by Eva Brandt
But things had drastically changed since then, and I had a new perspective. Our relationship was not one we could divide. The six of us—Lucienne, Mathias, Malachai, Declan, Bjorn, and me—were all part of the same whole. As confused as I might be about a million other things, that, at least, I could be sure of.
It was unacceptable to hide such important information from one another.
“You haven’t been all that forthcoming with them either,” a tiny voice pointed out at the back of my mind. It sounded a lot like Lucienne, and although I knew it couldn’t be her, it still made my heart sink. It was hypocritical of me to get angry over this, when less than a minute earlier, I’d been thinking that my well-being wasn’t that important.
What a clusterfuck.
We had to learn how to communicate and work together better, but that wasn’t going to happen overnight. And we had no time left at our disposal to try to mend all the cracks in our tentative bond.
My migraine was getting worse at the daunting task that now lay ahead of me. Between Pierce, Louis, the Dames Blanches, the Alarian Vow, and our general inability to get along, our mission to rescue Lucienne already seemed doomed to fail.
The sound of a loud knock interrupted our exchange. It was so violent that I was surprised the door didn’t splinter.
Before my arrival, Mathias had made it clear to his minions that he liked his space, and I’d reinforced that after I’d taken over his body. When Mathias had woken up as Darius, I’d also given my underlings specific instructions and pointed out that they were not to disturb us unless the world blew up or something along that line.
It would seem the world had blown up a little more quickly than I’d imagined. If that wasn’t the case, I was liable to do something very violent and bloody that I’d likely regret when it was too late to do anything about it.
“Yes,” I said, “come in.”
Vance Newton burst into the room, his eyes wild, his hair sweaty, and his clothes in disarray. “Your Lordship, terrible news!” he said without preamble. “A group of Banished has intercepted one of our smaller cells in New York. We’ve lost contact with our people, but we believe they might have been destroyed.”
When he said nothing else, a chill went down my spine. Banished. There were a lot of such groups in the United States, some stronger and more dangerous than others. However, there was only one that would make Vance both so vague and so rattled while talking about it.
Keeping my voice carefully level, I sent a brief jolt of electricity toward him. “Yes, and? Finish your report. I can tell there’s something you’re not saying.”
As I’d feared, Vance’s gaze shot toward Declan. “Before communication between us became impossible, the leader of the subsidiary cell managed to convey one name. Kaiden Whelan.”
Shit.
* * *
Declan
Thinking back, I’d always known in my heart that my decision to join Mathias’s forces would put me in direct conflict with Kai. He despised scavengers as much as I did—or I used to—and the fact that I’d changed my mind would infuriate him. I’d been prepared to cut him off completely from my life. I’d done it once, when I’d turned to the Alarians. I could do it again.
Or so I’d thought.
As I stood there, in Mathias’s office, listening to Vance Newton’s report, memories flashed through my mind. Kai and me, when we’d been only pups, still wide-eyed and innocent, still believing in the dream Kai had never given up on. The day Kai had become the Alpha of our pack, the rigid line of his back as he’d sworn he’d do our father’s name proud. Fighting side by side for decades, sharing meals, training sessions, missions, laughter, tears, full moon runs, and so many other things.
Over time, our relationship had soured due to my increasing belief that we needed to protect our soulmates in a different way. I’d betrayed him and the rest of the pack when I’d become a guardian. But even so, before this whole mess had started, I’d felt, for a little while, that we’d been on our way to mending broken bridges.
I tasted bile in my mouth as I realized that soon, there would be nothing left of those bridges but ash, blood, and death.
The plague was still staring at me, waiting for my reaction. I’d never been more grateful for my past traumatic experiences. They helped me keep a straight face as I provided him with the answer he wanted. “I see. Kai always was very stubborn. He’s unaware that I joined His Lordship willingly, so if he thinks that I was killed in a fight against our forces, he’ll want to avenge me.”
