Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

WANE

T he titan was everywhere, his signature all over this prison. It echoed from every cell, oozed from every inch of glossy black stone that trapped thousands of prisoners. I fought a shudder, battling memories that pelted me like rocks. He wasn't here; I had to keep telling myself that. But his magic was here, evil and merciless, corrupting the shadow he stole from me. The shadow this hideous place had been built from. It might have looked like jet, but it was magic— my magic.

"Why are you crying?" Verena asked, giving Haley a strange look.

"I'm not," Haley replied thickly, her voice scattering some of the panic clutching my chest.

"You clearly are."

The magic poisoning the cave flared, a violent thump that made my heart stop and my magic erupt. It reverberated through my rib cage, and I was so scared that I didn't hear Haley's response, didn't hear what Apollo said next.

I jumped so hard that I veered dangerously close to the platform's edge when Harvey squeezed my shoulder.

Open the prisons, Apollo said.

My magic was frantic, screaming inside my blood. I could do it. These cells had been made with a poisoned version of my shadow—I could do it. But reaching out to brush a tendril over the dark stone made the titan's presence sharper. I inhaled raggedly and moved away from the edge, but one glance at my mate and I brushed my fingers over the hilt of my dagger and forced myself to be brave.

His magic coated mine like a sheen of venom when I reached for the shadow around us. My stomach roiled. I could feel him, hear his low, rumbling commands, and worse, his rich, sneering laugh. He was everywhere, his magic pressing on me. He was going to kill me again, cut my body apart with his power, make me scream for mercy that he'd ultimately deny me.

"Wane," someone said, their voice so twisted and warped to my ears that I didn't recognise the speaker.

Panic flowed into my soul, but terror had me in its fist and wouldn't give me up. My shadows roared in response to the cruel, threatening power choking the air all around me, and my own magic erupted in a wave so thick it blacked out the glowing cells.

"Zivai!" Haley yelled, her voice warped and thick. I only knew it was her because of that name. It flowed through me and gave me strength even as I shook and—screamed. I was screaming, howling my fury and defiance as my shadows roared in a maelstrom around us.

I reached for the dagger at my hip again, wrapping my fingers around the spiral handle. You're safe, and I'll always protect you—but you can use the knife to stab your enemies in the throat yourself. You're a badass, too.

The lump in my throat was hard to swallow, but I fought through the haze of fear, pushing my shadows further in the prison, reaching for the lock on a cell and snapping it off. I threw that broken shadow aside, shuddering at its touch, malevolent. Scarring.

I clenched my teeth when they chattered and reached for the next lock and the next, sending more limbs of shadow to more cells, keeping that name— zivai —in my mind, like I'd kept Haley's name in my mind during every bit of torture the titan put me through.

The people in these cells were his victims, too. Maybe one of them was his future pet. Rage echoed through my terror now, casting deeper with every heartbeat. I sent my magic into the chasm, snapping open the locks of cells buried in the dark, freeing their prisoners. I wasn't the titan's pet; he wasn't my master. I was zivai, I was Wane van Khama, and I had a family and a mate.

At some point I stopped screaming, a threatening growl pouring from me instead, and as my magic shattered the locks of cages, I felt Haley's fingers lock with mine, squeezing hard. I squeezed back, her name for me repeating through my mind. Zivai, zivai, zivai…

I didn't linger near his magic, tearing my shadows away from every cell the moment it snapped open, but I felt the sickness leech into my magic, spreading like an infection. His sickness. With a gasp, I flinched away from my own magic. I tasted blood, felt the blade carve my wings from my back, so slow that I would never forget the excruciating pain.

Panic drummed through my soul, and when I realised it was Haley's, not mine, I snapped myself out of the memories. I was so close, only three hundred more cells to tear open. I could do this. I squeezed her hand tight, gripped my dagger with my other, and gritted my teeth as my shadows swarmed higher, reaching the very top levels.

I abandoned the intricate work of ripping off locks and tore off whole doors, the glossy stone collapsing to wisps of shadow as it crashed into the chasm. My heart skipped. The power was … defiant. Furious. The shadow he stole from me had been manipulated into this vile prison, but it hated him. Like it was sentient.

"Wane!" Haley screamed, tearing her hand from mine to shake my shoulders.

