For the Reign

by Debbie Cassidy

  “Sage?” I stroked his back. “What is it?”

  He shook his head, his jaw tight. “The birds … Eva, where are the birds?”

  We were surrounded by silence and the sound of our own breathing. A moment ago, there had been birdsong and the comforting sound of tiny woodland animals, but now … nothing. It was as if someone had flicked a switch.

  I stepped away from Sage, comprehension like ice pooling in the pit of my stomach. “Oh, shit.”

  We broke into a run, crashing through the foliage and into the clearing. The blue haze rose up into the sky—a dome over the djinn and human camp, and inside the world was burning. People ran about in terror; mouths open in silent screams as huge, loping beasts chased them.

  The sound. Where was the sound? I hurtled toward the barrier, arm looping back to grab the hilt of my sword, Sage thundering to my left and Ash to my right.

  Almost there.

  Two males with silver hair came into view in the center of the clearing, arms crossed, still and silent as they witnessed the massacre. Vladul.

  A roar tore from Sage’s throat, and then we were through the ward. A cacophony of sound hit me, screams and crackles and snarls.

  “Sage!” A man ran toward us, a machete in his hand.

  He was big with a shaved head. A djinn like Sage, but he never made it. Something hit him from the side, taking him down in a spray of crimson.

  “NO!” Sage ran toward the beast, his serrated blade ready to cut it down. The beast raised its head. Its face was dark and covered in fur, but all too human, and its emerald eyes sparked with fiery determination.

  My heart stopped for a moment, because I knew it … I knew that face.

  “Eva, watch out!” Logan tackled me.

  We hit the ground and rolled.

  Someone cursed.

  A Vladul with a blade to rival mine advanced on us as Logan hauled me to my feet, but my mind was reeling, and my insides were shaking, because what had I seen? Had it really been—

  “Come with us.” The Vladul smiled. “Join us.”

  “Fuck you,” Logan said.

  He held his dagger up parallel to the ground and out to the side, ready to counter the Vladul, but then the Vladul’s head tipped back sharply and his throat opened in a crimson line.

  Elias shoved the Vladul to the side and wiped his blade on his trousers. “The beasts are the weapons. We need to take them down.”

  Sage? “Oh, God. Sage!” I searched the chaos—the humans running back and forth like ants. Where were the djinn? Where was Sage?

  “The barn,” Logan said. “Look.”

  Huge dark figures battled equally large djinn males by the low, squat building. We set off at a sprint, weaving past the panicked humans. To my left, Ash cut down a Vladul and then veered in our direction. Jace appeared up ahead, headed to the barn also. Kira and her crew were nowhere to be seen. Benji? Where was Benji? No time to wonder.

  Two djinn dropped. Only three left. Sage came into view, his machete glinting in the sunlight as he hacked at one of the beasts that moved so fast it was almost a blur. Was it the one with the green eyes? The one that looked like … No, it couldn’t be.

  We were almost there, almost in the thick of it, when another djinn went down. The beast that had been attacking the fallen djinn turned its attention to Sage. It began to lope across the ground toward him.

  He wouldn’t see it in time, he wouldn’t—

  “Sage, watch out!” My body surged with heat and the world around me blurred, and then I was there, right there at Sage’s back, between the beast and the djinn. My tulwar came up, slicing at its abdomen and clinking off as if it had met metal. Oh, God. Metal. Its body was coated in metal.

  Ash hit it a moment later, taking it down with brute force. They rolled, and then Ash leapt up and out of the way of a lethal swipe. The beast made to attack again, but Jace’s ball and chain smashed it in the head.

  They had this.

  A low snarl lifted the hairs on the nape of my neck. I spun round, tulwar coming up to smash into the beast going for Sage’s throat. It halted, stunned for a moment, and then its emerald eyes locked onto mine and it froze.

  Oh, God. Those eyes. That face. That beautiful face.

  “Tobias?” I took a step toward the beast, toward the man underneath the monster, toward my best friend and first love.

