by Olivia Ash
Sadie stepped back and held the ifrit’s hand. She looked at each of the ifrits and to the one that appeared to be Kiana’s mother. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
The woman looked at her, seeming a bit shocked, and broke down crying, letting her tears fall. Sadie hugged her again, rubbing the woman’s back. The other ifrits looked at her with sad eyes. Some cried with the elder ifrit.
For once, Sadie was grateful the princes weren’t here. She had ordered the guys to not be present. She told them she wanted it to be a private matter regarding her people. The princes had stared at her with a kind of skepticism. Steele said he couldn’t believe she was being so compassionate. But, in the end, they agreed and respected her decision.
She went to the others and hugged each one of them, even the children. Each time she embraced one, they seemed to cry harder. Her own eyes burned, but she kept her tears from falling because she wanted to stay strong for them.
She returned to Kiana’s mother. She held her shoulders within arm’s length and looked into her eyes. “You are always welcome in the fortress.” She glanced at each ifrit. “Your son and daughters are honorable heroes.”
The woman tried to speak but choked on her tears. She took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and tried again. “Th-thank you, Your Majesty.”
They whispered their thanks under their breaths, but Sadie heard it. She smiled softly, sympathizing with the pain they felt.
The ifrits bowed one last time before leaving.
Sadie walked up the dais to her throne and sat, watching the ifrits’ figures disappear from the throne room. She wanted to do more. Just saying sorry and offering them a hug and open invitation into her fortress whenever they wanted didn’t seem enough. She just didn’t know what else to do.
Mordecai appeared from the shadows beside her. “You know, demons will think what you did is weak. Kindness is not respected down here.”
Sadie turned her head to look at him. “And what do you think it is?”
“Curious.” One side of his mouth tilted up. “Curious, indeed.”
There was a glint in his gaze that mesmerized her. She wanted to get closer to him. But this was not the time. Instead, she stood.
“Goodbye, Mordecai,” she said, turning around and walking out of the throne room.
She had planned the night before that, after apologizing to the ifrits’ loved ones, she would return to the south wing to ask the ghost about being demon queen. Maybe if she asked questions, she would get real answers other than eerie whispers. She moved through the halls, dragging her feet, a bit nervous of going to that courtyard again. She wasn’t entirely sure it was a good idea to go back there again. But she had enough of trying to figure things out on her own. The previous demon queen was her only shot at getting some real answers to the problems she faced. Killing a demon being one of them.
Sadie reached the south wing and opened the metallic door, shivering from the cold that saturated the dark place. But she also felt its magic. She had her questions whether it obeyed her or not, but she felt it, and it seemed like it listened to her. It called to her.
She walked to the courtyard, taking a deep breath as she approached the statue in the middle. The ghost was nowhere to be found.
She surveyed the entrances of the dark hallways that led out from where she stood.
“What does it mean to be the demon queen?” she asked the silence. “What are her powers? Who are her enemies?”
She waited, hoping being straight-to-the-point merited an appearance from the ghost. A cold breeze blew against her and she hugged herself, rubbing her arms. She sucked in a breath.
When she thought no one would answer, the sound of vague whispers emanated from the hallway in front of her.
She’s here.
From the shadows, the silhouette of a tall, wispy woman appeared and floated toward Sadie.
The ghost appeared to be a little more solid as she hovered to the center of the courtyard. She was getting stronger. Sadie thought that pretty alarming, if that was the case. She hoped her observations were wrong, knowing if the demon queen was amassing strength and physical form, that could spell disaster for Sadie and her new position as demon queen.
The ghost spoke, her voice deep and echoing. “I am Hecate. I am no longer the demon queen.”
The ghost admitting the title had passed on eased Sadie’s feelings a little. Still, it was possible the ghost who called herself Hecate might’ve been playing with her.
Hecate continued. “You have power over every world, and you have the power of the gods.”
Sadie cocked her head to the side. “What does that mean?”
