by Bailey Dark
There’s no time to contemplate questions I haven’t been able to answer since I forced him out of the room. And there’s no time for tears. I take a shaky breath and straighten my shoulders. The dagger at my back gives me solace. I slip out of the room, marking that the hall is empty, and head down the stairs. The smell of opium and tobacco hits me before I’m even halfway. I wrinkle my nose, frowning. When we’re done in this gods-forsaken city and gods-forsaken brothel, I won’t be sad to go.
Downstairs, I see Kane and Willem and Aiden lingering beside the door. Willem's arms are folded over his chest, his fingers tapping impatiently. He glowers at the nearest patrons. I can't bring myself to look at Kane. Aiden spots me first. He grins widely, and I bite the inside of my cheek. With Kane and his cruelty occupying all of my thoughts, I had forgotten the threat that Aiden was hanging over my head. Though I suppose it won't matter much longer. My lips twitch into a smile, a cold one I didn't know I was capable of wearing. I'll kill Kane soon. And then Aiden's threats won't touch me anymore.
“Well, look who decided to join us,” Aiden crows as I approach.
“The sooner we catch this thing, the better,” I say, avoiding Kane’s gaze. From the corner of my eye, I can see him looking at me. “Let’s go, Aiden.”
“I love a woman in charge,” he purrs.
“Wait,” Willem says. His cold voice sends a chill up my spine. “Kane has a strategy, and I don’t believe anyone put you in charge.”
I turn towards Willem, heart hammering. His pale blue eyes cut through me. "I don't give a damn about Kane's strategy," I whisper. Willem's eyes flare, and I hear Kane inhale sharply. But I don't care. Feeling emboldened, I reach for Aiden and wrap a hand around his forearm. "We're going."
"Be still my beating heart," Aiden says, grinning. "You heard the lady. See you, boys at dawn."
I pivot on my heel and rush out of the Diamond, breathing shallowly. I could feel something when I spoke. I felt anger, envy, and regret swirling through me. But they weren't my emotions. They didn't belong to me. Alien and heavy and powerful. On the street, I glance back at the door. I know Kane is behind it. I imagine I can see shadows curling under the door. Kane. But how?
“Where to?” Aiden asks, stretching.
“Anywhere,” I mutter, pushing away my thoughts of Kane’s mysterious new influence. “Come on.”
“What’s gotten into you?” Aiden jogs to catch up with me.
We weave through the thinning crowd as I walk aimlessly. The few streetlamps in this city are being lit, but soon the streets will be mostly empty. No one wants to be the Nephilim’s next victim. “Kane’s plan to break me,” I say bitingly. “When we’re done in Verstad, I’m going home.”
“You think Kane will just let you leave?” Aiden snorts.
“Kane won’t have a choice in the matter.” I turn cold eyes on the older brother. “He’ll be dead.”
Aiden studies me, his eyes searching my face for hesitance he won’t find. “How do you plan to do it? He isn’t some mortal man.”
“I have a dagger that’s been passed through my mother’s family for generations,” I say. The cold silver is warming at my back. “According to the stories, it can kill anything. Even one of the Three. Even you.”
“You’re sexy when you’re pissed, did you know that?” Aiden grins, unbothered by my threat. He sighs. “Alright, I’ll help you.”
“Help me?” I narrow my eyes at him suspiciously. “Why would you do that?”
“Didn’t you hear?” Aiden cocks a brow. “I’ve been trying to kill him for thousands of years. What’s one more attempt?”
We turn down a random street, and I see a man scurry inside his house. The air feels different here, and I shudder. "Why?"
“Because my brother is cruel, and he’s been in power too long – he’s a tyrant,” Aiden says, a hint of anger in his voice. “And he’s always shoved his superiority in my face.”
My lips pinch unhappily at the bitterness in Aiden’s tone. The rift between the brothers runs deep. “I can do it,” I say, even as guilt curls in my gut. “I just need help getting back to Ryrn.”
“If you kill my brother, I’ll get you back to your family,” Aiden says darkly.
“Alright,” I murmur.
