Nightborn: Totally addictive fantasy fiction (The Hollow King Book 2)

by Jessica Thorne

  ‘There’s always a sacrifice,’ Bastien said. ‘And it was me… whoever I was.’ He couldn’t doubt it for a moment, looking now into the face of the man who had been the first Larelwynn king.

  ‘There was no other way to bind a god. You said… you said it was your duty. Duty and honour. That mattered to you more than anything. He said it was the only way. That he’d sleep and live through you, biddable, obedient… But he’s awake, Bastien. The Deep Dark is out and he’s awake. He can bind the Deep Dark again if you only ask him. He’s waiting.’

  ‘For me?’

  ‘For both of us.’

  ‘But you’re dead.’

  The smile that flickered over his face was heartbreaking, lost. ‘Yes. Yes I am. Which means he’ll want someone else. Another life. Another sacrifice.’

  Behind them a fire roared into being, a column of flames without any sign of fuel. He stared at it for a moment, at its swirling shapes. Slowly it resolved to a figure, a woman, with long red hair and golden-brown eyes. A woman more beautiful than he had ever known. More beautiful to him than anything he had ever seen. He loved her. All he could do was love her. She was everything.

  The expression on Lucien’s face said it all and Bastien recoiled.

  ‘No. Not her.’

  ‘She holds the warrant. And your heart. She’s more like you than you know. The Deep Dark is making her its own right now.’ Lucien studied her, the way someone would look at an experiment or a work of art. ‘She’s so angry, Bastien. She’s in so much pain. All that misery, all those years of not knowing who or what she was, and then you come along. You with all your power, all your broken memories, just like hers. And she loved you. By all the powers, she loved you more than anything. More than life itself. Perhaps she still does. But how do you repay her?’

  With danger and death, with grief and pain…

  Three times dead, twice entombed… but that didn’t apply to Grace. She had died and Bastien had brought her back. She’d been buried in the collapsed building in Rathlynn but… she didn’t fit. She simply didn’t… He could not allow this to happen. Not to her.

  He backed away, forcing himself from his memories, from the things he didn’t want to remember. Memories that were not his. The boy who he had been, the life he had sacrificed, the king before him. Then and now.

  ‘No.’

  ‘There are others. They even have my blood, my descendants. They’re few and far between but they are still there. Some stronger, some weaker. Make one of them take her place.’

  Grace would never forgive him. He knew that. ‘No.’

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ Lucien said.

  ‘I don’t need your pity.’

  As he retreated Lucien’s voice drifted after him. ‘Perhaps not. But you have it nonetheless, my Bastien. You always will.’

  His body felt numb and uncertain. The world around him was muffled and wrong somehow. Bastien struggled against the night that pressed close, the smothering blanket of darkness that surrounded him. Pain lanced through him, tearing into his consciousness and dragging its barbs along his veins. It was right somehow. Like he deserved this. It was retribution. It was justice. He’d die for her. She’d live. It was better this way.

  He opened his eyes and saw her, saw Grace. The searing pain around his throat, crushing into his skin, far tighter than the torc had ever been before… and Grace, Grace killing him…

  He was helpless before her. The warrant gave her complete power over him and she had only ever used it with the lightest touch. He knew that now. Compared to this, compared with what she could do, what she did now…

  Wild rage slammed through him, a violence such as he had never known. He couldn’t escape her. With the warrant corrupted, she was at the mercy of the Deep Dark, a new goddess containing its power, its puppet, its host. But he wasn’t. And he would not allow that. With every ounce of strength he had left to him, he pushed that rage down through his body, through his touch and his kiss and into her. It went like a fire, roaring through his veins and ignited the Flint in her.

  Her eyes blazed, the black transformed, illuminated from within. The darkness inside them burned away and they were golden again. More than golden. Incandescent with light, like newborn suns. The heat of her touch seared his flesh but he didn’t care. If this was what it took to save her, to drive the Deep Dark out of her, then he would endure it. He would be her sacrifice.

  Grace drew back a fist and punched him. The pain blinded him, sent him reeling. So he wasn’t invulnerable. It was almost a relief.

  Divinities, she packed a punch though.

