Defy the Void Read online

  “You don’t know love the way I do,” I told her. “My family died trying to protect me and my brother. My brother was taken from me. My younger brother, someone I should have protected.”

  “He made a stupid choice, and now he suffers the consequences,” Daphne snapped, wrinkling her nose.

  “You’re right,” I said. “But it’s still my duty to find him. To try. If you had a brother, a sister –”

  “Don’t.” The word was low but sharp. “Don’t you dare tell me what I would or wouldn’t do. You can’t possibly know that. I don’t even know that.”

  “I do know that,” I insisted. “Because maybe you never had siblings, but I’ve seen how you are with Mattie. Hell, how you were with me before…before everything. You watched over us, corrected us, lectured us, advised us. And I know you would protect us. You would give us your life. You might not have anyone you’re obligated to because of blood ties, but I’ve always felt like your sister.”

  “And yet, you choose to follow a ghost,” she said with a sneer. “If I’m your sister, why not stay here? Why choose to make a deal with the devil?” She dropped her eyes to look at my body, her nose wrinkling further. “Why give your body to a dead man? Why would you do this?”

  “Family,” I said. “I do see you as my sister, Daphne, but I have a responsibility to my brother. I have to find him. I have to make sure he’s okay. Just as I know you’d do the same thing for me if you saw me taken away by shades.”

  “But that’s impossible,” she managed to get out. “We both know shades can’t carry –”

  “And that’s why I’m telling you not to be so naive,” I said. “Just because they say it doesn’t mean it’s true. Think about it, Daphne. Those things we were fighting when you pulled out the dagger and I called Keaton here, those things could attack. They looked like shades, didn’t they? Maybe bigger, but they could touch us. They could hurt us. If I hadn’t called Keaton –”

  “Don’t say his name again, Kara,” Daphne said. She had drawn the dagger again, pointed it at my neck.

  I locked eyes with her. “I’m sorry,” I said, hoping it came across as sincere. “I’m just, I’m used to it. But the truth is, Kea – He’s not as bad as everyone makes him out to be.”

  She scoffed, rolling her eyes but dropped her arm holding the dagger. “Please,” she said.

  “I’m not kidding,” I said. I tried not to get defensive because then she wouldn’t listen, and even if she didn’t believe me, I had to tell her. “Davidson clearly trusts you, right? He gave you Kea – his dagger, didn’t he? What are you supposed to do with it?”

  Daphne glanced down at the weapon and shifted but made no move to answer my question. Instead, she smiled, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Yes, he gave me this,” she murmured. “Did you know he almost killed Keaton with it? He threw it at Keaton but your husband popped away. Davidson collected it and gave it back to me. We will kill him, you know.”

  “You won’t,” I said. “I won’t let you.”

  Daphne rolled her eyes but said nothing.

  I shifted tactics. I wasn’t in the mood for games.

  “Fine,” I said. “I get why you don’t trust me. I do. But at least look into this stuff, Daphne. I’m telling you, my experience with him isn’t anywhere what I thought I would be. When he took me to the Void, he didn’t touch me. Not once.”

  “You had to have touched him if you’re bound to him,” she said with a sneer. “Even I know that.”

  “Yeah, I did,” I said. “After we got married. He could have forced me. Honestly, I thought he might. But he didn’t. He didn’t even sleep in the same room as me.”

  “He was probably just trying to get you to trust him.”

  “Maybe,” I allowed. “But with his magic, he doesn’t have to. Think about it, Daphne. Why wouldn’t he just rape me? If he’s as dangerous and as cruel as Davidson and everyone else say, why not fuck me until he had his fill of me, force me to marry him, and then leave once everything was taken care of? The only reason we came here was so I could get him a picture of Richard. Because he found Richard, or, at least, a lead. And he refuses to take me with him –”

  “Because he’s lying to you–-”

  “Because he wants to protect me,” I snapped. I wasn’t going to have her doubt Keaton even if it was warranted. “He doesn’t want to risk me.”

