Page 43

Midnight Grave

Death

“Where the fuck is she?” I roar, landing violently into the small treehouse, ready to throttle Talon.

The tanned God backs up quickly, his black hair waving madly as he trips over chairs, slamming his back into a cabinet, and knocking over several precious vials onto the ground.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Tai rushes me, getting in between Talon and me. “What is going on? I thought you were at Aesha’s?”

“She was here.” I sweep around Tai, locking my eyes on Talon as I stalk him. “Where is she?”

“I didn’t know anything until Tai came, Ro, I swear.” His voice is fearful.

I feel Darkness inching toward him, its icy tendrils reaching for his bright soul as it pounds in fear. I cannot hold onto it any longer, its ice snakes through my veins, demanding blood.

“Ro,” Tai says calmly. “Brother, you’re not well. Reel him in.”

Darkness floods the edges of my vision, pulsing, begging for retribution. I am too focused on the bright star of Talon’s soul to notice other bodies have filled the room until I feel a strong fist punch me in the face. I go down to the ground, catching myself on the wooden planks beneath me. My jaw aches as I stare at the ground, breathing in soft pants.

“Sometimes, my men lose themselves out in the ocean. Sometimes, you just need a gentle reminder to plant yourself back in the realm.” Cael’s rough voice rings above me as a rugged hand extends itself.

I slap his hand away, standing on my own to see a room full of concerned eyes staring at me. I snarl, my focus returning to Talon. “Where is she?” I seethe, the shadows recede, but only slightly.

“Meadow didn’t say, she didn’t even tell me she was leaving. I looked for her yesterday, but she was gone,” Talon says nervously.

“Ro, what’s going on?” Kai takes a step toward me.

“She was here, I saw her. Where is the closest Malmog nest?” I demand.

“I—uh … there is one not too far to the east. It’s a pretty nasty one though, Ro.”

Shadows shake the room as Darkness dances in my veins.

“Ro, you need to rest. You’re not feeling well.” Tai creeps toward me, as if I am a feral wounded animal that might strike him down.

He is not wrong.

H?l lashes out at him faster than a whip as I bare my teeth. “Stay the fuck away from me.”

“Brother, please, let me help you,” Tai speaks softly.

I am so fucking sick of that tone. “Go fuck yourself.” I turn and shove Kai and Aesha out of my way.

I push off the rickety bridge and fly into the sky, headed for the Malmog nest. Who the fuck is Tai to tell me to calm down? He should know firsthand what I am going through. He has a mate of his own, but he has never had her stolen by those sick twisted Gods. Tai has no right to tell me to rest. I need her back, Darkness demands her back. I cannot control H?l, he wants blood.

I fly over a scene that looks like a large Malmog nest. The plants below are torn and cluttered on the ground in several spots. Large scuttle marks litter the ground with broken trees everywhere. I smell her scent among the jungle below, inside the bellow of the nest. My heart clenches as her fear is still fresh in my body, seizing my muscles tight. I land down below, my feet thundering into the tunnels below me.

A gleam hits my eye from deep within the leafy rubble. I stalk closer until I see its source. A delicate hair comb woven with ferns of the ancient forest and a precious Ifera Orb Sapphire in the center. It lays with crusty black blood coating its pale fingers, laying across the wreckage in the foliage. My chest cracks open as I inhale deeply. I close my eyes and clasp it to my heart. Grace .

I shoot my eyes open, emerging from my heartache and transforming into a feral beast. I wait, my silver axe in hand, for the beast to come out of its home. Darkness is giddy inside me, ready to unleash itself onto the poor creature.

I feel the rumble under my feet as the trapdoor pops open. The black beast is massive as its legs pierce the ground. Its pinchers clap at the open air as he scuttles out. Nearby I hear other trap doors opening and the rumble of legs hitting the ground. I smile as Darkness soars in my soul. We are hungry.

The beast launches toward me as I fly up, evading his pinchers. Large venomous barbs strike at me, and I slice them off with my axe. The creature cries under me, its mandibles clicking angrily. I watch as the creature starts to grow back several new barbs. I hear the other beasts rush in, desperate for a meal. I take my ancient axe and bring it down into the armor of the beast under me, crushing it into his brain beneath the shell. The black creature falls flat, just in time for another to enter the ring.

This time, H?l blooms from the shadows, striking quick and lethal. It lashes its whips into its pinchers, searing them off with a white-hot lasso. The creature screeches, unaware of what has attacked him. I take to the beast behind me, fighting him off with my axe. With every felled beast, comes another armored creature ready to take its place.

