Chapter 24
THE MISSING PIECE
MALAKAI
I dismiss Lady Isla with thinly veiled contempt as twilight deepens outside the observatory windows.
Her seduction attempts grew increasingly brazen throughout the afternoon, each touch lingering, each smile promising more.
Any other day, I might find her desperation entertaining.
Today, it grates against my already dark mood.
I spent two days locked in my chambers with Seraphina during her heat.
Two days of her desperate need, her complete trust, her utter surrender.
Two days of knotting her, caring for her, protecting her through the most vulnerable state an Omega can experience.
And then I left her to play political games with a Beta diplomat who means nothing.
The wrongness of it gnaws at me. My Alpha is furious that I left our Omega alone so soon after her first heat.
She needs reassurance, needs to know the heat didn't change how I see her needs— I cut the thought off viciously.
She's my mate. My conquest. Nothing more.
But the lie tastes bitter even to myself.
"Lord Malakai," she purrs as we descend the steps, her scent deliberately enticing. "The evening is young. Perhaps we could continue our discussions over wine in your chambers?"
My shadows coil irritably at my feet. Something about the observatory—this ancient dome where Julia and I once spent countless nights studying the stars—unsettles me deeply. My first Omega mate. My dead mate.
"Political matters must wait," I reply coldly. "Court business requires my attention."
She inclines her head and retreats, her scent spiking with disappointment. I watch her go, shadows writhing in agitation. The observatory was a mistake—too many ghosts of an Omega I've spent centuries trying to bury.
I find myself drawn toward my private chambers instead of returning to the main hall. The anniversary approaches—three days from now marks two centuries since Julia took her life rather than witness what I was becoming. Two hundred years, and the wound remains raw.
Palace staff move aside as I pass, my shadows darkening the corridor.
I barely register their presence, lost in memories I usually keep locked away.
Julia's smile. Her laughter echoing through these hallways.
Her sweet scent. The horror in her eyes when she realized what I was becoming—what kind of Alpha I truly was.
I dismiss the guards outside my door. "I am not to be disturbed."
Alone, I sink into a chair by the fireplace, conjuring shadows with a flick of my wrist. The dancing light casts shadows that almost resemble a woman's silhouette on the wall.
Julia. My first love. My greatest failure.
I should seek out Seraphina. After claiming her so thoroughly that stone walls cracked under our mating—after finally biting her, completing our bond, drinking her blood—she deserves...what? Tenderness? Conversation? These are not qualities I've cultivated over centuries of rule.
Yet something about her pulls at me—her defiance, her strength, her unexpected surrender, the way she begged for my bite. She is nothing like Julia. Seraphina is fire; Julia was water, steel—silk. Different Omegas, different bonds.
I'm drawn to her in ways I haven't felt since Julia.
The thought unsettles me. I pour myself shadow wine, a rare vintage that can intoxicate even immortal Alphas, and drink deeply.
Hours pass. The fire burns low. My mind wanders through corridors of memory, revisiting moments better left forgotten.
I should send for Seraphina, should check on my newly mated Omega, but instead I pour another glass, seeking temporary oblivion.
My darkness had pushed Julia to take her life, and our child's life—an Omega pregnant with an Alpha's child, driven to suicide by my cruelty.
It was my doing, and I hate myself for it.
Shadows coil darker, my mood plummeting.
I take another large swallow of wine, and I don't stop until the bottle is gone.
Eventually, as midnight approaches, something tugs at my awareness—the completed mating bond, strangely muted.
I reach for it instinctively, seeking Seraphina's emotions through our connection.
Instead of the usual clarity, I find only distant echoes, faint and troubling, as if she's somehow been dampened or blocked.
I sit up, wine forgotten, my instincts flaring with alarm. The muffled quality sets my shadows writhing. I push harder against whatever is interfering.
Still muted, but there—a thread of consciousness, distant and fragile. Something is wrong. Or has the fairy started to interfere again?
Unease transforms into something darker. I rise, throwing open my chamber door.
"Guards!" I call, my voice sharp. "Where is Lady Seraphina?"
They exchange nervous glances, clearly uncomfortable. "We haven't seen her since late this afternoon, my lord. She was last spotted near the eastern gardens around sunset."
"What do you mean you haven't seen her?" My shadows darken. "Has anyone seen my mate since sunset?"
