Page 84 of The Night Prince

“It was bad enough when we were kept in thosekennels—barely fed, beaten, broken.” Kai’s tone is monotonous. “Alexander arrived, and it got worse. He moved us to the Grey Keep. He tortured me. Made me betray my goddess.” His voice breaks as he touches the brand that marks his skin. “Then he gave me toit.”

“To what?” Blake grabs Kai’s shoulders.

A haunted look creeps across his face. “He kept... something... caged in the kennels with us. We heard it clanging its chains sometimes, dragging itself up and down its cell. Hissing. The nightmares came. We tried to stay awake at night, fearing what would come if we succumbed to sleep. John, one of the biggest bastards I ever knew, woke trembling with terror etched onto his face.” He shakes his head. “One night, Alexander told me it was my turn to meet it. He threw me to it.”

He shakes his head. “All I remember is darkness, so thick I lost all of my senses. I wondered if I was dead, if this was what the afterlife was for those who had turned away from the moonlight. There was movement above me, and I saw deep obsidian eyes coming toward me. Then nothing. It’s the last thing I remember.”

Blake leans closer. “Do you know what it was?”

“The other prisoners called it the Dark Beast. There were rumors it was one of Night’s prisoners, escaped from his prison. Alexander said he was breaking it in for when his special guest arrived.”

Callum’s brow creases. “His special guest?”

“He sent me here with a message. The Wolf King is to prepare for a battle, the likes of which the north has never seen.” Remorse flickers across his face. “Or he can send him a gift, and Alexander will call off the attack.”

Nausea rolls inside me, because I think I already know the answer to my question. “What gift?”

Kai’s honey-colored eyes meet mine. “You.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Athick silence fills the infirmary.

“This conversation doesn’t leave this room,” says Callum. “Blake?”

Blake nods. Lochlan’s eyes widen, and he starts to rise, hand on the hilt of his weapon. Callum curls his arm around Lochlan’s neck and pulls him back. I breathe in sharply as Blake grabs something from the workbench and plunges it into Kai’s neck. Lochlan roars, face red, as he thrashes against Callum.

“Relax,” says Blake. Kai’s eyes shut, and his body softens. Blake pulls out the needle. “It’s a sedative. I’ll need to interrogate him later.”

Callum releases Lochlan, then walks past Fiona and me as if he doesn’t see the wolf that blazes in Lochlan’s eyes. “A word, please, Princess?”

I exchange a worried smile with Fiona, then head after him, my heart beating fast. Callum’s pace is brisk as he strides through the castle. I half run to keep up with him.We pass armed soldiers wearing Lochlan’s colors stationed in the corridors. Raised voices come from the Great Hall. Tension crackles between us.

I presume Callum is leading us to his old bedchambers so we can talk in private, but he turns in the opposite direction. I walk with him down a long corridor with narrow windows that let in the morning light. He opens a door at the end, and we enter a vast room.

A bed with ornate carved posts, red velvet curtains, and a pile of furs on the quilt dominates the space. There are paintings and weapons mounted all over the walls, and the red tartan banner of Highfell hangs above the bed. It’s cold because there’s no fire in the hearth, and the scent of bracken and steel hangs in the air.

“James’s bedchambers,” I say softly.

Callum swallows. “Aye.”

He scans the room, then strides toward the desk by one of three narrow windows, and swipes something off the surface. His back muscles clench beneath the fabric of his shirt, then he exhales.

“It’s not the Heart of the Moon.” He turns. There’s a round, white stone in his fist—the stone Sebastian gave James in exchange for me. “I was sure it wouldn’t be—he would have used it against me, if it was. Yet I held a small shred of hope.”

“You’re sure?”

“The Heart of the Moon is an ancient relic, torn from the chest of our sacred goddess. I’d feelsomethingif I encountered it, if I touched it. It would awaken my wolf. I’d feel it press against my skin.” He tosses it onto the bed. “I feel nothing from this.”

I offer him a sad smile. “I told you he would not trade it for me.”

“Aye. You did. Foolish man.”

The silence stretches between us. Even across the room, I can smell him—blood and sweat mingles with his mountain scent. He straightens and clenches his jaw, and my mouth dries. The way he’s looking at me...

I had almost forgotten how formidable this man, this alpha—no, thisking—could look. Even my father would cower before him. He’s obviously angry, upset by what happened with Blake, even though he was the one who let it happen. I’m angry, too. Yet I want his comfort, and I want to comfort him.

He just killed his brother, who—up until recently—he served as second in command. He must have complicated feelings about it.

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