by Shania Tyler
“Why are they here?”
“To kill us,” he whispered.
Piper froze.
Theo cursed again. “I thought we’d be safe here. I knew they would plan an attack, but I thought it would be at Morwen. I’d planned to introduce you to your family and hopefully leave you and the girls here until things calmed down.”
She fumbled to grab his hand and said, “Don’t leave me.”
His dark eyes looked pained. “I will do anything to insure your safety.”
“I’m safe at your side.”
He touched her cheek and said, “Swear to me you will do exactly what I say.”
Already, some of Theo’s men were forming a circle around them.
Piper stared at Theo. “Don’t leave me.”
“Swear it, my love.”
She swallowed and nodded. Anxiety peaked and she tried to breathe to calm herself.
“Colester Theo,” a sickly-sweet voice called.
They all turned and watched Isabella step from around Ashur. She looked out of place for war in her beaded black gown, but she held her head high as though she belonged anywhere and everywhere. “We require you and Colester Mason’s reply this very moment. Shall you be joining us or not?”
Get low and make your way toward the arena.
Theo had whispered in her mind, while keeping his eyes fixed on Isabella.
Go now and take Meg with you. There is another exit that way. Get far away from here.
It pained Piper to listen, but listen she did. She faded back into the crowd and found Meg. She took her hand.
Meg lifted a brow in question.
Ethan said, “Let’s go.” He knew why Piper had shown up. He would protect them. Piper already felt better.
Meg nodded and started back through the crowd that stood silently, watching in anticipation for the fate of the Rebels. Piper wanted to stay. She felt the need to stay. Theo had her heart and she was very sure she was not to leave her heart behind, and yet she obeyed. She couldn’t afford to distract him now. She only hoped he’d be all right.
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25
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
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“No,” Theo replied to Isabella. “I will not be joining the Evaness.”
Isabella tilted her head and then turned to Mason. “And your reply?”
Mason stepped next to Theo and said, “No.”
Isabella grinned. “Very well. Kill them.”
Ashur grinned at Mason. “Who?”
“All of them,” Isabella said. “Let them see what happens when they do not obey the Evaness.” Then she turned and left.
Theo’s eyes widened as the crowd started to scream and run in the direction he’d already sent Piper, away from the fight. He couldn’t believe Isabella was willing to kill everyone just to get back at Theo and Mason. She was crazy.
Other soldiers began to advance into the crowd.
Mason shouted to his men. “Protect the civilians.”
The Rebels spread out.
Theo almost regretted not bending to Lus’ wishes. What were a few Evaness spoiled brats to the citizens of Ucrary?
Ashur shouted over the screaming, “I see your mind at work, Colester Theo. Have you had a change of heart? You can still save them all, you know.”
Change of heart? Not where the elves were concerned, but would appeasing the armies now work toward the greater good? How bad would it be to sit on the council of the Evaness? Maybe he could effect change from a leadership position.
“Don’t,” Mason whispered. “The only way to crush them is through war.”
“But we don’t have the men to fight them now.”
Mason’s look turned grim.
A woman screamed and their eyes turned to see her take her last breath before she was stabbed and thrown to the ground. All because Theo couldn’t make up his mind.
“Wait,” Theo called.
Ashur held up his hand.
The screaming around them slowly died.
Ashur grinned. “Your answer, Colester Theo—” Ashur jumped back as an arrow flew past his head and hit the wall. Then he looked up as men dressed in black seemed to fall from the sky. A thump behind Theo made him turn and he was surprised to see Lus. The Mum had come.
Theo said, “I haven’t changed my mind about the girls.”
“That’s fine,” Lus said. “Noel and I have come to an agreement.”
Theo’s face fell. He could only imagine what sort of agreement that was. “I don’t agree with that either.”
“You don’t speak for Noel,” Lus said and then he turned to Ashur.
“Lus,” Ashur said grimly. “I thought you didn’t take sides.”
“Price was right this time,” Lus said casually.
Mason stepped next to Lus. “We’re not joining the Evaness.”
“Then so be it,” Ashur said before he made a symbol with his hands and the screaming started again. The fight had begun.
Theo pulled his sword.
Ashur looked directly at Mason and said, “I’ve been waiting to kill you anyway. Once you’re gone, I’ll be the Lord of Shadows.”
“Got to kill me first.” Mason spread his legs, tightened his fists, and then froze. Then he frowned.
“What?” Theo asked.
“I can’t change,” Mason said. “I can’t turn to shadow.”
Theo frowned and then tried to turn his blade invisible. It didn’t work.
Ashur’s laugh seemed to fill the stadium. “The smoke was laced with silver and has filled your lungs and your bodies. You’ll have to fight in the way of the old ones.” Then he grinned, pulled out his blade, and started toward Mason.
“Watch your back,” someone shouted.
Theo spun and cut his blade through the air, blocking hits. From this angle, he could see the arena, the crowd that had filled it, and the soldiers who were swarming over them like flies. He only hoped that Piper had made it out safely.
