“Do not move until I tell you to move,” Zoltan added as he used the smaller key to unlock their chained collars. As soon as the irons fell off, I saw the symbols burnt into their translucent skin. More Reaper runes. From my experience, those had something to do with the ghouls’ behavior, much like the collars. This whole thing reminded me of the Nerakian pit wolves. The daemons had used swamp witch magic to subdue their hounds like this. The similarity between Death and Word magic did not go unnoticed.
The ghouls waited, as they were told, while Zoltan stepped back, one hand in his pocket. He threw the Rimians a dark glance. “Last chance, Aemilius. One last chance to tell me the truth. Who is trying to put together a Rimian rebellion, and who, among my people, is funding their movement?”
“I will die a thousand deaths before I tell you,” the Rimian identified as Aemilius replied. “If your own kind don’t want to rule us anymore, who are you to stand in their way?”
“I won’t cut off an entire empire because of the stupid self-righteousness of a few,” Zoltan said and smiled at the ghouls. “Go on. They’re all yours.”
In an instant, the four ghouls pounced on the Rimians. Screams tore through the room. I slithered back, horrified by what I was witnessing. Bile rose up in my throat. I looked away, unable to watch anymore, as the ghouls fought over and dismembered the Rimians. I heard the flesh tear, the bones break and pop from their joints, the blood gurgle… It was too much.
The guards stepped back, not willing to stand too close to a bunch of ghouls feeding. Zoltan seemed unaffected, turning his back on the bloody, awful scene, as the screams were muffled, swallowed by a most violent death.
“What do we do next?” one of the black armor guards asked.
Zoltan shrugged. “Find me more of them. It’s only a matter of time before they start to break,” he said. “Look in the taverns, late in the night. That’s when they like to meet. When they think we’re all asleep, without a care in the world. The fools.”
“The food is rioting.” The other guard chuckled, apparently enjoying the view as the ghouls feasted on the Rimians’ bodies. I was utterly disgusted, staring at the bastard who referred to them as his food.
I hadn’t seen such wretchedness in a very long time, and I had a hard time stomaching it—the irony wasn’t lost on me, since my own species used to feed on the flesh of incubi and succubi. But we’d evolved since. I needed to get out of here. Derek and Sofia needed to be told about this. Whatever this was, it wasn’t normal, and it couldn’t possibly be sanctioned by the Reapers.
I looked away from the sneering guard and found myself peering into the eyes of a ghoul. My heart stopped, as I saw my reflection in its big, beady black eyes. One of the four fiends had spotted me, and I was suddenly defenseless. The only thing I could do was bite and inject all of my venom into it, but… what would that do?
Without hesitation, I tried to slip away, but the ghoul caught me. In a flash, everything I’d wanted to say and do, everything I’d experienced and everything I’d wished I’d experienced fluttered before my eyes, as cold hands closed around my body.
My neck snapped, and the same death that had swallowed the Rimians devoured me in an instant.
Esme
“How did Darklings get inside the palace?” Danika asked.
She sat on her throne, next to Acheron’s, while Corbin, Valaine, Kalon, Petra, and the captain of the golden guards stood at the bottom of the platform that elevated the Lord and Lady Supreme over the massive room.
Tristan and I had hidden behind one of the pillars, watching and listening as the emergency council meeting took place, unbeknownst to anyone else inside the palace. Secrecy had shrouded the whole affair, keeping it out of the reach of all the other nobles and servants who dwelled here, who called this place their home.
I took comfort in knowing they couldn’t see or hear us, but the uneasiness refused to let go of me, as if this could all go south in the blink of an eye. As if we had absolutely no control over the situation.
“We’re not sure, Your Grace,” the captain of the golden guards said sternly. “But I will investigate and—”
“Wrong answer.” Danika stopped him. “You shouldn’t have set foot into this meeting without an answer. You’re relieved of your duties. The master commander will appoint a new captain of the golden guards, first thing in the morning.”
The captain was stunned. “Your Grace, I beseech you to—”
“Enough!” Acheron snarled. “Get out! Now, before I have your underlings escort you into the basement!”
Dread took over the disgraced Aeternae, who offered a curt bow and practically flew out of the room, leaving several confused golden guards behind, by the door. Acheron pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly frustrated.