  But it was her. Just her. He saw it in her face, in her fury.

  He staggered away and Grace lunged at him. Before she could touch him again, strong arms seized her, pinning her arms expertly behind her.

  ‘I’ve got her,’ Ellyn shouted.

  Inside Grace the Deep Dark rose up again, holding her hostage inside her own body. He could see it through the haze of pain like a tangle of black briars under her skin.

  But it didn’t lash out at Ellyn. Grace wouldn’t let it.

  He saw that, the conflict in her eyes. It was one brief glimmer of hope.

  Everyone spoke at once, a cacophony of voices. Lara, Ellyn and Daniel. Even Misha and Jehane, joining them…he didn’t know when they’d arrived. It hardly mattered.

  ‘We’ve got to get it off her.’

  ‘Don’t touch it. You saw what she did.’

  ‘How do we get it off her? How do we get her back?’

  They were talking about the warrant. But they couldn’t touch it. It would kill anyone who tried.

  Bastien stood there in the middle of it all watching Grace struggle against Ellyn. But she couldn’t tear herself free. Something in the other Academy officer held her. He narrowed his eyes, studying them. Light in their veins, in both of them. Light and darkness, tangled together, and not just in Grace.

  And then another voice, soft and scared, not the voice of a warrior at all, not like the rest of them.

  ‘I’ll do it.’

  Rynn. It was Rynn. And no one else was listening. Not well enough. She walked through the chaos, sidestepping them as if they were background elements in a painting. She had a light in her, pulsing with the beating of her heart. But it wasn’t strong enough. Bastien knew it even as he looked at her. It would never be strong enough.

  ‘Don’t,’ he whispered. His voice grated against the inside of his throat. ‘Don’t do it, Rynn. Please. It will… it will hurt you. If it doesn’t kill you. Larelwynn or not.’

  If he sounded pathetic, so be it. He wasn’t afraid for himself. He could feel the malice the Deep Dark pumped through Grace, feel its hunger and rage. The things it promised to do to Rynn if she touched the warrant.

  Find another to take her place, Lucien had said in his memories. Find another Larelwynn. Another sacrifice to replace Grace. But how could he make a decision like that? Pick someone else to save her? She’d never forgive him.

  And now he saw it was all for nothing.

  Rynn had Larelwynn blood but it was not enough. It never would be. Not for the Hollow King. Not for the warrant.

  The Valenti princess raised her hands, bit her lower lip and reached for the warrant. Grace – or the Deep Dark possessing Grace – bared her teeth.

  ‘You think you can wear it?’ the Deep Dark snarled at the princess. ‘It’ll flay the pretty flesh from your bones. We will swallow you whole and keep you screaming for eternity. You’ll burn for all the long days and all through the nights as well, you vapid, selfish bitch.’

  Rynn flinched, her face bloodless. But then she stretched out her hands again.

  ‘Go on then,’ Grace shouted at her. No, not Grace. It was not Grace. She’d never be like this. ‘Go on. Take it. Like you take everything else. Take what isn’t yours and claim it always was yours by right. Your birthright, by virtue of your royal blood, like your kind always do. Even if you don’t want it. Take it and see what we will do to you. We wil
l burn you, and freeze you, we’ll drown you and tear you apart. We’ll put you back together and do it all over again, repeating it for ever. We’ll make you weep and beg, and curse the day you were born.’

  ‘No!’ But it wasn’t Rynn who cried out.

  Ellyn yanked Grace away from the princess. Bastien let out a cry of warning but Ellyn didn’t listen. She grabbed the warrant, tearing it free from Grace’s throat before Rynn could lay her hands on it.

  Grace twisted around, turning on Ellyn to attack, even in the instant that the power of the Deep Dark released her, momentum carrying her on, and then all strength left her. Bastien caught her as she collapsed, folding up like a paper doll. She weighed almost nothing in his arms, her skin bloodless, her body so cold. She gazed up at him like she didn’t know him, her mouth making little shocked gasps.