Theo sent a man to the ground and to his right, Maurice did the same. His friend seemed more alive now that a fight was raging. His blue eyes were more vibrant, and Theo watched him spin his blade before hunting down his next kill.
Around him, his men fought alongside the Mum, but it seemed like the Evaness were pouring in from the entrances in a steady stream. For every enemy that went down, two more would appear and even worse, they’d been unaffected by the silver smoke, so their abilities worked fine. Theo used all his strength to slay one man after another, but no end looked to be in sight.
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“This way,” Ethan said as he sprinted across the arena’s open field.
Piper and Meg sprinted along with the crowd with looks of fear mirrored in both their eyes. The Evaness were only feet behind them, but were having a hard time breaking through a group of warriors that seemed to come out of nowhere. Dressed in black robes with high collars, their style reflected that of Lus’ and she’d quickly assumed them to be from the Mum and was grateful.
“Stay close,” he shouted just as he turned and attacked a man who was making his way toward them.
Meg, who was running while holding her floral skirts, fell.
Piper went back to help her up, but was frozen by the sight of an Evaness soldier picking her up. His other hand held up a short blade.
Meg screamed.
Ethan turned and started toward her.
He sword struck the soldier in the arm.
The soldier shrieked.
Meg fell back to the ground.
Ethan finished the man off with a slice through his belly and started for the women. “Let’s go.” He picked Meg up by her arm and started to move them with the rest of the crowd again. Piper took a moment to be impressed with Ethan’s fighting skills. She’d only seen Ethan fight during the training at Morwen, so this was the first time she’d seen him in the thick of it. He was skilled and Pip
er was sure that Meg was proud of him.
They made it out of the arena, and Piper found keeping her balance against the crowd hard. She almost tripped on a stone at one point and quickly found out at it was a gravestone. They were in the cemetery.
Everyone was running in all directions, skirting the larger stones and the soldiers that seemed to have been waiting for their arrival. Screaming and shouting surrounded her as men and women, many without weapons, fell around her.
They were surrounded.
She tried to think to Theo, to tell him what was happening, but it was hazy. She couldn’t get a message to him and was sure he couldn’t get one to her either. What was happening?
A grunt made her turn around, and Meg screamed for a completely different reason.
Ethan went down.
Meg started for him.
“No!” Piper started for her, but was yanked back by her hair and came face to face with Aluna.
She grinned wildly at Piper, her blue eyes sparking with evil. “Surprise.”
Piper’s anger spiked. “Let go of me.”
Aluna yanked her hair again. Hard. “Make me!”
Piper’s fist flew and connected with Aluna’s face before she’d fully had the thought.
The woman went down and Piper was on top of her in an instant, knocking her across the face with one blow after another, full of rage, and realizing all her strength on the woman who’d dare to steal her man.
Aluna eventually grabbed Piper’s fists, holding them in a grip that Piper couldn’t break from. And though Aluna smiled at her, Piper smiled back, because Aluna looked a mess. Her face was bloody. The perfect skin on her cheek was broken and her lip was split. Blood filled her mouth.
Aluna spit on the ground. Her blond hair was everywhere and covered in the dirt underneath her. Then Aluna turned her head back and said, “You drew my blood.”
“So I did.”
Aluna’s grin grew and she said, “My turn.”
Before Piper could prepare, Aluna pulled forward and knocked Piper across the face with her own head.
Piper went down. Her vision was blurred and her face was in pain. It was like getting hit in the face by a rock, and though Piper wanted to make the joke about Aluna’s head being like a rock, she could barely breathe. She was only partially aware of Aluna looming over her, but couldn’t do anything to stop her. She felt the weight of her body settle over her pelvis and the touch of Aluna’s fingers on her jaw.
Aluna pushed Piper’s head to the side and whispered, “You shouldn’t have challenged me and you definitely shouldn’t have made me bleed. Now I will make you bleed and when I’m done, you’ll be dead.”
Piper’s heart accelerated.
Aluna chuckled and slid her finger down Piper’s jugular. “There’s that precious vein.” There was the sound of pleasure before Aluna leaned forward. Her breath brushed Piper’s neck. “Don’t worry. When you’re gone, I’ll be sure to keep Theo company.”
Piper managed to lift her arms up, but Aluna knocked them down and then struck into Piper’s vein. A shot of extreme pain went through Piper and warmth covered her throat. Aluna pulled away. Her face was sprinkled with blood. Piper’s blood.
“I cut your vein open,” Aluna said with a gleeful grin. “If it makes you feel any better, I would have killed you or your friend Kelly eventually though. I needed one of the Rebel leaders in my bed. You see, my abilities are sexual. I make men… and women… do as I say. Isabella would have never turned over the slaves. We would have been in control of everyone. Too bad you’ll all have to die now.” She then stood up, blew Piper a kiss, and walked away.
Piper placed her hand over the cut in her throat, but couldn’t stop the blood from flowing. The warm liquid poured past her fingers and seeped to the ground. She tried to sit up, but became so nauseated that she fell back once more. She started to panic. Blood rushed faster. She tried to calm down, but was too scared of dying.
