Thorns of Fate

by Hayley Todd

  He was glaring his eyes two blazing globes of flame in his face and he was advancing on me, slowly, letting fire shoot from his fingertips and lick the ground below us.

  “This would all be so much easier if you would just give in,” he called, advancing on me. I gathered the magick closer to me, letting long tales of electricity drag across the ground.

  “Probably,” I replied, flipping both of my hands up and shooting them toward him. The whips lashed out, reaching for anything they could grab, but this time, when they reached the lash around his wrists, they shattered on contact with the flame, dissipating in a cloud of blue-white energy.

  Damn.

  Henrick hurled another wave of fire at me and I barely managed to dodge, tucking to the side. He’d anticipated my direction this time and send another fireball forward. I lifted my hands defensively and just managed to catch the ball against another wall of defensive magick. It careened off to the side, spiraling into the sky.

  I tried to get to my feet but he pelted blast upon blast upon my shield, keeping me from moving. I needed something he wouldn’t expect. Something out of the ordinary. Henrick was practiced in fighting with magick. He was familiar with the ducks and dodges and reversed throws of energy in a way Liam wasn’t.

  I hurled myself forward raising the shield to cover my shoulder, head, and back as I tucked myself across the ground toward him.

  That, he hadn’t expected.

  I got within several feet of him and kicked my legs out, forcing magick downwards to extend my range.

  Something like I whip stretched from my extended feet but more solid and cracked into his unprotected shins. He lost his footing, tumbling forward into the dirt.

  I continued my roll, flipping past him and regaining my feet. I lifted my hand, stabbing it toward him and lancing a bolt of blue-white energy that looked like a short spear through the air between us. It slammed into his back, sending shudders of electricity through his body.

  He was slower to rise this time as I distanced myself from him. But still, he turned on me, hatred in his eyes.

  “I haven’t come this far to lose to a baby,” he hissed, exploding flames along his torso to join his emblazoned arms. He stabbed his hands forwards one after the other, letting tiny bolts of liquid fire soar towards me.

  I blocked two with a raised hand, the energy skittering off of my raised shield and shooting into the sky. But he had thrown five.

  With searing agony, the remaining bolts dove through me, scorch marks rising along my skin where they impacted. I fell to one knee, pain kicking across my body, lifting one hand in an effort to defend myself.

  I hadn’t seen him move closer but his booted foot crashed into my back and I felt forward, taking another blow to my gut and a final blow to my chin, sending my vision into an explosion of starbursts.

  The last impact sent me rolling across the ground away from him, my only chance to get back to my feet.

  I tried.

  Damn, did I try.

  But my feet wouldn’t take my weight and I slumped back down onto one knee.

  He came nearer and all I could see was fire, all I could feel was scorching heat from the flames.

  He grabbed me by my hair which I’d tied into a ponytail and dragged me away from the arena, toward the hallway where both I and Achillia had risen to meet our fate.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Henrick had doused the flames down his body while he dragged me away and I was helpless to stop him. If my feet wouldn’t hold my weight, I couldn’t dodge and I couldn’t get away from him.

  He tugged me after him, and I jerked beneath his grasp, unable to stop him and unable to pull away. He had his hand bunched near my scalp, my ponytail wrapped around his fist. He stepped far enough into the darkness for us to fall into total shadow before he thrust me forward by my hair, slamming me face first into the stone wall beside us.

  Pain shot through the center of my face, my eyes springing with burning tears and aching across my cheeks. I fell to the ground in a heap of unresponsive limbs, pushing against the stone floor to turn around.

  Henrick kicked me again, his boot cracking into my back and spinning me for him. He pulled me up by my hair, dragging me away from the wall and dropping me onto my back, my head cracking against the ground with a loud thump.

  My head throbbed, motes of light dancing in my vision as I looked up at him. He was furious and it was palpable in the air around him. Even though he had dismissed the flames, the heat lingered. It hung over me, suffocating.

