Awakened By The Shadow King (Captive 0f Shadows Book 3)

by Bailey Dark

  I open my mouth to speak, but Willem’s voice shouts from the sky. “We’re coming up on land soon. We should drop anchor and take the smaller boats to shore.”

  Kane nods, dropping his hands, and looks out at the water. I follow his gaze.

  Archech Island is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Actually, it’s more like a feeling more than a sight. A sensation that alerts you that danger is near. But not any danger, a dark evil that exists only between the pages of books. Seeing Kane so rattled from the fight against the Leviathan brings back memories of seeing him beaten by the Nephilim. He’s here and he’s alive. I can feel the flex of his forearm beneath my hand, but when I close my eyes -even if only for a second- I see him lying dead somewhere I can’t reach him.

  I thought I could heal his wing and prove to myself that I’m not helpless in all of this. I’m not just a pawn in someone else’s game. But I’m foolish to think I’m more than what I’ve always been. Kane’s arm comes around me as my knees collapse. I shouldn’t be here. Only the thought of leaving him to Willem’s treachery keeps me from suggesting we give up on this ridiculous mission.

  Kane drops anchor and lifts me up, carrying me all the way down the ladder and into the small boat below. We row toward the shore. I insist on helping so I don’t feel so pitiful. I see the way they look at me. Kane sees me as something fragile and Willem sees me as a burden. Both of them are right, but it still wounds my fractured pride. When we reach the island, I can’t help the instinctive way my body recoils.

  Kane helps me from the boat. My feet sink into the blackest of sands. And that’s all the island is really, black sands and shards that look sharp enough to cut just by looking at them for too long. Like a million obsidian knives. When the sun disappears behind the clouds, it feels as though we’re standing inside of a bottomless hole but we never actually fall. Only when the light returns can we see the ground. It’s as if even illumination is afraid to stay here long.

  We walk along the shore and the feeling of unease worsens. I feel it in my blood, my bones, and in my heart. Even Kane’s shadow does little to bring me comfort. I’m not safe here. I don’t belong on this island where no one returns. Both Kane and Willem appear as though they know something I don’t. They share their usual secretive glances, but there’s something else behind their eyes that makes me want to run and hide.

  My betrothed tips my head back and points to a large structure at the heart of the island. “That is Drogaem’s tomb.”

  I swallow hard trying to muster my courage, but it fails me. “W-we’re going there?”

  “It’s the only way,” Kane says.

  He reaches down and curls our fingers together, but I feel pain. My head begins to pound. It feels like a smoldering blade is slicing through my brain. Kane catches me before I hit the sand. He lifts me into his arms and my eyes squeeze shut. His cold fingers cover my throat as he instructs me to do something...but what is it? What is he saying? I can’t hear him. My eyes open to read his lips, but my vision blurs along the edges.

  What am I supposed to do?

  How do I eliminate this fire in my chest?

  “Breathe!” He shouts. The sound pierces my ears, causing them to twitch. “In and out. Come on, Briar! Take a deep breath...that’s it. Hold it. Good. Now release. Not so fast. Slowly. That’s it. Do it again. Good girl. Come on. Just a few more times.”

  The deep rumble of his voice is tinged with worry. My vision clears with each pull of air into my lungs. Kane kisses the back of my hand. It keeps me grounded, holding me to this world while the island beckons me further. It’s been waiting for me all along. I shouldn’t be here. The thought keeps playing in my mind like a record on a loop.

  “Kane...take me home. I want to go home.” Tears pour from my eyes and he catches them with his thumb, swiping them away.

  “Not until this is over. You can do this, Briar. You’re stronger than you think.”

  I hear Willem mutter something under his breath as Kane sets me back on my feet. I glare over at him while pressing a hand to my throat where Kane’s fingers were. I miss his touch even as I dread what else is to come. I could blame him. I could hate him for bringing me here, but I don’t. No matter how hard I try, I can’t hate him. And there are far more threatening things than Kane looking for the crown. Like Aiden or Willem taking the power for themselves.

