Chapter 74: Chapter 74

LENORE

Voices drifted like smoke through my mind.

What happened?!

The King mind-controlled her!

Don’t let Killian out!

My awareness rose and sank and each return to the surface was brief before I was pulled under again.

He will pay for this!

Calm yourself, Killian.

Fuck you! Let go of me!

You’ll just end up getting yourself killed!

I don’t care! I will turn all he has left into dust!

The voices drifted farther and farther as I felt myself sinking into the cold embrace of the darkness. It felt both turbulent and serene.

She’s awake again.

Let go of her, Killian! Your presence isn’t helping!

Please, Lenore. Come back to me.

…

The ground beneath me was coarse and gritty like sand, but when I tried to grab it, it compressed beneath my fingers like foam. Darkness bled into itself around me and it was so thick, it felt like I was breathing it in, but my mind stayed quiet. There were no thoughts or memories and my limbs were heavy—everything just felt… still.

Time passed, but I had no way of measuring it. It could have been minutes, hours, or days. All I knew was that it was long and exhausting, and I should sink into the ground. That was the only thing that seemed natural.

I shut my eyes, ready to give in, but then, a thought so loud and disorienting that it felt like someone had screamed in my face popped into my mind.

Let go of me.

My eyes snapped open and I could still see nothing, smell nothing, and hear nothing, but my mind no longer felt hollow. The next thought followed not too long after it, firmer than the last and filling every space in my head.

Let go of me.

The darkness around me began to thrum with energy before a ringing bloomed in my head. I opened my mouth, but my throat felt dry and cracked, and the whimper that escaped me sounded foreign to my own ears. Where am I? …What’s happening?

Then there was a scent—cinnamon and citrus… It was gentler than the darkness and more comforting than I thought anything could be, and I found myself reaching out like I could grab it or its source.

I already told you, Lenore. I’d do anything you want.

Out of nothingness, a light appeared in the sky. It was so bright and sudden that I squeezed my eyes shut and covered them with my hand. There was a slight warmth in the air now, pressing soft kisses over my skin, and when I finally blinked away the tears that had formed due to the light, I lowered my hand and opened my eyes.

The sky… was a white ceiling?

I drew my brows together, blinking at it before noticing I was lying on a bed, a floor lamp beside me. Then I tried to move and the sudden resistance around my wrists made me pause.

My hands were chained.

I stared at it for longer than I should have before jerking upright, my heart pounding as I tried and failed to pull my hand free. The chain ran all the way behind me, so I glanced over my shoulder to see it attached to the wall behind me—a wall that was severely cracked, like it could crumble at any moment.

“Easy there,” a voice on my right said when I tried to pull free again, startling me. I whipped my head toward it and found Calley sitting in a chair beside the bed, smiling at me like this was a completely normal situation.

Wait… did she do this? My shoulders tensed and I shifted on the bed before glancing around. We were in a small windowless room and the only things in it were the bed, the lamp, and the chair.

“What’s this?” I asked, keeping my tone even, before swallowing as I glanced at the door. “Where’s Killian?”

At his name, a memory gripped me—Killian beneath me with wide eyes, my hand pressing a knife to his neck. I sucked in a breath before the memory, in its entirety, slammed into me, and my stomach churned violently, my mind spinning.

Why… Why did I do that? …What’s happening? …Why?

“You’re not yourself,” Calley said, drawing my attention back to her.

A breathless ‘what?’ escaped me before I realized her eyes were blue… steel blue. Calley’s eyes were gray. “...You’re not Calley.”

It should have scared me. I should have screamed or tried to get away from her or… I don’t know, something. But strangely, even though this wasn’t Calley, I felt like I knew her.

The false Calley flashed me a warm smile and asked, “What gave it away?”

“Who are you?”

“That’s not important now, is it?”

“…Am I dreaming?”

She tipped her head to the side. “I don’t know. Are you?”

I frowned and glanced at the door in front of us. Those non-answers weren't doing it for me, so I got off the bed and moved towards the door. Yes, my hands were chained, but the chain was long enough to let me reach the door and figure out what the hell was going on.

Wrong.

Halfway to the door, the shackles sprouted teeth and bit into my wrists, sending pain shooting up my arms. I cried out while they yanked me backward toward the cracked wall, causing me to lose my balance and hit the floor. For a moment, all I could do was stare, my mind struggling to process whatever the fuck had just happened. Then I lifted my gaze and saw another crack race through the wall where the chain held fast.

My breath caught while a thought flashed through my mind: don’t let that wall break, Lenore.

Swallowing, I kept my gaze fixed on it as I pushed myself into a sitting position before glancing at my wrists. They throbbed, but there was no blood on them, and the shackles had no teeth.

