Chapter 33
Kade
After so many hours chained against the walls of the volcano, I’d lost feeling in my hands.
My head slumped forward as blood dripped down my arms from my wrists. Even though my tunic was a deep navy blue, dark stains seeped all the way down my shirt. At least, the thin parts of it remaining.
My skin stretched taut where Thames used the lava from the volcano in whip-like devices. Pain unlike anything I’d ever felt before ripped through me as each fiery lash burned into me. I’d been whipped a hundred times before, but never with lava. The stench of burning skin made me want to vomit.
My healing magic returned slower than I needed but enough so that I healed the most debilitating injuries.
The poisonous drink Thames gave me still lingered in my system.
The small amount of shadows that had revived inside of me were focused solely on containing the darkness Thames desperately tried to control.
He hadn’t succeeded. I’d held on to the glow in my chest that was Lana and used my shadows to smother the darkness.
I wouldn’t give in, not again.
I needed to find a way to break free from this prison and return to my family.
Being forced to listen to hundreds of dark ones sacrifice their life to fuel this weapon sent chills down my spine.
While most may have done so willingly, the screams of those fighting their deaths were even worse.
So much pointless death. Hours of pain-filled cries were almost enough for me to give in and allow the darkness out, if only to keep from feeling such anguish at the senseless loss of life.
I fought the temptation though. With Lana and me accepting the mate bond, I leaned into our connection. It alone gave me the strength to hold on, minute by minute.
Can you snuff it out completely? I thought toward my shadows, knowing I didn’t need to clarify what I meant.
I felt the dread when they answered. No.
Didn’t hurt to ask.
I’d been a pawn in Thames’s game for longer than I realized. He’d used my father to create the perfect dark one. A monster greater than all the others.
Because that was what it all came down to.
Thames had created me, the darkness inside of me, for almost my entire life.
For so long I’d lived with this unknown evil, and the moment I’d started to feel a reprieve from his grasp, like I had an actual chance of ridding myself of his toxicity, the floor crumbled beneath me.
My hopes had soared when Lana discovered she could cut the darkness out of Fae with her dagger.
After our failed attempts though, it seemed futile to keep trying.
Especially given what Cassandra and the final prophecy indicated.
I wasn’t ready to think yet about the consequences of this unbreakable darkness.
I thought about how Evelyn and Jasper had to sacrifice everything just to trap Thames, and part of me knew I wouldn’t be so lucky that I’d get to keep Lana without a sacrifice of our own.
Fates, I swore I wouldn’t leave her, but all our choices were leading us too close to that point. The one where in order for Lana to succeed, we’d need to ensure I was gone.
I looked across the room to where Thames sat in his stupidly ostentatious onyx chair, deep in thought.
He leaned his head back, his fingers moving in front of him along with the sounds of the screaming.
He swirled his fingers as if conducting a symphony, clearly basking in the sounds of dying dark ones.
His weapon grew stronger with each passing moment, scream by scream.
I gritted my teeth, trying to redirect more of my magic toward keeping the darkness contained. This volcano would not be where I died. I would see Lana again. See her rose-gold hair shimmer in the morning’s light, feel it twisted through my fingers, with her neck exposed to my lips.
I could barely contain the moan as I thought about Lana and the last time I claimed her as mine. I would survive this and get back to her and enjoy every second at her side. Even if it was only for a short amount of time.
“What are you complaining about now?” Thames asked, rising and sauntering toward me. “I thought I told you to keep quiet if you wanted a quick and painless death. Not that I think you deserve it, considering your betrayal.”
I huffed out a dry laugh. “I was just thinking about Lana and how you underestimate her at every turn.” A sly smile graced my lips as I struggled to lift my head to face Thames. “She will come for you.”
Thames cackled and sent a torrent of air across my body, forcing me even farther back against the wall. My skin pressed into the sharp rocks, gouging me and creating more wounds while opening the dried ones up again. “I’m counting on it.”
