Chapter 35
Cal
While Petra healed wounds in the ballroom, I was witnessing a different kind of pain out here on the streets of Araqina.
Women wailed, their screams echoing off buildings and dying in the darkened sky.
Men crumpled to their knees, shaking with silent sobs.
Children were whisked away, the adults who ushered them forward promising sweets and bedtime stories if they’d just keep their eyes closed.
I was running on nothing but adrenaline as I helped families locate their loved ones. Some reunions were happy. Many weren’t.
Dawn was creeping ever closer as bodies were cleared away and families were sent home to deal with the aftermath of the attack. The streets were empty. The world was still. I was alone.
For a moment, I simply stood there. I ignored the blood that had dried on the cobblestones, the awnings that had been torn from shops, and the potted plants that had been overturned.
All of this, and the Occulti hadn’t even been in their true form.
All of this, and Malosym hadn’t been at full strength.
With one final breath, I turned on my heel to make my way to the castle, but I was stopped when I saw a lone figure standing in the street.
“The Invisible King, not so invisible now.”
That voice cut through to the core of my soul. Fucking Malosym .
He was in his human form, just a handful of feet away.
He looked so much like the man I’d come to respect as a father figure so long ago, but a faint blue glow seemed to cling to his outline.
Wisps of smoke drifted from his skin, as if he were on the edge of having just enough power to inhabit another form.
A smirk pulled up one side of his mouth, a single brow cocked.
“I’d say sorry about the city, but I never much liked Araqina anyway. City of the Saints ,” he sneered, his lips pulled back over his teeth. “A load of rubbish.”
He didn’t flinch as I drew my sword and pointed it directly at him. He looked right past it, in fact. Right at me. My steps were slow as I circled him. Where could I strike him that would do the most damage? Maybe I couldn’t kill him, but I could make him bleed.
“Where is she?” he asked, his face the picture of nonchalance.
A humorless laugh escaped me. She was locked in the castle, healing the people he was responsible for hurting. How much strength had he gained tonight? How much stronger was he now because of the pain he and the Occulti had caused?
“Ask nicely, and maybe I’ll tell you,” I taunted.
“Bring me to her, and this will all be over. I’ll restore the Saints’ Realm, Heaven, and Hell for you. I’ll make sure that life after death is restored. Your mother and Berna will have their cushy, beautiful life once again.”
“How dare you speak their names,” I spat, my anger burning hotter in my chest .
“Give me Petra, and give me the Human Realm, and I’ll make it so.”
“Come and fucking try to take her from me,” I snarled.
“As you wish.”
Malosym’s hand shot up and a band of blue light exploded from him.
I raised Aegrabane just in time to somehow deflect the shot.
For a fraction of a second, a mere heartbeat, I could’ve sworn his eyes widened in shock.
But he recovered, pulling his arm back before pushing it forward again, another shot headed in my direction.
I swung Aegrabane again, and this time, Malosym’s power ricocheted from my steel. He managed to duck in time, though just barely. When he rose again, pure fury marked his face.
He stalked toward me, sending another shot of power, but it was weaker already. Good. Keep ‘em fucking coming. Maybe he’d weaken himself enough that I could land a blow, incapacitate him.
“We found him, you know,” I said, dodging another bolt. “We found Noros.”
“So did I. Why do you think we visited last night?” His power flowed more freely now, weakening with every strike. “He told you the truth, didn’t he?”
I knew how to get under Castemont’s skin. Malosym couldn’t possibly be much different. “He told us how you’re a fucking coward, but I already knew that.”
Three shots of blue flame came flying in my direction, one after the other, Aegrabane deflecting each one. He was just steps away. “I could kill him if I wanted to.”
“You were unsuccessful last night,” I jeered, and I lunged for him, Aegrabane sailing through the air before a bolt of power hit the hilt and knocked it from my grip.
But I was faster than he thought, and with Aegrabane on the ground, I launched myself at Malosym.
My shoulder caught him in the chest, and he heaved as I took him to the ground.
He was too weak to use his powers but still inhumanly strong.
Every punch I threw was blocked by hands moving so much faster than I’d anticipated.
Fuck. I managed to land one punch, square in his nose, before he grabbed hold of me.
