Page 4

4

~ C leo ~

The rope bit into my wrists with every sway of the horse, a constant reminder that I’d gone from a girl with foolish dreams of freedom to a prisoner riding through the gods-damned woods in the dead of night.

I sat stiff-backed on a thick black stallion that reeked of oil and smoke, my hands tied in front of me, barely able to balance. The saddle was hard. The wind cut like a knife through my cloak. And the man behind me said nothing .

Not since we left the city hours ago. Not since he cornered me in the alley behind the orphanage, said a few words I couldn’t understand, and wrapped my mind in darkness.

That was the worst part.

The silence in my head.

Every time I tried to think clearly, to scream, to fight —a creeping shadow slithered across my thoughts and smothered them. It wasn’t sleep. It wasn’t exhaustion. It was magic, heavy and oily and unnatural, slinking through my soul like fog, softening everything it touched.

But something inside me… resisted.

A spark.

Small. Defiant.

It flared whenever the magic pressed too hard. Not enough to banish the darkness, but enough to keep me awake. Awake enough to know I was being led through cursed woods toward an unknown fate by a man I didn’t know, didn’t trust, and didn’t want.

Not even a little.

“So,” I said, forcing my voice to stay light as the horse jostled beneath me. “Do you always kidnap your brides, or is that just part of the whole Death Mage charm?”

He didn’t answer.

I turned my head slightly, catching a glimpse of his profile beneath the moonlight. Jarrik Morren. Tall. Handsome in a cold, vulture sort of way. Like marble carved into something pretty but dead.

His eyes were like obsidian chips, polished and soulless. His expression hadn’t changed once since we left the city—except for when I first tried to leap off the horse and run. Then, he’d murmured another spell, and the shadow had wrapped tighter around my thoughts like a noose.

Still, the spark burned.

“I’m serious,” I said, pressing. “Where are we going?”

“To the foothills of the Hollowspine Mountains,” he said at last, voice like cracking ice. “We’ll reach the outpost by dawn.”

“And then?”

“Then you’ll be mine.”

I choked on my own breath. “Excuse me?”

“Our bond will be sealed. You are my betrothed.”

“No, I’m not .” I turned fully to glare at him. “I never agreed to this. You showed up with your scary spells and your blank face and your spooky coat and just took me. You’re not my fiancé. You’re a kidnapper with a god complex.”

“You were promised,” he said, utterly unfazed. “Your Matron signed the pact. The bond is recognized by The Spire.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass what The Spire recognizes. I didn’t say yes.”

He looked at me then. Really looked. And something flickered behind those black eyes.

“You don’t need to say yes,” he said.

I turned away before I said something truly foolish. Like how badly I wanted to burn him.

The trees thinned as we reached a clearing. The moon spilled silver over a patch of moss and rock, and Jarrik dismounted with a whisper of movement, graceful as a snake.

He pulled me down none-too-gently and walked me to a flat stone, where he lit a small fire with a flick of his fingers. No tinder. No sparkstone. Just magic—cold and eerie, blue-tinged flames licking hungrily at the air.

I sat because I didn’t have a choice.

He said nothing as he took out dried meat and handed me a strip. I didn’t take it.

“You said I’m your betrothed,” I said instead. “But I’ve never heard of you. Why me?”

He didn’t answer right away. The flames made his face look more skull than man.

“I need you,” he said finally. “There is a shadow rising from the Veil. The Tower is not as stable as it once was. A double eclipse is coming, and the old seals are cracking. Without the Starbound, we will not be able to hold it.”

My pulse stopped.

“You think I’m Starbound?”

“You are. Your blood sings with it. My magic recognized you instantly.”

“Then why not tell me the truth back at the orphanage?”

“You would not have come willingly.”

“You’re damn right I wouldn’t.”

He offered no apology. No justification.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said instead. “I need your power, not your suffering.”

That didn’t comfort me.

I stared into the blue flames, trying not to shiver. The night smelled of smoke and damp pine, cold earth and the faintest tang of sulfur from his spells. The meat he offered smelled dry and bitter, like old leather and dust. I turned my face away.

And I thought of him.

The other one. The mage with the blue hair and eyes like silver lightning.

The one who had looked at me like I was fire and salvation.

Why couldn’t I stop thinking about him ?

If he had been the one to take me— would I have run?

The thought made my stomach twist.

Void take me, what was wrong with me?

“Your parents,” Jarrik said suddenly. “What do you know of them?”

“Nothing,” I said. “I was abandoned as a baby on the orphanage steps.”

“No name? No trinket?”

“Just a blanket with stars stitched into it. That’s it.”

He nodded once, as if that confirmed something. “The mark of the Starborn.”

