CHAPTER 10

With a sharp intake of breath, Rune sat up, his muscular arms circling no one. He blinked, glancing at his surroundings. He placed his hands on either side of him and leaned his head back.

The minx bit him, sending the Ra'Voshnik to frenzy. She wants us to give chase,the creature growled as it prowled the edges of his mind.And you do nothing. You will lose her to another male if you don't act, polished fool.

Rune exhaled. Be silent.

It'd been ages since Ra'Voshnik spoke to him. The creature began as whispered thoughts in the awkward stage between boy and man. In less than a season the Ra'Voshnik had taken root in his mind, struggling against him for dominion over the body they shared.

Mastering Saith's lessons required absolute control of his mind and will. The Ra'Voshnik hindered his progression, fighting him at every turn. Rune imprisoned it in the depths of his mind, unable to truly kill it. And now after thirty centuries of rage and impulse, the creature rose from its confines to fight against him once more. All because the minx bit him.

He brought his fingers to her bite low on his throat. He felt indentions, the spot tender. He rose and headed to his bathroom mirror. Rune brushed his hair behind his shoulder, inspecting the side of his neck. A dark oval of teeth marks marred his pale skin. Leading a dream was one thing, marking his body when they had yet to meet quite another.

Rune thinned his lips as he stepped back into his room.

He rolled his neck. Her mark was superficial, not hindering his movement, though quite forward. Her disregard of protocol allowed him to follow suit.

Rune focused his mind and felt for her mental tether. Brushing his mind to hers, he felt her shields still in place. He gripped her tether, focusing his power along it, directing an offensive spell he created to track targets that fled from his court.

Rune cut the connection, initiating his spell. His brow knit together. It held, unscathed. Welling his power, he made a second attempt, and still it held fast.

The inability to cut his mind free of her concerned him. Rune reached for the Familiar King's mind next,Morbid.

Shadow Prince, Morbid's deep purring voice answered in Rune's mind.

I require your assistance on a matter.

I'll see you after I've tended to Angelique. I'll send Sadi ahead.

Rune's thoughts drifted to Morbid's wife and queen. Angelique became ill during her pregnancy with Sadi. She was poisoned, narrowly surviving it. The ordeal left her weakened. Angelique rarely left Chaos, spending her time hidden away in Morbid's sprawling mansion.

Morbid carried a shard of Darkness and was gifted with Sight, the Familiar's ability to see the future. With all he was, he couldn't save his wife. There was no retaliation. The Court of the Black Rose didn't go to war. He didn't call on any of them. Morbid himself was formidable, yet he chose to do nothing.

The Familiar King was a far better man than him. Had Rune been in Morbid's place he would have reduced the realm to ash.

Sadi phased into his realm minutes later as he dressed. His father was a Shadowman created as a caretaker to Hell. Rune, like his father, had Hell stitched into his being. Could feel anyone entering or leaving his realm.

All but other Shadowmen.

When the court was still whole, his father and brothers could feel when Rune entered or left the realm. His vampiric blood gave him away.

Rune made his way to his study. Sadi sat on his desk, the outline of her features lit by Hell's twilight sky streaming in through the intricately designed iron trimmed glass that encompassed the entire back wall.

She wore a black leather under bust corset over a lace halter. Crossing her legs, the high slit in her skirt exposed the length of her leg. Practically a twin to his night breeze. The same dainty features. Same wine-colored lush lips. But Rune's body didn't respond to Sadi. Ra'Voshnik remained silent in her presence.

Sadi's midnight eyes glinted with excitement as she hopped to her feet. "Are we hunting?"

The corner of Rune's mouth lifted. Hunting. A term Sadi used when their court went to war with another. Or when Rune was sent to deliver retribution on behalf of his court. She'd joined him on several occasions.

"No. I am having trouble severing a mental tether. If you could track the line back and give me her location, it would be appreciated."

Sadi stood nearly as tall as Rune in her exaggerated heeled boots that covered her legs to mid-thigh. Her brow raised as she sauntered to him. "Her?"

Rune said nothing and stared straight ahead as Sadi tilted her head. He had no knowledge of how Familiar magic worked. Only that it worked within an entirely different mental plane, he had no access to.

