Chapter 83 The Thing in the Dark
KAEL
I knew that scream.
Not personally. Not from memory. But the void inside me recognized it. Called to it like greeting an old friend.
"What is that?" Sera moved beside me. Hand on her blade. Always ready.
"A Shade." The word tasted of ash and emptiness. "A being made of pure void energy. Exists between life and death, consuming both. Gets stronger with each soul it takes."
"How do you know that?" Arianna's tone was sharp. Suspicious.
"The void told me. It recognizes its own." I closed my eyes. Felt the darkness inside me reaching out. Connecting. "Someone brought it here. Summoned it. Gave it a target."
"Let me guess." Theron's hand moved to his sword. "The target's you."
"Us. All of us. But me especially." I opened my eyes. "They want me to fight it. Want the void in me to recognize the void in it. Want us to merge."
"Merge?" Sera's face went white. "What does that mean?"
"It means if I fight it and use void power to kill it, I absorb it. Take its essence into mine. Become more void than vampire. More death than life." My voice was flat. "Eventually, I stop being Kael. Just become a shell filled with darkness."
"Then you don't fight it." Nyx moved between me and the door. "We find another way—"
Another scream. Closer. Wood splintering. People running.
"We don't have time." I moved past her. "That thing's killing people right now. My people. I'm not hiding while they die."
"Kael—" Sera grabbed my arm.
"I can control it. I will control it." I met her eyes. "Trust me. One more time."
She held my gaze. Searching. Then released me. "I'm coming with you. If you fall, if the void takes you, I pull you back. That's the deal."
"Always the negotiator."
"Always your queen."
We ran. Through corridors. Following screams. Following the sudden cold.
Bodies appeared. Servants. Guards. Drained—not of blood. Of everything. Life force stolen. Husks wearing human faces.
"Gods." Theron knelt beside one. A young guard he'd trained. "They aged a hundred years in seconds."
"The Shade fed on them." I forced myself to keep moving. "We find it before it reaches populated areas."
We turned a corner. Frost covered every surface. Temperature so low I could see Sera's breath. Ice crystals in Theron's beard.
It waited at the end of the hallway.
Shade didn't describe it properly. It was absence given form. Something that might've once been human carved into a hole in reality. Seven feet tall. Arms too long. Face featureless except for an oversized mouth.
Looking right at me.
"Brother," it whispered. Voice like wind over graves. "Father calls you home."
"I have no father." I drew my blade. "And I'm not your brother."
"You're void-touched. Death-walked. One of us now." It moved—impossibly fast. "Stop fighting. Accept what you are."
It struck. I blocked. Our weapons met with a sound like reality tearing.
Cold poured into me. The void inside me surged. Recognized. Wanted.
Yes. Take it. Absorb it. Become stronger.
"No." I pushed back. Broke contact. "I'm staying me."
The Shade laughed. "You already are. You just refuse to see."
It attacked again. Each strike faster. Stronger. Testing me.
I fought back using vampire speed. Vampire strength. Keeping the void locked down. Refusing to merge.
But I was weaker than I should be. The feeding had helped, but I hadn't recovered. Each block took effort.
"Kael!" Sera joined the fight. Her blade cut through the Shade's arm. It reformed instantly. "We need to kill this thing!"
Theron attacked from the side. His sword passed through like smoke. Lyra tried fire magic. It fed the creature.
Nothing worked. Nothing but void magic would work. And using void magic would doom me.
"Father!" Nyx's voice. "Stop being stubborn! Use what you have! I'll anchor you!"
"You're exhausted—"
"I'm your daughter! Trust me!" Her hands pressed against my back. Small. Determined. "Let it out. We don't have time for your pride."
Damn her. She was right.
More screams echoed. The Shade was feeding while we fought.
I made my choice.
Let the void loose.
It roared out of me like a storm. Black energy that consumed light. Made the air crack and reality bend. The Shade screamed—not in pain. In joy.
We collided. Void against void. Death against death.
And I felt it. The pull. The merging. Two voids trying to become one.
Yes! Join us! Become complete!
"No!" Nyx's voice in my head. Clear. Strong. "You're Kael Draeven! Blood King! My father! You don't get consumed! You consume!"
Her power flowed into me. Silver mixed with black. Time magic woven through void. Creating something new. Something controlled.
I understood then. What she was doing. She wasn't just anchoring me. She was teaching the void inside me who was master. Who commanded. Who ruled.
Me. Not it. Me.
The void screamed. Raged. Fought. Then slowly, grudgingly, submitted.
I grabbed the Shade. Pulled it close. And instead of letting it consume me, I consumed it.
Drained its energy. Took its power. Absorbed its essence but filtered through Nyx's time magic. Controlled. Directed. Mine.
The Shade dissolved. Screaming. Cursing. Gone.
I stood in the corridor. Breathing hard. Still myself. Still Kael.
But stronger. So much stronger.
"You did it." Sera's voice was awed. "You killed it without losing yourself."
"Nyx did it. She showed me how to be master instead of slave." I looked at my daughter. "Thank you."
"Thank me by not dying again." But she smiled. Then collapsed.
I caught her. Held this impossibly powerful child who kept saving us.
"She needs rest. Days of it." Arianna appeared, checking Nyx's pulse. "She's burning through energy like wildfire."
"Then she rests—"
"Your Majesty!" A guard ran toward us. Face white. "We found something. In the summoning chamber. Evidence."
"What kind?"
"Letters. Between Lord Cassian and someone outside the palace." He handed me a blood-sealed envelope. "Someone who knows death magic. Who provided the cursed blade and summoned the Shade."
I opened it. Read. Felt cold that had nothing to do with void.
"What does it say?" Sera moved beside me.
"This was just the first test. They're planning to summon more. Stronger ones. Until I either lose myself to void or die fighting them." I looked up. "The next one arrives in three days."
"Who sent it? Who's helping Cassian?"
I showed her the signature. Saw the color drain from her face.
The name was impossible. The person was dead. Had been dead for seventy years.
Elena Draeven. My murdered wife.
"That's not possible." Arianna took the letter. "Elena died. I was there. She can't—"
"The letter's fresh. Written days ago. In her handwriting." My voice was hollow. "Someone's either using her name or death gave her back the same way it gave me back."
"And she wants revenge." Sera finished. "For dying. For you moving on. For bonding with me."
"Maybe. Or maybe worse." I looked at the letter again. At handwriting I hadn't seen in seventy years. "Maybe she wants to destroy me to save me from the void. Maybe she thinks death is better than what I'm becoming."
"Is she wrong?" Nyx's weak voice. "Would you rather be dead than turning into void?"
I looked at Sera. At our daughter. At the family we'd built from blood and prophecy.
"No. I'd rather be this. Rather be struggling. Rather be fighting." I touched Sera's face. "Because being this means I get to be with you. And that's worth any darkness."
"Good answer." She kissed me. "Now let's go find your dead wife and figure out what she wants before she kills us all."
We moved through the palace. Carrying Nyx. Following clues. Following the cold trail of someone who shouldn't exist.
And I felt it. Through the bond. Through the void. Through everything.
Elena was close. Watching. Waiting.
Planning her next move.
The game had changed. This wasn't about succession anymore. Not about politics or prophecy or power.
This was personal.
My past had come back to haunt me. And it knew exactly where to strike to make it hurt.
Three days until the next Shade.
Three days to find a ghost.
Three days to save myself from void and vengeance.
Time was running out.
And somewhere in the palace, Elena was laughing. The void whispered in her voice, promising power I should never have.
And it was only just beginning to wake up.