Chapter Forty-Four

C HAPTER F ORTY-FOUR

I jerk awake to the sound of a crash in the next room. Gasping, I turn to look at Darius, still asleep beside me. He doesn’t stir as I try to rouse him, and I wonder if it is just my imagination playing up when a shadow passes below the doorway.

Sickness lingers in the back of my throat as I still and suddenly hear the groan of heavy doors echoing all the way here.

Darius never moves, and my heart starts to hammer. I slip away from the bed, using a robe to cover my naked body as I flee the chambers barefoot in search of the noise.

I might be overreacting – I know my brothers or even Ruvyn could be awake and roaming around the castle, celebrating – but something in my gut tells me otherwise.

The double doors to the throne room are slightly open, enough for the dim glow of the moonlight to filter through the stained glass as I enter.

My fingers brush against the cold, rough surface of the wall, a futile attempt to ground myself as my breath stutters and I creep past the pillars.

A creak comes from behind me, and I whirl to find nothing there.

My eyes narrow, silence puncturing the room until I turn again, and all the warmth inside me drains as I face Aurum. His once-familiar features are now twisted into something grotesque, cracked skin oozing with a black substance across his withered face and a sickly aura of decay that makes my stomach turn.

‘Hello, Nara,’ he hisses, the words seeming to crawl along my skin.

This is just a nightmare. Wake up, Nara. Wake. Up.

He looks around the ruins of the throne and open ceiling, a green shadow circling him. ‘I see you have yet to fix things around here.’

I fight to keep my voice steady, taking a few steps back. ‘This isn’t real. You’re not here.’

His lips curl into a semblance of a smile, half of his cheek missing, showing the inside of his mouth. Bone and all. ‘Where do you think I am?’ He’s starting towards me, slowly, delighting in my discomfort. ‘The Isle?’

I shake my head, forcing magic to my fingertips.

He halts in his tracks, a faint amusement playing on his lips as my palm casts a glow. ‘Now, how impolite of you,’ he says, his voice laced with a chuckle that never reaches his eye. ‘I only came here to warn you, Nara, nothing more.’ His gaze locks on to mine with a sinister flare that sends a shiver down my spine.

He picks up his pace again, taking a stride for every step I take back until he’s closed in on me and yanks me by my hair towards him. I’m paralysed with anger, trapped in believing this isn’t real, that I will wake up.

And Solaris, I hope I do.

‘That when you’re at your happiest,’ he says, his rotten flesh making me gag up close, ‘surrounded by those dear to you, basking in a triumph that should have been mine . . . know that I’ll be lurking in the dark, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.’

I seethe, my nostrils flaring as I let out hard breaths, staring at the cold resolve in his eye.

‘And I will make sure to meticulously dismantle your world, piece by piece. Because when I come back, you will know.’

He can’t, I trapped him. I . . . saw him, I . . .

‘You freed me without realising it, Nara.’ The laughter that punctures his words is breathy. ‘And for that, I’m granting you these fleeting moments of peace.’

I shake my head, dread washing over me. It’s not true. It can’t be. ‘No,’ my voice cracks.

Aurum nods as shadows erupt from behind him, forming into slender fingers as they reach out towards my throat, and I scream.

I scream and thrash, slamming my powers into him until everything is covered in shadows, and all I hear are Aurum’s chuckles travelling through the air around me.

I’m suffocating on my own cries, my body convulsing as every bit of my power erupts uncontrollably.

‘Nara!’ A distant cry calls out to me, but I never stop.

I’m drowning. Each breath I take is a battle.

‘Nara, stop!’ Suddenly, Darius’s voice cuts through the chaos as he pins my hands down against something soft.

I gasp, eyelids fluttering open as I look up at Darius straddling me. Blood drips from his bare chest, where ash covers certain areas in the shape of a hand. My hand.

‘He’s here,’ I say between sobs, my voice shredded from screaming. ‘He’s—’

In an instant, Darius lifts me up, his arms encircling me as he draws me into his embrace. He cradles my head, pressing me close against the steady beat of his heart. My fingers grip him with ferocity, terrified he’ll disappear.