"There was...an incident in the eastern gardens at sunset, my lord," one guard says hesitantly. "Lady Seraphina seemed distressed. Her scent was...very upset. She was breaking things in the corridor afterward. The garden staff thought it best to give her space. That was perhaps three hours ago."
Fury builds in my chest. "And no one thought to inform me that my mate was in distress?"
The guards pale. "We...we assumed you knew through the bond, my lord."
"Find her," I order, shadows lashing violently. "Now."
I stride toward Seraphina's chambers, shadows billowing like storm clouds. Her chambers are empty, the bed untouched, her scent hours old. I probe every corner, seeking any trace of her presence, any hint of her sweet vanilla-light scent.
Nothing recent.
"Lord Malakai." Emmett appears beside me, his expression grave. "The eastern wing guards report Lady Seraphina hasn't been seen since her outburst at sunset. Her distress scent was apparently quite strong."
"Have the palace searched," I command. "Every chamber, every pathway, every garden. I want my mate found immediately."
Emmett nods sharply before relaying my orders. I continue alone, my shadows tearing through the corridors ahead.
In the eastern wing, I find evidence of her distress: a shattered vase, a torn tapestry, her scent still lingering faintly.
The trail leads to a corridor near the old treasury before disappearing. My shadows find faint traces of her scent and something else—a chemical odor that makes them recoil. Something that could suppress scent, block bonds.
"My lord?" A guard approaches cautiously. "We've found blood."
My shadows freeze mid-swirl. "Show me."
In a small alcove, crimson stains the stone floor—not much, but enough to trigger a primal rage that sends my shadows into violent patterns.
I kneel beside the stain, dragging my finger through it before I can think better of it. Still wet. I bring it to my lips.
Sweet. Bright. Hers.
The taste I'd savored last night when my fangs pierced her throat—now spilled on cold stone.
My Alpha roars. Whoever did this will die screaming.
And there, a small object half-hidden in the shadows.
A silver ring. I recognize it immediately—the band Seraphina constantly fidgets with when anxious or deep in thought. She would never willingly abandon it.
Cold fury crystallizes in my chest as I close my fist around the ring. "Who was assigned to her guard today?"
"Cade, my lord. He was supposed to report after her evening meal, but..."
"But?" I growl.
"He never reported, my lord. We assumed he was still with Lady Seraphina."
"Find him. Bring him to me immediately."
Hours pass in methodical searching. The palace is turned upside down, every chamber examined, every hiding place explored.
I interrogate anyone who might have seen Seraphina—servants, courtiers, guards.
None provide anything useful beyond confirming she's been missing since sunset, her scent trail ending abruptly.
When Emmett returns, his expression tells me everything before he speaks.
"The blood matches Lady Seraphina's," he reports grimly. "And Cade is nowhere to be found."
"Find the fairy!"
Emmett's expression says more than his words. "She's missing also."
My control shatters. Shadows explode outward, cracking the marble floor, the temperature dropping precipitously.
"Seal the borders," I decree, my words deadly quiet. "No one enters or leaves without my approval. Summon the shadow hounds. Every tracking spell, every tracing magic—find my wife."
I examine the ring more carefully, noticing it's undamaged—simply dropped or torn from her finger in the struggle. My shadows probe deeper, searching for any trace of magic or clue.
"My lord," Emmett says, keeping a cautious distance. "The guards who searched Cade's quarters found something concerning."
I turn sharply. "What?"
"Maps of the palace with certain areas marked. Instructions written in a cipher we haven't broken yet." Emmett hesitates. "And evidence he's been gone for hours."
Cade. My guard. Missing alongside my mate. The coincidence is too convenient to ignore.
"When I find him," I say, my voice dangerously low, "he will beg for death long before I grant it."
"Where do we start looking?" Emmett asks.
I consider our options. The completed mating bond, while muted, isn't completely severed. If I focus entirely on it, push beyond the barriers, I might sense her general direction.
"The tunnels beneath the east wing," I decide. "They lead beyond the palace boundaries, away from our magical protections. My centuries of rule have taught me every secret passage in this place—some remain intact that others have forgotten."
"Those tunnels haven't been used in centuries," Emmett points out. "Most are collapsed."
"Not all of them," I reply grimly. "One passage remains intact."