Chapter Forty
Umiko brings word that Mother’s forces secured the city of Jade without resistance. The soldiers scattered across the kingdom hardly put up a fight. By the time we make our approach to Castle Grim, the people of the Eerie celebrate their liberation.
And it feels too easy.
A bridge of gray stone is all that remains between our army and whatever waits for us inside Castle Grim.
Titus stands to my right, but today, he isn’t dressed as Captain Shade.
Today, he is Titus Anteres, rightful king of the Eerie, come to reclaim his throne.
My heart thunders in my chest as I survey the empty battlements, where skulls still line the dark stone walls. The castle is unnervingly quiet; there are no signs of life, much less an army. An uneasy feeling crawls up my spine, but I stand tall, my chin held high, ready to give the call to arms.
I glance at Titus. His jaw ticks.
“It’s a trick,” he says, his black gloves tightening around the hilt of his blade. “It has to be.”
There’s a low groan as the outer gates swing open, and a lone figure in a sweeping black cloak steps out onto the bridge, dragging someone behind him by their tangled blond hair.
Will stalks toward us at a leisurely pace, a trail of crimson splattering the stones with every step. Blood covers him from head to toe, as if he’d bathed in it.
He stops thirty feet from where we stand, depositing Calantha onto the ground beside him. She moves, as if trying to crawl away, but he throws out a hand, seizing control of her bones, twisting them at unnatural angles.
The cruel slant of Will’s lips chills my blood. He uses his power to drag Calantha, forcing her to kneel in front of him, facing Titus and me. Will’s eyes sparkle with amusement as Calantha tries to speak, but his bonewielding magic forces her mouth shut.
“King Titus Anteres,” Will purrs, his voice carrying over the distance with supernatural ease.
“I made you a promise once.” Even from this distance, I know the instant he sees the pearl earrings glinting in the sunlight—see his expression turn murderous, even though his smile never slips, his dimple still on full display.
“The first time she ever hurt you. Surely you remember?”
I glance at Titus, the question already poised on my tongue. But I don’t need to ask. Because in one swift movement, almost too fast for my eyes to detect, Will makes good on his promise.
I flinch at the violent crack, like the resounding pop of cannon fire, as Calantha’s neck snaps and she falls forward onto the bloody cobblestones.
But Will didn’t just break her neck. He shattered every bone in her body.
Titus lurches toward Will, swaying in disbelief, his lips parting on a shaky breath.
Will’s glowing red eyes darken. Blood drips from the tips of his dark hair, his chin, his hands. When he smiles, his teeth are a flash of white cutting through the scarlet, and for just an instant, his face reminds me of Captain Shade’s grinning skeletal mask.
In the blink of an eye, he vanishes in a plume of swirling black shadows.
For a long moment, Titus doesn’t move. He stares at Calantha’s corpse, his pulse hammering at his throat, eyes wide.
“The Sword,” I finally say, my voice hoarse.
The mention of the Relic sends us both charging forward toward the gates of Castle Grim. The bridge shakes as our people storm the palace behind us, but when we reach the outer court, we’re not met with a horde of Underlings or Calantha’s Bloodknights.
Consider this an engagement gift.
The carnage is unlike anything I’ve ever encountered.
Blood coats the stone walls in layers, as if battered by scarlet waves.
Limbs litter the steps that lead to the main entrance of the palace; mutilated bodies lie in pools of crimson.
He killed them all—nobles, Bloodknights—as if he took his time.
As if he ensured that each death brought as much suffering as he could inflict.
Will knew what these people did to Titus—the torture he endured, the way they fed on his blood—and though Calantha and these nobles sided with Morana and the Underlings, Will killed them all.
But why? Why go against Morana’s wishes? Why hand Morana’s stronghold in the Eerie—her seat on the entire continent of the Tamed Lands—over without a fight?
Henry’s words repeat in my mind. My brother is still in there, somewhere.
And when I glance at Titus—see the emotions warring in his eyes, glowing with a soft golden light—I know he must be thinking the same thing.
Is Will trying to send us a message?
Our soldiers skid to a halt behind us, the cry of battle dropping off into stunned silence.
Owen, Lewis, and Eliza flank us.
“What now?” Lewis asks.
I jerk my head in the direction of the entrance, and Owen, Lewis, and Eliza follow Titus and me as we splash through pools of blood toward the main foyer. We race through the castle halls, up stairwells, passing mutilated corpses every step of the way.
I’m panting for breath by the time we burst through the door to my chambers, the stench of death roiling my stomach.
It appears as if my chamber is the only room untouched by Will’s bloodshed.
I don’t hesitate to push the blue rug aside, and Titus is already kneeling, his hand pressed to the stone floor, whispering the words, “Adonoc verash melor.”
The instant the passage opens, Titus leads the charge, practically throwing himself down the steps.
Titus’s pace falters, his gaze fixed on the narrow crack in the wall from which we escaped the night of his wedding. He lingers at the edge of the water, hand on the hilt of his sword, as if he expected Calantha to slither through the gap like the snake she was and drag him back to the dungeons.
The hair on the back of my neck stands up straight.
I turn to face Titus, but I’m too late.
Will stands in front of him, his twisted obsidian blade lodged in Titus’s left shoulder.
I try to move, but Will’s power holds us all at bay. Even Titus.
It was a trick. Will had lulled us into a false sense of victory. But it was all a lie.
I should have known. I should have seen this coming.
Why, after everything he’s done, did I ever think the monster that wears Will Castor’s skin could be trusted?
“And here I would have thought you’d stab me in the back,” Titus says through gritted teeth, his body trembling as he attempts to fight Will’s grip on his bones.
Will cocks his head, smiles. “I’d rather see the look on your face when you realize you’ve lost.”
He withdraws the blade, crackling with green energy, and lifts his hands as if to surrender. He turns, facing me, amusement glittering in his gaze. “I can cure him,” he says. “You need only surrender to Morana. Bring the Relics of Night to the Burning Lands, and I will save his life.”
Hot, angry tears spill onto my cheeks. “I don’t have the other Relics!”
Will quirks a brow. “No?” He shrugs. “Then you’d better find them. And fast. Titus doesn’t have much time. I’d say a week at most.”
My voice is raw, my entire being vibrating with rage. “How would I even make it to the Burning Lands in that amount of time?”
Will grins, his expression aloof. “I’m sure you can figure something out,” he croons. His eyes darken, his deep voice booming like thunder. “Bring me what I’ve asked, and I will ensure your fiancé lives.”
A flash of purple light and Will is gone, releasing us from his grip.
But I see the bat—see him—flying out of the mouth of the cave. My focus narrows on his form as he makes his way across the water. It’s as if a veil had been lifted, revealing the Deathwail.
Our fleets have already relocated to the harbor, giving Will’s ship a clear path to escape.
Giving Will a clear path of escape.
But I won’t let him go this time.
It’s that singular thought that drives me. All around me, the water seems to pulse, beating in tandem with my heart.
And it is both love and rage that hums in my skull, in my bones, in my blood as I grab hold of my magic—as I draw from the Manan in the waves. As I give myself over to the power aching in my chest, begging for release.
I think I hear Titus’s voice.
Think I feel Owen’s hand on my shoulder.
But it’s too late. The sea has found a home in me, its favorite daughter, and I am no longer a girl.
I am a force. A reckoning.
I bring my hands together, and with a clap that echoes off the walls of the cavern, I split the sea.