He strokes my back, a soothing rhythm that slowly chips away at my paranoia. My tears soak into him, and all I can say is how sorry I am that I hurt him. But it doesn’t matter to him as he shakes his head, his heart practically breaking just seeing me this way.

As my gaze lifts to look at his face, it catches on the door instead, standing ajar – the same way I left it in my nightmare.

The morning after falling asleep in Darius’s arms, Link comes rushing to tell Darius and I how the barracks have erupted in an argument between the existing Venators and shifters.

Luckily, he can’t tell how exhausted I look, nor does he notice how I destroyed our room by unleashing an uproar of magic here last night. He would eventually tell Illias if he did, and I’d have to deal with him, Idris and Iker worrying.

When I enter the barracks alongside Darius, I realise that Link wasn’t lying when he said it was chaos. The entire food hall has a dozen shifters and Venators screaming at each other from across the tables.

‘Full-fledged dragons aren’t supposed to be inside here,’ a former female Venator says to Relyari, a young shifter who has an Ardenti dragon beside her, looking as if it is about to burn the Venator alive.

Relyari glares at her, saying something back, resulting in other Venators joining in and insulting the dragon.

‘It’s been like this since breakfast,’ Freya sighs, coming between Darius and me.

I spot Leira and Aelle holding back some other shifters from trying to murder the Venators before Rydan and Lorcan barge through the doors.

‘Who started it?’ Darius scans the crowd, his gaze sharp and inquisitive. A figure darts by, but Darius’s reflexes are quicker. He snatches the culprit by the back of his shirt, halting his escape. A smirk curls the corner of Darius’s lips as he identifies the guy he’s holding. ‘Cutler.’

Cutler cowers into his shirt, sheepishly smiling. ‘How . . . how are you, Darius?’

Tibith emerges from between other people’s legs and his ears flutter at Darius. ‘It was him, Darry!’ he shouts. ‘He told the humans that they don’t belong here!’

Cutler’s face pales at Tibith’s accusation. The rioting in the background starts to die down, faces turning towards us.

Darius keeps a firm grip on Cutler. ‘Is that so?’

‘I didn’t mean it,’ Cutler blubbers out. ‘I promise!’

Truth be told, I believe him. Cutler has always been a menace, ever since I first met him at the den. His mouth gets him into trouble more often than not.

I sigh, deciding I want this all to be over. The remnants of the nightmare stick to me like a second skin, leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth and an aching throb in my temples I wish I could shake off. The sooner this is settled, the sooner I can rest.

Mounting one of the tables, I clear my throat, gaining everyone’s attention. My brothers appear then and flank me, with Ruvyn standing sentinel by the doorway.

Suddenly, I’m out of words to say. All I can see is Aurum’s face, his laugh ringing in my ears and his promise to ruin my life.

My breath comes out fast, and it is not until Darius releases Cutler, his concern etching a direct path to me, that I realise I’m on the verge of unravelling. But Freya gets to me before him, climbing onto the table and looking at me with a reassuring smile.

Gathering courage, I nod at her, turning to everyone else. ‘After Aurum’s defeat,’ I swallow at the name, ‘I thought we had all moved past this feud that separated the Venators from the shifters.’ I shake my head. ‘I guess I was wrong to think that.’

Disappointment washes over their faces, both shifters and Venators I once worked with.

‘The world of Zerathion needs more than just Darius and me healing it,’ I say, more to myself than to them. ‘It needs unity against other threats, because they will never go away.’ I look at as many faces as I can. ‘There will always be something, and I need all of you to be here to protect what is ours.’

My eyes land on one of the Venators I knew through Erion: Niamh. She survived through Sarilyn and Aurum’s rule. Now she seems rougher around the edges and less timid than when I first saw her, following Erion about with her big, round eyes. A scar runs across her pale cheek as she turns her head to the side and looks at the others silently for a moment, considering my every word.

‘Then what do you suggest we do?’ She speaks up, narrowing her eyes at me.

At least this is a start.

