Twenty-Two
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Dianna
T here it was. All the fire and hate came rushing to the surface when I
saw him. My skin prickled, and a wave of heat drowned me. My
hands shot out, thick flames spinning toward him, bellowing and snapping like the jaws of a raging beast, destroying everything in their path.
The acrid scent of burning metal stung my nose, but I didn’t let up. Sweat was beading on my brow before I lowered my hands, some deep and feral part of me coming alive.
“So dramatic,” Kaden said, glancing at everything behind him I’d charred to ash and ruin. He shook his head and folded his arms, muscles straining his dark shirt.
I clenched my teeth, biting back a scream of rage and frustration. It didn’t matter if I couldn’t burn him alive. I would rip him to shreds with my bare hands. I moved, swiping with my claws, aiming for where his face should have been. My strike met no resistance, and I stumbled through him, catching myself on my next step. I turned, looking at my claws, free of blood and flesh. “You’re not even here. Coward.”
He smiled, a single canine elongating as he looked at me. “I prefer survivalist. That power is dripping off you in waves, Dianna. I bet the creatures beyond this realm feel it and quiver.” He leered, his gaze dropping to my chest. “You see me, and your heart doesn’t even falter.”
I grimaced and snapped. “My heart doesn’t beat for you.”
“Oh, I assume it beats for him, then?” he asked, rubbing his chin.
“Reggie. Leave.”
“As you wish,” Reggie said and faded from the room, leaving me alone with Kaden, or the shell of him, at least.
Kaden watched the thick, black, star-filled mist of Reggie’s true form disappear. “You kidnapped a fate, and it listens to you? I’m so impressed, Dianna. I knew once you truly gave in, you’d be unstoppable. How did you
carve him from Unir’s prison?”
“How do you know about that?”
Kaden only shrugged. “I know a lot.”
I sighed, smoke curling from my nose. “Why are you here?”
He grinned, trying to play coy and sweet. My stomach revolted. “Maybe I missed you.”
I placed a hand on my chest. “Aw, I missed you, too. Couldn’t you tell by the bodies I left? Maybe we should have an actual reunion.”
“Yeah?” he purred, taking a step closer. “Will you wear something pretty for me as you did for your World Ender?”
Pretty? My mind flashed through possibilities, wondering what he could possibly mean. Then it hit me. He was talking about the dress I wore in the garden at Drake’s, the one Samkiel made for me.
“You were there.”
He smiled. “Mirrors are the mortals’ greatest invention, and a passageway for ancient creatures, Dianna. I told you I have eyes everywhere.”
My lip curled in disgust as I replayed every place I had been with any sort of reflection. The memory of Sophie speaking into the mirror just before she attacked me.
“Don’t make that face. It’s only obsidian-lined ones. I made sure every member of my court had at least one.”
Dangerous. A beautiful, dangerous stranger I had met in a desert. A sand viper is what I’d thought of him, and that was precisely what he was. But everything Kaden did had a purpose, so he was here for a reason. He was either stalling or preparing to strike.
“Let’s not play games with each other, okay?” I squared my shoulders and tipped my head a fraction higher. “I’m no longer the quivering girl with nothing but a dagger strapped to her thigh. Why are you here?” My voice was even and flat. I folded my arms, the long sleeves of my jacket falling at my sides. He wasn’t here, and I had no inclination to waste my energy on an illusion.
“No, you are definitely not, but I know you still have a pretty weapon between those thighs, don’t you?” He raised his hand, pinching his lower lip
as he circled me, his gaze nearly a physical touch. “Powerful enough to make a god change his plans.”
I groaned, dropping my arms and tipping my head back. He didn’t have to be corporeal for me to know he was tense. I had spent lifetimes studying him. “Did I ever tell you how annoying your voice is? There have been times I wanted to rip my ears off my head rather than hear you go on and on.”
“You know, I never thought you’d kill Drake. I always assumed you two were fucking when no one else was around.”
“No, you were the one who needed multiple lovers to stay satisfied, remember?”
Kaden smiled coldly. “Or maybe there was another reason.”
“One I don’t care about.”
