Destined to Destruct

by Ciara Graves

  “It’s a long story,” I told him as I glanced behind him. “One that I’ll be sure to tell you once business is taken care of. Did you get him?”

  “Get who?” Aiden asked.

  Henson tensed. “You sure you can trust him? Never seen him before.”

  I motioned for him to stand down. “This is Aiden. He’s a healer, and you should thank him. He’s the only reason I’m alive.”

  Aiden held out his hand for a shake, a tentative smile on his face. Henson ignored his hand and wrapped him up in a bear hug that his eyes bug out of his head. “Oh, alright, then.”

  “Thank you,” Henson said as he set him back on his feet. He turned back to me, looking as pissed as off as I felt. “Mariana is telling anyone who will listen that she saw you murder Jeric. The entire kingdom’s up in arms over it. There’s a bounty on your head.”

  “I figured as much when Venkalth came looking for me.”

  Henson cursed. “He’s after you?”

  “Like I said, long story. Where’s our guest of honor?”

  Henson said he’d go grab him as Aiden stepped up beside me. “Iona, who did you have him bring here?”

  I crossed my arms as Henson opened the back door of the truck and dragged out a figure clad in the black gear of a royal guard. “Someone who’s about to give us all the answers we’ve been missing.” I clicked my claws against each other as the guard was dragged forward. Henson shoved him to his knees then removed the black bag covering his head.

  He glared around until his eyes landed on my face. He lunged at me. His angry shouts cut off by the duct tape over his mouth. His hands were bound behind his back, and Henson easily grabbed him and threw him back to the ground.

  “Stay down, Eric, if you know what’s good for you.”

  The guard glowered at us. He stopped yelling, at least. I crouched in front of him as I drew one of my daggers. Flames appeared on the blade as the tattoo on my arm warmed and glowed a deep orange. I placed the tip at his chin.

  He leaned back to get away.

  “Iona?” Aiden asked uncertainly.

  “Let me introduce you to the head of Princess Mariana’s personal guard,” I told Aiden. “The man who’s going to tell us everything about what that bitch is up to if he wants to live.”

  Eric’s eyes widened in fear for a heartbeat until they narrowed in resolve. It didn’t matter. I’d broken plenty of fae in my day. Eric would be no different.

  I smiled darkly as I dragged the tip of the dagger down his neck to the hollow of his neck.

  “Let’s get started.”

  Chapter 10

  Aiden

  The second Henson arrived with Eric in tow, a change came over Iona. Gone was any hint of a softer side and back was the steely-faced guard who was ready to kick Eric’s fae ass from here to next year if he didn’t answer her questions. She hadn’t removed her flaming dagger from underneath his chin yet. The moonlight caught the malicious glint in her dark eyes.

  “Iona—” I started.

  She held up her hand. “Not now, Aiden.”

  “Shouldn’t we go somewhere else?”

  “Oh, no. Here is just fine,” she mused, running the tip of the dagger down Eric’s cheek as Henson held him upright. “Here, no one can hear him scream. Now, you’re going to tell me what Princess Mariana is up to.”

  Eric grunted, and his eyes narrowed.

  “I’m going to remove the tape. Keep your mouth shut unless you’re asked questions.” Iona grabbed the corner of the tape and yanked it free.

  Eric spat and immediately spewed curses at her. She backhanded him hard enough to send him to the ground. Henson helpfully righted him, and as Eric opened his mouth a second time, Iona punched him. His head flew back, and blood spurted from his nose.

  “Did you not hear me?”

  I took a step forward, not even sure what I intended to do. “What are you doing?”

  “Stay out of this, Aiden,” Iona warned, not even glancing my way.

  “Are you going to torture him?”

  “If I have to, yes.”

  I licked my lips, knowing full well if I got in her way, she’d shove me aside. This wasn’t right, though. I couldn’t stand by while she beat a man to death. While I was still figuring out what I was going to do, a sharp crack of skin against skin made me jump. Iona had backhanded Eric again. he fell to the side, spewing curses about how he was going to make Iona pay. All she did was sigh and pick at her small claws.

