by Bailey Dark
Chapter 19
Briar
“I should take you to see your mother,” Kane mentions suddenly.
The pain is all too real. “You can do as you wish.”
“I can still hear the bitterness in your voice, Briar. It’s not attractive on a woman who has nothing but her personality to offer.”
His laughter rings in my ears and I lean further over the railing. I desperately wish for him to break through whatever fog is clouding his mind, to see just a hint of the man I know him to be. Aiden and Willem don’t have to be right. I don’t want to kill Kane or think that he’s some sort of monster when I know the truth.
The Reaper shifts awkwardly beside me as we row.
Kane takes the silence as an invitation to speak his mind. “This world....the one that was fabricated after Drogaem died, it’s useless. Why live the way mortals do? I grow weary of useless meetings and treaties. It’s time we take a stand and show the realms why the underworld will rise.”
I scoff and shake my head, wrapping my arms over my chest. “Is that why you wanted the crown? To assert your dominance like some wild animal?”
Kane sneers. “This crown is worn by kings, conquerors of old, not leaders who see themselves as equal to their servants. We are superior and therefore we should rule. Don’t you agree, Willem?”
Willem scowls. “Why are you asking me?”
Kane narrows his eyes. “Because Reapers were once just as loyal to Drogaem as the Nephilim.”
“I’m loyal to you, Kane. That’s all.” Willem keep his eyes down.
I’m not sure what to make of Willem’s statement. At one point the Reaper seems as though he wants to walk away from his plan to kill Kane just as I had. And at other times he goes out of his way to convince me that I should land the killing blow. But all of this...it feels like history is repeating itself. Lux and Drogaem are responsible for one another's deaths. She was the one to stab him with the dagger and injure herself in the fight beforehand.
If I do the same with Kane, then I’m just continuing the vicious cycle of never-ending betrayal. It’s all so much to take in, all the while my body aches with the same intensity of my heart. Willem and I row until our arms hurt.
By the time we reach the ship, Archech is no more. The Island split in half and is swallowed by the sea. I all but expect Kane to reach out and pet the Leviathan, for cold blooded creatures might find comfort in one another. Though my betrothed was rude and sometimes cruel before, there was never a time when I thought of him as evil. A demon, yes. But never outright evil, not how he is now. This is not Kane. At least not the Kane that I know.
“There’s so much I want to change,” he says.
I shake my head. “You’ve already established peace. There hasn’t been a war for quite some time. Isn’t that enough for now? Maybe you should meet with your court when we return.”
Kane scoffs nonchalantly. “I have no interest in politics and democracy anymore. I am king, there is no discussion to be had. Either they bow or they die”
“And what about me?” I ask. “Does that rule apply to me?”
Kane doesn’t hesitate before he nods. This isn’t him. Not really.
Willem sees it too. He must. I catch glimpses of his watchful eyes wandering to Kane every now and again. It’s strange how Willem and I wear the marks of our journey while he appears to have regenerative abilities now that he is in possession of the crown. The object of immense power looks out of place on Kane.
I can feel the malicious energy coming off of it like a bad smell.
Kane moves toward the front of the ship, seeming bored of my company.
“Don’t look at me,” I hear over my shoulder.
I remain where I am, staring down at the water. Willem’s voice brings me an unnatural sense of ease. I am not alone in this. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that our friend is no longer himself. We won’t be able to talk much, so listen carefully. Keep the dagger close. There’s a possibility he hasn’t learned you have it. Keep it that way.”
Keep my head down, I talk quietly through my teeth. “My father said it can’t be detected by magic, which is why it looks so ordinary.”
I sense his departure before I see it. My eyes naturally shift to Kane, or whoever he is now. The handsome features of his regal face now holds a sense of malice that was never there before. Impassive, yes. But never such harshness. I brush my fingers along the bruise on my collarbone. It forms the shape of a hand. Kane was never violent toward me. His anger came in the shape of meanness, never physical harm.
