I FOLLOWED KANE DOWN A ROPE BRIDGE AND THROUGH THE REMARKABLE
wooden city. It might have felt whimsicalโmagical, evenโif I hadnโt known it was populated entirely by violent criminals. The sun had slipped behind a cloud, bathing every textured slat and mossy stretch of
rope in flickering shadow.
I clung to Kane as we climbed past burly men without teeth hacking into cured meat and women washing dingy linens, pouring the dirty water directly off the platforms and into the foggy depths below.
When we reached a decayed turret with a thatched roof, Kane peered inside and I did the same. It was empty save for two dusty mugs and a blue sparrow picking at a fetid apple.
โIs this where your guards are stationed?โ
Kane lifted the empty mug to his nose and sniffed. โWhere are they?โ
He didnโt answer but the worry on his brow was clear. โPerhaps we should return tomorrow, with soldiers.โ
I shook my head, emboldened by his earlier confidence. โWeโre already here. Lazarus could come for Shadowhold any minute, and now that everyone who was evicted from Citrine is there . . .โ I didnโt want to finish the thought.
Kane released a deep sigh, taking my hand as we walked down the rope bridge and farther into the heart of the city. We wove through throngs of uninviting, grimy faces. Up ladders and down ramps and back up winding
stairs with sections of rotted wood carved by mold and termites. I watched my feet out of an abundance of caution not to trip and fall right through.
A snapping sound had my eyes off my leather boots and up on a handful of rocks tumbling toward my head. I brought my hands over my face in cover, but the boulders hovered in midair, buoyed by a dark satchel of mist, before flying unnaturally to the right and toppling down into the trees and branches beneath us.
I caught my breath. โWhat was that?โ
Kane shrugged, but concern played across his eyes. โSomething shaken loose above us. Perhaps some children trying to give their new guests a head injury.โ
I peered up at him. โYou used lighte. You never do that.โ
โYour face is too pretty. It would be a great shame to see it caved in.โ I didnโt laugh. โDonโt deflect.โ
โDonโt pry.โ Kane offered a crooked smile and kept walking.
โI will never stop prying, and you know it,โ I said, following after him. โWhy did you do that?โ
โTo protect you.โ
โYou could have moved me out of the way. Why did you use your lighte? And out in the open like that?โ
Kane stopped walking and turned to face me. There was nobody else on the canopied ramp. A single firefly whizzed past his brow. โFae can harness lighte from various elements. Air, earth, metal, wind, water, fire, etherโthe list goes on and on. My lighte comes from the depths of the earth. So Iโm strongest, or the lighte flows out of me easiest, in places much like this. Surrounded by dirt, soil, wood. Sometimes the rotting leaves, the decay of the forest itself.โ
โBut you werenโt as strong in Reaperโs Cavern.โ
He lowered a brow playfully. โOuch.โ When I blushed, he said, โThat was stone, not earth.โ
โThatโs why you love Shadowhold. Why you prefer it over your palace in the city. Itโs surrounded by dark woods.โ
Kane continued to walk. โCome on.โ
โAnd what about mine? It comes from the air?โ
โYouโre full-blooded, so it might be even wider. Air, sun, fire.โ โHow did Dagan know that?โ
โHeโs always been good at determining a Faeโs lighte source. Perhaps it was your bright and sunny soul.โ He was walking ahead of me, but I could see the smile curving at his lips.
โI wasnโt very bright and sunny with Dagan in the beginning.โ โA light like yours cannot be dampened by circumstance.โ
We hiked up another set of stairs under a tangled mesh of vines and long, pointed pine needles. I wiped a spiderweb from my face. โWhatโs the rarest element a Fae can pull lighte from?โ
Kane didnโt turn back to me as he said, โBlood,โ but looked behind his shoulder at my audible gasp. โThey are a very rare breed, the Hemolichs. Aleksanderโs men. The one who betrayed us. Hemolichs draw power from corpses, wounds, even their own injuries, making them unmatched warriors. Some drink the blood of animals, mortals, or other Fae to keep their lighte strong. In Lumera, common slang for them is โvipers.โ But itโs a nasty slur.โ
Before I asked one of a hundred follow-up questions, we pushed through a curtain of hanging willow and came face-to-face with two grim guards. One was missing an eye but hadnโt bothered with a patch of any kind.