  “Well, duh. If anything were to happen to you, he would be right back where he was before,” she said. “Maybe not locked up in his crypt or anything, but he couldn’t move freely from world to world.”

  “I’m just saying,” I said. “I’m not telling you to trust him. I’m telling you there are things Davidson and the Keepers aren’t telling us. Even you have to admit that.”

  “I don’t have to admit shit,” she said.

  I pressed my lips together. “Why are you here?” I asked.

  “Someone has to make sure you don’t call him here,” she said. “And apparently, I got the short straw.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Please. You wanted to be here. That, or you want me to call him here. That’s it, isn’t it? You can pretend all you want, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some kind of trap set here. What, are the bars made of obsidian or something?”

  I glanced at the bars to check for myself but I couldn’t tell. They were black, but that could mean anything.

  Daphne smirked but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m here because I had to know why you chose to betray us for a heathen,” she said. “After Davidson took you in, treated you like a daughter, this is how you repay him?”

  “Shouldn’t you be thanking me?” I asked.

  “What?”

  “Now that I’ve betrayed Davidson, he might finally treat you like the daughter he never had,” I snapped.

  Daphne reacted more quickly than I anticipated. She placed the tip of the blade to my neck, this time, cutting me just enough to draw blood.

  Now, it was my turn to smirk. “Touchy,” I said. “You have to wonder, though. He found you first. So, why did he like me better? Why would he have chosen me for whatever mission he’s having you do even though he found you first? Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Why am I special?”

  I backed away from the bars, my point made. She might have inadvertently thwarted my plan to call Keaton to me, but now that I thought about it, I was glad. Something had to be within the cell that would have trapped him or prevented him from escaping. He had already fallen into their clutches once; I refused to have him ensnared again, even if it meant being trapped myself.

  But then, I couldn’t help but wonder, why did she stop me from saying his name? If the point was to lure him here using me as bait, why did she stop me at all? Maybe there wasn’t something here to trap him. I just didn’t think I wanted to take that risk. I wouldn’t let Keaton fall into the Keepers’ clutches again. Not if I could help it.

  Chapter Three

  Keaton

  Where the fuck was she?

  And why hadn’t she called him yet?

  Surely, the girl wasn’t stupid. Maybe naive on certain things, idealistic on others. And for some reason, she still had faith in a brother she hadn’t seen in years. But she should know she could call Keaton and he would get her, didn’t she?

  Granted, Keaton knew he could pop back up to the academy if he really wanted to. But he didn’t know where she was. And he didn’t want to waste time. But staying here…he refused to do that either.

  Just as he was about to vanish his way back to that fucking place, a familiar knock lingered on his door. Keaton glared at the disturbance, as though this entire thing was his guest’s fault. And knowing who it was, Keaton wouldn’t be surprised.

  Keaton all but stalked to the door, ripping it open – nearly off its hinges – and leaned forward to meet the cool, calm stare of his brother. “What do you want?”

  “Well,” Ambrose said haughtily, moving into the home without Keaton explicitly inviting him in. “I know you’ve
consummated the marriage, so this crankiness must stem from somewhere else.” Keaton slammed the door shut and whirled around. “Tell me, Brother. Where’s the blushing bride? I wanted to speak with her about an important matter –”

  “They have her.”

  “I’m sorry?” There was a small smile on Ambrose’s face. If concern wasn’t painted in his eyes, Keaton would have thought Ambrose was mocking him, which wouldn’t have been a smart thing for his brother to do right now.

  “She’s back with the fucking Keepers,” he snarled, stalking past him. His fingers dug into his palms and he refused to look at his brother.

  “How could that have possibly happened?” His brother demanded to know. He gave Keaton a stern look, hands on his hips, glaring. Accusing.

