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Chapter Twenty-Eight

R eign

A torrent of wind sent dark strands of hair lashing across my face as I emerged from the depths of the darkwoods. An enormous fortress stood at the edge of the clearing, the sight of it sending my heart on a rampage. By the gods, finally, Helspire Keep. It was an exact replica of the renderings we’d found in the old tomes in Arcanum’s library.

A sphere of darkness blanketed the glade ahead, separating me from the obsidian castle. Through the inky night, I could barely make out shadowed figures and the clash of metal. More than that, the distinctive, sulfurous odor of zar filled my nostrils, accompanied by the familiar nox and rais . Aelia.

The moment I’d crossed the swirling vortex, I’d felt her. My feet had taken off of their own accord, desperate to reach my twin flame, to finally fill the endless chasm in my chest. I’d left the others far behind as my wings of shadow unfolded, propelling me straight here. To her.

Aelia ?

I searched the shimmering tethers of our bond, and the cuorem pulsed with anticipation. Drawing closer, the net of inky black began to dissipate. A shout echoed from the orb of endless night, then a familiar gasp.

That sound, that voice, I would recognize it anywhere. My heart catapulted against my ribs, more frantic than before.

I surged forward, cutting through the swathes of midnight, my pulse growing more chaotic with each footfall.

Then I saw her.

My Aelia, on her knees, trembling.

And an enormous Night Fae looming over her.

Power coursed through my veins, nox polluting my pores until I had no choice but to unleash it. Shadows slithered across my skin, escaping through the folds of my cloak, desperate to reach her. Releasing a surge of dark tendrils, I sprinted toward Aelia, my heart a manic war drum thundering against my ribs.

Those silvery-blue eyes lifted to mine as I broke through the cloying night, and frost hardened her gaze. A dagger flashed in her grip—the twin to the one I kept hidden in my chambers at Luce. My stomach bottomed out, the fragile ember of hope in my chest extinguished in an instant.

Hatred burned in her gaze. Mistrust coiled between us, sharp as a blade. And worse than either—fear.

Not of the darkness. Not of the Night Fae towering over her.

Of me .

“Aelia!” I shouted.

She leapt up, summoning a radiant shield that surrounded her and the Night Fae beside her. “Stay away from me, Reign.” The contempt in her gaze ripped at my crumbling heart. “You’ll never take me alive. I’ll fight until my last breath before I let you kill me to fulfill the vow to your father.”

The circle of Night Fae soldiers tightened around her, dark glares casting in my direction as the males clutched their weapons, readying for an attack.

My vision blurred, my limbs went numb, and for one terrifying moment, I couldn’t tell if I was falling or simply being swallowed whole by the suffocating void. “What have they done to you?” I hissed.

The sickening odor of sulfur and the insidious power of zar lingered in the air, on her flesh.

“Helroth unleashed my powers.” She flipped her dagger in the air, then caught it by the blade. “Now I’ll never be weak again, never be that powerless Kin forced into the Conservatory to serve the Light King. And more importantly, you will never get the chance to destroy me, the child of twilight.”

“Destroy you?” My voice cracked. “Why would I ever do that, Aelia? I love you. You are my cuoré, my gods’ chosen fated mate. I’ve spent every waking hour searching for you since that Night Fae bastard captured you.”

Something unreadable flashed across those brilliant eyes, the ones that had starred in my dreams for the past two months. Then as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, leaving nothing of the brilliance, nothing of the sun-flecked warmth.

“You’re lying,” she gritted out through clenched teeth. “I’m not your anything. ”

“Aelia, please.” I crept forward but her hand shot up, reinforcing the glittering shield between us. The luminous wall snapped off another sliver of my heart. “I came for you, to bring you home. We’ve been trying to find you for months. Helroth captured you and stole you from your home, from me. Don’t you remember?” Gods, please remember .

“I was running away from you,” she hissed. “You vowed to kill me; you are bound by your promise to King Tenebris.”

“No… I told you I would do whatever it took to protect you. I would never allow Tenebris to exact that vow. I was willing to run away with you, to leave everything behind just to save you.”

Pounding footfalls turned my attention away from my cuoré and her Night Fae guard and over my shoulder to Ruhl and the others. Thank the gods. Perhaps seeing them would alter whatever false memories Helroth had clearly planted in her head.

Pivoting to face Aelia once again, I caught the curve of her lips, the light returning to her eyes as her gaze latched onto… Ruhl?