‘Talk,’ I say, then look towards the rest of the shifters merging with the Venators. ‘Get to know each other as a person, not as a shifter or a Venator. Train together, show the other what you know. Become allies rather than rivals.’

A little girl, her pigtails frayed at the edges, emerges from the throng, her eyes wide and hesitant as she tiptoes closer to the woman beside her. Her gaze flutters towards me before it settles on Darius. As I look at him, the smile he casts at the little girl, so tender and imbued with hope, tugs at my heart. It seems to put the girl at her ease, and she flashes him a toothy smile.

‘What if that doesn’t work?’ Roman, another former Venator, interjects, shattering the fragile bond of unity in that fleeting instant.

‘It will.’ I glance at the shifters. ‘And if you doubt my words, you can always listen to the beat of my heart and tell me if I am lying.’

There are a few who widen their eyes at my abrasive words.

Some individuals are taken aback by my direct words. Others smile.

‘And the Rümens? Are they—’

‘Most herds were killed after Aurum returned,’ Lorcan joins in. ‘You would be lucky to find any still alive.’

The thought makes my chest ache. Rümens might have been vicious creatures, but they deserved to live, including those who became Erion’s victims.

‘All right, then.’ Roman doesn’t look too convinced. ‘What about a leader? We still need someone to guide us as your future warriors.’ He lifts his chin. ‘What say you, Deputy? Ready to come back as General this time?’

We all focus our attention on Lorcan, and I search for any reaction that might tell me he still wishes for that title.

His gaze briefly slides over to mine. ‘No,’ he says, looking back at Roman. ‘But I do know someone who is worthy of that title.’ He glances at Freya and smiles. ‘Freya Demori.’

Freya’s eyes widen as everyone turns to look at her.

‘I think she would make an excellent leader,’ Lorcan says, ‘far better than her father did.’

I look at Freya, her surprised expression making me smile as I grab her hand and give it a good squeeze. Her mouth opens then closes, unsure of what to say, but I know she would make an excellent leader. She already is one.

The pack of shifters and Venators mesh as one, glancing up at Freya curiously.

She slips free from my grip, and as the crowd erupts into discussions, I go up to Lorcan.

‘You did a good thing there,’ I tell him, watching as Freya shakes the hands of the Venators with a bright smile.

He lifts a shoulder. ‘I was never a good deputy to begin with. Who knows what I would have been like as a general.’

‘You were an excellent deputy, Lorcan,’ Darius says, approaching us. He chuckles, rubbing his thumb along his lower lip. ‘And I don’t say that lightly.’

Something warms in Lorcan’s expression. ‘Thank you.’ He bows his head. ‘ Brother .’

I watch them give each other a respectable nod, and it moves me. They still have a long way to go, as decades of miscommunication ripped them apart, but at least . . . they’re healing together.

‘You were great up there,’ he whispers against my ear, and I smile, lowering my head. ‘Gus would have been proud.’

‘Of both of us,’ I whisper, lifting my chin to look up at him. There’s a spot of gold dust on the side of his neck, and I wipe it away.

He murmurs a chuckle under his breath. ‘I guess not all of it came off.’

My smile soon falters when my eyes fall to his chest.

‘I’m sorry about last night,’ I murmur, grimacing at the memory of what I did.

He frowns, capturing my face in his palms. ‘Why are you sorry? Because you had a nightmare?’

I shake my head, lowering his hands from my face. I glance at everyone inside the barracks, talking and paying no heed to us. ‘What if . . .’ I lick my parched lips. ‘What if it wasn’t just a nightmare?’

Darius stares at me. Every muscle in his body suddenly coils as if he is ready to search the lands just to keep me at peace. ‘He’s still in the Isle, Goldie. He can’t hurt you from there.’ His jaw tenses as he shakes his head. ‘I won’t let him.’

I exhale a quivering sigh and nod. Darius wraps his arms around me, pulling me to his chest.

‘Don’t let him haunt your dreams,’ he says, his voice deep and troubled. He still has nightmares about Aurum, too. ‘It’s the one place I can’t protect you.’

I close my eyes. ‘But I can’t protect you from yours.’

‘You protect our world. That is enough for me, Goldie.’