Page 36 of Duskbound (Esprithean Trilogy #2)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

My head felt wrong—heavy and disconnected. Fragments of memory slipped through my mind as I woke. Silk draping across my skin sent a wave of panic through me. Not my leathers. Something else. Something wrong. Ropes bit into flesh as I tried to move my hands, a wooden chair creaking beneath me.

Metallic taste. Burning throat. Golden eyes turning milky white. "You should have stayed in your tower, lovely." Darkness...

My eyes shot open.

A gown. I was in a gown the color of charcoal, red beading slithering up from the hem. Slowly, my vision crept up, taking in the grandeur around me.

A table stretched endlessly, covered in things that shouldn't exist in this realm anymore. Steam rose from fresh bread, dark and crusty. Wine-glazed meats glistened in the glowing candlelight. Actual fruit spilled from silver bowls, not the husks I'd come to know in Ravenfell.

Portraits lined the walls of the dining room—massive gilded frames housing generations of nobility. My eyes caught on one in particular. A younger Valkan, his eyes a startling blue instead of that milky white, standing beside what must have been his brother. The resemblance was unmistakable, though the brother's features were softer, less severe. Behind them stood an older couple—the woman's chin lifted with pride, the man's hand resting on Valkan's shoulder. A family portrait.

Panic raced through me as I realized where I was.

A soft step had my eyes flying to my right. Valkan moved down the length of the table, touching a flame to each candle. His eyes reflected the light as he turned, fixing on me.

"There she is." The words slid from his lips like honey.

"Let me go." I pulled against the ropes, ignoring how the room spun slightly.

"I intend to." He smiled, and my stomach turned. "Once I know you'll behave."

The shadows rippled just below my skin. They felt weak, muted by whatever drug he'd laced the water with, but they were there. And I could use them. Before I could think better of it, darkness seeped from my pores, curling through the air between us.

"Ah, ah, ah." Valkan clicked his tongue, moving forward with predatory grace. His fingers twisted through the black mist. "I know you're smarter than that."

My shadows wrapped around his wrist, coiling up his arm like smoke. He took a measured step back, though his smile never faltered.

"Think carefully, my dear," his voice dropped lower, "about what my men would do if they found their Lord in any condition other than how you see me now." His eyes sparked. "It would be quite disappointing if your first official act as a Duskbound was to plunge the realm into civil war."

Rage boiled through me, made worse by the smug satisfaction on his face. I kept my shadows coiled around me, no longer reaching for him but refusing to retreat entirely.

"You don't care about this realm," I hissed .

"Oh, quite the contrary." Valkan's smile widened. "I want to see it in its golden age again. But those in leadership are bound and determined to let us fall to ruin. I'm the only one willing to do what it takes to save us all."

"You're disgusting," I spat the words like venom.

"A foul mouth." He settled into the chair opposite me, crossing his feet on the table with casual arrogance. "That will have to be tamed, I'm afraid."

"Ever find your own shadows?" I seethed. "Since you couldn't produce them outside the Void?"

My words cut a slice through his satisfaction, but he recovered quickly.

"The Void may not have gifted me the powers of a Duskbound. But it left me alive, untouched." His eyes scanned the room. "I'd say that's rather fitting. Even the strongest force in this realm couldn't mark me, couldn't claim me."

"Or it simply rejected you," I shot back, still tugging at my restraints.

"Believe what you like, my love, but we both made history that day."

"Why am I here?" I finally asked, despite the nerves churning inside. I didn't want the answer, but I didn't know what else to say.

"Because I want to make a deal with you." He lifted a golden goblet, studying the liquid inside with exaggerated interest.

"And why would I ever make a deal with you?" The words came out as a growl.

"Because despite what you think of me, I see what you truly are." He took a long sip, watching me over the rim. "Someone willing to sacrifice everything for what they believe in. And I think with enough... persuasion, you could be made to see reason."

A bitter laugh escaped me. "Reason? Is that what you call it?"

"I think you're smarter than the others. I think you understand that sometimes difficult decisions must be made." His dead eyes fixed on me. "And I think, with the right motivation, you could come to see things from my perspective. Even share it, perhaps."

His words hit me like a physical blow, stirring something deep within me. All my life, people had tried to tell me who I was, what I should be. The Aossí who marked me as Riftborne, defining me by my past. The Guard who tried to shape me into their weapon. Even Laryk, who saw me as something to be molded, controlled.

But I wasn't that lost girl anymore, hiding in shadows and letting others write my story. I had found my own power, my own truth. And here was Valkan, another man trying to force his vision upon me, thinking he could bend me to his will.

No. I was done letting others define me. Done being what everyone else wanted me to be. I might be caught between two realms, but those parts of me—the ones that made me a weapon, an asset, something to be feared or welded or forged…

Those parts belonged to me .