The radiant orb burst, and Aelia sheathed her dagger, shoving free of the Night Fae’s hold. Then barreling by the circle of soldiers between us, she sprinted toward my brother.

My brother ?

Ruhl’s eyes widened at her approach, but his arms flung open all the same, welcoming her in a warm embrace.

“Stars, I missed you,” she whispered into his ear, each word a shallow cut across my staggering heart.

Good gods, this wasn’t happening. A lethal torrent of pain and fury tangled in my gut, twisting and churning like the enraged shadows circling my form. I drew in a deep breath, willing down the onslaught of power threatening to erupt. If Ruhl didn’t get his hands off my mate, I would rip them off.

Rue squealed, cutting between the embracing pair, and Symon followed suit. Ruhl stepped back, but not far enough for my liking. I stood there frozen, a mere yard away from her, unable to look away. Gideon’s dark gaze flickered toward me, the confusion carved into his expression surely mirroring my own.

All the hope from a second ago morphed into rage, twisting and clawing at my ravaged chest. Aelia missed Ruhl ? Was thrilled to see Ruhl ? Red-hot anger consumed me, darkening the corners of my vision.

As if my half-brother had sensed the oncoming fury, his gaze flickered to mine for an instant before swinging it back to Aelia. I would kill him, then the Night King and everyone else on this damned field.

“Aelia, I never thought I’d see you again!” Rue squeezed her friend tight, and for an instant, the Aelia I knew and loved was back as she hugged her in return.

“My little Kin, how I missed you!” Symon threw his arms around the females, pushing my brother from the circle. Then a sharp gasp escaped Lightspire’s pursed lips, and he leaned back. “Your ears!” He clapped his hand over his mouth, horror etching across his face. “What happened to those sexy, rounded curves?”

Aelia’s cheeks grew rosy, the familiar sight sending a blast of heat past my navel as heated memories flooded my thoughts. On the night I’d spent with my mouth between her thighs coaxing out her climax, that familiar ruddy hue had coated her cheeks, her flushed skin. And on the night we nearly completed the bond?—

My spiraling thoughts were jerked away as a cloud of onyx smoke coalesced only a yard behind Aelia.

“Watch out!” I shouted and lunged, dragging her free of her friends and into the safety of my arms just as King Helroth appeared. My wings of shadow wrapped around her familiar form, a hum of pleasure racing across my flesh.

A flash of weapons coalesced all around us, from luminous blades to umbral daggers.

“Let go of me,” Aelia hissed, wriggling and struggling against my hold, her movements wild with desperation as she reached for her dagger. “Ruhl!” she cried out, and the sound of his name from her lips shattered something deep inside me, a fissure that splintered through my resolve. My shadows recoiled as if struck, and for the first time in years, I faltered—not from a blade or a spell, but from a name that wasn’t mine.

Jealousy, sharp and venomous, curled in my chest, but beneath it, an ache far more potent swelled. “Stop,” I rasped, my voice betraying the torment I tried so desperately to suppress. “You can fight me all you want, but I won’t let Helroth have you. Never again.”

“I don’t need your protection!” A blast of scorching light radiated from her body, scalding my chest, my arms, everywhere we touched.

My arms fell away, the pain of the burn nothing compared to her rejection. It burrowed so deep it knew no bounds, and with a final, biting glare, she raced for Ruhl.

My bastard of a brother again welcomed her with open arms, then held her close, running his hand over her back in soothing circles. “It’s all right, duskling, I’m right here.”

I attempted to meet his traitorous gaze, but he kept his eyes fixed on my cuoré. What in the realms was he playing at?

She curled into his side, and the intimate gesture had hot blades sinking into my chest, destroying my insides. How could she have chosen him? Noxus, had I really been wrong about the cuorem? Or was this simply Helroth’s cursed illusions at work?

Turning my attention to the Night King, I lunged, the pent-up rage of the past two months combined with the pain carving through my heart propelling my wings. “What did you do to her?” I roared.

Two Night Fae soldiers leapt into a defensive formation in front of their king, weapons raised, glinting with a menacing sheen.

“You think you can stand between me and what’s mine?” I snarled, my voice low and filled with venom as I cast a glance toward Aelia. My cuoré . Whatever the hell Helroth had done to her—and I knew in my soul that this was his doing—he would pay. My shadows billowed out, twisting and writhing like a living storm, eager to be unleashed.

