Chapter Eighty-Five

Keiran wasn’t lying when he said he was restoring the Midnight Court to its former glory. The ballroom is a perfect testament to that claim—grand, glorious, filled with opulence that’s almost overwhelming. Hundreds of chandeliers hang from the high ceiling, each one more extravagant than the last, casting a soft glow over the sea of vampiric figures swarming below. The scent of blood and perfume lingers in the air, mingling with the sound of laughter, music, and whispered conversations.

It’s a world of decadence. A world I never quite imagined, and one I’m still struggling to fit into.

I stand behind the crushed red velvet curtains overlooking the ballroom with the twins, my hands gripping the fabric, my pulse quickening as I take in the sight. The court is in full revelry, the vampires at their most carefree, their masks of elegance barely concealing the hunger beneath their eyes. There’s something thrilling in their presence, something dangerous and electrifying, but it unsettles me more than it excites me.

I’ve never been surrounded by so much power, so much beauty, and yet it feels like the most fragile of things. Like I could shatter it with a single wrong move.

The sheer volume of it—the laughter, the music, the intoxicating smell of blood—is enough to make me dizzy. I’m accustomed to fine things, yes, but my mother’s court was all white and gold, well… human, in the way it felt to me now. Elegant, yes, but soft. Everything here—this place—feels sharper. More real.

“You don’t like it,” Rhodes murmurs from beside me, his voice soft but perceptive as always. “You don’t have to pretend.”

I glance at him, his dark eyes studying me with that calm intensity of his. Even now, with everything swirling around us, he seems unaffected—centered, like he always is. He’s sharp, like his blades, and there’s no mistaking the way he senses everything.

“I don’t,” I admit, my voice barely above a whisper. “It’s… too much. Too loud. Too—”

“Too vampire?” Kallias finishes for me, his tone cutting through the air with a sharpness I’m not used to from him. He steps forward from where he’s been leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. His presence is more than just physical; it feels like a storm that’s just waiting to break.

The tension between us has been building all night. I know what’s coming. I can feel it in the air, thick and suffocating.

“It’s too much for me, Kallias,” I snap, more forcefully than I intend. “But I’m here. I’m going to play my part.”

Rhodes looks at me, his eyes softening slightly, but Kallias... he doesn’t soften. His posture shifts, suddenly rigid, and his eyes flick to the ballroom below. He doesn’t speak immediately, but the air between us is charged with something I can’t quite name.

I’m already so caught up in the chaos of the court, of what it means to be here, but Kallias’ silence presses on me, and I know it’s not just about the court.

“You shouldn’t have gone to him,” Kallias mutters, his voice low but simmering with something darker, something fierce.

I turn toward him sharply, catching the cold edge in his voice. “He’s your brother,” I challenge, my voice low, but fierce.

The words hang between us like a slap. But Kallias doesn’t flinch. Instead, he locks eyes with me, his gaze colder than I’ve ever felt it.
“Not by fucking blood,” Kallias growls, his voice raw with anger. The words are a knife to the chest, sharper than anything I’ve heard from him before.

I step back, shocked, the sting of his words cutting deeper than I thought possible. The raw emotion in his voice—it’s not just jealousy. It’s betrayal, too.

I try to reach for him, to offer some kind of reassurance, but the moment my fingers graze his arm, Kallias pulls away, stepping back with a sharp movement, as though the touch burns him.

“You can’t just choose him, Remi,” he says, his voice rough. “You think you can just walk into this court and take everything they offer you, without thinking of the consequences? You don’t know him the way we do.”

My heart clenches, the weight of his words heavy against my chest. “I know what I’m doing,” I say, my voice firm, though my hands tremble at my sides. “And I’m not going to apologize for it.”

Kallias looks at me for a long moment, his jaw tight. He doesn’t say anything else, but his eyes flicker with something I can’t place—hurt, jealousy, and maybe a little bit of fear.

Then, Rhodes steps in, his quiet voice cutting through the tension. He places a hand on my shoulder, a surprisingly tender gesture, and I shiver under his touch. He’s always been the calm one, but tonight there’s something more—something soft in his gaze, something I didn’t expect.

“It’s not supposed to be like this,” Rhodes murmurs, his fingers brushing the bruise on my neck as he turns me toward him.

I gasp at the unexpected touch, and my pulse quickens, the heat of his hand spreading down my spine. There’s a tenderness in his fingers, a softness that makes my breath catch in my throat. I close my eyes, feeling a flutter of something unfamiliar stir within me.

