Page 124 of Taken By the Lord of the Nocturne Court

There’s that moment when I almost want to let Heartbreak have me, because when memories play through my head like a theater of madmen, I struggle to see much of worth in my past. So many lonely days, shame, humiliation over not being my brother. My life only started when I let him perish, and as I think of Luke watching me last night when we shared promises on the mossy altar in the Ancestral Sanctuary, my blood heats up again.

I still have so much to do, so many kisses to give. I refuse to forsake the future. When my thoughts sharpen, shredding uncertainty and fear, I try to slow my descent toward the monster’s throat. I swallow a grunt when my forearm clashes with one of the massive teeth, but pain can’t stop me, and as I tumble, both my hands rip at the sleeve of my leather top.

One of the eels I keep on my skin would be enough.

Just one.

I don’t have time to coax it closer and rip it off despite the abrupt gesture feeling like opening a wound. The eel squirms in my hand, but I manage to inhale it while pushing the fingers of my other hand into the beast’s flesh. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to slow my fall for just enough time—

Luke grabs my wrist, giving me additional stability. His shadowy face has no features, but his brows seem to furrow in exertion while he holds me up.

The power from the eel hits me, coursing through me like fairy dust, and my mouth stretches into a smile as heat throbs in my veins.

I try not to think of the monster’s muscles clenching right under my feet in a desperate bid to crush me too. He can’t have me. Four black tentacles shoot up to grab the teeth high above, then I stab my sword into flesh for leverage. I’m already sweating, exhausted, and I prioritize my safety over looking for more of the black hearts. I can’t chase Heartbreak away from our shores if I’m dead.

I will not end up like Anatole. Not with Luke watching. But as that thought passes through my head, I wonder what would happen to him if I got out, andheended up as the beast’s meal. He cannot be harmed by the material world while he’s in the shadowild, but if the beast swallowed him and carried him away, neither of us would have a way to free him. He can't leave the shadow realm in the sea. He’d be stuck forever, like my father’s poor Dark Companion, and die of thirst and starvation, all alone in the dark.

I cannot let that happen. I need to fight, if not for myself, then for him.

But as I’m about to leap and get out of the monster’s throat, something wraps around my neck and squeezes hard. The world darkens, my limbs weaken, and it takes all my focus and strength to not drop Gloomdancer.

Luke’s shadow figure reaches toward me as the tentacle drags me down the funnel of flesh and teeth. I reach back, but my brain is shutting off from the pressure just below my jaw.

It’s a goodbye after all.

He hesitates, only to dash my way, on a suicide mission that might end up with him stuck alongside my corpse forever. I grab at the veiny noose dragging me to my death and try to shout, but I cannot produce sound anymore. From the corner of my eye, I see the edges of the toothy sphincter widen to swallow me whole, but as I fall in, to my inevitable death, Luke disintegrates into a splash of gray reminiscent of quicksilver and hits me with his warmth.

His shadow covers me from my feet to the tip of my head. The tentacles around my neck snap as if his form is a guillotine. The monster’s teeth try to crush my legs when I fall, but Luke’s shadow is steel. He’s utilizing the skills I taught him, and the exertion is costing him everything. I can already feel it through our bond. He’s half-lucid but keeps holding on to me as my shield.

I drop into something soft and wet, finally catching my breath as blood rushes back to my brain, offering clarity of mind.

I’m inside Heartbreak, the beast my people fear more than anything, yet Luke’s shadow is hugging me from every side, and I’ve never felt safer. He’s there for me the same way I want to stand by him, and this material proof of his love makes my heart soar even as I face muscular walls.

I’m grateful that I cannot smell the rot around me, because some of the flesh is bloated and discolored as if it’s about to burst and cover me with pus. But I can still see, and when I face a collection of bones and muscle still covered in ripped leather, I need to compose myself to avoid leaving the contents of my stomach inside the beast.

Anatole’s form is already being incorporated into the creature, his ribcage wide open. His heart is frantically pulsing with the energy of a fresh kill. I resented this man, and he felt the same about me, but no one deserves a fate like this, so I stab his blackening heart, and as it bleeds out, I can almost sense Anatole’s spirit leaving in peace. He deserves this much mercy.

I look around, because there’s no time to lose. Luke’s shadow is paling, and I worry that he’ll overexert himself. But when I ask him to rest, the flat imprint of his form darkens. Such a stubborn man. But he is doing this for us, so I ignore the worry caused by his quickening heartbeat and focus, because he’ll only be able to keep this up for so long.

That’s when I spot them.

Right above me, huge clusters of black hearts are attached to the roof of this… stomach like leeches, all beating in one rhythm. I sense their beating under my feet and all around me.

I grab my sword, tasting victory on my tongue. In the attempt to kill me, the beast let me into its treasure trove.

Iwillmake this ravenous giant retreat, and then cut my way out of its innards, back into the moonlight. Excitement reverberates in my bones as I reach into the rip on my chest and coax an eel to the surface. I can sense its trepidation as I pluck it off my flesh, but then its smoky form dissolves into my lungs, and I leap, grabbing at a vein as thick as my bicep to hold myself up as I stab and slash.

The muscular walls throb with a shuddery moan, but what other encouragement do I need? I want this beast gone, and I shall stop at nothing.

Tendrils like fingers with endless knuckles attempt to grab me, stall me, but Luke’s protection keeps me invulnerable to their grasp, and as I cut through the heartsof the behemoth’s many victims, it becomes clear we have been fighting him wrong this whole time.

Heartbreak does not have many weak points in its outer shell, but now that I’m inside him, protected by my Dark Companion, hearts of all shapes and sizes are like fruit in a gory orchard.

Ripe and ready to be plucked with my sword made razor-sharp by Luke's human shadow. I spare none I can see. I might not be able to topple Heartbreak’s mountainous form today, but if I can do enough damage to keep it away for a hundred years or more, it will be a service to the Realm, and to myself. Maybe one day we can hunt this beast down, bring the fight to its lair when we’re ready, and end it once and for all.

I’m smiling when I slash through several hearts in one go, unbothered by the rain of thick black blood spilling on me. But then Luke’s hold on me weakens, and I feel our bond falter as his shadow form slides off my shoulders.

Panic takes hold, and I gather all my power to keep him close. My shadow forms a cradle for his form, enclosing him against my back, but as his protection withdraws, I’m hit by the stench of death. It’s excruciating, like having rotten mice carcasses rubbed into my nose and tongue, but fetor won’t kill me. Losing Luke would.