“You’ll go no further,” one of the soldiers growled, his twin axes glowing a deadly crimson. The other, a towering male with a jagged-edged broadsword, stepped forward, his weapon humming with zar .

The first soldier didn’t wait for an answer. He lunged, his axes spinning in a flurry of sharp, blazing strikes. I dodged to the side, the air around me crackling as my shadows intercepted the attack. One tendril wrapped around the haft of his axe, yanking it from his grasp and sending it clattering to the floor. Before he could recover, I spun, slamming the flat of my umbral sword into his shoulder. The impact sent him staggering back, but the second soldier was already closing in.

His broadsword came down in a vicious arc, slicing through the air toward my head. My shadows surged up like a shield, blocking the blow just inches from my face. The force of the strike sent a shockwave rippling through the clearing, rattling the leaves of the encroaching forest. I snarled, shoving him back with a burst of nox , and followed with a sharp upward slash of my blade. He barely dodged, the edge of my sword slicing through his shoulder plate.

The soldier with the axes recovered quickly, his remaining weapon whistling toward my side. I pivoted, my shadows snaring his wrist and twisting it just enough to send his strike off-course. I slammed the pommel of my sword into his jaw, and he crumpled to the ground with a grunt.

The broadsword-wielder roared, charging me in a blind fury. His swings were wild now, his form breaking under the weight of his frustration. I sidestepped one attack, then another, until he overextended. Seizing the opportunity, my shadows wrapped around his legs and yanked him off his feet. He hit the ground hard, his weapon slipping from his grasp.

Breathing heavily, I stepped over his fallen form, my blade aimed at his throat. The other soldier groaned from where he lay, clutching his dislocated shoulder.

“I didn’t come to play with your soldiers,” I hissed, my gaze locking onto King Helroth. “I came for her .” My eyes flickered to Aelia, who remained at my brother’s side. I supposed it was better than next to one of the Night Fae—apparently, any and all bright sides would do at this point… “Now, let Aelia go, or I’ll carve my way through every last one of your guards.”

The king stepped closer, between his fallen soldiers, not sparing them a glance, his silver hair gleaming like a beacon in the dark clearing. His crimson eyes glinted with amusement, and his voice dripped with cold arrogance as he said, “Impressive for a bastard Shadow Prince. But you’ll find that the true battle lies not with my guards.”

Ignoring the muttered gasps that echoed around me at his words, I growled, “I’m more than ready. I’ve dreamt of this day for weeks, Helroth.” My shadows swirled more fiercely, wings spread to their maximum span, and the air was thick with the promise of chaos.

The king merely smirked, a flicker of ancient power rippling through the thick air. “We shall see.”

“Release Aelia to me, Helroth,” Ruhl barked, interrupting the standoff. He leapt between us, stepping away from Aelia. The instant his arm dropped from her shoulders, the blinding jealousy that consumed me since she ran into his arms grew more manageable. “By order of Prince Ruhl of Umbra, heir to the Court of Umbral Shadows.”

Helroth chuckled, the sinister sound vibrating the prickling air between us. “Your title holds no importance here, boy.” He raised his hands, motioning around the quickly darkening vale surrounded by the jagged ice-capped peaks. “This is my realm, created by the zar that bleeds through my veins. You are only here by my permission.”

His dark glare lifted to meet my own. “Are you truly so arrogant as to believe I didn’t feel you the moment you stepped through that portal?” He paused to flash a sinister smile, showcasing wickedly pointed incisors. “My men could have ambushed you the instant you set foot upon Night soil. The only reason they didn’t, was at my command.”

“They could have tried,” I growled.

“Enough.” Aelia moved toward the king, and every nerve in my body prickled in anticipation. “You swore to me that I could go once my powers were unleashed, and I’d learned to control them.”

“I did.”

Her bright eyes swiveled toward one of the towering Night males, the one who’d had her on her knees when we first arrived. “Kaelith, what do you say?”

The enormous male’s ruddy lips thinned into a grim line.

“Did I not pass today’s test?” Her eyes shot to Ruhl’s, as if needing to explain herself to him . “Kaelith has been training me to master all three of my powers. He’s been helping me.”

I snorted on a laugh, frustration seething through my bones. “Aelia, how can you not see how the king has manipulated you? He’s made you believe that he’s doing this all for your own good. Why would he ever do that?”

That icy, unrecognizable gaze swung to me, more lethal than any blade because of the direct connection it held to my heart and soul. “Because I’m his granddaughter.”