  The beast blinked slowly, its eyes tracking my movement and then going back to my face. It was a matter of seconds, and yet it felt like time had stopped, and in that moment, the beast’s gaze softened a fraction, and its mouth parted as if to speak my name.

  “Eva, watch out!” Jace’s barbed ball slammed into the beast’s shoulder.

  Tobias staggered to the side, his gaze still on me, and then he turned and ran. Two dark forms zipped past us—his comrades, his crew—and then they were gone.

  Chapter Four

  They were all dead—every last djinn and their meat suits. Unlike the Claws, there was nothing left for us to burn. Their human hosts had disintegrated to ash, and the djinn were simply gone. Jace stood silently by my side as the shock of the reality of what had just happened settled around us. But Logan didn’t need any time.

  He grabbed my arm. “What was that? Why did that thing not attack you?”

  I pulled my arm from his grasp. “Let go of me.” My knees were suddenly weak, my head spinning. Panic had me by the throat.

  “Eva, shit, breathe.” Logan’s hands were gentle now.

  Tobias. That thing had been Tobias. I was sure of it. Breathe. Dammit. Now was not the time to lose it. I had to get him back. I had to help him.

  “Eva!” Logan’s voice was a whip’s lash that slapped the panic down and cleared my head.

  “I’m okay. I’m good.”

  His gaze was warm as it caressed my face, and his tone, when he spoke, was soft. “What happened?”

  “That thing … The one that attacked us … I’m pretty sure it was my friend, Tobias.”

  His mouth parted in shock. “Fuck.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I left him, Logan. I let them take him, and this is what they did.”

  “No. This is not your fault, you understand me? This is not on you.”

  The logical part of my mind, the one dealing in facts, agreed, but my heart, my very soul, was riddled with guilt.

  “Eva, we will get him back,” Jace said. “We’ll find a way to fix him.”

  Yes. I had to believe that, because if I didn’t, then Tobias was lost to me. My best friend, the first man to steal my heart, the man who’d seen me at my worst would be gone.

  I straightened my spine. “We’ll get him back.” I smiled. “Thank you.”

  Logan blinked down at me and then released me abruptly. “I should go help with …” He pivoted on his heel and walked off.

  Yeah, typical Logan.

  But he was right, we needed to get our shit together and get out of here, just in case the Vladul came back.

  A lone figure caught my eye. Sage stood by the barn, his shoulders rounded, his head in his hands. Here I was wondering if I’d be able to save Tobias while Sage knew it was too late for his people. My heart ached for him, because this had been it. This had been the last of his kind on this plane that were free. The rest had been taken by the Vladul a long time ago, and who knew if they were still alive. He was now utterly alone.

  Jace pressed a hand to my shoulder and jerked his head in Sage’s direction. “I’ll help gather the humans and take them to the barn.”

  I nodded and walked over to Sage. He didn’t look up at my approach, but his pain was a beacon tearing at me. There were no words. Instead, I stepped up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I pressed my cheek to his chest and simply held him. His heartbeat was fast and erratic, but it gradually began to slow, and then his strong arms wound around me, and he hugged me back.

  We remained like that for long minutes while the world continued around us. While Ash and Logan and Jace gather
ed the humans and herded them into the barn, and while Kira and Benji emerged from the billowing smoke rising from the fires that we still needed to extinguish.

  We remained like that until his hands slid up my back and into my hair, until he tipped my head back and claimed my mouth in a gentle kiss.

  “Thank you.” His voice was low and husky with emotion.

  My eyes pricked as I blinked back tears. “No problem.”

  He glanced toward the barn where the humans were being led by Jace. “It’s not safe here.”

  “I know. We’ll take the humans and the vehicles to the bunker. There’s plenty of room.”

  “I’ll go speak to them.” He released me and headed for the barn. To the humans that he’d vowed to protect. I sighed and turned to face Kira as she approached with Benji in tow. The little boy’s eyes were wide and frightened and locked on me.