  Henrick looked over me, his face cast half in shadow. “I regret having to injure my nearly pregnant bride. If only you would obey me,” he growled.

  A shiver rippled down my spine and I fought against it, not wanting him to know how much he frightened me. “Get off of me, you creep,” I hissed, pushing against his chest. He didn’t budge.

  He smiled though there was no humor in it, his eyes hungry.

  I tried to pull energy from the air around me but I could only barely feel the living power there. I averted my gaze from Henrick’s desperate for a stall, desperate for help. “I-I’m hungry…” I said, hating the words as they escaped me.

  He looked curiously at me, his expression dark and untrusting. He hesitated for a long moment before leaning away from me and sighing, pulling the dirty remnants of his shirt from his form. He reached down, looping his hand beneath my neck, lifting me forward. I was glad for it because I couldn’t have done it myself right then.

  Maybe if I could just regain some of my strength…

  He tilted his head to the side, exposing a long length of muscle between his head and shoulder. “I will stop you if you try something and your friend will be dead before you regain your strength,” he growled. “But my bride will need her blood. The better fed you are, the more likely the pregnancy will take.”

  I shivered at the words and he grinned. I was disgusted, shamed, and afraid. I think he thought the action had a different connotation because he had a lecherous smile on his face now. .

  He leaned forward and gave me open access. I didn’t ask any more questions, feeling blood run from my the back of my head and knowing that my face was a mess. I was pretty sure he’d broken my nose already.

  I sank my teeth into his neck, fighting any sort of draw to his blood. It did call to me, an echo of Anton’s own but I needed only sustenance. I felt no allure running from him, no all-encompassing feeding. It was survival only.

  My head spun less, my ears not ringing anymore and I felt stronger, fairly certain that my legs would support me now. I let go after a reasonable amount of time, not being able to stomach the idea of Will taking any more punishment for my actions.

  He lifted away from me, using his dirty shirt to dab his neck clean. He actually had the consideration to lower it to me next, wiping my lips of the fluid.

  He laid his eyes over my form again, the hungry darkness returning. I felt stronger by the moment, energy filling me. I could feel the tingle of electricity in the air again, begging me to pull it in.

  He leaned nearer, his breath falling against my skin in great splashes of cool air. He was pressing in, and I was still completely alone.

  Damn.

  He fiddled with a belt at his waist and I pushed at him, gently at first. I couldn’t have him fly into a rage and kill Will. He needed to stay focused on me, but get nowhere.

  I pressed my palms against his chest, urging him to lift his weight from my body. He didn’t push any further forward but didn’t remove himself either. He grinned down at me as though he thought I were enjoying myself. He was highly mistaken.

  After a moment looking me over, he dove back in, yanking his belt from his last loops and discarding it on the ground.

  Panic seethed in me, gripping me from my core. Henrick’s face twisted into Raoul’s brutish one in my mind’s eye and my heartbeat hammered in my chest.

  Oh no. Oh God no.

  I hadn’t realized I’d started beating against his
chest until he thrust my hands over my head with one of his and began unbuttoning his trousers.

  I couldn’t see Will anymore from our position but I was glad he didn’t call attention to himself. I was worried that Liam hadn’t resurfaced however. Had I knocked him out? He was my nearest hope for a distraction.

  Nothing came. No sounds erupted from the arena. There was nothing but silence, my frantic heartbeat, and Henrick’s panting breaths.

  He finished working on his pants and moved to mine, sliding them over my hips with ease until my bare skin pressed to the cold floor.

  Henrick had one thought on his mind. He was going to win. He was going to get his way. And I feared it was going to break me.

  He shoved his knee between mine, prying my legs apart beneath him.

  My panic exploded in a burst and I struggled, pushing against him with my elbows and hips but he pinned my ankles with my own pants and with my hands trapped, I was helpless.

  He forced his way into my in one great heave and my chest exploded in a twisted agony. It reverberated not once, but twice, my imprint straining against what was happening. I shrieked a pain riddled scream.

