“I get it, you know.”
Creak.
“Get what?”
I could hear Eris and Cain arguing back and forth but didn’t pay attention to what was being said. Something about Aamon had my stomach tying itself into a strange knot. The look in his gaze… It was too calm. Too… deranged.
“The reason that all of you are soobsessedwith her,” he continued. His voice sounded a little more strangled now as my shadows slowly coiled like a snake. Then, with a choked laugh, his hands shot up to his neck, unable towithstand the dark mist. “I mean, her beauty… Gods, she’s unlike any woman I’ve ever seen…”
“I would stop speaking if I were you,” I warned him.
Creak.
“But herblood… Fuck. It’s riddled with power. The first time I tasted it, I swear I almost?—”
Rage blazed within me, and my shadows tightened until he couldn’t breathe. “I’m going to fucking kill you. I’ll kill every person in these tunnels that laid even a finger on Morrigan.” My voice came out in a growl that was barely my own as I lifted him from the ground.
Creak.
They didn’t deserve her. No one in this fucking world deserved her. Not Cain.
Creak.
Not Aamon.
Creak.
Not evenme. I would kill?—
Everything stopped. Because as I lifted Aamon, something else came into view. Something I couldn’t quite convince myself was real. It couldn’t be. I cocked my head to the side as I stared above him, finally seeing the origin of the sound. Aamon caught my stare and lifted his own head, no longer struggling within my shadows.
As I finally realized what I was looking at, my darkness slipped, and Aamon’s body dropped to the ground. He began tolaugh. He was laughing and choking as he tried to catch his breath. But nowIcouldn’t breathe.
It was a… a cage.
Abirdcage.
He put her in a…
“Kaiden,” Eris called behind me, his voice cautiousand worried.
But it sounded so far away, and my vision had already begun to fade. My shadows were taking control, and I couldn’t stop them if I wanted to.
“A pretty… little… cage…” Aamon panted, his laughter like nails digging into my ears and scraping the skin from my body, “… for a pretty… little… dove.”
Everything went black.
The only sound I could hear were screams. They might have been Aamon’s screams… Eris’s… or perhaps they weremine. I couldn’t see anything but darkness, and I felt the loss of my control, my shadows whipping around, blood coating my skin.
He put her in a fucking cage. It wasmyfault. I had called her that. I kept calling her that stupid fucking nickname, and he put her in a fuckingcage. I would kill them. I would kill Cain, Aamon… I’d kill everyone in the tunnels.
“Kaiden!” someone yelled behind me. I couldn’t make out whose voice it was.
Suddenly, arms wrapped around my chest, but my shadows fought to shove them off. Whoever lay beneath me, I knew that they were gone. Warm, thick liquid pooled at my knees and splashed as my body was dragged backward.
“Kaiden! You have to stop!”
I couldn’t. Iwouldn’tstop.
