A Dragon’s roar roused me from the nightmarish daydream I’d fallen into. Flashbacks of the battle had been flitting through my mind like a little house of horrors contained in my head, and I wasn’t sure I was ever going to truly escape those awful memories.
Lionel’s sudden presence in the palace made the walls shiver, like they were recoiling from his touch. There was old magic in this place, and something about it was loyal to the Vegas, revolted by his presence and rebelling against him.
I looked down at Darcy in my arms, exhaustion having stolen her away into sleep for an hour, or perhaps it was two. The creases on her brow told me all I needed to know about how restful that slumber was. She hadn’t spoken a single word to me after I’d told her about Darius, descending into a pit of despair so deep I didn’t know how to pull her out of it. I felt helpless, fucking useless in fact. How was I ever going to make things okay again?
I was falling into that despair myself, thoughts of Darius binding themselves to the recesses of my mind, playing on repeat.
“Come on, hurry up,” Darius urged as I ran after him down one of the darker corridors in this corner of Acrux Manor.
I’d never been here before, Uncle Lionel usually made us stay in the eastern wing as far away from his office as possible. One time, my dad had pointed out that he could just use a silencing bubble, and the look Darius’s dad had given him had reminded me he held a beast inside him that was capable of eating Fae whole. My dad never acted like he noticed though. But that was because my dad was a badass.
I followed Darius through a door, and he shot me a mischievous look back over his shoulder that spelled trouble. And that was our favourite thing in the world.
I slipped in after him and my mouth fell open at the pile of treasure standing in that room, heaped there like a miniature mountain.
“The Dragon Guild sent it as a gift for my birthday,” Darius said with a stupid look on his face.
“You sure you’re gonna Emerge as a Dragon?” I teased and Darius frowned, looking like the sky might fall if he didn’t.
“Of course. Look at me.” He thumped his chest which was far wider than any eight-year-old’s I’d met before. He might have been younger than me by a few years, but our friendship had always been encouraged since we were kids. I’d seen him take his first steps, had caught him when he’d fallen, and he’d always been one of the best friends I’d ever had. I couldn’t explain it, but it was like we were meant to be friends, and it made me think of something Aunt Catalina had told me once – back when she’d seemed a bit nicer. “Nebular Allies are the most precious of friends. They are rarer than gold, and far more valuable.”
That was before she’d gone all weird, sort of cold and distant. I didn’t really like her anymore; she gave me the creeps. I hated the way she looked at me vacantly, yet always wanted to be close to me and my family, like she wanted to say something interesting, but she didn’t have the brain power to manage it.
Darius kicked off his shoes and dove headfirst into the gold, all of it cascading down beneath his weight. “I know I’ll be a Dragon because this feels so good.”
I edged closer, aware of the way Dragons could be about their gold and not wanting to overstep the line, but he sat up, beckoning me into it. I knew the weight of what he was offering, and wondered if we really might be Nebular Allies, because his trust in me right now was limitless.
I kicked off my shoes and dove into it beside him, the two of us laying back and wriggling deeper into the coins, our laughter carrying up to the ceiling.
“You’re so rich, man,” I said, picking up one of the coins and twisting it around to admire it in the light. He stole it from my fingers, possessiveness in his eyes and I snorted, shoving to my feet, and getting out of his precious gold pile.
He met my gaze, his jaw grinding like he was conflicted on something, then he shoved himself up too and jogged down the pile of gold.
“Look at this,” he encouraged, and I followed him over to a cabinet full of trinkets. He took out a little book no bigger than his palm, the planets coloured crimson on the jet-black cover.
“Is that a Blood Tome?” I gasped, reaching for it on instinct and Darius let me take it.
“Yeah, it’s rare as hell, right? It’s from the early years of the blood ages.”
I flicked it open in excitement, finding a handwritten note scrawled in the top corner of it.
For you, my dearest friend and lifelong companion. Our blood was made to spill on each other’s battlefields.
I closed the book a little unwillingly and offered it back to Darius.
He folded his arms with a serious look. “It’s yours. Keep it.”
I shook my head, trying to make him take it back. “If your dad found out-”
“He won’t. That book’s been sitting there untouched for years,” Darius said. “Besides, it’s meant for a friend. And that’s what you are.”
I sensed the magnitude of what he was offering me and couldn’t help but give in. It was a token of our friendship to each other, and it felt wrong to refuse it. And I decided there and then that we were Nebular Allies, whether the stars agreed or not, I didn’t really care. I was gonna look out for him, and he would look out for me. And that was all there was to it.
