Page 150 of Shadows of Ruin

“You dare to defy me when Icreatedyou,” the king snarled. “I spent years feeding the darkness into you. It worked so easily to control my Guardians. They fell to my will after a dose or two.”

“We would have seen that,” Storm argued, limping forward. Kade’s shadows reached out to him, supporting his friend.

“I am not stupid enough to turn them here,” the king snapped. “My true army lies safely elsewhere. Away from the eyes of any disloyal. Who knew my own son was one of the traitors I needed to weed out. But my monster will return to me. You can’t fight the darkness already in you.”

“You have no power over him,” I shouted, surprising everyone in the room. “You have tried to control him for years and failed. He is stronger than you will ever be.” I tried to step forward, reaching for the dagger at my thigh, but Kade’s shadows held me back. I glared at him, wanting us to charge the king now. To end this.

The pride on Kade’s face reassured me, but he shook his head once, keeping me from continuing the struggle against him.

“If you knew I was disloyal, why wait until now to say something?” Kade asked, crossing his arms.

“I wasn’t sure, of course. With no proof, I didn’t want to make any hasty decisions,” the king responded. “Until I got into Raya’s mind last night. Finally weak enough to infiltrate completely as she spent too much of her energy giving to others, leaving her defenseless.”

She sucked in a breath and her head fell back. A whimper was all we heard as she stumbled forward.

“Fight it, Raya!” Jax shouted from the doorway. The king threw a hand in his direction and Jax flew backward, slamming against the wall.

I ran over to him. “Jax,” I whispered. His body seemed limp, but his pulse remained strong.

“Go get my Guardians, dear,” the king instructed Raya. “Bring them here. Then we can discuss your punishment.”

She bowed her head, in a complete trance as she left the room. I stared back at the true Monster of Mysthaven. The king.

He moved toward Kade, arm outstretched. Kade’s eyes bulged, and he gasped.

The king curled his hand around in the air, like he was using an invisible hand to choke Kade.

I ran forward, but Kade’s shadows blocked me from reaching him.

“Did you think you could lead a rebellion behind my back without my knowledge? How foolish,” the king said. “You will willingly submit to your punishment, or I will use you to destroy everyone in this room.”

“I would never,” Kade choked out.

“Ah, but you know how you lose yourself to that darkness sometimes. Do you think I cannot make that permanent?” The king grinned, loosening his grip on Kade.

Raya returned, guards coming in and flooding the room around the king. Around us.

“Now.” The king smiled. “You will submit to a whipping here, willingly.”

It clicked. If Kade submitted, the king would have his blood.Willingly.

“Kade you can’t, he’s going to—” A guard grabbed me, covering my mouth with his hand.

“Let her go.” Kade moved forward, drawing his sword and stabbing the guard standing in front of him with no remorse.

“Kade,” Storm shouted as two guards pulled him closer. “You can’t submit?—”

The king turned his power on Storm, and I watched in horror as he pulled our friends off to the side, trapping them behind some sort of magical barrier. We could not hear their voices, despite their mouths moving frantically.

The king laughed, turning his attention to me as an invisible hand covered my mouth, taking me from the guard as he pulled me to his side.

“Think about this carefully, son,” the king said. “You drained your power in your earlier display. You are not strong enough to defeat me.”

He ran a hand over my hair like a damn pet as he beckoned a guard over to take his place. The guard slapped his hand over my mouth as the king removed his magical hold.

“I’ll submit to whatever you deem necessary,” Kade shouted. “If you let her go."

I shook my head. The second the king obtained his blood, he would be one step closer to releasing Thames.

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