  Keaton shifted. Just because Ambrose was taller didn’t mean Keaton couldn’t be intimidating when the situation called for it. He stretched himself to his full height, eyes narrowed, brow furrowed over his eyes. “Careful,” he warned, his voice rough with the strain he seemed to be enduring when it came to hanging onto his last shred of sanity. “I’m not in the mood. I need to get her back to me. I was going to do just that. But I –”

  “You can’t go back to the academy,” Ambrose said. “What if they entrap you again? What if this whole thing was a trap?”

  “I’m sure it fucking is,” Keaton snapped.

  “How did this happen?” Ambrose had the audacity to stomp his foot like a fucking petulant child. As though Kara’s disappearance was the greatest affront to him. “You were supposed to be protecting her. She’s a human in the Void. Don’t you understand the risk –”

  “Of course I fucking understand it!” This time, Keaton made no such effort to hold himself back. He allowed his anger to get the better of him, allowed his voice to sweep both of them away. “They took her from me. She…she sent me back here.”

  “Why would she –”

  “She saved me.” This time the voice was soft, and Keaton was forced to drop to the edge of the couch, shoulders hunched forward, heading hanging low. He wasn’t sure what this strange emotion was that seemed to be taking over his body, but he certainly didn’t like the feeling of it. And, if possible, he never wanted to feel such a heaviness against his chest ever fucking again. “I was – she sent me back before they could get me.”

  Ambrose was silent. Keaton refused to look at him. Not because he was ashamed, even if he was. He could give a shit about what Ambrose thought of him. But that didn’t mean what happened sat well with him.

  “She cares for you.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. This time, Keaton did look up. “My word, she cares about you, Keaton. If she really wanted to rid herself of you, she could have just let them have you.”

  “No.” Keaton shook his head once. “The only reason she married me in the first place was because I told her I would help her find her brother. That’s it. Let’s not make this more than it needs to be.” He shoved his hands in his pocket and ignored a spider as it crawled over his carpet. “I fucking want her back. She’s mine, goddammit. I don’t…I don’t fucking like this.”

  “Then get her back,” Ambrose said as though it was obvious.

  “And how the fuck am I supposed to do that?” Keaton asked, throwing his arms out. “You think I can just pop back up there? I mean, I could, but I have no idea where the fuck she is. And she saved me. She hasn’t called me. Maybe she fucking knows it’s a trap. So, if I go there –”

  “Even if it is a trap, we both know you’re going.” Ambrose rolled his eyes, arching a brow that dared Keaton to argue. “They committed a great sin against you, Brother. I should say, another sin. I highly doubt you’re just going to let them keep something that belongs to you.”

  “Fuck no, I’m not,” Keaton said.

  “And there’s no way for me to dissuade you?” Ambrose’s tone didn’t even sound like he wanted to try.

  Keaton stopped at that, turning to face Ambrose once again. “Why would you even think of trying to stop me when we both know you’re incapable of doing just that?”

  “What if…what if she doesn’t need your help any longer?” Ambrose asked. He began to pace the length of the living room, one finger tapping the point of his chin. “What if this was her way of trying to rid herself of you?”

  “You’re a fucking asshole, you know that?” Keaton asked. “If she wanted to get rid of me, she would have let them attack me. They have my dagger, Ambrose. They were going to cut me with my fucking dagger.”

  Ambrose’s eyes widened. “After all these years, the Keepers had your dagger?”

  “Why would that surprise you?” Keaton threw his arms out. “I don’t have time for this, Ambrose. I gotta get her back. Either help me or don’t, but I can’t…I don’t know what they’re fucking doing to her. All I know is that they weren’t fucking pleased to know the marriage was consummated. I can’t…”

  I can’t have her punished because of me.

  Keaton couldn’t seem to find the words to say in order to express that sentiment, but he felt it all the same. Part of him wanted her to go fuck herself for getting into this fucking mess. He didn’t want to be bound to her in this way, not when it meant putting himself at risk for her.

  But she was his wife, and he vowed to protect her. He couldn’t just ignore that either.

  “Then use your ring,” Ambrose said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “What?”

