4. Niko

4

NIKO

P ain jolted me awake.

I was on something cold. Something hard. My left side throbbed as if I’d slammed down onto it.

This wasn’t right. I’d been in a cart and?—

Irritated screeches came from above, followed by the sound of wings flapping.

Panic shot through me. I knew that cry. Harpies. Winged creatures who harbored Voidborn inside them. They had bodies like women but claws and beaks like birds, and they’d attacked us in Lord Thomas’s city.

But that… that was days ago.

My eyes burned when I opened them. A white blur lay before me. After a moment, it resolved into a long stretch of striated marble tile severed by a red carpet like a straight and bloody river. And beyond it…

Horror shuddered in my veins. Towering pillars and walls of white stone stood around me, all of them cast in gray by the thick curtains pulled over every tall window. Only thin streaks of sunlight managed to make it past the dense fabric, and when the harpies slipped by them and disappeared outside, the curtains muffled every trace of sound beyond this room. Marble steps waited at the end of the red carpet, leading up to a throne of glinting gold inlaid with rubies. Two smaller thrones flanked it, each crafted in silver, and the one to the right bore the jewel-encrusted shape of an apple at its peak, placed so that it would rise just above the head of whoever claimed that seat.

But both the smaller thrones were empty. Only the gold one at the center held an occupant. And not just any occupant…

Oh hell.

I’d never seen the queen of Aneira. When the others would watch through the magic mirror at our cabin, I would go to tend my plants instead. But I’d heard descriptions of her long and golden hair, her icy blue eyes, and her skin so pale, it was as if death’s hand had caressed her like a lover. That she was cruel and heartless was also a given, considering what she’d done to my treluria and my nation.

None of that had prepared me for seeing her in the flesh.

“Do you fear me, boy?” she asked, her quiet voice nevertheless carrying through the silent throne room. The sound was as sultry and sinuous as smoke, and as poisonous too. It brought to mind images of a snake idly twisting through tall grass, knowing it had all the time in the world to devour its cornered prey.

I fought back a shiver as I pushed myself to my feet, struggling past the way my legs wanted to give out beneath me. “Should I?”

She chuckled.

Doing my best to ignore how the sound made my skin crawl, I reached for my own magic again, seeking anything that would help me. When I was captured, the Aneirans had somehow managed to hide themselves from my sense of nature, and their net had suppressed my ability to ask any of the plants or trees around me for help.

But that was then. Now?—

A biting, burning sensation on my left wrist made me flinch.

“You wouldn’t be trying to attack me, would you?”

Ignoring the queen’s jibe, I tugged my sleeve back. A thick band of dark metal and brass wrapped my wrist, unfamiliar symbols and odd black stones glinting on its side. It was nearly skin-tight, giving me no way to work my fingers under it or pry it loose, and it had no latch or lock.

What in the world?

“Care to try again and see how much pain you can withstand?” Queen Melisandre asked, almost as if she’d enjoy watching me try.

I reached for my magic anyway.

It felt like my wrist was being chewed by a rabid dog with knives for teeth.

Her laughter was the first thing I heard when the pain finally abated.

“Such fools. Even when you Erenlians look like men, you never listen.” Her brow rose and fell. “But then again, it’s not like men do either.” She folded her long fingers in front of her. “The manacle suppresses your powers, rendering you incapable of attacking or using them to free yourself. And when you attempt to use them around me, the manacle reacts as you’ve just experienced. Trust when I say it can get worse. The more you try, the less likely you are to survive your own stupidity.”

Gods help me.

Heart pounding, I tried to keep from showing my horror. But my eyes still darted around, seeking out an escape route as well as attempting to locate any other nightmarish threats—though the gods knew she was more than enough. My legs shook with residual agony and with the aftereffects of whatever sedative the soldiers had given me, but I still managed to straighten to my full height.

I wasn’t nearly as tall as the massive creatures by the doors to my left and right, though.

Stunned, I stared at them for as long as I dared. Her guards weren’t Huntsmen. Weren’t human or Erenlian either. There were four total—two on each side—and their torsos were like oversized barrels while their limbs were thick as logs. Their skin was green like unripe fruit, and they wore nothing but loincloths of fur, necklaces of bleached bones, and leather straps crisscrossing their chests, the latter of which held more weapons than I cared to think about.

