Chapter 31
Kaden
“You’re alive,” my sister comments, face carefully blank. Sharpening my sword by the firelight, I ignore her, eyes down as my body feels the sun rise overhead.
We might not be able to see it, but outside the Eternal Night Forest, the sun rises and the beasts awaken, pulled to look for prey.
The beast inside of my head pulls lightly at the chains.
He’s tame today. He should be. He was fed last night.
Stepping close, Fee scans my body, taking in my bare back and the remnants of my wounds. They’re nothing more than angry lines, the Witch’s magic speeding along the process.
“She was right,” she comments, sitting beside me. She throws a vial into my lap.
I know who she’s talking about. “How so?”
“She said healing you would help bring you back.” She gestures to my body. “She was right. You should thank the Witch.”
I try not to look toward her tent, next to the Witch’s within the volunteers camp. But I can’t help it.
She left me hours ago and my body is still primed, ready to take her.
I was sadistic to refuse her a climax, and a small part was so she could feel the pain I do at being so close to her. But I stopped for another reason.
I wanted to claim her. Lay a branding onto her soul and keep her as my own.
And that would ruin my plans.
I had to get myself under control. It wasn’t the beast that wanted her, but me. I wanted her so throughly I was ready to throw all my carefully laid plans away, risk my siblings’ lives just to have her.
It’s supposed to be easy. Bed the advisor, gain her trust and heart and get her back to my father.
Now? Now it’s turning into torture.
“Should I?”
She reads my face, nose wringing. “Did you sleep with the blood summoner?”
Shrugging, I kick out my feet, the flames licking at the soles. “Define sleep with.”
“Bel’s fiery balls,” she curses, rubbing her forehead. “Must not have been good. You’re still in a piss-poor mood.”
Coming close, she inhales again, scowling as a fang drops over her lip.
“Are you fucking serious, Kade?” She grabs my shoulder, making me face her. “You drank from her?”
I glare, ignoring the accusation. I won’t feel guilty for the gift Max gave me.
She handed me something no one—including Sose— had ever given me. She saw the beast inside my soul and still wasn’t afraid. The bravest of men couldn’t do what she did.
And now, she owns me.
What is she doing to me?
Why do I crave her so fully, that the ache of her absence slices into my heart like a blade?
“I didn’t take it. She gave it willingly.”
Fee rears back as if slapped. I understand—this is completely unheard of.
“Did you kill her?” She glances around as if expecting to see a corpse. “Where is she?”
Growling, I toss my blade onto the ground, nails digging into my knees. It shouldn’t bother me, to be accused of killing a woman who was in my bed—but it does.
“She left my bed hours ago, Fee,” I snap, glancing to the dark tent. She tried to find release and failed miserably. It shouldn’t please me, but it does. “Not happily, but very much alive.”
“Thank Azure,” she mutters, shoulders dropping. “But Gods, she’s stupid.”
“She’s brave,” I defend, holding the bottle to the light. “She did what no one else would do.”
“Normal people don’t offer their necks to a male who tried to rip it out mere hours ago. Stupid.”
“Or compassionate. What’s this?” I ask, holding up the bottle.
“Human blood. I paid a pretty coin for it. There’s a Human village outside the forest, near where the Fury nest was. It took most of the night to get there and back. I thought you might need it.”
Fee’s eyes—so similar to our mother’s— peer at me with concern. I look away.
“I hate when you look at me like that.” I grab a clean tunic, sliding it along my wounds without a wince. “I’m fine.”
“I’m worried.” She scans me again. “You are not fine. You don’t lose control. You don’t attack. You haven’t fed directly from anyone since—”
“I know.” I glare at her, cutting off her train of thought. I might have drained the lord of his blood, but I never drank it, just bled him for touching Max.
This is different.
She frowns. “You got the last one killed, Kade. Do you really want to keep pushing this? If you kill the blood summoner, in a fit of bloodlust, we have no tool for father. We have no way of appeasing him.”
She swallows down whatever emotion she’s feeling, glancing to the raging fire. With soft eyes, I nudge my shoulder into her smaller one, offering brotherly comfort.
“Are you worried about the advisor?”
She snorts miserably. “Something about her is, different.” She shrugs.
“But I’m more worried about her effect on you, brother.
You don’t know what it was like to watch that curse consume you.
To see the one person in this world who has never hurt me—try to kill me.
” Her jaw clenches even as she fidgets with a string on her leather vest. “This woman changes something in you, riles up the beast, makes you weak. And you’re not weak. ”
“I’m not,” I agree. “I’ll admit. This is the first time I’ve not had full control of my beast. Even with battles or injuries. It’s drawn to her.”
She avoids my gaze, chewing on her lip. “What does that mean?”
I don’t know. “It means I need to be smarter. I need to figure out how to prevent it and work around it.”
As much as I may want her, wish to fully posses her, it’s dangerous for me to do so.
My mission comes first. I can’t risk it for her.
She’ll be a tool for my father and I’ll need to keep my heart away from her.
