Page 271 of The Queen’s Shadow

Nytara had left after breaking the news, with a promise that she would return soon. I had immediately broken a hole through the magick of the triquetra and shot down the trace that connected me to Raven. I needed to warn her. However, when I arrived at the end of the trace, I was shocked to find that there was nothing there.

I wasn’t met with the thick wall of a psychic shield. There was just…nothing. I didn’t know what that meant, but I knew it couldn’t be good.

I paced my cell, waiting for Nytara to return with my armor and orders. I could tell something had changed in her the last few weeks. It was small, but there had been several instances and subtle moments where I felt she had gone out of her way to avoid being cruel to me. I planned to beg her to try to find a way to free Raven. Even if she could find a way to send word to Rycon or Dossidian, whom she had disclosed had not been with her when she had been captured… Anything to give Raven a small sliver of hope.

The door to my cell opened and I whirled to face The Siren, but the words died on my tongue when I was instead confronted by Kieran.

Kieran sneered at me. “Expecting someone else?” He asked.

I didn’t speak. My gaze fell to the black box in his arms that I knew held my armor. Tonight, he also had a sword for me. I eyed it warily, noticing that it had been cast to resemble Bond Breaker.

“We thought it would be symbolic, for you to cut her down with the sword The Dominion has come to associate with the hope of freedom.” Kieran smiled at me. He watched me carefully, waiting for me to respond. The darkness within me churned and rumbled against the slavery bond and the evil wizard’s smile widened at my inability to contain my agitation. When he was sure I was not going to speak, he set the box and the sword on the bed.

“Get changed.” He ordered, and left me to it.

The slavery bond roared to life, and my hands shook, as I put on my armor and donned the sword that I knew they would force me to use against my mate.

The colosseum felt louder and brighter than it ever had before. Kieran stood next to me in the center of the ring as the crowd around us cheered so loud the walls shook. The ever present piece of soulforge pulsed like an infected wound in the middle of the sandy arena. Its dark magick bled through the air, creating a nauseating barrier between me and the audience.

They had stopped ordering me to charge the sacrilegious piece of stone. It now seemed to hum with its own toxic power. I often caught what seemed to be flashes of tiny glowing handprints, pressing up against the black crystal from the inside.

Kieran noticed me eyeing the crystal and he turned to me, giving me a look that made me feel sick to my stomach.

“One of you will die tonight.” Kieran said, sounding absolutely thrilled by the prospect. “I have charmed the soulforge to act as a vacuum.” He informed me, as he removed the triquetra from my neck. I glanced back at the throbbing stone, suddenly understanding why I had seen those glowing hand prints.

He had been trapping souls in there…

“Whichever one of you dies tonight will have the pleasure of living for eternity within that crystal.” He informed me. “I hope it’s your mate.” His wolfish smile spread wider. “Imagine the devastation I could wreak with access to a power like hers…”

Leaving me with that horrifying piece of information, he turned on his heel and left me standing alone in the center of the arena.

All of my hopes and dreams of finding peace in death fled my mind. Eyeing up the piece of soulforge, I knew that even if I were to die, they would find a way to continue to use me as a weapon. I allowed this knowledge to wash over me, and took a deep breath.

If there was any chance of one of us surviving this, it had to be Raven. I gripped the hilt of my sword so tightly that my knuckles cracked.

The already noisy crowd grew louder as Trenton’s voice exploded through the amphitheatre.

“Daemons and Casters! Are. You. READY!?” He boomed and the audience went wild. Roses flew from the stands and landed around me in a bloody, red shower.

I faced the opposite end of the arena, where my nightly victims were escorted into the ring. I couldn’t feel her.

Why couldn’t I feel her?

My anxiety mounted with the cheers of the crowd, and my darkness swirled and pulsed within me. The slavery bond slashed across my aura and I grit my teeth against the pain.

“Tonight, we have the pleasure of witnessing something truly special!” Trenton bellowed to the cheering crowd. “The Queen’s Shadow will be ordered to hunt and kill his mate, the False Queen!”

The daemons in the stands erupted. I allowed my gaze to scan the audience. There were close to fifty thousand daemons in the stands. Many of them were clearly off duty soldiers, sporting restructium armor. Their bloodthirsty faces contorted in cruel excitement at the prospect of watching me murder one of the only daemons who had brought me joy and peace in my long miserable life.

Trenton continued to egg the crowd on. “Queen Ash Nevra asks that you all help her deliver the order! Repeat after me!”

I cut my gaze to where I knew Ash Nevra would be sitting. She was perched in her throne at the head of the ring, flanked by Trenton and Kieran. She looked absolutely feral. I met her gaze and swore to myself that even in death, if I had any power at all, I would use it to ruin her.

“Prince Amon… kill your mate!” Trenton shouted, his voice echoing through the amphitheater. The crowd immediately joined in.

“Kill your mate! Kill your mate! Kill your mate!” The chant rang around me, the order seeping into my bones and igniting the slavery bond around me. I felt the command settle over me like a noose around my throat.

Then, I felt her.