  Ellyn staggered as if she had been kicked in the guts. Then she straightened, clutching the warrant in her hands. It was still dark but the darkness only contrasted with the transformation in the Academy officer. She was aglow with light, illuminated from within, blazing like a newborn star. Light surged through her body, along her veins, so much brighter than Rynn had been. There was no doubting what it was, Larelwynn blood making itself known.

  And then, all Bastien could hear was her desperate scream.

  Chapter 24

  Daniel was the first to reach Ellyn. He didn’t hesitate, heedless of the danger. He wrapped his arms around her and attempted to shake the necklace from her hands, holding her close and calling her name. Grace tried to pull herself free but Bastien didn’t let go of her. When she reached for Ellyn, Daniel snarled at her.

  ‘Don’t you dare touch that fucking thing again! Back off, Grace. Now!’

  He’d never talked to her like that. Never. He must be terrified. And furious.

  What had she done?

  Laughter echoed in the recesses of her mind, in the darkest, most primal parts.

  The warrant fell to the floor between them with an empty thud, cold and tarnished, ominous. Ellyn slumped in Daniel’s arms.

  Rynn dropped to her knees in front of her, ignoring both Bastien and Grace. ‘Is she okay? What did it do to her? What did it—?’

  Daniel shook Ellyn gently, trying to wake her. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Bastien,’ Grace said, her heart and her head pounding violently. Her voice grated against her throat. ‘Bastien, you can help her. Please. Do something.’

  His grip loosened, just for a moment, but he was still reluctant to let her go. Dear divinities… what had happened? ‘Don’t move. Promise me.’

  She nodded. She’d do anything, anything at all. So long as he made this stop. So long as Ellyn was okay again. ‘I promise. Just do it.’

  He stood up and when she mirrored him, he stopped, glaring at her. ‘Jehane,’ he said, in the cold voice of command. ‘Make sure she stays here.’

  Jehane took his place, drawing Grace back towards the doorway, his touch gentle but firm. She didn’t doubt that if she showed even the slightest wavering moment he would overpower her. Blood covered one side of his face, bright and sticky. She let him hold her, afraid of what the others would do if she struggled now.

  The warrant lay on the ground. She could still feel its touch, an echo of it still hanging around her neck, the place against her chest where it used to sit painfully cold.

  It called to her, murmuring promises and threats in the rear of her shattered mind, until tears made her vision blur. She had to force herself to look away from it. That wasn’t the warrant. It was the Deep Dark.

  Bastien knelt down beside Rynn, studying Ellyn’s face.

  ‘May I—?’ He held out his hand but waited for permission. He wanted to help though, that was the Bastien Grace knew. No matter what they might be going through, that was the man she loved. Daniel nodded and Bastien pressed his palm to Ellyn’s forehead, frowning as he did so.

  ‘What is it?’ Rynn whispered. ‘What’s wrong with her? What did it do?’

  Grace felt the magic flowing in him, more clearly than she had ever felt it before, and through him into Ellyn. He had control of so many branches of the mageborn powers but she could already tell he wasn’t as strong as he usually was. Whatever happened when Grace had touched him had drained him.

  ‘Be careful,’ she warned him but he wasn’t really listening. Or if he was, he didn’t care. Again she was reminded that Bastien’s intense loyalty extended to her squad as well. They were his people too. He’d said so.

  ‘I am, I promise.’ He was such a liar sometimes. ‘She’s transmuting it, I think, as best she can. But it’s—’

  Agony. Grace could see that in every wince and twitch in Ellyn’s face.

  ‘We don’t have time for this,’ Lara interrupted. ‘We need to get out of here. Asher will have reinforcements on the way. If they find us here—’

  ‘Not now, Lara,’ Bastien said. It was the voice that would brook no argument. ‘Go and secure the place. Take Jehane and Misha and make preparations. Now.’

  It was the most regal Grace had ever heard him sound.

  Lara walked off, muttering to herself, stepping over the bodies of those she had killed and those Grace had. Dead mageborn, stripped of magic and stripped of life itself… What had she done? Grace could remember it, but hazily, as if she had been watching someone else from far away. The door snapped shut behind them. It left Grace with just Daniel, Bastien, Ellyn and Rynn.