But their eyes were familiar, if only because of the eerie glow they held. Yellow lights. Pink ones. Colors that—even though I knew nothing about whatever these creatures were—I could swear were not natural to their species.

No, Voidborn were inside these creatures, and that alone made me pity these monsters who otherwise looked like they would happily kill me and add my bones to the necklaces hanging around their thick throats.

Queen Melisandre’s smile remained in place when my attention returned to her. The more I looked at her, the more I realized the expression was… wrong. All of this was, of course, but her smile was just flat , like the soulless smile of a painting that had somehow been brought to a semblance of life.

“Come closer.” The command could have come the shadows of a cave, where a predator planned to lure me to my death.

When I didn’t move, low hissing sounds came from the monsters on either side of the throne room. Bone rattled and leather creaked as they took a threatening step closer.

Drawing myself up, I walked a few paces forward.

More details became clear, and suddenly my skin went from crawling to staging a full-blown riot, demanding I get away from her right now.

With effort, I held my ground, nothing in me foolish enough to believe I’d survive a retreat.

Her eyes weren’t merely blue. They were striated by virulent yellow, almost like a strange amalgam of human eyes and those of a creature possessed by the Voidborn. Fangs peeked past her red lips, while her deathly pale skin held the faintest sheen of silver, as if she was becoming one with the same metal as the thrones on either side of her. She gripped the arms of the throne with nails that had clearly worn grooves into the gold, if the scratches below where her fingertips rested were any indication.

But it was the look in her eyes that made every instinct I possessed scream for me to flee, because it was clear she wasn’t only a predator.

She was insane.

“You allied yourself with my traitorous stepdaughter, did you not?” At my silence, she merely smiled again. “I think I’ll send you back to her as a gift.”

Unease swirled in my gut. I was no warrior, but I could imagine the horrible implications of those words. How none of them meant I’d be returning to my treluria alive.

Or in one piece.

Deep inside, my heart broke at the prospect of never seeing Gwyneira again. Never caressing her beautiful skin or kissing her soft lips. I’d wished to hold her close and cherish her for the rest of my days, though it had not escaped me that the length of my days and hers would differ greatly.

My beloved was a vampire. From all I’d seen of other vampires over these past several weeks, I’d been able to deduce that her lifespan would be measured in far greater lengths of time than mine. Decades, most likely. Possibly even centuries.

There always would have come a day when we were parted by my death.

I just hadn’t anticipated it would come this soon.

Drawing myself up, I held my voice steady and calm as I said, “Do what you will. But know that I will never betray her, and she will never stop seeking justice for all you’ve destroyed. Nothing will change that.”

“You think I plan to send her your body?” She chuckled. “I do… ” Her lips curled, her smile becoming more of a cruel smirk. “After a fashion.”

She twitched her chin at one of the green monsters by the door.

The creature’s body lurched, and then a twist of smoke rose from its chest, writhing like a snake in the air.

A Voidborn.

Hovering in the air, I could feel it watching me. Gods, I could feel it smirking at me too, like a contemptuous predator eyeing unworthy prey.

One that couldn’t escape no matter how fast I might try to run.

Behind it, the green-skinned creature stumbled. But unlike the humans I’d seen possessed by a Voidborn, he didn’t fall dead to the ground. Instead, he blinked as if disoriented, his eyes no longer glowing orange. Dazed, his gaze stuttered across the room, only to stop when he spotted the other creature next to him.

A strange cry left him, one filled with rage and shock and a desperate sort of agony that was painful to hear. Though I knew nothing about what he was, I could still recognize the horrified cry of a fellow sentient being.

But he didn’t go for his weapons. No, with one hand, he grabbed at the bone necklace at his throat, ripping it away and then slamming it to the chest of the man next to him.

Guttural speech came from his lips, rhythmic. Frantic. Pleading and ordering and making the hairs on my arms stand on end.

Magic.

For a moment, the body of the Voidborn-inhabited creature next to him shuddered. Struggle flashed over the other man’s face, the yellow light in his eyes flickering.

Oh gods, the first guy was trying to cast a spell to save his friend.

But suddenly, the second creature’s shuddering gave way. He lurched, and then the struggle disappeared from his face while the yellow light returned even brighter than before.

I gasped. “Watch ou?—”

It was too late. With lightning-quick speed, the Voidborn-inhabited man drew a weapon and stabbed it through the chest of the one trying to save him.

