by Lexi C. Foss
I can’t hold them, Grigory panted inside my mind. I can’t fucking move either.
“It’sss really too bad we couldn’t make thisss work,” Napia continued as she sauntered toward Grigory. “I mean, I planned to kill you from the beginning—it wasss going to be my wedding-night gift for you—but I would have enjoyed a taste between the sheetsss first. I’ve heard such amazing thingsss.”
Grigory growled, but I was too busy avoiding the swimming lines along the floor to focus on him. There had to be a way to block her power, like I did with my mind. But I only knew how to do that because she’d touched me with her magic. And I wasn’t too keen on letting those magical vines anywhere near me.
Napia drew her fingers along Grigory’s torso, her tongue snaking out to lick his jaw.
He didn’t outwardly flinch, yet I felt his mental wince. Whatever she was doing hurt, yet he couldn’t physically react. He was completely paralyzed from the toxin she’d woven into the strand of energy writhing around him.
A hand caught my arm, one of the soldiers finally making a move to seize me after entering the room. I palmed a blade and sent it backward into his abdomen, but he didn’t react. I tried again, and he just held on to me as if I hadn’t just stabbed him twice.
What the fuck?
“Oh, they can’t feel anything,” Napia said.
Something zapped my leg, causing me to curse in my mind. She’d used my distraction to strike. Bitch! A jolt shot all the way up my spine as the paralyzing poison rendered my body useless.
Oddly, I didn’t fall to the ground.
It was more akin to being turned to stone, only rocks didn’t coat my skin. Everything just… froze.
“Ah, see, now isn’t thisss beautiful?” Napia asked, her eyes glowing with emerald power as she licked Grigory again. “Mmm, you’re powerful. I may have to keep you alive just to savor your taste.” She looked at me. “Perhaps I’ll keep you alive just to watch.” Her tongue met his skin once more, causing me to want to grind my teeth, but I couldn’t. Not in my current form.
The guard behind me continued to hold on to me even as he bled out against my back. I couldn’t see him, but I imagined his expression matched those of the others within my line of sight. They all stood emotionlessly in the room. Four of them, including the one behind me.
All black souls with no other colors.
Because she controlled them.
It was a different spell than the one weaving up around my body. I wondered how she knew them, but then I felt Grigory wince inside my mind and it suddenly became clear.
She’s absorbing your power, I said to him.
More… like… devouring it… His eyes rolled back in his head as her tongue slithered along his jaw.
Narissa had warned us of her mounting power, but now we knew how Napia had done it.
By paralyzing and eating her victims.
How snakelike of her.
And here Narissa thought all the beast-like creatures of her kingdom resided in the barren lands.
“Mmm, maybe I’ll make you into a proper statue to decorate the throne room. All your former demonsss can visit you that way.” She ticked her nails up his shirt, her face glowing with power. “I wonder how long you’ll last? Frozen. Unable to feed. Weakened by me. You’ll be forced to watch the fall of your kingdom. Yesss, I rather like that.”
Grigory retorted loudly in his mind, his statement a vow of vengeance, but as she turned her gaze toward me, true concern etched into his thoughts. Her hurting him, trying to take his kingdom, and threatening to turn him into a statue to watch infuriated him. However, as she stepped toward me, his heart literally stopped in his chest.
No! he shouted, fighting harder than ever to break his binds, to get to me, to save me from the pain of her true threat—her tongue.
I’m okay, I promised him as she began to circle me. She shoved the guard backward, causing him to land with a loud thump against the ground somewhere behind me.
Zaya, Grigory whispered, sounding utterly broken.
Shh, I’m okay, I repeated.
But I couldn’t stop the mental scream of agony that followed Napia’s first lick. It burned. My heart pounded in my chest as energy seeped from my soul to hers, my power flickering in a bright light behind my eyes.
“Oh, you’re deliciousss,” she hissed, immediately licking me again.
Grigory yelled into my mind, but I couldn’t hear him over the agony ripping apart my spirit.
Her searing tongue met my skin once more, shooting off stars in my vision.
This wasn’t right.
She couldn’t do this.
She needs to be destroyed, a dark part of me whispered.
She’s dangerous, another voice answered, followed by an echo of more.
A threat. Wrong. A vile creation who shouldn’t exist.
Her soul is the blackest of black. An abomination of nature.
Must be exterminated.
Yes. Full annihilation.
Absorb the soul and obliterate it.
Gone from the Underworld.
To keep others safe.
My head spun with the thoughts, all spoken in my voice in a variety of tones as if my mind had fragmented into bits to cheer the other side on.
The horsemen, I realized. It was their influence in my soul, in my creation, that generated all the disoriented pieces. I could see them in the various slivers, their jagged edges lined with murderous intent toward the female attacking me now.
Something snapped within my soul, my world coming alive in a blast of color, consumed by black.
Napia.
Her hum of appreciation revolted me to my core.
Grigory’s sadness prickled my heart.
And the dead souls of the soldiers of this room awoke the protector within me.
No. Not the protector. The harbinger.
Energy rippled out of me as I grabbed Napia with my mind, my hooks digging deep to find the soul residing within her, my need to consume her overwhelming.