I feel the anger boiling inside me, with every kill, I long for more. I fight and fight, desperate for a release, but Darkness only becomes more desperate and volatile. I fall to the ground, feeling the earth shake underneath me. I stare, helpless, as dark tar seeps into the leafy green ground under my hands, branching out like veins. My body is tense, pent up with rage as I roar my anguish into the ground. I feel the life around me, dancing and beautiful. I want to destroy it. I want to rot the delicate souls. I want to take them like my mate was taken from me. I will destroy everything until I get her back.

I explode.

Rot bursts from my body in a massive explosion, burning everything in its path. I rip the souls from the creatures and land, taking anything and everything, turning it into ash. I do not know how far my rot spreads, but I bellow my pain as Darkness reaps around me.

I burn until I am empty.

I rot until everything is dead.

I sit there, staring into the grey ground, feeling the ash under my hands. Shadows dance in the corners of my eyes. I cannot focus as they taunt me, begging for more death. I close my eyes and think of her.

I hear heavy footsteps crushing through the ashy forest.

“I do not wish to talk right now, Tai,” I mutter, exhausted.

“Then talk to me, brother.” Kai’s voice sounds above me. He crouches down, falling backward to sit before me.

I stay silent for a while, listening to him breathing, feeling his soul dance before me. “How do you do it?” I ask quietly.

He cocks his head at me.

“How do you handle the madness?” I clarify.

Kai chuckles. “I don’t. I tried a long time ago to reel it in. I tried so hard to control it, but it just made things worse. I’ve learned the hard way that you just have to embrace the chaos, learn how to live with it. When you let go, you’re finally free.”

“You seem level-headed right now,” I point out.

“Chaos and I are in an agreeance about this. We want Grace back,” he states matter-of-factly.

A long pause goes between us.

“I love her, too, Ro,” Kai says softly.

I whip my head up to meet him.

He smiles sadly at me, his gaze wandering sheepishly to the ground. “I would never interfere with you guys. You two are meant for each other, and I really am happy for you.” Kai furrows his brows, playing with his hands. “I just thought … when she first came here, I mean. I thought maybe I could be happy with her. She was interested in Chaos, and I thought, maybe she is the one to quiet him … but he was obsessed with her. I knew I couldn’t have her, it was too dangerous.”

I stare at him, observing him quietly.

“I still love her though,” he whispers.

I nod my head in understanding. “She loves you too. Grace may be my mate, but she has a great love for you. You know she tried to stab me for breaking your neck, right? Fuck, I almost lost her for that.” I chuckle.

He laughs with me, ash flittering from the sky.

Kai looks at me and sighs. “Ro, we gotta talk about this.” He slips off a leather glove to show me black veins slithering on his hand, branching up his arm. “I haven’t told Tai. I didn’t want to worry him, but Darkness is pushing me too. I’m guessing you’re the reason why.”

Shadows start to whisper in the wind, calling me to them. I glance around the decimated circle as grey ash swirls in the breeze.

“H?l wants Grace back. I am losing my mind, Kai. I cannot control it much longer. It wants out.”

He leans in. “I feel it too. It’s pulling me, but I don’t wield the Darkness the same way as you. It’s calling to my Void. It must be calling to Tai too. How is he so calm about this? Doesn’t he feel the rumble of his soldiers?”

“He has always been a General,” I grumble.

“Yeah, but you’ve always been the most level-headed of us,” my brother argues.

“No, I just never cared,” I whisper darkly into the rotted ground.

Kai furrows his brows, looking at his hands. “Chaos is on the edge. He’s thrashing in my head, I’ve never seen him like this.”

Darkness pulses at the edges of my vision, playing in the ashes. “I think I finally know how you feel.”

“You have to find a channel for it, Ro. You can’t let it eat you away like this; it’s controlling you. You are made of darkness, but that doesn’t mean it controls you. You need something worthy of fighting for.” Kai’s uplifting advice only sends me further into my shadows.

“My reason has been taken from me.” My anger rears its ugly head as I think of Grace’s abduction.

“H?l is a part of you, you’re more bonded to it than us. It lost someone it cares about, too, and it will take over everything unless you stop it. You need to show you’re in control, Ro. Or else, Grace is lost.” He kicks my leg with his dirty foot, making me look up at him. “We need our King, Ro.”

I stare into his crimson eyes, my chest carrying the weight of boulders. “You know I never wanted to be King,” I whisper.

“But you know in your heart, you were meant to be one. You are the protector, Ro.”

I shake my head; Darkness slithers up my back and into my feathers as I ruffle them. “I have killed many mortals and creatures. I am no protector, Kai, not anymore. A true King would have found another way to save them. What if I hurt Grace going after her?”

