Heart of Ash (The Dark Arcane Series: Book 1)

Chapter Seventeen

Kade knew the exact moment he walked into the room.

His heart leaped from his throat, trying to escape, as he very much wanted to do. He jolted out of his seat, palms increasingly damp and clammy.

The house flipped from safe to deadly in mere seconds. The pressure in the room increased, as if there were too many people trapped in the single space.

But there was only Kade, and Adar, Captain of the Guard.

Imagine a thousand echoes resounding in a single cave at the same time, screaming and howling and shouting. That was Kade.

"Captain"—Kade placed his closed fist on his chest—"I wasn't expecting you."

Fear was a lesser man's emotion, that's what the Captain always said, fear wasn't made for city burners and unmakers and world stealers. But in this moment, he felt an awful lot of fear.

He tried and failed to remember in his chaotic whirlwind of a mind when Nala said she would be back. Even if she came back early, he hoped she would have the sense to walk away.

The Captain strode forwards, and before Kade knew what was happening, sent a fist flying into his abdomen. Any breath he had was stolen from him, leaving him gasping to try to relive the pain.

Another blow cracked across his inked face, an almost careless backhand, before Kade caught up, and raised his fists. He blocked the next punch. And these next one.

But his footing stumbled, and the Captain sent him sprawling onto the floor. Ignoring the blood gushing from his nose, he scrambled to his feet, prepared to defend himself, but the Captain had apparently had enough. He stepped back, lowering his bloody hands. He had one resting on the hilt of his wickedly large sword, and his face curled into a familiar snarl. "You never are. Frankly it's embarrassing how slow you've gotten in our time apart. I have half a mind to train you up again—"

Kade's heart stopped. Unbidden, he burst out, "The emperor said I was exempt from any further training—"

"I know what he said, you little runt, don't interrupt me," the Captain cut, his tone—the sheer power emanating from it—was a slap in the face. "My, Kade, have you forgotten everything I taught you? It's such a shame."

He stalked around the room, tossing the papers Kade was reading onto the floor. "And you still haven't found our dear serial killer yet have you? Pity."

The Captain's smile said otherwise.

Kade bowed his head. "No, I haven't, Captain, but I do still have the rest of this year to track him down."

"Hmm, you see, that's no longer good enough for me," his words became deadly soft. "Now that I've seen how lazy you've become, how much you've forgotten who you really are, I have all the reason I need to convince our emperor that searching for this deathstalker is simply not in your best interests. Or in the city's best interests either, considering there have been a further nine deaths since you started this pathetic task."

Swallowing hard, he said, "With all due respect, Captain, when I offered to our emperor to find the deathstalker in return for being relived of my duties as your apprentice, I really believed it was for the good of the city. I still do."

Kade never saw the punch coming. A closed fist from point-blank range collided into his cheek, sending him back several steps. His vision blacked out for several moments.

The Captain gripped his face tightly as he hissed, "You think you're clever, don't you, Kade? Cleverer than me."

It was all he could do to struggle out, "No, Captain—"

Another blow to his side cut him off, and his face was forced upwards, to look at the dead, blue eyes of the Captain Adar. "You can't fool me, runt. I know it was you who drugged my drink that day, so I wouldn't be present at the council, so you could make your precious bargain to the emperor. You might think you've escaped me for now, but mark my words, you will never find the deathstalker. And then sooner or later, you'll be back in the castle as my apprentice, where you belong."

He shoved him onto the floor, and spat. Kade stayed there, heart pounding, knowing not to move.

"You may have forgotten Kade, but I haven't. You are an Elite. It doesn't matter where you go in the world, you will always be an Elite. You are not meant for living amongst the town, playing at being human, pretending to be their saviour. You are a city burner. Unmaker. World stealer. No amount of good you think you do will ever be enough to forgive that."

He upturned the desk on his way out, sending all the papers, all his diligent notes and hard work, floating into the air. "You'll come back to me Kade, you always do, a monster belongs with it's master."

He waited until he was certain the Captain had left—when the pressure in the room returned to normal and the screaming in his head quieted—and waited multiple moments longer before picking himself up, while blatantly ignored the shaking of his knees as he collected his papers. He slowly lifted his desk upright, and neatly piled his work to how it was before, and he sat down in his chair.

The ache in his jaw and ribs refused to subside—not to mention the headache that was sure to come from his broken nose—and his limited vision from his right eye made it hard to read. He always liked to leave marks that would linger, that would serve as a reminder. Little did he care Kade would always remember; the jagged edges and harsh ridges of his mutilated soul served as a permanent brand of the Captain's venom.

At least he could hide those ones. Now, he just had to hide the visible bruises from Nala. He doubted he would be seeing Darius anytime soon, so he didn't matter.

His blurry gaze fell upon his work. If finding the deathstalker meant being free from the thumb of the Captain, he would do it. Even if he had to upturn every stone, sift through all the grains of dust, and rip through the velvet fabric of the universe, he would do it.

Because if didn't, he would have to work for the Captain again. And he would rather die than let that happen.

As he turned over a piece of paper, his fingers trembled like a leaf.