“Your Grace, if I may?” Petra said, abnormally serene given the gravity of this situation. Danika gave her a brief nod, allowing her to speak. “The Darklings are a complicated and difficult issue, as you well know. I doubt the blame for tonight’s incident rests solely on the shoulders of an incompetent head of security.”
“No, but since I have no Darklings around to punish, I’ll take it out on the next best person,” Danika replied dryly. She was one fierce lady, and I couldn’t exactly fault her for her judgment. Chances were I would’ve done the same, had I been in her diamond-studded shoes.
“Your Grace, what do we do, going forward?” Valaine asked. “What if I’m not the only one they’re targeting?”
Danika and Petra exchanged glances, and no one else seemed to notice. My stomach clenched, and I couldn’t figure out why. Something about this felt off. As off as everything else that had caught my attention until now.
“You’ll have two golden guards with you at all times,” Corbin said to his daughter, his brow furrowed beyond repair. He was angry. He was seething, just beneath the surface, working so hard to keep his temper under control. This was his daughter they’d tried to kill. His wrath would’ve been justified.
“I don’t need bodyguards,” Valaine replied, hands balled at her sides.
“Clearly, you do,” Kalon interjected. “For the first time in a long time, your father and I are in agreement, Val. You need protection, whether you like it or not.”
“They didn’t kill me, did they?”
“That’s because you had Tristan by your side!” Acheron cut in. “Had the vampire not been there, the Darklings would have destroyed you, and you know it. You understand how they operate. You’re aware of the damage they’ve inflicted on us, on our noble dynasties, on some of the empire’s brightest minds!”
“How do we stop them?” Petra sighed, not quite sympathetic toward Valaine’s difficult situation. “Not to be a spoiler of all things fun, but we’re dealing with an early reemergence of Black Fever, as well. Our plates will be full soon.”
Danika rolled her eyes. “I think we’ll have to talk about this with the vampires. If that Faulty creature of theirs is any good, we might finally get a cure for the Black Fever. As for the Darklings… I don’t know. It’s hard when we can’t even identify them.”
“That’s been our problem for eons,” Corbin muttered. “The Darklings have no identity. It’s like they’re bred specifically for this clique, and nothing more. There is no record of them anywhere, no information, nothing.”
Acheron groaned, leaning back into his throne. “Corbin, my friend, I need you to look into this Darkling issue. Have Kalon and the new captain of the golden guards assist you,” he said, then looked at Petra. “You, High Priestess… I need you to play nice with the vampires. Tell them about the Black Fever victims and see how they can help. Okay?”
“Your Grace, I doubt they can do anything to—”
“For once in your life, do as you’re told!” Acheron’s voice thundered across the room, making Petra freeze on the spot. His outburst was so unexpected that not even Danika could immediately recover from the shock, staring at her husband with a loose jaw.
I was slightly amused by this dynamic. Acheron had come across as the dashing king type, but boy, he had plenty of fire to dispense when he was thrown into the worst of moods.
“Where is Zoltan?” Danika asked.
Kalon glanced around the room, fixed in our general direction, and my heart beat a little bit faster as I held my breath. His ears moved, and he took a deep breath, while I made myself even smaller behind the marble column. This didn’t feel right.
The corner of his mouth twitched, and I could swear he could tell I was here.
To my relief, he didn’t follow up on whatever had made him suspicious. Instead, he shifted his focus back to Danika. “Probably snoring his wife out of bed again. You know he’s knocked out before midnight on days like these.” He chuckled.
“Get him out of bed, then,” Danika replied. “He needs to know what happened.”
Kalon nodded. “Right away, Your Grace.”
“Everyone else, we shall see you in the morning,” Acheron replied. “It’s been a long day and an even longer night, already. Rest is paramount, if we’re to succeed in defeating any of our foes, be they Darklings or the Black Fever.”
Danika eyed Petra. “Remember, High Priestess. The vampires are our friends.”
She sounded rather disingenuous, and Petra didn’t seem to buy it, either. Nevertheless, she complied, bowing before the Lord and Lady Supreme as she made her way out of the throne room, followed by Kalon, Corbin, and Valaine. The guards opened the doors for them, while my brother and I moved around the column to keep a safe distance.
As he passed us by, Kalon looked our way again. But since he couldn’t see anything, he just sighed and kept walking.
“What is it?” Petra asked him.
