Page 74 of She Who Holds My Wrath

A few small lanterns sit scattered around the room, but most of the light comes from the aurora overhead. Striking brilliant greens, soft pinks, and violent purples all ripple against the crystalline pillars, casting shards of colour across my midnight skin. If I wasn’t strung up like some prized mare left to freeze, I might actually enjoy the view.

“Ah, you’re awake.” His slimy, disgusting voice echoes across the stone.

I turn my head, the muscles in my neck stiff, and watch Kaelith strolling casually towards me as if he’s taking a fucking morning walk. He’s wrapped in a heavy, fur cloak that billows behind him on the breeze—because of course, he is. Dramatic bastard.

I raise a brow. “I thought young girls were your thing, Duskwalker. Not tall, sexy, shadow men.” I wink at him, even blowing him a kiss just for funsies. “I’m flattered, truly, but I’m taken. And not really into being strung up like a whore.”

He rolls his eyes as he stops inches from me. “Even now, you’re still an insufferable bastard.”

I bark a laugh. “Flattery will get you everywhere with me, star-man.”

The jokes fall easy, too easy. Sarcasm is the armour I’ve worn since the day I learned I was basically indestructible. When you’re the ruler of corruption itself, when even the Six decide you’re too much trouble to provoke, it turns you arrogant. It makes you feel untouchable. Or so I thought.

But right now, if I’m being truthfully honest, I feel anything but.

The truth strikes me like a shard of ice. I’ve never had my power stripped from me before. I didn’t even know that was possible. That something strong enough to snuff out the shadows that have lived under my skin since the moment I was born, existed. Whatever drug Kaelith used, it wasn’t mortal work. It wasn’t even Celestial. It was something older. Something forged for war and annihilation. If the Six are able to create something so powerful… Gods help us all.

A pressure tightens behind my ribs, something I haven’t felt in centuries. Not fear. Fear is gentler. This is… wrongness. It’s vulnerability. I don’t like it. I can’t tolerate it. And beneath that, coiling like a slow, poisonous snake, is rage. Real, potent rage. Because I don’t know where my little hellflower is. And that’s entirely unacceptable.

The thought of Daisy out there, alone, while I’m hanging like cattle sends a pulse of fury surging through me so familiar, it almost feels like getting my power back. A taste of what I’d do if the shadows weren’t blocked out of my veins. Because if they were here? Kaelith wouldn’t be walking or talking. He wouldn’t even be breathing. He’d be fucking dead.

“Where is she?” I snarl, letting the last thread of my composure snap as images of her beautiful face flash through my mind.

Gone is the lazy grin and easy confidence. What’s left is pure, sharp-edged fury, and a sliver of fear I refuse to acknowledge. She was my responsibility. Mine to protect. And at the first sign of trouble, I failed her. I’m hanging here powerless, and I don’t even know how long it’s been since I saw her. Hours, days—enough time for something to happen. Enough time for him to⁠—

My jaw clenches so tight, it aches. But I force myself to breathe. “Where. Is. She?”

His grin is twisted with satisfaction. “Oh, she’s being kept very safe, don’t worry.”

The way he says it has my skin crawling. There’s something wrong in it. Something smug. It settles in my gut, telling me everything I don’t want to believe. That she’s hurting and that he’s enjoying it. That I’m too fucking late to do a single thing about it.

“Stop with the bullshit, Kaelith. Where the fuck is she? You better not have hurt her.” I can hear the control fracturing in my voice.

“Oh, less of the hero act, Shadowtongue. Since when did you have a heart, anyway?”

The words hit, but not in the way he thinks. Not because they’re true, but because right now, I wish they were. It would be easier if I didn’t care.

“Answer the fucking question or I’ll melt your insides with⁠—”

“With what?” He cuts me off with a mocking laugh. “Because last time I checked, your power wasn’t working.”

My teeth grind together, hard enough to taste the sharp tang of blood. He’s right. I’m standing here, utterly useless to Daisy right now. Powerless while she’s out there…

“It’s alright. She’s currently chained up in my dungeon.” The words ricochet through me, hitting me straight in the chest where I presume my heart to be. “But once she agrees to be my wife, she’ll be living the life of luxury like the queen she deserves to be.”

He says it so seriously that I’m genuinely questioning if I heard him right. I just stare at him, blankly, trying to decide if I’ve finally lost my mind or if he has.

He frowns at my silence. “What?” he snaps.

Oh. Oh, he is serious. I laugh so hard I almost piss myself. “There’s not a chance you think she’s going to agree to that?” I manage between breaths, shaking my head. “Fuck, you’re more delusional than I thought.”

He moves fast, gripping my jaw in an iron grip with his icy fingers. My teeth grind together as pain sparks through my skull. But I don’t give him the satisfaction of reacting beyond a slow, deliberate glare.

“Listen here, you voodoo cunt. She will marry me once she realises what I can offer.”

His breath ghosts over my face, all frost and arrogance. It takes everything in me to not reach forwards and rip his throat out with my teeth. But I need answers.

“And what can you offer her that she doesn’t already have, Duskwalker?” I bite back with a voice laced in venom, despite the way his grip tightens. “Because she has her own kingdom, and last I checked, it’s a hell of a lot stronger than yours.”