Chapter Seven
Daxton Aegaeon
On my first night in prison, Anjani laughed when she presented me with the iron collar. “Now, be a good pet like your mate, and try to behave.”
Anjani Duran, Seamus’s second in command, was a wicked and sadistic creature who was as lethal as she was alluring.
The haunting Duran green eyes, the exact same shade Seamus held, were full of destruction and menace.
The female prided herself on being able to extract anything from those in her care.
Blazing fury surged through me at the mention of my mate as a pet. The same name I knew Seamus had drawn from her memories to torment her in Crimson City. The same she heard in her nightmares when she woke up screaming in my arms.
I lunged forward, intending to break her neck with my bare hands, but a wall of shadow hurled me onto my back.
I thrashed against the grip of her dark magic, but Minaeve overpowered me. She appeared in the hallway, cloaked within Anjani’s illusions, and laughed—sharp and cruel—at my feeble attempt to overtake her.
With my focus splintered, the queen seized the moment, siphoning a kernel of my power to weaken me further.
Minaeve’s lips were poison.
Every time she forced the siphon, it felt like my life force was stolen from me. I could feel my magic churn inside my center, fighting against the pull. Fighting to remain in my veins, but alas, her shadows always found their way to my power and swept it away.
Ice trickled across my skin as she extracted my magic, followed by my essence in a flicker of silver light bound to my teleportation ability.
The intent of her siphons differed each time she forced it upon me, depending on which gifts she drew from, but this time, Gods above… This time, it felt as if my very soul was being devoured. My remaining threads of strength disintegrated.
The sheer look of glee on her face was monstrous, even beneath her glowing beauty. A surreal golden light enveloped her, casting an otherworldly sheen that seemed to breathe new life into her.
I had never seen such radiance from her before. It was mesmerizing, and deeply, deeply wrong.
That was the last thought I had before darkness claimed me once again.
When I awoke, my hands were bound above my head, and I was suspended off the ground with my toes barely touching the floor. My chest was bare, with my shirt discarded to the side.
Anjani stood across from me in the cave-like torture chamber. Through squinted eyes, the solitary fae light in the corner silhouetted her frame. I didn’t dare open my eyes wider. The faint light was blinding after being confined in the dark for two days.
Anjani’s cropped brown hair was braided to the side, her dark green leathers designed to conceal various torture weapons at the ready.
“Let the games begin,” she sneered, reaching for a barbed whip.
I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face, followed by a low, maddening chuckle.
“Has your mind collapsed so soon, Aegaeon?” Anjani taunted.
“No,” I answered with a dark laugh, my eyes snapping open to meet hers. “I just know you favor your right hand.”
Anjani’s jaw clenched as rage began boiling inside her. “Minaeve told me to have my way with you, to break your body and then your mind until there was nothing left but an empty vessel.”
“Good luck.” I met her stare, unafraid, challenging her to do her worst.
Without warning, she cracked the whip over my torso. The barbs ripped into my flesh, carving out gashes gushing with blood, turning the floor beneath me crimson. The warmth of my blood trickled down my front, my back, and my sides. There wasn’t a single inch of me spared from her lashings.
Again and again, she struck.
Again and again, I met her stare.
I wanted to remind Anjani exactly who she held captive. I wanted her to report to her false king and queen about who lurked in their dungeons. I wanted them to remember what was born in these very cells.
Silver Shadow.
I received this name on the battlefields before my time locked within these walls. But it was here that the shadow was truly born. Surviving this place forced me to become something else. Something deadly that caused even Seamus to tremble with unease.
Eventually, Anjani grew tired, or bored, with no sign of breaking me.
“Guards,” she called, placing her whip on the table near the far corner. “Until our next session, Aegaeon,” she hissed, pulling a lever from the wall that dropped me to the floor like a stone. “Make sure the healing salve is applied. I prefer a blank canvas to resume my revenge.” She snickered.
The chains rattled as they released me. My head collided violently with the ground as I finally gave in and lost consciousness once more.
At first, I thought Skylar was an illusion, a conjured desire manipulated into a new sense of torture.
In the past, Anjani hadn’t been able to invade my dreams with her magic, but a drive for revenge was a powerful motivator.
The warm breeze lifted my sweat-slick hair from the base of my neck.
The sunlight warmed my cold, broken skin as wisps of white clouds danced along the clear cerulean sky overhead.
I reached up and tied my hair back, relishing in the serenity of this dream, this place that I’d dreamt of for the past twenty years.
I walked along the familiar breaking waves, praying for the waters to help wash away the lingering pains, when—there she was.
“Spitfire!” I called out, doubting, but praying it was truly her.
When she turned to look at me, my heart sang. The tether between us lit up and sang the beautiful melody only we could hear.
“Daxton!” she screamed. Her eyes pooled with tears.
It was her, Skylar.
My mate was a breathtakingly beautiful sight to behold. Even the Mother herself would be envious of her.
Luscious, thick golden-brown hair swept out behind her as Skylar began sprinting toward me. The black slip dress flared around her perfect curves, highlighting her strength and feminine grace that drove me wild. Her amber eyes blazed like living flames, drawing me in with their warmth and power.
“Skylar!” I roared as I crashed through the surf.
“Dax!”
When she leaped into my open arms, I could’ve died happy right then and there.
Holding her was a gift I would forever cherish. Her scent hit me, reminding me of burning cedar and open sky with a hint of pine from my homeland.
It was intoxicating.
This female was mine.
It didn’t matter if our mate bond was sealed or not. Fuck that. Our love was strong enough to forge the threads of our unsealed bond.
I leaned in to kiss her, and it felt like I was flying.
I would never get enough of her. She was everything. I thanked the Gods above for granting me what time I had with her, even though I knew there would never be enough. I would never stop fighting to be back in her arms again, never.
All too soon, I was pulled from our shared dream, reluctantly rejoining the waking realm.
Still, that moment with her was enough to keep me going, strengthening me enough to push aside the haunting darkness and torment. The stunning details of her face, how she felt in my arms, and what her lips tasted like when I kissed her.
My spitfire. My heart and soul.
The masked High Fae guards hauled me down the darkened corridor that reeked of death itself. I was torn from my dream with Skylar, but I knew I carried her with me. Despite the distance separating us, we were never alone.
I will find you. We will always find each other.
“Pathetic,” one of the guards seethed as they moved me.
“He won’t last much longer if she keeps this up,” the other guard replied. “Even with the healing salve for his wounds.”
“Don’t tell me Anjani’s tired and already giving up?” I taunted in a rasped whisper.
“He’s gone mad.”
“Not yet.” I laughed as my voice cracked. Every word was worth the pain.
The next day, in our second session, Anjani’s lashings became personal. Not one ounce of remorse graced her expression. She enjoyed watching almost as much as partaking in my beatings.
I was drugged with the iron powder before being dragged out of my cell.
She and others under her command concentrated their efforts on inflicting deep wounds on my hands and feet.
It was remarkable how blows to these areas almost hurt more than killing strikes.
Anjani removed two of my fingernails from my right hand, while her cloaked footman broke the digits on my left.
My feet were struck with the same barbed whip, making it impossible to walk even if I wanted to.
Fuck, this hurt.
Somehow, I managed to control my roars of pain, refusing to break. I retreated deep into the chasm of darkness inside myself, where no feelings existed, distancing myself from physical pain, and truly becoming Silver Shadow once more.