Throne of winter, p.25
Throne of Winter, page 25
part #1 of The Dark Court Series
Blue flames darted through the water and ignited the dirt. As the energy ball broke through into the night air, I had time for one last thought before the darkness claimed me.
We’re all going to die.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
My head throbbed like I’d spent a week binging cocktails from the Hideout. My eyes felt swollen and crusted over.
How many blue drinks did they give me? I wondered. How many punchbowls? Cala is going to pay for this.
A groan escaped my parched lips. I was beyond dehydrated.
Water. I need water.
Cursing the fact my kitchen was so far away, I rolled to one side. It might take me a whole day to get there, but my need for hydration wasn’t going away. If I kept rolling, I would eventually end up on the floor, right? And then I could crawl to the sweet, glorious water my body was screaming for.
I am never drinking again. Never.
After two rolls, I should’ve been at the edge of the bed. Instead, the damned thing seemed to stretch for miles. Had my bed become an infinite plane while I slept. With another loud moan, I fought to open my eyes. When my eyelids didn’t work on their own, I physically lifted one with my forefinger.
The reason I hadn’t reached the edge of my bed? I wasn’t in my bed. Instead, I lay beneath plush covers on a bed as wide as the ocean. The sunlight that poured in the single uncovered window stung my retinas, and I squeezed my eyes shut again. Rolling onto my stomach, I resigned myself to lay facedown on the fluffy pile of pillows until my head exploded. Maybe I would cease to exist before that happened? It sounded painful.
A soft knock on the door sounded like a jackhammer to my skull.
“No,” I moaned.
A soft click told me the door had opened, but I didn’t have the strength or the desire to pull my head from its feathered nest.
“Brie?” Kai’s voice sounded panicked. Without warning, he rolled me so my face was no longer buried in the downy fabric.
“No,” I repeated my protest.
“No what? Can you breathe?”
“I can’t live,” I groaned in reply.
My head was starting to clear enough to realize what a baby I was being. It was just a hangover, it wasn’t the end of the world. I didn’t even remember going to the palace, but I must’ve made my way there at some point after the Hideaway.
“What can I do?” Kai asked.
“Dark. Water. Quiet.”
When he closed the curtains over the only source of light in the room, I breathed a sigh of relief. A moment later, a hand slid around my back and pulled me up. I slumped against Kai and eargly gulped at the cup he held to my lips.
“Easy,” he cautioned. “Not too fast.”
The glass disappeared, and I grumbled for more. It was quickly replaced with a small vial. Realizing that he must’ve gotten me a healing tonic, I snatched the bottle from his hand and downed it greedily. Before I could utter my thanks, I passed out again.
The next time I came to, my eyes no longer felt superglued shut. Running my hand over my face, I struggled to put together the pieces. When the memory of the cyclone crashed within my skull, I struggled to sit up. In the darkness, I could make out Kai’s slumped form in a chair beside the bed.
Oh shit. The queen.
Tears pricked my eyes as they adjusted to the dark room. Kai must’ve sensed my waking, because he stirred when I moved.
“What can I get you?” he asked, his voice thick with sleep.
“Come here.” The bed tilted down on one side when he stretched out beside me.
Kai took my hand gently, like I was a porcelain doll that might break at any moment. I squeezed his fingers reassuringly.
“I am so sorry,” I whispered. “I am so so sorry.”
Tears pooled over, but I swiped them away immediately. I’d let him down. He was the one who lost his mother. I was the one who hadn’t saved her.
“Shh,” Kai soothed. Anger flared within me, directed only at myself. I should’ve been comforting him, instead of the other way around.
Once I trusted my voice again, I tipped my head down to look him in the eyes. “Kai, I’m sorry. I tried to save her. I swear, I did.”
“I’ve seen the tapes,” he replied. “There was absolutely nothing you could’ve done. Honestly, Brie.”
The fact there had been surveillance cameras shouldn’t have surprised me, but my heart broke all over again at the thought of Kai watching his mother’s death.
“I could’ve done something,” I protested. “There had to be a way.”
Kai ran a finger along my jawline. “You did do something, Brie. You saved everyone on the island.”
That got my attention. The last I’d seen, a weird ass swirling vortex of elemental magic had flown through the open roof of the casting chamber.
“It worked?” I asked, my brows curling together. “Really?”
Kai chuckled, though the sound was still sad. “Thanks to you and your friends, the Dome is back to full power. The temperatures have stabilized. We lost a few of the elderly casters who were outside when the it fell, but you saved everyone else.”
Suddenly, my body felt too heavy to remain upright. I slumped back against the pile of pillows as the weight of everything hit me.
Epilogue
The rain that fell was aberrant. The dome had climate control, and rain wasn’t something we experienced. When I glanced at Kenoa, his torn face told me that the precipitation was coming from him. His eyes darted between Kai and the coffin, and the pain was evident. I struggled with where to look, and I settled on the dark clouds overhead that were generated by the water fae.
