Chapter 18 #2
I stepped closer to her. “You’re no fucking queen. And I’d destroy the next three realms before I ever call you such. Ask yourself something. If he was proud to call you his daughter, then when did he only claim the one that always ‘disappointed’ him?”
“Chrome,” Forest cut in as Royal’s nostrils flared, her knuckles turning white as she dug her fingertips into her biceps. “Royal is the product of Celanea and me. Royal is the child that I told everyone I’d lost years ago.”
My lip curled. “You and Celanea? That long ago, huh?”
“She went by a different name at the time. Coral Okrafor. When Celanea approached me, I had been madly in love with the real Kinetic, Coral. When I stupidly declined Celanea’s proposition of having the Seraphite Stone in return for doing her dirty work in Terraguard by creating you and Gray, she took matters into her own hands.
She killed Coral, bonded me to her, and then assumed Coral’s appearance.
She wanted us to have a child as a failsafe.
No one could know the truth, so she faked the Endarkened attack while she was pregnant.
When she delivered in secret, she dropped her off and disappeared again.
I kept an eye on Royal from a distance, never telling her the truth of her origins.
But after you escaped the Palace, I felt it was time to fill her in. ”
I bit my cheek to hide my shock, determined to appear unimpressed despite the urge to snatch his heart from his chest. “So Royal is the offspring of an immortal Tempest?” I turned my blank expression onto her. “No wonder you’ve always made me want to vomit.”
“Watch it, boy. Celanea wouldn’t think twice to kill you for disrespecting our child,” Forest intoned.
I scoffed, a new level of disgust growing for this man.
“Very typical of you. You’re such a pathetic excuse of a man, you’d sit back and let others degrade your own child, making it someone else’s responsibility to avenge them for you.
” Even as an Infernal, I would bring hell to both worlds for Gray and for our future child.
“Just so you know, I’ll only ever consider one of your daughters my queen.
And I promise you, she’ll kill you both. ”
Forest and I returned to the Goshen Kingdom, landing in my chambers. I’d done what he asked, but I knew he wasn’t finished with me yet. “Who are you going to replace her with?”
Forest swiped at his sleeves. “Considering all of my loyal allies from the Royal Domain are dead”—he looked at me pointedly—“then I must go elsewhere.”
“I’m not sorry,” I said with a shrug, moving to drop onto the sofa. There was only so much of Forest I could take before I succumbed to exhaustion.
“Don’t get comfortable. We’re going to the New York City Domain now.”
I ground my teeth, my eyes closed. “You do realize that traveling diminishes my power each time I do it, don’t you? I’m gonna need to eat before we go.”
“Right. Well, you can eat when we get there. I’m sure a Kinetic soul will suffice for you?”
“You’re a shitty king, you know that?” I said, standing from the sofa. “Gods, you really are the worst thing to ever happen to this world. I just hope you understand that on a cellular level.”
Forest spun his thick ring on his finger as he glared at me. No doubt he wished he could kill me where I stood. The fact that he couldn’t made me want to laugh. After several seconds, he forced a grin. “Let’s go.”
I couldn’t wait until the day I didn’t have to deal with him anymore. But just because I couldn't kill him didn’t mean I couldn’t have some fun in the meantime.
Exhaustion from all of the traveling began to suck away what bit of energy I managed to maintain, but I had enough to get me to the New York City Domain. “Make sure I get a powerful Kinetic when we arrive.”
Before Forest could respond, I lashed out two shadows, one on each side of me. In a blink, they crossed around his throat, twining until they squeezed so tightly his eyes bulged. He gasped, clawing at the shadows to release him.
I shook my head and stepped toward him, sending the loose ends of my shadows to slither into his mouth and push down his throat. The muffled coughs and gags that fought to eject my power from invading his body were pointless.
“Doesn’t feel so great to be at someone else’s whim while they hold your life in their hands, does it?” I asked. “Remember all the times I was down in the prisons?” I dispatched a third shadow and snatched up his dagger tucked at his waist.
I observed the Kinetic blade, the sharp sigils engraved into the metal that once answered to me. The embedded redfern was harmless to me now. And while it wouldn’t poison Forest because it no longer activated to my touch, I could still cause him pain.
Forest’s face turned blue from the lack of oxygen, and I directed my shadows to move further down, seeking out his heart.
They coiled around the organ at the same time I made the shadows stretch his mouth as wide as it would go.
When I slipped the tip of the dagger between the corner of his lips and the shadow, I compelled my power to squeeze his heart.
His knees buckled, and made the sudden movement jerk the blade upward to slice the inside of his mouth as an extension of his smile.
Forest’s muffled screams gave me a momentary dopamine boost. So I repeated the same motion to the other side of his mouth.
Blood leaked from the jagged cuts, staining his verdant beard.
I withdrew my shadows from his mouth and then from his throat.
He fell forward, catching himself on his hands as he hoarsely gasped for air.
When he looked up at me with unfiltered hatred steaming from his bloodshot eyes, and the garish smile that leaked crimson down his jaw and throat, I crossed my arms to appraise my work.
“Anyone ever tell you that you have a beautiful smile? You should do it more often.” Before he could gather himself, I grabbed his forearm and disappeared from the Goshen Kingdom.