The Umbra King (Vincula Realm Book 1)

Caius was nervous, an unfamiliar feeling he experienced often as of late.

“Get out of your head,” Sam said as he approached the pond where Caius stood.

“She thought I killed her sister, and while she says she no longer believes it, a small part of her might.” There was no reason for her to believe him.

Sam stood beside him with his wings tucked tightly. “Dissolve her doubt.”

He said it like it was the easiest task in the realms. “She said my actions didn’t match my words.” Shadows swirled with his anxiety, and Sam kicked at them.

“That was before yesterday,” Sam pointed out.

Caius tried to show her he cared by throwing her the ball and inviting her friends, but when she blew in like a tornado ready to blast him to bits, everything was ruined. Until it wasn’t.

Sex with her was unlike any he’d experienced, and now that the bond was nearly complete, he wanted nothing more than to be near her.

“What if you don’t like her?” Sam asked, breaking his thoughts.

Caius turned to his friend. “Repeat that.”

“What if you don’t like her?” Sam repeated, making Caius laugh. “I am serious. You are worried she will not like you once you get to know each other better, but what if it is the other way around?”

“I know her,” Caius told him.

“Perhaps.” Sam stood stoically beside him, letting him stew.

“You were sure we would marry, and now you aren’t?” Caius shook his head.

“I still believe you will marry,” Sam corrected. “But you don’t, and thinking you will be the one to let her down is preposterous. Do not feel sorry for yourself.”

Caius sighed and looked to the aether. “You’re a terrible motivator.”

Sam’s deep laugh surrounded them. “She said you were to court her.” His wings flared slightly. “You have never courted a woman in your life.”

Caius’ brows drew together. “Yes, I have. I courted women into my bed all the time.”

“That is not courting, and if you think it is, you will fail.“ Sam spread his wings and took to the skies.

“Fuck you!” Caius yelled, and Sam’s laugh echoed like thunder as he disappeared, presumably to the other realm.

Caius needed something to relieve his stress, and he knew just the thing.

“You’re the king’s what?” Tallent asked as their group sat around a tall table at the bar.

“His Aeternum,“ Kit said, clearly irritated. “How you guys made it through life without knowing the basic history of our realms is beyond me.”

“Not everyone grew up with history experts,” Rory snarked. “I don’t like to read, anyway.”

“The education system needs a reboot,” Kit said and threw back a shot.

Cat’s hand raised. “I knew.”

Bellina choked on her beer. “There is no way you knew what an Aeternum was.”

Cat pulled her shoulders back. “I’m not an idiot, and I love reading. I wanted to be a teacher.”

Everyone stared at her. “You would have killed your students,” Tallent informed her. “You nearly killed your brother for messing with your hair.”

Cat shrugged. “He deserved it, and I stand by that.” She paused. “He was going to use it for an illegal potion.”

Everyone was quiet at her admission, and Rory saw her in a new light. “You should have shot him in both legs,” she said, making Cat smile.

“This means you’ll be our queen,” Kit said, getting the conversation back on track. “Do we get special treatment?”

Rory rolled her eyes at her friend. “I will not be your queen.”

“Yes, you will,” Cat returned. “Did you not know marrying a king makes you a queen?” She squinted at Rory. “Do you know how to read at all?”

Rory threw a balled up bar napkin at her. “I know how to read.” The thought of being a queen made her pits sweat.

She fanned her underarms, and Bellina patted her shoulder. “Think of it this way: Nina is going to flip out when she sees you on the throne.”

“I bet you can pass between realms,” Cat added. “Your sentence would be over.”

“You don’t know that,” Tallent argued. “The king is still bound.”

“Not for much longer,” Bellina reminded them. “His contract is up in a month or so, isn’t it?”

Rory’s hope moved like a rollercoaster at the prospect of leaving, and she needed to ask Caius when the time was right.

“Evil bitch incoming,” Cat muttered under her breath.