Kai stood near the coffin, giving a eulogy. He spoke of his mother’s strength and her kindness. He shared her resilience and empathy. Tears flowed freely from my eyes as I watched him struggle to put his love for his mother into words. Zig-zagging slowly through the crowd, I made my way to Sarah’s side. Though I wasn’t part of the royal family and shouldn’t have been standing on the other side of the velvet rope barrier, I couldn’t stand to see the princess standing alone.
Stoic and beautiful, her white blonde hair flowing wildly, Sarah reached over and gripped my hand without a word. The clutch felt like desperation, and I squeezed back. I knew what it was like to lose a mother. It was the lowest, darkest, and most despairing place I’d ever been. Even being ripped from my father and Ilian hadn’t held the same despair as losing my mother as a young girl.
Kai and Sarah were both far more stoic than I’d ever been. They had a kingdom to reassure, though. A whole island of people was looking to Kai and his sister, wondering if they were strong enough to lead the people. Especially with the recent sabotage of the dome. The public was lost and confused, and it was the royal family’s job to assure them that life would be stable and constant. Kai was knocking it out of the park in that respect; he exuded both strength and compassion, the personification of stability for the land he ruled.
When Kai finished, he walked straight to my other side. Sarah released my hand and climbed the dais—it was her turn to speak. Though Kai’s back was straight and his shoulders squared, he leaned against me. Not enough for the onlookers to notice, but just enough for me to feel the reassuring weight of him on my side. I leaned my head to the left, resting it on his muscular arm. Regardless of how we’d come together, I owed it to him to be there for him. I’d been there when his mother had died. Even though he’d absolved me of responsibility, the guilt lingered. Could I have stopped Mat from draining her? I couldn’t have stopped it anymore than I could’ve stopped him from kidnapping me. Vampires had stealth and speed that we didn’t.
And yet, I was the most famous pit fighter in all of Hawaii. I held one hundred wins. So how it possible that I couldn’t overcome Mat? Had I frozen up because he was the one to kidnap me? Would I have acted differently if not for that shock? Would I have saved Queen Lili?
The answers all eluded me. With the wild thoughts flying through my mind and the nonexistent answers, I barely registered when Kai slid his arm around my waist. In front of the entire kingdom, he pulled me to his side. That was it, this was official. He’d made a non-verbal proclamation to the people, and there was no going back.
After Sarah’s eulogy, the funeral attendees filed past the coffin, dropping leis of plumerias, tuberose, and jasmine. The red and yellow feathers that were thrown into the sarcophagus were Hawaiian tradition—they were symbolic of the monarchy’s history. The coffin was moved into it’s resting place, and Kai bit back heavy sobs. I felt the agony wrack him as his chest rose and fell. His lips were drawn to the point they were practically white as he held back from outright sobbing.
Finally, Kai and I walked hand in hand back to the car. Sarah was on my other side, looking lost. The fact I was flanked by royals at the funeral of the queen was wild to think about, considering where I’d been only weeks before. It was overwhelming to consider that I’d only met Kai a few weeks before. My feelings for him had grown at a rate that was both unexpected and exciting. Thinking back to my initial denial of his invitation for a date was laughable. Kai was amazing. And capable.
Though I’d begun dating him purely for the rebellion, I was grateful that I had. Someday I would have to tell him about it. I owed him that. Kai had been nothing but honest, open, and welcoming. He deserved to know the truth. But today wasn’t the day. Any other day, it would be a difficult conversation. Today wasn’t about me. It was about the royal family. It was about Kai. I would do everything in my power to be there for him. And someday I would tell him about Christina, the rebellion, and what had brought us together.
For now, I gripped Kai’s hand as the car sped back to Iolani palace. When he turned to me, his expression a mix of sadness and hope, I saw a whole future within his eyes.
“Brie, will you come back to our house?” he asked. “We’re having a dinner thing. I’d appreciate if you could be there.”
“Of course,” I said quickly. “Whatever you need.”
The sadness left his face for a moment. Determination and anger replaced the expression.
“What I need is to find that vampire and rip the head from his shoulders.”
Swallowing over the lump in my throat, I nodded. I hadn’t even told him that it was the same vampire that had kidnapped me from Fae Canyon. Was it a coincidence? Or was it fate giving me a chance to enact my vengeance? Either way, I was all in.
“I will find him,” I promised. “And I will handle him.”
Though I swore it to Kai, I swore it to myself as well. I deserved vengeance, too. And Mat deserved to pay.
Curling into Kai’s side in the back of the limo, I tried to send every good vibe within my body into him. It wasn’t much, but he needed the light. Kai stroked my side, the gesture both familiar and exhilarating. I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into, but I knew that I wanted it. The pleasure and the pain were both welcome, as long as I was feeling something.
When Kai kissed me, I melted further into his arms. Regardless of how I’d gotten there, I was grateful for his strength and warmth. Together, I had no doubt that we would find Mat and avenge both Queen Lili and myself. Everything else would work itself out.
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[MK1]is there an official name for the event?
Sophie Davis, Throne of Winter