“His reasons don’t matter,” Darius said. “We’ll have to find him and stop him before he does more damage than he already has.”
I appreciated the fact that Darius hadn’t said the word ‘kill’, even if that was what the command the plagues expected him to give. Still, I doubted it would affect the ultimate outcome of the impending confrontation.
We’d all made our choices, and I had to face the consequences of mine, without looking back.
I loved my brother, but Lucienne was and would always be more important. This was for her. We had to save her, to give her the future she deserved. And then, there was our son, who was relying on us to find him and bring him back.
Alois had been alone for too long. I couldn’t fail him, not again. I couldn’t fail Lucienne.
“What are your orders, Your Lordship?” I asked Darius. “I might be able to track him down, based on my knowledge of his past strategies.”
“We will move in at once. Vance, I want three teams of twelve ready within half an hour. Move it, or the Banished will be the last thing you have to worry about. Literally.”
“Yes, Your Lordship.” The plague saluted and bowed, his lips twisting into a small smirk. He didn’t seem concerned about the threat. “At once. As always, our lives and deaths are yours.”
Darius dismissed him with an imperious wave and a sneer. As soon as the man was gone, I allowed my temper to explode. “If he isn’t careful, I’ll take him up on that. He’s just begging to be disemboweled.”
“Everyone has to pay the price for their actions eventually, Declan,” Mathias said. “It’ll happen for Vance too, once we’re done with him.”
“I know,” I replied between gritted teeth. “I won’t touch him. But after this is over, all bets are off.”
Maybe it was hypocritical of me to resent Vance for his behavior. It stood to reason that he’d revel in my misfortune, when I’d been doing the same thing ever since Mathias had brought me here. Mathias had more or less given me carte blanche when it came to my treatment of the plagues, so even if they respected and accepted me, there was going to be a degree of schadenfreude now that I was faced with an imminent, personal loss.
But I’d already accepted that I wasn’t a very good man, and on the list of my numerous character flaws, hypocrisy didn’t even make the top ten of my worst ones. Besides, Vance Newton was the least of my concerns right now.
“We need more details on the exact location of the attack and the damage Kai did,” I said. “And we have to hurry. If we don’t strike now, the trail will go cold, and we’ll have trouble finding him.”
The warning was pretty useless, since Darius was already making plans of his own. He’d been a leader all his life, and that showed.
“Here’s what we’re going to do. Malachai, you’ll have to stay here and keep an eye on things. Mathias has just woken up. It’s too dangerous for him to be on his own.”
Mathias shot him a look of disbelief and opened his mouth, obviously intending to protest. Darius stopped him before he could speak. “No. You will obey me on this one. I might not be well, but you’ve been in a coma for a while now, and we have no idea what Pierce’s attack did to you on top of that. We can’t place our trust in the plagues, no matter how obedient they might’ve been so far. If one of us is weak or in danger, we have to watch each other’s backs.
“Bjorn, I want you to stay behind as well. This whole thing with Declan’s family is yet another dela
y we can’t afford, and like you said, we need someone to monitor Pierce and make sure he doesn’t try anything against Lucienne again.”
If Bjorn stayed behind, there would be no one to absorb the excess magic should something go wrong with Darius during the expedition. No one but me.
“Declan, the two of us will lead the plagues to handle the problem with your pack,” Darius concluded. “With luck, it won’t take long. I won’t make you any promises, because we’re beyond that, but we’ll see if we can at least try to keep your brother alive.”
The orders anchored me like nothing else could have. I’d followed him in battle since before we’d been Accursed. It was one of my few constants—that, and the fact that I always unavoidably ran into Lucienne and fell head over heels in love with her.
Darius might not have said it, but he was relying on me to do damage control if he became unable to contain his power. I had no idea if I could accomplish that, but I’d sure as hell try.
“Understood, my prince.”
