31. Zain

THIRTY-ONE

zain

W here is she?" I demanded, throwing the door open to the throne room.

My father sat there, crown on his head, with a smirk on his face. "That's no way to greet your father, now is it?"

I pulled the sword from its sheath at my side, a growl on my lips as I stalked forward. "What did you do to her? Where's my wife ?"

The power pulsed through my veins, and I wanted to unleash it. To destroy everything he'd ever touched. But I kept myself in check.

Because I needed her.

"You can't kill me," he said, running his fingers over the elegantly carved chair, tracing the wood. "Not without her. And how can you when you'll never find her? They already scented her once, you know…" A flash of a canine tooth and his claws dug into the throne. "You know how they like their blood."

I froze, his threat filling the air. Except—he was wrong. Because I could feel her. Which meant there was still hope. That she was close enough for me to reach.

"Why?" I asked, not expecting an answer, but demanding it anyway.

He laughed. "I'm the demon king. I think the better question, my son, is, why not? Either way, the answer is simple: I cannot allow you to undo everything I've done over the last thousand years. "

"I'm going to find her," I growled. "And when I do, I'll be back to end your sorry existence."

"You can try."

It was a promise—one I'd pay in blood.

Luna.

I could feel—hear—her pulse nearby, the bond in my veins guiding me to her. As if she was waking up, it was gradually getting stronger.

Thank fuck.

I might have had the ceremony tying our life forces performed without telling her about it first, but I couldn't find it in myself to be sorry now. Not when it was the only thing that tethered me to her completely. The mate bond was there, too, but it was her power that called to me.

I'd left a trail of blood in my wake. Demons hiding in the woods on guard, as if my father had wanted me to find her.

They'd underestimated how much my powers had grown, though. With Luna's life force joined to mine, I could have leveled the entire forest to the ground.

A scream rang out ahead, and then I was flying faster, wings beating furiously behind me to reach the sound of the noise .

Her heartbeat was louder now. Closer.

Another demon bared his fangs at me, but I threw my sword, impaling him in the heart without blinking as I marched forward. With my magic, I summoned it back to my hand before plunging it through the chest cavity of yet another demon, black sludge spewing out onto the dirt.

And then there was nothing—no one to stop me from claiming my mate.

"So this was where they hid her?"

They'd thrown her in an old wine cellar at the edges of the palace grounds. This was too easy—a trap. Hair rose on the back of my arms.

But my feet were frozen in place as I entered the dirt cellar and saw her below. It was hardly more than a pit now. There was no ladder to climb out with.

"Baby," I whispered the word, staring down at her limp form. My wings carried me down slowly, like the entire world existed in between each heartbeat.

She was bound and gagged, wearing nothing but a loose, bloody shift. It looked like it had been torn. Like she'd put up one hell of a fight. Her body was shaking like a leaf, as if the dampness of this dirt cell had seeped into her bones.

I reached down, pulling the gag from her mouth and slicing the bindings from her wrists.

Her eyes raised to meet mine, but it wasn't the stare I knew and loved. The bright green gaze that had looked up at me each morning was gone. They were white , pulsing with energy as it swirled through her.

Like they had the night she'd seethed with anger. But this was different. Like no life was behind her irises.

"What did they do to you?" I asked, brushing a hand over her skin. It was shimmering, just like that night in bed right after we'd been bonded. We'd lost ourselves in each other, in the pleasure of how right it was together. Though there was no pleasure in this. She felt no comfort, only pain.

Her body was ice cold.

" Luna ." Beams of light nestled in her palms. "Who did this to you?"

Whoever it was, they'd be dead if they weren't already.

"Moonbeam," I begged, nestling her against me as if I could bring some warmth back to her freezing body. "Come back to me."

Her hand reached up, and she ran her fingers over my jaw. "Zain." Her voice was a croak. She tilted her chin, her gaze finally meeting mine. "I don't know how to stop it. Whatever they did to me, I?—"

It was why they'd shoved her in here. Because they feared her, they should have. But they'd been even more scared of me.

"They're all gone," I promised. I didn't want to think about the blood I was wearing. How many lives had been lost tonight? I lost count. "I took care of them. Let's go home."

"No," she protested weakly, scooting away from me even as I tried to wrap her up in my arms. A sob worked free from her lungs. "Zain, there's something wrong with me."

I shook my head. "There's nothing wrong with you. There never has been, baby. Just breathe."

"Stop !" she screamed, the light flaring brighter. "I don't want to hurt you! I can't—" Her power shot out of her hands like two beams of light, baring holes into the dirt floor.