“Your magic is transcendent. You are envied. You are lost. You are alone. And because you have that amulet, you are a thief.”
“What?”
The ghost smiled, revealing a set of sharp, pointed teeth. She soared toward Sadie.
Sadie held her arms up instinctively to shield herself, but the ghost disappeared.
That ghost is so creepy.
Sadie wondered whether Hecate was her ally or her enemy. It made her weary to know there was more of a chance to her being enemy than friend.
Sadie left the garden, deciding to set aside Hecate’s useless guidance for now until she had more to go on.
As she walked the hallways, she resolved to continue keeping the ghost a secret from the princes. After all, she was still undecided on only picking one and didn’t need to tell them all her secrets just yet. She exited the tower and walked the ramparts to her room, needing a bit of fresh air for a change after the secluded and dismal environment of the south wing.
Hobson had said it was reserved for the demon queen only. And even though Sadie felt a certain connection to the magic of the place, there was also a feeling of malice that didn’t quite sit well with her. She had a feeling Hecate had something to do with that. Perhaps the fortress was torn between obeying Sadie or continuing to obey Hecate.
From a window in the rampart, she looked down at the castle’s front courtyard and saw Pyra curled up in the middle. The dragon crushed shrubs of daisies under her weight. Sadie smiled to herself, thinking how Hobson would throw a fit when he finds out about the wrecked foliage in the gardens. He tried too hard sometimes, but she still enjoyed the unusual personality Hobson had.
Upon reaching her room, she neared a bookshelf on the corner, realizing for the first time that because of the activity and events of the previous days, she hadn’t been able to examine the books yet. It was filled with books covered and written in glyphs and runes, languages she couldn’t understand. But amid these tomes was a selection of classics from her world. She ran her hands along the spines, grabbing a book she hadn’t read yet, and laid on her bed.
She was halfway through The Metamorphosis when one of the princes interrupted her.
“Enjoying the book?” Damien asked as he emerged from her balcony.
Sadie closed the book, chuckling. She wondered if she should bother having set days for any of them since they kept breaking that rule, especially the one about staying out of her room. Surprisingly, though, she didn’t actually mind. For once.
“This man woke up to find he’s a beetle,” she said.
He smiled. “I know. I also know how it ends.”
She glared at him. “You wouldn’t dare.”
He sat on the edge of the bed. “I wouldn’t. I know I’d be in trouble.” He ran his fingers on her knee and up her thigh. She smacked his hand away, but she laughed and placed the book on her bedside table. Perhaps this was just the distraction she needed. Time with Damien.
“Let’s go to the gardens.” She stood and put on her slippers.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Kaiser
Kaiser stood on his room’s balcony, watching Damien and Sadie strolling through the gardens below. Damien looked up and caught Kaiser’s eye. His brother glared at him, probably thinking Kaiser unwelcome even as a spectator during his time with Sadie.
Kaiser remembered what it was like growing up with his brothers. His heart broke, as it did every time he thought about Cedric. He missed him. He missed his other brothers, too, if he was being honest. He missed the sense of family they had shared when they were still together and complete. Cedric was the glue that kept them together. The dutiful, older brother. The oldest of them.
Then, Cedric died, and everything around Kaiser had fallen apart.
Damien returned his attention to Sadie and whispered something in her ear. Sadie laughed, and Kaiser’s heart skipped a beat. After having placed the protection spell on her, he followed her everywhere. He might have felt guilty for doing something she wasn’t completely aware of, but he had asked for her permission, albeit vaguely. He convinced himself he did the right thing by affixing the charm to her. Because of it, he could feel her every movement, and it calmed him to know she was safe.
He could also feel her emotions, so he knew she had been in the south wing. Something about that place unnerved her, and there was a hidden danger she refused to tell him about. She was uneasy and confused while she was there. He thought about going to her there, but the feelings ebbed, and she left the wing for her room.
