In The Name of Shadows - A Darklina Story

Chapter 7: Stigmatized

Publishing date: 03/04/2022

The moment Alina's mouth touched the Darkling's lips she felt like being struck by lightning. The former Sun Summoner was trying to free herself from his grip by all her strength, but Aleksander was holding her head by the chin, preventing the girl from moving away from him even an inch. The Darkling's amplifying abilities would normally make Alina's body sparkle with a stunning glow, but this time it was completely different than ever before. Aleksander's kiss was intense and desperate, like he had just met his lover who he had not seen in a long, long time and now he was pouncing on her like crazy. But the kiss was also extremely impulsive, as if the man wanted to check something with all his strength.

And no wonder why. The Shadow King always wanted to triumph, and he loved to control the fate of others.

Alina was pushing Aleksander away from her with her hands tied at the wrists by a rope Katya had put there, pressing her tied palms with all her strength against his chest. But the dark lord was not going to let her go. Something like surprise or anger was showing on his face now as the Darkling clearly did not get what he had expected.

Alina, on the other hand, was going through a real hell. She felt that this forced kiss was trying to make her run like some wounded animal. An image of Mal appeared in her head and her husband was looking at Alina with serious regret and disgust. The problem was that his face seemed to be very distant to the former Sun Summoner, as if it was some stranger, not someone she loved so much. What's worse, soon Malyen's face was even blurred in the white-haired girl's mind, being replaced by two deadly gray eyes.

Mal...

Aleksander tried to deepen their kiss, but the Sun Summoner could not agree to it. She pursed her lips with all her strength, focusing all her attention on isolating herself from the outside world – and freeing herself from the Darkling.

And then she felt it.

It was as if an electric shock ran through her body, as if millions of tiny, tiny ants were climbing over it and dispersing in all possible directions. Alina turned into one huge ball of energy that resembled a ticking bomb which threatened to explode in any second. This energy was literally tearing the girl apart from the inside, making her mind nothing but a mess. But it wasn't like when the Darkling had first unleashed her powers. Then body of the former Sun Summoner was shining with an uncontrolled glow, but this time something had changed. It was completely different feeling.

Aleksander let go of her chin, freeing Alina's mouth from the grip of his lips. He was looking at the white-haired girl with indescribable surprise, and the expression on his face indicated that he was not for what he was seeing.

Oh no, the Black Heretic was literally shocked.

Lizabeta covered her mouth with her hand, not believing what she was seeing now. Katya Nemerov had her eyes wide open because despite her being Grisha she had never experienced anything like that before. Alina began to worry, so she instinctively pulled away from Aleksander, trying to do it as violently as possible. Finally, she effectively pushed him away from her with her tied hands. The girl almost lost her balance as she staggered back. She fell into Katya's arms, which saved her from falling to the ground at the last moment.

"May Saints protect us," Lizabeta whispered, apparently forgetting that she was Saint herself. "I did not expect anything like this for any treasures in the world. What are we going to do now, Aleksander?"

Katya helped Alina stand up straight and she increased the distance between them. The former Sun Summoner was now posing a tremendous threat, as it was not known what to expect from her.