  I can’t say I blacked out exactly because I felt every sickening touch, every microscopic pull against me. My mind though cracked, my consciousness fleeing to the darkest recesses of my brain.

  I had tried. I had fought hard. It took too long for me to regain my strength however, and left me in a position unable to use it. I felt the magick faintly, a tickle against my skin, but my struggling mind couldn’t fight free of its darkness enough to pull it to me. Magick required focus and right now, for me, that was sincerely lacking.

  Carson’s face flashed through my mind. The warmth his presence provided trying to push away the cold creeping over me. It helped insulate my tattered thoughts but without him being here, that seemed to be the limit of its abilities.

  Anton was there too. Part of my heart right now, trying desperately to fight for me when I couldn’t fight for myself. Our odd relationship translated to something that just made sense within the imprint. He had fought against this as much as I or Carson had, trying to protect me, to keep me from this fate. He had been disowned to sway this course of actions.

  For a long breath, I felt that I had failed them both. With nothing more than a note, I had left my two defenders, who had fought for me so hard. They had been beaten. They had been through pain and torture. Henrick had tried to kill them. All to prevent what was now happening.

  I tried to force positive thoughts to my mind. Will was alive, hurt, but alive. I had ran a dozen accounts of this moment through my mind and some of them had proven him to be dead by the time I’d arrived. But he was alive. If I could tolerate this, perhaps Henrick truly would release him. And if Will survived this, wasn’t it worth it?

  My heart had conflicting thoughts on that. How could I do this to myself? It cried. But at the same time, all of the worry and fear that I had felt for Will for weeks now, coalesced into a relief that I could never have imagined.

  I love you, Carson.

  My mind cried the words as this man defiled me, as he tore apart the person that I had always been. I had finally begun to like that person who didn’t bow down in the face of adversity. She was strong, stronger than I.

  I knew I was crying only by the hot liquid running over my cheeks. They were silent tears, no gasps or sobs, because I simply couldn’t. My body didn’t respond to me.

  Henrick didn’t even seem to notice, despite his eyes on my face. Or perhaps he did. There was a sickening joyful gleam in his eyes. I didn’t want to look at him. I wanted to look at anything else, but I couldn’t force my head to turn.

  It didn’t take him long to finish. He had a time limit and a goal and he used both to his advantage. My body felt broken and wrong, twisted. He pulled away from me, right himself and donning his clothes again.

  His shirt was filthy, covered in blood and dirt now. I wasn’t sure why he even bothered to keep it at this point. He let go of my hands and stepped away, turning to look over the arena. “Seems they weren’t fast enough,” he said to me over his shoulder, sending a stab of agonizing sorrow through my chest. “Now, just to kill your friend and we’ll be on our way.”

  He stepped out into the moonlight, back toward the arena where we had emerged from.

  Fury exploded in my every atom. He would not touch Will. Not after I’d done this.

  “You said you’d let him go!” I screamed, my body finally responding to my instructions. I lifted myself to my feet, quickly righting my clothing and running after him. I got close enough to touch him before he whirled on me.

  “I said if you were cooperative. That was anything but,” he replied and continued walking away from me.

  He had anticipated the sucker punch.

  I launched forward, rearing my fist back and slamming it into his spine. Or I tried to. As I neared him, he twirled, grabbing my fist and swinging me across the arena. I skidded across the ground, rips appearing along my skin.

  He looked down at me like a child who should know better. He hefted a ball of fire into his palm and approached Will.

  Will sat within the fiery barrier now, watching Henrick approach with wide eyes. His gaze lingered on me and my haggard appearance now. I wasn’t sure he had entirely known what had happened but it was evident he had known it wasn’t good. He stood, facing down this enemy with pride and passion, his face twisted in rage.

  I scrambled to my feet, leaping towards Henrick who batted me away again with an annoyed glance.

