Chapter 12

Twelve

~ Princess Blake ~

More alphas find us in the hours that follow, likely drawn by the scent of blood, but that suits me just fine. This place is getting to everyone, and the sooner I find my mates before they’ve all lost their minds the better things will go for me. But one after the other, I discover that none of them are mine. Thankfully, these alphas actually heed my advice and leave to find some place to hunker down. Or at least, I hope they do.

We’re walking down a street that has the trunk of a dead oak in the middle of the aged cobblestones, when I see flashes of movement up ahead.

Nate narrows his gaze on the objects in the distance. “It’s a group of archangels. They look a little rough.”

“Archangels?” I turn to Prince Callan who’s striding behind us, but he keeps staring ahead, his expression harder than usual.

It’s not until we’re closer that I make out a dozen archangels on the street. Many of them are wet, their sodden wings spread on the ground as they lay on the cobblestones, blood seeping from wounds on their body. A few of them are pacing, mumbling under their breath, and one is cradling his knees to his chest as he rocks against a wall, shouting curses at someone I can’t see.

“Well, these guys all look…chipper,”Shade comments sarcastically. “I didn’t know it just rained?”

“It didn’t,” I confirm, frowning at the archangels’ wet clothes and turning my attention to a nearby building. A water symbol is etched into the stone above the door, curly waves surrounded by a thick circle.

“Careful. These alphas look like they’re one word away from breakin’,” Nate warns. “Guessin’ they didn’t get their hands on any medicine.”

“I don’t think it’s because of a lack of trying,” I comment, turning my attention back to the alphas who all look like they’ve just battled something horrible.

One of the pacing archangels lifts his head, and I instantly recognize the male who was knocked over by the giant in the ballroom. His bronze wings have lost some of their color, and the alpha’s face is uncharacteristically pale, but otherwise he appears to be whole.

“Our prince?” the archangel says tentatively like his eyes have tricked him before, and he’s not sure whether to believe what he’s seeing.

Prince Callan strolls past Nate and me to greet him. “Theon. I must say, you’ve looked better.”

“Haven’t we all,” Theon replies with a weak grin. His gaze slides from Prince Callan to me, and his brows rise. “It seems you’ve fared better.”

“I don’t know if he would agree,” Nate grins.

Theon finally looks at the shifter, and his top lip curls in distaste. “Nine Lives? Of course, you’d survive this place.”

Nate laughs like he’s just been given a compliment.

“Speaking of surviving,” I say, stepping up to Prince Callan’s side. “What’s happened here?” Now that I’m closer, I pick up Theon’s scent. He doesn’t smell unpleasant, but nothing sparks in me at our close proximity. He must feel the same way, because he stares at me for a long moment, and then there’s only acceptance in his gaze.

“It’s a bathhouse,” he replies, gesturing to the building with the water symbol. “We figured there might be provisions here, but the water…” His expression shutters, and he clears his throat. “None of us have found the medicine, and Saphis is among those who never emerged from the bath.”

“Who’s Saphis?” I ask.

Prince Callan lets out a breath through his nose. “So that’s why he hasn’t been able to heal any of you.”

“Yes,” Theon confirms, his expression darkening.

I recall the archangel who had healed the giant back in the ballroom. “And you say he’s still in the water? Is there any chance?—”

My words trail off when Theon shakes his head. “I tried to go after him. Many of us did, and we’re lucky any of us were able to get out alive.”

“Okay.” I nod as I process what he’s told me. “So, what’s in there?”

Theon stares at me blankly.

“In the water,” I clarify. “It’d help if we knew what we were dealing with.”

Fear enters Theon’s gaze, and he starts mumbling about rainbows in the water. I have no idea whether it’s the sickness messing with his mind, but when he still doesn’t say anything that makes sense for a while after, I turn and start striding toward the bathhouse.

Prince Callan is quick to step into my path. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to get the medicine,” I say, giving him an unimpressed look and gesturing to the archangels. “They clearly need it, and maybe, I’ll find out what happened to your friend, Syphilis.”

“Saphis,” Prince Callan corrects as Nate snorts, trying to contain his laughter.

I wave my hand dismissively. “Oh right, Saphis.”

“If anyone’s going in there, it’ll be me,” Prince Callan says. “This is my responsibility. You and Nine Lives can stay out here.”

My lips form a thin line, and both Shade and I stare at him like he’s delusional. Because he is.

Nate bumps the prince on his way to the bathhouse. “Like fuck am I stayin’ out here with these guys. Most of them hate me, and they might start usin’ their powers while in their current state. Unless you want me killing them all, I’m takin’ my chances with the haunted bath.”