The others agreed as well. Malachai squeezed my shoulder, acknowledging the sacrifice I was about to make, but also its necessity. Bjorn gave me a silent nod and in his eyes, I saw the same knowledge that lived in my heart. He might not remember everything I did, but somehow, he had guessed anyway.
As for Mathias, he just passed me Alois’s pendant. “I’ll need this back,” he said as he pressed it into my palm. “In the meantime, I think it’ll benefit you more than it will me.”
I stared at the gem, feeling conflicted about it. This pendant had saved Alois during our first life. It was the main reason why The Pure Kingdom of Alaria existed, to begin with. It had helped us throughout the conflict with Darius’s parents. But it had also carried the same dark magic that had cursed Lucienne, killed us countless times, and imprisoned Mathias in a shell of bone for centuries.
If Mathias was parting with it, now of all times, it meant something. Even when he’d only been a woodcutter with next to no magic of his own, he’d had this gift of simply knowing things. This wasn’t just a stone or a memento from our dead son. It was a way to shield me from the unavoidable damage I’d received.
I clutched the gem so tightly the sharp edges of the stone dug into my flesh, doing my best to not think about the similarity between Mathias and his uncle. “Thank you. I’ll protect it with my life.”
“Maybe not quite as fiercely as that,” Malachai shot back. “I’m sure even Alois would say you should prioritize yourself over the gem.”
I supposed he would know, since for some reason, he’d been the only one who’d been able to have a real conversation with Alois in this life. “Okay, okay. Not quite as fiercely as that. I doubt it’ll be necessary anyway.”
“You be careful as well,” Darius said. “If something happens with Pierce, contact us at once, and we’ll return.”
Throwing one last look at the others, I left Mathias’s healing room. Darius joined me mere seconds later, and together, we made our way through our headquarters. I was sure he still had a lot of questions, but he didn’t bring them up, choosing instead to focus on the mission and on acting as much as Mathias as he possibly could.
“It’s unfortunate that your brother had to make such an unwise choice today, my pet,” he commented. “I had other plans, you know.”
“I’m aware, Your Highness,” I replied. “I’d apologize on his behalf, but I’ve long ago cut ties with him and my pack.”
“I know that,” he said with a chuckle. “Some days I feel you might be the only shifter in the world who has a degree of sense.”
“I’m just a soldier. It took me a while to find the right person to be a soldier for, but now that I have, I’m convinced of the rightness of my actions.”
Ironically, it was true. If we’d been in private, I wouldn’t have phrased it that way, since my loyalty had never been to his rank, magic, or title. But he understood anyway, even if he didn’t remember, and he shot me a quick, honest smile that made the weight on my heart a little lighter. “I know,” he said, “and you will be rewarded for your devotion, my pet.”
The conversation ended when we reached the hangars. Even if it hadn’t taken us too long to get here, definitely less than the mentioned half an hour, Vance had been very efficient in fulfilling his mission. The three requested teams were prepared and waiting for us, armed to the teeth, equipped with the light armor plagues liked to use in tougher missions.
Their eyes glowed with greed and enthusiasm. The air was thick with tension and anticipation. I wanted to throw up, because I’d be leading these people against good men and women, wolves whom I’d once called pack and family. But I’d chosen my side, and I’d follow this path to the end, no matter what.
If Darius felt any misgivings about what we were going to do, he didn’t show it. “We’ll be heading to the last known location of the Banished at once. Helena and Vance will lead two of the teams. The others will be with me and Declan. You’ll receive more instructions once we figure out where they went. I expect complete obedience. Failure to comply will result in lethal consequences.”
Nobody asked how Darius planned to track Kai’s pack. In fact, they didn’t ask any questions at all. They only saluted and repeated the now familiar chorus of, “Yes, Your Lordship.”
I found it hilarious that in some ways, plagues were so similar to the Alarians. They displayed the same blind obedience toward their leader, although for a different reason. It had helped Darius get accustomed to the way things worked here very quickly, but at the same time, it made it so easy for all of us to forget that we no longer fought for the good of mankind.