The group turned toward the door, and the women groaned. Nina walked in with the men Rory saw her with in the hallway a while back, and when they saw her, they shot daggers in her direction.

“Sometimes I wonder if she follows me,” she whispered. “Everywhere I go, there she is.”

“To be fair, the town isn’t that large. Do you think she’s the one who pushed you?” Tallent asked, glancing back.

Rory took a drink. “I don’t think so. Whoever pushed me was strong, and Nina’s arms are like limp noodles.”

The group busted up laughing, but Rory didn’t find it funny. Someone tried to kill her. She needed to spar with someone to brush up on her skills. Next time, she would be ready.

Even though there was nothing she could have done to fight off being shoved from behind, it couldn’t hurt to prepare herself.

Bellina bumped her shoulder. “If she tries anything, we’ll all beat her ass. Caius may even kill her.”

“You think he would?” Rory mused.

“Of course he would,” Kit said with a snort. “I don’t think you understand the Aeternum bond. You would kill for him, too. Especially once you’re married.”

“If we’re married,“ Rory corrected, and Kit shook her head. “Are there any books on Aeternums in Vincula’s library?”

“I’ll look,” Kit promised.

Cat was uncharacteristically quiet, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Tallent. “What are you thinking about?” he asked her suspiciously.

She looked at Rory thoughtfully. “If someone is trying to kill you, it’d be wise to marry the king as soon as possible. You will love him, Rory. It is not damning yourself to a life of misery.”

Rory’s knuckles turned white as she gripped her glass. “I wish everyone would stop telling me whom I will love. How is that fair?”

Bellina ran a soothing hand down Rory’s back. She did that often, her maternal instinct coming out when her friends were upset.

Kit sighed. “You really don’t understand.”

“Then tell me,” Rory snapped.

Kit narrowed her eyes. “The Aeternum bond doesn’t force you to love him. You would love him anyway, given the opportunity. Your souls were created by the Seraphim at the same time, but yours was sent when he needed you most. You’re soulmates, and I can’t believe I have to explain this.”

“Then why is there a bond at all?” Bellina asked. “Why not let nature take its course?”

“The bond connects them like…” Kit searched for the right words. “Like a safety device. They can tell when the other is in danger, and they will always find one another. It connects their souls.”

Cat slammed her glass down with a smack. “I can’t wait for all of Erdikoa to know The Butcher is the new Prison Queen. Fitting.”

Bellina and Rory parted ways at the door to the throne room. She needed to speak with Caius about reopening the outside entrance to her room. It felt ridiculous, taking a secret tunnel.

Not wanting other staff to see her walk into his office, she often took the back entrance behind the dais. When she closed the door to the throne room behind her, the room was dark, and her soft-soled slippers made no sound as she crossed the room.

In the dim lighting, she saw Caius exit the door behind his throne and pound down the stairs toward the door leading to hallways and stairwells. He was only wearing athletic shorts, and her heart skipped at the sight of his muscular back as he pulled on a t-shirt.

She’d only ever seen him in slacks and a dress shirt or pajamas. He looked damn good. She still needed time to process how she was feeling, and instead of calling out to him, she let him leave.

She opened the door to his office, and ice doused her insides. Nina slid off Caius’ desk as she buttoned her dress, and when she saw Rory, a smug smile pulled at her lips as she stepped into her shoes and sauntered to the exit.

“You didn’t really think you could keep him, did you?” the redhead asked and opened the door with a wicked laugh.

Rory’s chest cleaved in two, and white-hot rage filled the canyon. He’d played her. It made her question if she was really even his mate.

She couldn’t make heads or tails of it, nor did she understand his motivation for wooing her.

“That jerk!” Screams ripped from her throat as she swiped everything off his desk and smashed anything breakable she could get her hands on.

Next were the books, the ones she worked hard on putting back. They sailed across the room as fast as she could throw them.

Fuck him, and fuck Nina.

