Chapter 2

ZEKE

Pain. That was the first thing I felt. A deep, throbbing pain at the back of my skull, spreading down my neck untill it burned.

The second thing I felt was fear.

I gasped awake, my breath puffing out of me as I sat up too fast. My head spun, my vision tilting before snapping into focus. Cold stone beneath me, damp air curling around my skin. A cell. A godsdamned dungeon.

No. No, no, no.

I shot to my feet, my balance wavering. My hands were bound behind my back with thick, iron cuffs, and and quickly spun around, trying to find it. But my bags—my loot—gone. Every last piece of treasure I’d risked my neck for, stolen right from under me. A thief, undone by another thief no doubt by the guards that had taken me.

I cursed under my breath, pacing to the far end of the cell where a tiny, barred window sat high up on the wall. The only sliver of light in this miserable hole.

Grimacing, I pressed up against the rough stone and tried to get a look outside. The world tilted at an impossible height—a dense forest curled around and beyond the forest, rows of houses stretched in the horizon.

I sucked in a breath, my chest tightening.

The only place high enough to see this view… was the palace.

Shit.

I slammed my shoulder against the bars, rattling them hard. "Hey!" My voice cracked, rough from disuse. "Let me out of here, you bastards!"

Silence.

I kicked the bars, my pulse hammering. This was bad. No—this was worse than bad. Getting caught in the lower city? That, I could handle. Bribery worked wonders, and I always had a backup escape plan.

But this? This was a death sentence.

I gritted my teeth, my fingers twotching to yank my hair in frustration.

Then—footsteps.

Slow, familiar footsteps. The kind that told me someone was taking their time, enjoying this.

I turned quickly, my muscles coiling.

Vael stood on the other side of the bars, arms crossed, a smirk curling his lips. Behind him, a handful of guards loomed like statues, their expressions empty.

“Well, well,” Vael drawled, tilting his head. “Look who finally fucked up.”

I glared at him. "Vael."

He hummed, rocking back on his heels. "You know, I always figured you’d slip one day. Thought it’d be the lower guards who’d drag you in. Never expected you’d be dumb enough to steal from the king himself."

I went still.

The king? He never told me I was taking from the king.

I forced out a laugh, though my throat felt tight as I glanced at the men. "Steal from the king? Don’t be ridiculous. I have standards."

Vael grinned like he hadn’t just set me up. "Then explain why you’re here."

A cold sweat crept down my spine. I had stolen a lot of things, but I never once thought—

No. It didn’t matter. I just had to get out.

"Look," I started, stepping forward, and flipping my head back. "this is all just a big misunderstanding. Come on, Vael. You and I both know I—"

Vael waved a hand, bored. "Take him."

Before I could react, the guards moved, unlocking the door. I jerked back, twisting, but one of them grabbed me by the shoulder, another wrenched my bound arms, and a third yanked me forward.

"Get off me, you assholes!" I shouted, kicking out.

One of them grunted as I nailed him in the thigh, but his grip didn’t loosen. Another guard snarled and yanked my head back by my hair.

I hissed through my teeth. "You’re all a bunch of cowards."

Vael just chuckled. "Keep telling yourself that."

They dragged me out of the cell, down a narrow corridor lined with flickering lanterns. The air reeked of damp stone and—blood, maybe. It did nothing to ease the growing pit in my stomach.

I tried to get my bearings, but the guards moved fast, shoving me forward with rough hands.

Then, doors loomed ahead—heavy, carved from dark wood. The throne room.

My breath came fast.

I wasn’t an idiot. I knew what happened to people who were brought before the king. They didn’t leave.

At least not alive.

The guards shoved the doors open, and I was thrown forward into the vast chamber. My knees slammed hard against cold marble, and I barely caught myself before my face met the floor.

I sucked in a deep breath and looked up.

A throne sat at the far end, towering and carved from black and golden stones that gleamed in the dim light. And on it, a man sat still, his face obscured by a dark veil.

King Darius.

Shit.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to straighten. "I have done nothing wrong, my king," I said, my voice ringing through the silent hall. It was a lie, obviously, but one I knew how to tell well. "You’ve got the wrong guy."