  Ambrose rolled his eyes. “I swear,” he said. “You never listen to me, do you? Use your ring. You can trace where your spouse is by moving it around your finger and concentrating on her for a moment. Once you get confirmation where she is, move over to her using your powers. But, Brother, I must warn you. They could be housing her somewhere significant, somewhere you can’t free yourself from.”

  “What do you mean?” Keaton asked, glancing down at his ring adorning his left ring finger, as though he had never seen it before in his life.

  “What I mean is, take caution,” Ambrose warned. “What if she’s in your crypt? The ring won’t tell you where she is; it’ll only take you to her. It very well could be a trap.”

  “So what the fuck do I do about it, then?” Keaton demanded to know. “Since you know everything.”

  Ambrose held his hands up, like he was in no position to give Keaton any advice. “That’s not up for me to decide, Brother,” he said. “This is your wife we’re talking about. You need to decide whether or not it’s worth the risk to find her, and then go to her. There is a great chance you, yourself, will fall into whatever trap the Keepers have set for you. They’ve had possession of you for over a century and it is highly doubtful that they are pleased with the fact that not only did you escape their clutches, but you are bound to one of their own. That might fester a lot of anger. And especially if one is in possession of your dagger, something that could actually kill you forever, it is imperative you make this choice with great caution.”

  “So, I should just leave Kara to her fate then?” Keaton growled. “I swore I’d protect her.” A cigarette suddenly appeared in his mouth, and he chomped at it, sucking in as much of the nicotine as he could.

  “I didn’t say that,” Ambrose pointed out. He flipped a piece of lint off of his suit before fiddling with a cufflink. “Again, you must decide this for yourself.”

  Keaton grabbed the cigarette with his fingers and tossed it on the floor. Instead of disappearing it, he let it hit the floor so he could squash it with the same enthusiasm he might for a bug.

  “There is no fucking decision,” he grumbled, running his fingers through his hair. “She’s mine. And we’re in this shit together.” He glanced over at his brother. “Why are you here?”

  “What?”

  Keeping her out his eyes and shoved his hands back in his pockets. His shoulders rolled back and he held a look of casualness as he regarded his brother. Foolish of him to be so enraptured with worry and concern for his wife that
he didn’t study his brother, question his motives as to why Ambrose was here in the first place.

  Keaton would have to do better.

  This young slip of a girl, regardless of whether she was his wife or not, shouldn’t control his emotions in the way she was. He couldn’t possibly be this weak. Her pussy was good – one of the best, if he was honest – but not that good.

  “I can discuss this with you after you have retrieved your wife,” Ambrose said levelly. “I’m here to see her, after all.”

  Keaton clenched his jaw together and shoved one hand back into his pocket, trying to fiddle around for some lent or a coin or something to hold onto. Something wasn’t right about this. He just couldn’t put his finger on it.

  “Ambrose,” he warned.

  Unlike many in the Void, Keaton knew his brother wasn’t fearful of him the same way others were. And Keaton didn’t mind. They were brothers, after all. But even Ambrose knew that when Keaton took on this particular tone, there was no point in trying to argue or ignore him.

  “The Prince requires her presence at the palace,” Ambrose said. “Immediately.” A beat. “And if she’s otherwise incapacitated, I’m supposed to bring you in her stead.”

  Chapter Four

  I didn’t think much time had passed, but to be honest, without a window or any sort of instrument that would help me assess that, I had no idea how long I had been kept in this prison cell. Besides Daphne‘s impromptu visit, no one else had been down here. I didn’t have any food or water. And besides a bucket in the corner of the cell, there was no place left for me to relieve myself.

  In order to occupy myself, I paced the cell and began to count each footstep I took. Sometimes I would stop and stretch. Other times I would sit. But the entire time, I tried to stay active. Part of me wanted to succumb to sleep, exhaustion tickled at my body and I couldn’t believe how tired I was. When was the last time I slept?

  After my time with Keaton.