“Darius?” a deep voice boomed through the halls, making my heart quake for a second before I realised it was just his father calling for him.
Darius winced, pressing his lips together and not answering.
“Darius!? The other Heirs are here,” Lionel urged, the use of magic making his voice radiate throughout the house.
Darius’s expression lifted as we moved around the pile of gold to the door, slipping out of the room as I tucked the book into my pocket.
We made it to the entrance hall where Seth, Max, and Caleb were waiting, pushing and shoving each other in some game that captured my interest. Lionel was there and he smiled at Darius, directing him over to the Heirs. He jogged to them, immediately falling into their game and my heart urged me to join them, but my feet remained in place.
“Hey, Lance,” Seth said, waving at me and I waved back, stepping forward as Max smiled at me too and Caleb looked me over with intrigue.
Darius turned, beckoning me over, and I took another step.
Lionel moved into my way, bracing a hand on my shoulder and I looked up at him in surprise.
“Your mother is waiting for you at home. It’s time to go, Lance,” he said, guiding me past the Heirs to the door.
“No, let him stay,” Darius demanded, but Lionel was already ushering me outside and closing the door in my face. It felt like a wall, not a door.
I knew the Heirs needed to bond, to have their ‘special time’ together. Mom had explained that to me a hundred times. My role in Darius’s life was different, something that could never mix with the Heirs. I had to keep our secrets of dark magic, and ensure the Heirs never found out about that, but I’d never felt like I was missing out on something until now.
I thought of the book in my pocket, and the heavy weight in my chest eased. Nothing was going to change our bond. Darius and I were friends regardless of what relationships he had with the Heirs. It was me and him, and nothing and no one would ever come between us.
I drew myself out of that memory, having almost forgotten about that day, remembering how fucking naïve I’d been. Something had been waiting to tear us apart all this time after all, I’d just never thought it would be death.
I sighed, an uncomfortable feeling stirring between the sinews of my grief-stricken heart. I could hardly recall wanting to befriend the Heirs, but that feeling was momentarily rekindled, and I wondered if I might have been a part of their group in some way if we’d just been normal kids living normal lives. Regardless, it wasn’t to be. And probably never would have been anyway. It was just a pretty mirage of an idea, long lost to the ravening of time.
Although my body felt heavy, the dark magic imbued in the weapons Lavinia used to torture me had finally relinquished me from its grip. It was harder to break free of it than it had been the first time, and I had the terrible feeling it was only going to get worse.
Now that my mind was sharp again, it came with so much fear for the girl who lay in my lap. No matter how good it felt to have her close again, I needed her as far away from here as possible. She wasn’t safe between these walls, but she was going to be trapped in this reality unless I could find a way to get her out.
I tucked a lock of inky, shadow-bound hair behind her ear and at my touch, the shadows receded from it, the lock of hair becoming blue all over once again and making my heart jolt.
“Darcy.” I shook her lightly, hope sparking in me.
Her eyes fluttered open and for the briefest of seconds I thought I might find them returned to their normal green hue with that endless band of silver ringing them, linking her eternally to me. But that was a fool’s hope. They were as black as night.
“Look.” I drew the lock of hair forward, but it was drenched in shadow once more before she could see, and my heart dipped in disappointment.
“What is it?” she asked, her eyes still ringed red from the tears she’d cried over Darius.
Breaking that news to her had been one of the worst things I’d ever had to do, and I was sure it had left a fresh wound on my heart too.
“It was blue for a moment,” I said, and she frowned, turning another piece of hair over in her palm.
It swirled between her fingers as the shadows clung to it and I couldn’t help but examine her further, the way that dark power hugged her body, moving over her like it was bound to her skin. I wanted to rip the shadows from her and free her from Lavinia’s curse, but the only way I could do that was by fulfilling my promise and paying the debt.
Just three moon cycles. That’s all.
She shifted away from me, drawing her knees to her chest, and grinding her jaw.
“I wish you didn’t have to see me like this,” she murmured, and a growl rose in my throat. “I’m poison.”
“I’d love you in any form, poisonous or otherwise,” I said, reaching for her, but she recoiled from me further, and hurt slashed through me. “Look at me,” I commanded, but she didn’t. “Blue.”
“I killed so many people,” she whispered, her gaze on the stone floor. “Geraldine,” her voice cracked. My heart crushed at that girl’s name. She’d saved my life, and it seemed she had paid the ultimate price for it. She hadn’t deserved to be torn from this world so soon.
