Chapter 2 The King's Cage
Kael's roar shook dust from the rafters. He pulled me against his chest, one arm locked across me like an iron bar, fangs still out and dripping. "My bond. My property. Touch her and find out exactly how much strength I have left."
The bloodlust pressing against me was physical. They wanted me dead. Wanted my blood painting the floor. Wanted to erase the stain I represented just by existing.
But they feared him more.
For now.
Kael looked down at me. Nothing soft in that look. No mercy. Just cold calculation and rage barely held back.
"You are coming with me," he said quietly. Only for me to hear. "And you will tell me what you are and why fate decided to chain me to an abomination. Understand?"
I nodded. What else could I do?
He had saved my life.
And condemned me to something so much worse.
Kael did not drag me through the palace halls.
That would have suggested that I could choose whether to follow.
The bond drew me as if I were tethered to his back. My body moved despite my mind's urge to flee; each step tugged on an invisible rope deep in my chest. Servants we passed pressed themselves to the walls, their eyes startled. They knew what happened in the throne room. What I was.
Everyone in the Crimson Palace would be aware by sunrise.
I had never been permitted to enter the East Wing until we ascended three flights of steps. This was the king's personal domain.
His chambers. His war rooms. Places where servants who entered without permission tended to disappear.
Kael stopped at a door made of black wood reinforced with blood iron. Shoved it open. The bond dragged me inside after him, and I heard it slam shut behind us.
His private rooms.
I had anticipated something violent and sinister, shadows pouring down the stone walls. Instead, I stood in an area that could have once been lovely: high ceilings, the blood-red moon hovering over the Shadowlands through tall windows, and one wall lined with bookshelves—more books than I had ever seen in my life. I tried not to gaze at the enormous bed with black silk covers and noted the fireplace, which emitted no heat and glowed blue rather than orange.
There was a small coating of dust covering everything, as if he didn't really live here.
Just occasionally, as if remembering a long-forgotten duty, he seemed to recall he was supposed to call these rooms home.
Kael strode up to a table by the windows and poured himself a black drink from a crystal decanter. took a single sip of it. poured one more.
I tried to decide whether or not to run as I stood at the door. The connection was strong, and even with my eyes closed, I could always tell where he was. I sensed his rage. His bewilderment. The way my blood continued to sing in his veins, giving him strength he hadn't had in years.
He turned to face me after finishing the second drink.
"Sit."
Not a request.
I looked around and found a chair near the fireplace. Standing felt like admitting I believed I could escape, so I walked over and, on trembling legs, sat down.
I had to bend my head back to see Kael's face as he walked to stand in front of me. My eyes were burnt by those crimson ones.
"How long have you known?"
"Known what?" I felt like my voice was more steady than it actually was.
"Do not play games." He caged me in by leaning down and bracing his hands on the arms of my chair. "How long have you known you carry vampire blood?"
I could lie. Should lie. But he would know. The bond made lying difficult. I could feel it pushing at me, demanding truth the way it demanded proximity.
"I did not know." The words felt like pulling teeth. "Not for sure. I thought maybe I was sick. Or going insane."
"Explain."
"Things happened sometimes. I would move too fast. Lift things too heavy. Heal too quickly from burns."
Suddenly chilled in a sense unrelated to temperature, I wrapped myself with my arms. When I glanced in mirrors, my eyes would blaze red. However, I wondered if I was dreaming. Perhaps I was simply afraid, exhausted, or—
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-two."
"And your parents?"
The question hit like a fist. I looked away, staring at the blue flames instead of his face. "Dead. Executed when I was eight."
"For what crime?"
"Forbidden love." The bitterness in my voice surprised me. "My mother was a vampire. My father was human. Their union produced me. They died for it."
A heavy, suffocating silence filled the room, then Kael straightened and walked away, putting space between us that the bond immediately hated. It pulled at my chest, wanting me to follow.
I stayed in the chair.
"You have been living in my palace for twelve years." His back was to me, shoulders rigid. "Hiding what you are. Serving in my kitchens. Invisible."
"Yes."
"Did you know what I am? What did I do?"
The question was unclear to me. "You are the Blood King. The Nocterra ruler. You—"
"I am the king who ordered the purge of House Shadowborn twenty years ago." I stopped breathing when he turned because of something in his face. "The bloodline of your mother. I had them tracked down and put to death. Each and every one. Children, women, and men. To ensure that nothing would ever grow there again, I salted the ground and set fire to their house.
At first, disbelief numbed me, the words refusing to fit together in my mind. But then they hit, tilting my world on its axis as comprehension—and a piercing grief—took hold.
"You killed my family."
"Yes."
"All of them."
"Yes."
I stood without meaning to, the chair scraping. "You murdered them. Then I served you for 12 years. Scrubbing floors. Preparing your meals."
"Apparently."
Something broke inside me. The rage I’d swallowed for twelve years exploded upward, sharp and unstoppable. My voice shook as I confronted him: "You are telling me this now? After you claimed me in front of the entire court? After you bound me to you with this—this—" I gestured at the bond’s humming pull between us. The pain of betrayal fueled every word. "You could have just killed me. Should have. Why tell me this?"
"Because you deserve to know what you are bound to." Kael's voice stayed flat. Empty. "You want to know what kind of monster fate decided to chain you to? There it is. I destroyed your family. I am the reason you grew up an orphan. The reason your parents died."
"Why?" The word came out broken. "Why did you kill them?"
"Because they were betrayers. They supported the uprising that attempted to depose my father. I ensured that no one would ever rebel against the Draeven bloodline once I ascended to the throne. He stepped closer. "I regret nothing."
I moved without thinking.
I slapped him hard, pain burning my palm.
He hardly turned his head.
Before I could retreat, he grabbed my wrist in an iron grasp. I felt his anger bearing down on me through the bond as his once-red eyes darkened.
He whispered, "Do not ever strike me again."
"Or what?" I was trembling. I was unable to distinguish between the feelings of panic, grief, and rage.
"You will kill me? Go ahead. I would rather die than be bound to you."
"No. You would not." He pulled me closer with the hand on my wrist, until we were inches apart. "I can feel what you are feeling through this bond. Fear, yes. Rage, certainly. But not a death wish. You have spent twelve years surviving, little half-blood. You are not going to throw that away now."
"You do not know anything about me."
"I am aware that you are more powerful than you claim to be. I am aware that for more than ten years, you have been concealing your true nature. Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, I am aware that you are more vampire than human. His fingertip touched my pulse spot on my wrist. "And I am aware that my blood is currently singing for you.
This bond saved my life. For that reason alone, I will keep you breathing."