My stomach dropped when I tore off the next door, and—oh gods, the magic didn't hate Cronus. It hated me.

Because I was weak, because I'd allowed it to be stolen, because—

"Wane!" Harvey roared, assaulted my soul with panic from every angle. I recoiled from it, and the howling storm of shadows tore off the final door and snapped back inside me, bruising my insides.

Panting, breathless, I stared at the ceiling. Why was I on my back?

"Fuck," Haley choked out, bowing her head. Crying—she was crying. And not just a few tears; she was sobbing, her breath hitching, eyes overflowing, and her soul was a riot of panic and desperation. "Wane, look at me. Gods, your eyes…"

What? What was wrong with my eyes?

Harvey grabbed my shoulder in a bruising grip, scanning my face until he was satisfied I was alright.

"I opened the cells," I breathed, my voice more hoarse than usual, my throat raw.

"You—" Haley shoved my chest hard, her bottom lip shaking and tears flowing faster. "Do you think I give a shit about the cells? You almost died!"

I blinked. I hadn't.

She grabbed me, hauling me into a hug, her body shaking against me as she gasped for air. I folded my arms around her, reeling.

"You stupid bastard," Kai muttered, dragging a hand through his red hair. "You pushed too damn hard, asked too much of your magic. This whole place is fucked up; you went too deep. You had a fit."

I swallowed, processing that. "I can—feel him here. It's hard, but I'm okay."

Emlyn made a sound in the back of his throat, growly and pissed off. "Never do that again. Never."

"I don't understand what I did," I said helplessly, my eyes stinging now and my chest tight with anxiety. I'd let them down. Angered my family. "I'm sorry."

Haley dropped her head on my shoulder, my neck streaked with her tears. I fucked up. I—I should have pulled back, I realised, when she first called my name.

I looked up at them all from the ground, my stomach clenching when I saw Verena staring at me with wild eyes, fear in her tense posture. Apollo stood a few paces back, watching me closely.

When Haley let me go, Wynvail held out a hand and pulled me to my feet, squeezing my hand a moment longer than he had to.

"I get it," he said quietly, giving me a look rife with understanding. "I can't stand it here, either."

I glanced away, uncomfortable with how much he saw.

"Let's find Renna and get the hell out of here," he said, releasing my hand and scowling at the glowing cells.

I jumped when I realised the people within them had begun to move. A chill went down my spine, and my gaze found Haley, the sight of her like a comfort blanket for my panic. If the titan had locked these people up, they were valuable. Dangerous.

Phoebe said these were the most powerful of his prisoners.

"Where is she?" Haley demanded, scanning the prison as winged people flew unsteadily from open cells, others descending via ladders I hadn't noticed running between the cells. "Where the fuck is she?"

"She's bright purple; she can't be hard to spot," Harvey murmured, scanning the prisoners.

I drew my knife, my hand shaking and magic roiling in my gut. Part of me was still kneeling on that marble floor, with Andryas's hacking my wings from my back.

"I'll fly up. Hales, Harvey, you fly down," Emlyn said confidently. "We'll be able to find—"

"No," Kai argued, his voice flinty and even. His red eyes were on me, unwavering. "Wane, what can you feel?"

I swallowed. "What?"

"You're terrified, your fight or flight instinct is going crazy. I think you can feel something we can't. Something in this dark magic shit."

The dagger shook harder in my hand. "I can't feel anything. It's just my memories, that place—"

Kai came close, slowly enough to not freak me out, his eyes glowing crimson in the darkness. "Humour me for a second. Close your eyes—what do you feel?"

"I can't," I breathed. Panic choked off my air. I couldn't find a reason why I was suddenly petrified of what Kai suggested.

"Kai," Haley murmured. "What are you doing?"

"We've got your back," Kai told me, grabbing my head and holding eye contact. "You're not going back to that place; he's not getting you again."

I clenched my jaw. Fuck. Fine. I closed my eyes and quietened my power, just feeling the blazing mess of panic in my soul and—I scrambled away from Kai, my eyes flying open.

"There's a link. Oh, gods, there's a link between my power and this … this vile magic—"

I was going to be sick. Prisoners landed on the ledge; Apollo rushed over to show them the way out. I didn't care. I could feel the dark, oozing shadow the titan had built this place from; it wrapped suffocatingly tight around the magic I'd foolishly used to open the cells.

