by Tiya Rayne
Which is stupid, because I can’t help fight and I’m really only in the way here. I’m barely standing up straight when my legs give out on me once more proving the point of why I shouldn’t stay. Still I’m determined not to leave him.
“I cannot fight if I am worrying about you. Please, go with Miriam.”
This time it’s Miriam that helps me to my feet.
“Come on, Lilly. You staying will only get him killed.” Miriam says as she half drags, half walk me away from Assassin.
As much as I hate to leave I knew she was right. With one last look at Assassin, I allow Miriam to pull me away from the fight.
As the noise starts to disappear behind us I hear Augustus’ voice, “Miriam, I shall assist you.”
I’m too weak to turn my head to see him, but I hear his feet running up behind us then feel his arms wrap around me and scoop me up close to his chest.
“Thank you!” Miriam says. “She does not handle tracing well.”
We pick up the pace now that they don’t have anyone slowing them down. Augustus is practically running with me. I’m unable to open my eyes and my head is spinning like a merry-go-round.
“Release my queen.” I hear a baritone voice say in front of us.
Augustus stops and his hands tighten on me.
“She is not your queen, she is our……Lilly.” He says finally finding the correct word.
I am thankful he didn’t say his chosen. Not that I was condoning people dying for me, but if you were going to risk your life for me at least do it for me and not some random prophecy.
“I will not say it again.” The baritone threatens.
When Augustus plants his feet shoulder length apart and draws me closer to his chest I know we’re in trouble. I’m suddenly hit with something comparable to a car. Augustus goes flying on his back and I fall out of his hands. My head is still dizzy from the tracing and when I open my eyes everything is blurry. I close them and open them again a few times to fight the double vision. When I’m finally seeing one of everything, I notice Miriam lying on her back on the ground. I crawl over to her and notice she is not moving. My heart is slamming against my chest as I place my hand on her chest. Thank God! She is unconscious, but still alive. The sound of growling and a man screaming draws my attention. Augustus is being mauled by a large grey werewolf. My stomach drops. I have no weapon to fight this beast and even if I did I could barely stand up long enough to try. But, I’m a Peters. And, Peters’ are fighters. If Uncle Buddy was here he would say, “Never let go of your weapon, Lilly, Not until the coroner takes it from your hands.” Which is Uncle Buddy’s way of saying fight until there is nothing left of you. I look around for something I could use, that is when I notice the bow and arrows near Miriam. Augustus must have handed them to her when he took me. Thankfully, Uncle Buddy is a weapons guy and I learned how to wield a knife, shoot a gun and use a bow and arrow. My specialty is shooting, but I wasn’t terrible with the bow and arrow either. I grab the bow off the ground and dig under Miriam to retrieve the last two arrows. I notch the bow and aim it at the werewolf, the first arrow only knicks his shoulder blade. The only thing I precede in doing is getting his attention. He looks at me and growls.
“Put down the arrow, human. I do not want to hurt you.” he says in that deep baritone voice.
I notch the last arrow and steady my breathing—just like Uncle Buddy taught me to do. I aim the arrow at the beast’s chest.
“Be cautious, my queen.”
“Fuck you.” I say, just like Assassin would and then let the arrow fly, it hits home and the beast crumples to the ground.
I am so weak by now I can only belly crawl to Augustus. He has scratches all across his chest and puncture wounds in his arms but he is breathing.
“You saved me.” He says in a whisper.
“Of course, you’re my friend.”
He looks directly in my eyes, his brown sparkly eyes even more shiny from his exertion.
“And I will always protect you, my friend.”
He extends his hand out to me. I shake, and then finally give way to the darkness that has been trying to consume me since Assassin traced with me.