We fall into silence as we wander the streets. Guilt pools inside of me, and I chew on the inside of my cheek. I should want to kill Kane more than ever. Only an hour ago, I did, I think ashamedly. But now that it could be a reality, and with the help of his older brother no less, something about it feels wrong. I stare up at the shadowy gray clouds overhead, blocking out the stars. I shouldn't feel guilty for killing someone like Kane. After all, hasn't he proved just how cruel and evil he can be? My eyes soften. Evil isn't the right word for Kane.
“Did you hear that?” Aiden asks, stopping sharply.
I glance at the rooftops, following his gaze. “No,” I whisper, fear lancing through me. I haven’t forgotten how it felt to be without a soul.
Aiden sniffs, brows furrowed. “Follow me.”
Fear squeezing my heart, I trail closely behind the minor god. He leads me into an alley, walking purposefully. The further into the alley we go, the darker it seems to get. My eyes strain to make out shapes in the darkness, and I stumble over a loose stone. Suddenly, the stench of blood hits me. I jolt, choking on my own breath. I can taste the iron tang of it in my mouth. Gagging, I cover my nose with my sleeve and stumble to a stop beside Aiden.
Blood pools in the cracks of the cobblestones, seeping toward our toes. In the center of it, lies a corpse. The woman's prone body is twisted on the ground, her arms stiff and forced at odd angles. A thick red line streaks over her throat, and I see pale tissue and bone. But it's her eyes that are the most haunting. Empty and void, they're like dark windows to an abandoned house. Aiden crouches beside her and lays a hand on her forearm. I grimace.
“She’s still warm,” Aiden says, rising. He glances around the alley. “She hasn’t been dead long.”
I spin, eyes wide as I try to pierce the darkness and make out the Nephilim. “Is it close?” I ask breathlessly.
“Maybe,” Aiden says darkly.
I swallow hard, heart hammering. The light tapping of footsteps reaches my ears and I freeze, spine-tingling with fear. I can't move or tear my eyes away from the source of the sound as it grows closed. Suddenly, a child barrels out of the darkness, skirting the corpse, and sprinting past us. I watch him go, jaw slack, as he skids around the corner and disappears from view. The young boy wasn’t even concerned with the dead, bloody body.
“He didn’t look,” I whisper to myself.
“Go, Briar. Run!” Aiden shouts.
"What?" I turn skin-crawling.
Aiden runs towards me, arms outstretched. Behind him, I see a massive shadow with glowing red eyes. It hurtles towards us, leaping over the woman’s corpse. Aiden reaches me, wrapping a hand around my arm and tugging me behind him. The Nephilim hisses, gaining, and I’m snapped from my shock. Aiden and I sprint through the streets, dodging loose cobblestones and missing pieces. I don’t dare to look over my shoulder to gauge how close the Nephilim is, but I imagine I can feel his hot breath on my neck.
I don’t want to die.
Aiden pulls me into a narrow side street, and we wind our way through, taking sudden sharp turns in random directions. My arm aches from the force of his pulling, but I don't protest. Aiden slows, creeping, and forces us both into a narrow crevice behind an abandoned market stall. He lifts a finger to his lips, hushing me. I cover my mouth with my palm, trying to quiet my ragged breathing. Slowly, I hear footsteps echoing through the streets. My heart stutters, and Aiden's gaze flicks towards me.
We watch as the Nephilim, a lanky creature with greasy hair, walks past us. He’s moving slowly, searching for us. I hold my breath, not daring to even breathe. I could reach out and touch him. Slowly, the Nephilim moves on, drifting further and further away from our hiding place. When Aiden shifts, I take a deep, lungful of
air. Relief floods through me and I feel weak at the knees.
“We should follow it,” Aiden whispers. “Turn the tables.”
“Follow it?” I hiss. “Are you insane? We could have died.”
“Come on, the sooner we do this, the sooner you can go back to your family.” Aiden raises his brows. “Isn’t that what you want?”
I bite my bottom lip anxiously, staring in the direction the Nephilim went. “What are we going to do when we find it?”
“Kill it,” Aiden says simply. “Leave it to me. Just don’t die.”
“Gods,” I mutter.
