Chapter Thirty-Six #2
The pressure vanishes. The water is gone. I’m floating in the dark, drifting through an infinite vastness.
No sound. No feeling. No thought. Just emptiness.
“Stop!” I yell into the nothing.
“Welcome to sensory deprivation. Consider it a fitting place for you to waste away. I can stretch your suffering, make you believe you’ve been trapped here for centuries, while in the real world only milliseconds pass. Imagine it—endless nothingness, and no one coming to save you.”
I need to get him out.
As I float, I fight to escape, but nothing works. Hours—maybe more—drift by in the desolate space.
Fear creeps in.
Breathe, Lia. Breathe. I repeat the sequence over and over.
They need you.
Leo.
Kylo.
Carter.
Zayne.
Snap out of it. This is your mind. He doesn’t get to own it. Free yourself.
I push past the pain, a scraping agony like barbed wire across my brain. He’s fighting against me, a suffocating presence—a black cloud trying to drag me under again.
The mental onslaught shuts off.
I gasp as reality rushes in a dizzying torrent. I fight to reorient myself, registering the shock of the cold floor beneath my fingers, the scent of cologne, and Draven still touching me.
Joaquin looms over me, perfectly composed.
Everyone is in the same positions as before.
I whip around and shove Draven, but he yanks me back, crushing my injury. I bite back a yelp.
“Blair will kill your brother if you move. Don’t test me.”
“He’s your brother too.”
“Not anymore. Joaquin is the only family I have.”
Leo and I make eye contact.
He’s spent our whole lives shielding me from Joaquin. It’s my turn to protect him.
Clutching Draven’s forearms, I channel everything I felt in the memories Joaquin showed me. The darkness, the malice, the hunger for power—I send it all into Draven, forcing the tide down his throat until he chokes on it.
A snarl rips from him as the surge hits.
Draven elbows me in the stomach. “You little bitch!” he spits, staggering as the flood of emotions takes hold.
I catch a flash of silver in my peripheral as a knife flies toward Blair’s face.
Carter and Kylo charge in. Blair dodges, the distraction giving Leo the opening he needs to free himself.
Draven straightens. “Try that again.” His teeth scrape the tip of my ear. “Give me a reason to show how fast I can break you.”
“Lay one more hand on her, and I’ll show you what it means to beg for your life,” Kylo threatens.
He raises a hand and sends Draven flying.
Joaquin closes the distance between us, clapping in mock applause.
“Kylo. Still breathing, I see.” His gaze shifts to Carter. “And you must be Carter Radshaw. At last.” A cruel smile hooks his mouth. “How’s your mother?”
Carter and Kylo rush forward.
Joaquin stands between them and me, holding up a finger. “Ah, wait, gentlemen. Let’s have a discussion first. I have questions for the esteemed Radshaws.”
“We have nothing to discuss with you,” Carter says, gripping his blade tighter.
“I have matters of my own concern,” Joaquin replies. “My daughter believes I’m soulless. Yet you spill my hunters’ blood for sport. Regardless of which side you stand on, does blood not stain the same?”
Apparently, His Majesty isn’t finished speaking. He barrels on. “Do you know about their body count?” Joaquin asks, looking directly at me. “That the man you spread your legs for has murdered my hunters with his bare hands?”
Everyone in the room laughs, some muttering insults like whore and slut.
“How does he know about us?” Kylo asks.
“He’s seen everything.”
“Tell your hunters to stop talking before I rip their throats out,” Kylo warns.
“Don’t you see his hidden wrath, my daughter? Carter and Kylo hunt my people under the guise of righteousness. They enjoy the kill as much as I do. The only difference is the story they tell themselves. In the end, there are no heroes.”
“They had to because of you,” I say.
“I’d do it again,” Kylo says, unflinching.
“I’ve mapped every corner of your mind,” Joaquin says. “That rage in Kylo you fret over so pathetically—it’s my own. He’s no different from me. You didn’t escape a devil, daughter. You chose another. You’re too sanctimonious to admit it.”
“Enough talking,” Carter says, bringing his blade up. “Let’s end this.”
“Do what you must,” Joaquin replies, seemingly unimpressed. “I know how this ends.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, searching for Leo.
He’s trapped in Blair’s hold again, her arm locked around his throat so he can’t speak.
“After going through dozens of vision seekers, one finally complied and helped me manifest the future I sought.”
“Hypocrite,” I spit. “You’ll face the consequences like Andre did.”
“Only time will tell.”
“Zayne, now!” Carter yells.
The room erupts around me. Blades clash. Screams, grunts, and the metallic clang of weapons blend into carnage.
Joaquin appears at my side. He lifts me off the ground with telekinesis and hurls me back down. Pain detonates through my elbow and side. I glimpse Leo charging in, blade drawn and striking fast. Steel slices across Joaquin’s side, then again across his arm.
My palms ignite with a torrent of negative emotions I drag from the darkest parts of myself, unleashing them into Joaquin.
He falls to one knee, a deep groan escaping him. He tips his head back, eyes clouding over like a whirlpool before releasing a shockwave that sends us flying.
Kylo recovers first, telekinesis propelling him upward. He meets Joaquin midair, and they clash, their combined strength suspending them above the ground.
I prepare myself to help, but Draven barrels into the fight, tackling Kylo.
Carter and Zayne fight in perfect tandem—Carter’s blade a blur of steel while Zayne tackles a hunter to the ground. Blair springs for Leo, but Carter intercepts her, their blades meeting with a ringing strike that echoes through the mayhem.
Joaquin hardly looks winded. If anything, he seems amused. Three of Elijah’s fighters lift off the ground, kicking and clawing at nothing. Their screams choke off as Joaquin propels them against the walls, leaving their crumpled bodies in a heap.
We’re losing. They’re too powerful.