, and then I hear it: a choked, ragged sound from Zara. The sight of her, crumpled and bleeding, sends an agonizing jolt through my chest. Fury surges, white-hot and uncontrollable.
Her body is twisted, skin mottled with bruises, cuts carving jagged lines through her flesh.
Blood stains the ground beneath her, pooling around her like a sickening testament to Galen’s cruelty.
She’s barely conscious, but her eyes lock onto mine, filled with a strange urgency.
She tries to speak, but the words come out broken, strained, barely a whisper, as if every breath is a struggle.
“Stop staring,” she hisses. “You’re wasting time. Kill the fucker before he kills us all.”
I barely register her words at first, my gaze locked on her ravaged form, heart clenched with fury. But the urgency in her voice cuts through my dazed thoughts, sharp and clear. She’s right. I can’t waste another fucking second.
“Stop waiting and start acting. Fucking act, before he grows even stronger.” The blood pooling around her thickens, its weight pressing on my chest. “I didn’t ask to be left to rot while you stand here, fucking staring. You owe me. You owe me everything. Now, kill him.”
I know what she’s asking. What she’s demanding. What the blood weave demands and will not be satisfied until I have brought. And something inside me snaps. The rage that has simmered under the surface for so long is about to erupt.
I’m coming for my eldest brother. And this time, nothing’s going to stop me.
I’m consumed by thoughts of ripping him apart.
I want to feel his bones snap under my grip, taste the bitterness of his blood as it spills across the floor.
Images of him writhing beneath me, helpless and in pain, flash before me, and I want to wipe his smug grin from his fucking face as I tear his atoms apart and he begs for mercy.
I imagine every muscle in my body straining as I crush him, savoring the violence, the brutality, the primal pleasure of watching him suffer.
I want to break him, make him scream, watch the life drain from his eyes.
His blood should stain the ground, a symbol of my vengeance.
But I know—know—that I won’t stop until he’s gone, until every last trace of his existence is wiped from this world.
“You,” Galen hisses, his tone venomous as he stares at Darius. He stalks closer to us, but before he can take another step, my voice cuts through the tense air. “Don’t.”
Darius steps forward, but it’s my own voice that echoes. “You move one step closer to her, and I’ll tear you limb from limb.”
“You’re late, Kade,” Galen replies, his eyes flicking to me. “I was wondering how much damage I’d have to do before you showed up.”
“Get away from her,” I snarl, stepping in front of Zara.
My magic flares, ready to strike.
Galen’s smile widens. “Such devotion. It’s almost touching. But she’s not yours to save, Kade.”
Darius steps up beside me, his knife glowing faintly. “And you think she’s yours to claim, Galen?”
“Claim?” Galen laughs, the sound cold and hollow.
“No. She’s mine to use and take from. Mine to harvest. Mine to strip bare and drain until there’s not one drop of magic left in her, and then she’s mine to do with as I fucking want.
She’s mine because I’ve earned her. Unlike you, fumbling around like a fucking child.
You can choose him, Darius, but if you do, I won’t spare you from my fucking wrath. Or your whore, either.”
“You were born a cunt, Galen, and you’ll fucking die as one.”
The room crackles with tension, the air thick with the promise of violence.
My hands clench into fists, my magic begging to be unleashed.
But Galen isn’t just any opponent. He’s stronger, smarter, and utterly ruthless.
He’s stolen Malric’s power. Siphoned it away like a greedy fucking parasite until there was nothing left but a corpse, and now that power is his to wield.
The black pulse of magic that swirls around him is more than darkness.
It’s worse than dread. It’s an abomination that moves with purpose, a living, writhing mass of corruption that taints everything it touches.
Even the soul. It infects the very air, chokes the life from the chamber, and leaves an empty void in its wake.
It’s the end of existence, the primordial darkness from which few escape.
It’s the final breath before the world goes black and the terror of being hunted as your killer closes in on you.
“You’re not walking out of here,” I say, my voice steady despite the storm raging inside me. “Not with her. Not at all.”
Galen tilts his head. “Bold words. Let’s see if you can back them up.”
Zara’s laugh echoes around the chamber, a cruel chant that sings its taunt over and over. She’s either lost her fucking mind or the witch is a goddamn genius, and from where I’m standing, the line between the two is razor thin.
“You couldn’t even break me after you stole Malric’s power, you piece of shit,” she spits, blood splattering from her lips. “You think you can beat Kade? What the fuck makes you think you even stand a chance?”
For a split second, her words hit harder than I expect.
Fuck.
She does love me. The thought punches through the fog in my head like a jolt of lightning, filling me with a strength I’ve never known. It’s raw, undeniable, and it’s everything I’ve ever fought for, everything I am, all fucking surging forward as I move in for the kill.
Galen moves with a speed that shatters any expectations, the shadows surging toward me, and in an instant, the world erupts into disarray—violence and carnage tearing through everything in its path.