  With renewed determination, I take the lead. Kane walks close behind with Willem by his side. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I don’t care. The sooner this is over, the sooner I can be Kane’s wife and I won’t have to worry about his brother or Willem trying to tear us apart. And when I’m his wife, he can love me freely. Even if only in the darkness of our bedchamber.

  Suddenly, my mind begins to surge, and I plunge into visions uninhibited by my attempts to stop them.

  A midnight garden rests at the base of a large mountain. Twinkling lights dance around the fragrant flowers. My eyes lift to the hooded figure standing beside the sacred tree. I am not in danger, not with him. He moves swiftly through the garden. The tiny lights cower beneath his darkness, but not I. His hand touches my cheek and I shiver. “My love…”

  I reach my hand out blindly and lean against one of the obsidian shards to steady myself.

  Armor bearing the crest of Drogaem litters the battlefield. Souls scream out for deliverance, but nothing comes to reap them from this horror. I stand there, a beacon of light in the midst of carnage, staring up at the being I once loved. His white eyes disintegrate. Crimson liquid flows over my hands and the hilt of the blade, soaking my gown with the blood of Death.

  Kane reaches out to me, but I feel those unwanted emotions. It’s too much. I flinch away when he tries to steady me. “I’m sorry...I..I can’t.”

  My head spins and I lean over to heave, but there’s nothing left in my stomach. Acid spills over my tongue. Kane moves ahead of me.

  “I’ll make sure she’s alright,” Willem says.

  Kane agrees. I expect his anger, but he only gives me a look of sympathy before continuing along the sands. I don’t want to be alone with Willem. He dips low and I feel his lips beside my ear. He’s repulsive, but I’m not strong enough to push him away. The tomb is so close. We’re just a few feet outside of the entrance.

  Kane walks inside, leaving us alone as Willem helps me sit. I don’t trust him still.

  “Give me the knife and I’ll kill him myself,” he whispers. I stare at the entrance, silently willing Kane to return. “All you have to do is give me the dagger and distract him. I can do it in one blow.”

  He places his hand on my shoulder and I slap it away. “No.”

  He recoils in anger, gritting his teeth. “I could just kill you and take it.”

  The fear I feel summons another vision. They aren’t mine. I don’t know who they belong to, but I wish for them to stop. My hands quiver as the pain pushes its way through me.

  Cold fingers press me against the stone by my neck, squeezing the air from my lungs as he laughs in my face. “You think you can conspire against me, that I wouldn’t see through your lies…”

  His words fade as black spots fill my vision. He releases his hold only to see me gasp before cutting off my air again. My legs kick wildly. I’m no match for his power.

  “You never loved me. Did you? You never cared.”

  “I love you.” The words are no more than painful sighs, but his eyes widen.

  I cry out as the tension in my head swells. The vision begins to dwindle. No. Memory? The agony lessens and Kane is by my side once more. Willem backs away, but he keeps his eyes on me.

  “What’s wrong?” my betrothed asks.

  I reach for his hand, sensing it through the blinding pain. “Everything hurts, Kane…I don’t know if I can go with you.”

  His voice is strong and steady. “You have to.”

  “You keep telling me that, but you don’t explain why.” My hands lift to frame his handsome face.

  His eyes flicker to Willem a
nd he swallows loudly. I keep my hands where they are. I need to feel him.

  Kane runs his teeth over his bottom lip. “Because I need you to open the door.”

  He stands, taking my hands and leading me through the intricately carved archway. There’s a short passage before we reach a large stone door. It looks out of place on an island formed entirely out of obsidian.

  Kane stops and turns to me, holding my hands in his. His face is remorseful, but serious. “I need you to do this, Briar. I need you to be the light that burns away the darkness. You’re the key. That’s why I brought you here.”

  “I...I don’t understand.” I clutch my head again, ripping my hands from his.

  Tears well in my eyes as I double over. Kane points to an inscription on the door. I can’t stand any longer. I fall to my knees as a blinding light obscures everything in front of me.