“The blood of a thousand kills could not satisfy me the way your pain does,” Drogaem whispers into my ear. Ice-cold fingers graze my thighs as I conceal Redemption behind my back. I allow him to kiss me, to taint me with his treachery for the last time. This is his deliverance and mine as well.
I consider Willem’s warning and slip away to strap the dagger to my thigh. It hides well under my trousers, but I wish I had a skirt to change into. Kane announces that we’ve reached land. I exit the cabin, eager to get home to the castle where I can come up with something useful. We drop anchor and step onto the docks. “We have to get the horses and provisions for the journey home. I’ll need all my strength for when we travel through the hostile territories.”
Kane’s husky laughter now causes bile to crawl up my throat. “Briar, everywhere I go is now a hostile territory. But get whatever you need. There will be no one to object.”
I sneer, unsure of his statement. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He storms off without giving me an answer. I slip into one of the shops to acquire supplies. With food, water, fresh clothes, and a few other necessities, I exit the shop. I stroll along the road, smelling the scent of baked breads and...blood? No. That isn’t right.
Tortured screams fill the air and I run toward the sound. A deafening roar forces me to my knees. I cover my head with my arms as black clouds obscure the sun. The familiar yet unusual chill of Kane’s shadows sweep over Frothvein Port.
When the screaming stops, I stand up.
There’s a particular type of silence that follows a great act of violence. It’s the sort of silence that is, in reality, not quiet at all, but louder than anything in the natural world. I walk slowly, looking down at the bodies that are left in the wake of Kane’s power. These lifeless eyes will haunt me until the end of days and beyond even then. Kane stands at the center of the town, grinning from ear to ear as if he is proud of his work.
“How could you?” I ask on the verge of tears.
“I got the horses,” Willem says from behind me.
Kane’s smile never falters. Willem walks over with the horses in tow, face pale and impassive. I still don’t know what his motives are, but I don’t care. I know the look of someone reliving their worst nightmares.
Kane claps him on the back and takes his horse’s reins, pushing up into the saddle without sparing even a look at me over his shoulder. “Get on your horse, Briar, or else I’ll leave you here with these corpses.”
Tears fill my eyes before I can help it. I mount my steed and follow Kane and Willem out of Frothvein Port. We reach the outskirts and come upon a shack that was untouched by Kane’s power. A young boy runs out of the flapping doors at the sound of hooves on the sand. I fear the worst as Kane sets his sights on the boy crying out for his mother.
He raises his hand and I maneuver my horse in front of the child. “Don’t. Please.”
He cocks his brow and snickers. “Are you willing to die for him?”
“I am,” I reply without thought.
“Why?” Kane asks.
For a moment he seems genuinely curious.
My eyes flicker to Willem and back to Kane, confused as how he can even ask that question. “Because it’s the right thing to do. Killing him is pointless and cruel and it’s….it isn’t you, Kane. I know you. There is so much good in your heart and you would never kill someone unless it was justified or to restore the balance.”<
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Kane nods his head and we turn our backs on the child. I feel a sense of relief that the child will live even though he’s sad and abandoned. At least the poor child has a chance at living a normal life. He cries as we ride off into the distance. My stomach drops when Kane turns around suddenly. Before I have time to act, Kane’s arm thrusts out and his shadow blade strikes the child. I look on in sheer horror as the boy crumples to the ground.
The laughter to my left unfurls something inside of me and I want to drive my dagger into his heartless chest. Willem keeps his eyes forward and I am envious he did not witness such a despicable death. I do not question Kane for his actions nor do I show any sign of my pain. An impassive mask that rivals Willem’s falls over my expression.
Emotion clogs my throat, but I do not let the tears fall from my eyes. I wait until Willem passes before I follow once more. I can’t stand to look at Kane. An innocent soul is lost forever because of his need to spite me. I wanted him to live and so he was killed. Kane’s laughter continues to echo across the lands as we travel. Phaendar treats us like royalty once word of Death’s massacre reaches the village. I sleep alone, needing to be as far away from Kane as possible.