Chairs were flipped over, and her last parting shot was opening the drawers to the contracts, ripping them out, and throwing them around like confetti. “Have fun reorganizing those, Your Grace.”

As she stood in the middle of the rubble, her shoulders sagged. The staff would clean this, not him, and immediately guilt overcame her. She was too pissed to pick it up now, but she would sneak back once she calmed down to get to work.

Turning on her heel, she marched out of the office toward her old room. If he thought she was sleeping in a room he gifted her after this, he was out of his mind.

When she turned the corner to the staff quarters, she caught Nina in the hallway with the same men. The men didn’t work in the palace, or Rory would have seen them. Well, maybe not. The staff was huge, but seeing the three together made unease snake down her spine.

There was a good possibility one of them pushed her, and being alone with them felt like a bad idea. She reversed before they spotted her and snuck back up the stairwell.

Where would she go now? Max and Bellina’s rooms were both in the staff quarters, and she didn’t know if Max was even home. He hadn’t joined them at the bar, and she suspected he was preparing for his departure.

He insisted they not have a party and instead wanted to say a quick goodbye. It made Rory sad.

A few staff greeted her as she snuck through the hallways. Since Bruce’s arrival, some treated her better. Others did not. Bruce was due to leave soon, too, and she made a note to seek him out before he left.

Not knowing where else to go, she wandered to the legion quarters and sought Lauren’s room. When she knocked, Lauren opened the door with a wide smile, but it dropped at the look on Rory’s face.

“What happened?” she asked as she moved aside.

Rory followed her inside and plopped down in a chair. “Caius screwed Nina today.”

Lauren’s cheeks flushed. “That’s not possible.”

Rory laughed humorlessly. “It is. He came out of his office shirtless. He didn’t see me, and when I walked into his office, Nina was buttoning her dress and bragging about it.” She looked miserably at Lauren. “He can rot in hell, and so can she.”

Lauren rubbed her forehead. “It must be a misunderstanding. He wouldn’t do that.”

Rory laid her head back on the chair. “Whatever you say. I’m not staying in the sky room, and when I tried to go to my old room, Nina and two men were whispering in the hall.”

“Did they say something to you?” Lauren asked, grabbing her boots.

Rory held out her hand. “No. Calm down.” Lauren shot her a look. “I don’t recognize the men, but I’ve seen her conspiring with them a few times. I’m just paranoid.”

“Do not underestimate Nina’s hate for you,” Lauren cautioned. “Stay away from her. She is a manipulative con artist who wants the king.”

“She can have him,” Rory spat. “He’ll never touch me again.”

Lauren sat down and rubbed her forehead again. “You’re wrong. I don’t know what happened, but I have known Caius for a long time, and I know you’re wrong.”

The conviction with which she spoke caught Rory by surprise. With no other option but to return to the sky room, she stood with a sigh. “Thanks, Lauren. I’ll see you around.”

“I’m serious about Nina,” Lauren called after her. “Stay away from her.”

That wouldn’t be an issue. The last thing Rory wanted was to see her or the king ever again.

Caius stared wide-eyed at his office. “Damnit, Nina.” He’d gone for a run, and when he returned, Nina was perched on his desk with her top undone. It was time to assign her a new job out of the palace. All he’d wanted was to see Rory, and he was met with his biggest mistake instead.

He’d left her in his office to find his head of employment and speak to them about finding Nina a job in town. Leaving her alone with his things was a mistake, and he needed to lock his office every time he left. He’d give Rory a key, and no one else.

Rory burst through his office door, and the tension from Nina’s tantrum left at the sight of her. An easy smile pulled at his lips. “Hello, Miss Raven. Did you miss me already?”

The snarl he received in return took him off guard, and he made to grab her as she stormed past, but she slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch me.” She looked around ruefully. “And don’t make the staff clean this. I’ll do it.”

He looked around, bewildered. “You did this?”