Chapter Five
Has everyone in the Locke gone crazy? It’s like Lilly is a fucking new toy that everyone wants to play with. Now the damn Dark King wants her to be his queen. Must I kill everyone? I am not going to allow the Dark King and his cock anywhere near my Lilly. I am still struggling with the knowledge that Rykan’s dick has been anywhere near her, I still owe him a beating. But, fuck me, the Dark King? I have heard of his encounters with females, most never recover. He lives off causing pain, even in his mating bed he abuses and tortures his lovers. I will tear down the entire Locke before I allow Lilly to be handled by that monster. And the thought of what he would do to her if she refuses him brings bile to my mouth. The vision of Lilly’s broken body on that forest floor as a little girl while her step-father did horrible things to her made me weak. I know that what the Dark King would do to her would be so much worse.
I am seeing red as I pace in front of Avalia’s throne. She has called a meeting with the Immortal Kings after I told her of the Dark King’s wishes. Avalia had looked just as disgusted as I am.
Now she is trying to calm down the room of Immortal Kings.
“Gentlemen, I know your concerns. I too, wish to protect Lilly from such a fate.”
“My concern is of the Locke and our future kings, not of this human.” Bartus says. “What will the Dark King taking the human do to my grandsons?”
I am so distracted by my blind rage that I do not react to Bartus’s obvious disregard for Lilly’s well-being. My anger was palpable, drifting off me in waves like an ocean slapping against a cliff. My mind it so removed from the room that everyone has forgotten to fear me.
“Bartus!” I notice Avalia’s eyes glance over to me, she can sense how overtaken I am with my rage. She is cautiously eyeing me as if I am a bomb with a ticking detonator.
“No outcome of the Dark King getting his hands on Lilly is a good one. Rather he destroys your future grandsons, or rape and torture the virgin female your son saw fit to claim. Lilly is still an innocent in all this and it is still her that will save the Locke, so show a little more concern for her.”
“My apologies, Queen.” Bartus replies without any remorse. “I only speak out because it is obvious the Dark King no longer wants her dead, but that does not mean he does not want my grandsons dead. If I am not mistaking, it is the twins that will usher us into a peaceful future, is it not?”
“Yes, Bartus. It is the twin kings that rule our future. There is nothing at this moment that will harm the twins and not Lilly, but I am sure Ofilla is hard at work. If the Dark King wants Lilly to birth his heir, I am sure he will not want Rykan’s to be there first.”
“We should send the human back to her realm. At least until the twins are born. Then we can protect the twins.” Artimus provides.
“And what of Lilly?” ask Rykan.
“Well, I’m sure once the Dark king finishes with her, whatever decision she has to make would be in our favor.”
“Father, you wish to deliver her to the Dark King?” Rykan questions with such disgust on his face it almost makes me forgive him.
“It is for the good of the Locke, Rykan?” Bartus placates.
Again Avalia’s eyes look to me. I know she is afraid that any minute I will blow up. Honestly, I know it too. The red haze that covers my eyes whenever I am on the verge of pure destruction is obscuring my vision. For the life of me I cannot make the raw urge, to kill everyone in the room, go away. I am warring with myself to stay sane. I killed every single giant and shifter at that party I got my hands on and yet my urge to kill has still not been sated.
“You cannot allow this to happen.” Rykan pleads to Avalia.
“Relax, Rykan. No one is sending Lilly away and no one is allowing the Dark King to have her. Lilly is in my care and I will protect her.”
<
br /> “Maybe that is the problem.” Fisgal speaks up for the first time tonight.
The tall dark skinned man unfolds his long legs from underneath the table and stands. It is unlike Fisgal to speak out, he is usually the observer. Always studying his surroundings. He brush his hands down the front of his silk colorful tunic.
“I agree, to let such a beautiful women fall into the hands of the Dark King would be a waste. However, maybe she needs to be in the care of someone else. Someone more capable.”
For the first time ever, I see Avalia lose her calm. The look on her face is deadly as she regards Fisgal.
“And whom do you suggest I allow to care for her? Is it king that wants to send her to her human world unprotected,” she points to Artimus. “Maybe it is king that wants to offer her over to the Dark King to be abused,” She looks briefly to Bartus. “…..or the one that has never fought in a single war?” She looks back to Fisgal.
No one says anything.