She seemingly peered into his head, brushing her fingertips over the side of his face. Tracing behind his ear and following down his neck. Her finger slid beneath the collar of his shirt, pulling it open. "She bit you."

Amusement lit Rune's eyes. "I would like her location to repay her kindness."

Sadi's expression grew serious. "This is a beacon. But I've never seen one like this."

"Are you certain?" It couldn't be a beacon. Familiar magic wasn't felt. Rune could feel it, had felt it when it struck his mind.

Sadi nodded. "The anchors are deep in your mind. When did this happen?"

"The Hunter's Moon ball. I believed it to be a mental sending. Is she a Familiar then?"

Sadi pulled at his collar, examining her bite mark. "We have fangs, not as pronounced as yours, but a bite like this would have drawn blood."

"Can you remove her beacon?"

Sadi stepped back. "My father should look at it first. It feels like Familiar magic, but it's not constructed the way we would use it."

Rune took his seat behind his desk. "What do you mean?"

Sadi followed, taking a seat on Rune's desk to his left, resting her booted foot on his armrest. "Beacons are meant to be used as a backdoor into a person's mind. We offer a distracting dream, sift through their mind, steal our information, and slip away.

"She constructed a beacon with impressive anchors. Anchors pierce the mind, snaring it to the fantasy we offer. Like when we war and I call outlove and defend me, those are anchors. The mind's I snare, butcher their brothers in arms to protect me." Sadi tilted her head as she sighed, gazing over Hell's jagged landscape as though she were recalling a fond memory.

The information sickened Rune. He'd waited lifetimes for his dark queen. Was any of it real? Did he actually desire his night breeze? Rune met Sadi's gaze and forced the words past his lips, "What delusion did she anchor in my mind?"

Sadi held his gaze, going still. Rune waited agonizing minutes. "I don't see a command woven into the anchors." Sadi squinted, tilting her head like she was peering at something. Studying it. "I think she's using the anchors to hold the beacon in place."

Relief flooded Rune. His dark queen was real.

Morbid appeared in the chair across Rune's desk. The Familiar King slouched in his chair, wearing leather pants, a trench without a shirt, and a magenta scarf that matched the patch of color under his midnight eyes. He set his heavy boots on Rune's desk, crossing his ankles.

Inclining his head, Morbid asked, "Prince?"

"I have a beacon that is anchored to my mind. I would like it removed and her location."

Morbid laced his fingers, setting them on his lap as his brow drew down. He blew out a slow breath. "Such things you plan to do to your mate."

Rune stilled, meeting the Ra'Voshnik as it surged forward. It thrashed beneath his hold.Release me! We must find her.

Rune ignored its furious cries, tightening his hold until it fell silent. He calmly turned his attention back to Morbid. Only a fool discarded a Familiar's words, and that went twice for their king. "My what, now?"

"You've asked for a queen for a very long time. Fate has finally given her to you." Morbid examined his painted black nails.

Our dark queen.The Ra'Voshnik purred at Morbid's words, seizing on them the same moment Sadi said, "How can he have a mate?"

Familiar thought themselves blessed, receiving predetermined mates as a reward for serving Chaos and worshiping fate.

Rune wasn't a Familiar, didn't serve Chaos, and he certainly didn't worship fate. Why would fate tie a Familiar to him? "Familiar call to other Familiar."

Morbid shrugged his broad shoulders, fiddling with the shard of Darkness embedded in the silvery chain that hung around his neck. "I can't say. I did chase your mother for centuries. Maybe all the thinking I did of her made you part Familiar."

Rune exhaled. "That is not amusing."

Morbid laughed, holding his thumb and index finger together. "What's amusing is I was this close to being your father." He dropped his hand to his lap. "But then Julian spoiled my chances by stealing a shard of Darkness for himself."

Rune sighed, glancing upward for patience. He was never truly sure if Morbid fawned for his mother as a way to get under his father's skin or if he truly harbored feelings for Michelle. He glanced at Sadi to assist him in redirecting her father's focus, but her features chilled him. She looked… I'm afraid. Rune thinned his lips. "What is the significance? I do not worship fate as you."

"Being fated ties your life to the other. Death in either will claim you both."

