Chapter
One
Idon’t dream of freedom anymore. I don’t wish for a happy ending with my mates…because one is dead.Onyx.His name cuts through me, ploughing me with guilt and pain. I still only think of him, all these months later, as my power rips through my chest and onto the streets of New York City. There will be no mourners, no prayers, no time for any innocent soul to even beg a God to save them before my magic turns them into dust.
I still hear the humans scream, and I will hear them in my nightmares for the rest of my life. Many of them have no time to scream in this gigantic city as my grey magic washes over it like an ocean wave, leaving behind orbs of life and grey dust. The once vibrant, brilliant human city I wanted to visit is now gone. I don’t know how many roughly lived in New York, but it must’ve been millions. Millions of people are dead, and it is my magic taking them.
I can’t fight back, I can’t stop my sister…I can’t do anything but watch in horror. At least most of the women and children have been evacuated from all major cities after Georgina and I began our destruction. She told me that, and how annoyed shewas that we’d have to hunt the weak humans in their hiding places. Six months. Ten cities. Millions of lives.
It all began in London, only a week after the king took me. It was easier back then—I passed out within minutes and prayed I would die as my Nexus’s magic was ripped into the world and sent towards an innocent city. I thought I would die—I felt like I was going to die—but my twin sister always lets go just at the right time.
I stare at her now, her face a picture of pure innocence as she forces the power out of me and kills. Endlessly kills. It hurts to look at her and see my mother’s features, to see reflections of myself in her eyes too. Did my mother know this would happen? That her daughters would end the world?
I haven’t felt my Nexus outside of these moments for six long months. I haven’t felt my mates—I have felt nothing. The only time that I’m allowed the choker necklace off is when we do this, and there is no time in between for my Nexus to put up a fight. Even if there is, they’ve made sure I’m so weak and drugged that there’s zero chance I’d be able to escape when they bring me here.
My sister stares at me with no empathy and no warmth. Pleading with her will do nothing. It won’t save a single human soul down there that’s dying. No, the world’s just been washed away under my power and her forcing me to do this. She was trained for this by the Vian king, turned into his little pet, and no matter what blood lies between us, it is not stronger than her loyalty to him.
I swiftly pull my gaze from her, hating the enjoyment in her eyes as she hears the last of the humans in this city scream and try to escape. They won’t escape. At least I haven’t felt my mates in New York. Even drugged, beaten and weak…I’d feel them nearby.
I know my mates are out there, alive, and I know they’re looking for me. It’s the only reason I keep going…even when it’s dark. Even when the dark is suffocating me, I know I am not alone. I might not be able to see them, but I can feel their love in my heart. In my soul. Not everything needs to be seen. They cannot find me, or they would have done by now, I’m sure of it. Six long months…and I’m not sure how much longer I can do this.
The world needs a hero, a saviour, and instead, they have a monster who is killing them. Someone needs to stop this…but there is no one.
Onyx would have fought to save people…to stop this. I try hard not to think of him in these moments, because it’s painful enough as it is. All these human lives, Nexus lives, anybody that’s in these cities is dead, and he might be. I don’t know; I felt the bond die…but I can’t admit he is dead yet. Just thinking he might be gone is too much.
I must have killed half of the planet by now, and that was always what I was terrified of happening, and now it has. There’s little to be scared of now, and I somewhat think death will be a nice reprievel if Onyx is going to be there to meet me.
But Finn, Alek, Severi, Hollis, and Rhodes would not.
I feel my heart starting to slow, and I try to mask it, try to pretend that I’m fine, hoping that maybe she might fall for it this time. But of course, she does not. Georgina lets go, and we both fall straight to the ground. I slam into the dust, the grey magic swirling around me, dissipating around her so it never touches her skin—the one person I wish that it would kill. I topple into darkness seconds after a guard slams the magic choker around my neck.
I wakeup back in my cage, staring up at the solid brick walls as I lie on the hard bed. There’s a tiny window above that lets light in roughly around midday, but the glass is unbreakable and magically protected. I have a bed, a toilet and shower. That’s it. There’s nothing else in here except for brick walls and silence. The cage door is made of ten lead bars, and I can reach my arm out through them, but there’s no point. The only light is from a lamp in the corridor and a spotlight above me on the ceiling. No one comes down here, and the only other prisoner—Feyre—hasn’t spoken to me in three months. I only know she is alive because she cries sometimes.