I curled my hands into fists, the rope biting into my skin. “I want to leave.”

“You cannot.”

“Then at least untie me.”

He stood. “No.”

My temper snapped. “You’ve taken everything from me—my freedom, my plans, my mind! And you won’t even let me sit without feeling like a prisoner?!”

He reached for me. “Calm yourself. I told you, I won’t harm?—”

The moment his hand touched mine, something ignited .

A spark. A pulse of gold and white fire, so hot it burned through the shadow like a comet through a storm cloud.

Jarrik cried out and jerked back, his hand smoking.

He stared at me in stunned disbelief. Then he snarled and reached for the blade at his belt.

“Enough of this.”

A wicked-looking dagger glinted in the firelight, etched with runes that slithered across the steel like living things.

I backed away. “What are you?—”

“You’re not bonded yet. Your power is resisting. I’ll break it.”

“No—stop?—”

Magic coiled in the air like a thunderstorm about to break.

And then?—

The forest exploded.

Darkness surged. Not like Jarrik’s, cold and calculating. This was wild . Raw. Pure fury.

The campfire went out with a hiss.

Wind slammed into the clearing, scattering sparks. The horse screamed and bolted.

And a voice—that voice—growled from the shadows.

“Step away from her.”

My heart stopped.

He emerged like death made flesh—tall, cloaked in midnight, blue hair whipping in the wind, eyes glowing silver with a rage so pure it felt holy.

The mage from the city.

He’d found me.

I didn’t know whether to cry in relief—or run like hell.

Jarrick grabbed me by the wrist and yanked me to my feet, dragging me backward. “Devin, she’s mine. My betrothed. Leave us or escort us back to The Spire.”

Flashing silver eyes met mine. Held. Devin—that was the other mage’s name—tilted his head like a curious cat. “You know what she is?”

Jarrick’s finger’s tightened until I feared my bones would break. I tried to pull free. Failed. Twisted my arm. Kicked Jarrick’s legs. He didn’t even turn, his complete attention on the Death Mage who had obviously tracked us to this place. Had Jarrick known we were being followed? Was that why he’d been in such a hurry, not stopping for what felt like two days? “Let me go!”

Both mages ignored me and my words. Jarrick’s calm was fading. Power, no magic, was building up under his skin, pulsing in his veins. Somehow, I could feel it. He was going to attack Devin. Drag me back to The Spire with him. Force me to marry him. His next words confirmed it. “I have a signed betrothal contract from the Matron. The Knight Eternal will honor it. She’s mine. I found her first.”

“So, you do know what she is.”

What the Void was he talking about?

Jarrick shrugged and took another step back, toward our horse. Yanked me along like I was baggage. “I know she’s going to be my bride.”

I tugged, kicked, twisted. “No. I told you no. I’m not marrying anyone.” My eyes burned with frustrated, rage-fueled tears. I might as well have been yelling at two stone mountains.

“Let. Her. Go.” Devin’s cold words were accompanied by raised hands. He held his arms up, palms facing one another. Between them? Violet-blue flame twisted and burned in mid-air. “I’ll give you one more chance, Jarrick. She’s mine. We share the bond.”

Jarrick shook his head. “No. Liar.”

“Ask her,” Devin insisted.

What bond was he talking about? Even as I the question entered my mind, I knew. The twisting in my gut when our eyes met, the way my body responded to him. The way I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since the moment I saw him. There was something between us, something dark and twisted and needy. Something terrifying and hungry . Something that wanted to take my freedom from me and give it to a Death Mage. “No.”

Jarrick’s shoulders seemed to slump in relief. “There. She denied it herself.” He shoved me back again and I tripped, would have fallen, but the vice-like grip he had on my wrist held. I felt the bone snap. I cried out as pain exploded under his grip.

I stopped thinking. My mind just shut down, filled with pain as the second bone snapped. I fell to my knees, the agony twisting into something cold as ice in my body. Was I going into shock? I didn’t know. All I knew was I wanted him to let me go.

Devin unleashed his violet flame, a ball the size of Jarrick’s head flew toward his chest. He twisted to the side, dodging the attack. Rather than release me to fight, his grip tightened further until it felt as if he was going to squeeze my hand off, separate it from the rest of me. The icy burn I’d been feeling intensified and Jarrick cursed, dropping my wrist as his hand and the sleeve of his fancy coat burst into white flame.

Devin took advantage, sending a burst of violet fire that lifted Jarrick from the ground and blew him halfway across the small clearing. To my shock, Jarrick landed on his feet, returning fire as I crawled away from both of them, cradling my injured wrist to my chest. I curled into a ball and tried to make myself small as the entire forest exploded with violet and blue fire, covered my ears when Jarrick began to scream…