โKing Ravenwood of Onyx Kingdom. Iโm here to see Killoran.โ
Without another word, the one-eyed man lifted a stained fabric partition and we stepped into the covered fortress.
Lounged across a makeshift throne of knotted wood was a man who looked like he ate nails for breakfast. Leathered skin, cropped hair, and a stiff, mercenary mustache. Somehow bulky and lean, nearly all muscle, and presiding over a grotesque, dimly lit chamber.
Three topless women in beaded necklaces and skirts of gossamer were sitting around him like house cats. Haggard and hungry, each woman was chained to his throne with thin, crudely cut metal chainwork.
Men clad in rusted metal armor crowded the lair, each with their own unsophisticated weaponryโaxes, clubs, and bludgeons. They packed the room like cramped teeth, all eyes focused on their leader.
Killoranโs throne sat before a wide, white marble table. Cluttered with weapons, chalicesโ
White marble . . . What kind of white marble could theyโ
Bone.
Femurs and sternums Iโd worked on my whole lifeโmy stomach heaved as I realized I was regarding a table crafted ofย human bone.
But my stomachโit wasnโt a pit of nausea. No, it swirled and turned with something . . . different.
A tender, troubling pleasure. Like pressing on a bruise. And my headโ
Images were jumping into my mind that had no business being there: lips and ice, glass shattering and expanding, the echoing drops of blood on a silent, marble floorโ
โKing Kane Ravenwood,โ Killoran roared heartily. โTo what do we owe the pleasure?โ
I shook my head violently to dispel the uncanny feeling.
โKilloran.โ Kane dipped his head in greeting. โJust some swift business.โ
โDonโt be daft. Let me offer you a drink. Or one of my wives?โ
My blood boiled as I took in the glee in which Killoran dipped his head toward the brunette behind him. โGisal here has a tongue that willโโ
โNo,โย Kane cut in, voice savage, before straightening himself. โThat wonโt be necessary. We are looking for a sword that was mistakenly brought here five years ago. My armorer needs a look through your weapon cache. Should only take her only a few minutes to find.โ
โEven a pretty young king like yourself must knowโnothing is given for free here.โ
Kaneโs lip curled upward and it sent a shiver down my spine. โWhat can I offer you? A great weapon hewn in your name? Enough meat and bread to last a year? More spirit than all your men can drink ten times over? Name your price.โ
Kane seemed so calm, so at easeโalmost as if he was havingย funย with Killoran.
Killoran grinned up at the bald man to his right before turning back toward us. โDo you know what itโs like here in the winters?โ
Kaneโs face remained bored. โCanโt say that I do.โ
Killoran grinned again, but this time his eyes had grown cold. A foreboding feeling dropped into my stomach.
โIn the wintertime, just a few months from now, the sun will fall behind the cliffsโ edge before noon every day. All of Hemlock, plunged into unforgiving darkness for hours and hours before night even begins. Can you imagine how pale we all become? How thin when it is too dark to hunt well? How bored we get? Do you know what boredom does to those like us with demons in our heads?โ
Kaneโs eyes narrowed.
โAnd you must know what itโs like in the heat of summer. When this asshole of an island begins to cook and boil like the depths of a valley? When our wells run dry and bodiesโmen, women, childrenโbegin to pile up? Can you imagine the stench? Do you know what cooked, rotting human flesh smells like?โ
I swallowed hard against the nausea that twisted, greasy and bitter in my stomach. I knew his words were a threat. Kane must have felt similarly, because he stepped in front of me, ever so slightly, his hands resting casually at his sides, though I swore black thorns danced around his knuckles.