“Then figure I out quickly,” she mutters, shoulders back. Fee’s facade changes, back to the hard-ass that is my sister. “You’re only alive because of her. You think it was me bringing you back? No, she used her blood to trick you, so we could subdue you long enough to be healed. At her request.”
Swallowing, she gazes into the fire. “She convinced me to disregard my promise and let you live. You owe her your life.”
Relief curls around my gut as my heart warms and breath rushes from my lips. Max is the reason I’m alive. Gratitude so overpowering knocks me back by an invisible hit.
But the sorrow on my sister’s face is stark. She was ready to kill me—end the beast to save everyone. All because of a promise she made to me years ago.
I can’t image the toll it took on her.
Clasping her hand, I say, “Thank you.” My throat clogs with emotion.
Fee cares about her word—her honor. She was ready to kill me to honor me. The grief on her face, mirrors the one in my heart.
Pointing a finger at me, she threatens, “Don’t ever fucking do that to me again. Do you hear me, Kaden Moorgate? Never again.”
“Oh, cool, we’ve reached the threatening portion of our day,” Reid quips, dropping beside me. Cool amber eyes flicker over my body, and I stare back, waiting.
Reid’s been avoiding me since I awoke. He’s never been around me when the beast gained control, never had to worry that I wouldn’t be able to fight it back.
He wasn’t there for Sose, being too young to understand. He didn’t visit me in the dungeon where I learned to harness the beast. This is new territory for him.
Breaking the staring contest, I ruffle his hair like he’s a child again and I’m an annoying older brother. Of all the beings, I never wanted Reid to be afraid of me.
“And what did you learn today, little brother?”
“Besides to never bring a beautiful woman to a Fury’s nest? Even with those legs and lips?”
At my glare, he holds up his hands in surrender. “Sorry. Point taken. While Fee was off looking for blood, that you clearly don’t need,” he gives me a poignant look that I refuse to acknowledge, “I overheard the lords.”
“Overheard?” I prompt.
Reid doesn’t look guilty. “Fine, I spied. They want to travel to Wulf’s village in the mountains. Without Hastings, we’re severely outnumbered. Max was right. Without that lord, the raid is ready to fall apart.”
“Not like we care,” Fee scowls. “We’re here to capture a weapon and head home. It’ll be easier to ignore Wulf’s village and take them through the forest. Eventually, something will pick them off. By that time, the blood summoner should be ready.”
Both siblings look to me and I crack my neck, easing the discomfort.
Fee isn’t wrong. We didn’t come on the raid for the agreement or the allies. We came for her. By taking them through the forest, the monsters will pick them off until we have no choice but to return home.
Reid shifts beside me and I sigh. “What else?”
He holds up a small parchment, a message from our father. It’s the first we’ve had in days. “It came this morning. He wants to know what you’ve found and where you’ll be to intercept. He’s getting impatient.”
Of course he is. I nod, taking the missive as a growl leaves my lips. Fuck. Fee glances at me and I unroll the missive, pretending to read it.
This is what she was afraid of happening. The beast is too restless. Any harm to the blood summoner and he’s ready to break free, my control be damned.
I don’t want to give her to my father. I know this in the deepest part of my black heart, that I cannot let my father have her.
But I can’t tell my siblings that now. Not after so much work. Not without another answer.
Holding it between my forefinger and middle, I gesture to the camp. “We’ll take the raid to Wulf’s village. As much as I don’t care about Humans, we can’t risk more attacks before Max is mine. At least there, we can relax before making the next move.”
Just the thought that she could be mine twists my gut with anticipation. Fuck, I want her. I want the piece inside of her that calls to me.
“I’ll tell Father where we plan on being, but I won’t tell him what we have or when. I can’t risk an interception before solidifying the connection with Max.”
Fee nods, agreeing silently as she returns to her tent.
Wulf’s village is high in the singular mountain range along the edges of the Eternal Night Forest, where someone can traverse a snowy, steep path or through Erebus’ Hollow to reach it.
The Erebus’ Hollow is a long tunnel built into the mountain range with a direct exit at the foot of the village. Unfortunately, it’s guarded by a beast blessed by the gods. Anyone who has ever attempted the passage never returns.
It’s a three-day journey to the village. Which means we’ll be vulnerable for another attack. Not a great possibility with how the last fight left me.
Reid leans back, sighing deeply, legs out. When I glance at him, he’s watching me, brows furrowed as if he can peel back my skull to read my thoughts.
Out of anyone, Reid probably can.
“What, Reid?”
“You’re the planner,” he says slowly, rubbing his hands on his knees. “You’ve seen how this ends, right?”
I nod, though I don’t tell him how I see this ending differently than what I originally planned. If I did, both my sister and brother would force me to abandon this and high-tail it back to the Black Palace.
Right now, Reid needs to be reassured. He doesn’t want to use Max because he’s kept his heart after all the darkness in the world. But he’s loyal, and will follow whatever command I give him.
Only now, after she gave me her blood, her trust, I’m inclined to agree with my brother.
“I have and everything is going according to plan, little brother.” I lie.