He was trying to distract me. But from what?
“I’ll ask again.” I sighed. “What do you want?”
He stopped before Elijah’s slack form, sliding his hands into his pockets. “You nearly took his head off with that twist. You’ve been paying
attention to me, huh?”
Another distraction.
“Yes, Kaden. You killed my sister. We all know. Do you want to broadcast that once more? Or will you stop hiding so I can repay the favor?”
His eyes scanned me from head to toe as he bit at the corner of his lip.
“You really are different, aren’t you?”
My body shuddered, the Ig’Morruthen stirring and waiting to attack.
“What? Do you want me to be sad? Cry in a corner? No, that girl is long gone. You made sure of that. I want blood. A fucking river of it.”
He strode forward, stopping inches from me, forcing me to look up to
hold his gaze. “Gods, I miss you.”
“What do you want?”
“You.” He moved his hand as if he would touch my hair. “Always you.”
“Me? Or are you here about the ship at the bottom of the sea?”
Not even a hint of surprise crossed his features.
“I will admit, I am glad I am the only thing on your pretty mind. Is Samkiel jealous?”
He is a manipulator, Dianna. Don’t get distracted, my mind whispered.
Don’t let him see you falter for a second, or he will eat you alive.
I swallowed, squaring my shoulders. “I don’t care what Samkiel feels.
The only thing on my mind is killing you.”
He took a step closer to me, his eyes roaming. “And how will you do it, my pretty little vixen? Slowly? That’s not how I like it.”
“I know you’re moving iron. A lot of it.”
“Yeah?” A smirk made of sin graced his lips. “And did you have to spread those pretty little legs to find out?”
I made sure the smile I gave him in return was all teeth. “No, I did that for fun.”
“Fun or that raging bloodlust coming back with a vengeance? You know your true nature, and you have buried it for far too long. That hunger hits, and then you crave something hard and stiff.”
“Not always. Sometimes I prefer tongue,” I snapped back.
“You know you could come home, and I could take care of that?”
Home. That fucking word again. A void I would never fill because of him. I felt my nails bite into my arms.
“Let’s get one thing straight. I never had a home with you. My home is spread across the Naimer Sea because of you. Now, what are you making, Kaden, and why do you need so much iron?”
He twisted his head slightly and inhaled deeply.
“You still smell divine even from this far away. I would recognize that scent anywhere.”
Kaden stepped closer, but I ignored him, refusing to back away from him. I would never do that again. Incorporeal or not, my entire being raged at the monster of a man who made me.
“Is it for the weapon to kill Samkiel? The iron? You have the book of Azrael but haven’t used it yet. It’s been months.”
He reached out as if he could touch me. “Was your hair always this long? I miss the way it bounces when you—”
A small laugh left my lips, the pieces snapping together in my mind.
“You don’t have what you need. You’re missing a final ingredient, and you’re stalling.”
His eyes flashed, and I knew I was right.
I stepped forward, invading his space for once and closing the remaining distance between us. No longer the docile girl who bent or lowered her gaze in fear of him. Never her again. “You know what the funny thing is? I don’t think you’re as evil as you want others to believe.
You collect these people and surround yourself with these creatures so you don’t feel so fucking alone all the time. My guess? You’re just a damaged little boy who just wasn’t loved enough.”
His eyes flashed bright crimson. “Says the woman so desperate to be loved, she conspired with and fucked the enemy.”
“Oh, I never fucked Samkiel. Got pretty close, though.” I let out a low whistle. “The things that man can do with his hands. I can only imagine the rest. Which, you know, I have.”
I added the last part, knowing it would cut him, and if I could hurt him even a fraction as badly as he had hurt me, so fucking be it.
I saw the jealousy flash in his eyes as he snapped his teeth. “Yeah? I think he is using his hands right now on his betrothed.”
It was always tit for tat between us. One always aching to hurt the other worse. Only this time, I knew every pressure point and a way to make him wince in pain for once. I knew I had gotten under his skin, and Kaden knew… I finally registered what he’d said, and my thoughts scrambled,
everything coming to a screeching halt.