  “This would be a lot less painful for you if you would simply do as you’re told. You going to keep whining, or are you going to cooperate?”

  Henson grabbed the fae by his hair and yanked his head back, exposing his neck. Iona aimed the dagger at his jugular and Eric stilled. “Bitch,” he seethed.

  “So I’ve been told. Back to Mariana, did she hire Venkalth?”

  Eric ground his teeth as I waited with bated breath for him to answer Iona’s question. When he shook his head, Iona hung hers. She brought back her hand with the dagger and just as she was about to slash it down the fae’s front, I rushed in. She barely jerked her hand back in time.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” she snapped and grabbed me by my shirt. “Get out of my way.”

  Her eyes were so dark with her anger, they were nearly black.

  I held up my hands, reminding her I was unarmed. “Is this really the best option?”

  “What do you want me to do?” she asked in a whisper that was more intimidating than if she had been yelling. “He’s a trained guard just like I am. You want me to what, sit him down, offer him a cup of coffee? You think that’ll get him to talk?”

  “Isn’t it worth a try to be civil? You’re acting like the monster they’re portraying you as if you do this.”

  Her face screwed up in annoyance, and she shoved me aside. “You know nothing about who we are. Guards swear loyalty for life. He’s not about to give up information on Mariana, not without a fight.”

  “You don’t know that,” I argued as I scrambled back up.

  “Actually, I do because I wouldn’t give up intel on Jeric either. It’s what we’re trained for.”

  “And I was trained to save people, not watch them be beaten to a bloody pulp.” My words reverberated around the clearing.

  Henson’s face remained blank. Iona’s did, too, as she approached me. I gulped as she raised the dagger, the flames flaring brighter along its blade and lighting up her face. “And I was trained to kill. Stand down, Aiden. I won’t ask you again.”

  She turned from me to Eric, who was now watching me with curiosity. Henson twisted him back around as Iona approached and crouched in front of him again.

  “Tell me who hired Venkalth to kill Jeric.” She pressed the tip of the dagger beneath Eric’s jaw.

  His eyes narrowed until she moved her wrist just a hair. Blood dripped from the tiny puncture wound. “Alright, it was me. I hired him.”

  “On who’s orders?”

  When he looked ready to keep resisting, Iona removed the dagger from his wrist and aimed it at his groin. “Damn it, just stop. It was Mariana. She wants the throne.”

  “Why? What’s her plan?”

  Eric fiddled with his wrists, and his eyes darted away. “Plan? There is no plan. Jeric’s dead. That’s it,” he said, making Iona click her tongue. “What? I’m telling you the truth?”

  “Mariana never does anything half-assed. What’s the rest of her plan?”

  “I don’t know—” His sudden shout of pain cut off his words. He sucked in ragged breaths as I turned my back on the sight.

  Iona had rammed the dagger into his upper right thigh. I chanced a glance to see it still embedded there as she reached for a new dagger and aimed it at his other thigh.

  “Wait, just wait,” Eric pleaded, but she plunged it home in his left thigh. He shouted until Henson clapped a hand over his mouth, stifling the noise.

  I ran a hand down my face, not believing this was what I’d come out here to h
elp her do. Torture someone. My stomach twisted in knots. This went against all my teachings as a healer, as a part of my guild.

  “Now,” Iona said, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn around and look, “you’re going to tell me what she’s planning, or you’re going to start losing body parts. What is her plan?”

  I muttered under my breath for him to just answer. When it took too long, I spun around. “Answer her, damn it.”

  Iona gave me a curious glance.

  Eric, on the other hand, hung his head. “She never thought Jeric made a good king,” he whispered. “She’s been riling up the radicals for over a year now.” He licked his lips, shuddering from the agony caused by his wounds. “When her first attempt to kill him failed, she planned another way.”

  “First attempt?” Henson asked, confused. “What first attempt?”

  But it was Iona who answered. “The motorcade attack. She was behind it?”