She shrieked, trying to jerk away from me, but her tongue lay frozen against my skin, acting as a conduit as I searched for her withering spirit.
It reminded me of soot, the ash-like pieces impossible for me to grab. They sifted through my fingers, similar to sand.
This wasn’t working.
I needed to try something else.
What was it Lucifer asked? Something about sucking out souls.
I focused on the grainy fibers of her being, stirring a current of energy within my mind. It was foreign, yet familiar, the rightness of my path singing through my veins as I began to inhale her essence.
She’d tried to consume my powers.
I repaid her by annihilating her soul.
Each grain that touched my aura shattered on impact.
Bit by bit, weakening her with each pull of spirit.
I felt her life slithering around me, her snakes attempting to defend their master, but she was no match for the power growing within me.
She was a threat to the realms.
She needed to die.
I felt the certainty of that conviction with every ounce of my being. Napia couldn’t be allowed to live.
Her screams rent the air, the piercing sound sending a shiver down my spine, but I refused to stop. This was necessary justice. She’d defied the balance, devouring countless energy signatures that weren’t her own, and commanded so many others.
I felt her ties to her army begin to snap.
I experienced the downfall of a dozen other enchantments she’d placed on various guards and maids throughout Noxia, all meant to fuel an uprising.
I heard Grigory’s sigh of relief as the paralyzing toxin left his system.
And I sensed the moment she realized it was over, the last remaining fragments of her soul dancing between us, leaving her body a husk of the former demon.
Electricity hummed around me as the final sliver touched my aura, exploding on impact, sending her shriveled form to
the ground.
A final breath escaped her, the snakes following suit, then silence reigned.
I stared down at her for a long moment, studying her. She reminded me of a snakeskin, the shell of her body still holding, with the interior void of any and all life.
It was fascinating.
Appalling.
Terrifying.
And absolutely right.
She’s gone, I thought, unsure of how to feel about what just happened. I felt… detached. Much like her papery skin.
“Zaya?” Grigory’s raspy tone had me frowning.
Would he fear me now, knowing what I could do? He’d just witnessed me consume the soul of another being. Well, not consume. Destroy.
I really was the harbinger, just like Lucifer said. Not that I’d doubted it, but experiencing the reality was far different from just hearing it.
“Zaya,” Grigory said again.
I wasn’t ready to look at him. What if I saw fear in his eyes? Or worse, disapproval? I’d just… I’d just… I…
I swallowed.
Why me? I wondered. Why did you pick me? My question was for Lucifer. Of all the souls to re-create, why had he chosen mine?
“Because you’re strong,” Grigory whispered, his hands seeming to appear on my shoulders as he turned me to face him. I kept my eyes on his throat, watching as he swallowed. “That was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen, Zay. You were a beacon of light, reminding me of the heavens, not hell. You were like an angel.”
I blinked. An angel?
“Hell’s angel,” he murmured, lifting his hand to tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear. “That’s what you are, Zay. You’re a protector of the Underworld. And you just saved two kingdoms through the destruction of one soul. Do you have any idea how amazing that is?”
I wasn’t sure amazing was the term I’d use to describe it.
“Zay,” he said, his thumb touching my chin as he angled my head upward. “I’ve always known there was something magical about you. It made me want you from the start. You were like this unattainable jewel that I wanted to admire and touch. And now I realize you’re the rarest of diamonds, glittering with superiority and power. I… I’m in awe of you.”
His aura flickered between red and hues of blue, his eyes the darkest of black. But I felt the sincerity of each word. Heard the truth of it in his mind. Witnessed the adoration coloring his expression. And felt the intentions of his heart.
“I love you,” I finally said, my voice so soft I wasn’t sure it carried.
But the smile pulling across his lips told me he’d heard me just fine. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I replied, tears threatening my vision as an abundance of emotion overwhelmed me deep inside.
I’d taken a soul tonight.
Saved two kingdoms.
Displayed my strength.
And truly found my heart.
It didn’t get more intense than that.
“You know what this means, right?” Grigory asked, his palms cradling my face.
“That you’re going to kiss me now?” Because I would really enjoy that. Maybe after a shower, actually. I still had Napia’s essence all over me. And her tongue… I shuddered.
“I’m going to kiss you,” he said. “Just as soon as you say, ‘I do.’ ”
My brow furrowed. “What?”
“You’re going to need to marry me now, Zay. That’s what demons in love do.”
Hold on a minute… “Aren’t you supposed to ask?”
“Do you really need me to drop to one knee and ask you to be my wife? Because I will, Zay. But we both know you’ve already said yes.”
“I said that I love you, not that I want to marry you.”
“It’s the same thing,” he replied, pulling me into him. “I love you. You love me. Now we have to get married. Just like Lucifer said.”
“He asked when the wedding was, not…” I trailed off. “Wait… you love me?”
He snorted. “Seriously, Zay. Of course I fucking love you.” He gave me a look like I was the craziest woman in the world for even asking that.
“You’ve never said it,” I pointed out.
“I have now.”
“Before now.”
“Yes, well, I don’t let just anyone into my mind, Zay.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “Come on, Zay. Marry me.”
