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Kleitos’s fingers wove through his hair as he recollected. “I had a feeling he was involved. It was either with your death or with a kidnapping. I tracked him for weeks, memorizing his every move. When I finally got him alone, I did what I had to. I kidnapped him.” No remorse, only cold finality. “He told me everything, his plan, your fate. And when I learned Victor had tried to kill you, I was furious. I nearly killed Draco just for speaking such monstrous things.”

My eyebrow shot up as I sized him up once more. Kleitos was fairly bigger than Lord Draco but the thought of him just taking him from his routine was absurd. He must have really been dangerous. He was only a few inches taller than me, but he seemed so friendly I couldn’t picture it. But I also couldn’t picture the affair and that too did happen.

“But then he told me about the Oracle. Corpus swore he hadn’t killed you.” A light sharpened in his eye. Maybe it was pride or faith. “I know I should’ve come for you. It was never meant to be that way.” He stood, circled the table, and knelt at my side. “I couldn’t risk exposing anything until you turned fully. I had to wait. I wish I could make every wrong between us right. And maybe, with time, I will. But right now, son, we don’t have that luxury.”

His eyes held mine, intent and unblinking, his hand settling on my shoulder. “I needed to tell you now—so you won’t waste time grieving what can’t be changed. From here on, I’ll teach you how to be the King I know you’re meant to be.”

King. That word was getting thrown around so loosely around me now I was becoming numb to it. Yet, when he said it the mark against my chest flickered to life.

TAINTED | CHAPTER 16

Reunion

When dawn broke, Lord Draco came to find us, escorting us back up from the chamber below. Head Maiden Elaine accompanied me back to my apartment alone this time, quietly telling me Lady Corpus had been sleeping. The whole estate went to bed beside the three of us. It was becoming normal for her to lead with silence.

Now I was back in the guest quarters, aimlessly rustling through the warm blood bags on the cart she had left for me. With the weight I had felt from the earlier conversation, I couldn’t find the small thrill or disgust I felt for the act. My fangs punctured through the thick plastic without care, tearing it free. The thick crimson rushed down my throat in rivers. It was warm against my sensitive stomach. My nerves were still shot from the meeting; the blood helped me through the spurts of adrenaline.

My father, this world’s father, had to leave as soon as possible. I was glad for the space, but that small inner child felt like he would disappear. Just like how Mark had. But he had explained he was still exiled from the kingdom, and he didn’t want to risk being seen too soon. I didn’t know when I’d see him again, but as soon as I parted with Head Maiden Elaine, he dipped from my vision, his scent fading behind me. It was devastating how two scents, a damn aroma, were becoming my biggest distractions.

I couldn’t bring myself to feel sorry for him. And a foolish part of me wanted to understand him. But there was really no remorse that I could detect in him about the affair itself. Both of them were lost in lust. Even if he said he didn’t love her, he was trying to appease her when she felt lonely. That somehow felt worse than just straight lust, because in some measure, there had been care beneath it all. The only difference is—they did it publicly. And it broke me.

Crumpling the plastic between my fingers, I tossed it back on the cart and lay in bed resting my thoughts. I might as well join the estate in their rest because my mind couldn’t take the waking world. A yawn rose through my lungs, raising my back off the mattress. Tossing in bed, I stretched to get comfortable, until sleep claimed me. It was one of the restless kinds of slumbers, where I still felt aware of the world.

At first, I was oblivious of whether I truly was asleep, because I was exactly where I was before. My body was lying in the same bed, same room, same position. There was nothing out of the ordinary, but in the far right of the room loomed a dark shadow. It covered the mouth of the balcony, and its shadow swallowed the hearth whole.

It was the same scentless figure from days ago. It pulsated a black light against the walls as it glided to the center of my room, watching.

It slowly slithered towards the end of my bed, trailing a shadow behind it. My limbs twitched against the mattress, but were met with stiff muscles, stuck. My stomach knotted remembering the last time it had compelled me to be immobilized. My chest tightened, almost bracing itself to be dug into again. I couldn’t even nod my head, as its body closed in. Once at my eye line, I could finally define some of those formless features. It had a humanoid face hovering just beneath the surface. It was buried behind deep shadow, but unmistakably there.

The mist didn’t move. Just hovered…silently. The sheer anticipation had my heart pounding against my ribs in that all too familiar feeling. What did this thing want with me? I couldn’t explain how I was hovering in consciousness before, but the moment it appeared, I knew I was riding a wave. I was somewhere caught between dreaming and waking. Maybe not even that.