I’m definitely dreaming.

“You need to free yourself first, Lenore,” the false Calley said matter-of-factly and I shot her a glare, but then after facing the wall once more, my shoulders sagged.

“Where’s the key?” I asked, but even more importantly—“Where’s Killian?”

I’d tried to kill him… I’d tried to— My heart tightened painfully in my chest. Why?

A dizzy spell hit me out of nowhere, and the sound of pouring water filled my ears. If I hadn't already been on the ground, I would've fallen.

“Killian can’t help you here,” she answered, and I bit down on the inside of my bottom lip, blinking back tears.

“Why?” I wasn't alone right now, but the loneliness pressing against my chest was almost unbearable. I didn't know what had happened or what was happening... and Killian…

My lips wobbled.

“Some battles are meant to be fought alone.” She got to her feet and headed for the door, pausing after she opened it. “And not every lock requires a key.” With that, she walked out, leaving the door open and I drew my brows together as the sound of water pouring filled my ears again.

It sounded like it was coming from right in front of me. Like it was... I lifted my hands while lowering my face toward my chained wrists, and the moment I looked through the unusually large keyhole in one of the shackles, my surroundings changed.

I blinked. Huh?

I was back in the audience room... back to this morning. My father was sitting next to me and the King was across from us while Cederic—the man behind him—refilled the King’s teacup with a red liquid that wasn’t blood. Why am I—

“Whatever happens next is of your own doing,” my father said to the King before getting to his feet and heading for a door on the left end of the room.

“What insolence—”

“Alaine,” the King cut the captain off. I frowned, beyond confused, but just like I had this morning, I quickly got to my feet and curtsied to the King. Then I went after my father who had left the door open and the moment I stepped through it, I paused.

That wasn’t what happened, was it?

I glanced over my shoulder to see the King, and the two other men staring at me, and my feet moved of their own accord, carrying me back to the couch. A dull throb bloomed in my head, growing sharper with every step like someone was beating a drum inside my skull, while my stomach churned.

Once I was across from the King, I curtsied again and for some reason, turned back in the direction of the door. I felt confused and wrong, like something bad was about to happen, and the moment the captain grabbed me from behind and yanked me down to the couch, everything clicked.

The King got to his feet and flashed me a smile, his blue eyes glowing. “I have a request to make of you, Lenore.”

Oh… Oh… He did something to me.

His eyes burned, and my world narrowed until all I saw were his black irises surrounded by rings of azure. I tried to speak, but my nose was filled with the smell of cloying caramel, burning my throat.

Oh… My stomach dropped.

“You see, I have a problem with my son. The one fucking you,” he started as he walked over before plopping down next to me like we were best buddies. “He’s rather rude, that boy. Isn’t he, Cederic?”

“He is, Your Majesty,” Cederic replied, nodding.

“And what kind of father would I be if I don’t teach him a lesson?”

“Not a proper one.”

The King clapped his hand, and Alaine grabbed me by the neck, forcing me to face the man next to me. “So you’re going to do something for me, Lenore… Kill him.”

Something stirred within me, tightening as it woke before moving through my body like it knew exactly where to go. I had no idea what it was, but I knew it had nothing to do with the King’s hold on me.

Then the King laughed. “Of course, you can’t actually kill him,” he said before making a tutting noise. “But you won’t stop trying now, won’t you?”

“I won’t stop trying.” The words left my mouth as his burning eyes held me, his magic pressing against my mind until my own thoughts blurred.

“You won’t fail me, will you?”

“I won’t fail you.”

Whatever was moving through me stretched and groaned, expanding just like the King’s eyes had.

“Why not just kill her, Your Majesty?” Alaine asked and the King frowned.

“I want him to do that himself.” He placed a finger beneath my chin, tipping my face up before turning it to the side. “She has a nice face but he’ll get irritated fast when she keeps attacking him.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“...Then she’ll kill herself. Won’t you, Lenore?”

Why?

“I will.”

Why do you hate him so much?

His smile widened and his hand dropped from my chin. “Now, this conversation never happened. You and your father left this room together and you said goodbye to each other. Is that clear?”

“Yes.”

He tapped my nose and laughed before glancing at Alaine. “Get her out of here.”

Alaine let go of my neck and walked around the couch to yank me to my feet. As he pulled me past the King, that force expanding in me surged and raced to my mind, brushing against the heavy presence of the King’s magic like it was taking note of it. The King’s signature burned so deeply into me that I would know it anywhere, and my gaze suddenly sharpened, seeing the man before me differently.

…You will not go unpunished.