After all, her successes are mine too. Both the monster and the human races benefit from Belle winning that sword. After all, it may just help when it comes to defeating the darkness.
It grants the wielder unsurmountable power, and since Belle’s intentions are pure, it has offered up its services to her. She doesn’t appear to have any superhuman strength just yet, but I can’t deny that she’s radiant.
She has never looked more beautiful. I just want to go over and sweep her up in my arms, kissing her perfect elfen nose, but we have an audience.
Also, I already made my bed, and now I have to sleep in it. I don’t think Belle would even want me after all the times I have rejected her. While I was trying to avoid getting my own heartbroken, in the process, I only went and broke hers, and I’m such an asshole.
I deserve to rot.
At least Alice has started to perk up. She regards Belle with the same awe as my brothers, and she truly does look like a goddess right now. That woman right there is going to make a difference, not only in her own world but ours too. Maybe even beyond. There could be infinite worlds out there for all I know, and maybe little Alice’sWonderlanddoes exist after all; a world of pure madness and chaos.
Our uncle is frothing at the mouth as he sneers down at Belle, and do I detect a little bit of fear? Maybe he is realizing his mistake by refusing to help her in the first place.
By putting her through all these trials, she is only proving her worth. It appears my uncle expects her to fail since a lesser person would have caved right about now.
But not our Belle...
“So,” Belle says, slipping her new sword into a scabbard around her belt. “I completed the challenge, and not only did I pass and kill a giant serpent, but I got a new, shiny sword too. Have I proven that humans are worth saving yet?”
The king bears his teeth, and if looks could kill. We have to tread carefully here, and not let Belle push his buttons too much. Our uncle is a merciless monster; it’s surprising he never had us all executed on the spot.
Perhaps he just wanted to keep us alive long enough so we would see our mate fall victim to the Abyss, and it truly would be a fate worse than death. But each time, Belle has proven him wrong.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself now, Isabel Hardgreaves. If there’s one thing that you humans all have in common, no matter how pure your intentions may be... you are all controlled by your emotions. How easily you all cave. I’m not surprised humans are finding themselves trapped here. Such weak creatures indeed.”
Belle balls her fists. “We are not weak.”
Our uncle sneers. “No? Then if that is the case, let’s see how you fare against theVoid.”
My heart cleaves in two, and I gaze at each of my brothers. Enzo closes his eyes, and Grey clenches his jaw. Madoc flexes his muscles, looking ready to embed his knife in our uncle’s throat.
The Void is the last stop in the Abyss. It’s a pit of darkness where light seizes to exist. A black hole that sucks away human emotions slowly and gradually until they shrivel up and die.
No human has ever survived. It’s as our uncle said. One thing all humans have in common; they are, indeed, governed by their emotions. I should know. I’m a monster. I’ve exploited many a human emotion myself.
My area of expertise: Envy, and it truly is an ugly emotion. Probably the ugliest of them all.
The things it has driven the humans to do. I saw it with that creature Gustave. Humans always want what they don’t have, and it truly will be the downfall of them all.
The darkness has just sped up the process.
Belle’s skin blanches, and for the first time since she entered the courtroom, she truly looks terrified.
I sigh, stepping up beside her. I place my clawed hand on her shoulder, and hope returns to her eyes when she meets my violet pair. If there’s anyone who can help her survive the Void, then it’s me.
The king of heartbreak.
It’s time to go to the Void.
Chapter seventeen
Belle
TheVoid.Itsoundslike something straight up from a horror movie, and my nerves tremble as I embark on the brave trek with Nero. The Void is located at the edge of the Abyss, a place where dreams rot and die.
It’s not like the fringes where my mates took refuge for the last one hundred years. The only thing you have to fear there are the wraiths, but the cloying atmosphere here makes me want to double over and eject the contents of my stomach.
This will be my greatest test. The Void sucks all the joy and merriment from the human until they are nothing but a shell, and I stop, wrapping my fingers around the hilt of Vita.