Aiden doesn’t wait for me to answer before he creeps down the narrow street. I suck in a deep breath, hands fisted at my sides. To go home, I assure myself. I can do this if it means I get to go home. And what could be worse? Killing a monster, or killing Kane? I might as well do the easy part first. I follow Aiden, tiptoeing in the darkness. My only comfort is that if I die before I kill Kane, at least I know my soul will end up somewhere.
Chapter 15
Kane
“What was that all about?” Willem asks, watching Briar and Aiden leave.
I purse my lips. “The lovely Princess Fera revealed the threat I made to Briar’s father.”
Willem chuckles, smirking. “It’s about time Briar knew how worthless she is to us.”
“I don’t want a war with her father, Willem,” I say quietly. “We have to fix this.”
“Why?” Willem scoffs. “Let her run back to her family. We don’t need her, anyway. When she has children, we simply take her firstborn girl. I have no doubt it won’t take long once her father arranges a new marriage for her.”
I don’t tell Willem that the thought of losing Briar to some sniveling mortal prince has my blood boiling. I run my tongue over my teeth irritably. “She is exactly what we need.”
Willem rolls his eyes. “I know you’ve gone soft, Kane. But don’t let that go to your head.”
“My head is as clear as ever,” I say coldly. I feel the cold prick of anger in my chest at the callous way Willem speaks. “The translations were wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Willem quiets.
I tilt my head towards the door as the women of the Diamond start looking too closely. We slip outside into the dying light. “The other night, I felt something inside Briar. She has magic; the magic we need.”
“How is that possible?” Willem asks. He narrows his eyes suspiciously.
“All I can assume is that legends were mistranslated. We need the lastborn, not the firstborn.”
“Well,” Willem muses. “Then I suppose we have a happy accident.”
“Indeed,” I murmur.
Willem eyes me. “Then you need to fix it. We can’t force her to help us.”
“I know I need to fix it,” I snap, nostrils flaring.
Willem is quiet, letting me work through my anger. I sigh, closing my eyes as a headache begins to pound at the base of my skull. “We’re so close, Kane,” Willem says quietly. “We’ve waited hundreds of years for this.”
“Archech will be there for thousands of years to come.” I stare down the street as the lamplighter lifts a lit candle to the scarce light sources in the area. “But Briar isn’t going anywhere.”
“You want me to find her?” Willem asks. I can tell by his tone he’s unhappy with the idea.
"Why is it that you detest her so?" I ask, suddenly.
Willem shrugs. “Mortals are incompetent, selfish creatures. We both know they can’t be trusted, and Briar is no different.”
“I’m not so sure,” I murmur.
“Don’t be duped by her doll-like eyes,” Willem warns. “You don’t know her.”
I’m silent at his words. Willem has a point; I don’t know much about Briar or her past. What was her childhood like? Is she close with her sisters? What does she enjoy? I feel a wash of guilt at the realization. Since she came to my home, she was nothing more than a plaything for me. A tool to manipulate. A woman to hold. I glower at the building across the street, anger towards myself oozing through my body.
“Let’s split up to find her,” Willem says. “And then you fix the mess you’ve made.”
Willem turns right, deeper into the slums of Verstad. I don’t bother walking quickly as I mull over my thoughts. I’ve always claimed that mortals were the most selfish beings of all – that they feel entitled to help from the Gods no matter the circumstance. But perhaps I’ve been selfish as well. And for how long? I threw myself into my duties as Death since I was young, replacing my predecessor with grand new ideas. I built the Underworld from the ruinous anarchy that it was into bustling cities and peace.
True night has fallen, and heavy clouds block the few stars over Verstad. I feel a sudden pang of longing for home. Mortals are right to be afraid of me – right to detest me even. I doubt I’ll ever forget the look of pure hatred in Briar’s eyes when she ordered me out of her room. I stop short, brows furrowed. My heart pounds and I feel short of breath suddenly. Briar. I open the bond, dropping the walls I built up between us, and let her fill me.
Her lungs are tight, as if she can’t breathe, and her heart is beating as quickly as a rabbit’s. She’s frightened, I realize, eyes widening. I leave the bond open as I break into a sprint, following it through the winding streets towards my bride. If Aiden has done anything to her, I think darkly. Worse than Aiden, she may have found the Nephilim. My thoughts flash back to the night I found her prone, half-dead in the forest and suddenly my own heart is clenched with fear. It can’t be the Nephilim. Please don’t let it be the Nephilim.
