CHAPTER 1
~ Locke ~
Iflewhighoverthe city, my wings cutting through the frigid air as I soared over sprawling mansions and cobbled streets filled with monsters who were only just beginning their night. Lanterns around the city burned steadily, the thousands of small blue fires resembling a smattering of stars, but I didn’t see the beauty of it. I never did anymore. Katakin was a place ruled by power and greed, and for me, it was the hell that never ended.
I wondered then whether Raine would appreciate the sight, and my lips unwillingly twitched upward into a half smile.I look forward to it, asshole.The last words she said to me repeated in my mind, accompanied by the image of her face, her pink lips pursed and her amber-eyes brimming with hatred. I had a feeling she’d see Katakin much as she saw me. She would tell herself that she despised everything about the city, but deep down she’d be enthralled by it. Captivated by its darkness and beauty like a moth drawn to a flame. I didn’t doubt parts of her loathed us monsters, but it wasn’t all hate. Her being with Kade was proof of that.
My thoughts went to the delicious moans I heard coming from Kade’s bedroom while I’d been trying to read in the common room. It was obvious what they were up to and as my mind conjured images of the two of them together, my pants had become tight. Kade and I had shared a few females in the past, mostly so we could keep one another in check, and the urge to join them had made it impossible to focus on the words on the page in front of me.
Fuck.Just thinking about it again had me grinding my teeth. My thoughts then went to my father who had visited my personal rooms not too long ago, and the fury I’d been trying to contain reignited. I knew Warrick’s fucking games. He hadn’t just gone out of his curiosity to see Raine. He’d visited my rooms to remind me that I couldn’t keep any secrets from him, and he could take everything from me if he wanted, including the spirited little human.
I’d told him Raine was a shifter newblood, and I could only assume he believed it. But for how long? If Warrick figured out she was still human, he’d drag her to his lab, where he’d pull her apart if it meant finding out more about the curse that tormented us. The vampire had the power of the Taratun council behind him, and if he put forward the case that he needed her, the council would order me to hand her over. But I wasn’t going to let him fucking have her. And I suspected my brothers wouldn’t either.
Red flashed before my eyes as I thought of Warrick trying to take Raine away, and I flapped my wings harder, breathing in deep through my nose and hoping in vain that the chill air would cool my temper. It’s why I was out there. When Warrick had left our rooms, I knew I had to get out of the mountain before my anger made me do something stupid.
The moment Warrick’s coal-black eyes had landed on Raine, the urge I had to kill him had been unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Rage made my body shake, and it had taken all my willpower to stop myself from launching forward and twisting my father’s head from his body. If it were any other female, I don’t think I would have felt such outrage. I’d wanted to kill my father more than once, but never that badly. The bond between Raine and me made the need to protect her so strong that it was a constant battle for me not to pull her to me and hide her away, but I couldn’t blame the bond entirely. There was something about her from the moment I’d seen her in that clearing on the island. Those amber eyes burned to my soul, and that body screamed for me to touch her.
I tried to focus on the cold wind that traveled from my cheeks through my limbs and to the tips of my wings. It was a pleasant sensation that usually worked to loosen my muscles, but this time it did nothing to douse my rage.
Angling my body, I curved around one of the gray stone guard towers that rose into the sky, when a voice sounded in my head.Locke. You need to see this, said a gruff voice, and a watery image of the statue of the Devil Rondsolen appeared in my mind along with a sense of urgency.
Carved from black stone mined from deep beneath the earth, the large statue was situated on the western end of the city, near the extravagant House of Thorem, the high house of demons.
I didn’t hesitate to change my direction, heading toward the location the image had indicated. Before long, my feet were again on solid ground, my wings folded neatly behind my back, and my boots gliding over the cobblestones in the western district. I strode forward purposefully, passing tall stone buildings that lined both sides of the street. With every step, the feeling of dread inside me intensified. I knew Garan wouldn’t have contacted me unless it was serious and being so close to the high house of demons didn’t bode well.
I smelt the blood before I saw the carnage. The coppery tang became stronger as I neared the communal square at the end of the street, the smell mixing with the scents of freshly baked bread and wood smoke. My steps didn’t falter as I continued forward, but darkness settled over me as the statue of the Devil Rondsolen came into view. The huge mass of black stone had been erected in the center of the square atop a platform that was three feet high, and it stood illuminated by four blue-fire torches that were positioned at each corner of the platform.
