Chapter Forty-One

***Remi***

The second I walk out the doors, Kallias and Rhodes are waiting.

“What the fuck, Xaden?” Kallias peels from his place in the hall, lowering his raised foot from the wall and stalking over to the two of us.

Rhodes is there, just behind us, a thin blade already to the Demon Slayer’s neck.

“Lower your weapon,” there’s a threat Xaden’s words, but somehow, even more of one in Rhodes has left unspoken.

Kallias looks me up and down. “Did he hurt you?”

I shake my head.

“Emotionally?”

“For fucks sake,” Xaden sighs, walking away from Rhodes's blade and nicking his neck in the process.

The second Xaden isn’t at my side, I feel warm, scarred hands encompass me, and I melt involuntarily into Rhodes's touch.

The tension between the twins and Xaden is enough to sharpen a knife. They’re all a foot and a half taller than me, so I have to crane my neck to see their expressions, but even from down here, I can tell that the glint of danger in all three of the males' eyes is jealousy.

Territorial, possessive, male vampire nonsense.

“I need to see Keiran,” I say out loud, mostly to break up whatever catfight is going on in the Demon Slayer and ex-warrior’s minds. “Where is he?”
Still, the three males don’t break eye contact. Kallias steps in front of me, like a shield.

I have to fight the urge not to roll my eyes.

“Fine,” I say, pulling away from Rhodes' comforting touch and heading down the hall. “I’ll find it myself.”

“Find what?” Kallias calls, still rooted to the spot with his hands on the hilts of his weapons.

“Keiran’s tomb.”

Three sets of loud, heavy footsteps, immediately start after me.

Babies, all three of them.

“It’s daytime,” Xaden says, sounding a little bored. “You can’t disturb him.”

“I don’t care,” is all I reply, then turn back to the children in full grown men’s bodies and place my hands on my hips. “where is it?”

They all just stare at me. These three are no Kings, but they carry the same power as Keiran, maybe more. I’m not sure when the last time someone else, let alone a teenage girl, ordered them around like they were nothing.

Whatever.

“Like I said, I’ll find it myself.”

I’m not sure when was the last time a teenage girl defied them, either.

I started back the way I was going. From the top of Xaden’s dark tower, I start down the stairs. When I hit ground level, there’s the option to go down further, into the basement of Twilight House.

Easy enough.

“You won’t get far,” Xaden says suddenly behind me.

I hadn’t heard his footsteps, and I jolted. But I ignore him just the same, yank back the door, and keep going down the nearly dark tower.

“You need magic to get into the tomb,” Xaden says.

“Which I have.”

“Incredibly powerful magic.” He’s just behind me, towering over me.

“Like calls to like,” I say.

“If you wake him up in the daytime, he could very well kill you.”

I square my shoulders, fold my arms over my chest, and wait for the Demon Slayer out.

However bored he was before, it disintegrates. His sharp expression folds into something more curious, and with a sigh, he unlocks the final heavy set door.
Maybe I have to defy him more often.

I seem to always get what I want.

Without waiting for me to enter, Xaden presses into the pitch black hallway. Within seconds I nearly trip over him, and with a grunt, he takes my hand in his and leads me down the hallway.

At some point, we go down more stairs, this time lit with the soft, distant glow of candles. When we reach the bottom, it’s much colder, and I shiver from a chill in the air.

We’re far below ground now.

With a burst of what looks like a glowing shadow, Xaden unlocks the door. He pulls it open to reveal an empty annex and a second diamond-black door.
“After you,” he says, his face a mask of cruel amusement.

On the second door, I lift up the handle and pull it open.

The room beyond is nothing like the dark, foreboding castle above. This hidden chamber is a stunning contrast, an all-white onyx courtroom that gleams with an otherworldly radiance. The walls and floor are crafted from pristine, white stone, each block so perfectly polished that it seems to emit its own soft glow. Golden veins run through the stone, catching the light and shimmering with a warm, inviting luster.