Then again, I’d never had such selfless intentions at all, I thought as I watched the techs make the final preparations. For me, being a guardian had always been about protecting Lucienne, even before I’d met her. The rest of the world was irrelevant. Nothing had changed, not really. It was just that, like before, I’d found a more advantageous approach that would help me fulfill my goals.
By the time the jets were fueled and ready for take-off, my head had cleared and my misgivings had vanished. The three teams, including the one led by Darius and me, entered the planes and strapped ourselves into our seats, preparing ourselves for what would undoubtedly be a bumpy ride.
Whenever we used jets to fly from place to place, the plagues unavoidably tried to speed things up by manipulating the air currents around the machine. Sometimes, it worked. Other times, it caused a lot of turbulence. Darius had yet to do it, as there was no telling how his out of control magic would be affected by the powerful G-forces. But he’d never stopped his underlings either, so I had no doubt today would be eventful indeed.
As Darius sat down next to me, I closed my eyes and thought about a different time and a different place. “This power... It’s a curse,” Dahud had told me once. “I never really realized it before, but even if I do now, I find that I have no regrets. I can’t be afraid of it, because I’m sure that together, we can control it. Together, we can change the world. You’ll help me, won’t you?”
It had been on our wedding night, after we’d taken what she’d so generously given us. I still remembered how beautiful she’d looked, her skin glowing in the moonlight, her eyes flaring with golden magic. A goddess, an angel. Our princess. Our eternal queen.
“Yes, Your Highness,” we had told her.
We hadn’t kept our promise. We hadn’t been able to fulfill her dream or protect her from the people who didn’t understand her. We’d paid the price for it over and over, and we’d continue paying it.
By the time this was over, my hands would be covered with so much blood I’d never be able to wash it off. Some of it would belong to my brother.
I had no regrets.
Six
What Hides Inside
Lucienne
The tavern was dark and smelled like spilled ale, smoke, blood, and feces. I moved expertly between the tables, ignoring the leers and catcalls of the patrons. I hated this place, but i
t was the only employment I’d been able to find, and at least it didn’t require me to spread my legs in some alley for a few coins.
A man who’d just arrived waved at me, striking the wood of the scratched table with his hand to draw my attention. “Hey, wench. What does a man have to do in this plague-infested shithole to get a drink of ale?”
Asking was usually enough, but I didn’t point that out. My employers liked me to be sweet and polite, since that drew in customers. Or so they claimed. I felt that attempting any type of civilized conversation with such trash was a waste of time, but my opinion didn’t matter.
“There’s always ale waiting for a valued patron at our tavern,” I said, suppressing my revulsion. “Would you like something else? Dinner perhaps?”
One of the new patron’s companions eyed me with undisguised interest. “We’re pretty hungry, yeah, but food can wait. How much for your cunt?”
There wasn’t enough gold in this whole filthy town that would convince me to bed the idiot. I was a married woman, and I’d die before I betrayed my husband. Saying that would get me fired, though, so I struggled to find a reply. The ruffian chuckled. “Aww. Look at that. She’s so flattered by my attention that she can’t even speak. How about it, love? I’ll give you a good time and more coin than you’ll earn in this shithole for a week. I’m betting your pussy is just begging for cock, yeah?”
It really wasn’t, at least not for his. In fact, if he tried to get his disgusting genitals anywhere near me, I’d slice them off.
As it turned out, another patron had the same idea as me. He got up from his table and glared at the man who’d made me the disgusting offer. “Shut up, you swine. Did your mother never teach you to respect women?”
“Respect women?” The ruffian repeated. “She’s a tavern wench. I bet she’s had more men than I’ve had ale.” He grinned, displaying a set of yellowed teeth and wriggling his tongue in my general direction. “Isn’t that right, pretty?”