  “You put a stop to her plans that day, so she decided to go a different route. Then when she realized Jeric had become infatuated with you, she came up with something even better.” Eric scoffed, even as Henson warned him to shut it. “He actually thought the people would accept you as his queen. If Mariana didn’t take control of the kingdom, there’d be only chaos. Revolts left and right. She did what was necessary.”

  Iona’s hands curled into fists as she straightened and turned her back to Eric. I couldn’t tell what was going through her mind. “Infatuated with me. Is that what she thought?” she finally uttered.

  “What else could it be?” Eric spat blood on the dirt near her boots. “What fae would ever fall in love with a half-bred bitch like you?”

  The last word was barely out of his mouth when she attacked him. She slashed her claws down his face, drawing rivulets of blood. He shouted and threw himself away from her, but Henson was there to block him. She wrapped her hand around his throat, digging the sharp points of her claws into his skin. Henson moved out of the way, and she slammed Eric into the ground hard enough to make his head bounce.

  “The rest of her plan, what is it?” she shouted in his face. When he didn’t answer right away, she bashed his head into the ground again. “Tell me!”

  “Reyson! She’s going to marry Prince Reyson,” Eric said with a grunt.

  “Prince Reyson from Jolian? Why?” Iona demanded. Eric took too long to answer, and she punched him in the face. “Why?”

  “War. She wants war. They’re going to marry then take over the throne of Jolian.” Eric’s head fell to the ground, and his eyes slipped shut. “They’re going to enslave all the worthless goblins in both kingdoms and turn them into an army to take out the light fae. That’s what she’s after.”

  Iona slowly stood and stepped away from Eric’s prone body as he continued to sputter and curse. “Then I guess I have to kill Mariana.”

  “What? You can’t,” I exclaimed. “How are you going to get to her?”

  “I was King Jeric’s head guard for a very long time. I know every single way in and out of that damned mansion,” she told me calmly, probably already seeing it all in her mind’s eye. “We can’t let her go through with this plan. Even you have to agree with that,” she shot at me.

  I opened my mouth, then closed it. Did I want to see all goblins enslaved and used as soldiers? Of course not, but this was insane. She wouldn’t be able to get to Mariana. There had to be another way to stop it. If we could get to the council, tell them what we knew, or make Eric confess the truth then maybe—

  “No!” Eric shouted.

  Iona had produced another dagger. She drove the blade into his neck, pinning him to the dirt.

  He gasped and gagged on his blood. His body twitched, until finally, he stopped moving. His eyes were frozen open in death. She tore the dagger free and wiped the blood on her pants.

  “Henson, you with me on this?”

  “To avenge Jeric’s death and see your name cleared? Hell, yes. What do you want me to do?”

  “Jeric’s funeral. Has it happened yet?”

  Henson glanced toward the sky. “No, it’s planned for tomorrow at midday.”

  “Which means most of the royal grounds will be bustling with activity for the procession, the burial, and the memorial dinner afterward,” Iona mused. “We’ll have to move quickly. Get her before the procession. That’s when the royal grounds will be most vulnerable.”

  “I can ensure you a way in.”

  “That’s all I’ll need.”

  “Just wait a damned second,” I yelled.

  They looked at me like I might go insane at any second. To be fair, I felt like I was. I thought I was doing the right thing saving Iona’s life. Now, I found myself dragged into the middle of a mess with killers and backstabbing plots and monarchs wanting to start wars. “You can’t do this. It won’t solve anything.”

  “It’ll stop Mariana from marrying Reyson. It’s all I need,” Iona replied.

  “And if she’s dead who’s going to clear your name? You just murdered one of the few people who knew the truth.” I motioned to Eric’s dead body.

  “Venkalth knows.”

  “Why not just have Henson go to the council and bring them here. Or somewhere,” I added, glancing at Eric’s dead body. “They’ll have to believe you. There’s no reason for you to have killed Jeric.”

  “Except half the council, if not more, are most likely in on the plan with Mariana.” She rested a heavy hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “I understand this is difficult for you, but this is what I have to do to avenge Jeric.”