  Fire sparks in my chest and spreads through the rest of my body. “Kane!”

  His shadows swarm, dousing the light and washing me in darkness.

  Chapter 14

  Kane

  I watch my bride curl up inside of her cloak as she sleeps just outside of the entrance of the tomb. Willem stares at the blackened stone beneath our feet and points to the singe marks along the walls.

  “Why are we here, Kane? She was right to ask. Briar shouldn’t be here without proper training. Whatever power she holds is too strong for her.” He tears away the tattered remains of his sleeve and exposes a painful looking burn. “She could have killed me.”

  I point wildly at the tomb. “We can’t go back. Not when we’re this close to the crown.”

  “She was never supposed to be this strong!” Willem hisses under his breath. “This is more than a matter of blood and lineage. I’ve never seen anything like that and neither have you. Lux was erased from the lexicon for a reason. We’re flying blind and you don’t care.”

  “Of course I care. Look at the markings.” I walk over to the door and brush my hand along the carvings, watching them glow faintly as they cool beneath my touch. “They won’t open for me. Briar is the key. She’s the light the legends talk about and you know it. We can’t do this without her and turning back isn’t an option.”

  “So, you’ll do it at the expense of her life?” Willem asks. “Because that’s what this could come down to. She could either kill us both like she did with the Nephilim or she could die trying to pass through the tomb. Do you want that?”

  I tilt my head back and flex my fists, feeling the frustration and heartache course through me. Taking in a deep breath I walk over to Willem and lower my voice to a steady tone. “No, of course that isn’t what I want. You know that. But we all knew what was at stake when we traveled through the realm. We knew death was a possibility, but not a certainty.”

  Willem steps beside me, flinching where his hand was stung by the runes. He’s unworthy. I’m better at concealing the pain the magic causes me as I work to decipher the markings, but I’m unworthy as well.

  Only Briar can open the door and lead us through the tomb. “I have to tell her. I have to tell her everything about who she is and what this all means.”

  Willem’s voice is shrill and angry. “What?! Before you even teach her how to control it?”

  “This isn’t about control, Willem, it’s about fate.” I indicate to a symbol with my hand. “That means unleash. It’ll take a lot of power to get through this door and anything else that stands between us and the crown. Briar is that power. She can do this.”

  Willem snatches my arm away from the door. “How is any of this possible?”

  I shake my head. “She’s a descendent of Lux. It’s the only explanation.”

  Willem releases my arm and shakes his head. “No. There’s something else. Either you don’t know or you’re not telling me, but something else is going on here. Why else would the island be affecting her like this?”

  I furl my brow and step toward him. “What are you saying?”

  “Let’s say Briar gets us to the crown. What’s there stopping Drogaem from awakening? We’re all but delivering the last of Lux’s bloodline right to him. These feelings that compel you to come here, to claim Drogaem’s powers for yourself, are too strong to be a coincidence. And Briar. One minute she’s a useless mortal who can barely walk on her own and then suddenly,” Willem snaps his fingers. “She turns into an explosion of light. That. Is. Not. How. Blood. Works. That’s the soul, my friend, and a powerful one.”

  I think about his words but push them to the side. “Even if this is a trap or some sort of divine prophecy unfolding, it doesn’t change the fact that we are here. The crown is almost within my grasp. Having that power will shift the balance and right the wrongs that were made before our time.”

  “Drogaem made promises too, Kane. Some say it was his power that drove him mad and turned him against the mortals. How are you certain the same won’t happen to you?”

  “I’ve seen what comes with war,” I reply. “So have you. There’s no glory in battle, not like the lexicon would have us believe. I looked around and I saw desolation, not death. I didn’t see a mission or even a reason behind it. ‘For strength, glory, and the rise of the underworld’ is what Drogaem said we were fighting for, but it was his own reign he wished to strengthen.”

  Willem lifts his brow pointing at me. “The crown might corrupt you. It could happen to anyone.”

  I lean forward and grab Willem by the shirt. “Or it could serve a greater purpose than rotting away in this tomb.”

