A Kiss of Flame (Shadows Eternal #3)

Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

B arith let out a deep growl as he came to. Even in his haze, his body pulsed with distant pain, every muscle reminding him of their existence. Tsuki glared up at him with disgust.

Oddly, this wasn't the first time Barith had been strung up like this. His hands were bound above his head in thick, unbreakable fae silver chains, fastened to the center of a high stone archway. His feet dangled off the ground, his body tightly wrapped in an enchanted dragon net of the same fae silver. Each movement made the net constrict tighter, like a snake intent on crushing its prey. Every breath was a fight against the crushing weight; every shift of his wings sent jolts of pain radiating through him.

"It's about time," Vane grumbled as he stepped into the dim ring of torchlight, his tone dripping with bitterness. "I thought I might have to cut off more limbs to get you to rouse.”

Barith's fury simmered beneath the agony, his vision swimming as he fought to focus. The net tightened around him, squeezing mercilessly. Pain gripped him from every direction, but he could feel his limbs—each one still attached, though throbbing. Even his wings, smashed against his back, were still there. He tried to glamour them away, but the net's enchantment held firm, its cruel magic cutting off his power. Barith attempted to wriggle his tail, and sharp, piercing pain shot up his spine. He didn’t need to look to feel the end of it was missing.

With a primal snarl, Barith glared down at Vane, his eyes blazing with fire that matched the rage surging through him. Vane looked utterly amused, his vile rumble of laughter echoing off the cavern walls. The half-fae raised his bandaged right hand, where several fingers were missing thanks to Barith’s sword.

"You're lucky Tsuki convinced me not to take your wings instead," he said bitterly. "Or at least, not yet."

Barith roared, his fury blurring his vision. He jerked against the net, only for it to squeeze tighter, crushing his wings. The pain was excruciating, but he refused to give Vane the satisfaction of seeing his fear. Vane chuckled, sauntering toward the edge of the wide stone circle stretched beneath the arch.

Even through the fog of pain, Barith sensed they were underground. The air was cold, damp, and stale. Beyond the torchlight surrounding the edge of the stone platform, darkness loomed, heavy and impenetrable. A barely visible narrow path touched the edge of the stone and led into the gaping darkness. There was a round pit about six feet wide in the center of the stone just before the arch—the darkness within it defied the light, shifting unnaturally.

"What do you want?" Barith rasped, his voice hoarse and raw. There were four more cloaked figures beyond Vane and Tsuki—each obscured by a glamour and a black mask.

Tsuki glanced at Vane, who was busy adjusting the silver cufflinks on his dark grey suit. "Should I gag him?" she asked, her voice cold.

Vane huffed, snapping his fingers. Shadow coiled around Barith's mouth, silencing him instantly. Barith struggled, rage boiling within him. The net responded to his anger, tightening around him until he heard a sickening crunch from one of his wings. Pain exploded in his back, radiating through his entire body. He snarled, forcing himself to still, knowing each movement would only make it worse.

"We'll see if she managed to convince Merlin to give up our location,” Vane mused, his lips curling into a smirk.

Barith's heart jolted at the mention of Merlin. Relief and dread fought within him. Levian wasn't captured, but now he understood why he was being held captive like this: he was bait. The realization twisted his gut, filling him with a fresh fury. Barith had to stifle the urge to shift in his desire to tear more of Vane’s limbs from his body.

"We shouldn't have involved Merlin," Tsuki muttered, her eyes narrowing as she glanced at Barith disapprovingly.

Vane shot her a withering glare. "You're never any fun," he grumbled sourly, his irritation evident. He spoke loudly, addressing all the masked figures, “Even if Merlin convinces his daughter to stay away, I plan to get the blade and ring back from Council. Either way, we’ll succeed.”

Tsuki's scowl deepened. "If Merlin sends her, he won't send her unarmed," she pointed out, her voice tight.

Vane rolled his eyes. "Merlin is useless in The Prison, and his daughter is nowhere near his level. She's a spoiled, headstrong brat." Barith's blood boiled with flames in response to how he talked about Levian. "But I hope she'll beg Merlin to give up our location. If she doesn't, you can find her and finish what you should’ve the last time.”

Tsuki’s expression darkened, her lips pressing into a thin line at the sharp reminder that Levian had survived her Dokk blade attack in Manchester.

One of the masked figures stepped forward from the shadows, their voice muffled by the mask. "The Order will be displeased if we do not recover the items quickly."