The room is vast, easily as grand and expansive as Kieran’s throne room above, perhaps more so. Tall pillars line the sides, each one intricately carved with scenes of celestial beauty—stars, moons, and mythical creatures that seem to dance in the flickering candlelight. The ceiling is a marvel in itself, an arched dome adorned with a mural of a night sky, painted so vividly that it feels like one could reach up and touch the constellations.

Hooded figures move silently through the space, their robes a deep, rich blue that contrasts sharply with the white stone. They glide across the floor with an almost ethereal grace, their faces hidden in the shadows of their hoods. The courtroom is nearly empty, the quiet only broken by the soft rustle of their robes and the distant echo of footsteps.

At the far end of the room, where one might expect to find a throne, there is instead a large, rectangular table. The chairs around it are intricately carved, their high backs adorned with gold and silver inlays. Kieran stands there, pacing back and forth, his presence commanding even in this serene setting. His ice-blue eyes flash with a cold, fierce determination, and his dark blonde hair catches the light as he moves.

Seated at his side is a woman with fiery red hair that cascades down her back in a waterfall of curls. She exudes a calm, quiet authority, her gaze steady and piercing. I recognize her immediately—Vienna.

I exchange a glance with the Demon Slayer. “Like I said, I’ll find it myself."

I swear, something like a smile passes over his cold, hard features.

But then, on a cold wind, the might of the Midnight King forces our gazes back to him.

“What the fuck is she doing here” Kieran snaps at Xaden, his frustration evident in the sharpness of his tone. His ice-blue eyes lock onto mine with something I’ve never seen before.

Disappointment, perhaps. Or hatred.

“Guards,” he calls, dismissing me with a wave. He looks more stressed, yet determined, than I’ve ever seen him before.

My heart drops to my throat. I anticipate his words before he can finish them.

“Take her to the dungeons, I’m done with her.”

Yes, I think that is certainly hatred emanating from the Midnight King. So much so that I think it fractures my heart.

As two guards peel from the walls, weapons drawn, the King waves a hand over at Xaden. “Come here, I need you to help me with something before we go.”
But to everyone’s surprise. Xaden holds his ground.

Keiran takes notice. Cocks his head. He's processing what has happened between us, or what he thinks happened.

Keiran cocks his head in a way that reminds me of Xaden. Maybe I’ve got it wrong this whole time. Maybe the King is more evil.

But the glare from Xaden suggests an equal battle.

Keiran has a throne but is weakened, dying. Xaden has his true powers.

The King slides his hands in his pockets and walks to the front of the table. The way he leans against it, is so elegant and casual despite the chaos around him. It reminds me of the night we met.

I was afraid back then of him, but not anymore.

No one is putting anything in my mouth.

Not unless I want it.

Keiran’s laugh slithers out of his chest like a snake from the shadows. “What? Do you care for her now? Didn’t you say something about shoving your cock–”

“Enough.” Xaden's voice is ice and wind.

The King laughs again. His ice-blue eyes have never looked so mischievous, so cruel. "The Offering is mine."

Xaden doesn't need to draw his blades to make a threat. "The Ceremony is complete, she is no longer yours."

It took me twenty years, but I finally found my voice. "I saw your Black Pearl," I say quietly, then speak louder when Keiran doesn't look at me. "I want to sail on Vienna's ship to the Island."

Keiran snaps his head towards me. "Your family has stolen enough from me and my people, what's to say you won't take the Pearl for yourself? Kill everyone in the city and forests, too?"

Vienna looks up from the various maps and papers before her. The mention of the Forest People so freely...it seems unnatural for her to hear.

Perhaps as the clock travels closer to midnight the king becomes more desperate. More insane.

Keiran grants me a look that suggests that he is, in fact, insane. Then he nods to the guards, encouraging them forward. "I decide what to do with her."

Xaden takes a step in front of me. His hands twitch on the hilt of his weapons. "Remi decides what to do with herself. *Fuck *your population."

The tension in the air is one of murder and war. Vienna stands, and for the first time in her life, looks terrfied. She stalks over to me, Keiran is so caught up in his power fight that he doesn't seem to notice, or care.

She barely has time to shield me, to wrap her arms around me and pull me away, before magic, from both sides of the room, explodes forward in a mist of fury.
The Midnight King
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