Slowly, it reached the side of me, its shadowy body gliding through the air. One long, blackened arm reached for my face. It was the strangest feeling. I felt no skin, no warmth, just strange pressure. And from that touch, a current, like air, flowed against my skin. It was light at first until it penetrated the pores of my face, reaching into my system. I stilled into shock from the adrenaline.

Leaning closer, so its phantom mouth could brush my ear. Its breath was cool against the skin as it whispered in a voice low and distorted, but unmistakably male: “Do not be scared. We’ve been waiting for you. I’ll come again…with the others.”

Before I could even react, the vapor vanished. The second the entity was gone, my eyelids flew wide open. Sweat dripped down my temples as my hand flew to my chest, trying to ease the gasp in my throat. What did it mean by the others? Lately, I haven’t been sure what to make of my dreams—what was real, what wasn’t. That thing that kept appearing felt more than real. I just had no way to know if it was without risking sounding crazy. That had to be my brain playing tricks, not reality. I hoped for that, because if that shadow was real… I didn’t even want to imagine it.

Fear coiled through me as I wiped the sweat away from my forehead. I kicked the blanket from my body to let the cool temperature of the room envelope me. A yawn slipped through my throat as my head lulled against the pillow, glancing around the room.

To my surprise, Valentina sat curled on a loveseat near the hearth, a book in her hands.

She looked like a morning promise in her gown. It was a soft yellow that made the room look less like Eari and more like a place where the sun still remembered us. Ruffles climbed her arms in deliberate waves; the bodice laced tight like armor. Ivory skirts spilled in stacked tiers, whispering when she subtly moved. Her white hair was a crown of winter above all that warmth. Just at the hollow of her throat, a small locket rested, catching the candlelight each time she breathed. I couldn’t decide if she looked like a promise or a threat, only that I would follow either one.

Whenever I woke, she had managed to stun me more than the last. Every garment that she wore framed her so elegantly. It should have been criminal. I found my eyes wandering before I rose from my position. It could have been more than friendly interest drawing me forward, but I pretended it was all the same. Before I could let my impulse win, I stopped just a breath away from her, leaning against the wall. I shouldn’t get so close to her after that last time alone. I knew she could hear my steps just like I heard the steady rise of her breath, but we both stayed quiet for a moment. Valentina had still been engrossed in whatever story she was reading. But after a moment, flipping her book down on the armrest, she looked up. Her expression was soft, glowing in the firelight.

Just breathtaking.

“So… how was it?” she asked gently, as she leaned deeper into the seat. Her legs curled underneath her, pulling the soft fabric of her skirt around her.

The mention of Kleitos stirred complicated feelings through me, but since she was asking honestly, I couldn’t help but answer that way. “It was… not what I expected,” I admitted. I didn’t even know what to expect. I thought maybe Lord Draco wanted to advise me about training, or maybe even give me more information about Velarune itself. Meeting my biological father was still blowing a part of my mind that I didn’t want to admit. He seemed sincere in words, and he never excused himself from his wrongdoing. It was just that the level of offense he committed was so obscene. I’d have to learn to trust him. “Why didn’t you tell me he was still here?” I asked as my eyes raked over her. I kept my voice low, uncertain who might be listening beyond the walls. There was an unexpected hurt that rose in my chest by it. She could have told me, and it felt like she owed me that with all the truth she was revealing.

Valentina shifted in her seat, her arms folding around herself, as she sighed. It took her a moment before she answered thoughtfully, “It was never my place to say. Secrets like that belong to the hand of the king.” She tried to smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes fully. I could hear the pressure behind the words as if she contemplated telling me, but couldn’t. Her gaze felt like it was trying to send me waves of warmth.

A beat passed between us, as I thought. How much more could she be hiding? I knew she wouldn’t even consider it that. Looking at her now, I could see in her face the innocence that was front and center before anything else. What was worse was how beautiful that face was covering up what could be a manipulative mind.

Even without the mental link tethering us both, she noticed every shift in me. With a coy smile, she leaned forward into the chair. “If you’ve got the energy… I have something sentimental for you.” Her smile deepened, changing the subject. “While you were with your father, Arianna and Bomani returned. Your human parents are in Velarune.”

With the mention of my parents, my heart jolted. It felt like a lifetime since I’d seen them. They’d been in my thoughts every day since I’ve been here. I just wanted my mom. No matter what the hell that these people threw at me, she would be solid. That’s all that I needed right now, just someone whole.