Prince Callan looks like he wants to argue, but I follow after the shifter before he can utter a word. The bathhouse is a tall rectangular structure, and I pull out my sword as Nate leads the way through the entrance archway and down a stone corridor. The air cools, and we step into a cavernous room that contains a large bath. The pool of water almost spans the entire width of the space, but there’s just enough room to walk along the edges and past the thick concrete pillars that are evenly placed to act as supports for the structure. A massive panel of frosted glass forms the ceiling above the bath, and dappled sunlight streams onto the still water, illuminating the room. I’m still covered in slime from our fight with the demon bugs, and if I wasn’t convinced that something terrible was in there, I would have enjoyed the thought of having a bath. I scan the area expecting to find blood stains and obvious signs of a struggle, but there’s nothing to suggest any archangels have even been here.

Paintings cover the walls of the bathhouse, depicting pictures of trees and rivers, and showing how everything in Perstalia is connected like in the mural I saw when I first arrived. I run my hand over the cracked paint that’s closest to me and wipe off a layer of dust, while keeping the bath in my peripheral. Just like with the mural, the small gems embedded in the stone gleam and sparkle as soon as the dust is cleared away.

“How can it be full?” Prince Callan mutters. “I thought Perstalia doesn’t have any water?”

I turn my attention back to the bath. “It doesn’t,” I reply, then add. “Well, it didn’t.”

Nate steps right up to the edge of the water and peers in. “So, what do you think we’re dealing with here?”

“Could be any number of things,” I reply. “There are at least a dozen water creatures in Seral, and all of them are nasty. I almost died once when I was little, when Dad told me to practice swimming in the river just outside the city. Of course, it was another character-building exercise, and he didn’t mention that the river was home to a Derois. I think it was mostly luck that I survived, because the creature wasn’t that hungry that night.”

Both Prince Callan and Nate stare at me like I’ve grown another head.

I stare back at them. “What?”

Nate shakes his head. “Your relationship with your father is fucked up, gorgeous. For the first time, I’m honestly glad I never knew my parents.”

I blink and it takes me a moment to realize what he’s said. “Wait, you’re an orphan?”

He doesn’t answer, but instead he strips off his clothes and tosses them against the wall. And then his body is changing, fur bursting from his skin as he grows in size. I’ll never get used to seeing it, and I’m still staring when the giant cat pads up beside me, his massive paws nearly silent on the stone.

I sheath my sword and lean down, picking up a pebble that’s sitting near my boot. I throw the smooth rock into the air and catch it, testing the weight of it in my hand, then I toss it across the water. The pebble skims along the surface for three jumps before sinking in. I brace as I wait for some beast to explode from the water, but the bathhouse remains quiet.

Nate’s tail flicks as he crouches at the edge of the bath, his nose almost touching the water.

Prince Callan strolls casually behind me, and I’m about to pick up another stone when Nate lets out a howl and there’s a loud splash. I whip my head to the side only to find Prince Callan is standing in Nate’s place, a wicked smirk on his face.

“What happened to it being your responsibility?” I ask the grinning archangel.

He only shrugs. “It is my responsibility, and Nine Lives is being useful for once, and he’s helping me to figure out what’s in there.”

I pivot toward the water, my muscles tensing as I prepare myself to dive in and save my mate, but to my surprise, Nate isn’t thrashing around like I expected. He swims with powerful strokes, keeping his head above the surface and acting like he’s enjoying himself. He’s in the middle of the pool when lights burst to life in the water around him, a rainbow of colors flickering on like lights that have been turned on.

Huh. So Theon wasn’t entirely crazy.I lean closer, and my eyes widen when I make out the shapes of small fish that are no longer than my hands. The majority of their bodies are a translucent gray, their skeletons visible through their flesh, but light shines from their midsections and fins, the colorful glow mesmerizing.

“Shade, have you seen anything like that?”

“They almost look like goldfish,” she replies, sounding just as awed as I am. “Very colorful and slightly freaky goldfish.”

“Well, that’s not exactly what I was expecting,” Prince Callan mutters.

“The king wouldn’t have put them here unless they were dangerous,” I comment, though it’s hard for me to imagine how these fish could be a threat. I’ve never heard of glowing fish in Seral.

Prince Callan nods, and I slide off my boots leaving them by the side of the pool.

“Either that, or they’re not the threat and there’s something else in there,” I amend as Nate swims around like he’s not in a hurry to get out of the water.

“I thought cats hate water,” Shade says like she’s fascinated.

“I guess not all of them,” I say, smiling at the jaguar. “But unless you want to come for a dip, you might want to find somewhere safe to wait.”

