Chapter 7
KADEN
Slamming into the tree, I claw at the bark like a cat fighting for purchase. Inside my head, I fight the beast with every bit of power I have left.
My body is burned, hair singed, and I smell blood on the air. My blood. The beast tried to fight the fire to get my mate and lost. Horribly.
Thank the Gods for Reid and Mal. Two Fae I watched grow up, they’re the only reason Max is unharmed.
I won’t entertain the delusional thoughts that others have sought her out—jealousy is a real thing in the Dark Fae—but I can’t give into the madness now. Instead, I beat against my constraints and force the beast to fight me mentally, while I try to take back control.
The battle is hard—and taxing. It’s getting more difficult to take control of my body. Soon, the beast will have complete power and I’ll be nothing but a whim in his mind.
No, I growl, punching against the tree. It splits, pieces falling into tiny splinters. I will not give up.
Max is fighting for me—for us. I’ll hold on as long as it takes.
I push further, gripping tight to my body and sanity.
Sanity that seems frayed now, as I’m constantly pulled in two.
One part wants to give in—let the darkness take me away, and forget everything.
The other part, the much bigger part, refuses.
I want my future with my mate—a promise that has been dangled in front of me and I refuse to release its grandeur.
It’ll be Max and I until the world ends.
Panting, I drive the beast further back. He fights—bites and claws. He won’t submit. For years he’s been in chains and he won’t give in simply because I push.
What was it that Oslo used to say?
“Focus, Kaden. Breathe.” He taught me mediation, and breathing techniques. He always thought my mind was the greatest asset to battle the beast. Not my strength, not my iron-clad control, but my tenacious mind.
We worked endlessly on exercises to build my endurance. Ways of controlling the beast through sheer will. And it worked for a time. Until it didn’t.
Gods, I wish he were here. I could use his calm—his confidence in my abilities.
At this point, just knowing he was alive would be enough to bring me back. He was the father I always wanted, the man who believed in me. It was easy to battle the beast because he did it—and would be proud of me for it.
But like all things in life, everyone I’ve loved has been taken from me. Max is the only person left, and I will not lose her too. Not to a wound nor a curse, she will stay my mate in this life.
Inhaling, I howl as I exhale. The beast pushes against me again and we fight in my mind. Both of us want to be the dominant force—and neither of us will submit to the other.
I think of Oslo’s wisdom and his courage to persist. I think of his face, when he held me after my mother died. How he visited me in the dungeon, spurring me on to fight. I try to find the strength in his conviction, to resist a curse made up of magic and malice.
The memories change. His death on the tile floor of my throne room assaults me. How his blood spilled against the black, blending together as if he didn’t matter.
I couldn’t protect him.
The beast surges again and I almost lose my hold. No.
Changing tactics, I push away the grief that wants to drown me and think of my mate.
Of her sparkling eyes and her red colored lips that tempted me from afar.
Of the first time I saw her, and thought her unique, intriguing although too daring for her own good.
Of claiming her in the middle of a battle when everyone was being killed—and all I could see was her.
All I could think of never wanting to be without her again.
The strength rises in me and I exhale, pushing the beast further back.
I think of her now—capable and sure. She leads with a firm hand, and although I know she’s distracted, she is not without her compassion. She cares for the guards, makes sure Reid sleeps, and asks if there were any hawks from Fee.
She is fucking magnificent.
It’s getting easier to hold on, to cage the beast.
I keep thinking of Max and hope to dream.
Seeing her on my mother’s throne, the one my father hid from the court. Her, comforting our people after we win this final war, becoming a symbol of peace and security.
Her, growing with my child, beaming from the life we create.
On Enyo’s might, please let that happen.
Never in my life have I wished for such a thing. A family. A life. I’ve only lived to see the next day, to keep this terrible curse chained. But Max? She gives me the courage for something dangerous.
Hope.
The cage locks and the beast submits. Leaning against the tree, I look to the surroundings, chest heaving, sweat dripping off my forehead. Everything is destroyed from our struggle and I close my eyes, listening to only my words in my head.
Fuck, I’ve missed that.
Just for a test, I summon my magic, throwing shadows high above me, cascading down into a shield. It becomes a thick barricade, something not even the moon’s ray can fight through.
Through the shield, the Hadeon sits patiently. Watching. Waiting.
Letting my magic dissipate, I walk to his side. I don’t pet him—only his master can touch him but I let him sniff my palm. Turning on his heel, one head jerks for me to follow.
He hasn’t taken me to feed since the fire hours ago. He wants me to suffer.
I deserve it. After attacking my mate, I deserve far worse.
We travel through the woods at a steady pace as my body aches. But I let the agony wash over me, reminding me I’m still me. It’s punishment, but I accept it.
The quiet is a luxury as we travel. My mind is my own, the beast’s howls are distant. I can control my limbs and I do not hunt like some depraved creature.
The simple pleasures in life.
Nothing as pleasurable as the hope Max awoken in my soul. I grip it in a tight fist. That hope is what is going to help me survive this. To cling to my sanity and life—hope for her. For our future.
And I’ll be damned to release it.
We stop at the foothills of a large mountain. The Summus Range has been swallowed by fog and clouds for as long as I’ve traveled through this land. It rises in a steep cliff, set far enough from the main path that no one ever strays this way.
Surrounding the bottom of the mountains, between the forest, is a scorched patch of dirt. I’ve always assumed from a fire, but the forest should’ve regrown. It never did.
Stranger still, a curious boundary surrounds the range, invisible to the eye, yet it deters all travelers from entering. Just beyond it are full bushes of necrotic roses, black as soot, overgrown and wild. No one can access them—at least no one I’m aware of.
“Why are we here?” I ask, though everything is garbled. These fucking fangs.
I’ve never been one for long bouts of speaking, but when this is over, I’ll tell all my thoughts in great detail. Enough so that my brother will grow tired of it.
The Hadeon pushes one of his heads toward the boundary. It sparks, igniting like fire. Crackling sounds and overhead, lightning strikes high up the mountain. It’s the Gods mad at what he’s attempting.
This creature clearly has a plan, but it’s lost on me. Not that I’m terribly open to something else right now.
He does it again and another spark. More lightning. Sola is mad.
On Bel’s balls, I have no idea what this thing wants.
Stalking away from him, I follow the mountain. Is there something here?
Going around the corner, the Hadeon cuts me off and stares me down. There’s a slight gruff, a puff of smoke, and I throw my hands into the air.
“What?”
He doesn’t move. He has the nerve to stare me down.
“Gods above,” I mutter, and decide to copy the Hellhound.
My hand touches the field and I’m jolted, thrown clear across the path. I no longer feel pain—because my entire body sizzles with energy.
Connecting with a boulder, my body cracks and snaps, joints popping with the force.
Once I can feel my hands, I’m going to strangle that fucking monster.
Sitting up, the Hadeon steps between my legs, tilting his head. He seems to say see?
Arching upright, my body convulses as the beast roars in my skull. No. Not yet.
The blast exhausted me, and desperately, I realize I have no energy to fight his control.
It’s a slow roll, like a tide swarming the beach. Soft, but violent, the curse rises and I’m shoved back. Before I go, I hold tight to the bond in my chest—the spark that connects me to Max. The hope she instills in me.
She is my future and like Hell will I let the curse take it. With one last touch, I’m shoved back and the beast takes over. My eyes cool and the Hadeon steps away, sensing the shift.
Standing, the beast ignores the aches and pains, and continues on into the forest. He’s hurt and he doesn’t care about me waxing poetically about my mate. He needs blood—and he’ll find it now.