“And maybe Darius would still be here too if it wasn’t for me,” Darcy added.
Anger rose sharply in me at those words. I got to my feet, towering over her and she finally looked at me, seeming so damn small that it was like she was a ghost of her former self.
“Lavinia is to blame for every kill by your hand, and Darius is dead because of Lionel Acrux. Not you.”
She looked away again, but I wasn’t having it. I pulled her to her feet, tugging her close to me by the wrists, but she wriggled free of my hold and moved to stand against the wall, her head falling forward and a swathe of black hair tumbling down to curtain her face. I wasn’t going to let her retreat from me though. She had to see the truth, because I refused to let her take the blame for any of this.
“Darcy Vega,” I growled, boxing her in against the wall at the back of the cage and taking hold of her chin, making her look at me. Her eyes were so deathly black, they made my heart thump unevenly with how eerily similar they were to Lavinia’s now, but that wasn’t going to make me withdraw from her. I knew who she was down to her roots, and I needed to remind her of it so that she’d come back to me. “You are not the actions of that beast. It is not you. It’s a curse that forces your hand. Do you blame me for when Lavinia harnessed the shadows in my flesh and made me drive a blade into you?” It was up there with the worst memories of my life, the night we had gone to my family home all those moons ago.
“Of course not,” she muttered, trying to jerk her chin out of my grip, but I wouldn’t let go. “This is different. I should have been strong enough to fight the Shadow Beast off before it ever got as far as it did. I’m supposed to be some all-powerful Phoenix but look at me now. I’m nothing.”
“You are everything,” I said firmly, and she tried to push past me, but I slammed my palms to the wall either side of her, not letting her go. “And you will not run from me.”
“How can you even stand to look at me?” she hissed. “I’m a monster. I look like her. Like Lavinia.” She winced as if she wanted to cringe away from her own skin and a frown furrowed my brow.
“Listen to me, Blue. I loved you when your soul shone with all the starlight in the night sky, and I’ll love you now when your soul is the blackest you’ve ever known. I will love you whole and I’ll love you in pieces. It doesn’t matter, light or dark, I am here. That is what mates are for. It’s what I’m made to be for you by the stars themselves, so stop trying to shut me out.”
Her lips parted to answer that, her cheeks tinting with colour and the reminder of her blood set my pulse racing, my fangs prickling with need. Lavinia had given me a few meagre mouthfuls of some weak Fae’s blood earlier today, but I was starving for a real drink. Darcy’s magic was in the grip of the Shadow Beast though, and I didn’t know what power was even left in her now. I certainly wasn’t going to take any more of it from her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just…when you look at me like that, I feel so goddamn undeserving of it after everything I’ve done. Darius was your best friend-”
“And he loved you like a sister. He will be watching us now, cursing you out for feeling this way. And knowing Darius, he’ll be busy blaming himself for his failure. He won’t be thinking for a single moment that you were responsible for his end.” A sharp knife was stabbing itself repeatedly into my chest as I spoke about my friend, the knowledge that I would never see him in this life again too agonising to truly accept.
Fuck…Darius. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.
Tears welled in her eyes, and I caught them on my thumb as they fell, wiping them away.
“What about Geraldine?” she breathed, her lower lip quivering.
The loss of her weighed over me and I leaned down to rest my forehead to Darcy’s.
“It’s not your fault,” I promised, and she looked into my eyes, trying to soak in my belief in those words, though I wasn’t sure it helped. I hated to think that Geraldine Grus was gone. That girl was one of a kind. I respected her and her unwavering loyalty to the Vegas, even if we hadn’t always seen eye to eye in the past.
Lionel’s booming voice sounded right next to us as if he were in this very cage, making both of us jump violently.
“Do you realise how much treasure I have lost, Lavinia?! Rare coins and gemstones that are now in the filthy hands of disgusting lesser Fae. And now I have been stuck at the Court of Solaria all day and half the night to try and prepare a final attack on those fucking rebels who have vanished off the face of the earth.”
“By the fucking stars,” I cursed, realising the sound was coming from the wall itself, but how was that possible?
Darcy and I shifted closer to the cold bricks, the volume of his words lowering as if the palace was offering us a secret, carrying his voice right here for us to listen in on.
“I must make a stand,” he went on. “With the Heirs and Councillors free, and presumably gone to join with that orphaned whore, that puts the rebels in a stronger position again.”