Kane bared his gleaming white teeth. โIโll flay the skin from your muscles before I grant you freedom.โ
But Killoran only laughed. โFreedom? Is that what you call your world out there? Free? No, pretty king,โ Killoran drawled. โYour world is not my freedom. Despite Hemlockโs fickle isle, I have everything I could possibly want here. Out there, in your world, I am a nobody. A murderer, a rapistโโ I flinched at the word, and Killoranโs eyes lit with delight. โJust a scummy piece of human grime. But hereโโ Killoran gestured to the stacks of rusted swords and spears lined against the walls, the abhorrent table before him, covered in dented steel goblets. The gaunt, chained women at his feet, and
the men who would lay their lives down for him without a single beat of hesitation. โHere, I am aย king. Just like you.โ
Kaneโs jaw went stiff, and I swore I could feel the rage radiating off him. Rage at this man, dangling our safety like a rat above a pythonโs open jaws. Rage at the comparison between the two of them. On his worst days I knew this was how Kane saw himself. Ruthless, cruel, self-serving.
โThereโs nothing we can offer you?โ I asked, surprising both myself and Kane.
Killoran leaned forward with interest, giving me a broad, hateful smile. โSo, the armorer girl can speak.โ
I bit the inside of my cheek, that peculiar, distant aching in my stomach back once more. โSo she can.โ
โI never said you have nothing to offer me. In fact, you can offer me the one thing I need most.โ
โWell, get on with it. I have dinner plans,โ Kane said, running a hand through his hair, the picture of disinterest. โAnd even more important ones for dessert.โ
Killoran sat back in his throne and the wood groaned behind him as he lifted his legs. The thin blond girl who had been next to his feet moved without hesitation underneath them, contorting herself into a human footstool.
I swallowed pure bile but didnโt give Killoran the satisfaction of looking away.
โWhen I came here, I was only seventeen. An orphan with few options, I had joined a crew of men in the Blade Moors, done things that would pull the breakfast from green eyes over hereโโKilloran pointed a blunt finger at meโโand was given a one-way ticket to Hemlock with the very man who had taught me all I knew.
โI had thoughtย weย were bad, but the men and women in this place . . .โ Killoran huffed a rueful laugh. โI had no idea ofย bad. But it turned out I didnโt have to be the baddest, or the meanest, or the toughest.โ Killoran ran a hand over his mustache. โI just had to be theย smartest.
โNight three, I killed the man who had raised meโwho had taken knives and lashings for me. I plunged an axe into his esophagus in front of thirty other men.โ Killoran chuckled as if it was a fond, silly recollection.
โThe next day, the entirety of Hemlock followed me. My own band of merry warriors.โ Killoran grinned wide, all too pleased with himself. โIt took me years to grind my way to where I am now. Years, and lives, and more sacrifice and hard work than youโve ever known in your life, pretty king.โ
Kaneโs jaw tensed. โMy patience is waning. What is it you want, Grim?โ I wished I could speak directly into Kaneโs mind.ย Heโs playing with us. Letโs go. Weโll come back with your army.ย The bizarre feeling that hadnโt left since I entered the room was spinning wildly into spiked fear and
carving at my insides. I wanted to leave. Now, now,ย nowโ
โYou havenโt even heard the end of the story! So young, so impatient.โ Killoran clucked his tongue. โIโve ruled the island for two decades now. The longest anyone has ever held on to this throne. And now, after all Iโve done for the people of this island, all the factions I have aligned, I hear thereโs aย mutinyย brewing?โ Killoranโs eyes had narrowed into slits. โI donโt need your weapons, your finery, your provisions. What Iย needย is to prove my power. My smarts.โ
I didnโt know who moved first.
Kaneโs night-black lighte wrecked and thrummed through the room, against the walls, punishingly loud and metallic on my tongue. It spun around usโout of his hands like sable crowsโ wings, sailing through the lair, slicing Killoranโs men with the razor edges of dragon scales, talons, and poison fangs. Ropes of that guttering power flew from Kaneโs spine, his hackles raised, and strangled a snarling man I hadnโt even seen coming.
And theย bloodโ
So much seeping, oozing bloodโ
The men, dropping one after another, some sliced at the throat, gore pouring into the threads of their clothes, others carved through the skull or cracked down the chest like ripe, halved fruit.