I skid around a corner, almost falling to the damp cobblestones at the sharpness of my turn. In the darkness of the tight street, I can see a stooped shadow. My chest burns, and I summon my dark power, ready to fight. At the sound of my footsteps, the shadowed figure glances up, and I recognize the light glow behind the grey eyes.
“Briar.” I drop to my knees beside her, casting a wide net of magic around us to alert me to any more dangers. “Briar, are you alright? I felt you – what happened?”
Her eyes dart between the cobblestones and my face. “It’s nothing, I twisted my ankle.”
"What else? Where's Aiden?" I reach for her, but she flinches back. Guilt hits me like a cold, vicious storm, but I don't retreat. "Let me see it."
"It's fine, I just need to let it rest," Briar protests as I reach for her ankle. She doesn't pull away, her hand resting above it. I'm careful not to brush her hand as I prod at her swelling ankle. "We found the Nephilim, he killed a woman just a few blocks from here. We were chasing it, but I got hurt, and Aiden kept going."
At the thought of Aiden alone with a creature of the Underworld, I send a shadow in search of Willem. “Does this hurt?” I ask quietly, rotating her ankle with a soft touch.
“Yes,” she hisses, brows pinched.
“And you weren’t hurt otherwise?” I finally meet her gaze.
“No.” She shakes her head. Her eyes flash with something like guilt. “I’m fine, you should go after Aiden.”
“Willem can handle Aiden,” I say smoothly, summoning my magic to my palms. I will the shadows to chill her inflamed muscles.
I hear the soft sound of Willem’s approaching footsteps. “You called?”
“Aiden is pursuing the Nephilim, go after him,” I say, looking up to meet Willem’s bored stare.
“I love playing babysitter,” Willem drawls.
I smirk as my Second slips into the darkness, trailing Aiden. I turn back to Briar, focusing my magic on Briar’s ankle. “I’m not suited to healing magic,” I murmur. “But I’ll do my best.”
“I’m sure.” Briar inhales sharply as my magic seeps into her muscles. “All you know is death and violence.”
“What happened to the timid girl I met a month ago?” I ask, ignoring the way her words cut through me.
“She was tortured by a man who was supposed to love her,” Briar whispers.
My heart clenches, and f
or an instant I can't breathe. "I'm sorry," I say, voice tight. "Truly, I am."
“That changes nothing,” Briar says, her voice gaining strength. “When we’re done, I will go back to Ryrn. You’ll have to kill me if you want me to stay.”
“Briar.” I feel a flash of irritation, but I stamp it down. “Will you give me another chance?”
Briar is quiet for a moment, but then her eyes harden. “No.”
She shifts as the magic completes its labored healing. “I see,” I murmur. “How does that feel?”
“Better,” Briar says, climbing to her feet. She refuses my outstretched hand and stares resolutely at the end of the narrow street, avoiding my gaze. Briar takes a tentative step, testing the strength of her ankle. Satisfied, she heads towards the end of the street. “I just don’t understand what kind of a person could be as cruel as you. Hours before I met you, I was convinced my sisters were wrong about you. But I was naïve.”
“You were naïve, Briar,” I say. She pauses at the end of the street. “You surprised me with your innocence. When you came to me that morning and asked to get to know me, you surprised me.”
Briar pauses, looking at me over her shoulder. “I’m sure that was amusing.”
“It was endearing,” I say, a smile pulling at my lips.
“Don’t,” Briar snaps. “You have no right to say such things.”
I slip through the shadows and appear beside her. She jumps, inhaling sharply with surprise. “I know,” I whisper, closing the distance between us. “But I was wrong. About everything. It isn’t my nature to be kind.”
"That's no excuse." Briar steps back nervously until she can move no further, blocked by the rough wall of a brick building.
“That’s why I would ask for your patience,” I say.
Tears prick at Briar’s eyes. “I can’t,” she says hoarsely.
Suddenly, I feel the cold tip of a dagger against my belly. I freeze, hand outstretched towards her. Briar holds a dagger against my belly, the one she keeps with her to protect herself. “Briar, I’m not going to hurt you,” I say evenly.