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CHAPTER 8
Helheim
The Dark King
I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Even as I ferried souls to the underworld, guiding the lost and the damned through the dark corridors of Helheim, my thoughts were consumed by the girl with golden eyes.
I wanted to know her name. I wanted to scream it as I drove myself into her again and again until she screamed mine with every savage climax I wrenched from her trembling body.
I wanted to make her mine.
I shook my head. I was letting my thoughts get out of hand and I needed to focus on what was important.
She was a sacrifice, nothing more. With her life, she would grant me the ultimate power, but for some reason, I didn’t want to kill her just yet. Instead, my curiosity was getting the better of me.Something was telling me that the time wasn’t right, at least not yet.
I needed to wait until the opportune moment. I glanced up at the moon, noting that it was a sliver of light in the sky.
The endless flow of glowing souls drifted around me, their wails and whispers a constant, haunting melody. My duty was to ensure they reached their destination, to guard the balance between realms. But today, the task felt heavier, more burdensome, as if her presence in my realm was distracting me in some way.
I wanted to go back to her.
I stood at the edge of the dark river that separated the land of the living from the dead, watching as the spectral boat ferried another group of souls across the murky waters. The air was thick with the scent of decay and the faint, acrid tang of despair. The shadows here swirled around me like living entities that I could almost touch.
My mind wandered once again.
My little thief…
Images of the marks on her back flashed through my mind. Rage billowed up through me in an instant, turning my vision red. I wanted to know who had hurt her, who had dared to put their hands on what was mine and I growled out loud, the sound noisy and terrifying. The souls around me shrank away and I gritted my teeth, guiding them back on course.
Still, though, I thought of her.
The marks on her skin were a direct affront to my authority. Whoever had dared to mar her perfect flesh would pay dearly fortheir transgression. The thought of someone else laying hands on her was infuriating.
She was mine. Mine to protect, mine to command, mine to punish if necessary, and mine to sacrifice when the time came. Every ounce of pain she endured would be for me and only for me.
No one would touch her again. No one would dare to harm her while she was under my control. I would see to it that every mark on her body was avenged. Those who had wronged her would learn the true meaning of fear.
I would discover her secrets, unravel the mysteries of her past, and in doing so, I would solidify my hold over her. For in the end, my little thief would be mine in every sense of the word.
A glowing green spectral soul passed by as its hollow eyes met mine with a silent plea. I reached out, my touch a cold comfort as I guided it onto the boat. The act was second nature, yet it felt empty today.
Why did she affect me so? Was it merely the prophecy, the fate we seemed destined to share, or was there something more? The idea of being bound to her, of needing her, gnawed at my pride and my sense of control.
Her golden eyes, filled with defiance and pain, haunted me. The scent of her lingered in the air, a sweet vanilla and orange that surrounded me in all that was her. I hated it, hated her for making me feel this way, for stirring emotions I had long buried more than a millennium ago.
I couldn’t let it stand.
I was the Dark King, ruler of Helheim, master of shadows and death, and most important, Dragonborne. I was not supposed to be swayed by a mere mortal, a human girl.
I didn’t want a mate, not now, not ever. Love was a fickle emotion, one that was wrought with inevitable betrayal, and I wouldn’t allow myself to fall prey to such a useless emotion ever again.
I lifted my chin, appraising my kingdom.
As the last of the souls for the day boarded the spectral boat, I turned away from the river, my thoughts still tangled in the web of her presence. The path back to my castle was familiar, the shadows parting before me as I walked. The dark corridors seemed even more oppressive now, the weight of my responsibilities pressing down harder with each step.
I needed to understand her, to unravel the mystery, but more than that, I needed to control the growing obsession that threatened to consume me. I needed to get rid of it once and for all.