I’ve tried every brick to see if they are loose, tapped every one and thrown myself against these walls as I’ve tried to get out, but nothing. With the way my Nexus has disappeared from my mind entirely, I can barely even feel her in my soul. I don’t feel the magic in this place, but I know it’s there. It’s stifling her so much that it feels like I am human.
I glance at the rune on my wrist, staring at it for some kind of comfort. There’s some kind of connection to Onyx, even now, and I can feel him. I was surprised it didn’t fade away… I keep telling myself that there’s hope if I have this rune still. I tap it every day…but he doesn’t show up. Not like he always used to.
Tears fall down my cheeks as I stare at the tiny window, wishing for something to stop me. Someone to stop me. Hours tick by in silence, and I don’t move until I hear her tappy high-heeled shoes on the stone—my only visitor that ever comes. My twin sister. She’s wearing a long silver gown as she comes into view, her golden hair tied in a bun on her head and not a strand out of place. My shoulders drop when I realise why she is here.Sometimes she takes me out like a dog on a leash, and she shows me off to her king and his court. I guess tonight is another one of those nights.
She opens the door with a wave of her hand and slips in, her eyes vividly staring into mine as she waits. I found the only way to hurt her is with the truth, and I have plenty of that for my dear sister. “You look more like our mother than I do, and you act like her too. I never thought anyone could be as heartless as her, but you win. You have her beat. She might have been proud of you once…you know, before the mass murder and insane behaviour.” I fake a laugh. “But is your daddy king happy?”
I expect the slap, even as she hits me hard enough to slam into the wall. I like the pain as I grin up at her. “Let me guess, he isn’t all that interested in warming your cold ass bed anymore? He only needed you loyal to kill the humans and destroy the world enough that it bows to him. He loved my Nexus…the Morrigan. And she loved her mates, so he will punish me for the past. But you? You are nothing to him. Nothing to anyone… How does it feel, sister?”
She grabs my chin, digging in her perfect nails. Her eyes are damp with tears, and I know I won. It’s a pathetic win, but it is something. “I have everything, and you have this room and a collar. I am fine; you should worry about yourself.” She pushes me away and kicks the red dress she came in with towards me. “Red. For all the blood you’ve spilled.”
“Technically, I never spill any blood. Just grey dust. Pretty souls hovering in the air.” I rub my chin, feeling blood trickling from where her nails dug in. “I always wanted a sibling, Georgina. You let a man who calls himself a king destroy your family. You are not fine.”
“You’re in a mood today, Gwenieve. You never speak this much.” She huffs, turning away from me…but she is tense enough that I know I rattled her perfect insignificant life. Sheturns back, just for a second. “I have helped you more than you know, sister. I kept one of your mates alive.”
Everything in me tenses. “Who?”
“Go and shower. You look like the homeless monster that the humans are proclaiming you to be.” She ignores my question, inspecting her fingernails. “Do you know they all fear you? You’re the most hunted person on this planet. Me too, I suppose, but I don’t mind.” Her eyes glide from her nails to my face. “I have a feeling that you do.”
The problem is, she knows exactly where to hit me. First talking of my mates and then how the world must view me now. I never wanted to be a monster.
“We haven’t found your mates yet, but the king is hunting them. Maybe they just decided you were too much effort in the end? It’s best that they just hide and do nothing. I’m sure when we get to one city or town in the future, we’ll find them, and you can drain their life just like the others for leaving you behind. Do you think they are scared of you?”
I rush across the room and throw my fist straight into her cheek. The smack is satisfying, only for a second. Her magic swarms around the air, sparking blue electricity hissing in her fingertips as she grabs my throat and slams me into the wall. I scream as her magic jolts through every inch of my veins and burns. I don’t know where she got this power from. She certainly wasn’t born with it, but it’s a recent thing. Her eyes glow with electricity, too. After she is done, she leaves me in a sobbing mess on the ground. “Get dressed while I hide this new mark on my cheek. You are an animal. Do not embarrass me. You will behave in front of the court, or your little sister-in-law next door will pay for your actions.”