Page 32 of A Reign of Malice
“I’ll be back, Julian. I swear it.”
The words echo long after the light fades. And this time, the darkness doesn’t win.
Hope burns brighter than it ever has.
Because my mate knows the truth. And Sloane doesn’t strike me as a woman who breaks her promises.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SLOANE
The return to my body is jarring, like being ripped through space and slammed back to Lunara. My eyes snap open, breath rushing into my lungs as if I’d been close to drowning and only just broke the surface. My limbs are cold, my fingers tingling as sensation comes back in a slow, almost painful wave.
I lurch forward, bracing myself against the wall, my pulse hammering as I try to ground myself. My body feels like it doesn’t quite belong to me yet, as if part of me is still down there, in the dark with him.
Julian.
His name lingers in my mind, foreign and yet familiar. Even my wolf’s presence feels warmer just thinking of him, stirring with something dangerously close to longing. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to process everything he’s told me. Aeson’s brother. TherightfulKing of Venaris. A man who was betrayed, cursed, and locked away in the depths of this castle, forced to endure centuries of torment while the world thought him dead.
And if he’s to be believed, Aeson killed his own mate notonly to paint Julian as the monster, but so he could keep his secrets and have the throne unchallenged.
I press my palm to my forehead, exhaling sharply.Gods, I was nearly bound to him. I still might be if I’m not careful.
“Damn it,” I breathe, starting to force myself to my feet.
“Sloane!” Clara’s voice crashes through the fog in my mind, her hands gripping my shoulders before I can fully straighten. She’s shaking me lightly, her green eyes wide with barely concealed panic. “You were out for twice as long. I was beginning to think something went wrong. I thought?—”
“I’m fine,” I cut in.
She scowls, her gaze appraising every inch of me. “You don’tlookfine.”
I wave her off, forcing the tremor from my hands. “I’llbefine, then. What matters most is that I talked to him and got the answers we need. Well, most of them.”
Clara’s expression flickers between exasperation and intrigue. “And you’re sure we can trust this person? I know he’s your mate, but that doesn’t always mean something good as we’ve seen in the past.”
I don’t fault her for questioning my judgement or Julian. In fact, I appreciate that she’s going to dissect everything I’m about to tell her. Even though my gut tells me Julian should be the alpha of this pack, we need to be sure. Especially when I might start a war by trying to free him.
I go over everything with her in hushed whispers—who Julian is, what he said about how Aeson betrayed him, how he’s been trapped in that hell for centuries. I tell her about the chains that are killing his wolf, and the magic in the water meant to keep him powerless.
And most of all, I tell her about the lie.
About Aeson’s mate, Lira. About her sacrifice. About thefact that the very man I considered bonding withkilledhis own fated mate to protect his place as the Alpha King.
By the time I finish, Clara’s pacing the length of the hallway, her arms crossed so tightly over her chest I half expect her bones to snap.
“I knew he was bad,” she mutters under her breath, “butdamn it—this is worse than I ever imagined. Killing his own mate? Trapping his brother? He didn’t just want power, he wanted to erase any threats to it. Likely still does.”
I nod, jaw clenched. “And I could be next.”
Clara stops pacing, turning to me. “So what’s our next move?”
I open my mouth to respond, but a solidthudechoes from down the corridor. Both of us freeze.
My pulse spikes.
We stayed too long.
Clara’s gaze meets mine, and without a word, we move.
