I drift off to sleep quickly. I’m not surprised by the speed of it, not after a day of hide-and-seek and earth-shattering sex with Nero. I know I need rest if we’re going to reach the castle within the next couple of days.
Dreams plague me almost immediately, but just when I think they don’t make any sense, I see him again—the old king.
I don’t know how I recognize him, but I do. I take the time to really study him this time and take in all the details. Even though everyone refers to him as the old king, he’s anything but elderly. Now that I can focus, I see similarities between this king and Grim. The same horns. The same gait. The same features that suggest they could be related. A crown sits on the old king’s head, perched between his horns in a way that almost doesn’t make sense. The gold it’s forged from glitters in the low light as he stands proudly before his throne, his eyes fierce.
That fierce expression changes into one of horror, and I furrow my brows as I stand like a silent sentinel at his side. Confused, I turn to face the direction of his gaze, only to see a live image from what looks like the Gilded Lands. The magic it takes to speak like this between distances astounds me, and I’ve never seen anything like it.
Could I do that?
My focus shifts as I comprehend the scene in front of me. The human king stands with his head tipped back, his crown far heavier than the old king’s. The human king’s crown is studded with jewels for every life he’s taken, so it makes sense that he nearly bends beneath the weight of that burden. He holds a woman in his arms, her eyes bright with grief as the king holds a knife to her throat.
“What do you want, Haveron?” the old king asks. I can hear the panic in his voice as he takes another unsteady step toward the screen. He’s too far away to do anything.
“What I’ve always wanted,” Haveron, the human king, sneers. “Your magic, Kulmak. I thought giving Emelyn to you would seal some sort of deal and any child resulting from the match would be an easily manipulated monster, but Emelyn has let it slip that you do not intend to procreate—”
“Any procreation between us could result in Emelyn’s death,” King Kulmak snarls. “To subject her to that means she’ll perish.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Haveron spits. “You will birth a child with Emelyn or—”
“I will not risk her death!” King Kulmak shouts, storming closer. “Release her, or I’ll storm into your lands and destroy everything! No shadow will be safe for you.”
Haveron smiles, and I already know he’s going to refuse. Although I’m a silent spectator, I can feel the charge in the air—this is the monumental moment that changes everything. Emelyn, in her father’s arms, begins to cry. She understands what is about to happen.
She’s ready, her eyes heartbroken but resolved. An inner steel runs through her that leaves me in awe.
“Kulmak,” she says, and the minotaur king’s eyes go to her, softening instantly. Tears rush down her face, leaving wet trails behind as they reach her chin and fall off. “I love you.”
Kulmak becomes feral. “Release her! Release her!”
Haveron only tilts his head. “Look at you. Even if you’re wearing a crown, it doesn’t hide the beast you are.” He looks down at Emelyn, and I see the calculation in his gaze. “I suppose I have no use for this tainted daughter of mine then, do I?”
With a sweep across her neck, Haveron slits his daughter’s throat.
I gasp at the gruesomeness of it, at the way her bright red blood sprays and then leaks from her flesh. Her hands go to her throat as if it’ll help, but her life leaves her body far too quickly. Her eyes stay locked on the monster she loves, and tiny sparkles of magic appear around her blood, as if it had resided there…as if she was like me.
Haveron dumps her body on the ground like trash, and Kulmak loses everything within him that resembles humanity. He goes completely still, steam curling from his nose, as he looks at Haveron with a hatred the likes of which I’ve never seen.
“I’m going to rip your head from your shoulders, human, and then I’ll bring Emelyn home.”
Haveron laughs. “Good luck, beast.” He turns to depart, leaving the body of his daughter on the cobblestones. “You’ll never be able to find her.”
I move around the room, stepping closer to the screen. A roar rips out of the king behind me, so loud and full of anguish, it shakes the walls. I turn toward him, and our eyes lock. He dips his head, his horns pointed right at me.
“You’ll be the death of every last one of them,” he spits out, the words warped into a monstrous threat. “Be ready for battle.”
He launches himself toward me, his horns aimed straight for my heart.
* * *
I wake up screaming,my voice shrill, even to my own ears. My arms are swinging wildly around me, and my body convulses as if it can’t get the proper functions to run and get away from the horns. There was anguish and pure hatred in his voice, but not for me.
Not for me.
The human king, Haveron, murdered his own daughter in cold blood when his plans failed. Clearly, he hadn’t expected Kulmak to fall in love with Emelyn, causing him to keep her alive rather than risk her body. For whatever reason, Emelyn had been in the Gilded Lands, and that’s where she remains.
You’ll never find her.
As I’m screaming, too many arms to count come around me, offering comfort and trying to calm me down. I see Nero first, his bright eyes and brighter hair appearing in my vision. My eyes shift from blurry to clear as he whispers soft nothings to me before slipping into a gentle lullaby that I’ve never heard before. It soothes me in a way I’ve never been calmed, and I’m finally able to take a deep breath and look him in the eyes.