He turned his back to me, making his way to his chair, but stopped suddenly mid-stride. Thames clutched his chest as he drew in a sharp breath. “Cassandra?” he whispered.
Confused, I listened closer, and after a few moments I heard a faint voice in the distance. Or was it in my mind? I couldn’t tell.
“Thames, come to me,” Cassandra crooned. “Come to me so we may speak. It has been a thousand years, my mate.”
The initial shock left Thames’s face, and instead, it contorted to unadulterated fury. He screamed, unleashing his whip toward a dark one teetering on the volcano’s edge, killing him instantly as he fell to the molten lava.
“How fucking dare she ask me to meet her after all this time,” he spit.
“She. Betrayed. Me.” His shout was so loud, the volcano tremored under the force of his rage.
He paced around the room, speaking to himself.
“I hate that woman. I hate her so fucking much for what she did to me. She imprisoned me for a thousand years. I could have given her the world. I could have given her everything. And how does she repay me? A life in the void.”
Thames was unhinged on a good day, but in mere moments, he spiraled in a way I didn’t anticipate. He growled, still holding a hand to his chest.
He clawed at the same spot I felt Lana. It dawned on me the pain he must be in, and I couldn’t help but smile. Being away from Lana was torment, but knowing he’d been trapped without his mate for a thousand years, on top of the betrayal, tasted like sweet justice.
Thames grabbed his glass, throwing it against the wall in a rage. The splintered pieces pierced my skin, now sensitive with so many wounds.
“Thames—” I started, unsure of how to use this to my advantage but willing to try anything.
Thames didn’t pay the slightest attention to me. He continued on his tirade as he paced around the room, tugging at his hair, rubbing at his chest. He looked deranged.
“I want to hate her. I should hate her.” He ran his hands through his hair. “But resisting the bond is futile. Ever since I’ve been released back into this world, I’ve been dying to be near her to satisfy this ridiculous pull.”
I tugged at my bindings, wondering if I could maneuver while he remained distracted. I still didn’t have all my strength back, but whatever Thames had poisoned me with was finally beginning to wear off and I could feel my shadows strengthening.
“Please, Thames,” Cassandra begged once more. “I was wrong. Let’s finish this together.”
Thames whipped his head to me. “Do you hear her? Can you hear that bitch’s voice calling to me?”
“Yes.” I didn’t need to say anything else. Just a simple confirmation of the voice I heard. I wasn’t sure what Lana and the others had planned, but I hoped it was good. It had to be for this to work in our favor.
Thames yelled and a grin stretched across his face.
“She’s seen my power and knows the only way to survive is by my side.
” He tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling and laughed.
“Oh, you’ll be punished, my burdensome mate.
” He winced again, this time practically ripping at his robes, like something crawled over him.
“I’m coming, Cassie. I’m coming. But you won’t be ready for what I have in store for your betrayal. ”
Thames ran out of the cavern like a man possessed, leaving me alone in the room.
Anxious to take advantage of the moment, I strained, calling my shadows to free me from these chains. A few weak streams of shadows appeared at my feet, but not enough to pick the locks.
They were hesitant to fully pull away from the darkness.
Understanding their reluctance, I continued looking around at the chains, at the walls, thinking of what I could do to escape.
With nothing standing out immediately, I rested my head against the rock. I focused instead on conserving my energy, biding my time for a few moments as more of my powers returned me to full strength.
Determination settled into my bones, and where ten minutes ago I thought death would be my only friend, I had now remembered who I was and what I had to live for. I would see Lana, Jax, Storm, Raya, and even fucking Ian again.
Lifting my head up, I hung there, ready, memorizing every detail of this cavern as I etched it into my brain.
A soft crackle of energy pulsed next to me, and Lucien appeared on the floor out of nowhere, trotting confidently into the room through some strange black glittering substance.
I laughed, seeing him of all things. “What the hell are you doing here, little pugron?”
He snorted out a plume of smoke toward my feet. Perhaps Thames wasn’t the only one losing his mind. I must be too, because there was no way Lucien could be here.