I didn't know how to get it out. It was inside me now, part of him was inside me—

"Get out," I forced out my sore throat. I stared at my family, terror squeezing all air from my lungs. If I lost any one of them… "Get out. Get out!"

The link trembled with horror and excitement, a twisted mix of both. I shook all over, choking on each breath I failed to inhale.

He was coming, he was—

Someone screamed, a woman's voice so loud and piercing that I flinched. Remembered pain cut across my shoulder blades and drove into my skull where my horns had been snapped off.

I scrambled away from the ledge, pushing Harvey towards the opening we'd entered through, grabbing Kai and shoving him too.

"Get out," I chanted, "get out."

More screams joined the woman's wail. I shook, shivered, icy cold deep in my soul. Frantic, I pushed my family towards the exit, but it was already crammed full of prisoners trying to escape.

"Shields," Em roared. "Wane, shield Haley."

Shield Haley. I could do that.

I could.

But I shook when I reached for my shadows, afraid of what I'd find— who I'd find.

"What the fuck is going on?" a coarse woman demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you, you ungrateful bitch," Haley hissed. "Are you alright?"

"I'm alive," the woman replied. Renna. We'd found her.

I surged forward, but bodies crowded in front of me, the exit blocked. I gasped for air, my head spinning and knife dancing in my hand so badly that Harvey took it from my fingers and returned it to my sheath.

"You're alright," he told me in a low murmur. "We'll get out of here, he won't catch us."

But he would, and he would cut Harvey's wings off this time, he'd cut him apart and force him to the very edge of death before dragging him back, and I couldn't handle it. I couldn't do it again, not with my family here too—

Shield Haley.

I reached for shadows, bile rushing up from my roiling stomach when I grabbed a fistful of power and wrapped it around my mate. He was there in the darkness, taunting and gleeful.

"What's this?" Verena asked. I was shaking too hard to see what she meant.

"Gunpowder. Light it and throw it into the pit," Wynvail shouted over the screaming. More and more voices had joined, a chorus of suffering and unbearable pain. Would my mate be next? Would Verena?

"Move!" Haley yelled, her voice deeper and louder than before. It was enough to make my head jerk up, enough for a breath to reach my lungs. "Move out of the fucking way; I'll open up the exit."

The crowd surged, and my stomach roiled with them, nausea making sweat drip down my forehead.

"I'm here," Harvey reminded me, sunlight filling his palm. Lethal magic I'd seen burn the heart from our abuser and destroy the whole town that shielded him. "Em's right behind you, and Wyvail's with him. We're here."

But the titan was here, too. I felt it in my magic's deep, vibrating cry, tasted it in the acid and blood that lined the back of my mouth. The scars on my back throbbed. Blood rolled down my skin, hot and fast, and I couldn't tell if it was a memory or real.

A man in front of us screamed, and I sucked in a ragged gasp, shaking harder. He was going to find us, he was—

I flinched when ruby light attacked the wall in front of me—Haley's magic. Haley. My mate. The cave wavered in my dizzy vision, but I saw enough to know she burned a blistering hole through the cave wall ten times the size of the previous channel.

The crowd in front of us fell over themselves to escape. A young fairy-winged woman beside me was pushed down by the sudden rush. Shaking all over, awareness of the titan's approach making me want to cry and scream and howl, I bent and grabbed the woman. I set her on her feet, and even as we surged to the exit, I glared at the man who'd pushed her down. Whatever he saw on my face made his throat bob. Good.

Ahead of us with Kai at her side, Verena twisted and threw a matched set of chrome salt and pepper grinders over our heads. An explosion rocked the chasm behind us. I blinked in surprise, and all at once I remembered the satchel I had on my own shoulder.

"I'm right here," Harvey panted as we were pushed and shoved through the crowd.

The chasm seethed with power— his power. I dug through my bag, shaking fingers brushing the cool glass of a potion bottle. I didn't know what was in it, but it didn't matter. I hurled it behind us and hoped I nailed the titan in his cruel eyes, hoped it crashed down his throat and he choked on the broken glass.

I groped around until I found a teardrop shaped phial and threw that next, my heart skipping when smoke erupted through the tunnel, deep royal purple and opaque.

