Page 32 of Blood Court (Cursed Darkness #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

LYSITHEA

“Arbiters?” My voice shakes as the word spills from my lips. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

“Yeah,” Dathan says, his voice a low growl. “I think it does.”

The shattered Arbiters settle on the floor. Where the two ancient thrones once stood, there is only rubble. The floor groans, the stone shifts and reforms.

Four new thrones rise from the ground.

One is carved from obsidian that writhes with living shadow. Another pulses with internal heat, hellfire glowing in veins of magma-red. A third is a stark, elegant construction of white bone, cold and absolute.

The fourth is made of something else entirely. Polished darkness shot through with starlight, silent and vast. Mine.

“You cannot be fucking serious,” Verik snarls, staring at the fiery throne that is so clearly his.

“Those who slay, now must serve.”

I gulp.

This trial turned into a nightmare worse than being locked away with Clara.

“We cannot serve this court,” I stammer. “We are students at DarkHallow.”

Dathan shoots me a look that screams that isn’t going to work.

He’s not wrong.

“It matters not what you are, only who you removed. The Blood Court requires Arbiters.”

“So find someone else!” I say desperately.

“You are the ones who killed the serving Court. It is up to you to pick up the mantle.”

“Pick up the fucking mantle yourself and shove it up your arse,” Dathan snarls. He steps in front of me, a protective wall of pure nightmare. “We’re not your fucking replacements.”

The voice doesn’t respond to him. Its focus is entirely on me. “The Nox Siren will lead.”

I shake my head, my legs feeling like they’re about to give out. “No. I won’t.” This is a trap. A gilded cage with no way out. “We have a mission. The Tenebris Vinculum. The Warden. The Forge.”

“All paths lead through this Court,” the voice intones, its patience wearing thin. “Justice must be served. The law is absolute.”

I start walking towards the throne, my eyes wide with panic. “Stop!” I shout. “I’m not doing this.”

There is no answer. All of us are being forcefully drawn to the thrones. We are locked in tight. I’m spun around and shoved down into the throne, as are the guys around me.

“This is so bad,” I mutter, panic setting in.

“Can you try to calm down?” Dathan grits out. “Your fear is making it hard to think.”

I glare at him. “Oh, I’m sorry that I’m petrified that we are going to be stuck down here for eternity, turning into those… things!”

Verik lets out a low growl, his hands gripping the arms of his molten throne. “It’s not helping, Dathan.”

“I know,” he snaps back, his silver eyes flashing. “But we need to think, and I can’t do that when I’m drowning in her terror.”

I try to rein it in. I really do. But the throne is cold beneath me. The cold of finality. The weight of a thousand forgotten laws settles onto my shoulders. I can feel the Court, a living entity, seeping into my bones, trying to claim me.

The voice booms again, cutting through our argument. “Your first judgement awaits.”

“Who are you?” I shout out.

But again, silence follows. I have the distinct and creepy feeling that it’s the Blood Court talking to us.

The air in the middle of the chamber shimmers.

I gasp as a beast appears, half lycan, half something from the depths of hell. Its wrists and ankles are chained, its head bowed low.

Very slowly, it snarls and lifts its head.

Its eyes are burning coals of pure, arrogant hate. Matted fur clings to a scarred snout, pulled back in a permanent snarl to reveal teeth like broken daggers. There’s a malevolence in its gaze that has seen worlds burn and enjoyed the view.

“This creature,” the voice of the Court intones, a sound that vibrates through my bones, “stands accused of devouring an entire village.”

The beast roars, a sound of triumph that rattles its heavy chains. It doesn’t deny the charge. It revels in it.

I look at my guys, a silent, desperate plea. Verik is already halfway out of his throne, hellfire licking at his fingertips, ready to just incinerate the thing. Dathan watches it with a cold, professional interest, probably sizing up its fear potential. Evren is just watching. Unreadable as ever.

“Why is that a matter for this Court?” I ask, drawing the gaze of the guys. Judge. I have to judge. I don’t know the laws. I don’t know the context. I don’t know anything.

“Your verdict, Nox Siren,” the voice commands, its patience wearing thin.