  “You mean to save the kingdom,” I said, and she removed her hand. “You’re doing this for the goblins. For everyone. Not just vengeance. Right?”

  “If it makes you feel better, sure, we’ll go with that.”

  The way she wouldn’t meet my gaze suddenly had the gears turning in my mind. Henson’s face was set in a scowl as he looked to Iona.

  My heart plummeted as the truth hit me. “You’re planning on dying, aren’t you?”

  She didn’t answer. She walked away from me.

  “No, I’m not going to let you do this, not after everything you’ve been through,” I yelled as I followed her. “You survived one of the harshest known poisons to our kind, Iona. You are more than just Jeric’s head bodyguard. You’re—”

  “I’m what, huh?” she snapped as she stopped short and I almost ran into her. “I’m a shining beacon of hope for goblins everywhere, is that what you’re saying?”

  “You could be.”

  She laughed harshly. “No, I’m a killer, Aiden and it’s time you accept that. You heal. I kill. That’s how it works. No grand speech from you is going to change who I am.”

  “So you’re just going to murder Marianna?”

  She shrugged. “And whoever else gets in my way.”

  “No. I won’t let you do this. You’re not the monster they’re claiming you to be.” I grabbed her arm to stop her, but she easily pried it off and twisted my arm. I yelped, and she loosened her grip.

  “You know nothing about me,” she whispered, her lip twitching in her agitation. “Go back to Timber Falls, Aiden. Go back to the goblins. They need you more than they need me.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Why do you care so much about my life?” she asked. “Why did you risk yourself to save me?”

  Did I tell her how I’d been seeing King Jeric around, and he essentially made me swear to look out for her? She was already unstable. Saying I saw the image of the fae she loved might send her over the edge. Or she wouldn’t believe me. Then she’d deck me. I gave up and simply said, “Because that is my job.”

  Her intense stare said she didn’t believe me. She walked away, and I snagged her arm. I tried to tell her again not to go when she punched me. I saw stars, thought I heard her apologize, and then she hit me again.

  I came to with a pounding headache. Sunlight poured through the branches swaying gently over my truck. My truck. How had I gotten in here? T
he blanket I usually kept tucked under the seats was draped over me like someone had placed me in here. I sat up too fast and gasped as the pain intensified behind my eyes.

  Iona’s fist coming toward my face filled my mind. She had punched me, hard.

  “Damned woman,” I mumbled, fumbling for the truck door and practically fell out.

  The night’s events came back to me in a rush. Watching as Iona and Henson tortured Eric. Then she’d killed him. I hurried to the front of the truck, but there was no body left behind. The blood had been washed away too, like they’d never been here at all. Worse, Henson’s vehicle was missing, and there was no sign of Iona.

  She was off to kill Mariana.

  I kicked the truck, then instantly regretted it.

  Hobbling on one foot, I made it to the center of the clearing. I stopped and sighed. If she wanted to kill Marianna, and who knew how many others, and get herself killed in the process, that was on her. I was a healer. I didn’t kill people. I didn’t want vengeance. I needed to get to Orion and warn him of what was to come if Iona failed.

  “She should be the one doing it, not me,” I muttered to the woods. “But no, now she has a death wish. That’s great, just freaking great.”

  Not like I would have been of any help if I’d tagged along. I weighed my options and decided there was nothing more I could do here. As I made for my truck, a cool wind gusted past me. I kept walking, trying to work on a plan to get the goblins out of Charus and to one of the Light Fae Kingdoms. They’d be safe there from Mariana for a while at least. I was at the truck about to climb in when a figure appeared next to mine in the glass.

  I jumped as I spun and came face to face with Jeric’s spirit.

  “Really?” I yelled.

  Jeric’s frown deepened, and he crossed his arms over his chest. His form was misty around the edges, but the rest of him looked fairly solid.

  “What do you expect me to do? Go after her?”

  His brow rose, and he glanced in the direction Iona had gone.