Chapter 31
Chapter
Thirty-One
KADEN
“Seti?” I snort, gripping my sword as my ears listen for disturbances behind me. Nothing so far. “I don’t plan on being acquainted with him for some time yet.”
He squints at me, dark eyes narrowing.
“You don’t have her with you.”
My heart freezes, body tense. The beast hums, not dangerous, but thoughtful. Odd.
“Have who?” I growl, even though in my gut I know who he’s referring to. The anxiety that’s been weighting on me like a ballast, my dread at being too far from home. All of it revolve around her.
My future queen, my future wife. My mate.
He rolls his eyes and the action strikes me. Something about it is… familiar.
“You left her in that castle without protection.” He sneers, almost angry. At me. “You left her there alone.”
“She’s not alone—how do you know—”
He kicks the bars with more strength than I thought him capable. “You idiot. I spent decades here and you’ve destroyed everything with your arrogance.”
Stepping closer, my temper flares. How dare this prisoner insult me—the heir to the Shadowlands. A Dark Fae prince. The future king.
“I’ll remind you, Human,” I growl, fangs lowering with my irritation.
I’ve never liked their kind and he’s reminding me why.
“You’re speaking to the future ruler of the Shadowlands, and the only creature down here that could potentially let you out.
Do not think for one moment that you have the authority to insult my intelligence nor to presume you know anything about my mate. ”
The Human lowers his head, black eyes flickering with annoyance as he glares at me. For a Human, he’s tall, rivaling me in height even in his malnourished state.
He shakes his head. “I knew letting her be with Nessa would cause nothing but trouble. If only—”
“Who are you?” I cut off, the name striking me.
Nessa was the former Matriarch of the Blackwoods Coven. The woman who raised my mate, who forced her to live in fear and ridicule. To fear her glorious power.
Those black eyes burn hotter, a cold fire that drains the color from my face.
The smudges of dirt and filth don’t hide his pointed chin, the large eyes even as they glower at me. The shade is wrong, too dark, but I’ve seen them before in another face, one that haunts my dreams, torments me, begs me to return. The one who holds my heart.
They have the same line that appears between their brows when frustrated too.
I’ve seen it before. On Max.
“Get me out of here, boy,” he snaps, moving back.
I don’t know if I’m shocked over the belittling title or at the fact that I’m staring at Max’s father. The man who she thought died in the fire that took her village, her memories, almost her life when she was ten.
He’s her father, I’m sure of it.
Whatever plan I had, officially changes to getting this man out. Max has no memories of her parents, and I’ll not let him rot one moment longer. She needs this—needs him.
My beast stays strangely quiet, as if it knew who he was this whole time and I quickly make work, separating the hinges on the locked door. It burns my hands, but the iron is so rusted, it’s barely a movement of fingers before the door falls off.
He steps through, his feet heavy, boots scuffing the uneven tile. “We’ll need to hurry.” That wasn’t exactly silent. Guards, what little there may be, will be alerted.
Holding the sides, he leans forward, face determined, body frail.
“Well, don’t just stand there.” He gestures for me my shoulder.
“Can you handle a sword?”
The man pointedly glares.
The same look his daughter gives me when I ask a question with an obvious answer. This is going to take time to adjust. Max has always been unique to me but seeing such similarities, is surprising.
Carefully, I adjust my arm, allowing my strength to aid him. His legs are stiff, body broken from age and too little food, but he keeps going. We get to the dungeon’s stairs and look up. No one has come for us yet, but I know it’s only a matter of time before they do.
“How long have you been here?”
The Human sighs, as if I’m the one stalling us.
“For over fifteen years.” He looks at the top door, grim frown on his thin lips. “We need to get back to the Shadowlands. Maximillia needs help.”
Worry and panic claw into my gut, prompted by his grave words. “What do you know?”
The Human moves forward, taking the steps deliberately slow. I see how his knees rock, buckling under his weight. He’s trying not to fall.
“Seti talks to me.”
“Seti only talks to his High Priest.”
The Human looks back at me. “That would be me, boy. Now, move it.”
Quickly I follow, keeping to his back in case he pitches to the left. I’d make a quip about his balance being as bad as his daughter’s if not for the dire situation.
“Why would Seti talk to you about Max?”
The Human stays silent.
“He sent a Hadeon as her guard,” I say instead, prodding him. “He protects her in the palace.”
“The Hadeon is an admirable guardian, but he’s not unkillable.”
We get halfway and his arms start shaking.
“You’re not going to make it,” I point out. “And if I’m needed back in my lands, this is a fruitless endeavor.” I’d rather carry him to move quicker.
Sharply, he turns, black eyes blazing as they regard me. There’s that stubbornness that runs through the family line.
“I gave my life to protect my daughter.” He seethes, blue fingers gripping the broken banister with both hands.
“I have been here to keep the king satisfied in his search. Until he found Max. Now my duty is to protect her. You might not understand this, but Max is important to this world. To me. And I will be there to help.”
“Help, you might want to, but you’re in no condition.” I gesture to his body. “You can barely stand.”
