Chapter Thirty-Six #2
Two months. Two months I spent aboard that ship, haunted by the atrocities I witnessed.
Even now, the screams of the innocent chase me from my sleep, their mutilated bodies populate my nightmares.
The sting of the rope, tightening around my throat with every breath I take, black spots edging my vision as I attempt to reconcile the person I see before me with the gentle, kind Will I thought I knew.
But… it was him. The bite. The curse. The torture I endured aboard the Deathwail.
Owen’s death. Our capture. It all starts with him. This wolf in sheep’s clothing.
“You’re a monster.”
“There’s no need for flattery, darling. My heart is already yours.”
I clench my jaw so tight I fear it might break. “I pray you have a heart,” I tell him, “because I plan to carve it from your chest and feed it to the sharks.”
“Delightful.” He licks his lips, scoffs a laugh.
“You can still save your family, Aster. You can save them all.” He turns serious, his intense gaze unyielding as he holds my hateful stare.
“You and me, remember? Once you transform, you’ll be able to keep everyone you love safe.
They’ll never want for anything. You will never want for anything. ”
“You killed Jack!” I sob through gritted teeth. “He was like family to you—”
“He was,” he hisses, his lip curling, and I think I see a flash of something almost human in his eyes—a glimpse of the Will I thought I knew. “Morana asked that I kill him to prove my loyalty.”
“Your loyalty,” I scoff as tears stream down my face. “I know all about your loyalty. You were going to let Morana torture me! I was to be your pet! And I’m supposed to believe—”
“I was never going to let that happen!” he shouts, losing his composure for only a second before he runs a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply through his nose.
His expression is pleading. “I asked that Morana make it quick—painless.” He holds out his hand for me to take.
“Come with me. Put an end to all this. We can find the Relics together. You can still rule beside me in Morana’s new kingdom.
” His brow furrows, a muscle in his jaw feathering.
“You love me, Aster. I know that you do.”
I gape at him, my heart pounding. Memories of lying beside Will in the conservatory, staring up at the stars, flash through my mind, weakening my resolve.
I blink, shaking my head in an attempt to clear it.
Everything I know about Will—everything I felt for him—is tainted by his compulsion.
By his lies. And I won’t fall for it again.
I hold the dagger between us, unyielding.
“I never loved you,” I say. “And I never will.”
Something akin to hurt flashes in his eyes, but it quickly gives way to fury. “My venom still courses through your veins. Let me teach you how to wield it.”
He offers me his upturned palm. Waits.
“No more compulsion,” he says, his expression sincere.
“The time for that has passed. There will be no secrets between us, my darling. I know who you are. I know you’ve spent seventeen years fighting the beast within—that voice whispering in your ear, that insatiable craving for blood.
” His eyes flicker at the look of shock that must dominate my features.
“Yes, I know. I know you better than you know yourself. But you don’t have to fight it anymore. With me, you can be free.”
I withdraw the dagger from his flesh. Lower it slightly.
He nods slowly, his wicked grin giving way to dimples. “Join me, Aster, and this will all be over. I will spare them all. You have my word.”
My vision blurs with tears and blood. The beast within me growls, low and deep. Join Will. Save my family. Save them all.
The power is within my reach. I can finally be fast enough, strong enough. Enough to keep them safe. Enough.
The rain relents, the dark cloud clearing overhead.
“Aster!”
Titus’s voice penetrates the raging fire, the din of chaos, the haze of temptation, and pierces my chest like an expertly deployed arrow. And then he’s at my side, his cutlass resting on Will’s throat, drawing blood.
I stumble backward, but two hands steady me. Henry.
Will’s expression twists, a look of pure wrath, but then he laughs, revealing sharp teeth.
Teeth that ripped into my throat. Teeth stained with the blood of his victims. “Well done,” he says, bowing his head slightly to Titus, genuine admiration gleaming in his eyes.
“You’ve not only convinced yourself, but you’ve fooled her as well. ”
Titus clenches his jaw. “Don’t make me kill you,” he says, lethally quiet. “You’re like a brother to me, William,” he adds, his voice breaking with the words. “If you care for her—”
In the blink of an eye, Will draws his own sword, and it clashes with Titus’s blade with a resounding clang.
“Oh? Suddenly you care about my feelings for her?” Will smiles like a fiend. “You never cared before—not even when I told you how I planned to ask her to marry me.”
Titus’s throat bobs, his lips pressed tight. He doesn’t glance my way.
“You knew she’d chosen me—that she’d forgotten all about you—and still, if you had your way, you would have stolen her right out of my arms,” Will says, lashing out.
Titus blocks, but his retaliation is half-hearted.
“She’s had quite the effect on you.” Will lets out a low whistle.
“Come now, did you really think you could be different? That her love might be enough to truly change you?” He tsks, shaking his head.
“No amount of love could change what you are. We both know it. And if you give her enough time, she’ll know it, too.
She’ll see that it was never compulsion that drove you to violence.
No, no—that came later.” He cocks his head, casts me a conspiratorial glance.
“The compulsion didn’t drive you to kill.
And the way you revel in your victim’s pain—the way you relish their screams…
” He runs his tongue over his bottom teeth.
“What was it you called the three of us? Monsters?”
Titus’s face pales, and when Will strikes again, his blade opens a gash in Titus’s left shoulder.
“Do you think she’d forgive you if she knew just how many you’ve killed?
” Will taunts, twirling his blade. “If she knew how many innocent lives you’ve taken just because you could?
Because you could control your bloodlust but chose not to?
” Will cuts his eyes at me, appearing to savor my horror.
“I don’t think she will. Do you?” His smile is cruel, his eyes alight with mischief.
“No matter, every queen needs a loyal dog. When Aster rules beside me, she might be gracious enough to let you sit at her feet.”
Titus launches himself at Will, his brutal attack as graceful as a dance and as deadly as a tempest even as Will advances on him with vicious, deceptive maneuvers. They match each other blow for blow, moving about the clearing as if they were oblivious to the fire raging all around them.
But Will doesn’t fight fairly. He moves in a blur, sweeping his foot out to trip Titus, who lands on his back in a puddle of blood. He points his sword at Titus’s throat.
“This isn’t over, my darling,” Will says, turning toward me.
His eyes shift from gold to red, his arms wreathed in shadows.
“It’s only a matter of time before everyone sees you for who you truly are.
” He cocks his head, his gaze raking over me from head to toe.
“But I’ve always known who you are. Soon, you’ll come to see that I’m the only one who will ever really love you—all of you. ”
In a flash of purple smoke, Will transforms, taking the form of a bat. His sword falls to the jungle floor, and Will disappears above the blood-soaked canopy.
There, lying on the ground where he stood, are both parts of the Elysian Navigator.