  I hear a groan from where Briar rests and I make my way toward her. She reaches out for me. I kneel beside her and lift her upper body off the ground. Her eyes blink up at me in confusion.

  “How are you feeling?” I ask.

  She winces and touches her forehead. “The pain is still there, but not like before. What happened?”

  I lick my lips and straighten her further, looking into her eyes. “Briar, we need to talk.”

  Willem curses and leans up against the wall, refusing to look in our direction out of spite more than anything. But Briar needs to know. I can’t keep this from her any longer. Not when our lives depend on it. “I lied to you about what happened in the opera house. It was you, Briar, you were the one who killed the Nephilim.”

  Her scowl deepens and I hurry to explain. “Lux’s mortal bloodline is directly tied to your family. You are the last descendent of the first Goddess of Light. It’s why you can heal things and why a bright, purifying light surrounds you sometimes. I don’t know what triggered the change in you, but I’m certain of this. And with time, you’ll only grow stronger.”

  “That’s why only you can open the tomb,” Willem adds. “It requires unleashing the light.”

  Briar nods her head slowly. A smile quirks at the corners of her mouth and she throws her head back. Laughter echoes off the scorched walls of the tomb. She doesn’t believe us.

  I should have told her sooner. “Briar listen to me. I was dying, broken on the ground when that light appeared, but it was you. I saw your eyes turn blue and a radiance engulf the theater. The Nephilim never stood a chance against you.”

  “Kane, an angel saved you.” Briar’s eyes are clear, but her words are anything but sane. In all the lifetime’s that have passed since my spawning, I have never once laid eyes on an angel. Like many things people believe, only legends exist behind the name. Briar believes in angels. “I know it. I saw the light when you were hurt.”

  I shake my head and help her sit up against the wall. She stares around the tomb, looking at the burn marks all around us. I can tell she wants to understand, but there has to be so much going on inside of her that the truth can’t quite break free.

  Willem chuckles openly, casting a belittling glaze upon Briar. “There’s no such thing as angels, foolish girl. Time to get your head out of the clouds.”

  Briar goes rigid. “We walk among demons and Leviathans, and the gods only know what else, and you say angels aren’t real? Do you truly bel
ieve that? Or do you simply wish to believe that nothing of the light could ever best a Reaper?”

  “Hold your tongue, mortal! You aren’t my queen yet and even so, I would never bow to a sniveling brat like you.” Willem bares his fangs at Briar, but she refuses to back down. I don’t know what happened between the two of them to put so much anger and hatred in the air.

  “Stop it. Both of you.” Of course, they ignore my orders and continue to glare.

  I release an irritable sigh and assist Briar as she attempts to stand. She shrugs off my hold. They stand in front of each other like squabbling children. I try to ease my way between them, to stop the fighting before it escalates into something violent. Briar is too quick to reach for her blade and Willem could tear her apart with his talons. She sidesteps me with ease. I give up trying.

  Peace talks have never been my strong suit.

  “I’m the coward?” Briar shrieks. “Where were you when Kane was fighting the Leviathan? I heard you say that you wanted to run. I would have stood by his side and fought with him even if it meant we would die. That’s what loyalty means, Willem.”

  The word causes the Reaper to pull up until his full height is revealed. Even so, Briar swallows down her fear and meets his gaze. “It would be wise for you to hold your tongue, lest you wish I carve it out of your face. Yes, you are a coward, Briar. You might stand up for yourself right now, but deep inside you’re still the fussy little princess that hides behind her father’s name.”

  Willem’s smile summons a cold sneer from Briar.

  I’ve never seen such a blatantly angry look on her face.

  The Reaper’s tongue is sharp, but Briar looks every bit a queen right now. Her shoulders are pulled back, spine straight, and head held high. There’s pride and conviction in her eyes. I feel the same pride when I think of her as mine. Briar will make a fine wife and a benevolent queen. There’s no doubt of that in my mind, but the fighting must stop. I grab Briar around the waist and she’s unable to stop me this time.