Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
Nicknames
MAGNOLIA
Itried to get myself to eat the food in front of me, but I couldn’t.
When I first walked into the dining room, I halted.
I wasn’t expecting to see Hael chained in the seat across from mine.
My eyes scanned every inch of him, taking in the layers of blood that drenched his clothes and stained his skin—Dahes tortured him.
While I was in a fresh slip, scrubbing all of Nuna’s blood from my body until the smell of jasmine assaulted me, Hael was drenched in it. The contrast between us was jarring.
His gaze narrowed on mine before he turned away.
After that, I refused to look at him. I couldn’t stand to see the hatred in his eyes, the hurt… I had no idea if he was doing the same, and although I had my eyes trained on my plate, I knew Dahes was smiling at me.
There was a plate in front of Hael. I only knew he was eating because Dahes forced him to. I heard the incline in his voice the moment he used his deal against him and metal rattled as Hael’s chains hit the table.
He didn’t need the chains. Hael couldn’t use any of his powers anymore. Dahes forced it into his deal. He had complete control over him now.
Hael was going to be owned by Dahes for the rest of his life, and it was entirely my fault. He made a deal with the devil just like I had, thinking he could save me, but it didn’t matter.
I couldn’t be saved, and I was pretty sure Hael wanted to take it back, that he would have rather Dahes raped and killed me on the throne instead of making his bargain. How could he not…
He just found out that everything I did was a lie. He just watched me rip a girl’s eye out…
Hael’s words kept flashing in my head the moment he made the connection—Dahes’ whore. It shouldn’t have surprised me. The entire Vivenian Kingdom called me that, thinking I willingly did Dahes’ bidding. But it still hurt, still clawed into my soul the moment he said it.
Dahes’ dark chuckle had my eyes snapping to him.
He was staring at me, and I realized my mistake.
Ever since I met Hael, I’d been struggling to keep my emotions suppressed.
My thoughts kept slipping and Dahes knew it.
The shell of numbness I built shattered.
Hael fractured it only for me to realize that I was already too broken, and I couldn’t put the pieces back together again.
And now, my feelings were pouring through the cracks.
I wanted to turn them off.
“I’ve always loved your little nickname, Magnolia.”
I stilled, terrified of where this was going. He overheard Hael call me Nollie…
“My whore,” he drawled, and a dish clattered from where Hael was sitting. “Someday it’ll be true.”
“I will never be your whore.” I surprised myself by how low my voice was, how it came out more of a growl. My own fists were clenched under the table as I tried to block out the throne room.
You aren’t back there, Magnolia—his hands weren’t choking my neck, my slip wasn’t ripped down the top, my feet weren’t drenched in warm blood…
Dahes set his goblet down on the table, still eyeing me. “There’s been a lot of things you never would have done until you met me.”
I met his chilling gaze, forcing myself to stay composed. “I learned from my mistakes.”
He laughed again, just a single chuckle as his head tilted back. “That you did. I know you won’t ever make a deal with me again.”
“What deal?” Hael’s gaze snapped to mine. It was the first time he’d spoken during this Suns-awful dinner.
And even if I could, I wouldn’t deserve it. I’d done too much. Killed too much. Lied too much.
I stared down at my plate again. I couldn’t look at him, at either of them.
“Oh you don’t know? I assumed with how close you got to Magnolia, she told you everything.” He let the silence fill the room, and I used it to control my breathing.
“Naive fifteen year olds will say anything to save the person they love. She traded herself for a boy named Masin. Of course, she didn’t realize it at the time.
She thought she was just agreeing to be my maid and that she’d later be able to run away.
Nollie had no idea she made a deal with the devil. ”
Nollie.
I winced, knowing he did overhear Hael call me that. I was hoping he missed it, that he wasn’t paying attention…
“She has to do whatever I want. She doesn’t have a choice.”
I glanced up and saw Hael staring at me. His eyes were narrowed, his jaw clenched… I looked back down at my plate.
“She’s mine,” Dahes continued. “I own her. So contrary to your newfound bravado, little ghost, I will make you my whore.”
Hael wasn’t breathing. I wasn’t sure if I was either.
“And I don’t just own her mortal body, but her entire fucking soul. When she dies, she’ll still belong to me.”
I inhaled sharply. I knew this. I knew Dahes never feared my death. He would have killed me on the dais if Hael hadn’t agreed.
“We have less than a week until the Solstice,” Dahes said, rising from the table. “I can do a lot of things to her in that time.” His voice lowered as he walked around the table to stand behind me. “And I’m more than willing.”
“If you touch her again, I’ll fucking kill you.”
Dahes laughed, his voice chilling, hitting every nerve in my body.
“No,” he smirked. “I’ll make you watch.”
Hael stood, his chair groaning against the stone, as his chains rattled. He was bolted to the floor. He pulled, but it only caused more blood to drip down his wrists, the metal cutting into his skin.
Dahes laughed more, leaning down until his breath hit my neck and his fingers gently scraped across my collarbone. I flinched before my Token flickered on.
I could feel Hael staring at me now. Not everything I had told him was a lie.
Breathe. One. Two. Three—
“Too bad it was all for nothing.” I stilled, Dahes’ words echoing through me, but not fully registering.
No.
He wasn’t talking about me…
My head snapped up to find him grinning down at me.
“What did you say?” I gasped, trying desperately to hold back more tears, but I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t hear, couldn’t think…
Dahes flicked his fingers as thirty sentries stalked into the room. “Bring them to the river. It seems I have something I need to show Magnolia.”