  “I’m sorry. In the heat of the moment, I didn’t even think …” I crouched down to Benji’s eye level. “I’m sorry.”

  He shook his head. “No. You tried to stop the monster. Kira took care of me.”

  I looked up at the Claw. “Thank you.”

  She nodded. “No need to thank me. Benji is one of us. He’s pack. You don’t need to concern yourself about his welfare.”

  Her tone wasn’t harsh, but it was blunt enough to sting. I reined in my irritation. She was grieving. This was grief, and yes, Benji was part of her pack. He wasn’t mine to watch over.

  “Okay. Good.” I smiled at Benji and then stood.

  “We found a white van,” Kira said. “Large enough to act as transport. I think the Vladul were planning on taking the humans.”

  I nodded. “Makes sense. They need the blood.”

  I scanned the grounds, taking mental inventory. Jace, Ash, and Logan were busy putting out the flames. Carter and Bates appeared from one of the blue tents with a young boy and a woman in tow. Jeremey was back at the van, but there was one person missing.

  “Where’s Elias?” I looked to Kira. “Have you seen him?”

  Her lips tightened. “He said he was going to track the beasts.”

  “What? And you let him go after them?”

  She shrugged. “He can do what he wants.”

  Fucksake. How could she be so stupid? “I know you’re hurting, but that Vladul is our only hope of successfully getting this cure into the Foundation. If anything happens to him, if he dies, then we all die.”

  The stony look on her face wavered, but I was done trying to impress the importance of our new team member on every fucking idiot who wanted to hold a grudge.

  I stormed off.

  “Where are you going,” she called after me.

  “To find our last fucking hope.”

  The beasts had headed east, so that was the way I ran. Through the wards and onto the field. The tree line was a few meters ahead. Was this the direction they’d gone? I hit the gloom under the canopy of trees and stopped to assess. I cocked my head, searching for sound. Dammit, I was no tracker, but I’d watched Ash enough to know the basics, so I searched the moist earth for footprints. We hadn’t entered the clearing this way, so it shouldn’t be muddled by our boot prints.

  There were fresh boot prints, though, and they had to be Elias’s because the beasts hadn’t been wearing boots. A few feet away was a beast imprint, narrow-footed with padded, splayed tips.

  I had the trail.

  It wasn’t hard to follow once my brain knew what to look for. The woodland was growing denser as the foliage thickened. The sun seemed far away, and a chill crept up my spine.

  Another boot print, another paw print. I had to find him, had to bring him back. The sky rumbled and then began to roar. I faltered, looking up through the trees to see the frothy black clouds, and then raindrops danced off my skin. The patter of a thousand raindrops on a billion leaves lit up the forest with a low-level drumming.

  The rain would wash away the trail. I needed to keep going, to move faster.

  Time slipped away as I tracked Elias, the rainfall grew heavier, and then it was impossible to see much except the sheets of rain cascading over my face. It was getting darker. Too dark. Either the clouds had completely blocked the sun, or the sun had set for the day. It didn’t matter which, all that mattered was that it was dark, and darkness meant Feral.

  Dammit, Elias. I stopped and braced myself against a tree. Damn me for heading out here alone. I’d have to go back and hope that maybe he’d doubled back and headed to camp. Heck, he was probably already there.

  The darkness was growing, spreading like a stain, and the rain was falling harder and harder. Maybe it would keep the Feral away. Mud sucked at my boots, slowing me down. Wait, was that a howl? Difficult to catch it through the rumble of rain. Shivers ran up my spine.

  Another definite howl.

  Feral.

  Time to run.

  But the ground wasn’t being cooperative, and in the next instant my foot slid out from under me, and I went down hard, palms slipping as I tried to gain purchase, to push up, to stand.

  Dark shadows appeared ahead, weaving through the trees.

  I went back down, covered in mud now, heart pounding as I reached for my sword, although not a lot of good it would do at this angle.