The beast laughs, a guttural, grinding sound. “Go on, little bird. Sing my death sentence.”

“Why is this a matter for this Court?” I repeat, louder this time. “Who was in the village?”

The voice of the Court answers, a sound like continents grinding together. “It matters not.”

“Oh, it fucking does matter,” I growl.

The beast throws its head back and howls with laughter, a terrible, joyous sound. “They sang such sweet songs as I tore them apart. So much for your precious laws.”

My hands grip the arms of my throne. Sirens. Banshees. Maybe both.

My palms sweat. My armpits are drenching my dress. But it’s a cold sweat. The worst kind. It’s feverish in nature as my head spins. I’m so far out of my depth, I can barely breathe.

The pressure to decide is immense.

“Who were they?” I demand one of them to tell me.

“The law does not require context,” the Court’s voice booms, shaking the very air. “It demands a verdict.”

The beast grins, a horrific display of broken teeth and black gums.

It’s a test. This entire thing is a fucking test. Judge without all the facts. Condemn without truth. Follow the old, broken laws that led this realm to ruin.

“No verdict until I hear the truth.” I look at my guys with a slow smile. I’m figuring this game out. “The absolute truth .”

Evren grins and nods. He knows as well as I do that the grimoire demands absolute truth.

It’s the fucking god of Absolute Truth. Whether it has a role in this Court or not, it doesn’t matter.

It will help us because we are aligned with it.

We have chosen a side, and I’m not doing fuck all to this beast until I hear what he has to say.

“The Court does not wait for testimony!” the voice thunders.

“It wanted mine. Now I want his.” I sit back and cross my legs at the knee, a picture of casualness, even though my stomach is churning and I’m still sweating heavily.

The beast snorts, a puff of hot, foul air that stinks of rot. Its burning eyes fix on me, a flicker of something that might be grudging respect in their depths. The chains rattle as it shifts its massive weight. “The little bird has claws.”

The Court remains silent. A heavy, oppressive quiet that presses down on us. It’s a battle of wills. Mine against an ancient, unthinking law. My heart hammers against my ribs, a frantic rhythm against the stillness. I will not break.

I glance at the guys. Dathan’s right eyebrow is raised. Verik leans forward, intrigued. Evren has a flicker in his ice-blue eyes that I can’t read.

“Let me make this a bit simpler for your dense head,” I state, my voice ringing out clearly. “Were they innocent or were they guilty of crimes themselves?”

The beast’s smile is chilling. “No one in this realm is innocent, sweet bird. Except maybe you. Let me get between those thighs to find out.”

Verik doesn’t hesitate.

He zaps the beast with a stream of hellfire that sets it on fire, burning it from the inside out.

Its howls echo around the chamber as its flesh melts from its bones.

The smell of burnt hair and cooked meat is a foul wave that makes my stomach heave.

The beast thrashes, a living pyre of agony, before collapsing into a heap of charred bone and smoking ash.

“Oops,” Verik says, a feral grin plastered across his face.

“The Arbiter of Fire has passed judgement without counsel. This is a violation.” The Court’s voice grates on my last nerve.

“He threatened her,” Dathan says, his voice flat and cold. “That’s all the counsel we need.”

I stare at the smouldering remains. Verik didn’t wait for my verdict. He didn’t wait for the truth. He just acted. A hot, possessive thrill shoots through me, warring with the cold dread of what we’ve just done.

He saw a threat to me, and he eliminated it.

Simple.

Brutal.

His.

“The law is absolute,” the Court insists.

“Then write a new one,” Verik snaps. “Law number one: you threaten the Nox Siren, you fucking burn.”

The silence that follows is heavy enough to crack stone. The Court doesn’t respond. The pile of ash that was the beast begins to stir. Not reforming. Dissolving. It turns to fine grey dust and is swept away by an unfelt wind, leaving the chains empty on the floor.

“Case dismissed, I guess,” Dathan mutters.

“A new case is brought before the Court,” the voice announces as if nothing had happened. The empty chains on the floor glow with a searing red light. They snake across the stone, slithering towards our thrones. Towards Verik’s.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Verik groans as the chains wrap around his legs.