Page 19 of The Umbra King

Rory ignored his whining. “Two were one, and one is yours. Do not let him fool you. His darkness is poison. Only the golden child can save you,” Rory recited for the thousandth time. “And that’s not all. When I walked into the living room this morning, she had scribbled it on our walls.”

Keith reached out and grabbed Rory’s wrist, and when their skin connected, his soul throbbed that beautiful blue she loved so much. “You need to take this seriously,” he said. “I have heard ofSibylsdelivering coherent messages like this.”

“What does it mean? Gold? Darkness? Achild? I don’t understand it,” Rory groaned. She assumed the darkness was her secret pastime, and she wondered if this was a sign to stop. The only thing that didn’t fit was the ‘he,’ but it could refer to the change Bane caused within her.

“I don’t know, but pay attention to everything around you.” The graveness of his tone worried her.

She patted the top of his hand that held her wrist. “I will. Thanks for listening, Wolfy.”

He pulled his hand back, and the blue winked out. “You know I hate when you call me that.”

She grinned. “What do you want to drink?”

Before he could answer, a group of enforcers led by Dume stepped through the door, and the look on Dume’s face made Rory’s body go numb as the group headed in her direction.

“Dume?” she asked, forcing herself to stay calm, but deep down, she knew what this was.

Dume shook his head and brought his fist to his mouth before speaking in a broken voice, “Aurora Raven, you are under arrest for the murder of Jasper Witlow and the suspected murders of twelve others.”

Keith stood, knocking his stool to the ground. “Dume, what’s going on?”

Another enforcer with a long, pale braid stepped forward when Dume was unable to speak. “We have video surveillance of Miss Raven entering Mr. Witlow’s apartment around the time of the crime and leaving approximately two hours later.” TheAatxe’sblue gaze hardened as she looked at Rory. “And judging by the state of the crime scene, we suspect she is The Butcher.”

Rory hated herself for not turning away when she saw how nice the building was, but in the end, she’d gotten the information she needed. What she didn’t understand was how they knew it was her.She’d kept her hood up while entering the building.Until Jessie answered the door,she remembered, cursing herself for being stupid. There must have been cameras in the hallway.

Keith’s face leached of color as he turned to her. “Tell them you didn’t do this.”

She grabbed her purse and stepped around the bar. Before she allowed them to take her away, she turned to Keith. “I had my reasons, though I’m sure they aren’t good enough to excuse what I’ve done.” Her voice warbled. “I love you, and tell Kordie I love her, too.”

She turned to Dume, who was staring at her with so much pain on his face, it almost brought her to her knees. “And you, please don’t let my mother suffer because of me.”

With that, she held out her hands and let her oldest friend cuff her before the other enforcers grabbed each of her arms and hauled her away. Their souls were bright, blinding almost, a direct contrast to hers.

She guessed her mother’s prophecy was right; the dark turned out to be her destruction.

Dume insistedon being the one who rode in the back with Rory, and seeing him across from her made her wish she was alone.

“You must think I’m disgusting,” she whispered.

He stared ahead, refusing to look at her.

Her chest stung. “Don’t worry, you’ll be rid of me soon enough. My soul is as black as theirs were, and I’ll meet them in hell soon enough.”

Silence followed her declaration as they continued to The Capital.

They were taking her to the Scales of Justice, aRoyalwho was said to look upon someone and know the perfect punishment for their crimes. There were only threeRoyalsin the realms; Gedeon, theLux King, who controlled light; Adila, the Scales of Justice, judge of the guilty, and Caius, the Umbra King, who controlled shadows.

Historical texts state there had once been a fourthRoyal, Atarah, who ruled over Erdikoa as the Lux Queen, but Caius murdered her, caught standing over her body, soaked in blood with his dagger in hand.

Upon her death, Atarah’s power transferred to Gedeon, and Adila locked Caius away in Vincula. Rory shivered at the immense power theRoyalspossessed.

Now, she would go before the Scales of Justice, and there was nothing anyone could do to save her, not that she wanted them to. She only wished she’d found her sister’s soul first.

Rory had never seen The Capital or the palace, and when she stepped from the van, her breath caught in her throat at the sight. It was the largest building she’d ever seen and must have been the size of six city blocks in every direction. It was white with metal details the same color as gold moedas, and it shined like new, despite being thousands of years old.

“Holy aether,” she breathed.

At first, she wondered why Dume never mentioned how grand the palace was, but then she remembered theSeraphimenchanted The Capital so that anyone who left, other than theRoyals, lost their memory of anything inside The Capital’s walls, but when they reentered, they remembered everything.

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