Page 3 of Pain Run Rampant

But if that’s the case, then where is it now?

I look at my right arm as I think that, and I take in the way the tattoo shimmers with gold in the sunlight. The back of my wrist, all the way up to my elbow; it’s very similar to whatit looked like before, only larger and permanently golden, the proof that Invictis is bound to me once again.

Only more of him this time. Yay.

The tattoo is like a golden flame, wisps all over my skin. Pretty I guess, but sparkles usually aren’t my thing. Neither is gold. I’ve had enough of that lately to last a lifetime.

I tear my eyes away from the tattoo and close them. I focus on breathing in, filling my lungs with air as slowly as I can before releasing the breath. The nature surrounding me is unburdened by Invictis’s power. I should feel more. I should feel the connection, the invisible magic others can’t see.

But I don’t.

I feel nothing except soft flower petals grazing the bare skin on my arms and the coolness of the breeze swirling around me. Nothing more. Nothing magical at all. Fuck.

How long have I been sitting here, trying to connect with the magic I know is all around me? How many days has it been since that fateful fight with Invictis, where I bound us together again—permanently this time?

Invictis won’t drive me mad, but this just might.

As if sensing I’m thinking about him, his heavily accented voice fills the air behind me, “Is this how you plan on filling your time now that you aren’t busy running away from me?” He sounds a mixture of annoyed and amused, and when I get to my feet and turn around, I see he’s smirking.

I can’t forget that the face he wears is one that belongs to Empress Morimento’s son, albeit way older than her son got before he died. Fair skin with sharp angles, a clean-shaven jaw and a square chin; his face belongs in a painting, not standing before me with a smirk.

And let’s not forget how tall he is, even in this stolen human form. Over six-and-a-half-feet tall with wide shoulders to match.An impressive figure all around, no matter which angle you look at him from.

He’s hot, yes, but he’s also an ancient evil that’s been killing everything for… well, basically forever. You can’t come back from something like that.

And this hot bastard isn’t supposed to leave the hut I chose as my own—something he knows.

I set my hands on my hips and cock my head at him as I say, “What are you doing out of the house, hmm? I’m pretty sure I told you to stay where you were. No one can see you.” Because I still haven’t told anyone that I didn’t defeat Invictis, that I only bound him to me.

If people knew… they might not trust me, or they might tell me to leave. Maybe they’d think I’ll lose my mind like their past empresses.

“You did, in fact, tell me to stay in the house, as you say,” Invictis repeats me with a slight mocking tone, “but you did not say how long I should remain there. I took it upon myself to assume you meant a short while.” His smirk only grows when he says that, as if he thinks he’s found a loophole.

Right. Because now that he’s bound to me, he’s forced to listen to me.

He stands less than three feet away, still wearing the clothes I took from Frederick’s hut. Meaning: everything is a little tight, a little short, and fraying at the seams. He needs actual clothes. I just… I don’t know how to come clean about the fight.

Oh, sorry, Invictis? You thought I killed him? Nope. I just forever bound us together since he’s literally the undefeated. What was that? You’re asking me why I don’t just kill him now? Well, you see, my magic has been kind of MIA since the binding…

Obviously, any which way I pretend to go about it in my head leads to one hell of an uncomfortable conversation. The onlything I might be able to do without raising suspicion is getting new clothes made for him.

“Go back and stay there until I say otherwise,” I tell him with a smile. “How’s that, dick?”

His blue gaze narrows, and he harrumphs as his figure is swallowed by a golden light. By the time that light disappears, he’s out of sight, thank God.

Out of sight, yes, but not out of mind, because through our connection, I hear him say, “How long do you think you can keep me a secret, hmm? Sooner or later someone will find out. I can’t help but wonder what they’ll think of their new high empress when they discover she’s been keeping secrets?”

I roll my eyes even though he’s not around to see it. “Just shut up.”

Thankfully he listens that time and doesn’t continue talking. Sharing a link with him? It’s not as fun as you might think. He’s constantly popping up in my dreams, mocking me, taunting me, telling me how, one day, he’s going to drive me completely insane.

Usually I tell him that he can’t drive me insane if I drive him insane first, which then pisses him off, but today… I don’t know. I’m getting worried. If I have the magic of all the empresses before me, I should still be able to cast.

But I can’t. I’m effectively magic-less, and it sucks ass.

I haven’t told Frederick, even though he’s the one I could probably trust more than anyone in Laconia. I haven’t told Invictis either; I don’t think I could bear hearing him gloat. I already have to listen to him talk way too much.

For an ancient weapon, he sure is talkative. Always has something to say.

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