SWNOVELS The Umbra King: Chapter 25
clock and snuck up the stairway to the sky room. It’d been two months since she found it, and she’d only been there a handful of times. Once she was more familiar with Caius’ routine and what time he arrived at his office on average, she could start sleeping here every night and slipping through the secret passage to get to work.
As much as she loved to sleep in with her new job, she would set her alarm for her regular shift tonight to avoid other staff when she snuck back to her room. If she passed anyone, she hoped they wouldn’t think twice about seeing her in her old uniform as she came and went from this room.
Losing those few hours was worth it—she needed the room right now. Her confusion over Caius, her sadness over losing Max and Asher, and her despair over never finding Cora’s soul was destroying her.
Her thoughts gave her pause. Did her brain believe Caius once and for all?
She would think about that later. After laying her dress on a chair, she set her alarm clock on the nightstand and shucked off her dress to reveal her shift underneath.
The bed felt like clouds when she lay down, and a long sigh escaped her as she stared at the starry night sky. It wasn’t long before she drifted to sleep, but when someone sat on her, she squeaked like a dog toy.
The person jumped, and the lights on the walls immediately flared to life. When Rory’s stomach was back in place after plummeting to the ground, she saw Caius standing over her.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded. “How did you get in here?”
Rory’s chest was still heaving, and once she could focus, she rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you have heard of doors before.”
His hands fisted at his sides. “The door was locked. How did you get in here?”
She looked at her fingernails, studiously avoiding eye contact. “I picked the lock.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” he rumbled, making his displeasure known.
She remained quiet and crossed the room, grabbed her uniform, and slipped her arm through the sleeve.
“Wait,” he called after her, releasing a long, exhausted sigh. “You can stay.”
She hesitated. “Why?”
He said nothing suggestive, like she expected. “Because it’s late, and you shouldn’t roam the halls alone.”
His words were thoughtful, and she didn’t know what to make of it. “What is this place?”
His fingers began unbuttoning his shirt, and Rory swallowed at the sight. His hands moved gracefully as they worked, and until that moment, she didn’t know hands could be sexy.
“It was Atarah’s room when she visited,” he replied, and threw his shirt over the chair next to Rory’s discarded dress. He motioned to the ceiling. “She loved Vincula, but the lack of sunlight made her not want to stay long. Whatever the sky looks like in Erdikoa is reflected on the screens.” He smiled to himself. “She hated the regular guest quarters.”
Rory looked up and smiled. “I miss the Erdikoa sky, too. It reminds me of the people I love back home.”
“Like the Aatxe?“ he asked crossly, setting his rings on the dressing table.
She eyed him suspiciously. “Yes. His name is Dume.”
“Was he your boyfriend?” Caius’ movements became jerky as he removed his pants and stood in nothing but his tight boxer briefs.
His dick was perfectly outlined, and she was transfixed by it. “Uh, no, he is—what are you doing?”
“I’m getting ready for bed, Miss Raven,” Caius said, bemused.
“I’m not sleeping with you.” Her voice held more conviction than she felt.
He looked annoyed. “If you’re sleeping in this bed, I assure you, you are.” That signature smirk returned, and she hated that she loved it. “We can fuck too, if that’s what you want.”
It seemed his dirty mouth returned as well.
Sleeping beside him was harmless, as long as he didn’t touch her. If he tried, she would break his fingers. Maybe.
“Dume is my best friend. My sister and I met him in grade one. He is like a brother to me.” She no longer knew if that was true, and it stung. Her eyes watered, and she blinked rapidly.
She didn’t normally cry, but this stupid realm turned her into a mopey child. She’d like to see anyone cut off from their family and not cry. It was hard.
Caius’ thumb wiped a lone tear from her cheek, and her lips parted at the tender gesture. “I lost my siblings too.”
“Did you kill Atarah?” she whispered. If he didn’t kill Cora, it’s possible he was punished for another crime of which he was innocent.
She watched sadness blanket him when he said, “No.” Rory’s shoulders sagged with relief.
Why was she happy when he had been nothing but horrible to her? The number of internal questions she’d asked herself since arriving in Vincula disturbed her. Identity crisis at its finest, she guessed.
“What made you change your mind about me?” She walked around the bed and climbed in opposite him as though it were the most natural thing in the realms.
He turned on his side to face her and propped himself up on his elbow. “When Sam looked into your mother, he met your friends. Did you know people are defending you? They say you saved them.”
“I didn’t know when I arrived, but Bruce said as much. I questioned whether he was telling the truth, but—“ Her voice broke. “But it means more to me than I thought it would.”
“Bruce?” His body tensed.
“He’s a new arrival. The man sentenced to one month; he committed a crime bad enough to get him sent here to thank me. A woman I saved was his daughter.” She thought for a moment. “Why would asking an Aatxe to arrest him while holding an unloaded gun send him here?”
Caius thought for a moment. “Any form of assault or attempted assault is judged by Adila.”
Rory propped herself up, too. “But wouldn’t she see his intentions weren’t malicious?”
“Maybe she gave him what he wanted,” Caius mused.
“Maybe that’s why she sent me here, too.” Rory lay back down. “When I walked into the judgment chambers, I was prepared to die.”
“I’m glad she did.” The look on his face suggested the words weren’t supposed to slip out, and he lay down to stare at the sky.
She watched him closely, trying to figure him out. He was a walking contradiction. “Why?”
His mouth tipped in a half smile. “Whom would I torture if you weren’t here?”