"You won't." Even as tears streamed down her face, I ignored her worries, pulling her into my arms and soothing her with calming words. "You can't , Luna." Wrapping my arms around her, I rocked her back and forth as she cried. Her magic was still haywire, but she couldn't hurt me. I didn't know how—maybe because of the darkness that lived in my veins—but ever since she'd attacked my training dummies, I'd suspected there was something different about how my powers reacted to hers.

Her light should have burned my eyes, my skin. Instead, I wrapped her with mine. My shadows covered her light as I held her tight against me. As I kissed her forehead, letting the warmth of my body seep into hers. Burying my nose in her hair, I inhaled her scent, the only thing that could calm me right now.

"I killed them," she cried. "My attackers dragged me out here, and I-I killed them. I ran, but t-the branches were so thick, and they caught me, and I-I—" I could barely understand her through her tears, but I heard enough to understand.

The light in her eyes was dimming as she burned her way through whatever magic-amplifying drug they'd given her. Slowly, they were turning back to that brilliant shade of light green.

"Luna," I soothed. "You're okay. You're safe now, I promise." I kissed the top of her head as she buried her face into my chest, her hands gripping my shirt.

The sobs wracked through her slight frame, her chest heaving from the motion as she cried.

"Your father, he?—"

"I know." Cupping the back of her head, I pushed down the apprehension in my gut. "I know. I know everything."

This wasn't over.

He'd pay for this.

Creating a portal, I stepped through the shadows, not wasting a single second before taking her home.

"Are you sure about this?" Kairos asked, all of us crowded around my office. Luna was wrapped up in a blanket and sitting on the small couch.

As soon as she'd stopped shaking, I'd taken her back to our rooms. Bathed her and cleaned each of the nicks where branches snagged her skin. Where teeth and claws had bloodied her perfect porcelain complexion.

It was all I could do not to go on a violent rampage.

I was so angry I was practically seeing red. But I couldn't leave her alone. She wouldn't let me out of her sight. Like she knew what I wanted to do as well.

"It's what we have to do," Luna said. Her voice was hoarse from screaming, and it made me sick. Knowing that this was my fault. "Our powers, combined… that's the only way this ends. I've seen it all. And I know what we have to do."

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "But I need you to stay hidden until the last possible moment. Can you do that?"

My wife—my beautiful, enchanting wife—nodded.

"Asura and Lilith will be with you."

The two demons agreed, Lilith's fingernails already pointed, sharpened into weapons of lethal destruction. Ready.

"If anything goes wrong—" I said to them, ignoring Luna's protests. "You have to get her out of there. Keep her safe. Do you hear me?"

"I won't let you sacrifice yourself for me," Luna said, an angry pout on her face. "Either we die together or not at all. You hear me?"

"Neither one of us is going to die," I said with a growl. "Don't even think that."

Tell me you love me. My thoughts were a plea in her mind.

Her eyes narrowed and then softened.

I need to hear it. Just once.

No. Her thoughts were a soft caress against mine. I can't say it like this. So you have to win. We have to beat him .

My forehead pressed against hers, my hands tangled in her hair as we carried on our conversation mind-to-mind, no one else moving in the room. Like they all knew exactly what was happening. But this wasn't the end. This wasn't goodbye.

I will, I promised her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. For you, Moonbeam, I'd do anything. For our future, I'd tear down the world and rebuild it, even if it just meant one more day with you.

She nodded, silver rimming her beautiful green eyes, but she didn't let the tears fall.

"Ready?" I asked the room.

Luna answered by summoning the moonlight in her veins, and I knew we'd never have a moment like this again.

My father was right where I'd left him, the picture of calm as he lounged in the throne.

"So, you found her."

I crossed my arms over my chest, scowling. "It wasn't hard."

He smirked. "Who said anything about that?"

"Why did you take her?" I asked again. "What is so dark and twisted inside of you that you'd do this? That you can't bear for me to be happy?"

"Happy ?" My father snorted. "You truly think that witch will make you happy? She has you wrapped around her finger, son. You're one of the most powerful beings on the planet, and you're acting like her little guard dog."

"No." I narrowed my eyes. "You're wrong. She's everything, father. I love her."

"You think you love her? Ha ." He laughed, the booming sound filling the empty throne room. "You don't even know what love is. "

"Maybe not. Because I didn't exactly have an excellent role model for it, did I?" I sneered, pacing closer till I was right in front of the throne. "You paraded around a different female every night. You didn't even care when my mother got sick. When she died, I was the only one who mourned her. What do you think that taught me?" Shadows surrounded me, licking up my boots, but I didn't bother trying to brush them off.