I don’t need to tell Shade again. She flaps from my shoulder and hops down onto the stone floor, standing as far from the bath as she can. “Don’t make me worry, Blake,” she calls in my head, repeating something she often said when I’d have to face one of Dad’s challenges alone. “Get in and get out.”

“In and out,” I agree. I’m about to strip off my clothes when Prince Callan starts unfastening the buckles at his sides, and he lifts his chest plate armor up over his head.

I rest a hand on my hip. “What makes you think you’re—” A sharp cry pierces the air, cutting me off, and I turn as Nate hisses and growls, thrashing in the water.

The fish are swimming in a circular motion as they surround him, and every time one of them brushes by him, he cries out in agony.

Panic slices through me. I rationalize that it’s because if I lose any of my mates, I won’t be able to seal the bond with my guys and unlock my power, but in that moment, I’m not thinking about that. All I see is my mate, and he’s in trouble.

“Get out of the water,” I shout at Nate like he isn’t already trying to paddle closer to the edge of the bath. The fish block his way, a wall of glowing lights constantly zapping him. Growling, Nate closes his fangs around a fish and hisses in pain as the creature’s blood dribbles down his chin, burning his skin like acid.

Prince Callan curses, and I don’t give myself time to think. Bringing my hands together above my head, I suck in a deep breath and dive into the water.

I think I hear a shout behind me, but the sound is muffled as the cool water swallows me, bubbles clouding around my face. There’s an explosion of neon color, and soon I’m surrounded by little glowing fish that are circling my position. There must be hundreds of them in the bath, and the moment one of them touches my arm, a jolt of electricity travels up my bones, making my teeth chatter and setting my nerves on fire. It’s not even the pain that’s the worst part. Every time they touch me it’s as if some of my energy is draining away, like they’re making me weaker.

I swim back up to the surface, my head bursting above the water, and my gaze locks onto Nate’s position. He’s not far from me, his body covered in wounds, and his spotted fur is burned away in patches to reveal raw flesh. He growls when he sees me and stops trying to get to the edge of the pool, angling in my direction instead.

“No!” I yell, annoyed that he’s not solely focused on escaping. My body tingles, already hard at work healing me every time another fish zaps my skin, but shifters don’t heal like demons do, and I’m surprised Nate has lasted this long.

“Get your ass over here, Nine Lives,” Prince Callan shouts from where he’s leaning over the edge of the bath, waiting to grab the giant cat out of the water. “She can handle it in there, but you’re not looking so good.”

Nate growls in response and reluctantly turns back to Prince Callan. He pushes forward with his massive paws, and I catch up to him in a few strokes. There’s a mass of fish between us and the edge of the pool like the fish are creating a wall with their bodies, and I grit my teeth as I move in front of Nate, swimming into them to try and clear a path for the shifter. The acid blood in the water makes my skin sizzle, and my head spins as I fight against the pain and unnatural exhaustion, but I keep going. I can’t lose my mate.

“You’re almost there!” Shade squawks at me, her voice panicked, and I don’t have the energy to respond. The zapping gets worse like the fish are desperate to keep us there, but I snarl as I push them away with my hands, my fingers igniting with pain as I clear the last part of the way.

Prince Callan’s hand grips onto my leather vest, but I bat him away.

“Grab Nate!” I yell.

The prince’s gaze is hard and reluctant, but when I move out of the way to let Nate through, he doesn’t hesitate to grip the back of the jaguar’s neck and start pulling. Nate hisses, showing his fangs, but he doesn’t try to harm the prince as the pair of them work together, and Nate lifts his paws onto the edge, helping haul his massive body out of the water.

Relief floods my system at the sight of Nate safely out of the bath, but the fish continue to zap me, draining my energy away.

“Get out of there, Blake,” Shade pleads, hopping closer to the edge of the water. “I know you want to help, but you need to get out.”

She’s barely finished speaking when ice cold fingers wrap around my right ankle. I freeze as despair sinks into my skin, and my heart begins to pound faster.

Prince Callan’s gaze meets mine as he reaches for me, but it’s already too late. With one hard yank, the hand pulls me under.

Memories flash before my eyes, and suddenly I’m eight again, swimming in the lake outside Seral City. When the king told me to practice my swimming, I’d been so determined to show him how far I could manage without stopping. The current pushed against me, pulling at my gangly limbs, but I forced myself to continue through the frigid water. I’d barely done ten strokes when he’d pulled me under. The creature. The monster in the water.

I’d fought against him that day, thrashing in the lake to try and get him to release his grip, but this time I don’t bother. I’m still as I let the creature pull me under, dragging me down into the dark water far beneath me.