Betrothed.
My control over the fiery anger that smoldered ceaselessly inside me snapped, and a volcanic rage bubbled to the surface. An emotion I was a fool to think I had any control over.
My head jerked back. “What are you talking about?”
Kaden’s triumphant smile made my stomach turn. He thought he’d won something. “Oh, you didn’t know? He and Imogen are destined to rule the twelve realms. Arranged marriage and all that.”
I said nothing.
“Hmm, I can’t believe he wouldn’t share that with you.”
My eyes narrowed. “You’re lying. I saw Samkiel’s past.”
“All of it? Doubtful. Even with your blooddreams, you’d have to consume him daily to get that, and by the look on your face right now, I know you haven’t.”
I shook my head. “No, you’re lying. You’re trying to distract me. I asked him.”
I fought to keep from cringing, realizing how ridiculous I sounded.
Kaden pouted, his bottom lip mocking me. “Did you ask him? And he told you the truth? Please. Does that ruin your dreams of a castle with a view?”
I didn’t answer this time. Kaden reached out, and I felt a phantom hand slide through my hair. I knew he would have wrapped the long strands around his fist if he’d been there in truth.
“A king must always have a queen, and you are not his. I told you this already. I mean, come on. Samkiel and Imogen have been together almost as long as you and I have. Do you really think he cares more for you than her? He has known you for mere months. You’re not important to him. He’s got a world to save. You know, from creatures of the night like you and me.”
I studied him, desperately looking for any tell that he was lying, hoping against my better fucking judgment. Still, none came. The edges of my vision seemed to blur. Kaden was telling the truth.
He clicked his tongue. “All you did was bring The Hand back, including
his intended.”
Intended.
Betrothed.
My world spun. My head was crowded with noise, the same noise left on the screen when Gabby and I had fallen asleep while watching a movie, trying our damndest to squeeze as much time together as we could. I always woke up to that blistering static as she continued to sleep, her hand plastered to her face. Now, just like then, I turned it off, and everything went dark, quiet, and empty. I had trusted him, yet he had lied like everyone else. I had hesi—
And a lock on a door in a house quieted.
“You really didn’t know?” Kaden asked, and I realized I had been quiet for too long. “Aw, sweetie, I thought you guys were best friends and all of that, but he didn’t tell you?”
I blinked back the emotions that reared up, threatening to drown me.
They hid a far more devastating truth. “Whatever Samkiel and I had was merely a convenience. It was never permanent. I do not care who he fucks.”
Kaden smiled, and even if he wasn’t in his physical form, I could still feel the power that radiated from him. “You’re many things, Dianna, but a liar is not one of them. Remember, love, I have eyes and ears everywhere.
They should be back from that council meeting. I say let’s have a look for ourselves.”
Kaden reached into his pocket and pulled a slab of obsidian from it. Its smooth surface shining like a mirror against the light. It rippled, and a room
appeared, not just any room but the large conference room in Silver City.
“I had one of my lackeys add this while you two were out fighting somewhere.”
I glanced at Kaden. “Why are you telling me this?” I asked, my voice barely audible.
“Because I don’t think you’ll care after seeing this.”
Voices spilled from the mirror, drawing my attention.
Samkiel’s hand rested under his cheek as he looked through what appeared to be an ancient book. Several stacks of paper and what resembled a map sat next to him. He looked so tired, half slumped over in his seat. I could see others moving in the background. Laughter and jokes spilled from Cameron and Xavier as Logan paced toward the far side of the room. The Hand was there, but that wasn’t what made me stop. Instead, I focused on the tall blonde who came to his side and offered him a drink. He took it from her, giving her a warm smile when she placed a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it. It was the smallest act and yet one that had the remains of my
world tilting on its axis.
His betrothed.
His intended.
She comforted him now, taking my place so effortlessly, where I was the cause of his distress.
Bile rose in my throat as I remembered another time he’d held a damned mirror in front of me. Only it was the truth of my relationship with him and not a damned shard of glass. Kaden had shown me then, in the most heartbreaking way, that anyone was replaceable. I had vowed never to get attached to anyone like that again, and I had held to it. Until Samkiel. Now, I had no right to be upset.