  “I really don’t want to have to injure you. It lessens your chances,” he said, glaring down at me. The words felt wrong and twisted in my mind, making me feel sick. I didn’t want any freaking “chances” with him.

  He stepped closer to Will’s circle and twisted his hand, opening a line through the flame, pushing the barrier to each side.

  Fortunately, Will didn’t wait for him to approach.

  I had never given credit to Will for being fast but in that moment I realized, he truly was. Had I really been that much faster than him as a human? The image before me made me think perhaps I too was faster than I had given myself credited for.

  He dashed across the space between he and Henrick the moment the barrier lowered. Henrick hurled his fireball forward, missing by several inches as Will pounded across the ground toward him. Will lowered himself, the muscles in his neck and shoulder bunched. He slammed himself into Henrick’s waist and supernatural strength or no, Will was just strong.

  Henrick fell back, struggling with the huge human man clinging to his hips.

  I saw the amber-gold gleam in Henrick’s eyes. “Will, no!” I shouted, hurling myself into the fight once more. Will may not have matched Henrick in strength but he was strong enough to cause a distraction. I reached them after only a moment, slamming my fist across Henrick’s face.

  In his distraction with Will, Henrick hadn’t expected the blow and his head snapped to one side, rocking back a step. I knew I had broken something in his jaw because it immediately started swelling and bruising. Serves him right.

  Will had taken a step back, circling carefully with me. I didn’t like this. I didn’t want Will in this fight. I didn’t doubt that as a human, he could put a real beat down on someone, but he lacked the resiliency of a vampire. I was unlikely to be killed in one blow, Will on the other hand…

  Henrick glared at the two of us, seething. For a moment, I felt that we had the advantage.

  Until Liam stepped off of the edge of the spectator seating, dropping fifteen feet to the ground with ease and joining Henrick. Henrick looked to him out of the corner of his eye, not taking his eyes off of us.

  “How nice of you to finally join me at last,” Henrick spat bitterly. Liam glared at him, his blue eyes hard. He appeared to have been a mass of bruises and abrasions but had healed most of it already. Both of them eyed Will as the easier target.

  Liam leapt forward, crashing into Will in a flu
rry of blows too fast for the eye to easily see. I was stunned to see that Will was keeping pace with him, knocking the blows away but without much time to return any.

  Henrick rounded on me and I cursed myself for having been distracted by Will. His fist hammered across my jaw streaming a trail of fire. My skin scorched and sizzled and my jaw dislocated.

  I didn’t waste time dwelling on it, leaping farther away from Henrick and jerking my jaw back into place. The pain was horrific but I forced it down to where another darker pain burned, slammed onto the back burner until a more apt time.

  I called magick again, needing the advantage it provided against Henrick. Unlike Liam, Henrick knew how to fight, making us far more evenly matched. Henrick may have even had an advantage. He was vastly more capable with his magick than I was. I couldn’t let this fight linger. Even if Will managed to keep pace with Liam, that couldn’t last forever. He would tire eventually.

  I drew the whips and slapped them again the area floor, letting loose magick spit and sputter and spark across the ground. Liam peered over to where Henrick and I faced each other and I saw the moment when Will’s fist slammed into him.

  For a solid moment, I beamed. Liam looked stunned, clutching his injured cheek. Will, on the other hand, looked triumphant. He had readied himself again, preparing for the next flurry of blows. Since turning, I sometimes forgot how good Will really was. I could only beat him through cheating. I wouldn’t put those maneuvers past our current adversaries but Will was quite capable.

  Henrick slammed a wave of fire across my chest. I had been distracted, not focused on the right part of the battlefield. Furious pain lit my skin, sending searing agony through my torso. I leapt back, needing to get out of range of an easy fireball.

  Henrick turned toward me, watching me with feral, angry eyes. “I’m beginning to think that you’re more trouble than you’re worth,” he hissed, advancing toward me. I danced across the ground, my feet light, forcing him to continue his advance. If I kept him moving, he didn’t have nearly as much opportunity to pin me down again.