Dance of the Damned

Sixty

What the fuck? This must be another one of my dreams, isn't it? Bastien would never betray me like this. I closed my eyes, desperately hoping to wake up, but when I opened them, Kalyani was still seated on her shadowy throne in front of me.

She looked just as stunning as I remembered, with her long black waves flowing down to her waist, full red lips, pale complexion, and captivating grey eyes resembling those of a siren. The nansing, a man with crocodile-like features, stood beside her. It was not a dream; it was harsh reality. Bastien had betrayed me, just as he had Orbissa. The realization struck me deeply in my chest, shattering my heart. I gathered the strength to meet his gaze. "Why?" I muttered, needing to understand at least that much.

"How touching. The abomination was actually in love with you," Kalyani purred, but I ignored her, keeping my eyes fixed on Bastien.

"It was so easy, really. You were desperate and trusting, which made it quite amusing. Although I am surprised you never fucked Zed, I thought you would have at least once," he confessed, and I couldn't believe the words escaping his mouth. Not only had he doubled crossed me, but his own family as well.

Anger and embarrassment flushed my cheeks, and I fought back the tears that threatened to spill. I refused to give him the satisfaction of witnessing my anguish, of seeing my heart shatter into countless pieces. "But—"

"Oh, come on," he interrupted, his laughter intertwining with Kalyani's. "Our chemistry was fucking awful. Were you really stupid enough to fall for any of it?" Their laughter reverberated off the walls of the grand throne room. He was right; I had been stupid to fall for his facade. I had believed him to be a good and kind man, but I had been mistaken.

"Would you like to join me in torturing this one as well?" Kalyani asked Bastien, approaching him and sharing a passionate kiss. The sight made me nauseous, so I averted my gaze to the floor. "We could offer her as a snack to Larken afterward, just like the last girl."

"I would relish that. This one is even more annoying than the previous one," he retorted before shifting his gaze towards me. "And there's no use attempting to use your Grim abilities to escape. I've been dosing your meals and drinks with occultbane for weeks, effectively nullifying your powers temporarily. Rest assured, you won't need them ever again."

Panic surged through me as I tried to summon my Grim form, but he was right; my powers had completely vanished. How would I escape without them? Moreover, no one would even begin to worry about our absence until tomorrow at the earliest. Bastien seized me by my hair, yanking me upright to face Kalyani, who wore an evil grin that stripped away all traces of her beauty. "I'll take great pleasure in this. Greta was a personal favorite of mine, you know? I didn't appreciate her being taken from me."

Fuck this. I wouldn't go down without a fight. I recalled some of the techniques Zeddicus had taught me to break free from various types of holds an enemy might subject me to. Ignoring the pain in my scalp, I forced myself to turn around and delivered a powerful kick to Bastien's dick. He groaned and crumpled to the ground, releasing his grip on me.

"Men. They're so feeble, aren't they?" Kalyani remarked, her gaze fixed disdainfully on Bastien, who lay on the floor clutching his groin. Good. He deserved it. Kalyani waved her hand, and suddenly tight, thick ropes bound my hands and feet, causing me to fall backward onto the floor. The Shadow Queen approached slowly, resembling a predator closing in on its prey, a jeweled dagger materializing in her hand. But before she could strike, the windows shattered open, and Zeddicus soared into the room in his formidable Grim form. He knocked Kalyani to the ground and dispatched the nansing with a single swift motion, decapitating him with razor-sharp claws.

Bastien gazed up at his cousin in horror as he orbed out of the throne room. Coward. Kalyani shrieked in fury. "This won't be the last encounter between us, King of Death." Then, her eyes flickered towards me, and she offered a faint smile as she hurled the dagger in my direction before vanishing into thin air.

The dagger swiftly passed by me, leaving a deep gash on my bicep, although it was not a cause for concern. I glanced up at Zeddicus, his body covered in the sticky, dark nansing blood. He returned my gaze, breathing heavily. Before I could utter a word, he seized my uninjured arm and teleported us out of Benevol Castle. Our current location was unknown to me, situated amidst the mountains under the night sky, but I presumed it to be Ardor territory. The ropes that bound me were also gone.

"Shouldn't we inform the others?" I inquired, struggling to catch my breath and comprehend the recent events. "Bastien planned everything. He intended to assist in torturing and killing me, just as he did to Orbissa."

"Do you know this for sure?" His eyes grew darker as he looked down at me, still holding me in his arms. Awkwardly, I distanced myself from him, my entire body trembling.

"He confessed to me. Since the Battle of Saelmere, he had been poisoning my food and water with a substance called occultbane," I divulged, gazing off into the nearby mountains. "I couldn't shift."

"It seemed like you were still determined to fight your way out of there," he remarked. "I witnessed you kicking him in the cock just before I arrived. As for the others, Ardor Castle is heavily fortified with wards, and they are on high alert. I discovered that Bastien hired that creature to assassinate you on the night he took you to Sin City. I knew he would eventually resort to something like this."

"How did you find out about Sin City?" I questioned, taken aback.

"I have been keeping tabs on him for years. I knew he lacked loyalty, and his facade of being a nice guy was just that – a facade," he explained.

"You knew he attempted to have me killed, yet you didn't attempt to warn me?" I raised my voice, feeling the anger surge within me. "You knew he was sleeping in my bed! You knew I was falling in love with him!"

"I highly doubt that," he retorted bitterly. "You didn't even know him. He was a fraud."

"And what does that make you?" I shouted at him. "You're nothing but... a liar! A lying liar who... who lies." I recognized the lameness of my retort, but I believe I was still in shock from the betrayal. "I hate you. Take me back to Ardor Castle."

"You can hate me all you want, love, but we won't be returning to Ardor Castle. We're heading to the war camps," he declared as he gripped my arm, and we orbed away.