“We all knew it had to be done. We did not envy you for what you needed to do. The guilt you wear makes you a better person, Ro, but the strength you wield makes you a better King. You wear the mark of a true sovereign. You will protect those souls, over all others.”

“That is the thing, Kai. I used to think I would always protect them, no matter the cost. But now, I would destroy them all, just for one more glimpse of her. How can you tell me I am still fit for kingship?” I whisper, staring into his shining eyes.

He nods, lost in thought.

“Then, perhaps it is time for a new regime. We needed you to be a protector, and you were, but that time has passed. I cannot say what you will need to become, but Tai and I are behind you, always,” he says firmly.

I nod slowly, rubbing my tongue over my teeth. If I am no longer a protector, what am I?

“Ro?” Kai whispers.

I stare into the distance, looking for any sign of life. “Yeah.”

“I would destroy the world for her, too, if you ever need help,” Kai says.

A smile crosses my face. “I just might.”

We stay sitting together in silence, letting ashes float between us. Kai opens his mouth, inviting them in like snowflakes.

I frown. “You are disgusting.”

“Chaos likes the taste.” He laughs, falling backward into the dust and rot.

A painful pang tears into my wrist as I start to choke on my own air. Flashes of blood dripping down a pale forearm cross into my mind as I cough, grasping at my wrist.

“Ro, what’s happening?” Kai shouts, coming to my side.

Finally, I see it. Acteem latched onto her arm, drinking what is mine. Scorching anger sears into me as I roar into the sky. Darkness lashes out of me, throwing Kai across the circle, his body tumbling into the rot. I am circled in a tornado of midnight shadows as our combined anger roils. My heart thunders as blood, feeling like flames, course in my body. I bellow as he hurts her, taking from her. The images flutter away, and I am left with fury flowing in my body, Darkness screaming through me like lightning .

I have to find her.

“Ro!” Kai calls to me from outside the Darkness swirling around me. “What’s going on?”

I try to breathe, to answer, but I cannot. My chest is filled with dark water, heavy and immovable. I am weighed to the ground as my arms tense, seething as they shudder.

“Ro, talk to me, brother! Do not fight it! Let it through you, embrace it!” His voice is but a mumble against the roar in my ears.

I listen to his voice, my jaw so tight I hear my teeth crack. I try what he says and stop fighting, releasing myself from the tight ache in my body and soul. I let Darkness free to race through me, freeing it completely and riding the wave of its fury.

I scream as fire burns through me, black ink flowing through my blood. Ice pierces my heart as I clutch my chest, my black claws digging into skin. I focus on the ground as black veins rot into the dirt under me, spreading like spider webs across the dead ground. It lashes out like shattered glass as wisps in the air pierce the empty skies like spears. I wait on the ground as it uses me like a conduit, releasing its energy in mad waves. I ride the ripples as it cuts through my body, searing me with icy hot flashes. I start to feel better as I empty my anger, my body loosening and my breathing becoming easier. Darkness starts to lose its fury as it recoils back into my body, slowly. I crouch on the ground, breathing and feeling everything around me as the black tornado turns to mist, dissipating into the air.

I collapse onto the floor of ash; my energy spent.

Kai runs up to me and falls to the ground with me. “You look tired.”

“Fuck you,” I pant.

“What was the freak out for?” he asks, curious.

“I saw Grace. Acteem bit her,” I say through clenched teeth.

There is a long silence before I turn to Kai. His expression is murderous as he looks at me. His eyes have gone dark as black veins dance on his face.

“Do you need to let it out too?” I ask the God of Chaos nervously. “Because I’m leaving if you do. I am not getting sucked into the Void, Kai.”

He slowly lays his head onto the ground, looking into the sky. We lie like that together, staring into the morning colors of the sky.

“Did you see anything else?” Kai’s voice is distorted, sounding more like Chaos.

I think about it. I was more focused on Acteem than the surroundings, but I do remember the sound of water in my ears. Behind him was nothing, absolutely clear. I saw no mountains, no jungles, no trees, just nothing.

I know where they are. “They’re in the V?ttir Plains.”

Kai turns his head to me, brows furrowed. “That is the worst hiding place, there is nothing around but sprites. Why are they there?”

“They are not staying; he is taking her to Esyi,” I ponder.

“The city?” Kai asks incredulously.

“Yeah, think about it. Megala and Dom are already there, and Meadow left yesterday. She must be meeting them there. Crossing straight across the plains is risky, but also the quickest way there. I am positive that is where he is taking her.”

“Then let’s go.”