Just to add a layer of wickedness, he lays Drogaem’s corpse on my bed.
I sleep restlessly on the floor and dread the troubles yet to come.
The next day is full of his spoils, his evil laughter, and I stay far from his side. As we ride through Zculth, Drogaem’s eyes stare into my soul.
Willem’s words from the tomb come back to me. If it’s not the blood in my veins that fuels my power, then is it my soul? I pause for a moment. I’ve never acknowledged the fact that these abilities, this power that rests inside of me is part of me. We reach the Blood Forest and I ponder the origins of my strength. I close my eye and search for it, prodding deep into that place where a constant hum of magic lingers.
But I find something else entirely.
Before we reached the island, I felt as though Kane and I were one. We are one, I correct. I could feel his emotions at times and even hear his thoughts. Of course, Kane never gives me an answer when I question him. But this connection never felt so dark. It’s tainted in some way. I search for the feeling again, trying to figure out what it is and how it connects us.
The realms will burn beneath my wrath.
Kane’s voice sounds distorted and shaky, but it’s the words he says that cause me to quiver in my saddle. I think of Lux and the things Drogaem told her during their time together. He was ruthless, bloodthirsty, and absolutely vile. I see these things in Kane now and I hate it.
I know what needs to be done, no matter how impossible it may seem. I can only hope I am not in this alone. The crown must be taken from him and destroyed. No one should hold that power. Not Willem. Not Kane. Not Aiden. No one. Lux compares loving Death to being tapped inside of a dream she can’t escape. Her only way of getting free was to kill Death himself. I don’t want that future. The cycle must end.
My fingers slightly graze Redemption. I need a plan.
Epilogue
Kane
Briar. She is all I know. All I can think of in this ever engulfing darkness. I must come back to her. I must fight my way past Drogaem and into the light. Her light.
Briar is all that I know.
I hear her voice in my head, reaching out to me even though she does not understand our bond. The only thing that keeps me company are my memories. They twist and turn, morphing between reality and what my mind uses to trick me. I struggle to understand the truth, the reality, the realness of where I sit. I want to fight, but I feel no body, no sword.
I fade in and out of a dream state. At times I stand in my office, staring into the crackling fire as I lick the taste of Briar’s kiss from my lips, savoring it. Other times I sit beside her in the Blood Forest as Willem tells her the tale of the fabled beast that dwells there...
“…Legend states that many moons ago, a mindless soul wandered a bit too far into the Blood Forest. When he found himself charging in circles, he became more and more panicked. In his frenzy and fear he cried out for the gods to save him and help him find his way home. He thought surely the Gods could hear him in a forest where he was the only one crying out for them. But what he didn’t know was that the trees of the Blood Forest sing louder than his own hollow voice could carry…”
The image shifts and I see Willem standing over Briar with blood on his hands. She’s still alive, but barely. Willem is the beast of the Blood Forest. No. That isn’t right.
“...Their enchantment muffled his cries and filled his head with song. He became ensnared by this song, lured to a place only the lost can find, a place where he was cursed to roam the forest for eternity, his fear growing to an explosive and shattering point each and every night…”I can hear her laughter. A beautiful melody that floats on the wind.
“I love you,” she says, but it’s not her.
It’s not my Briar. It’s Lilith. I recognize the fangs and the cruel intent behind her beautiful eyes. Lilith does not love me. She loves the illusion that I allow her to see. Briar knows me. She knows who I really am. And yet she has never confessed her love. The motions are there but the words have never graced her lips. I long for them, to hear the words, but it never comes. In its place is the deliberate and vile tone of Lilith’s voice.
Perhaps it is not possible for a creature as light as Briar to love me.