Kaden whistled. “They make a cute couple.”
“Absolutely perfect.” The words left my lips even if my chest burned.
“That,” he nodded at the mirror, “is what he needs. Do you really think she would hurt him? Stab him? Assault his friends and the world he is sworn to protect? Even if you kill me, he will need his family, and you will never be a part of that. We are what they hunt, what they fear. You know this. Can you really say you care about him and be that selfish?”
The rest of The Hand moved around the room. All lost in conversation.
He turned toward them and soon joined in the discussion. I saw it then; the ivory castles on distant worlds with clouds dancing between the peaks. I
saw the birds weaving through the rays of sunshine. Imogen walked toward him in a gown made of diamonds and gold. The others stood with bowed heads in their finest clothing. I saw a crown on his head and hers. I saw it all, what he could have. The realms would be in order without chaos, death, or pain because I would be gone. Kaden would be gone once I was done, and there would be no more darkness in his life.
He deserved that because he was good and kind and honorable. I knew I couldn’t be selfish with him as I had with Gabby. I’d held her back, not letting her live the life she wanted, the life she deserved, until it was too late. And that one harrowing truth rang loud and clear in my ears, heart, and soul. I’d known it the second she died, and vengeance consumed me.
Samkiel and I were not meant to be.
What we had, as short as it had been, was not real. Samkiel deserved so much more than me. I couldn’t take the life he was destined to live. A curse, that’s what I’d been to Gabby. I wouldn’t force that on him.
The pain in my already broken heart dulled, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally felt nothing. The last nail in whatever coffin encased my heart. An icy wave swept over me like a blanket, solidifying my resolve.
Kaden placed the obsidian slab back into his pocket.
“They may not need you, but I do,” he whispered, stepping closer, his large frame invading my space. “I always have.”
I swiped my hand across my cheek, furious that I was still capable of tears and that I’d cried in front of him.
“Is that your master plan? Show me his ex, and I’d come back to you?”
“Not his ex, his current.”
“You’re pathetic.” I spun away, heading for the exit.
“You know, there’s a way to get your sister back?” he called after me.
I stopped. “What?”
“I can do it if you help me. Help me open the realms. Once Samkiel dies, every world returns to how it was in the beginning. Every realm will be open, and you could see her again.”
Realization hit. I was the missing piece in this fucked up game. I was the key.
I threw my head back and laughed, turning to face him. “Gods, you are so fucking manipulative. How did I not see it before? That’s what this is.
What it has always been. You need me, don’t you?” I took a step, then
another, and another. I smiled, allowing my fangs to show. “That’s why you haven’t attacked yet. Why you haven’t come for him.”
“I always needed you,” Kaden said. “I never denied that.”
“Kaden?” My voice was low and soft, even as I swallowed every bit of bile that rose with his words. I stopped a fraction away from him, barely controlling the Ig’Morruthen trying to rip itself free from my skin and eviscerate his incorporeal form.
“Yes?” His eyes fell to my face, my lips as if his words meant a godsdamn thing to me.
I raised a single hand tracing over the side of his face. He shuddered as if he could feel the tip of my nails along his skin. “What in that psychotic brain of yours makes you believe I would bring Gabby back to this kind of life? I already damned her once. I will not damn her twice. That is not love, but then, love is not a concept you are familiar with.”
I dropped my hand, and Kaden straightened as if waking from a trance.
“Let’s make one thing perfectly clear. You will never have me again.
You lost me long before Samkiel returned. You kept her from me, used her to make me do what you wished, and then you took her from me. I will burn this world to ash, and when I find you, I will kill you. Then Samkiel and his betrothed can build their new kingdom from that.”
I spun on my heel, my form rippling. I shot out of the factory in my wyvern form, leaving dust in my wake. Family. That’s what Samkiel had now and what he could keep. My wings beat a fraction harder as I climbed higher in the sky, away from the factory, from the street, from Kaden.
Kaden was a sand viper for sure, but this time his strike had pierced deep and true, the venom burning its way through my veins.
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