Chapter 29
MAELKAR
Three days ago.
I’ve never had an issue with being naked.
In fact, I usually prefer it. But there’s being naked without clothes, and then there’s being naked without my power.
And without my shadows curling at my heels, without the pulse of corruption humming under my skin—I feel wrong.
So very fucking wrong. I feel exposed in a way that has nothing to do with bare flesh.
I cannot believe I was drugged by that absolute shit eater.
I checked the drink. I sifted through it with my magic, scraped every layer of it apart with dark energy, and there was nothing.
Not a whisper of poison. Not a hint of enchantment.
Which means Kaelith somehow found a way to hide a drug even from me—someone who can sense shady shit from another realm away.
I don’t know how he pulled it off, but I’m willing to bet it involves the celestial cunts he’s been cosying up to. The last thing I remember is the corridors tilting beneath my feet, my magic lagging behind like it was stuck in tar. Then… nothing.
I roll my neck with a slow, aching groan and peel my eyes open.
I’m strung up in a massive stone chamber carved directly into the mountain—an open, exposed space that feels like a landing pad for some ancient beast. The entire front wall is gone, replaced by nothing but open air and a frigid wind that knifes straight through my bones.
Towering columns of dark, crystal-veined rock ring the space, catching the shifting colours of the sky.
Only one door sits behind me, leading deeper into the palace.
My arms are hoisted high above me, my wrists shackled, feet barely touching the icy floor.
It’s fucking freezing. No surprise there, given the endless wasteland of snow and jagged cliffs that make up this realm.
A few small lanterns sit scattered around the room, but most of the light comes from the aurora overhead.
Striking brilliant greens, soft pinks, and violent purples all ripple against the crystalline pillars, casting shards of colour across my midnight skin.
If I wasn’t strung up like some prized mare left to freeze, I might actually enjoy the view.
“Ah, you’re awake.” His slimy, disgusting voice echoes across the stone.
I turn my head, the muscles in my neck stiff, and watch Kaelith strolling casually towards me as if he’s taking a fucking morning walk. He’s wrapped in a heavy, fur cloak that billows behind him on the breeze—because of course, he is. Dramatic bastard.
I raise a brow. “I thought young girls were your thing, Duskwalker. Not tall, sexy, shadow men.” I wink at him, even blowing him a kiss just for funsies. “I’m flattered, truly, but I’m taken. And not really into being strung up like a whore.”
He rolls his eyes as he stops inches from me. “Even now, you’re still an insufferable bastard.”
I bark a laugh. “Flattery will get you everywhere with me, star-man.”
The jokes fall easy, too easy. Sarcasm is the armour I’ve worn since the day I learned I was basically indestructible. When you’re the ruler of corruption itself, when even the Six decide you’re too much trouble to provoke, it turns you arrogant. It makes you feel untouchable. Or so I thought.
But right now, if I’m being truthfully honest, I feel anything but.
The truth strikes me like a shard of ice.
I’ve never had my power stripped from me before.
I didn’t even know that was possible. That something strong enough to snuff out the shadows that have lived under my skin since the moment I was born, existed.
Whatever drug Kaelith used, it wasn’t mortal work.
It wasn’t even Celestial. It was something older.
Something forged for war and annihilation.
If the Six are able to create something so powerful… Gods help us all.
A pressure tightens behind my ribs, something I haven’t felt in centuries.
Not fear. Fear is gentler. This is… wrongness.
It’s vulnerability. I don’t like it. I can’t tolerate it.
And beneath that, coiling like a slow, poisonous snake, is rage.
Real, potent rage. Because I don’t know where my little hellflower is. And that’s entirely unacceptable.
The thought of Daisy out there, alone, while I’m hanging like cattle sends a pulse of fury surging through me so familiar, it almost feels like getting my power back.
A taste of what I’d do if the shadows weren’t blocked out of my veins.
Because if they were here? Kaelith wouldn’t be walking or talking.
He wouldn’t even be breathing. He’d be fucking dead.
“Where is she?” I snarl, letting the last thread of my composure snap as images of her beautiful face flash through my mind.
Gone is the lazy grin and easy confidence.
What’s left is pure, sharp-edged fury, and a sliver of fear I refuse to acknowledge.
She was my responsibility. Mine to protect.
And at the first sign of trouble, I failed her.
I’m hanging here powerless, and I don’t even know how long it’s been since I saw her.