She chuckled and lay back with him. “Why do you come here?” she murmured. “You could have screens installed in your quarters, if you wished.”
“I miss my sister. Every day, I miss her.” His voice was quiet, and her heart went out to him.
Her hand twitched, wanting to reach for his. “I miss my sister, too.”
They fell into a comfortable silence that soon turned into a comfortable slumber.
Rory’s alarm clock startled her from a serene sleep, and she swatted at the nightstand next to her, only the clock wasn’t there. She looked sideways and saw Caius sit up and glare at the clock on his own nightstand.
Hitting the bell, he picked up the clock and stared at it. “Why is this set for three?”
“So I could leave before the staff woke,” she said sheepishly.
He twisted the dial, placed the clock back on the nightstand, and lay back down. “Go to sleep, Miss Raven. The sun will wake you. If anyone says anything to you, I’ll take care of it.”
Smiling to herself, she plopped down on her pillow and drifted to sleep.
When the sun rose, Caius was gone.
Rory arrived at work early, dressed in a white blouse and black skirt that hung loosely around her hips and hit a couple of inches above her knees. In place of her heels were flats, and she looked like a cute grade school teacher.
Walking around the palace and through town in her heels killed her feet, and she couldn’t bring herself to wear them today. Instead of sitting at her desk, she walked around the room to inspect the books lining the many shelves.
She wasn’t a reader, but Cora was. Her twin’s favorite books always had adventures where young heroines saved the entire realm and defeated evil. Rory teased her endlessly for always having her nose in a book, but now she would give anything to sit quietly with her sister as she read.
“Do you like to read?” Caius asked as he walked into the room.
She glanced over her shoulder before turning back to the shelves. “I don’t, but my sister liked adventure books.”
Caius stood directly behind her, and his breath grazed the top of her head. He lightly grabbed her elbow and led her to another section, pulling down a book from a high shelf. “This was my favorite as a child.”
She read the title and turned to him. “Cora had this book, too. She must have read it a million times.”
He smiled. “She had good taste.”
“I didn’t realize it was that old,” Rory said mindlessly.
Caius glared before he crossed the room to his own desk. “I need you to secure Nina’s new living arrangements today. Most of the inmates live downtown in the inmate apartments. The manager who runs the housing is a legion officer named Linda. She will assign the apartment and give you the information you need. Nina’s inmate number needs to be updated to her new apartment number. Linda can handle that as well,” he said before looking up. “And pick up lunch for us on your way back.”
Rory hoped she was the one to deliver the news to Nina. The look on the woman’s face would keep Rory on a high for an entire week. “What do you want for lunch?”
He rattled off his order, and Rory moved to her desk to write it down. “And Miss Raven?” She stopped with her hand on the doorknob. “No personal visits.”
There was the asshole she was used to. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Your Grace.”
Caius decided making Rory wear skirts was a terrible idea. He wanted nothing more than to spread her out on his desk and ravage what she was hiding under the billowy fabric.
He adjusted his cock in his pants. A part of him thought she was coming around, slowly deciding he wasn’t a vile creature who went around murdering women, but it could still be an act.
Her hatred used to be strong, but an activated bond was stronger.
Then there was the matter of his feelings for her. A part of him still wondered if some of her victims were innocent, and the other part knew they weren’t. He didn’t love her, not yet, but one day he would. The need to protect her would become so strong, resisting would be futile.
“Damn you, Seraphim.“ The Aeternum was said to be a Royal’s perfect match and the bond only enhanced what was in their souls. By that logic, it didn’t force them to love each other; it made their souls connect with their counterparts, and their hearts did the rest.
He chuckled. Maybe their souls were perfectly matched. The need for vengeance fueled them both. The thought gave him pause, reminding him of his greater purpose. He would certainly be sentenced to death when he killed Gedeon.
If the bond was solidified, he didn’t know if he’d be able to follow through and leave Rory forever.
He couldn’t allow his brother’s evil to stay within the realms, and Caius knew Adila wouldn’t spare him a second time. A pit of despair opened in his chest, knowing what he had to do.
His connection to Rory couldn’t grow, and keeping her hatred for him alive was the only way to do that. Would the Seraphim damn him to hell when he was executed for his crime, or would they allow him in the aether?
Would they permit him to meet his Aeternum in the afterlife?
It didn’t matter. He would do what needed to be done. He only needed to avoid her for a little while longer until his sentence was over. Shadows darkened the room as his anger at his own stupidity intensified.
He couldn’t risk her safety by putting her back on kitchen duty. His fist came down on his desk, cracking it down the middle. How dare Adila send her here? She knew what Rory was to him, he was sure of it, and she knew what Caius intended to do. Did she find it entertaining to torture him?
“Fuck!“ he thundered into the empty room as he knocked over anything he could reach. Damn his siblings for putting him in this position, and damn him for allowing things to get this far. The chance at happiness blinded him, but he wouldn’t make that mistake again.
The door swung open, and Rory stood in the doorway, looking at the destruction. “What…?”
“Clean this up,” he said, fixing his sleeves. Treating her like his maid when it was not her position made bile rise in his throat.
Surveying the room, she scoffed. “I’m not cleaning up your temper tantrum.”
He stalked across the room and held out his hand. She shoved his lunch toward him, and he motioned for her to get started. “You will clean this up, or I’ll have you shadow Nina until her sentence is complete.” His voice was lazy, but his body was coiled tightly.
Her skin flushed with anger, and the familiar loathing returned to her eyes. He didn’t wait for her retort as he stepped around her, slamming the door on his way out.