He wondered what she did in that part of the fortress and what about that area concerned her. He decided he should take a look. If he saw anything that would prove a danger to Sadie, he would then convince his brothers to help him take care of it, before Sadie put herself into harm’s way again.
Steele appeared on the adjacent balcony, stretching his arms and yawning. When Steele saw him, he flew to Kaiser’s balcony. Steele stood beside him and looked at Sadie on the grounds below.
“Jealous?” Steele asked.
“That’s your move,” Kaiser said.
Steele snorted.
Kaiser smiled to himself. Yeah, he’s jealous.
Both didn’t speak for a while. They just watched Damien and Sadie pick apples from the trees. For the first time in a very long time, Kaiser felt comfortable just having Steele beside him, relaxing in silence.
“You know, this is kind of nice,” Kaiser said. “We’re more like a family now than we have been since Cedric died.”
“Yeah,” Steele said with a sigh.
Kaiser faced his brother, sympathizing with how longingly Steele looked at Sadie. They all loved her. He would be an idiot to think otherwise. And far as Kaiser knew, Sadie had yet to make a decision on who she was going to make her ally.
“I guess we need glue to keep us together, one way or another,” Steele said, nodding at Sadie.
Kaiser returned his gaze to Sadie. Now that Cedric was gone, she was their glue. Kaiser couldn’t be happier. He would do anything to keep Sadie within arm’s reach and protected. That reminded him of the south wing.
“I have to be somewhere,” he said. When his brothers had agreed that Kaiser should place the protection spell on Sadie, they also placed their trust in him. As much as he didn’t want to let Sadie down, he didn’t want to let his brothers down, either. “I should go.”
Steele nodded. “Take care, brother.”
Kaiser spread his wings and flew. Whatever it was that got Sadie riled up, he needed find out what and why.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Sadie
Sadie strolled along the garden pathway with Damien. She contemplated the colorful leaves of the canopy above her. White and golden vines hung from the branches. She breathed in the sweet fragrance of the flowers lining the cobblestone path. What a beautiful day.
While she approached an elm tree, a roar rung out in the distance. She stiffened, the sound chilling her bones. It seemed to come from the back of the castle, from the ifrit village.
Sadie looked at Damien. Both stood still, waiting for another roar, perhaps as a sign that they didn’t just imagine it. Sadie shook herself from her daze and, without another word, sprinted toward the direction of the sound.
She sped around her fortress and crossed the bridge that led to the ifrit village. Once she reached the cliff that overlooked their burning city, she halted, panting, eyes widening at the massive blue dragon that spurted frost from its mouth to the ifrits’ houses. The ice covered the buildings, some of them crumbling from the weight and momentum of the ice.
The dragon leapt toward the square in the middle of the settlement, spreading its wings that were formed like an array of sharp icicles. Ifrits raced toward the dragon, shooting fire at the creature, but the balls of fire bounced off the dragon’s hide.
Braver ifrits drew weapons and ran to the creature only to become victims of its claws, teeth, and frost-fire. It wasn’t long before the inhabitants seemed to have given up, running away from the dragon and hiding in any crevice they could find. Some reached the outskirts of their town to evacuate.
Damien joined Sadie at her side. His eyes widened, and he panted for breath. They descended the cliff, hurrying down the steep, stone stairs carved along its height.
As they ran, Sadie considered how she had been able to tame Pyra and that hellhound they saw in the forest. She hoped she could do the same for this creature too, before any more lives were lost.
Her heart thudded, and her throat stung from the force of the air she took in. Her legs burned from exertion. She ignored the pain as she ran as fast as she could, hoping to stop the dragon from causing even more destruction.
She neared the dragon as it blew out another gust of frost at a building filled with screaming ifrits. She raised her arms, palms burning with the energy of fire magic. She let it build and shot streams of red flames into the dragon’s frost. Steam sizzled and cracked in the air.
Though she had saved the hut from utter destruction, she had only managed to bring attention to herself as the dragon snapped its head in her direction. Its eyes were white-blue, wild with unhinged fury.