Vane's gaze darkened as he glowered at the figure. “The Order asked me to do their dirty work,” he snapped, his patience fracturing. “I’ll deliver what I’ve promised. Our hard work will not be in vain ." He chuckled at his pun while Tsuki let out a quiet, disapproving grunt that only Barith could hear.

"The Order will also be unhappy that we've involved Merlin," Tsuki added.

Vane replied with an exaggerated groan of frustration. "Enough!" he snarled, glaring at his followers. "Who is in charge here?" His hand filled with coiling shadow to prove his point. "The Order doesn't care about Merlin—They only care about rebuilding the Penumbra."

Tsuki fidgeted, her eyes flicking to Barith, displeased that Vane was speaking so openly in front of him. Barith didn't know who or what the Penumbra was, but it was evident Vane was a mere lackey, following orders from a higher power.

"It's midnight," one of the masked figures noted, their voice cutting through the tension.

Vane straightened his suit jacket, adjusting his tie before glaring up at Barith across the black pit. "I guess we'll see if that bit of tail was enough to entice her to beg Merlin to save you," he said, a dark smile playing on his lips.

Barith's heart twisted with horror. He prayed Levian hadn't done it. And if she had, he prayed Merlin hadn't given in.

"It looks as if it was," one of the masked figures said, their gaze fixed on the approaching torch in the distance.

Barith's heart plummeted as Levian appeared, stalking down the dark pathway toward them like a commanding goddess. She wore thick, vibrant purple and blue robes that billowed around her feet like storm clouds, her expression a scowl that could rival his mother's. Barith struggled, his heart pounding in fear, a muffled growl escaping his throat as he willed her to turn and run. The net constricted again, pain shooting through his already-fractured wing, but he couldn't stop himself. She shouldn’t have come for him.

One of the taller masked figures stepped forward and pressed the tip of their long fae silver sword against Barith's exposed throat. Levian stopped at the end of the path, holding a torch, her eyes locked on Vane as he casually strolled toward her.

"Well," he drawled. "You managed it, did you?"

Levian's gaze flickered to Barith for a second, and his heart thudded in response. Then he noticed her dark red curls were intricately braided atop her head in a style he’d never seen her wear before. A style reminiscent of one worn by the dragons of his horde. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimmer—a flicker of a wing. He looked back to Levain, and his heart nearly lurched into his throat.

Barith saw a glint in her violet eyes—a look he'd seen a thousand times before. It was the exact look she had when she’d cooked up some reckless plan that was liable to get them both killed.

Levian forced herself not to focus on Barith hanging from the stone arch, wrapped in some fae silver netting; shadow curled around his mouth. She also forced herself not to follow her impulse to send a pulse of magick smashing into Vane’s smug face, knocking out every last one of his teeth. She steadied her nerves, turning her attention back to Vane.

It hadn’t been easy to gather her reinforcements and develop a solid plan in the span of only a few hours, but she’d managed it. Now, all she had to do was pull it off.

"You're a lot like Merlin," Levian said, her voice dripping with mockery. "You both like to play games like stunted children."

Vane's smug smile disappeared, replaced by a glower.

"This is where I first discovered my ability to wield the shadows," Vane said, shifting closer to the pit. "Merlin brought me here himself to test me. Perhaps he's why I developed a taste for games."

"He told me you nearly died," Levian clipped.

Vane tensed, his sneer darkening. "Is that so?" he drawled menacingly.

Levian had no interest in small talk, but she needed Vane distracted. She stepped forward, drawing Tsuki's uneasy gaze. "Why do you think he sent me here?" she asked, her voice full of feigned curiosity.

Vane shrugged, unconcerned. "Perhaps he thinks he's taught you some little trick to outsmart me. Or perhaps he's offering you up in exchange for something he wants. Or maybe you begged him enough that he gave in. The possibilities are truly endless," he mocked, moving closer to the pit.

Vane dipped his maimed hand into the shadows, using them to fill the voids of his lost fingers. Levian's stomach lurched, but she forced herself to exaggerate her reaction to play along.

The cavern was a ritual space created by the Dokk, who survived The Fall until they were hunted and killed for their apostasy. Vane lapped up her reaction to his wielding of the shadow and replied with a satisfied smile.

Tsuki cleared her throat with impatience, earning a scornful glance from Vane. "It's regrettable," he continued, ignoring his cohort. Vane siphoned more shadow from the pit, tossing it between his hands. "I had hoped the Order might recruit you."

Levian narrowed her gaze. She knew nothing of any Order.

"Lucian," Tsuki snapped, her voice sharp with admonishment.