Hours, days—enough time for something to happen. Enough time for him to—
My jaw clenches so tight, it aches. But I force myself to breathe. “Where. Is. She?”
His grin is twisted with satisfaction. “Oh, she’s being kept very safe, don’t worry.”
The way he says it has my skin crawling. There’s something wrong in it. Something smug. It settles in my gut, telling me everything I don’t want to believe. That she’s hurting and that he’s enjoying it. That I’m too fucking late to do a single thing about it.
“Stop with the bullshit, Kaelith. Where the fuck is she? You better not have hurt her.” I can hear the control fracturing in my voice.
“Oh, less of the hero act, Shadowtongue. Since when did you have a heart, anyway?”
The words hit, but not in the way he thinks. Not because they’re true, but because right now, I wish they were. It would be easier if I didn’t care.
“Answer the fucking question or I’ll melt your insides with—”
“With what?” He cuts me off with a mocking laugh. “Because last time I checked, your power wasn’t working.”
My teeth grind together, hard enough to taste the sharp tang of blood. He’s right. I’m standing here, utterly useless to Daisy right now. Powerless while she’s out there…
“It’s alright. She’s currently chained up in my dungeon.” The words ricochet through me, hitting me straight in the chest where I presume my heart to be. “But once she agrees to be my wife, she’ll be living the life of luxury like the queen she deserves to be.”
He says it so seriously that I’m genuinely questioning if I heard him right. I just stare at him, blankly, trying to decide if I’ve finally lost my mind or if he has.
He frowns at my silence. “What?” he snaps.
Oh. Oh, he is serious. I laugh so hard I almost piss myself. “There’s not a chance you think she’s going to agree to that?” I manage between breaths, shaking my head. “Fuck, you’re more delusional than I thought.”
He moves fast, gripping my jaw in an iron grip with his icy fingers. My teeth grind together as pain sparks through my skull. But I don’t give him the satisfaction of reacting beyond a slow, deliberate glare.
“Listen here, you voodoo cunt. She will marry me once she realises what I can offer.”
His breath ghosts over my face, all frost and arrogance. It takes everything in me to not reach forwards and rip his throat out with my teeth. But I need answers.
“And what can you offer her that she doesn’t already have, Duskwalker?” I bite back with a voice laced in venom, despite the way his grip tightens. “Because she has her own kingdom, and last I checked, it’s a hell of a lot stronger than yours.”
For a split second, something ugly flashes across his face.
Then he releases my jaw just to rear back and drive his fist straight into my nose.
The crack echoes through the space, satisfying in a way I’d almost appreciate, if it wasn’t my own face.
Pain explodes, my head snapping back against whatever the fuck is holding me in place.
Warmth floods instantly as thick metallic blood spills over my lip.
I scrunch up my face, spitting out the blood that’s trickled into my mouth, copper coating my tongue as I drag in a slow breath through the mess.
“Untie me and try that again. See how far you get,” I growl, tasting the threat in my own voice. I mean it. Gods, I fucking mean it.
“She will marry me, because I’m going to offer her something she can’t refuse.” He cracks his knuckles, shaking his hand out a little.
My lips pull into something feral despite the blood still dripping from my nose. “And what’s that? A tiny cock and a shit realm?” I scoff. “Living the fucking dream there, star-boy.”
I swear the vein on his forehead is about to erupt.
His jaw ticks, his composure splintering in real time, and it hits me—he’s not used to this.
I don’t think he’s ever had anyone other than Korithax speak to him like this.
I know damn well if the demonic bastard is somehow watching, he’s laughing his ass off just as much at the thought of Kaelith trying to marry his wife.
“Well, since I know you’re not getting out of here alive, I guess you knowing doesn’t matter.” He shrugs. “I have the Six in the palm of my hands right now—”
I scoff, cutting him off. “Of course you’re dick riding the Six.”
He rolls his eyes, but I can see the irritation, simmering just beneath the surface. “They’re the more powerful side right now. However, with me and Daisy combined, we could destroy them and rule everything. Everyone.”
I blink. Not because I’m impressed or considering it. But because for a second, I’m genuinely stunned by how fucking delusional he is. The bastard actually thinks Daisy would choose him. That she would betray her kingdom, and rule as a tyrant beside the creepiest motherfucker in this universe.
“And if—no—when she says no?” I ask, tilting my head slightly, blood still dripping down my chin.