Chapter 25 #2
"And he posted me as lookout, far from the house.
Told me to watch for witnesses, keep the perimeter secure.
" Solis’ hands clenched into fists. "I didn't know what he was doing.
Not until I saw the smoke. Not until a child stumbled out of the burning house with her throat cut, dying, and I realized—"
He stopped, breathing hard.
"He'd murdered a family. A child. And he expected me to confirm the bodies and move on like it was just another job."
"So you lied."
"I lied." His voice dropped to barely a whisper. "Healed her as much as I could with my blood. Told him three bodies were in the rubble, all dead. Took her to the Divide, gave her to the orphanage, told them her name was Merrit Locke. Changed it from Vaerin. To hide her."
I stared at him, trying to reconcile this with the man I'd known for centuries. My friend. My most trusted guard.
The man who'd been lying to me for twenty fucking years.
"And you never told me."
"I was complicit." Solis met my eyes, and I saw the guilt there.
The shame. "I'd helped him cover up murders before that night—didn't know what I was helping with, but ignorance isn't innocence.
If I'd exposed him, I'd have exposed myself.
Been imprisoned for murder or staked for treason.
And I told myself I was protecting her by keeping quiet.
Watching him, making sure he never found out she'd survived. "
"For twenty years."
"For twenty years." His voice cracked. "And now he has her anyway. Because I wasn't brave enough to stop him when it mattered."
The rage threatened to consume me. I wanted to hit him. Wanted to throw him through the fucking window. Wanted to make him hurt the way Merrit's family had hurt.
But I didn't have time for that.
I needed her back. And for that, I needed his help.
I grabbed him by the front of his shirt, yanking him close.
"You're going to help me find her. You're going to use everything you know about Tobias—every secret, every hiding place, every fucking habit—to get her back.
And when this is over, you're going to get on your knees and beg her forgiveness. "
"I will." His voice was steady, despite the fear in his eyes. "Whatever it takes."
"And if she dies because you weren't brave enough to tell the truth?" I leaned in close, letting him see the cold fury in my eyes. "I will make sure you spend the rest of your very long life wishing you'd died with her family."
I released him with a shove.
He caught himself against the wall, still breathing hard.
"We're moving to my study—more room to plan." I started gathering the scattered documents, shoving them back into some semblance of order. "And get Nadia. I need her to bring my brothers."
"Your brothers?" Solis’ voice was hoarse. "Not the king?"
"My father kept Tobias as his advisor for six centuries.
Either he knew what Tobias was doing and didn't care, or he was willfully blind.
" I picked up the portrait carefully, tucking it in my pocket along with Merrit's family file.
"Either way, I'm not risking it. And I'm not exposing what Merrit is to him. Not until I know if he was in on this."
Understanding dawned in Solis’ eyes. "Your brothers have armies. Resources. No royal oversight."
"Exactly." I gathered the rest of the files. "My study. Now."
We moved quickly through the corridors, Solis leading the way while I carried the damning evidence. Guards who saw us coming stepped aside without question—one look at my face and they knew better than to ask.
My study was larger than Tobias' chambers, with space for maps and planning. More importantly, it was warded. Private. Secure.
I spread the files across my desk while Solis brought maps of the northern territories, marking locations with quick, efficient movements.
"Get Nadia," I ordered again. " I need her to—"
"Already here." Nadia stepped through the shadows in the corner, materializing from the darkness. "You look like someone ripped your soul out. What happened?"
"He has Merrit."
"Shit." She moved closer, expression grim. "Blood magic can sever a Whisperbound temporarily. Old magic, powerful. It'll wear off eventually, but—"
"How long?"
"Hours. Maybe a day."
Not good enough. Not even close.
"I need you to get my brothers. All of them. As fast as possible."
Nadia's eyes widened. "Shadow-walking that far, with passengers—Kieran, that's—"
"I know what I'm asking. Will you do it?"
She studied me for a long moment, then nodded. "Which brothers?"
"Lorenzo, Nikolai, Henrick. The others can send resources, but I need those three here. Now."
"Shadow-walking with passengers hurts like hell." Nadia's grin was sharp, feral. "Good thing I like her."
Shadows pooled around her feet, darkness rising like water.
"Nadia—" Solis started.
"I know the cost." She cut him off. "Worth it."
Then she was gone, vanishing into the void between spaces.
I turned to Solis. "Get me a map. All of Tobias’ known properties, every nook and cranny he might hide in."