"I would never, in a million years, allow you to unleash your forces onto Sídhe. That's what you don't understand." My voice shook. "I don't want more death and destruction, and that's all you offer. It's all your men know how to do."

"Sometimes," he said softly, "the end justifies the means."

My shadows pulsed wider, reaching for him again before I could stop them.

"Careful now." His voice dropped dangerously low. "I'd hate for this to turn into something ugly."

"You're delusional." I tried to hide the terror in my voice as my nails dug into the flesh of my palms. I needed to find a way out of this.

"I had hoped this conversation would go differently." He sighed, almost theatrical in his disappointment. "I truly hate being forced to take a firmer approach, but you leave me no choice."

I met his gaze with all the hatred burning in my chest, and his eyes lit with something dark. Something that made my blood run cold.

"Don't look at me like that," he growled. "Save it for our wedding night."

The words crashed into me. For a moment, I couldn't process what he'd said—what he meant. Wedding night? The web braided itself up my spine almost outside my control as panic clawed at my throat. My shadows morphed into a wall of darkness around me, ready to tear him apart.

"I've asked you quite nicely to keep those contained." His voice cut through my rising fury. "If the fate of the realm itself isn't enough to heed my warning, perhaps this will be."

Valkan slid something across the table, and my heart stopped. A clump of leather—torn and shredded in places, but unmistakable. Aether's name was still visible on the outer edge. The fabric was stained dark in places I didn't want to think about.

"If you care an ounce for his life, I suggest you start cooperating." His smile turned wicked as he watched the shock spread across my face.

"The Umbra will come for you," I managed, though the words felt hollow even as I said them. "If you hurt him, they will descend on Draxon?—"

"Do you honestly believe that?" he cut me off.

The question hit harder than I wanted to admit. Would they come? With Urkin's attention fixed solely on Sídhe, with the Council in chaos... Only Vexa and Effie knew where we were. Would they assume we died at the bottom of that cave? My shadows trembled with helpless rage, but I forced them back, letting the web sink into the depths of my spine. Useless. I felt useless again.

"That's what I thought." Satisfaction dripped from his voice.

I stayed silent, jaw clenched so tight it hurt. Tears burned in the corners of my eyes. I knew it best to try and pacify him, at least for now, but I didn't know if I had the strength to do it. To not recoil any time his eyes fixed on me with that disgusting curiosity. To not unleash the stores of my power until he was no more than dust covering the floor.

Breathe.

"Would you allow me to remove your restraints now? I'm sure you're starving." He rose from his chair with fluid grace.

Just let him think he's winning. It's the only way you're getting out of here.

I gave a small nod, hating myself for it.

He approached with that satisfied smile, untying the ropes, making sure to graze my skin with his fingers before settling into the chair beside me. "Eat, darling."

I didn't move. The food's aroma filled my nose, making my stomach clench, but the memory of that metallic taste in the forest kept me frozen. My eyes darted between Valkan and the feast before us.

"You need to stay strong." He began filling my plate, movements deliberate and precise. "Look what I can provide for you."

Slowly, I picked up the fork, pushing the food around without bringing it to my lips.

"Together, we're going to conquer both realms." His voice took on a distant quality, like he was speaking to himself.

I watched him from the corner of my eye, trying to mask the hatred pulsing through my veins.

"If we don't intervene, this conflict will never end. It's not enough to quell Sídhe. It's not enough to restore Umbrathia." He leaned closer, and I fought the urge to recoil. "In order to maintain the peace we will carve across the rip, we will need to bring all to their knees."

My grip tightened on the fork until my knuckles went white, the end digging into the wooden table .

"Those guards are quite formidable, even I'll admit that. Your friends." His smile turned cruel.

Panic shot through me. "What are you talking about?" My voice came out clipped.

"The Umbra don't know everything that happens in this realm. Or across the rip." He shrugged, but there was nothing casual about it.

My heart thundered against my ribs as faces flashed through my mind. Raine. Briar. Laryk.

"You've been there,” I whispered.

"So invigorating, their veins gluttonously pulsing with stolen essence." His tongue ran across his teeth. "The most exquisite feast I've ever tasted."

Something in me snapped. Before I could think, I drove the fork into his thigh.

His cry of pain turned into a snarl as he lunged for me, form rippling and growing impossibly large. His hand locked around my throat as he slammed me back against the table. Cold metal pressed against my lips, forcing them open. Metallic liquid flooded my mouth.

"Such a shame, I was really hoping to do this differently." His hand caressed my face, and I tried to pull away, but I was already losing my grip on reality.

“Tyreth, bring her to the chamber.” His voice drifted above me as darkness claimed my vision. The sound of a door creaking open and boots rushing towards me was the last thing I heard.