20. Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Lea
L ea had expected the door to the dungeons beneath the Black King’s wing to be as unassuming as any other she’d walked through in this castle. Because if whatever was inside was so important that Eudora wanted it so desperately, it would stand to reason that he would have hidden it among the hundreds of wooden doors everywhere else. But the door to Brennus’s private dungeons was anything but unassuming.
It was a beacon of danger. Made of pure, polished iron, its condition was impeccable, the metal almost unnaturally shiny and buzzing with that familiar tang of magic that held what Lea now recognized as the imprint of the Black King. She steeled herself against the waves of power thrumming off the door, though she wasn't sure if it actually came from the door itself or from whatever hid behind it.
Or even if it came from simply being in this part of the castle. A place she’d never visited before, had never wanted to visit before.
It looked no different from Gray’s wing, with walls and floors built from large cuts of stone, paintings and tapestries adorning the halls. It was dark and cold, with only the occasional window to brighten up the space, and the feeling of distress and savagery that hung in the air and spread into her lungs with every breath made her uneasy. The longer she remained, the more her magic pulsed and shouted.
Destroy .
Destroy .
Destroy .
And that was Lea’s plan. Whatever was within the cage was so heavily protected, not even Eudora knew how to get it out. Lea imagined a monster with black eyes and dozens of clawed hands reaching toward her and raking at her skin, and she shivered, pushing the unwelcome image away. Though it would be unwise to trust Eudora, she couldn’t help but think that whatever was inside the cage couldn’t, or wouldn’t, hurt her.
If the witch’s visions were true, she was destined to defeat Alaric. And even if Eudora was an evil bitch, she clearly held some sentiment toward King Tanad. To allow Desia to fall to Alaric would be to hand Calir over on a silver platter, and Lea simply couldn’t make herself believe that Eudora would do that. Allowing Tanad to be harmed seemed to be the one line she wasn’t willing to cross.
It was a feeling she understood. She would rather die than allow Gray to be harmed. As if he heard his name in her thoughts, he turned to her, eyes assessing. Even without the mate bond, Lea could feel the tension rolling off of his shoulders. She didn’t miss the way his fingers clenched and unclenched at his sides, his knuckles turning white. But he remained silent, simply standing beside her until she was ready to enter and face whatever it was Eudora couldn’t face herself.
Lea lifted her chin, indicating to Gray that she was ready, and he swung the door inward, moving out of the way as Lea's shadows spread throughout the room, mapping it out in the way Erik had taught her what seemed like years ago. Gray’s shadows intermingled with hers as he did the same, and the feeling of his darkness wrapping around hers brought her comfort as, together, they stepped forward.
The room was so very different from the one she’d trained at in Calir. Instead of a large triangular space, her shadows slipped down cold stone stairs and wrapped around old, crumbling columns that rose at least sixty feet toward enormous arched ceilings.
Her shadows continued onward, branching off into different rooms that opened up along the side walls. In some alcoves, they slipped inside easily, scraping through the shattered remains of what used to be wooden doors. At some of the entryways, her darkness was forced to slide through cracks, their doors still in place and firmly shut. Chains and manacles hung from the walls, some spaces filled with torture devices that Lea didn't allow herself to examine too closely.
As her shadows prodded every corner of the dungeons, she could feel the vibrations of the pain of its past victims, echoes of agony that made her stomach churn and her dark magic rejoice all in the same measure. Scowling at the immense depravity and inhumanity etched into the foundation, she tried to push the feeling down. You control the darkness , Gray’s voice said in her head. Not through the mate bond, but instead from somewhere inside her—the mantra he’d repeated every day as he watched her struggle with controlling the power inside her.
She pushed her shadows even deeper, until—there. A box. An exact replica of the one she’d seen in Calir.
Lea stepped further into the chamber, covering her nose at the stench permeating the space. Sweat and excrement and despair soaked into every inch of stone, and Lea wondered where the Black King’s prisoners had been taken once he’d been killed. Had they been disposed of before Alaric had gone mad? Or set free once he’d fled?
Small, firm pieces of debris crunched beneath her boot as she navigated the darkness, but it wasn't gravel or rock. It crackled like splinters of wood, but harder. Bone, if she had to guess. A shiver ran down her spine at the image, nausea bubbling in her stomach as she waded deeper into the fog of emotions thickening the air around her. It wasn't just pain and suffering and agony. It wasn't simple destruction and wreckage.
