Chapter 9 Chapter 8
The days began to blur together into a rhythm I hadn't expected to find in captivity.
Wake up. Eat the breakfast someone left outside my door. Train with Kael for hours until my body ached and my magic felt raw. Return to my room. Wait for night to fall. And then, when the shadows deepened and the Court grew quiet, Azrael would appear.
It had become routine over the past week. Kael owned my days, teaching me discipline and control through repetition and combat drills. But Azrael owned my nights, showing me the darker side of my power, the parts that Kael either couldn't or wouldn't teach me.
Tonight was no different. I was sitting on my bed, still sore from the afternoon's training, when the shadows in the corner began to move. I didn't even flinch anymore. Just watched as Azrael stepped through them like a curtain, that dangerous smile already on his face.
"Hello, little witch," he said, his amber eyes gleaming. "Miss me?"
"You were here last night," I pointed out, but I couldn't quite hide the relief in my voice. As complicated as Azrael made my life, he was also the only person who treated me like a person instead of a weapon or a problem to be solved.
"Twenty-four hours is an eternity when you're as charming as I am." He crossed the room to sit beside me on the bed, and I caught that scent of smoke and spice that seemed to cling to him. "How was training with the brooding vampire?"
"Exhausting," I admitted. "He had me summoning and dismissing shadows for three hours straight. I think he's trying to kill me through boredom."
"He's trying to break your spirit," Azrael corrected, his tone going serious. "Make you compliant. It's what vampires do. They call it discipline, but really it's just another form of control."
"And what you're teaching me isn't?" I raised an eyebrow. "Because sneaking in here every night to give me secret lessons feels pretty controlling too."
"The difference is I'm giving you choices." He turned to face me fully, and I was struck again by how beautiful he was in that dangerous, otherworldly way. "Kael is teaching you to suppress your power, to contain it. I'm teaching you to embrace it. To use it the way it was meant to be used."
"By destroying things?" I asked, remembering the exercises from last night where he'd taught me to weaponize shadows, to use them to cut and crush and kill.
"By protecting yourself." His hand came up to cup my cheek, and I should have pulled away but I didn't. "You're in a den of predators, Seraphine. The Court may seem civilized, but never forget what these creatures are. What they've done. The only thing keeping you alive right now is the fact that you're useful. The moment you're not, they'll dispose of you."
"Kael wouldn't," I said, and even I heard the uncertainty in my voice.
"Wouldn't he?" Azrael's thumb brushed my cheekbone. "He's killed before on Thalia's orders. Innocents. People who begged for mercy. Why would you be any different?"
"Because he's teaching me," I said. "If he wanted me dead, he wouldn't bother."
"He's teaching you to be their weapon." Azrael leaned closer, and I could feel the heat radiating from him. Demons ran hot where vampires ran cold, I'd learned. "There's a difference between being taught and being used. Don't forget that."
I wanted to argue, but something in his words rang true. Kael was teaching me, yes, but always within the parameters Thalia set. Always in ways that made me useful to the Court. Never in ways that might help me actually escape.
"What do you want from me?" I asked quietly. "Really. Not the speeches about freedom or ending the war. What do you personally want?"
Azrael was quiet for a long moment, his eyes searching mine. Then he smiled, but it was different from his usual expression. Sadder. More honest.
"I want to not be my father's son," he said. "I want to be something other than a monster. And I think maybe helping you, saving you from becoming what they want to make you, might be the closest I'll ever get to redemption."
The vulnerability in his admission made my chest ache. I reached up, covering the hand he still had against my cheek with my own. "You're not a monster, Azrael."
"You don't know what I've done."
"I don't care." And I realized I meant it. "We've all done things we're not proud of. The question is what we do next."
He stared at me like I'd said something profound, and then he was kissing me. Not the careful, testing kind of kiss, but desperate and hungry, like he was trying to prove something to both of us. I should have pushed him away. Should have remembered that he was a demon lord and I was supposed to be figuring out how to survive this situation, not making it more complicated.
But I kissed him back instead, my hands fisting in his shirt, and let myself get lost in the heat of him for just a moment.
He pulled back first, breathing hard, his eyes glowing brighter than usual. "I shouldn't have done that."
"Probably not," I agreed, my own heart hammering. "But I'm not sorry you did."
"Seraphine—"
A knock at the door made us both freeze. Azrael vanished into the shadows instantly, so fast I almost thought I'd imagined him. I took a second to compose myself, trying to calm my racing pulse, then called out.
"Come in."
The door opened to reveal Kael, and from the way his eyes narrowed slightly, I wondered if he could somehow sense that Azrael had been here. Vampires had good senses. How good, I wasn't sure.
"Can't sleep?" Kael asked, his gaze sweeping the room like he was looking for something.
"Just restless," I said. "Is something wrong?"
"Thalia wants to see you." His expression was carefully neutral. "Now."
My stomach dropped. In the week I'd been here, I'd only seen the Queen once more in passing. She'd looked at me like I was an interesting specimen, nodded to Kael, and swept past without a word. The fact that she was summoning me in the middle of the night couldn't be good.
"Why?" I asked, standing up.
"She didn't share her reasons with me." Kael's tone was clipped. "But when the Queen summons, you don't ask questions. You go."
I grabbed a jacket, suddenly cold despite the comfortable temperature of the room. "Am I in trouble?"
"I don't know," Kael said, and there was something in his voice that made my anxiety spike. "But whatever she wants, agree to it. Don't argue. Don't negotiate. Just agree and we'll figure out the rest later."
That was not reassuring. "Kael—"
"Trust me on this," he said, and the intensity in his eyes made me swallow my questions. "Please."
I nodded, not trusting my voice. He led me through the Court, and I noticed the corridors were emptier than usual. Quieter. Like even the vampires knew to stay out of the way when their Queen was in a mood.
We reached the throne room, and Kael paused outside the doors. "Remember. Whatever she asks. Say yes."
Before I could respond, the doors swung open.
Queen Thalia sat on her throne, looking like death's most elegant ambassador. But it was the person standing beside her that made my blood run cold.
A man. Tall, with silver hair and eyes that looked like ice. He studied me with the kind of attention a scientist might give an interesting lab rat, and every instinct I had screamed danger.
"Seraphine," Thalia said, her voice smooth as silk. "Come in. I'd like you to meet Corvus. Kael's maker. And the vampire who's going to help us ensure your cooperation."
The doors slammed shut behind me, and I realized this wasn't just a summons.
It was a trap.