Turquoise lightning flashed through the smoke and Wynvail shouted, "Nice, Wane!"

The dread pressing on my chest lightened for a moment with satisfaction and a strange, alien burst of pride, but I could feel the titan creeping ever closer.

When his deep, thunderous voice ruptured through the cave just as we reached the exit, my stomach cramped and I clutched my head, the pain sudden and brutal.

Forgetting something...? he taunted.

Oh god. I twisted, searching everyone around us. Haley, Em, Harvey, Kai, Wynvail—

No. Gods, no, please.

But I counted again. Haley, Em, Harvey, Kai, Wynvail—

"He's got Verena," I breathed, cold spreading through my whole body; not cool numbness, but deep, icy rage.

I stopped in the middle of the crowd, and pushed through the nausea of grasping my magic, summoning a storm of shadows. I'd never overpowered him before, but I didn't need to win in a fight. He wanted my magic, wanted another swath of shadow for his collection. All I had to do was lure him away from Verena.

Haley grabbed me when I faced the chasm where the titan's voice had echoed, her hand fierce on my wrist.

"Same plan as Olympus," I told her, even my voice cold. "I'll bait him, then you all hit him with everything you've got. Don't split up—that's where we went wrong last time."

"No," she argued, guttural with fear.

I paused only long enough to kiss her temple before pushing through the crowd. She followed, fingers locked around my wrist even as shadows poured from me.

Someone shoved at me in a desperate attempt to reach the exit; I glared at them—and my attention snagged on Apollo over their shoulder. We'd had gods on our side last time, too, but another couldn't hurt.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Apollo!" When he appeared in front of me in a flash of golden light, I flinched back but forced my voice steady. "Are there other gods held here? Can you rally them?"

He straightened. "Why?"

"He's got your daughter, dickwad," Haley spat, panic making her sharper, crueller. "So gather every ally you can find, and force them to fight for us. Or she'll die."

She really would. Fuck. We hadn't known Verena long, but from the moment we spoke to her in Aphrodite's cells, a bond formed. We were the same—hurting and lost but defiant in the face of it all. She fit in like there'd always been a place for her, and her potential absence gnawed at me like an open wound.

Cronus didn't get to hurt her. She didn't deserve that; she didn't deserve any of this.

"We should have left her at home," Harvey hissed, right behind us as Haley and I shoved our way back to the chasm and the shattered prison. "So fucking stupid!"

"We'll get her," I promised him, my voice as cold as my emotions. Wrath burned like a glacier, and I dove through it into my magic, gathering every shadow—the pieces of me and the parts tainted by the titan. I'd use all of it against him, no matter how sick the idea made me.

He took Verena. He didn't get to live.

I lifted a hand and parted the frantic crowd around us with a veil of shadow, ignoring their cries and shouts as my gaze snapped to the six-foot-tall, dark haired man standing by the edge of the chasm. So he'd donned his mortal guise today. It didn't make him any less deadly, didn't hide the monster within. This was the face he wore when he tortured me.

Verena was trapped against his body, a blade of shadow at her throat.

My rage stuttered and then exploded. I speared my magic at the darkness in that blade, and my heart skipped at the noxious mix of my power and his cruelty, the magic slimy in my grasp. Sickness roiled in my stomach, fear battling with my fury and beginning to win, but I crushed the shadow knife from existence and stared at the titan, my abuser.

Enough. He'd hurt enough of my family. He'd hurt me enough.

"It's my shadows you want," I told him, flat and frozen. "You don't want Verena."

I prised Haley's fingers from my wrist and threw my arms up, allowing the storm inside me free reign. Darkness erupted, as black and endless as a void, as true as night. This was Erebus's darkness—the first shadow. Would my ancestor hate me for this, or would he understand?

"So take them."

"You're right," the titan agreed mildly, his hideous voice coming from his lips for once and not slicing through my head.

My family froze on either side of me, magic and panic trembling from all of us.

"I don't want the child."

I drove my shadow storm at the titan, but he moved impossibly fast, his tanned hands slamming into Verena's shoulders, twisting her, pushing her.

I rushed forward with a cry, but he pushed Verena so hard that she tipped backwards before any of us could reach her.

She screamed as she fell into the chasm.