Page 16 of Resurrection (Daemons & Lumens #2)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Seraphina

I was fucking heartbroken and filled with more rage than I could imagine.

Morbid images of Darren Radnor raping my sister flashed in my mind.

And now she was pregnant with his child.

I had thought of a million scenarios for how things would go the first time I saw her again, and none ended like this.

An inferno was building inside my soul. I needed to unleash it on the Kings.

I would flay them alive and laugh as they screamed.

My sister, my baby fucking sister. I failed her.

Our father failed her. Where was he? He said leaving me behind would protect her.

But he was wrong. Her barely swollen belly proved that.

The blade of the knife shook as my fury grew, and I barely registered the blood beginning to drip down my neck from the cut.

“Seraphina,” Andras snapped, and the sound of his fear pulled me back. “Don’t.”

My eyes shot up to meet his, and I paused. “I will die before she spends another moment alone with him.”

Andras frowned and looked on the verge of speaking, his eyes drilling into mine. In them, I saw anger, fear, and something else. As if he was begging me to understand something beyond what was happening here.

He turned to his father. “Perhaps you should consider giving Seraphina some time with her sister? You do need her alive to perform the ritual, do you not?”

Laszlo’s lazy smirk was beyond irritating. I snarled at him, refusing to back down. He merely watched me with mild annoyance and amusement. As if I were a wild cat he cornered and decided to keep as a pet. But I would not be stuck in a corner created by the Kings.

I sliced the blade another centimeter across my neck, and Ty growled beside me.

“Stop it.” His voice was deep and demanding.

But I would not stop. Not for him. Not for any of them. My entire plan of revenge against this fucking cult was falling apart.

“Very well.” Laszlo finally spoke, his tone commanding attention whether we wanted to give it or not. “The guards will escort Seraphina and Michaela back to Darren’s rooms. You will have ten minutes to speak to each other in private. Then Michaela will stay with her King.”

I wanted to scream. There was no way I would leave her alone with him. But Michaela stood before I could speak and bowed her head.

“Thank you. We will go now.” She walked slowly around the table until she was at my side. “Please, sister.”

I couldn’t refuse her. I dropped the knife, and it clattered loudly against the floor. “Fine.”

Michaela threaded her arm through mine and forced me to move.

We walked in silence, heavy with so much emotion I wanted to hurl myself through a window.

Or maybe I would just hurl us both through a window.

Perhaps there was another winged man disguised as a guard who would come and save us.

Thinking of the stranger and Tibby shattered my heart into even smaller pieces.

I continued to fail everyone I cared for.

The Kings were always one step ahead. I let the Princes claw their way under my defenses and in falling for them, I failed to save the ones I cared for most.

My heart was being caged once more. I could feel the walls around it building back up, brick by brick. These feelings were a weakness, and I refused to be ruled by weakness.

“Sister,” Michaela whispered as we walked closer to her prison. “It is not what you think. Do not trust everything you see.”

Her words brought up a memory. A voice whispering to me in the dark. Trust what you feel, not what you see.

How could I trust what I felt? All I felt was rage and sorrow.

Don’t give up on them. The other words uttered to me in the dark sank into my bones. Did the voice know I would try to push them away? Try to cut the feelings I had for the Princes from my heart?

A guard stood at the door of the bedroom and opened it for us.

Michaela went in first, pulling me behind her.

She gripped my hand, dragging me into the bathroom.

She turned on both faucets of the double sink and turned back to me.

Worry filled her mismatched eyes. And then she smiled.

Michaela threw her arms around me and hugged me so fiercely I could do nothing but hug her back.

“Sister,” she whispered. “I am so freaking happy to see you.”

I snorted a laugh. “Not exactly how I wanted our reunion to go. I was hoping to have the dead bodies of the Kings at our feet.”

Michaela pulled away and grinned. “Soon. You will. I know it.”

I stared into her eyes, so full of life and determination. “How are you so sure? After everything, after what’s been done to you…” Bile rose up in my throat, and I could not finish the sentence.

My sweet sister shook her head. “It is not what you think. I promise.”

We both turned as the bedroom door opened. I searched for a weapon, but unless I could kill Darren Radnor with a bar of soap, there wasn’t much for me to do but let this all play out, one way or another.

“Stay behind me,” I growled, forcing my sister back.

Darren strode through the room and leaned against the frame of the bathroom door, assessing us both. “Time’s up.”

I was on the verge of screaming at him when a small laugh from Michaela made me pause. I turned to her in shock. “Why in the hell are you laughing?”

But she wasn’t looking at me. She was staring at the King, her eyes twinkling with secrets. “You first.”

I looked back at Darren, only it wasn’t Darren at all.

In the doorway stood a massive creature.

The suit he wore was practically bursting at the seams now that this thing wore it.

His skin was tinted red, and horns protruded from his dark wavy hair.

His eyes were golden, and when he smiled, the sharp glint of fangs caught my eye.

He was a daemon. A fucking daemon was standing in front of me.

