Chapter Eighty-Two

Keiran's POV

The midnight sky above the Midnight Court is bruised and broken, streaked with swirls of violet and crimson, a dangerous twilight that matches the rage inside me. My wings snap open and I launch myself into the night air, slicing through the cold with a force that could tear mountains apart. Snow whips past me in sharp gusts, catching on my skin, stinging with the chill that clings to the air as if the world itself is aware of the tumult within me.

The mountains below are a jagged black spine against the night, rising in sharp cliffs and craggy rocks. The peaks are dusted in snow, the same snow that coats the dark forests of the Midnight Court. There’s nothing but silence in the air, save for the roar of my wings as I cut through the vastness above. I need to burn this anger out of me, to tear it apart piece by piece until there's nothing left but the emptiness that has followed me since the last conversation I had with Xaden.

"Punish her, is my answer. Publicly," Xaden had said.

I can still feel the heat of his words against my skin, still hear the arrogance in his voice. He thinks he knows love. Thinks he understands it. That’s the thing about Xaden—he’s always so quick to act like he has it all figured out. He doesn’t. Not when it comes to Remi, not when it comes to anything that really matters.

And yet—he did love her. I can’t deny that, not even to myself. There’s a part of me, buried deep and not quite acknowledged, that hates him for it. A virgin—him, a virgin (well, not anymore), giving advice on how to love a woman like Remi? She’s not some tame little creature to be folded in carefully with rose petals and soft whispers. She craves more, far more, than that. She needs something raw, something dangerous, something dark that she can sink her teeth into. I gave it to her. And in the end, she chose me.

But now I find out that she’s told him she loves him. Remi and Xaden. The two of them. Together.

The thought claws at me, scraping through my chest like a beast desperate to break free. My hands clench into fists as my wings carry me higher, soaring toward the cold, endless black sky. How? How could she do that to me? I know her, damn it. I know what she needs. I gave her everything. And yet, he gets the words. He gets the love.

The wind cuts through my hair, the chill biting at my face, but I barely feel it. All I can think about is Remi’s soft, beautiful face as she whispered those words to Xaden. “I love you.” The way her eyes must have sparkled.

I soar above the mountains, my gaze fixed on the distant tower where I can barely make out the shape of my black moonstone castle, the very one that should be mine alone. I should’ve been there, should’ve been the one she confided in. Instead, I’m left with this burning, gnawing emptiness.

“Fuck!” I roar into the night, the sound of it cracking through the air like thunder. My wings snap, flaring with the power I can’t seem to control, and I tear through the night even faster. The wind shrieks around me as if it’s caught in my anger, whipping against my skin, urging me forward.

I can’t do this. I can’t—no, I won’t let her choose him over me. I won’t. She belongs to me, and I will remind her of that. I’ll burn this weakness away.

I can’t let her think she can leave me behind, that she can love him. Not after everything we’ve been through, everything I’ve done for her.

So here I am, flying through the cold night, seeking the solitude that only comes when you’re alone in the skies. The tower is close now, and I finally begin to descend, the sharp, wind-whipped air easing as I glide closer to the stone structure. It stands, tall and old, overlooking my castle, where my black moonstone throne waits, cold and empty, just like I feel inside.

I land on the rocky outcrop with a heavy thud, my boots scraping against the rough surface as I come to a stop, staring down at my kingdom below. The sight is beautiful, in its own way, but tonight it’s hollow. There’s nothing for me here. Nothing but the aching absence of the woman who should be at my side.

I stand there for a long time, my wings folding behind me as I close my eyes, letting the icy wind sting my face. I think of Remi’s words to me, the ones she’ll never say again, and I think of Xaden, the bastard who thinks he knows everything.

I think of what he said to me. "Stop being scared."

I had to fight every instinct in my body not to snap when he said that. Me? Scared? Of Remi? Fuck him. I’m not afraid of her, not like he is. He doesn’t understand the weight of what she craves. He doesn’t understand what it’s like to have her in your blood, to know what she needs before she says a word.

But maybe… maybe I need to be the one to teach her. Teach her what it means to belong to me. She doesn’t get to choose someone else. She doesn’t get to give her heart to him.

She will never understand the weight of my love until I show her.

“Punish her,” Xaden had said. And for once, I hear the words clearly in my head. Punish her. Not in some sweet, gentle way. Not in a way that he would. But in a way that makes her remember, makes her feel every inch of the life she’s chosen to turn her back on.

I won’t just take her, like I always have. No. I will humanize her. I will strip her of the illusion she’s built around herself, and I’ll show her just how badly she needs me.

The wind picks up, swirling around the tower as I stand on the precipice, looking down at the moonlit night. It’s cold. Too cold for comfort. But it’s what I need.

I’ll punish her. Publicly. I’ll make her feel every ounce of this. Every shred of desire. And when she’s writhing under the weight of it, then she’ll understand. She’ll understand why she belongs with me, why she can never truly love him.

I’ll make her see.

In the distance, the light from my castle flickers against the snow, the black moonstone glimmering in the light of the rising moon. I watch it for a long moment, the thought of it settling into my mind like a stone in my chest. The castle is mine. She will be mine.

And nothing—nothing—will keep me from her.

Not even the god damn sun.