His face darkens in fury. “You need to know about this castle, the forces he’s acquiring, correct?
” He glances around. “They think I can’t understand anymore, that my mind is faulty.
They have loose lips when working the dungeon shift.
I know it all.” He taps his temple. “And you’ll want a High Priest of Seti on your side, boy. I can be very valuable. Trust me.”
I take in his determined face, his set shoulders. He isn’t going to make this easy for me, and he’s set on coming. On always helping. Just like his daughter.
“I need to know about Max. Her magic, her powers. It’s the only way to help her.”
Tiredly, he nods, just once. “You’ll have it. But I’ll need to explain it to her first.”
I can live with that. “What’s your name, Human?”
He holds out his hand, a very-human handshake. I smirk, because, of course.
“Baris, heir.”
Vaguely, the name tickles my memories. I know I’ve heard that name before.
As a High Priest, Baris although Human, would be part of the cult of Seti. They’re a fraction that moves to where the god directs them to give last rites. They have no home, only wondering to give peace to those who have passed.
Baris has been the High Priest mentioned from before the war, over hundreds of years ago. A name my mother knew well.
Something like amusement flashes in those deeply unsettlingly familiar eyes as the pieces click.
“Ah. So, you’ve heard of me.” He nods once. “Good, good. Then you’ll know what I’m capable of.”
That makes this Human older than me. Much older.
Fiery Bel’s balls, that’s impossible.
“Now, boy. My daughter needs us.”
Without warning, he lurches up the stairs as the door bursts open, three guards blocking our only exit.
“Fuck,” I curse, drawing my sword just as the closest guard goes to cut Baris. I don’t think, swinging the blade into his neck, my shadows shoving his body over the narrow stairwell. I don’t look as he falls, his body hitting with a hard impact.
Baris is quick like his daughter, dodging the second attacker, even with his decrepit body.
When he goes low, I elbow the guard in the face, pushing him back, taking on the third.
This one is bigger, meaner, his strikes lethal.
He’s used to fighting in tight corridors, using the space to his advantage.
Lucky for me, so have I. Grabbing him with my shadows, my eyes submerge black, as I snap his neck, his body crumpling under my boots.
The second guard stands, ready to face me down as I raise my sword. My shadows wrap around me like an old hug.
Then, a sword plunges through his chest. A wet ripping sound rings through the dungeon as it’s removed with sure hands. The guard falls to his left, over the banister, to the stone floor with his friend.
Behind where he stood, Zeke glares lightly at me. “You’re late.”
I can’t help but roll my eyes. “I found the information we needed.” I help Baris up the remaining stairs, entrusting Drayn and Henrik to hold him steady. “Meet our informant, Baris.”
Valiantly, Zeke bows his head, lips frowning. “You remind me of someone—”
“He’s Max’s father,” I interject, climbing the rest of the stairs. “And if you don’t mind, I’d really rather get back to my mate.” Anxiety claws at my throat though I keep it from showing on my face.
Years of wearing a mask and it’s finally helping. I need to get back to Max, more so now than before.
We shuffle out the dungeon door, scanning the halls before we leave.
“Mate?” he grumbles, throat dry. “You claimed my daughter?”
“It was needed.”
“He did it during a battle,” Zeke remarks, ignoring my glare. “She tried to kill him for it.”
Baris laughs, though it turns into a dry, rustling cough. We halt at a corner, allowing guards to do their rounds before crossing the section back to the stone exit.
“She’s just like her mother,” he recalls fondly. Once we’re outside, we wait in the shadows for the final walkthrough of patrols to pass us by. “We need to get back to her. She’s in danger.”
Quicker than I can blink, Zeke has a dagger to the old man’s throat, holding him by his ratty clothes. “What danger is going to hurt our future queen?”
Warmth swells in my chest but I focus on the man. “What do you know?”
“I know,” he gasps, talking around the blade, “that if you don’t get home soon enough, your father will kill her. And the world cannot lose her before she’s completed her destiny. She’s too important.”
Destiny? “I will not lose Max,” I growl, grabbing Zeke before he can kill the man. “You ride with me.” The horses should get us back within the day if we push through the night.
If I find any patrols, I’ll slaughter them. Nothing will keep me from Max.
As a unit, we dash into the forest, ignoring the shouts from the nearby camp and ease to where the horses wait. My mind is muddled as I pull toward the essence I know is her. It’s a silky tangle of emotions that feels like life, coursing inside my mind with blinding intensity.
It’s always there, a humming, that connects me to her. I’ve felt it since the claim tethered us together, but it’s never been accessible. Not until recently.
It must have opened when she opened herself to me—to the bond.
When I tug on it, my body jolts and the faintest shimmer of her image fizzles into my mind. There is a slight panic, an ebbing worry that radiates out but she seems unharmed. For now.
Grabbing the Human, I pull the reigns, keeping Max’s soul tucked close to mine, monitoring her from this distance. It eases the furious worry rising in my throat, cutting off all air. She’s in danger and I push my horse to ride through the night.
I won’t let anything happen to her. If it does, the world will burn.