“Hello, psycho girl.” The daemon chuckled. “Can’t say I am surprised you tried to kill me. Or Darren, rather. But you should know, I have already had the privilege.”

Words evaded me as I processed what the daemon was saying. Michaela grabbed my hand and brought it to her now very flat belly. I looked at her with so many questions on the tip of my tongue.

“We had to make them believe it, sister.” Michaela squeezed my hand. “And there was no time to tell you sooner. But it’s not real. I’m not pregnant.”

Relief flooded my system like a drug I desperately needed. “So he didn’t hurt you? Didn’t…assault you?”

Michaela’s face fell, and the anger returned. “He did. But Morax arrived before he could actually get his gross dick anywhere but my mouth.”

My own mouth dropped open at my sister’s blunt and vulgar words. Anger writhed inside me like a living thing, and the daemon behind me growled his own fury. My sister and I both looked at him.

He dropped to one knee and bowed his head. “I will forever be shamed that I did not arrive before that filth could harm my mate.”

“Morax.” Michaela whispered his name softly. She walked around me and went to him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry. Your what now?” Alarm bells rang out in my brain.

The daemon looked up at me with a smirk. He stood, pulling my sister in close and bringing her hand to his lips. He kissed her palm gently, staring into her eyes as he answered. “I am Morax Ormaenus, Royal Prince of Caligo. And your sister, this perfect being at my side, is my mate.”

My eyes were practically bugging out of my head. “So like, you love her? You’re together?”

Morax rolled his eyes at me, and I really wished there was a utensil in here to stab him with. “Michaela Valdis owns my soul. My heart is hers for eternity. So yes, I love her and we are ‘together’ as you so carelessly put it.”

Yeah, I wanted to stab him again. I crossed my arms instead. “Listen here, daemon guy. She is my sister, and I claimed her for life long before you got here. Besides, you let them hurt her. Why didn’t you stop them if you’re so fucking powerful?”

Michaela frowned at me, but I kept my gaze level. If he was so badass and loved her so much, he should have saved her sooner. Morax let go of her and stepped before me. I had to crane my neck to look up at him; he was so fucking tall. And fucking massive. He was even bigger than Ty.

“I will accept any punishment you see fit to give me for failing your sister.”

He bowed to me, and I flicked my eyes to my sister. She stared at me, pleading with her wild eyes for me to do something. I wasn’t sure what. But I could see she cared for the creature, and he for her. And he did kill Darren.

I rolled my eyes. “Can you bring that fucker back to life so I can kill him?”

Morax gazed down at me with a smile so dark. “I wish, psycho girl. I would enjoy watching you cut him to pieces.”

“Well on that, we are in agreement.”

He chuckled.

I stared at him, recognition dawning. “It was you, wasn’t it? The one who spoke to me down in that dungeon?”

He nodded. “Yes. And I gave you a stimulant to counteract the drug you were given.”

I leaned against the counter, listening to the water still rushing from the faucets. “Seems I have a lot to catch up on.”

Michaela came up beside the daemon. Morax, as if sensing her every movement, turned to the side and wrapped his arm around her waist. This bathroom, although massive, was much too small with a big fucking daemon in it.

“We don’t have time to reveal all, but there is one thing you must know,” Morax began, and his serious tone had my thoughts scattering. “You must go through with the ritual.”

The blood drained from my face. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Morax leveled a sharp look my way. “There is so much more at stake than the corrupt plans of The Obscuritas Kings. When I have the time to tell you, I will. But know this, my brother has manipulated things from Caligo. You will not die in the ritual. But your blood will bring Phenex forth. And to survive this, to save us all, we need him. And we need you.” His voice was so determined I wanted to laugh.

“Michaela and I watched our sister, our mother… We watched them both die in one of The Obscuritas’ rituals.”

Michaela’s face fell, but she recovered quickly. “It will not be the same. I believe him, sister. I trust him.”

Her eyes were wide and insistent. Part of me believed her, and the other part was certain my death was inevitable. I sighed. “Do the Princes know any of this?”

The daemon nodded. “I revealed myself to them recently. When Gremory took Tabitha away.”

My head snapped up at his words. “He was like you? He saved her?”

Morax nodded, and Michaela smiled. “Yes, he is a daemon. Not a royal, but the General of the Royal Army. She is safe and he will protect her.”

Emotions threatened to bubble out of me.

Tibby was safe and away from the horrors of this place.

What would happen next, I wasn’t sure. But I had to trust my sister and these daemons who were apparently on our side.

My shoulders slumped, and I was suddenly exhausted.

This clusterfuck of a day needed to end.

A strong drink and a twelve hour nap sounded magical right now.

I stood, crossing my arms once more. “Alright. Well, I think that’s enough for today. Don’t want anyone getting suspicious of us.”

Morax nodded. “I will call for the guard to escort you to your rooms.”

Michaela hugged me close as her daemon went to the door, disguising his voice to sound like Darren. She was a few inches taller than me and slender where I had muscle. I hugged her back more gently, unwilling to hurt her in any way.

“We’re going to get through this, Seraphina,” she whispered. “Together.”