The bath is impossibly deep, and I soon realize there is no bottom. Or at least, not one I can see. Whatever this place is, it isn’t just a bath, and I’m not sure if it’s because Dad changed it, or if it was always this way. I try to send a message to Shade, but it’s like I can’t reach her. As if something is blocking our connection.

My lungs burn the longer I’m submerged, small bubbles slipping past my lips. I’m a demon, an immortal, but that doesn’t mean I can’t drown. It just means I come back to life after a short while. I could be trapped in an endless cycle of drowning if the creature kept me down here. Fuck. I knew the fish couldn’t be all Dad had in store. As hard and painful as they were, they still weren’t enough of a challenge. Not for the demon king. They were only a distraction from the real threat.

I feel impossibly empty as I continue to be pulled downward, the despair winding through my body like a poison as the bony hand wrapped around my ankle continues to hold tight, never letting go. I don’t want to look at him, don’t want to see one of the many faces that haunt my nightmares, but I force myself to keep my eyes open. My vision adjusts to the darkness, the fish far above us and not following us down, and I don’t let myself react when I make out his massive, twisted limbs and bulging black eyes. He’s easily three times my size, with gills along his scaled neck, and fangs that protrude in all directions. Some say he’s a creature from the spirit realm that escaped into Seral. Others say he’s a mutilation born from the deepest parts of the river. All I know is, he’s in my way.

“Princess of death,”he hisses in my mind with an ancient voice that makes the back of my neck prickle. “Oh, how I’ve waited for you.”

“You shouldn’t have,” I reply sarcastically. “I’m sure you can find much better.”

His laughter in my head should be enough to make my courage wither, but I grit my teeth. He’s just another monster, and I won’t let him have me.

He stops swimming and comes up beside me, his slimy tongue trailing up my cheek. I cringe, but I don’t react.

“Still just as delicious, and not as bland as the demons,” he hisses in appreciation. “When I let you go as a child, I knew one day you’d be mine. And here you are, my bride. Oh, how you’ll suffer, and I’ll get to watch it all. When the king came to me with a bargain, I was dubious, but the moment he mentioned your hand in return for my services in Perstalia, I could no longer refuse.”

My hand? So that’s how Dad persuaded him to come here. Unfortunately for the monster, he doesn’t realize that bargain was likely a lie like many things that spill from the king’s mouth.I resist the urge to grab out my dagger and stab the monster in the side. From what I gather, he wants me to stay in the watery depths with him, in a constant state of drowning and coming back for small snippets. I still remember him saying something about us having monster babies all those years ago, and just the thought of it makes my stomach roil. If it weren’t for my angel blood igniting his interest when I was a child, I might not have survived our last encounter, but now the attention it’s getting me is a pain in my ass.

“The only one who’s going to suffer will be you,” I reply sweetly, responding to the monster’s earlier comment.

He laughs again, and the sound is like a gurgling, drowning noise in my head. “Such spirit. I’m going to miss your quick tongue when I’ve broken you.”

He continues pulling me downward, and my lungs burn in protest at the lack of air. Fuck. I’ve been down for too long. I think about holding on longer, but it’s better if I let it happen now before I’ve reached his lair. I don’t fight it as the water floods into my mouth, my body jerking as I drown. And then I’m no longer in Perstalia.

Seconds. That’s all it is. Seconds when I’m suspended in the shadow realm, walking with the true dead, and then I’m back in the water, my heart beating rapidly with life.

We’ve reached some kind of underwater cave, and he pulls me past the bodies of four archangels. Three of them are headless, their souls walking the shadow realm, but the fourth is in some kind of air bubble, his body paralyzed. I recognize Saphis from the ballroom, though his skin is deathly pale.

Not far from the angels is a small silver chest. The provisions.

“Princess of death,” the monster hisses in my head. “Yes, yes. I’ll keep you always. But first, the cage.” Ahead is a box consisting of rusted, thick metal bars on all sides. It’s only just big enough for me, and I can’t let him put me in there.

Peering back, I eye the bubble around Saphis’s head. If I can get to it, I can breathe. The monster pulls me closer to the opening in the cage, and I can’t wait any longer. My lungs burn as I pull out my dagger, and I keep my grip tight on the hilt as I stab into the monster’s gills. Even with my strength, I couldn’t pierce his scales, but my blade punctures through the thin openings, and he screeches a high-pitched wail that vibrates through the water.