“Phrase it as a question and I’ll consider it,” I told him, amused, and also realizing what he’d done. He’d pulled me out of my mind, made me understand that nothing had changed between us, and said all the right things. Again. “Every time,” I marveled, the tears returning to my eyes again. “You know what to say and do every time.”
“Because our souls are meant for each other,” he replied softly. “Marry me.”
“Still not a question,” I whispered, pressing my lips to his. But he was right. I didn’t need him to ask. My answer was already yes.
“You are so much like your father,” my mother said as she fixed my tie. “Loving with all your soul. He would be so proud of you right now if he were still here.”
I stared down at her. “You never talk about him.”
“I know,” she replied softly. “Because it hurts to do so. But a piece of my heart will forever belong to him, just as another piece of my heart will forever belong to you. I might not be the perfect mother—Valora would probably argue I’m the worst—but I do try. As does Lucifer, in his own way.”
I snorted at that. “He brought you Charis’s heart.” Apparently, he’d gone after Napia’s consort before the battle started, which was why he didn’t appear until after the fight was through. He’d held a black organ in his hand and had presented it to my mother as a gift.
“He touched something that didn’t belong to him and paid the ultimate price. This is all that’s left of him, my love.”
My mother smiled. “I know. He shows affection in… strange ways.”
“Strange is an understatement.”
She smoothed her hand down my suit jacket, her eyes glittering in approval. “We reside in a strange world, son. It’s why seeking a worthy mate is important, and I’m very glad you found yours.” She pressed a kiss to my cheek. “So let’s not keep her waiting. I hear she’s quite the jewel of the court.”
I scowled at her. “I hate that you heard all that.”
Zay and I had been so wrapped up in each other that we didn’t realize we had an audience until I’d pulled away from her in the grand hall. I’d completely forgotten about the soldiers, too. Zay had been the only one I could see, her magnificent glow enchanting me unforgivably.
“I thought it was a perfect proposal,” my mother said conversationally as she led me down the hall. “You stood your ground while bending where appropriate, and that’s the mark of a leader.”
I rolled my eyes. “You would see it that way.”
She glanced back at me, smiling. “I’ve taught you well.”
“You have,” I agreed.
“You’ll make an excellent king,” she added, her eyes misting slightly as she paused in the middle of the corridor. “I’m so proud of you, Grigory. I know we’ve had our differences, that you’ve not been all that pleased with me lately, but there’s never been a moment where I doubted your strength and purpose.”
I didn’t bother to point out the time she was hypnotized, as that hadn’t really been her, and instead bowed my head. “Thank you, Mother.”
She palmed my cheek. “Yes. You will make a fine king indeed.” She stayed a moment longer, then turned to lead me once more.
Lucifer met us at the doors, his focus entirely on my mother as we approached. He held out his arm for her. “You’re still not entirely forgiven,” she informed him.
“I know,” he replied, escorting her inside. “But I suspect I’ll thoroughly enjoy the act of making it up to you. I already have a plan in motion.”
“Does it involve more hearts?” she asked, a teasing quality to her voice.
“Only yours
, my love,” he replied with the deepest sincerity.
I refrained from gagging and instead took my position near him at the altar.
Then I was too busy gaping at Zaya to think anything of my mother standing with the Devil beside me. Because wow.
That’s it, I told my bride-to-be. I’m burning all your pants.
She snorted in my mind. Try it and see what happens.
Oh, but you’re a vision, Zay, I replied, completely starstruck by her sparkling blue gown. It reminded me of the one she wore to the engagement party, only this one truly glittered like a sapphire. The fabric hugged her every curve, and the slit up her left side displayed a whole lot of leg.
Are you trying to marry me? Or seduce me? I asked her. Because we don’t practice the archaic consummation customs in this kingdom. I was referring to the one that required a groom to fuck his wife in front of the congregation to finalize the marriage.
That’s disappointing, she replied. I was thinking I might want to experiment with voyeurism. Perhaps another day.
I chuckled. Vixen.
Future husband, she returned, accepting my hand as she walked up the two steps to join us at the altar.
“You look gorgeous,” my mother praised, kissing her on the cheek before taking her seat beside Valora and Adrik. Adriatica cooed in response from Valora’s lap, reaching toward my mother’s dark hair and clasping it in her tiny fists for a not-so-gentle tug. My mother didn’t even flinch but instead gifted the child an indulgent smile, clearly approving of her strength.
Zaya and I had wanted a small ceremony, but my mother intervened, inviting half the damn kingdom. Narissa was here, too. And she’d brought Jeremiah with her. Valora had loaned her the guard, saying Jeremiah would help Narissa sort through the army ranks to determine whom she could trust and whom she could not. With her father rotting in the barren lands and her mother mentally unfit to lead, Narissa had taken over the monarchy as Queen of Neptune, and she needed all the help she could get.
Some of my personal guards were here, too. Including Cyprus, whom I’d promoted to head guard after his handling of the Byron and Erie situation. He’d caught them and tossed them in the same cell Zaya had occupied. I’d visit them in a few weeks. See how they were doing and determine what to do with them next.