  Bastien looked up into her eyes, back at Ellyn slumped in Daniel’s arms, and then at her again. The weight of a question he didn’t want to ask lingered in his eyes. Finally, he lifted his hand and Ellyn stirred, her eyes fluttering open.

  She groaned, rolling out of Daniel’s arms and holding her head. Rynn tried to help her stand, almost holding her up. For once Ellyn didn’t pull away. Perhaps she didn’t have the strength.

  ‘Did you know?’ Bastien asked.

  ‘Know what?’ Grace asked. Daniel looked just as confused as she felt. But he wasn’t asking them.

  ‘Ellyn?’ Bastien asked again, endlessly patient and endlessly determined. ‘Did you know?’

  What was he on about? Grace shook her head, staring at him as he got to his feet and turned to face her. He looked more like the Lord of Thorns than he had in months and it chilled her. Withdrawn into himself, suspicious, and deeply troubled.

  Ellyn looked like she’d been on a three-day bender. She held her hand out as if she could fend him off but when Grace looked she saw tears streaming down her friend’s face.

  ‘Know what?’ Daniel asked again, sounding as bewildered as Grace felt.

  ‘She’s a Larelwynn,’ Bastien said.

  ‘No I’m not!’ Ellyn spat the words out like a curse.

  ‘Ellyn…’ he sighed. ‘I saw you. There’s more Larelwynn blood in you than there is in Rynn. It’s like a light, in your veins. I could see it so clearly. You need to tell me the truth. Who are you?’

  She drew herself up, letting Rynn help her to her feet. ‘I’m a Valenti water rat, that’s all, the daughter of a fallen house, a refugee who grew up in Rathlynn. I’m nothing.’

  ‘Don’t say that!’ Rynn interrupted. ‘You know it isn’t true.’

  ‘Stop it, Rynn. I don’t know what you want from me but I’m not your family.’

  Rynn made a face of disgust. ‘I know you’re not. You’re another line. The de Valens and the de Bruyns were never—’

  ‘What are you talking about, Bastien?’ Grace said over the sound of Rynn and Ellyn’s bickering, as they made their way out of the room and downstairs, followed by a hesitant Daniel.

  ‘You saw her, didn’t you? You were right there. You saw the reaction she had to the warrant, and the way it attacked her.’

  ‘I saw her screaming.’ That was afterwards, after Ellyn took the warrant. But it hadn’t killed her. Anyone else who had tried to take it by force had died in flames. But not Ellyn.

  The pendant was still lying on the floor, the chain sprawling around i
t. Grace didn’t want to touch it.

  ‘Did you see her glow?’

  Light. Yes, there had been light. ‘The light inside her?’ It had been beautiful, but she hadn’t known if it was the Deep Dark making her see things or something else.

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Just like I used to see…’

  Bastien wilted in front of her eyes, the strength leaving him. She grabbed him before he could fall. He’d never forgive himself if he collapsed now but he was exhausted in every way. Exhausted and in pain. And it was her fault.

  ‘See who?’

  ‘Lucien,’ he whispered, like it was a guilty secret. He didn’t meet her eyes as he said it and she knew something was terribly wrong. What was going on?

  ‘Larelwynn?’ she asked, dreading the answer. But she forced her voice to gentle again. She couldn’t afford to turn this into a fight. ‘Bastien. What happened? Tell me. Please. You remembered something?’

  ‘I was made to remember… far more than ever before.’

  There were still bodies around them, the Tide, the Brawn, the Flint, and the other guards. Bastien had all but stripped them of their magic, but Grace had taken their lives. She hadn’t meant to, but the Deep Dark had been hungry and they had been close at hand and, as nightborn, more than willing to give up everything to her… no, to the Deep Dark. Not her. She recalled all that magic rampaging through her. She had turned it on Bastien.

  She choked on a sob, but forced her iron will around it. She couldn’t break now.

  ‘Please, I can’t stay in here,’ she whispered. She needed to get out of the room, away from those accusing eyes. She needed the open sky above her and no walls closing in.

  His shoulders stiffened. He was staring at the warrant. ‘We can’t leave that there.’

  She winced. ‘I can’t…’

  ‘You have to. It’s yours. I can’t take it. Neither can the others. It would kill them.’