Page 20

The world around me flickered in and out like the dying light of a candle.

My cheek was pressed against rough stone and I groaned as I tried to push myself upright, but every muscle screamed at me to stop.

I blinked hard as I fought against the fog of unconsciousness, but the moment clarity returned, a sharp pain sliced through my wrists and ankles.

Chains.

They’d chained me.

The dark metal links that bound me burned with dark enchantment. Their cold tendrils wrapped around my limbs and crawled beneath my skin, spreading a chill that was all-consuming and seeped into my very core. It felt as though icy needles were piercing through me, draining me of warmth and leaving only a barren numbness in their wake.

A sinister magic designed to shackle not just my body, but my spirit as well.

Panic rose in my throat like bile.

The familiar hum of my magic was gone, and the whispers of the grimoire were deathly silent.

I’d forgotten what it was like not to have them crowding my thoughts.

I strained against the shackles, my body protesting with every movement, but it was futile. The glow of criss-crossing keyline spells lent their eerie blue glow to the stone chamber.

I turned my head slowly, but the room offered me no hints as to where I was, or the time of day.

No windows.

No exit—

I skidded back as far as I could and I let out a cry of pain as the chains halted my progress.

The thick iron links were looped through a ring bolted into the stone floor of the chamber.

My movements were limited and the power of the keylines smothered my magic…

The raw sickness in my belly twisted tighter.

A deep, throaty laugh bounced off the walls and reverberated through the dimly lit room. My heart leapt into my throat, and a scream tore from my lips as I spun around. The shadows seemed to shift, but confirmed my worst fear—I wasn’t alone.

Dark figures loomed in the shadows, obscured and indistinct.

They stood in silence, their faces hidden, but I wasn’t na?ve enough to hope that they were here to rescue me.

The faint flicker of torchlight danced along the edges of their robes and highlighted the intricate sigils stitched into the fabric with metallic thread.

Sigils I recognized from the pages of the grimoire.

The Black Council— But why—

“Where am I?” I choked out. The words felt strange on my tongue and were swallowed almost instantly by the overwhelming stillness that hung in the air.

I shifted against the stone floor and the rough surface bit into my already wounded knees and bare feet.

A dull ache filled my body and settled into my bones.

What did they want?

A crushing weight of helplessness mingled with the fear of what would come next.

I could feel their eyes raking over me, dissecting my every vulnerability. But their silence was more dangerous than anything.

“Please,” I breathed, though I knew it was pointless.

The keylines shimmered. Mocking me.

I’d been stripped of my magic. My freedom.

Did anyone know where I was?

Was anyone coming to find me?

“Avril Velez,” one of the faceless wraiths spoke and their voice was smooth and chilling as it sliced through the silence. “You are a murderer.”

A lump rose in my throat as images of the two masked figures I’d attacked in the forest flew into my mind.

“ They tried to kill me ,” I spat back. “I defended myself.”

Silence again.

“Where am I?” I demanded. “You can’t keep me here. Lucian— You have no idea what Lucian will do to you… and his sons…”

A crazed laugh bubbled up in my throat as I imagined what Bastian, Valen, and Titus would do to my captors.

“What will they do, child?” someone asked. “Do you think they’ve even noticed your absence? Rotting away in your bedchamber like a forgotten fairytale princess?”

Those words were a slap.

I didn’t want to admit they were right—that I’d worried about the same thing. Briefly. But the thought had been there.

Weaponized doubt.

“They’ll find me,” I said through gritted teeth. “And none of you will survive it.”

Laughter met my strident retort.

“Do you really believe that?” a woman’s voice asked. “Even when you have seen firsthand how quickly Lucian replaces his brides?” She paused to let her words sink in, and I shifted uncomfortably on the floor. My feet were numb. My fingers were cold and stiff.

“Did you truly believe that you could be different? Perhaps we’re doing you a favor—”

“If you want to do me a favor, then let me go,” I snarled. “I was trying to escape— Let me go. You’ll never see me again!”

“Now why would we do that— When you have offered us nothing in return?”

They— They wanted something from me?

“What do you want? I don’t have anything— No money— Nothing—”

“Position,” the woman said. “Proximity.”

Confusion rippled through me. “I don’t understand—”

“We will release you,” she said. “But only if you make us a promise.”

I didn’t like the sound of that.

“What promise?”

“That you will exact the will of the Council— That you will act as our Justice.”

The voice was flat. Detached. As though it all meant nothing.

What?

“Your Justice ? Against who?”

Silence. But only for a heartbeat or two.

“Against Lucian Romano.”

The answer was quick and sharp.

My lip curled as I glared back at them. “You almost killed me in the forest. Kidnapped me. And now you’ve put me in chains and covered this cell with keylines… What makes you think I’d do anything to help you?”

“Do you want your freedom or not?”

I did.

“But you won’t just let me go?”

The speaker stepped forward and her robes brushed over the uneven stones and stirred up little clouds of dust that sparkled in the keyline's glow. “Just… let you go. Do you really think Lucian Romano would stop hunting you if we did? Do you think he’d allow you to traipse off into the sunset and live a quiet, beautiful little life?”

No.

Definitely not.

I’d been so desperate for Valen’s plan to work that I hadn’t thought about anything beyond that—

The figure crouched down to look me in the face. “Avril,” she said, “you must go through with the wedding.”

My breath caught, a sharp gasp that felt like shards of glass.

“You don’t understand— I can’t—”

“You have to,” she continued. “This is the only way to guarantee your own survival. You want to live, don’t you?”

