Chapter 34
Strangely, Kaden was almost happy that it happened this way—just the two of them against one another.
There was another man in a priest’s robe with him, but he was warily walking away from the two of them. He didn’t even seem to wish to attempt to interfere, lest he get caught in the crossfire.
No doubt if he knew who Kaden or the other man was, he would turn on his heel and bolt. For now, he was wise to back away from both of them. Nothing good would happen for him here.
His back hit a tree in the clearing, and he stopped, holding onto the bark behind him like it was a shield that he would be able to quickly duck behind should he need to.
So long as he had the good sense to stay the hell out of Kaden’s way, then it would be all right.
Kaden hoped so anyway.
There was no way for him to pretend that the man’s voice didn’t scare him.
He had endured too many years of pain for him to be unafraid.
Too many nights dragged from sleep because this man wanted to try out a new torture technique.
But no matter how many times the man had tried to make him feel subhuman, Kaden was still standing here today.
The muscle in his jaw ticked as he stared him down. As much as he needed to get to Emily, as much as he needed to make sure that she was safe, he couldn’t allow this man to keep breathing.
“What are ye going to do with that knife then, boy?” the man taunted.
Kaden could hardly believe that he was able to see the man’s face while he was speaking. He could finally see the soulless eyes that he had only gotten flashes and glimpses of before. Never the whole face, never a name.
He could remember the man’s colors from all the bodies he had gone through on his way out of that place. Even though much of his escape had been a blur, there were some things that he would never be able to forget.
“I bet ye think about sticking me with that thing every night, daenae ye?” the man asked, as if they were having the most casual conversation in the entire world.
“I had considered it,” Kaden gritted out.
“I tried to do this the nice way, despite how mean ye were to me men after all those kind years of hospitality that I gave ye.”
“Kind years of—” Kaden had to catch himself because he couldn’t process the words that were leaving the arrogant prick’s mouth.
He spoke as if he owned the whole world. No doubt, that was exactly what he thought.
There was no point in speaking with evil. It could not be reasoned with. It could not be understood.
Kaden had once thought that if he got answers, or if he could understand why the things that had happened to him had happened, he would be able to have something close to closure, if it was at all possible. Something that might help stop the nightmares if he could make any sense of anything.
Standing here now, seeing this man who didn’t even reach his eyes, he knew that the only thing he needed was to have the man’s blood on his hands.
“I’ve heard all about the name ye have been making for yerself.
I wonder if people would think that ye were so mighty and terrifying if they knew the way ye screamed.
How easy it is to make ye beg with enough pain.
” The man laughed. “Hell, all I have to do is bring me hounds into the room, and ye might just wet yerself.”
Kaden’s left eye twitched. He wasn’t that boy anymore. He would never allow himself to be a victim ever again.
It would have been easy to allow himself to be scared of the man and the words that he was using as a weapon. The man in front of him wanted him to be embarassed of his younger self and the things that were thrust upon him.
But standing here, taller than he had ever thought possible in comparison to the massive shadow that plagued his nightmares every single night, he was embarrassed that this man was attempting to belittle the child in him.
Well, Kaden was no longer that child.
The corner of his lip tilted up slightly. “Is that the best ye can do?”
The man grinned back, squaring his shoulders as if he were preparing for a fight.
Good.
“Ah, so the pup’s finally realized that he has fangs? But does he ken how to use them?”
Only one way to find out.
Kaden was done speaking. He had waited for this moment long enough.
He tilted his head from one side to the other, letting the joints crack until he was more comfortable, and then rolled his shoulders back. He drew his sword and nodded toward the ground in front of him in challenge. The look he gave the man very much said, Come on, unless ye’re scared.
The older man snarled and lunged at him, no doubt accustomed to having his bulk and sudden rage break the concentration or stance of any person that he might be fighting with.
Kaden expected the familiar battle rage to fill him. He expected to feel that strange, overly focused fluidity take control of his limbs. He expected muscle memory to drive him forward. Instead, everything looked hazy.
Everything was moving in slow motion as the old bastard came at him, their swords clashing, until they were nothing more than a blur of movement and the clang of steel hitting steel, taking notches from the blades as they tried their best to kill one another.
For a short moment, Kaden forgot the world around him as ugly memories flashed through his mind.
He was nothing more than every lash of the whip, every bite of canine teeth into his skin, every bruise and sleepless night, every ache of stiff joints, and everything else that had been done to him back when time seemed never-ending.
Usually in battle, his arm would start to tire and grow heavy, but he could have done this forever. Each strike of his blade against the man’s was payback for a sliver of what had been done to him.
He refused to call the monster by name, even in his own head, because no part of him was human, so why should Kaden treat him like anything other than the beast he was? Sickness and shadow and nothing more.
Kaden would win this. There was no other outcome.
The door to the small cabin banged open, and a small body stumbled out of it at the same time Maggie came running around the bend. There was no sign of Peter following behind her.
There were too many things happening all at once for Kaden to keep track of. He couldn’t do that and defend himself at the same time. He needed to finish this.
But that was Emily in the doorway.
She scrambled to her feet, her skirts tripping her up, and the monster used Kaden’s brief distraction to lunge forward, his blade slicing across Kaden’s upper arm while the other sliced right across his chest.
Kaden snarled in pain and staggered back a few steps.
He could hear Emily calling out his name; she was coming too close.
He wanted to warn her away, to tell her to stay back, but there wasn’t a single moment of respite.
There wasn’t a break or pause in the fight that he was in.
He could hear Maggie barking, but he no longer had any idea where she was.
“I willnae kill ye, ye ken?” the monster snarled when he was close enough. “I’ll take ye right back where ye belong.”
Kaden’s footsteps faltered, something that hadn’t happened since he had returned home, as he imagined only for a second what it might be like to be back there.
There was no way. He would rather die. He would rather die here and now, though he wished Emily were not there to witness it.
No. He couldn’t weaken. He could feel the blood from his wounds running down his chest, and knew that he needed to move more quickly.
The monster lunged, and Kaden pivoted, their swords clashing. And then the monster’s forehead hit his own, and Kaden’s vision blurred. He ground his teeth… and then pain was all he knew.
Emily screamed.
The world tilted sideways as his knee hit the ground far too hard.
The next thing he saw was Emily throwing herself onto the back of the monster. He wanted to protest, but he couldn’t seem to get his mind to focus on where the pain was coming from in the first place. He had no idea what part of him was injured.
Emily wrapped her arms around the monster’s neck, shifting until she could lock one arm around him and the other around his forehead, like she could force him backward or divert his attention.
The monster reached behind him, grabbing her by the hair with a wicked laugh.
He wrenched her upward, and her nails raked down his face, leaving grooves deep enough to draw blood.
He growled in pain and loosened his grip on her, but she wouldn’t be dissuaded.
He started to swing his sword wildly, not caring what or where he hit, while spewing a steady stream of nonsense that Kaden couldn’t quite understand.
Emily shrieked, and Kaden saw that her arm was bleeding. He summoned what was left of his strength and surged forward. His shoulder met the bastard’s ribs, and the three of them toppled backward.
Kaden was struggling to see straight, but he knew his fist was connecting with places that hurt, because the monster’s constant rambling had finally stopped.
“Kaden!” Emily shouted, thrusting something that he could barely see out of the corner of his eye. Just enough to realize what it was.
He snatched the knife, and in one sharp motion, it was over.
It was a cleaner and far shorter death than the monster deserved.
Kaden looked him in the eyes as the light faded from their soulless depths. Then, everything went dark.