Before I can say anything, I feel Kallias behind me. His presence is overwhelming, his shadow falling across my skin. He leans down, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. “I’d rather show you how I feel about you than tell you,” he whispers, the words low, dangerous.

I close my eyes at the sound of his voice, but I shake my head, pulling back just enough to meet his gaze. “I need the words, Kallias,” I say quietly. “I need you to tell me. I can’t keep pretending that I don’t need them.”

Kallias stiffens, his expression tightening again, but this time, there’s a flicker of something more—something softer. I can feel it, beneath the anger. Beneath the jealousy.

I stand tall, trying to keep my composure as I speak. “Xaden loves me. I’m with him. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you both. I’m not choosing. I just need the truth. The words.”

The room seems to grow even quieter, the hum of the court’s revelry fading away, just for a moment. Kallias’ eyes flicker, something dark swirling in the depths of them, but he doesn’t say anything.

Rhodes looks between us, his expression unreadable. He gives a nod, his fingers still on the bruises on my neck. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asks, his voice barely a whisper.

I meet his eyes, my heart pounding in my chest. I take a breath, my thoughts clear for the first time in hours. The weight of their gazes on me doesn’t scare me anymore.

“I can make my own decisions,” I say, my voice steady. The words feel powerful now, each one slipping from my lips with more certainty than I ever imagined.

Rhodes watches me for a moment longer, then steps back, his face softening just a fraction.

A voice calls my name from below, breaking the stillness. The court has gone quiet, the crowd parting as they wait for me. My heart races in my chest as the moment finally arrives.

I glance back at the twins. Kallias and Rhodes both stand tall, but their eyes are different now—jealous, protective, uncertain.

“I’m sure of this,” I say softly, my voice low enough that only they can hear.

The tension in the room crackles, thick and suffocating, as I stand between the twins, my heart pounding in my chest. The air feels heavier now, laden with expectations, jealousy, and something else—something unspoken. The weight of the court’s eyes pressing into me makes the silence feel like it’s pushing against my ribs, crushing the breath from my lungs.

Rhodes exchanges a look with Kallias, his sharp gaze meeting his brother’s, and for a moment, something passes between them—something that’s too complex, too full of emotion for me to understand. Then, without a word, Rhodes picks up a thick, heavy object from the table beside us—a chain, dark and heavy, its links gleaming in the low light of the ballroom.

The chain is cold to the touch, but as I hold it, I feel the heat of the moment seep into me. My fingers tremble as I tie the leash around my neck. The weight of it hangs heavily, reminding me of the position I’m in. The choice I’ve made. The choice that has led me here, to this very moment.

I feel a lump form in my throat, my heartbeat picking up pace. The cold metal against my skin makes me feel more than just bound. It makes me feel like I’m being claimed—owned. But as much as it terrifies me, as much as it stirs something dark inside of me, it also feels like power.

Like this is my moment. This is where everything changes.

Rhodes stands a little closer now, his presence more palpable than ever. His hand hovers near the chain around my neck, his fingers brushing against the metal. His eyes are unreadable as they shift from Kallias to me, but there’s something in the way he watches me, some soft undercurrent of emotion that tugs at me.

I have to move, I have to take a step forward-submit myself to the Midnight King and become something even darker and twisted than him-than the people who occupy his court. But my legs, my legs are frozen.

Come on, Remi. Move.

One small movement of my legs, I can do this. I can hold my own. Even in this terrifyingly beautiful court of vampires-

A gentle, yet sure tug on my leash stops me. From Rhodes. Not too hard to hurt me, or hard enough for the others to notice, but enough to make me feel it.

Rhodes leans over a foot and a half to meet my ear. His hand, possessively around my back, moves slightly down my hips. "Not so fast," he smiles, taking the leash in his hands.

Xaden is so forward with his demons that I often forget there is a darker, twisted person in Keiran's court than him. Rhodes hides it so much better. Behind the most beautiful male face I've ever seen.

His lips barely move as he speaks. "Did you think we'd award you the decency of walking?” he whispers, his voice low, almost intimate.

The crowd, vicious and reeling, laughs at his words. There's no way he means this, there's no way they're going to make me-

"Crawl," says the darker twin. And when I don't immediately comply, the so-called nicer one pushes me to my knees.