It was sadness. Grief so thick it stole the air from her lungs as it crashed over her in waves, and the further they traveled into the dungeon, the more intense the feeling became. Neither she nor Gray said a word as they approached the cage, but she could sense his shadows intermingling with hers as they explored every inch of it, mapping it out in their mind's eye.
Lea moved closer, her shadows prodding the thick, impenetrable metal of the box. They slithered along every inch, exploring every lock, every obstacle to opening the cage. Eight locks adorned the cage in total, some of them as simple as a chain that only needed to be slid along a groove and out of the large divot at the end.
There was a combination lock, a keyhole, a padlock, plus several other locks she had never seen before. A soft orange glow washed over the cage as Lea called on her flames, and she approached the first lock. The easiest one. She grabbed the knob to the chain, sliding it out into the little pocket that would allow it to fall free, but just before she pulled it out of the notch, she paused.
Something dark and dangerous buzzed from the metal, causing the hair on her arms to stand on end. Lea’s own magic recoiled in response, and she stepped away.
“Move back,” Lea ordered, her voice sharp. Gray narrowed his eyes but listened, stepping away, and Lea followed, the foreboding buzz of magic easing slightly as she stepped back. No longer within view of the cage, Lea reached out with a long trail of darkness, flicking the lock free.
The castle shuttered and rumbled as if it were a beast waking from a deep slumber. A flash of light bolted through the chamber, a brief bang that lit up the pitch black of the dungeons illuminating the horrific machines used for gods knew what torture that had occurred there. She forced the images of blades and chains and ropes from her mind, peeking around the corner.
Where she’d been standing only moments before was a hole in the stone floor at least two feet wide and eight inches deep. Gray’s head snapped toward her, but she ignored his fiery stare. His hand twitched as if he wanted to pull her out of the dungeon altogether, but instead he clenched it, stopping himself, and Lea’s shoulders lowered a fraction in relief.
She was standing on the edge of a blade, the fury growing in her chest so potent, she worried she was about to explode. Of course, it wouldn’t be as simple as opening the locks. She’d known that already, deep down, but it didn’t change that she’d wished that just once, something would just be straightforward and simple.
Lea moved forward with tentative steps to examine the cage, hovering her fingers just above a padlock. The same dark energy radiated into her skin, making her own magic twist uncomfortably. “Dammit!” Lea cursed, pulling her hand back despite her sudden urge to smash her fist against the cage. “They’re spelled. Every one of them.”
Gray cursed under his breath, his jaw going tight before inching forward. “Maybe I can open it,” he said. “Maybe someone of my bloodline—”
“No,” Lea snapped, holding up a hand. “You will not sacrifice yourself again.” She narrowed her eyes, giving him a look that would have killed a lesser man.
Gray’s eyes softened, but he didn't argue. Tentatively, Lea prodded the cage again with her magic. Seven more locks. Seven locks enchanted with who knows what spells that would detonate once they were opened. She spread out her darkness, sliding them across every inch of the cage. If she couldn't go through the locks, she would have to find another way.
Closing her eyes, she focused on the seams of the box, testing the smooth metal with as much force as she could muster until—there. A tiny crack. Lea’s heart swelled, her darkness rejoicing as she pushed against the smallest sliver at the very top back corner of the cage. A fissure that couldn't be more than a centimeter long where it felt like the welding had been incomplete.
“Out,” Lea said. “All the way, this time.”
“I'm not leaving,” Gray said. “If you need my help—”
“I can do this on my own.” Lea didn't even look at him. “But I can't if I’m worrying about you.”
“Azalea—”
“Do you not trust me?” Lea asked, finally swinging her head to stare him down. “Do you not think I'm capable?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then, let me do this,” she growled, refusing to back down. Lea knew she was being controlling. That if the roles were reversed, she would never leave his side. But she didn’t care. Not when she’d already watched the life drain from his eyes once before. This was already their second chance. There would not be a third.
Gray hesitated, his shoulders tight. It took several moments, but Lea could tell when he relented. He reached out and cupped her cheek, touching her for just a moment longer than a casual goodbye before sighing and leaving the room.
With a hard click, the door shut firmly behind him, and Lea finally exhaled. She pulled the sword on her hip from its sheath, squeezing the hilt tightly as she followed the thread of magic that connected the sword’s powers to her own. With a slow exhale, she pulled its magic inside her, bending it to her will to create an impermeable shield of air around her body and sending a gust of wind to hold the door firmly shut.