We were equally matched now, my father and I—with Luna's life force running through my veins. His shadows versus our light. Luna's moonlight and my lightning.

My mother had given me the key all along, and Luna had unlocked that part of me, made me whole. Light would vanquish the dark.

And I knew what love was.

I saw it every time Luna spoke with her sister. How she treated everyone with kindness and compassion. It was the way she looked when she sat on that chaise lounge in the library, curled up under a blanket with a book in her hands, lost for hours. The way she smiled when she bit into a fresh cookie. The way she cared for me and my feelings. How angry she'd been when I'd shared my past with her.

I let my wings spread out behind me.

"From the time I was young, I vowed to never be like you. That was your first mistake. Forcing me into a role, beating me into submission. I never asked for this, Father." Rage filled my body. "But I will not back down now."

"You and your brother are both too soft. I should have been harder on you. Maybe then you wouldn't both be such disappointments."

Lightning crackled around me as I stepped onto the first stair, ignoring his comments. "Your second mistake was assuming you were still in charge around here." A bolt of lightning hit the floor, cracking the tile behind me and sending it flying. "Because this isn't your palace anymore, old man. It's mine."

"Do you think I fear you?" Fire burned in his eyes, the color reminding me of molten lava. "That I'm scared of you? You forget your place. I made you , son. And I can just as easily destroy you."

Another step. Thunder rumbled the windows. I didn't care if I left destruction in my wake. Not now. "Now, your third mistake... that one I can't tolerate. Not when you threatened my wife." The electricity covered the blade of my sword, buzzing with energy. I curled my lips up over my teeth. "When you hurt my mate."

"Tsk. Did you think I didn't know?" He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "She makes you weak. Foolish."

"Is that how you felt about my mother? Is that why you forced her to marry you, to love you, and then let her die? She didn't deserve that. And Luna deserves so much better than me. But that's where you're wrong." I took the last step up, coming directly in front of him. Staring down at the man who'd fathered me but had never been a father to me. My shadows wrapped over his hands, strapping them to the arm of the chair as I loomed over my father. "She doesn't make me weak. Luna never could. She makes me strong . Every single piece of her makes me want to be better."

My power sparked in my eyes.

"You—" His eyes grew wide. "How can you?—"

Magic circles had formed on the ground. Much like the ones from the wedding ceremony, the bonding. Except these were runes.

Cast by the witch who I'd been cloaking with my magic. Luna appeared by my side, her eyes flaring with white power—pure, unfettered moonlight .

"You see, it was never about being strong enough to defeat you. It was always being stronger together."

White runes formed over his body. The ancient demonic text that I'd taught Luna on our honeymoon proved extremely useful.

"You see, father. She might not be a demon , but she was made for me."

Luna slid her hand into mine, both of us sharing our endless depths of strength with each other. As she finished the intricate sealing curse, bringing my father completely under her control.

"And she's going to look damn beautiful with the crown on her head, the queen of the demons."

"She'll never—" my father narrowed his eyes.

That was the moment we struck his heart with a concentrated beam of both our magics, lightning, and pure moonlight twining together. The spell Luna had suggested wrapped around him, binding him in ropes of white.

"How?" He asked, his dark eyes wide, looking up at me. Once, we'd shared the golden eyes that denoted demon royalty. That could only be born of a mate match. Now, his were black, just like his soul.

"Her," was all I said as Luna's grip tightened on my hand.

His skin was melting, which shouldn't have been possible, but the longer the magic touched him, the more he screamed. His horns caught fire, and I pushed free every bit of magic in my system, knowing my mate was doing the same.

"Just a little more," I grit out, looking over at Luna, who looked increasingly pale. It had to be now. A roar ripped free from my lips, and then it was over.

My father's form disintegrated into ash, the throne seemingly untouched by the display of magic.

Gone. How was it possible that, after all that, he was gone ?

The glow faded from her eyes, and she gave me a hesitant smile.

"We did it," I said, pulling her in for a kiss. "You're magnificent."

"Zain…" Her skin was ghostly white, her pulse weak as she collapsed into my arms.

No. Not now. Everything was supposed to be perfect now. " Luna. Please. You can't leave me. Not now."

Luna's voice was hoarse. "The baby…" Her eyes met mine as she curled a protective hand over her stomach. "You have to make sure the baby's okay."

The baby.

Her eyes fluttered shut, and she passed out in my arms. Blood soaked through the front of her nightgown.

No. I couldn't lose her. I couldn't lose?—

"Lilith!" I shouted, knowing she was the only person who could get there in time as I cradled Luna's limp body into mine, carrying her out of that horrible place.

"Find the healer. Bring her to me."