Rune heard that Familiar saying over the centuries, believing it to be an expression of devotion among their kind. Alarmed, he turned his attention to Morbid. "Is my life tied to another?"

Morbid didn't answer.

Ra'Voshnik broke free, circling his mind as hot fury roiled in him. He was into his thirtieth century. Had survived wars. Torture. Only to have his life held by a woman he didn't know. He silently thanked the Darkness. She at least matched him in strength. But being so young, she would be reckless. Not yet aged into her immortal body. Too young. Vulnerable.

Shield our dark queen.

For once Rune agreed with Ra'Voshnik. He would need to protect her to safeguard his life. Join her court. "Where can I find her?" Rune bit off the words. Every moment she spent away from him was an unnecessary risk.

"Let your Ra'Voshnik free," Morbid answered.

I will give chase if you won't,Ra'Voshnik purred as Rune said, "I want to find her, not devour her."

A dark chuckle slid through his mind.So afraid she will prefer me to you.

My queen will tolerate you as I do,Rune growled.

The Ra'Voshnik prowled the edges of his mind.Our queen will purr under my touch. Submit to my bite.

Rune ruthlessly dragged it deep within his mind.You will never touch my dark queen, debase creature.

Whose face do you think she sees in her dreams, polished fool,it hissed.

Rune tightened his hold silencing the Ra'Voshnik and found Morbid arching a brow at him.

"Come now, Prince, we both know the Ra'Voshnik doesn't want to devour her." Morbid paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Unless that's what they're calling it these days."

Rune exhaled. "Do you know her location?"

Morbid gave him an apologetic look. "My words fall on the ears that need to hear them."

A growl slipped from Rune at Morbid's non-answer. "There must be a Familiar binding that will allow me to speak to her the next time she calls me to dream."

"I could offer a binding that would sever your beacon, offer up your queen's location, and let you speak with her during your next dream." Morbid counted off on his fingers, then his gaze raised to meet Rune's. "But I need something from you."

"What do you require?" They were of the same court. If Morbid needed something from Rune, he had only to ask.

"A blood debt."

Rune was not in the habit of offering blood debts. They were binding, permanent. There was no escaping or twisting the debt. The bargain compelled you to comply. They carried through the centuries, concluding in one of four outcomes. The owner relinquished the blood debt, the death of the owner, the death of the one in debt, or the blood debt's completion.

He'd accepted a single blood debt during his long life. One that haunted him. Casting a shadow over his young would-be queen. Rune steepled his fingers, knowing he had no alternative. "The price?"

"A favor." Morbid shrugged.

Vague. But what choice did he have? "Done."

The Familiar King stood, cutting into his palm with his thumbnail, offering it to Rune. "I offer a blood debt, in exchange for fashioning a Familiar binding, the Shadow Prince will owe me a favor."

Had it been anyone else, Rune would have required more specific wording. He'd known Morbid his entire life. Trusted him. Rune stood, grasping Morbid's fingers lightly. "I accept." He bent, running his tongue over Morbid's palm. Straightening, he swallowed the blood, sealing the debt.

Morbid stood, pulling off his magenta scarf to wipe the remaining blood as he healed the cut. Then reached into his pocket, removing a simple obelisk made of lepidolite, and set it on Rune's desk. Only a few inches tall, it looked insignificant.

Morbid inclined his head at Rune. "Your blood will initiate the binding."

"Tell me when you find her." Sadi slid her hand down his back as she stood to join her father.

The Familiar vanished, phasing out of his realm.

Rune took the obelisk and returned to his room. He placed it on the nightstand beside his bed and allowed the Ra'Voshnik to surface. Black flooded his gaze, and his nails became black tipped claws. He dragged a claw over his wrist, his blood forming a thin red line. Turning his wrist down over the obelisk, Rune made a fist as drops of blood fell over the crystal.

It pulsed, coming to life. Rune hissed as Familiar magic stabbed into his mind, hooking deep. The painful sensation, reminiscent of a mental snare. One he couldn't escape.

Rune scarcely made it onto his bed before the spell overtook him. His final thought as he closed his eyes were of his brother Alister and the eight-hundred-year-old blood debt that hung between them.

Darkness helped Alister if his brother proved foolish enough to oppose him.