Darius exhaled, slow and deep. Then—

"You are a thief," he said, his voice low as it rang through the chamber, sending a shiver down my spine. "And worse, you stole from me."

The room felt too quiet, the air too thin.

I wet my lips. "Stealing is a strong word," I hedged. "I like to think of it as… redistributing wealth."

No response. Not even a shift of posture.

Alright. Time to lay it on thick.

"If I had known the items belonged to you, Your Majesty, I never would’ve—"

Something flew through the air.

I barely had time to react before a crystal-clear gem struck the ground before me, shattering on impact. A sharp shard sliced across my cheek, a thin drop of blood trailing down.

I froze.

The silence deepened.

Darius’s voice was steel. "Where is it?"

My heart pounded, my hands shook. "Where is what?"

Darius rose from his throne.

The dim light hit him at a new angle, and for the first time, I saw it—his hands. One was dark gold, smooth, human. The other—

A clawed thing of obsidian and molten veins, flexing like it had a mind of its own.

I went cold.

A monster. The rumors had been true.

I barely had time to react before Darius moved, faster than a man his size should, closing the space between us in a blink. Clawed fingers wrapped around my throat, yanking me up off the ground.

I choked, gasping as my feet left the floor, my bound hands useless.

"You're a thief," Darius hissed, his voice a growl. "But you are not just a thief, are you? You’ve taken something more than mere gold, more than trinkets."

I struggled, thrashing in his grip, but his hold was like iron. His words came out in a snarl, each one laced with anger. "Not someone like you. Weak. Helpless."

I couldn't breathe. My vision blurred, the room spinning as I gasped for air, my chest constricting under his tight pressure. "W-What are you talking about?"

Darius shook his head, his teeth grinding together with a sound loud enough for me to hear, the sound filled with fury. "You are nothing, nothing but a worm, a petty thief. But you—" behind the vail, his eyes flashed, sending a cold shiver down my spine. "You stole the one thing that could save me."

I didn’t understand. I could barely breathe, let alone make sense of the words that came out kid his mouth.

Darius threw me to the ground, stepping back, taking a deep breath as though he were fighting to control himself. I stayed on the cold stone, writhing, my lungs burning from the lack of air.

His golden and black hand flexed in front of me, claws elongating, and his eyes—through the veil—never left mine. His voice was tight, strained with anger, as he stepped closer. I scrambled back, my whole body shaking, because this king was death itself, and there was nowhere to hide.

Then he yanked the veil off his head. My breath caught in my throat. Half of his face was covered in golden scales, glowing amber eyes staring down at me, while the other half was human, as though the gods themselves had torn him in two.

He stepped closer again. His hand gripped my hair, yanking my head back so I had no choice but to look at him. I gritted my teeth to hold back any sound, any reaction.

His clawed hand hovered over my cheek, and in one swift motion, he swiped at the blood trailing down. He brought it to his lips, his eyes never leaving mine.

But then—

I gasped as pain shot through me, my chest tightening as though something inside was being crushed. The world blurred, and Darius let go of me just as I spat out blood onto the cold floor.

“W-what did you do to me?” I gasped, my voice barely a whisper, only to meet his gaze—his eyes glowing amber as he glared at me.

“This must be a joke. Another cruel curse!” He said as he shook his head, eyes wide.

I tried to push myself to my feet, but Darius stepped closer, his shadow swallowing me whole.

His voice dropped lower, as he said. “I will bleed every last drop of blood from you, thief, if that is what it takes to get back what you’ve stolen from me.”

He leaned in, his breath a soft hiss against my skin, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “My salvation. Fate be damned for what it has given to me.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I choked, gasping for air as my mind raced, but nothing helped.

Darius’s gaze felt like it crushed and when he turned to the guards, I knew there was no way I was getting out of here.

“Take him away.”

I shot to my feet, stumbling forward, desperate. "No! You can’t—!"

Before I could make another move, a guard struck me hard across the back of the head. My world tilted and I fell to the ground hard, Darius retreating figure in my sight.

“Not only did you curse me with this disease…” His voice was low, the words echoing, “but now, you’ve cursed me with a human mate, too.”

Then, the darkness swarmed in faster than I could blink, and everything went black.