The green-skinned man choked, but desperately, he still attempted to press the bone necklace to the other one’s chest. Still tried to grit out a spell.

I started forward. I knew nothing of what they were, but I had still trained with a healer throughout my childhood. I couldn’t just stand here and let him die.

Or let the Voidborn win.

Before I made it more than a step, the Voidborn-possessed man yanked his weapon free and swung it around to slash across the dying man’s throat.

Green blood splattered the white marble. The man crashed down so hard, I could feel his impact with the glistening tile.

The Voidborn-inhabited creature turned his glowing eyes to me. Lifting the blade, he dragged his tongue along it, licking away the blood. Nearby, the smoky form of the free-floating Voidborn vibrated.

Gods, it was laughing .

I wasn’t just disgusted, but I was too upset by the pointless, desperate death before me to be scared. If the man who’d just died was any indication, the true owners of these green-skinned creatures’ bodies were each still alive in there.

Could they see what just happened? Were they screaming to get out?

“I’m sorry,” I said to the one holding the blade, even though I had no idea if he could hear me. “I’m so sorry for your friend.”

Still seated on her throne, the queen made a contemptuous noise. “Oh, please. Destroy this softhearted simpleton. He bores me.”

Like a snake, the smoky Voidborn began gliding through the air, heading straight for me.

My eyes darted around, but I knew what I’d find. There was nowhere to go. No way to escape. The touch of the Voidborn turned everything from trees to bushes to animals into ash.

But… how was that part of her plan?

My heart beat so hard, it felt like it was choking my throat. “If you turn me to ash,” I asked, backing up anyway and trying to buy time—for what, I wasn’t sure. But that didn’t stop me from trying. “Then what are you sending to Gwyneira?”

“You think that is what I intend, boy?” The queen’s smile was clear in her voice. “Hardly. I have something much more fun in mind.”

Horror and understanding choked me. Oh gods, I was a fool. She meant for the Voidborn to take me over, same as it had with those green-skinned men.

At a hissing sound from the queen, the Voidborn suddenly lunged. Speeding across the remaining distance, it dove straight at my chest.

I stumbled away, but there was no escape.

Fire burned across my chest as the Voidborn struck. Every nerve in my body screamed, begging me to run, to do anything if only to flee this horror. Black smoke surged over me, and a screeching noise drowned every other sound like it was determined to claw its way straight through my ears into my brain.

But as fast as the sensations arrived, another rose as well. A crystalline feeling, as if I was suddenly encased in thick quartz. Yet there was no darkness. Instead, the world was made of light that shimmered like a river of rainbows beneath a brilliant sun.

The screeching noise grew louder, like its owner was being stretched and tortured beyond what it could bear.

And then silence swallowed it whole.

The rainbow light and crystalline sensation disappeared. The throne room returned, seeming all the dimmer for the sudden loss of the brilliance that had surrounded me. For a moment, the air sparkled like glittering dust was slowly fading away.

Shivers gripped me. My eyes darted around, seeking the Voidborn. Was it in me? Was this what being possessed by those creatures felt like?

The queen stared. “What are you, boy?”

Wait, what?

“You…” Rage suffused her face. “That shouldn’t be possible. That?—”

She cut off with a look like she was suddenly listening to someone speaking.

Except I couldn’t hear anybody. Even the green-skinned men around the room had gone totally silent.

What the hell had just happened?

Her eyes slid back to me, scathing. “You Erenlians think you’re so clever. Sneaking you away from that dying land. Planting you as the one I captured instead of your friends. Your plans won’t work. You won’t gather any information for my bitch stepdaughter, and that damned spell of yours will fail. And then you’ll break, same as all the others. It’s only a matter of time.”

I was lost. Sneaking me away from where? When? And planting me to be captured? The Aneirans had found me, not the other way around. I’d been stupidly storming through the forest out of anger at my friends, not executing some plot to get myself separated from my treluria.

The queen truly was insane. That was the only explanation.

But then, what had that crystalline feeling been? And where had the Voidborn gone?

“You.” The queen turned her furious gaze to the green-skinned men. “Take him away.”

From either side of the throne room, the Voidborn-possessed men marched over and snagged my arms. A hissing-clicking noise left one of them, almost like a question.

The queen sneered. “Perfect.”

Without another sound, they hauled me between them toward the door.

“You should have let my creature possess you, boy,” the queen called behind me. “This death will be so much worse.”