Aiming her hands toward the dragon, she built up fire magic in her palms, increasing the heat and intensity until they glowed blue. She held onto the magic, not wanting to release it unless she absolutely had to. She screamed, “Stop!”
The creature tilted its head, mouth parted enough that she saw a bright blue ball of light glowing at the back of its throat. Sadie gulped and approached with her hands held up, walking as slowly as possible, hoping to placate the creature. To further show her willingness to help and not hurt the creature, she slowly let the energy within her hands fade.
Please don’t attack me… I’m a friend. I won’t hurt you. She tried to plead with the creature, hoping to mentally reach it and ease the turmoil within him. There was a bit of chaos that overwhelmed the poor thing. It was in complete defense mode.
What happened to you?
No response. Only the increasing turmoil. She had to defuse the situation before more lives were lost. Including hers.
Just as she thought she was succeeding, the dragon snarled and glared at her. It opened its maw. The bright ball of blue increased in size. Sadie froze in place.
Damien shouted, “Sadie!”
Sadie bent her knees to jump to the side and avoid the dragon’s icy blast, but a body slammed into her. She shut her eyes as her feet left the ground, bracing for the impact of the fall. Wings flapped, and strong arms surrounded her body. Damien’s heartbeat pounded on her back.
“You’re safe,” he said and set her down out of the path of the dragon’s wrath.
“It wouldn’t listen to me,” Sadie said. “I don’t understand why.”
Damien stared at the creature. “Let’s worry about that later.” He unsheathed his sword and it blazed to life. “For now, we should stop it from destroying the city.”
“Right,” Sadie said, and cast a smoke sword for a weapon. She curled her fingers around its hilt as it solidified in her hand. She charged, weapon held high.
Once again, she reached with her mind to communicate with the dragon, but she still didn’t sense any kind of friendliness. Only the need to destroy.
She reached the dragon and ducked the claw that descended on her. Tumbling to
the front of the creature, she aimed to slash at its throat. It reared back, avoiding the blow. She quickly jabbed at its scaly belly, but her sword hardly scratched at the ice that covered the scales like armor.
The dragon rose on its hind legs and leapt back, front legs descending to crush Sadie. She rolled away, tucking her arms closer to her to lessen the shock of her collision with the hard ground.
Climbing to her knees, she noticed the dragon had turned its attention to Damien who fought in the air, black wings spread wide behind him.
He dashed from side to side, striking the creature’s body with his weapon wherever he could. Flying directly above the dragon, he raised his sword and descended, pushing his blade through the dragon’s back. His weapon sank halfway through the creature’s scales, but it only seemed to irritate the dragon instead of hurt it.
Sadie stood as Damien yanked his sword out of the dragon’s back and flew up again, away from the creature’s gnashing teeth, narrowly missing the heels of his boots.
The dragon stooped and inhaled a deep breath. A blizzard erupted in a short radius around the dragon. It let out a terrifying cry.
Sadie’s teeth chattered, and her breath formed a slight foggy cloud in front of her. Icicles formed around her smoke sword as the weapon crystallized and cracked, bursting into fragments of ice, disappearing in her hand.
Shivering, she reached for her amulet’s magic, tapping into the warmth she had always felt every time she cast fire. Two flames materialized in her hands. In need of a weapon, she molded the flames to create swords. The weapons blazed to life within her hands. She let the warmth surround her and protect her from the cold that the creature relentlessly emitted.
She sprinted to the dragon’s side, ducking the creature’s tail as it swung at her. With a swipe of her sword, she hacked off a piece of the creature’s frozen wing and it fell like an icicle to the ground. Golden ichor spilled from the wound.
The dragon’s other wing crashed into her abdomen, knocking her aside. Her back hit the ground and the shock reverberated through her. The breath was knocked from her lungs. Her casting faltered, and she gasped for air as pain rocked through her core.