I don’t waste time. Leaving the dagger embedded, I swim to Saphis, my lips breaking into the bubble of air just in time. I gasp, sucking in a breath, and pivot, angling toward the chest of provisions. I yank on the lid. If I can open it, there must be weapons in there. Dad would have prepared for this, and I can only guess he’s put something in there that can defeat the monster. The lid doesn’t budge, and I pull harder, wedging my fingers under the rim. Fuck. Has this been sealed by magic? Fuck, it won’t— The lid finally gives way, and I push it open, frantically searching the contents. Weapon. There must be a weapon. I glimpse parcels of food and flasks of water. There’s a small selection of daggers, but… My heart sinks. There’s nothing else here. Aside from the ordinary blades, there’s no weapon that would give me an advantage against the lake creature. My fingers tremble, and I pull out the sword at my side.

“My violent little bride,” the monster’s voice sounds in my head, and I turn to see he’s removed the dagger, and his skin has already healed. The Unkillable. That’s what the demons in Seral call the monster. Even if you sever his head, he doesn’t die, and is said to grow another.

My heart pounds. I try moving away, but I can’t outswim him, and soon his clawed hands are on me again dragging me down. I kick a leg free and slam it into his face, then I lash out with my sword, but he grabs me, restraining my limbs with his four arms.

“Such excitement. Have I ever had such excitement?” he hisses. I struggle, but he pulls me closer to the cage again.

No. No. No!

The bars draw closer, and I snarl, but I can’t break free from his iron grip. So close. Just as he’s about to push me inside, bubbles trail past my face, and a large bubble of air envelopes the monster’s head. He screeches and thrashes, releasing me as he tries to get away from it.

But the bubble follows him, the air making him suffocate. I turn to see Prince Callan not far away in the water, his expression serious as he concentrates, controlling the air bubble, while another bubble surrounds his own face. He sends one in my direction, and I cough and wheeze as I suck in the air and swim straight for the chest of provisions, my relief near crippling.

I scoop up the chest with one hand, and rush over to Saphis. Seaweed is wrapped around his ankles and anchoring him, but I sever them with my blade and use my other arm to lift the archangel, slowly making my way upward.

Prince Callan moves after me as I travel past him, and he hooks one hand under Saphis’s other arm as he helps me carry the paralyzed archangel to the surface.

“Princess!” The anguished cry of the monster makes my blood turn to ice. “You will not leave me again!”

I feel the monster’s magic as it implodes in the water, spreading outward, and a rush of despair stronger than anything I’ve felt slams into me making my limbs weak. The emotion sucks away my energy, weighing me down, and clouding my mind. I struggle to remember what I’m doing, or even where I am, and I see the same confusion on Prince Callan’s face. His air magic wavers, the bubbles disappearing from around our faces and from the monster.

The creature swims after us shooting in our direction, and we remain still in the water, the darkness closing in on me, and suddenly I’m eight again. Eight and full of fear as the world closes off to me. Eight and lost in the unknown. The despair weighs on me like a stone pulling me deeper into the darkness. Prince Callan’s free hand floats in the water, and his fingers brush across my cheek.

The only thing is, this time I’m not alone. And perhaps, I never was, even all those years ago.

“This will be your life for eternity, my dearest, and you’ll never see the light again,” the monster rages in my head as he draws closer, and my mind clears just enough to register what he’s said.

The light. I hold on, fighting against the burning in my lungs. He hates the light! Closing my eyes, I focus my power. The monster might be unkillable, but we don’t need to kill him to escape. We only need a distraction. There aren’t any crows in Perstalia, not besides Shade, and I haven’t connected with any other beings. I never believed it was possible, but I focus my mind, hoping. I can feel the monster coming closer. Feel the movement in the water.

Please. Please hear my call. I hadn’t thought to try it before, but now my power reaches out. Searching. Hoping. Commanding. Just as my lungs feel as though they’re about to burst. Just as the monster is about to grab me, the connection snaps into place. It feels different, the power swirling through me, my veins a mix of ice and fire, but the chatter of the little fish floods my mind, “Lost. We’re lost.” I don’t have time to try and understand what they’re talking about. I send a single thought, one command to them: “Show the monster how bright you can shine.”

The monster wraps his fingers painfully around my thigh, but he recoils as hundreds of neon colors spiral down from above. The fish move around me, Prince Callan, and Saphis, never touching us, and they circle the monster, sliding close and zapping his scales.

He screeches in anger, the water amplifying his cry of rage and making my ears bleed. “Too bright!” he yells.

The distraction is enough. His power wavers, the crippling despair easing, and Prince Callan shakes his head as his mind clears. Using his power, he pulls down more air bubbles from above, and we escape upward together. With powerful strokes, we swim until we break the surface, and then Nate’s hands are on us, pulling us from the water.