I shared a look of hope with Darcy at the news that Caleb, Seth, and Max were okay. To hear my coven brother was safe made me feel all the better. And to my surprise, I was really fucking relieved about the others too.
“You control the press, Daddy, you can have them write a story about your greatness. They can tell the world what wicked, vile creatures those Vegas are,” Lavinia’s crooning voice carried to us next.
“It is not good enough,” Lionel spat. “Don’t you understand? The Phoenixes are stronger than I ever imagined, and now the rebels’ strength is bolstered once more by the most powerful bloodline in Solaria. I must make a statement in blood and death. I must show them what I am capable of.”
“Of course, my King. What will you do?” Lavinia asked excitedly.
“You know what I must do,” he snarled. “I will show the world what the Dragon King can do to Phoenixes. Has Gwendalina Vega arrived?”
“Yes, but-” Lavinia started but Lionel cut over her.
“Finally,” he breathed in excitement. “I have one of my greatest enemies right here in the palace. I will have the world watch while I behead her alongside her Elysian Mate. I will prove I am far superior to the Vega line in a show of power and brutality. And I will make her bow before she bleeds.”
My spine straightened and I turned to Darcy with a vow in my eyes that I wouldn’t let that happen, and she gave me the same look right back. Though how I could protect her, I didn’t know.
“My King,” Lavinia said gently. “They are under my control. I am afraid I cannot allow it.”
“Allow it?” Lionel hissed venomously. “It is not your place to allow me anything! I am the power here. I am the ruler of Solaria.”
“And I am owed a debt from the Vega and her mate because Queen Avalon banished me to the Shadow Realm all those years ago.”
“You’ve had your fun. I will make sure they both suffer intensely before the end, and Roxanya Vega can watch her sister die on television; what better vengeance is there than that?”
“Daddy, wait,” Lavinia gasped, and all fell quiet, though I knew in my bones that they were headed this way.
Panic darted through me, and I looked to Darcy in alarm. I had to get her out of here.
I grabbed two bars of the cage, trying to bend them apart with the strength of my Order, my muscles tensing fiercely. But the night iron was built to withstand far more power than I possessed right now, and I cursed as I turned, looking desperately around me for an answer.
Darcy caught my arm, looking up at me through pitch black eyes. “I’ll fight.”
“And what if Lavinia stops you again?” I demanded, my eyes turning to the wall at the back of the cage.
I threw myself against it at full force, slamming my fists into the huge blocks of stone and working to break through them, my knuckles splitting and blood spilling. I had to get her out. She had to run from here and never come back.
The doors to the throne room were shoved wide, slamming into the walls and sending an echoing boom reverberating through the space.
I twisted around, planting myself in front of Darcy, my fangs bared and a promise of death in my eyes as Lionel Acrux prowled towards us with intent.
“Stay back,” I warned.
Lavinia drifted along behind him, her feet just grazing the floor as she used her shadows to levitate, her eyes moving from me to Darcy curiously.
“We have a deal!” I bellowed, pointing at her.
“Daddy is very angry,” she said, blinking innocently at me. “He needs a little outlet.”
Lionel swept toward me wearing smart pants and a white shirt that was unbuttoned at the throat, his hair dishevelled and the look of a madman about him.
Darcy growled, stepping to my side and facing him head on, darkness swirling around her.
“Unlock the cage, Lavinia. And keep Lance under control,” Lionel commanded.
“No,” I gasped, reaching for Darcy, but Lavinia flicked her fingers, chains of shadow lashing around me and yanking me away from my mate.
“It’s okay,” Blue whispered, though this was the fucking opposite of okay.
The door was wrenched open by the Shadow Princess’s power and Darcy raised her hands as she narrowed her eyes on Lionel.
He hesitated, lifting his chin as he studied her, seeming wary.
“Is her magic subdued?” he muttered to Lavinia like the fucking coward he was.
“You unFae piece of shit,” I spat, but Lionel ignored me.
“Yes, my King. She cannot fight you. Come here, little beastie,” Lavinia purred, and her command had Darcy stepping out of the cage.
I could sense her fighting it from the tension in her spine, but it was clear she was losing the battle, and the most stifling kind of fear stole away my ability to breathe.
“Blue!” I called in desperation, but she didn’t look back. And as Lionel Acrux walked closer to my Elysian Mate with the wrath of death in his eyes, I felt the stars turning our way, like they knew something terrible was about to happen, and they had no mind to stop it.