  And then another form was cutting across the Feral, silver hair stark against the gloom.

  Elias.

  He ran toward me, somehow managing to stay upright, somehow managing to make it look easy. And then his hands were on me, pulling me up. He braced one arm around my waist and then we were running. Somehow, with him by my side, the ground felt more solid. It took a moment to register, but then it hit me.

  “We’re headed in the wrong direction.”

  He didn’t reply, and panic gripped me.

  “Elias, what the fuck?”

  “Too dangerous that way. I found a safe spot.”

  The ground was suddenly rocky and on an incline, but my senses weren’t as acute as Elias’s, and my body was shaking too badly with cold.

  “Almost there,” Elias shouted over the rain.

  And then we were stumbling over rocks until we faced a dark aperture barely big enough to fit through.

  Elias fell onto all fours. “We need to crawl.” He slipped into the aperture. “Come on.” His voice was a distant echo.

  I slipped into the breach after him. The air was musty and stale, but it was dry and warm.

  “Keep crawling,” Elias said from ahead.

  The tunnel began to widen, and the darkness was absolute. “Elias?”

  A thud. “Watch out, the tunnel ends here and there’s a slight drop.”

  My hand met air. I leaned forward, feeling for the drop, for the ground. There it was, a step, nothing more. I crawled out and then something brushed my shoulder. I bit back a yelp because it was Elias’s hand reaching to steady me.

  “Wait, can you see?”

  “A little.” He sounded sheepish.

  “There’s no light.”

  “There’s a little.”

  It was claustrophobic and close. “How big is this space?”

  “Big enough for us to wait out the rain, and wait for the clouds to pass. The Feral will retreat to their lairs.”

  An awful thought occurred to me. “What if this is one of those lairs.”

  He was silent for a long beat. “Then we’ll deal with that possibility when it happens. Right now, we need to get you warm.”

  My teeth began to chatter as if his words had activated the part of my brain concerned with my physical condition.

  “I’ll be f-f-fine. You’re w-wet t-too.”

  “Yes. But I’ve raised my body temperature. If you allow me, I can keep you warm until we have to leave.”

  Keep me warm? As in physical contact? My lips wanted to say, no, I’m fine, but my body was wracked with shivers.

  “Thank you.”

  Heat wafted against my skin, and then his arms wound around me and I was pulled against his chest. My wet clothes s
lowly dried to damp and a long sigh drifted from my parted lips. God, it felt good to be warm.

  I resisted the temptation to snuggle closer. “How are you doing that?”

  “Raising my temperature?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s a royal blood perk.” He cleared his throat. “If you try, you might be able to do it too.”

  His body had gone very still, almost as if he was holding his breath.

  Wait, what? “To do that, I’d have to have the—”

  “The royal gene.” His grip tightened a fraction. “And you do. It’s what I wanted to talk to you about earlier. I sensed something when I fed from you, and Jamie confirmed it. They used DNA from a royal Vladul. It was the only sample the government had, and Frederick stole it.”

  The images that had filtered through my mind when he’d fed off me—the woman, the laughter, the castle … Was that connected to the royal DNA?

  His grip eased a little. “Try it.”

  His voice had dropped slightly, almost a purr, almost seductive, and something new and dark stirred inside me.

  “Can you do it, Eva?”

  Why was he so breathless? Why was there an edge to his tone, almost as if the thought excited him?

  I licked my lips. “What do I need to do?”

  “Will your temperature to rise. Imagine the heat.”

  Heat was all very well when it was coming from someone else. “I’m not sure about that. I almost burned up back at Jamie’s bunker.”

  “This is different. This isn’t your djinn aspect; this is your Vladul aspect you’ll be accessing.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  He hesitated. “I can’t be. On second thought, it’s probably best if we wait until Sage is around.” He sighed.

  I couldn’t help the smile that curved my lips. “Well. At least you’re honest.”

  There was a long beat of silence. “In the vein of being honest, there is something else I need to tell—”