Chapter 83 #2
"Not if he replaced his signature with borrowed souls.
" Gabriel's voice was hollow, haunted by what he'd witnessed.
"He would drain a soul nearly completely, then wrap himself in what remained of their life force like wearing someone else's skin.
To your wards, he appeared as nothing more than a wandering spirit, something beneath notice. Too weak to be a threat."
Vex cursed under his breath.
Dante's hands clenched into fists. His shadows surged outward before he wrestled them back under control.
"He used to brag about it." Gabriel’s expression hardened with disgust. "After he'd return from one of his sabotage missions, he'd come to my cell and laugh about how easy it was.
How you were all too ignorant to notice him walking through your courts.
Breaking your wards. Planting the seeds of collapse right under your noses while you looked right through him. "
The violation of it hit Dante. His vision tunneled. His skin crawled.
Caelum had been here. In his domain. Walking his corridors. Touching his wards. Studying his defenses. Multiple times. While wearing the hollowed-out remnants of souls he'd murdered.
And Dante had never known.
His darkness erupted outward in a wave of black rage, filling the room, darkening every corner. Frost formed on the windows.
"All of ours," Seraphina said, her tone deadly quiet in a way that promised violence if there was anyone left to inflict it on. "That's how he knew exactly which wards to target. He studied our defenses from the inside."
"While wearing the stolen souls he'd drained." Thessa's form flickered with anger rare for her gentle nature.
Dante forced his breathing to even out through sheer force of will. The fury wanted to consume him, wanted to rage and destroy and hurt something for the violation. But Caelum was already destroyed. Already erased from existence, consumed soul and all until nothing remained.
There was nowhere left for the rage to go except inward.
He wrestled his power back under control. "The Mourned realm needs a leader," he said slowly, pulling the conversation back to the present.
"Yes." Gabriel held his gaze. "Someone who can restore genuine peace. Help souls find real rest, not false paradise. Undo the damage Caelum did to the very concept of natural death."
"You want the position."
"I want to make this right." Gabriel's voice was determined, certain. "I want to give those souls what they deserved from the beginning. Honest guidance toward natural rest. No harvesting. No draining. No paradise prisons. Just peace for those who are ready for it."
Dante looked at the other three Death Lords. Seraphina nodded once, sharp and approving. Vex's look was thoughtful but clearly in agreement. Thessa smiled gently, her form brightening slightly.
"The five courts need to be balanced," Seraphina said. "Gabriel knows the Mourned realm better than any of us. He opposed Caelum's plan from the beginning."
"The realm calls for him," Thessa said softly. "I can hear it through the boundaries. It wants someone who understands peace without domination."
Dante studied Gabriel for a long moment. Shadows still testing, searching for deception. But all he saw was remorse. Determination. A core of compassion that Caelum had never possessed.
"The Mourned realm accepts you?" Dante asked.
"It does." Gabriel's voice was quiet but certain. "I've already begun the work of restoration. The souls there recognize me from before Caelum's corruption."
Dante's shadows settled. "Then you have my support."
"Mine as well," Seraphina said.
"And mine," Vex added.
"The death realm approves," Thessa said softly, and something in the air seemed to resonate with truth.
Gabriel straightened, standing taller. "I won't fail you. Any of you."
Through the bond, Dante felt Brynn.
Felt her reaching for him across the distance, awareness flooding through their connection. Felt the moment she remembered yesterday, the kiss, the promise, the tomorrow you give me everything.
Desire pulsed through their connection like heat. His body responded instantly, pulse quickening, skin warming, breath catching.
Mine, his shadows whispered. Waiting. Wanting. Ours.
"If that's everything—" he started, already turning toward the door.
"Go." Seraphina waved him away, amusement clear in her voice. "You don't want to keep her waiting too long."
"Try not to break anything," Vex added, his smile turning knowing.
Dante ignored them. "Get out of my court."
They left still chuckling, Gabriel following with a confused look. The throne room doors closed behind them with a soft boom.
He stood alone for a moment, letting the silence settle. Letting anticipation build in his chest like pressure.
Yesterday, he'd needed to hold her. He’d needed to reassure himself she was real, whole, his. To feel her pulse and know she was alive.
Today, he'd promised, she could have everything.
He turned and walked back toward their chambers. His pace started controlled. But with each step, the bond pulled tighter. Her desire was bleeding through, mixing with his own until he couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.
His pace quickened. Then quickened again. His heart was pounding now. His skin felt too tight. Every step brought another wave of her want crashing through the bond, stoking the heat building in his chest until he was nearly running.
He reached their chambers. His hand closed around the door handle, cool against his palm.
Pushed it open.
And stopped dead in the doorway.