The glittering oval pulsed, widening slightly as a torrent of commotion surged through. Storm, Raya, Ian, and Lana stumbled through the same spot, collapsing on the floor, followed closely by Jax and Kalliah.
“You’re on my foot, Jax,” Kalliah scolded, as the group of them jumped to their feet and scanned the room.
My jaw hung open in disbelief at the chaotic sight in front of me. “What the actual fuck.”
“Kade!” Lana called out to me, and the few shadows that had returned jolted toward her, crawling up her legs and wrapping themselves around her. “You’re okay,” she reassured herself as she met my gaze. Her eyes checked on my own as she reached up, stroking my face. “We’re going to get you down.”
“I’m fine, or I will be fine,” I replied, my heart pounding.
“We don’t have long; Thames is trying to find Cassandra.
I don’t know when he’ll return. He’s given me that same magic-dampening poison Hale used on us before.
I don’t have access to all of my magic, or I would have been out of here a long time ago. ”
Storm chuckled. “He will have a hard time finding her, but I agree we have to be quick.”
Jax, Raya, and Kalliah stood guard at the entrance to the room, while Ian, Storm, and Lana inspected the locks on my wrists. I’d never seen Thames produce a key, so Fates only knew if there actually was one.
“Tits and daggers,” Lana cursed. “I don’t see a way to get these cuffs off of him, do you?” she asked both Storm and Ian. “Don’t worry, Kade, we’re going to get you down.”
I grinned down at my perfect, beautifully bold mate. “I feel like the damsel in your fairy tales.”
Lana cast me a stern look. “Not the time.”
I shrugged, unable to stop smiling. She was here, unharmed, and with Thames gone for now, he couldn’t get to her. In this moment, Lana was safe.
Ian and Storm stood there for a minute, debating what to do.
“I could try to melt them off,” Storm suggested, and he reached his hand toward the iron shackle on my wrist, clasping his fingers around it. “It may get hot—”
“I heard he likes it hot,” Jax whispered far too loudly from where he stood next to Kalliah.
She shoved him. “I’m going to let Leif beat the shit out of you.”
“Promise?” Jax laughed, and she shoved him again.
Storm rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored them. “Hold on.”
He gripped the chains and concentrated his fire power on the rivets holding together the shackles, melting them instead of the chain as a whole.
The heat burned my flesh, but once they fell to the ground, I felt immediate relief, keen to rub the aching skin.
Storm did the same thing on the other side and eventually, both of my hands were free.
Blood rushed back into my fingers, which tingled as they reacclimated to being held at a normal angle.
Lana threw her arms around me, and I couldn’t help but breathe in the very scent of her.
My entire body relaxed against her, the tightness in my chest eased as our bond settled. “Hi,” I whispered against her hair.
“You said you’d never leave me again, liar” she murmured in my ear.
My throat tightened with emotion, but I pushed aside the thoughts from earlier. I’d deal with them later. Right now, she stood before me, and I never wanted to let her go. “Let’s get out of here so I can grovel and worship you properly.”
Jax gagged. “Ugh, come on, guys. Get a room.” He winked at Kalliah before coming over to me and clapping me on the shoulder. Ian moved to replace Jax as lookout and gave Kalliah a look I could only imagine meaning really?
Storm peeked over the edge of the railing, and his eyes widened in shock. “What in the Fates’ names is happening down there?”
Reality set back in as the momentary happiness we all felt at reuniting dissolved.
My face turned grim, and I released Lana from my grasp.
“That’s the weapon. Those dark ones are sacrificing their blood and their magic to fuel the volcano.
Whenever he deems it ready, it will erupt, and darkness will spread across the entire world, infecting anyone it touches.
No longer will it have to be injected into their bodies; it can be breathed in. ”
“Fuck,” Ian and Storm said in unison.
Lana looked like she was about to lose herself, but then something flashed across her face and determination set in. “Let’s put this mate bond to good use, Kade. I have an idea.”