Ignoring him, she continued on to her room, but he threw up a wall of shadows.

“YOU STUPID FUCKING ASSHOLES! GET OUT OF MY WAY!“ she screamed at the wall. Caius would have laughed if everything wasn’t falling apart.

“Rory—“

“Don’t,” she snapped. “You don’t get to call me that.”

His mind reeled, trying to remember what he’d done to piss her off. “I don’t understand.”

She turned dead eyes to him, all the anger gone. It was worse than her rage. “I saw you leaving,” she informed him. “Shirtless. Imagine my surprise when I walked into this room to find Nina getting dressed, too.”

He tried and failed to control his own building rage. The shadows twisted into the air, and she slapped at them. “Call off your dogs.”

“Listen to me,” he said in a voice so lethal it would send the bravest of mystics scattering. “I didn’t touch Nina. When I returned from my run, she was waiting for me. I told her to get dressed and leave, and I left to have her reassigned.”

Rory’s mask cracked with a flash of uncertainty, and Caius approached her. “Believe me,” he pleaded.

The wheels in her mind turned, and when she looked back to him, she said two words that gave him hope. “Prove it.”

“Come with me,” he said, taking her hand.

He marched her through the palace to the staff quarters, blowing open doors with his shadows. “Where is Nina?” he growled to various staff in their rooms.

“She doesn’t live here anymore, Your Grace,” a maid stammered.

“I am aware,” he returned. “But she was in the palace recently. Someone must have seen her.”

“She was in the staff quarters earlier,” Rory supplied. “With two men.”

Caius turned back to the staff gathered in the hall. “Where is she?”

“She left, Your Grace,” a man said. “I saw her, Felix, and Vince leave not long ago.”

Felix and Vince. He needed to check the files to find out who these men were.

Guiding Rory through the palace, he looked at her as they walked. “How easily you believed the worst of me.”

Rory stared straight ahead, her face never betraying her emotions. “I don’t know you, Caius.”

He gave her hand a light squeeze. “You will.”

When they entered Nina’s apartment building, he stopped by Linda’s office and asked her to call Nina down.

“The king is here for you,” the woman’s voice said as she made her way back to the front with Nina on her heels.

Another voice echoed through the hall. “The king?” Nina sounded excited. “You didn’t give me time to freshen up.”

The woman made a gruff sound. “I don’t think it will be necessary.”

When Nina rounded the corner of the hall, the excitement drained from her face at the sight of Caius’ anger and Rory’s presence. “Nina,” Caius clipped.

Her eyes darted between Rory and him. “Yes, Your Grace?”

“If you ever lead my mate to believe you and I had relations again, I will send you to hell,“ he snarled as he took a threatening step forward. “Understood?” Rory’s spine straightened when he claimed her, and he fought to keep his attention on Nina.

Whether or not Rory wanted to admit it, they were mates, and he would be damned if anyone treated her as anything less than the queen she was.

Nina’s face leached of color. “Mate?” She shook her head wildly. “No. No, that’s not right. She’s been bothering you, and I was helping. It was the only way to keep her away from you.“ She reached for him, but a shadow grabbed her wrist. “You’re too kind to tell her yourself,” she tried again. Her face was stricken. “You would keep her by your side? A ruthless murderer? What about what we had?”

Before Caius and Nina had a physical relationship, he made it abundantly clear it was purely physical and nothing else. He didn’t know why Nina was acting this way.

Her lip wobbled, and she fled, crying, down the hall.

“What was that?” Rory muttered under her breath.

“That,” Linda said, “was a delusional girl coming unraveled.” She waved and stepped back into the manager’s office.

Caius said nothing as he and Rory left, and once on the street, Rory grabbed his arm. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ve given you no reason to trust me,” he replied. “But I will.”

As they walked through the town, he resisted the urge to grab her hand. He held it on their way to the apartments, but it was more so to drag her. “What did you do in your free time?” he asked her. “Before coming to Vincula.”