"On it." He hesitated at the door. "Kieran. I'm sorry. For all of it. For not being brave enough to—"
"Save it. You can apologize to her when we get her back." I met his gaze. "And you're coming with us. You owe her that much."
He nodded once, and disappeared.
I stood alone in my study, surrounded by evidence of decades of murder. The files scattered across my desk, each one a life stolen. A family destroyed.
Merrit's family.
I reached for the bond again, knowing it was useless, and doing it anyway.
“I'm coming. Hold on. I'm coming for you.”
Nothing. Just that terrible silence.
I closed my eyes, centering myself. I couldn't fall apart. Couldn't let the rage and terror consume me. Merrit needed me functional, not destroyed.
So I locked it down. Buried the fear deep. Let the cold fury settle over me like armor.
Tobias had made a mistake. He'd taken something that belonged to me. Something I loved more than the Crown, more than the kingdom, more than my own life.
And I was going to make him regret it.
Ten minutes later, shadows exploded in the corner of my study.
Lorenzo stumbled out, hit his knees, and vomited violently. His face was gray, hands shaking, eyes wide with something that looked like terror.
"What—the fuck—was that?" he gasped between heaves.
"Shadow-walking." Solis appeared with water and helped Lorenzo to a chair. "It gets worse each time."
Nadia swayed against the wall, paler than I'd ever seen her. Blood trickled from her nose, thin and dark.
"Two more," she whispered, and vanished again before I could stop her.
Lorenzo wiped his mouth with a shaking hand, still gray. "What happened?"
"Wait for the others. I'm only explaining this once."
Fifteen minutes later, shadows spat Nikolai into the room.
He screamed. Actually screamed, collapsing in a heap, curling into a ball like a child.
"Never again," he wheezed. "I'll walk. I'll fucking crawl before I—"
Nadia hit the floor beside him, barely conscious. More blood dribbled from her nose, her eyes unfocused.
"Nadia—" I started toward her.
"One more." Her voice was thread-thin. "I-I can do one more."
Regret speared through me. "You're killing yourself—"
"She killed someone for you." Nadia's eyes found mine, fierce despite the pain. "With a paring knife. I can bring one more brother through the shadows."
Then she was gone again.
I crouched beside Nikolai, who was still curled up and shaking. "Can you stand?"
"Give me a minute to remember how my body works," he gasped. "What—oh, gods, I think I'm going to be sick—"
Solis shoved a waste bin in front of Nikolai’s face right before he threw up.
Lorenzo handed him water with a grim look. "It doesn't get better, I’m afraid."
Twenty minutes later—the longest twenty minutes of my life—shadows erupted for the third time.
Henrick fell through first, his pale face somehow even more ghostly. He lay there gasping, eyes wide and staring at nothing.
"The void," he whispered. "I saw... things in the void..."
Nadia collapsed beside him.
This time, she didn't move.
Solis was there instantly, checking her pulse. "She's alive. Barely. That much shadow-walking with passengers—she'll be unconscious for days. Maybe longer."
"Get her to the healers," I ordered. "Now."
Two guards lifted Nadia carefully, carrying her out. She looked small, fragile. Nothing like the fierce warrior who'd just torn herself apart to help me.
I'd owe her for this. For the rest of my life.
Solis was back within moments, his expression grim as he moved to my desk. Whatever he'd seen in the healer's wing hadn't eased the tension in his shoulders.
I turned to my brothers, all three of them still recovering on the floor of my study.
When they could finally sit upright, I closed the door. Spelled it for privacy.
"Before we go any further, you need to know what you're risking by helping me." I met each of their gazes in turn. "Merrit and I are Whisperbound."
Silence. Then Nikolai whistled low. "Well. That explains the panic."
"It explains more than that," I continued. "She's a telepath. A mind reader. Which makes her existence illegal in all provinces of Veyntheir and a death sentence if the wrong people find out."
Lorenzo's expression didn't change, but I saw the calculation in his eyes. "Father—"
"Doesn't know. Can't know. Not until I'm sure whether he was complicit in Tobias’ killings." I let the threat settle into my voice. "If any of you breathe a word of what she is to anyone—Father, the Court, your own people—I will take your head myself. Blood or not."
"Dramatic," Nikolai muttered. But he nodded. "Your secret's safe."
"Mine too," Lorenzo said quietly. "Whisperbound trumps everything else. She's family now, whether she wants to be or not."
Henrick just stared at me with those unsettling pale eyes. "The threads recognized her from the beginning. I told you something was drawn to your house. I didn't realize it was Fate itself."