Until we hear him speak.
“Come forth, daughter. Let me see your beautiful face I’ve come to love.” The king’s taunting tone creeps down my spine, and I step forward.
Nollix keeps his hand locked around mine.
We’re about to die.
We’re about to die hand in hand.
For once in her life, Jeriko was right; I walked right into my death by coming after my father.
It startles me to find we’re at the Court of Darkness once again. The room is empty for the most part. Our boots scuff over the polished tile. It sounds oddly hollow. Everything is in perfect condition. It isn’t at all the broken destruction I left it in just days ago.
I turn to find the door we entered through has vanished.
My lungs constrict with a tightness that I can’t manage to find a breath around. None of this seems real.
What if none of thisisreal?
He’s incredibly powerful. How much of my life is he able to manipulate? Was it him who let us out of our cell?
The king lounges on a throne high above me, staring down on my little existence.
Hanging from the ceiling are two thick ropes. They’re a straight line down, down, down. Hanging from the ropes are two people. A sick feeling turns my stomach as my attention drifts from one rope to the other.
Hanging limply and lifelessly are Carver and Cameron. A noose rests around their necks, but it doesn’t cling to their throats.
They’re unconscious and... suspended.
“I didn’t want to take their lives without an audience. You know how much I enjoy an adoring audience.”
Rage rushes through me as my attention swings up to my father.
His arms rest along the shining throne. One hand taps against the armrest, while the other ends abruptly in a blunt, smooth mass of skin. His hand is missing, but the arm is healed with only minimal scarring.
A manic look slices through his features as he smiles at me.
My magic tingles within me, stinging painfully to release.
But for some reason, it’s locked within my chest.
Perhaps this isn’t the Court of Darkness at all. Simply an illusion.What kind of power is he using to prevent my abilities?
Carver and Cameron aren’t illusions. I can physically feel Carver’s prickling energy as if it were my own.
“Of course, I’d be willing to spare their weak souls.” The king’s attention bores into the side of my face.
Behind his gleaming throne stands Jeriko. The corners of her lips tip up in an arrogant smirk.
Nollix’s grip on me tightens. The anger within him shakes through his frame.
“Join my efforts, Violence. I have so many opportunities awaiting us.” A short pause drifts through his steady words. “I can take you. It’d be simple to take you and lock you away. But I want your word that you’ll aid me. I want your magic at my disposal. You’ve spent your entire life using your magic as I advise. Now would be no different, child.”
He’s right. In a way, he’s right. Helping him now isn’t any different from what I’ve done my entire life. Honestly, I’m tired of being invisible. I’m tired of only living to reap the dead.
I want to live.
And I want vengeance.