“What you Kings are too blind to understand is that before the twins can usher us into this future of peace and prosperity, one human female,” she says emphasizing the words human and female. “Will determine if we will even have a future. So before you so carelessly dismiss her, you should stop to think, if the choice to save you came right now would she do it?”
Again I got the vision of Lilly before me with tears in her eyes. The more I thought about Avalia’s vision and what she is keeping from me the more irritable I became. That vision is telling me something bad, I can feel it.
“Tonight,” Avalia continues. “A brave girl was willing to sacrifice her freedom and her life to save people she had only just met. They did not hold her future in their hands and she did not gain anything to help them. However she was more a warrior tonight than the cowards I see before me. She holds your future in her hands, and you want to offer her to the Dark King. It is your actions that make me question if the Locke even needs to be saved with people like you in it?”
The immortal kings had enough sense to look ashamed. Avalia has made a powerful point. Today Lilly has won favor with the magicals by risking her life for them. I was blown away when Augustus agreed to fight. Once a prominent warrior, Augutus lost his thrive to fight long ago. He has refused to come back to the battlefield no matter what Avalia has offered him. And to think, Lilly did what Avalia could not just by being brave. Lilly was way better than these assholes deserved.
“I can offer you my finest warriors to aid in the protection of the human Lilly.” Artimus is the first to speak. His head is lowered and the shame is written on his fat sun-beaten face.
“I have already assigned her guards. The Magicals have pledged their allegiance to protect Lilly at all cost. They will be led by Assassin.”
“I do not think that is a good idea. He has proven today that he is not up for the task.”
“She is alive because of him, Rykan.” Avalia’s voice has a hard edge to it.
She is still pissed off. Her eyes have been glowing from the moment Fisgal questioned her ability to protect Lilly.
“He left her in the hands of servants so that he could enjoy the battle. Thankfully Lilly was capable with a bow and arrow or she would have been a prisoner of the Dark King right now. Assassin’s inability to turn down a fight will cause her to get hurt. I’m invoking my rightful claim on my sons. He needs to be removed as her assassin.”
I wondered what would be my breaking point, it was this. I am in a rage when I delivered the first blow to Rykan’s face. His head snaps to the side as I hit him in the jaw. The First one caught him off guard, but the second one he was ready for. He dodged my second blow, but I quickly followed it with another one that busted his nose. He fell back clutching his nose as blood poured down his face. I thought he would back down after that, but the princeling is not as much of a coward as I thought he was, he charges at me knocking me onto my back. He delivers one blow to my jaw before I flip him over and round on his face. My knuckles are bleeding and busted from hammering into Rykan’s face.
“That’s enough, Assassin.”
Bartus is trying to pull me off Rykan. His momentary distraction allows Rykan to get a shot on me and his fist connects to my nose. By now, hands are pulling us apart. I am still seeing red, even with Rykan’s bleeding nose, busted lip and swollen eye, I am not satisfied. First he used Lilly and left her as if she was nothing, now he is trying to take her away from me. I will not be happy until he is lying dead at my feet.
“He is a savage!” Rykan shouts. “He is unstable. I don’t want him near my Lilly… I mean my sons.” I pull away from the hands holding me and try to get to him again, until I hear her voice coming down the hall and I immediately stop.
“Where is he?”
“Lilly, you are not presentable. He is with the council.” Miriam is saying.
Avalia took one look at the two of us and I felt her magic wash over me, she is healing me instantly. And just in time. Lilly walks into the room and everyone freezes. She is wearing only a short white night dress and underneath is her black lacy undergarments. Shit, my dick is reacting. Her body is magnificent, and the undergarments that barely cover her most luscious parts are enticing. It is even more arousing than if she was fully naked, because it makes you wonder what beauty is buried beneath such delicate material. Lilly has a body meant for a man’s pleasure, a body that at the moment everyone is staring at. FUCK!
“Lilly, you must put on a robe.” Miriam says behind her, but Lilly isn’t listening.
She is looking at me, only me. This knowledge set the blood in my veins on fire and on a fast pace south of my body.