But one of Killoranโs men was already grasping me around my middle and hauling me backward. I cried out, unable to yank freeโ
But I drove my elbow into his nose, a satisfyingย crackย reverberating in my ears alongside the feel of more bloodโwarm, wet bloodโseeping into the fabric of my blouse. The man behind me barely flinched.
I screamed again as he wrenched me away from Kaneโ
Kane.
Kane, who would decimate all of them. All these humans. They wouldโ Where was he?
I struggled to crane my head down, fought the man who held me, my spit flying, teeth gnashing, and finally,ย finally,ย when I was able to look beyond the ceilingโ
All the blood in my body turned to rigid ice.
Kane was on the ground, face crushed into splintered wood, near unconscious. His arms were pulled behind him by one lone thug, a knee denting into his back. The guard had wrapped a chainโlighter in color than iron, but appearing heavier than steelโaround Kaneโs wrists.
Kane groaned and struggled against the man until he tied a leather gag around his mouth.
โWhatโs wrong with him?โ I shrieked. โWhy canโt he move?โ
โLilium chains,โ Killoran said, stepping around a river of dark blood from one of his slain men. โThe only alloy that can suppress a Faeโs power. A prisoner or two have been brought to the island still in them over the years. Theyโre near impossible to get off. Had to slice through my fair share of wrists to collect the metal. Neat trick, huh?โ
Killoran feasted on the shock that spread over my face, a body still twitching by his feet. โOh, you thought I didnโt know your king was Fae? After all my years here, all the men delivered from the Onyx Kingdom? Men who spoke of a king that never ages, who is never seen alongside his prized dragon, who has, on rare account, been seen using darker magic than any sorcerer or witch?โ
I shook my head. I had noย words. None, save for โPleaseโโ
โThe Fae king of Onyx has power that I need. Power that will allow me to stay in control.โ
What kind of power could he take from Kane? He couldnโt have his kingdom, and Kane would never serve another king, let alone a despicable monster such asโ
Harvesting.
Thatโs what he meant. Heโd harvest Kaneโs lighte.
The thought was more sickening than the thugโs arms wrapped around my middle.
โAnd you,โ Killoran said, stepping around a bound Kane as if he were a heap of garbage. โThe kingโs pretty armorer will make a perfect meal for the beast. Did I neglect to mention the creatures that we share the island with? Who crawl up from the depths below when theyโre hungry?โ Killoran shook his head, laughing to himself, and that woozy, swirling pit in my stomach doubled. I cringed as the sensation crawled through my body like vermin. โIโll be honest with you. I make it sound a lot worse than it is. Their dinner is but our meager entertainment.โ
Tears pooled in my eyes. I couldnโt move. I couldnโt think. I needed to use my lighte.
But all I had mastered was healing and forming a protective bubble around myself and others. Aside from that, I had only ever produced destructive rays of energy that set anyone near me aflame or turned them into red mist.
I couldnโt risk hurting Kane. Not when he couldnโt protect himself. โOnyx Kingdom will have your head,โ I vowed. โKing Ravenwoodโs
army would go to the ends of the continent for their king.โ
โOh, dear! A mass of men already weakened from fighting two other kingdoms. However will my army of violent, depraved prisoners beat them? An army of men and women who had to be the strongest, the most vicious, to survive.โ
I didnโt exhale.
The warlord raised a single brow. โIf Onyx Kingdom tries to invadeย my
island, where I know the landscape better than my own ass cheeks, they
deserve to be slaughtered.โ
Kane, near unconscious, groaned from the ground.
โRelax, pretty king.โ Killoran shook his head. โIโm not going to hurt your men unless they come for me first. You two really have the wrong idea about me.โ
Killoran was out of his Stones-damned mind. I struggled against the man who held me, his nose still dripping blood down the back of my shirt. โYou have no idea what youโre doโโ
A blow to my temple sent my head swimming with pain, and a swift darkness overtook me, alongside the sound of Kaneโs muffled roar.