The Emperor of Evening Stars by Laura Thalassa
Chapter 25 The Future is Now
Present
The hour is late, but here in the Night Kingdom, it makes no difference. The sky is just as dark as it always is, and the stars twinkle just as brightly as they always do.
I lay in my royal chambers, my mate at my side.
I stare down at Callie, her dark hair fanned out around her, her eyes closed and her lips parted in sleep. A soft sigh escapes her.
It’s almost unbearable, caring this much for someone else. I have half a mind to wake Callie up, just so I can slide into her and feel her around me.
I settle for tracing one rounded earlobe.
Never have I been so thankful to see my mate safe in my bed.
… not true …
… you’re always thanking the bloody night that she’s in your bed …
My lips quirk, before the expression dissolves away into something more somber.
Almost lost her.
Even now I can acutely remember the sight of her in the Flora Queen’s sacred oak forest, her essence slipping further and further away from me as she bled out from a knife wound inflicted by the Thief of Souls. For several horrible seconds, I had to grapple with the possibility that my mate was gone.
If I hadn’t fed her the lilac wine …
Even now a small shudder works through me. Unendurable. And to think of how many centuries I have left to live. It’s impossible to imagine spending them alone.
My thumb brushes her lower lip, causing her to murmur in her sleep.
Now I won’t have to.
I’ve taken her, I’ve claimed her, and now I get to keep her. She’s tasted lilac wine, and the elixir has both given her everlasting life and made two magics that were once incompatible, compatible. The cord that binds us pulls on my heartstrings even now, and through it I can hear the dark, alluring notes of Callie’s power, her siren calling to me.
A noise on the balcony has me out of bed in an instant. I slip on a shirt and pants and head to the doors that lead out, my wings flaring behind me. Wings that, not so long ago, my undead father had broken. They’ve healed, but the memory hasn’t.
I step onto the balcony, which is completely deserted—just as it should be—and I lean against the railing.
Galleghar Nyx, the Shadow King, is still out there. What a fool I’d been all those years ago to not question why his body had been impervious to the elements. I’d been so filled with hate for him that I let it cloud my judgment.
And now I’m just beginning to pay the price.
I stand outside a few minutes longer, taking in the pale buildings that spread out around me.
An unnatural sort of silence descends upon Somnia. The back of my neck pricks.
… He … Is … Here …
I turn around, my shadows billowing out of me as I head back inside.
Who?
… … …
I stride into the bedroom, and that’s when I see it.
A shadow looms over Callie, one dark arm reaching out to pet her hair.
Kill. The thought is instinctual.
My darkness unleashes itself. It sweeps across the room, wrapping around the shadow. I expect my magic to devour the creature, as it does all magical things, but it won’t.
It … can’t.
The thing cackles once, a wispy, hollow sound that seems to come from somewhere else, and then it’s gone.
I only get moments to make sense of what I saw. Then the quiet night is quiet no longer.
A thousand screams shatter the silence. They come from deep in the bowels of the castle, the shrieks shaking the earth.
I know what I’m hearing before even the shadows can confirm it.
The sleeping women have awoken.