Without hesitation, she said, “Hang out with my mom and friends.” A bit of sadness tinged her voice. How much she missed them was hard to see. He’d always petitioned for inmates to be allowed visitors, but Gedeon denied his request every time.

They weren’t allowed letters or phone calls because no one in Erdikoa save for the Royals and Angels could know anything about the prison realm. Visitors, however, would forget the moment they left. Loved ones were good for the soul, and even the morally grey deserved that.

“What else?” he pressed.

She eyed him. “Most of my time was spent looking for my sister’s killer and the Merrow who stole her soul. I found the Merrow, but he said her soul was with Bane.”

He remembered her calling him Bane. “I think I know who killed your sister.”

She halted in the middle of the sidewalk. “What?”

“I don’t know why, but there is only one explanation why you saw me murder Cora,” he explained. She said nothing as she waited for him to continue. “My brother, Gedeon.”

Her brows drew together, and her mouth moved, but nothing came out.

“I don’t know why he did it, but it had to be him,” Caius went on. “There’s no other explanation.”

“How? My sister and I look alike, but you can still tell the difference,” she challenged. “I may not have been able to see colors, but I wasn’t blind.”

“We’re identical twins,” he said, causing her to shake her head as if to expel the information. “The Lux Royals only ever have three children, but identical twins were once the same embryo that split in half. You couldn’t tell the difference between us if you tried.”

“That’s how he framed you,” she realized. He saw the moment her brain put everything together because her features turned from that of shock to one of steel resolve. “When we marry, will my sentence end?”

He didn’t know what he expected her to say, but that wasn’t it. “No. I can extend a contract, but I can’t dissolve them.”

“I need you to do something for me,” she said with a voice of iron. Everything about her transformed into the woman who appeared on his throne room floor months ago.

“Anything,” he replied, wondering if he would regret it.

“When your contract is up, find my sister’s soul, and kill him.” The fire in her eyes burned brightly. “And before he takes his last breath, let him know I will dance on his grave.”

Caius stared at this woman hell-bent on retribution, not caring about salvation so long as she avenged her sister. In that moment, he understood the true meaning of being mates. Her motivations mirrored his own, and he knew, without a doubt, if the roles were reversed, she would hang Gedeon from her hook and watch him bleed for them both.

He pushed a stray hair out of her face. “With pleasure.”

Rory slipped her hand into his, and together, they walked toward the palace.

“The gym,” she said out of nowhere.

He huffed out a laugh. “What? Are you telling me I’m out of shape, Miss Raven?”

She bit her lip to keep from laughing. “I liked going to the gym.”

It didn’t surprise him. She wasn’t shapely, but her body was lean and toned. “There is a gym in town. Have you been?”

Her hand tightened around his. “I haven’t tried. The dining hall is not something I wish to relive.”

He hated everyone in the entire realm for treating her this way, and when her throne was built and she sat upon it, he would relish in their fear and awe.

“You can use mine,” he offered.

Her lips parted slightly. “You have your own gym?”

He gave her a cheeky grin. “I am king.”

“Will you show me?” she asked. “I need to start training in case someone tries to attack me again.”

He squeezed her hand. She was right. Her independence and pride meant he wouldn’t be able to stay with her every second of the day, nor would she allow a guard. She needed to be able to defend herself. “Sam, Lauren, and I will teach you self-defense.”

She bristled, offended. “I know self-defense. My abilities were taken, including my strength and speed, and I need to reacclimate to my new body.”

“Who trained you?” If it was a boyfriend, Caius would train her ten times better.

Her eyes grew sad, as they always did when someone from her past life was brought up. Caius would do anything to take that pain away. “Dume, my Aatxe friend.”

He nodded. “We’ll make sure you fend off anyone who tries to hurt you,” he promised.

“Thanks.” She looked at him with a small smile, and he couldn’t help but kiss her on the forehead.