“Assassin.” My name comes off her lips like a breathless moan.
I can’t help myself, I trace directly in front of her. I grab the robe out of Miriam’s hand and diligently dress Lilly, while I try not to touch her. If I touch her now the gods only knows what will happen. I do not want to cross that line with Lilly. I am her protector, her guardian; I’ve been in her life since she was six years old. No matter how much I tell myself this, the memory of her body in this night dress will not go away.
“Are you ok?” Her hands grab the sides of my face as her eyes scan my face for wounds. Thankfully Avalia took care of my busted nose. I didn’t want Lilly to see me that way.
“I’m fine. You should be lying down.”
I checked on Lilly as soon as I got back from the slaughter at Augustus’s house. She was sleeping when I got here, thankfully she had survived the night with only a few cuts and bruises.
I cinch the waist of her robe, I don’t want anyone seeing Lilly’s body. The thought of these Immortal Kings looking at her made me see red all over again. I don’t care if Rykan has already seen it; if I can help it he would never see it again. No one would, including me. I take a step back from her grabbing her hands from my face and dropping them back down at her sides. This is little Lilly, I can’t allow myself to see her in any other way. I am disgusted at my body for reacting towards her like another brainless male. I am no better than those teenage boys from her youth that only wanted her for the pleasure of burying their cock deep inside her. Lilly deserved more than I could give her. She definitely deserved more than a man that watched her grow up and is now thinking of the way her body would feel beneath him.
Lilly reaches out to touch me again and I step away from her. The look on her face almost makes me relent, but she deserves better than me.
“Lilly!” Rykan calls her name.
For the first time Lilly realizes we aren’t alone. Her face turns bright red and she looks down at her hands. When she looks back at me I see embarrassment in her eyes and hurt. Why would she be embarrassed?
“When will you admit what you feel for her?”
I watch as Rykan rushes up to Lilly and take her hands in his. She glances at me and I try to keep my face as neutral as possible. I don’t want her with Rykan either, but who am I to oppose. Obviously she wants him or she wouldn’t have given herself to him.
>
“I am not good for her.” I answer, looking away from Lilly’s hazel gaze.
“Assassin….,” Avalia’s voice is a softened plea.
I knew she wanted to tell me that I deserved love and a bunch of nonsense to make me want to claim Lilly, but she is wrong. And I didn’t want to hear what she has to say.
“I have made my decision.”
“But Assassin.”
“Enough!” I shout at her.
“Pigheaded!” Is the last thing Avalia says before she withdraws from my mind.
I focus back on my surroundings.
“Lilly, I have heard of your bravery tonight. You are quite the remarkable little human.” Bartus says with a smile.
I thought I hated the way they treated her before, but this fake kindness seems to piss me off even more.
“Thank you, Bartus. I didn’t really do anything. Assassin is the real hero tonight.” I look over to her but she’s looking down at her hands.
“He fought very bravely.”
“Of course he did, while he sent you away barely protected.” Rykan says through clenched teeth. “But do not worry, Lilly, I will find you a better qualified guard. One that does not place his blood thirst over the protection of you.”
“We could send Bilal. He is the best fighter in the Southern Kingdom.” Bartus adds proudly.
I almost laugh, on Bilal’s best day he is no match for me.
“I appreciate your generosity, King Bartus. But I already have a guard.”
Lilly steps away from Rykan and comes to stand beside me. I see the shock cross Rykan’s face; followed by accusation and then anger.
“Assassin was willing to risk his life for me. I want him to be my guard.”
“Lilly, he is a murderer. He lives for battle. He will always choose to fight rather than get you to safety. A real guard would have left the fight for the others and made sure you got home safe. He will never choose you over the battle.”
I wanted to deny what Rykan was saying. I wanted to call him a liar, but he’s right. Everything he said about me is right. I am a murderer, born and bred as such. If I were really thinking about the safety of Lilly rather than my connection to her I would see that she needed another guard, one that will put her safety before the urge to kill.