Obviously.

I nodded.

“Good.”

I didn’t have to see her face to know that she was smiling. Somehow, that made the interaction even more chilling.

“To seal your bond, you will cast a powerful spell of control over him. You are uniquely positioned to perform this act—”

“And then what?”

A whisper of a chuckle. Then she straightened. “Then you can leave the rest to us—”

“Why?” I blurted out. Anger, frustration, and pain were beginning to overpower my fear. “Why would you think I would—”

“Because you have no choice,” another voice interrupted. “You watched your own mother be consumed by him. Do you think you are so different that you would survive him without our help?”

The words hung in the air like a noose tightening around my throat. I glanced down at the shimmering chains that encircled my wrists, magic-infused and unyielding. The glow of the keylines.

I was trapped.

“The wedding date is already set...” I said.

“Do you understand the stakes, Avril?” The woman’s voice again. “This is your chance to reclaim control over your life. Over the man who holds your fate—and ours—in his hands.”

But what did control even mean?

Tears burned my eyes, but I wouldn’t allow them to fall. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing my despair.

“I won’t do it. I don’t trust you not to give me a spell that would destroy me in the process!”

I glared up at them with as much hatred as I could summon. No one moved. And then one member lunged forward, their hand a blur in the dim light. A stinging slap connected with my cheek and sent a shockwave of pain through my skull as my head rocked back. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, coppery and bitter, as I sprawled on the stone floor.

“How dare you reject us after what you’ve done!” a woman’s voice spat. “You murdered my daughter! Stole her magic right in front of my eyes!” The woman scrambled back as her comrades grabbed hold of her arms. “I told you we should have killed her when we had the chance!” she cried. “That would send Lucian a message he’d never forget!”

Cara’s mother.

I remembered her haughty face all too well.

I groaned as I pushed myself back to my knees. I tasted the salt of my own blood, and the memory of that night—but it wasn’t shame I felt. It was justification. I hadn’t asked for this life; I hadn’t wanted it—but when I’d discovered that I had no choice; I hadn’t turned away from it, either.

The woman’s shouts continued even as she was dragged back into the shadows.

Ragged breaths rasped at my throat as the gloom swallowed the woman’s rage.

But her words echoed in my ears and in my thoughts even as the memory of Cara’s wide eyes invaded my mind.

I spat a mouthful of blood on the stones.

“I won’t do it,” I panted.

“You will,” a voice replied.

A suffocating silence descended on the cell as they departed.

The crash of the door made me jump, and I glared into the shadows, desperate to see the outline of some escape—but even as I thought I’d found the edge, it melted into the stone and left a seamless wall behind.

No door.

No window.

No escape.

I swallowed hard, but the metallic tang of blood still lingered on my tongue.

With a shuddering breath, I closed my eyes and searched for the pulse of my blood bond with Valen, Bastian, and Titus.

I had to believe it still existed despite the magical barriers strangling my abilities.

I pressed my lips together as I focused all my energy on the fragile thread that bound us.

I pictured Valen’s enigmatic eyes, his chaotic spirit intertwined with mine, and Bastian’s wild laughter echoed in my mind like music. Titus’s icy demeanor flickered in my thoughts, a shadow of menace that made me shudder.

I could feel them—but it was faint.

The keylines were too strong, but I tried to will my voice—anything—through that magical bond.

But the wards surrounding me were a cruel fortress, and I strained against the invisible barrier, pushing harder. But nothing— I wasn’t strong enough to break these spells.

In the forest, it had been different—

But here? I was under their control.

I didn’t want to admit that I was frightened.

Scared out of my mind.

I didn’t need them to tell me what Lucian was capable of.

I knew it all too well.

Without the Black Council’s help, I wouldn’t just be Lucian’s next bride—I’d also be his next victim.

A deep sense of unease settled in my gut as I wondered how long he would allow me to live after our wedding vows had been spoken...

My mother had barely lasted a month.

Or was it less?

Why couldn’t I remember?

I shook my head and tried to concentrate, but the pain was ebbing back into my consciousness. Stronger than before.

Was allying with the Council the only way to avoid my mother’s fate?

My father had fallen to Lucian’s schemes, and my mother had walked blindly into Lucian’s arms.

They were both dead.

And I was still alive.

But it wouldn’t be a life worth living unless I could get out from under Lucian’s thumb.

But if I went along with the Council’s plans, what guarantee would I have that they wouldn’t kill me as soon as they had the chance?

What if they were just using me?

Then again…

What if they weren’t?

I had no way of knowing.

But I couldn’t let my fear dictate my choices. I couldn’t let them make these decisions for me—

I squeezed my eyes shut and focused again on my bond with the Romano sons.

I hoped for a sign, any sign, that they knew where I was. That I’d been missed at all—

But even if they were to find me— What then?

Even Titus had said that Lucian was beginning to slip.

How long would it be before he discovered our plot and turned his fury on me, or them, or all of us?

My head spun with confusion and the pressure in my chest was so intense I thought I might explode.

They wanted me to marry Lucian.

They wanted me to bind him.

They wanted me to make a promise.

Could I do it? Could I swallow my fear and make them believe I’d go along with their plan?

What choice did I have?

I opened my eyes to the glow of the chains and the crisscrossing keylines.

The absence of whispers.

The emptiness of my mind.

The silence was deafening, and the emptiness of it terrified me.

I clenched my fists, and the pull of the chains echoed in the stone chamber.

I’d give them the answer they wanted.

I’d make the promise.

But It was a promise I had no intention of keeping.