Without giving herself time to falter or second guess her plan, she allowed her shadows to seep through the tiny crack in the cage, forcing them inside until they filled every inch of space. All except for the small mound that lay curled in the back right corner. Whatever it was, it was alive, its back rising and falling with deep, even breaths as if it were asleep. Lea prodded the pile of cloth and skin. Human, she realized as she mapped out the shape. It was curled up in a ball, its knees pulled to its chest and its head tucked beneath thin, frail arms.
Even though it was only her shadows touching the person, Lea’s stomach rolled at the filth it was living in. The person’s hair was matted and long, its skin caked with dirt and who knew what else.
A chill ran down Lea’s spine. How horrible must the person inside be to be forced to live this way? Were they a monster in human clothes? Or were they simply so powerful, the king hadn’t been comfortable with allowing them to roam the dungeons freely?
Lea forced down her revulsion and spread a shield of air, along with her shadows, placing it firmly around the form to protect it. Whoever it was, whatever they had done, Lea was certain that her deal with Eudora wouldn’t be complete unless it survived her breaking it free.
Once she was certain that both she and the figure were protected, she pulled away the shield around her primary magic, allowing it the freedom to escape. Like the click of a lock of a different kind, she opened that door inside her, power exploding in a spectacular display of black flames and shadows.
Destroy.
Destroy.
Destroy.
Lea sighed, the pressure in her chest easing as she funneled it through that crack, pushing more and more of her power inside until the seams groaned and the iron buckled outward. She threw her head back, letting the magic expand and explore. Now that her raw power was free, she closed her eyes, savoring the sweet feeling of relief—but it was short-lived.
Far too soon, the cage exploded outward, the metal buckling and breaking into jagged, deadly fragments and crashing throughout the dungeon. Lea ducked as a piece embedded itself into the wall just behind her head, another several bouncing off her shield and shattering into smaller pieces.
Her magic swelled, building and straining as debris rained down around her. It pushed out further, snaking through the dungeons. The ceiling creaked, small pebbles joining the ash now floating down like snow.
Destroy.
Lea sucked in a sharp breath as too much magic escaped, cracks forming beneath her feet.
Destroy.
“Azalea!” Gray banged on the door, and she shuddered, biting her lip as she tried to control the magic.
Destroy.
“Lea! Open the door!” Gray shouted again, and she wanted to. But the magic overwhelmed her, fire spreading along the cracks and climbing the walls. Her chest hurt, a searing pain that made her worry the skin was being ripped from her bones as the darkness burst outward.
A guttural groan ripped from her throat.
“Come back to me, Lea!” Gray roared, his fists beating the door with an unrelenting rhythm.
Gray. Her husband. Her mate. You control the darkness, his voice said in her head, drowning out the constant call to destroy.
With every ounce of her strength, Lea demanded the darkness return back into her chest. It fought back against her, but she refused to let it win. A dribble of blood dripped from her nose, as she grit her teeth and closed off her primary magic. It roared in fury, raking long nails against her ribs and throat, but she allowed Gray to become the mantra in her head.
You control the darkness.
You.
You.
You.
Finally, her shadows receded and her flames dimmed, the agony in her body easing to a dull throb.
She wiped her bloody nose on her sleeve as a figure walked forward through the smoke—a woman holding a hand out in front of her—barely visible through the thick haze of ash and muttering under her breath.
Lea allowed the door to unlock, and Gray burst inside, spinning her around as his hands traced her face, then her arms and her torso, looking for injuries, but Lea didn’t look at him. She was too focused on the woman now emerging from the shrapnel that had only moments before been her cage.
Lea pulled back her flames to better see her, a pang of pity settling in her stomach. She was small and frail, and her ribs protruded even through her thin shift. Her bones looked as if a strong breeze could snap them with ease, her elbows the largest part of her arms. But even her emaciated appearance wasn't what caused Lea's stomach to roll and her skin to break out in goosebumps.
No. It was the woman’s eyes. Eyes that had been so horribly disfigured they were completely scarred closed.
“My father's witch,” Gray said, pulling Lea behind him. “That's what Eudora wanted.”
“What? Why would she want her?” Lea asked, goosebumps creeping up her arms.
“Because she is the one who was helping him strengthen the spell for the Lonely Death.”