The statue had been carved to depict a male who was taller than any of the monsters in Katakin, with bulging muscles lined with protruding veins and a proud expression etched on a handsome square face. Large, pointed horns speared out of a head covered with black locks, and a thick tail with a spiked end curved around hooved feet. Black blood trailed down the large statue, sliding over Rondsolen’s bare shoulders and broad arms to drip from his clawed fingers.
I peered up at where a headless demon’s body was speared atop Rondsolen’s horns, as if the poor soul had been thrown there. Around the statue, multiple bodies were also strewn around the square. Most of them were demons I recognized as occupants of the House of Thorem, but some of the victims were undistinguishable. The bodies rested at awkward, unnatural angles and many had missing limbs.
My face hardened at the gruesome sight, and I cursed under my breath. Moving forward, I stopped beside a gray-skinned gargoyle who was frowning up at the huge statue of the devil. Garan’s pale, white gaze remained fixed on the victim speared atop Rondsolen’s horns. Large, membranous stone wings remained folded behind Garan’s back, and pointed white horns protruded from his ash-gray hair. If I hadn’t known him better, I would have thought Garan hadn’t noticed I was there, but instead, I knew he would have heard me the moment my feet touched the cobblestones.
Garan didn’t speak in my mind this time, but he turned to me, his movements jerky and stiff, just like all the gargoyles’. Gargoyles could only pass small messages and images to one another’s minds, which was how they communicated with one another when they watched over the city, and it was only because Garan and I had become close during our childhood that we’d forged enough of a bond that he was able to send snippets to my mind as well. Unfortunately, I couldn’t send anything in return, but his ability had allowed us to stay in contact during times when it mattered most.
“Two of my team spotted the outlier from above, but we weren’t able to stop the creature in time to save them,” Garan said, not bothering with a greeting. His voice was a deep rasp as though it had been some time since he’d last spoken.
I didn’t need to ask to know he was talking about his inability to save the victims around us. “A single outlier did this?” The fae curse that turned all the humans in Katakin to monsters had lately started affecting our animals as well. Except, when the animals turned, they became monsters unlike those we’d seen before—great beasts with no conscience or desire other than to destroy and maim those around them. We called these monsters the outliers.
Garan nodded and gestured his head to a shadowed spot far across the square where a large mass rested in a pool of blood.
Other gargoyles, members of Garan’s team, were spread around the area, observing the scene. Chaol, Garan’s second-in-command, a gargoyle with a scar across his left eye, strode over to us. “General, I found another body halfway down the next street. That makes fifteen in total.”
Garan gave him a grim, jerky nod. “Start documenting their names. We’ll have to notify Borren within the hour. He will not be happy.”
Borren.Normally, my lip would have curled at hearing the name of the alpha of the House of Thorem, but not then. Right then, I pitied the arrogant demon, because while the gargoyles would inform him of the dead, as alpha, Borren was the one who would have to break the news to the kin of the deceased. It was yet another reminder of why I didn’t need the responsibility of being alpha for the House of Nesarin, the high house of vampires, no matter how much my parents wanted me to.
Chaol ducked his head, indicating that he’d heard the order, and then he was striding away, beckoning another gargoyle to him as he went.
“Chaol was one of the ones who first spotted the outlier, and he dealt the fatal blow,” Garan commented as he stared after his second-in-command. “I can tell he blames himself for not getting here sooner, but if it weren’t for him, more would have been lost.” Letting out a heavy sigh, Garan gestured with his head to the massive body across the square. “Come. Let me show you why I brought you here.”
At that, he began walking and I followed after him, skirting around the statue of Rondsolen and past the mutilated bodies until we reached a dead outlier. The beast of a monster was the size of a small building, with three heads flopped onto the ground, spines trailing down its bony back, and four wickedly clawed feet. Its mouth was open, revealing long, pointed fangs covered in what appeared to be a steaming yellow slime.
“Poison,” Garan said gruffly, confirming my suspicion.
I squatted to get a closer look at the creature. “We haven’t seen anything like this. Warrick will want to inspect the body.”
“A messenger has already been sent to him,” Garan said, and I frowned, confused as to why the gargoyle would have called for me then.