I shake my mind to free myself from these thoughts. Together, the three of us have survived mummies, skeletons, demons, a Leviathan, and uncharted landscapes. We could have tripped and fallen into a rift, but destiny kept us together. It’s a strange thought, sure. But I can’t deny that we’ve ended up in one unfortunate situation after another with barely a day’s rest in between.
Briar must be so tired.
I know the nightmares that plague her mind.
And after her soul is within my grasp, I will feed her to those she fears the most.
My own voice haunts me. I would never…Briar is strong, but her fear is crippling. She needs me. The world will not survive under Drogaem’s tyrannical rule. I must get to her. I climb to my feet and shuffle through the darkness, finding once again I have my body. The shadows fog my mind, trying to keep me locked away, but I fight them. I am their master, not Drogaem. I am Death. He is a soul clinging to a time that has long since passed. My feet ache with the force in which I push forward. Muscles burning and lungs straining to pull air in, I make it to the front. I know the pain in my body is not real, for I have no body to feel. It is an illusion created by my own conscious.
I break through the darkness like I broke through the surface of the water after I fought the Leviathan. My eyes adjust to the blinding light of the world beyond my mind. I see Briar turn to look at a young boy running toward the port village. My arms lift suddenly. The shadow blade shoots out of my hand and I see the child clutch his chest in perfect clarity. I call out, but my lips curl into a smile. Drogaem is letting me see through my own eyes. He is torturing me with the vile acts he is using my body to perform. He is tainting me with every breath.
He is keeping me still and making me watch the young boy die by my own hands. Never have I taken the life of a child. My reapers collect the souls and I rule over the underworld, protecting the souls that call this realm home, to the best of my abilities. Killing that boy is not my way. These are not my actions. I see Briar as she turns her back once more and rides away from the decimated village. She is in pain.
It isn’t the sort of pain that appears on her face, but one I can sense in her soul. It’s a pain that dives deep into the very core of me. Something about it makes me stronger, but not strong enough. Drogaem forces me back into the corner where my thoughts are not clear. My hands scramble upon the wall as I call out to Briar.
Drogaem appears in front of me, wearing my skin and smiling like a cat who caught their prey. “She’ll come around to my way of doing things.”
I snarl and grow,
yelling out at him. “Briar isn’t like you....”
“I’ve seen how easily she gets emotional. They taste so sweet. I think she misses you, Kane. She admires you greatly. Well, at least she did.” His laughter haunts me.
I thrust out my arm and point at him angrily. “They won’t let you get away with this. Someone will stop you.”
Drogaem moves to stand in front of me. He kneels down and grips my chin. My skin burns where he touches me. I close my eyes and fight to remind myself that this pain is not real. It isn’t physical, but a manifestation of Drogaem’s cruelty. “There won’t be anyone left alive to stop me, Kane. Give up these foolish notions. If you behave, I might let you out to play every once in a while. After all, I must keep up appearances until the correct moment presents itself.”
My eyes shift to his. “What do you mean?”
A cruel smiles pulls at his lips. “The realms will burn beneath my wrath. Those who rise from the ashes shall have a place at my side. Anyone who doesn’t gets fed to my Nephilim.”
The image of the imposter in my skin fades away. I jump to my feet, feeling dizzy and disoriented. My own manifestation of a body falls back against a wall I cannot see, only touch. Slowly I slide down and close my eyes. I wade through an endless vat of darkness, straining to feel Briar through our connection. She cannot hear me. And I’m not sure how much longer I can resist this power...
The story continues in Book 4 in the Captive of Shadows Series . . . Coming Soon!
About the Author
Bailey Dark is obsessed with all things dark, hot, and supernatural. From Fae to Aliens, her heroes are thoroughly alpha and pure raw masculinity. When she’s not writing (which is hardly ever) she’s busy watching every movie in the marvel universe, or binging supernatural on her couch. So come along, and enter her dark world. . . .
https://www.baileydarkromance.com/