With his hands locked around my biceps, he threw me off him and flipped me to the ground before a fist landed square in my jaw. Stars swam in my vision as the barrage continued, each blow propelled by some invisible strength. The metallic tang of blood hit my tongue.
He was going to kill me. He was going to beat me to death in the streets of Araqina. I figured I’d die by Malosym’s hand, but I didn’t think it would be quite so literal.
Obitus must have felt my distress echoing down our connection, because I heard his screech. But it was far off. Malosym would kill me before he got here.
I tried to conjure an image of Petra among the black spots that were crowding my vision, tried to see her face in the blur, but I couldn’t. I just wanted to see her one more time. My brain must’ve been too rattled in my skull, growing worse with every blow Malosym landed to my face.
Until he suddenly fell forward.
Malosym’s grip loosened just long enough for me to roll from beneath him and see the arrow jutting from the center of his back. He was writhing on the street, trying to reach over his shoulder to pluck the arrow from where it protruded from his spine.
I whipped around, my eyes scanning the shadows and landing on a cloaked figure standing against a darkened building. Who was that? Who just shot Malosym with an arrow?
But the sound of that arrow clattering to the cobblestones pulled my attention back. The animalistic smile on Malosym’s face sent a chill racing up my spine, and he charged for me. I raised my fists, ready to go down with a fight, but before I could swing, Malosym hit the ground again.
Miles had come from behind me, his movements feral as he pinned Malosym down, the sound of rattling chains mingling with the huffs and heaves of the men before me. Before I knew it, Malosym’s wrists were encircled with chains he fought to break, grunting and thrashing.
He was weak now. Weak enough to restrain.
My brother’s eyes were stuck on the monster of a man pinned beneath him. His gritted teeth were bared, his breaths heaving as if it had taken everything in him to bring Malosym to the ground.
I could tell this was Miles fighting back. This was Miles railing against Malosym’s power inside him.
With a silent agreement beneath a lightening sky, we dragged him through the streets, to the back side of the castle, and at the direction of a trio of guards, straight for the dungeon.
Few things in my life had ever felt as good as throwing a chained Malosym into a cell, locking the door, and walking away. But I knew handing him over to Petra would feel even better.
I wanted to question Miles. I wanted to ask him if he’d known, if he’d felt Malosym nearing.
But we remained silent as we traversed the corridors.
I was expecting at least a few people to be left, broken and bloodied, waiting for Petra to heal them.
What I saw was an empty ballroom, save for Petra and Cielle. She’d healed everyone.
Saints-fucking-damn it, I loved her.
“I’m fine,” Cielle said quietly, her eyes locked on Miles.
Petra gasped and rushed toward me, pulling at a bandage she had wrapped around her hand. “What the fuck happened?” she asked, her eyes frantically checking over my face. My face that I’d forgotten was beaten to a fucking pulp.
It was Miles who spoke. “Malosym.”
Petra’s movements froze, her stare moving from me to Miles.
“What do you mean?” Absentmindedly, Petra’s bloodied palm found my cheek.
As I felt my wounds pull together again and the pooled blood drain from my face, as my eyes opened fully and my nose snapped back into place, I stared down at the woman I loved and granted her the greatest gift I could ever give her.
“We captured him. He’s in a cell below the castle right now. ”
“You did what?” she whispered, her brows upturned in disbelief.
“We captured him,” I repeated, my eyes boring into hers.
Petra’s eyes closed for a moment, a silent prayer passing over her lips.
A familiar gleam of steely determination was there when she opened her eyes again, but only for a split second before they softened into something else.
Something I’d never seen before. The thrill I’d felt at hand delivering Malosym straight to her was gone, replaced by the icy feeling of dread.
“What?” I asked.
She took a deep breath, blinking away that look in her eyes, and replacing it with determination again.
“I love you,” she murmured, pulling me down to kiss her.
The kiss was short, no more than a few seconds, but it was deep, charged with emotions I didn’t even have a name for.
But before I could label them, she pulled away.
She was happy we’d captured him. That was all. She was overwhelmed. That look in her eyes was nothing but triumph. Right?
Her expression hardened, her jaw square as she turned for the door. “Take me to him.”