Admittedly, she wanted to cry. For a moment in time, she’d found happiness and love and now she would die. But what made it all worse, what truly made it unbearable, was that fact that she would be leaving Theo alone. If only he wouldn’t be alone again, then she knew she would die in peace, but she knew her death would haunt him. He’d not do well and that worried her more, until her heart seemed to slow.
She turned her head, trying to keep the blood inside her veins.
She spotted a grave and would have laughed if she could. The large stone, with a statue in the stance of a warrior, belonged to Ann Lureen. Piper was bleeding to death by the grave of a woman who might be her ancestor.
She touched the bottom of the stone where it said her name, looking for some final connection. Her fingers smeared blood over the stone before they went numb.
Piper closed her eyes and listened to the pumping of her heart, the beat it formed in its slowing pattern. She listened to the fighting, the knocking of flesh and swords. She heard the grunts and screams of people around her. All of it surrounding her, filling her, and forming… a song.
Piper parted her lips and mouthed words to a song she’d never heard, mentally singing to the melody of war. Her heart skipped and a sound came from her throat. Piper’s voice suddenly worked and the song poured from her, trembling past her lips, but becoming steadier by the second.
Sing and rise for you and I.
Sing the sounds of awes and sighs.
Sing of swords thrust to the sky
Sing for me, my Battle Cry
Her heart found a normal rhythm, but was joined by another thumping. A thumping from the ground.
Piper kept singing, but felt her body jolted with each thump. The earth beneath her seemed to beat with life. With a strength she didn’t know she had, she touched her neck. The wound was gone.
She sat up. Still singing. Never stopping.
She made it to her feet and felt the ground continue to pump. And then Piper heard humming, though she was sure she was the only one who heard it. Thousands of voices joining her song from under her feet.
A warrior from the Evaness paused in front of her and stopped as if drawn to her song. He grinned menacingly and started toward her.
Piper didn’t flinch, but continued to sing.
The soldier seemed unbothered, but then he jumped. Or rather, the ground underneath him jumped. He looked down.
And then a hand shot through the soil and grabbed the soldier’s leg.
A man screamed.
Other hands broke the earth and men began to shoot from the ground.
Piper continued to sing and the army of the dead hummed with her, rising from the ground with shields and swords, ready to fight. Ready to fight for her.
The one who’d grabbed the Evaness soldier lifted a sword and stabbed him.
She heard more screams around her, but didn’t need to look. She knew exactly what was happening. She was connected, through the music, to the men who fought for her, seeing through their eyes what was taking place.
The Evaness tried to fight back, but they could not kill what was already dead. Battle Cry could not be stopped.
Some of the dead started toward Piper, and she watched as they formed a barrier around her.
The Evaness had grown wise and knew it was Piper who’d woken the dead and were trying to kill her, but with the combination of her army, the Rebels, and the Mum, Piper felt no fear.
Theo’s thoughts tried to whisper toward her, but she could feel he was weakened by something, so she sent him a message back to let him know she was all right.
Piper felt different, as though she were no longer herself, but everybody she’d risen. It was a very powerful feeling and through the eyes of one of her fighters, she spotted Aluna.
The woman was running. Fear was in her eyes.
Piper gave the nearest fighter instructions and then watched as the woman met her end in the same fashion she’d planned for Piper to die, a cut to the throat.
The Evaness began to retreat, but Piper’
s army continued to fight until the last soldier around them fell. Then they surrounded Piper, protecting her as their queen, from all harm and danger. She could feel Ann Lureen with her. The blood of her mighty ancestor ran through her veins and her warriors knew it.
She stopped singing.
Everything went still.
Then she watched a part of the army move, and Theo came to stand in the circle with her.
Her army had let him through and she was glad.
He hesitated, however, as if unsure if he could touch her, as if he was unsure that Piper was Piper.
Piper grinned and held out her hand to him.
Theo came forward instantly, took her hand, and pulled her into a kiss. A heavy and heated kiss that left her nearly breathless.
Theo broke the kiss, touched her cheek, and lifted a brow. “Did my wife raise an army of the dead and save many lives?”
Piper smiled. “Yeah, I think I did.”
Theo kissed her again and then chuckled. “Remind me to never make you upset.”
She laughed and then hugged him, so grateful to still be alive and grateful that he was still alive.
* * *
EPILOGUE
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Theo rushed into the room and pulled up to a stop at seeing Ethan grinning at Meg. He lay in the bed with white cloth wrapped around his stomach. His chest was bare and the rest of him was covered with a sheet. His eyes were on his girlfriend and he was touching her cheek as he gazed at her with an abundance of tenderness. Theo felt like an intruder.
Ethan turned and smiled at Theo. “Hey.” His voice was rough from the perils of war.
Theo smiled and bowed. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I simply heard that you’d been hurt and wanted to make sure you were all right.” He’d only gotten word that Ethan had been carried away after Piper had put the dead soldiers back to sleep.
