Chapter 5 Five

ARIA

Choose, or all will die.

I forced my eyes open, wincing as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Right from the moment I appeared in this place, it had always been night. My eyes flickered around while I tried to sit up.

I was back in that room again. The same room I’d woken up in.

Where were the four kings? I’d half-expected them to stick to my side all through but I guessed even they had their own responsibilities. But still? It felt odd to have things so quiet with how hard they’d been fighting each other.

How long had it been since I was out? A small whine left my lips as I stretched. Slowly, I made my way out of bed and down the hallway.

My senses perked up when I spotted a servant. “Hey, you!”

Once she saw me, her eyes widened into saucepans. Quickly, she ran up to meet me. “Y—Yes, my Queen.”

Queen?

I pushed away the question. “The four kings. Where are they?”

She hesitated. “They’re having a meeting at the council chamber.”

“Take me to them.” I ordered, a bit surprised at the confidence myself.

“I—” There was hesitance laced in her voice. “It’s usually private. No one is allowed to interrupt when they—”

“I believe I made myself pretty clear.” I cut her off. “Or would you rather I repeat myself?”

She immediately shook her head. “Forgive me, my Queen. I’ll take you to the chamber right away.”

I hummed in satisfaction, letting her lead the way down the winding hallways. The palace truly was a sight to see, and to think I hadn’t even gotten a good look at everywhere yet.

From outside the room, I could hear their bickering and a couple of raised voices. Quietly, I shooed the servant away and stood outside the door.

“You don’t get to choose like you own her.” It was Ronan. “I don’t plan on sharing my mate with any of you shits.”

“I doubt she wants to spend the rest of her life going at it with you.” Kael cut him off. “I’m taking her back to the Court with me.”

Draven cleared his throat. “I found her, and by right, she stays in the Night Palace. Any further objections is not mine to care about.”

“Bla bla bla,” Lucien drawled, the smirk evident in his voice. “One snap of my finger and she’s in the underworld with me. So, when you’re done bickering, let me know and I’ll take my bride with me.”

I heard the sound of a sworn being drawn. “Touch her, and I’ll have that despicable pit of yours in ashes once and for all.”

Lucien’s chuckled made me shiver. “I dare you.”

“Enough!” It was Draven now. He let out a breath before continuing. “The first seal’s been set already. Which means, her life is now tethered to our power. One of us dies, and she dies as well.”

The words hit me like a spear. Anger burned right from my chest down to my stomach. Without hesitation, I pushed the doors open, storming into the room.

“What do you mean if one of you dies, I die?” I turned to glare at each of them. “You used the few minutes I was knocked out to decide for me? Is that it? I am not yours to own. Not now, not ever.”

“Two days,” Ronan’s eyes had a hint of concern.

“W—What?” I stuttered.

“That’s how long you’ve been out for. We made sure the healers administered enough medication and verified that you were okay.”

Two days. I’d been knocked out for two days. Like the thought wasn’t nauseating enough. The four men here thought they could hold my life in theirs. Not if I had anything to do about it.

“Answer me now.” I demanded.

Kael tried to reach for my hand. “If you’ll just listen—”

With surprising speed, I grabbed the sword from his hand and aimed the edge at his throat. He raised his hand, slowly backing up.

“Aria, calm down.” He started slowly. “We can talk about it and explain everything to you.”

“No!” I shot back, tears falling down my cheeks. “I’m done with letting you four think you can just decide how my life goes and how it doesn’t. I want to go home.”

“This is your home now.” Lucien cut in. “There’s no going back, Aria.”

I shook my head, refusing to believe any of it. My gaze flickered to the mark on my wrist.

“This stupid thing.” I growled, the sword hitting the ground with a clank.

Without thinking, I began scratching at the mark, in hopes of somehow getting it off. Their eyes widened, all four immediately reaching out for me.

Draven looked pale. “Aria, you don’t—”

Blinding light engulfed the whole room, right before a deep tremor shook the whole palace. It continued like that, growing violent by the second.

Kael looked visibly disturbed. “Aria, calm down.”

“I don’t know, I—”

The four-point star was glowing brightly now. I continued to scratch at the mark, trying to get it to stop.

“It won’t—

“Aria!”

Ronan rammed into me, pushing me out of the way just as a part of the ceiling fell to the ground.

He turned to me. “We need to get you out of here.”

Before I could protest, he bundled me into his arms and made a run for it. I got a quick glimpse of the three kings trying to put everything in control just as another tremor hit.

Once we were out of the palace, Ronan let me come down, eyes still filled with worry. “You could have gotten seriously hurt back then.”

I turned back to the towering building, watching as the tremor slowly dulled to a stop. “I don’t—What did I do?”

“Your bound to us now,” Ronan said grimly. “And you no doubt still have your powers despite just being reincarnated. If you don’t control it…”

The grim look on his face was enough. I got the message immediately. Ronan glanced at the palace once more before turning to me.

“Let’s head back.”

The council chamber was more rubble than chamber when we walked in. Wave after wave of guilt gnawed at me as I walked in. They all turned to me eagerly, like they’d been waiting.

I looked at Draven, mentally going over how I was going to apologize. “I’m really sorry for this. I—I don’t even know how it happened.”

“You need not apologize, Aria.” Draven replied. “This definitely won’t happen again.”

I frowned. “What do you mean? Are you sure?”

Kael nodded, eyes soft yet holding that chilling emptiness.

“From this moment on, she doesn’t leave our sight. She belongs to all four of us.”

“What?” I stepped back, looking from one to the other.

I turned to Ronan. “What does he mean by that? Say something!”

His silence was like a slap the face. I slowly backed away, the whole room starting to spin. The mark was burning around my rise again but I barely cared.

All I could hear was the voice, a fifth one this time. The same voice I’d heard before I passed out.

“Four kings will love you. One will kill you.”