Vane laughed, waving her off. "Afraid of her, Tsuki?" he mocked. "She's helpless here. The dragon cannot save her. No one can.”

Clearly, Vane did not intend to let her or Barith leave alive. Levian steadied her anxiously thrumming heart as she glanced at the creature holding the sword to the dragon’s exposed throat. She’d thought this through a thousand times. She had to press on with her plan. "I hid them," she said, her voice steady. " All of them."

Vane's smile faltered, his eyes narrowing. "All of what?"

"The Dokk blade, the ring you stole from King Thurin, the piece of the Temple of Celaria, and the Heart Orb,” she told him.

The shadow in Vane's hands dissipated, his gaze sharpening. Tsuki shifted uneasily, moving closer to Barith. The masked thief holding the sword to the dragon’s throat let it drop slightly. Merlin had been right—they hadn't expected her to come with such leverage.

"You lie," Vane snarled, his voice filled with suspicion. “You cannot have the Heart Orb.”

Levian spotted Barith’s sister, Cat. Her eyes were glowing faintly as she clung to the platform’s edge, out of sight. This was her signal that they were all in position.

“I’m not my father,” Levian told him flatly. “I don’t play games.” She reached a trembling hand slowly into her pocket. Tsuki snapped a threat for her to stop, and the blade was pressed harder against Barith's throat. When Levian pulled out the small black Heart Orb, Vane's eyes widened, shock flashing across his face before narrowing with greedy delight.

"Release him," Levian demanded, her voice unwavering. "And it's all yours."

Vane straightened, a cruel smile curling over his lips. “Does Merlin know you have the orb?” he asked with amused curiosity.

Levian hadn’t told Merlin she possessed the orb—only that it had been one of the objects pursued by her thieves. “Merlin doesn’t know everything,” Levian replied sharply, waiting impatiently for Cat’s signal that she and the others were in position.

Vane laughed, the sounds echoing off the distant cave walls around them. Levian tensed at his raw amusement, and Tsuki glanced uneasily in his direction. “ That —” he said with utter unnerving enjoyment, pointing to the orb in her hand, “is not the Heart Orb.”

Levian teetered nervously on her feet, unsure if this was one of Vane’s games. He chuckled at her reaction and shook his head. “You really are nothing like your father,” he chuckled. ”And to think Tsuki and the others were worried you might try something clever to rescue your dragon. Is this your grand plan?”

Before she could even attempt to reply, Vane snapped his fingers, and shadow shot out from the pit like a spider's web. Levian tried to counter it, but the shadow wrapped around her too quickly, and her spell smashed into the ground beside her foot in a violet flash. She dropped her torch, which bounced off the edge of the platform into the abyss below. The orb slipped from her hand and rolled across the stone until Vane caught it beneath his foot.

Levian’s heart lurched, and she glanced about the room at all the others, worried her plan might not have been as clever as she’d thought. Levian spotted Barith’s sister, Judith, her eyes glowing faintly as she clung to the platform’s edge out of sight, her signal that they were all in position. Relief cut through her anxieties.

Vane picked up the orb and inspected it closely. “This is far better than the Heart Orb," he told her, his voice dripping with smugness. “If only you weren’t too much a brat and too stupid to know how to use it.”

Levian glowered at him. She didn’t know what the orb could be if it weren’t the Heart Orb, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it now, even if his ominous tone made her skin crawl. “You’ll never find the rest!” she hissed, trying to draw everyone’s attention to her.

Vane dropped the orb in his jacket pocket and looked about the room. Levian’s heart stopped. When he turned back to her, he smirked and said, “Actually, I think you’ll tell me exactly where to find the rest, or I'll start carving your dragon into little pieces."

Barith let out a muffled snarl, the masked figure shifting to press the tip of their sword into a stretch of his exposed wing between the silver netting. Levian shifted against her shadowy restraints at Barith’s snarls but felt relieved. Her shielding spells had worked. Vane couldn’t sense the others.

“I don’t play games,” she snapped smugly. “But that doesn’t mean I fight fair.”

Suddenly, a burst of flame lit the platform as Cat shot out of the sky and kneed the masked thief, knocking the sword away. She growled, her throat and eyes burning with fire.

Judith flew in from the darkness, swinging her sword at Tsuki. The half-fae vanished in a cloud of ash to dodge the attack. Vane snarled, sending a ball of shadow flying toward Cat just as a blinding flash filled the platform, followed by a crack that sent thick clouds of purple gas swirling everywhere. After that, all Hells broke loose.