by Olivia Ash
“I don’t like it,” he said. “Hecate wasn’t exactly known for being the giving kind, especially with information.”
She pulled away from him and started for the south wing.
He growled and followed her, determined to talk some sense into her.
Stubbornness was just one of the many frustrating qualities Sadie had. A quality he loved about her. But he would be damned if he just let her walk right in front of that ghost, much less without him.
As they walked, he managed to remain a few steps behind. “You don’t seem to fully grasp just how close to death you were during your last little visit, do you?”
She didn’t respond.
He picked up his pace and gripped her arm, forcing her to turn around. She leveled her gaze on him. Anger lit up her eyes. “I can’t let you go through with this, Sadie.”
The thought of his woman falling prey to a woman so vile and wretched, even in spectral form, caused his nerves to shiver and his heart didn’t seem to want to find a happy, even rhythm.
No. He wouldn’t let her go through with it. Damn the consequences.
“Let go of me, now!” She tried to wrench her arm from his grasp, but it was no use. He held on, refusing to let her throw herself to the proverbial wolves… and Hecate was supreme alpha bitch.
“You are no good to anyone dead. Until we can figure out a way to protect you from her, me and my brothers will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and away from harm.” To further prove his point, he pushed her back against the stone wall. Her reaction didn’t escape his notice. Her eyes narrowed, and her cheeks took on a rosy tint. She slightly melted against him.
He rubbed the blush in her cheeks and asked in a dark, husky voice, “If it is so important to you to get the information you seek, tell me what it is you want to know, and I’ll go in there and ask. You stay out here, safe.”
Searching her eyes, he saw the need within her growing. He smiled, devilish and promising. “Or, I could just take what I want from you right here and now.”
He pushed up against her even farther and kissed her neck.
Of course, Sadie was strong enough to handle herself. Mordecai of all people knew that very well. He had trained with her when they first met, and he saw firsthand what she could do. She was impressive, controlled, focused. She even spoke with the finesse of a true leader, commanding the attention of those under her rule.
But he could never let her go through with it. He wanted to be in control. He wanted to be protective. And damnit, she was his woman. He wasn’t going to allow his woman to be in danger.
Not ever.
Sadie laughed. His beard must have tickled the inside of her neck. She pushed him away. “Nice try.”
“Come on, Sadie.” He tried to convince her one, last time. “Please understand this doesn’t need to happen right now. Our main focus needs to be on Zagan. The ghost can’t help with that. She’s dead and trapped in the south wing. I refuse to budge on this. Give me that, at least this once.”
She sighed, giving in. “Fine. But—”
He rushed her, scooping her into his arms, and kissed her deeply. The taste of her mouth was sweet, and he wanted more of that warm, tingling sensation that coursed through his body. He wanted her to give into him completely. And he could tell she got close to that as she pressed farther into him, moving her mouth with his.
This was it.
He was finally about to seal the deal when she pushed him away again, chuckling.
“I’ll avoid the queen. But something needs to be done about her soon if she’s truly a threat to me. I can’t have an enemy in my fortress. Even an undead one.”
He groaned as the need in him ached, but he agreed, and pulled away, allowing her to stand on her own. “Absolutely, Captain.”
This was a draw. A stalemate. He won the argument this time, though she won in resisting him.
He will have her, and soon. Or he just may go fucking crazy.
A sensation prickled through him. Narrowing his eyes, he focused on that sensation and shifted into shadow.
Sadie had sensed the change as well.
She followed him in the direction of the power that put him on edge.
They arrived at the front door to the fortress, and he floated through the shadows to get to the gates.
In the distance, his father approached with only ten to twelve men at his side.
What are you playing at, father?
Zagan loved to show his force before pleasantries. It was a way to keep the masses weak and feeble toward him. Though, he preferred to avoid the whole ordeal of pleasantries if he could help it. He loved his torture. It was like a drug to him. But he didn’t have an army backing him that Mordecai could see or sense. This felt like a trap. Perhaps his father was deluded enough to think Sadie would take his little warning to heart.
Did they have a surprise for him.
There was something more to the arrival of his father, though. Mordecai sensed as much. Be it trap or otherwise.
His brothers soon joined him. He could feel the tension among them at the arrival of their father. Sadie followed shortly after with her own little show of force in her favorite battle dress and Pyra walking beside her. If looks could kill, Sadie had this visit on lock.
He smiled.
Let the action begin.
Chapter Seven
Sadie
Zagan stood outside of Sadie’s gate. And he had a smaller group with him than he did the first time he arrived. At least he didn’t sit atop a dragon he controlled. He actually walked. Perhaps he thought that would make a difference to Sadie, but it didn’t. Her mind was made up. And Zagan had no right to tell her otherwise.
Pyra growled from beside Sadie. She petted the dragon and tried to soothe her as much as possible. Everyone was on edge with the appearance of the demon king.
“You still have yet to learn when to allow someone who is visiting you through your gates,” he said.
Sadie narrowed her eyes on him and didn’t let him through. The fact he brought what she assumed to be guards unsettled her. He was supposed to be a danger and always backed by an army, so what was he doing with just a handful of demons at his side. It didn’t make sense, and the lack of army unsettled her. She knew there was more to the visit than what met her eyes, and she tuned into her connection with the fortress.
If anyone else was on her land, she didn’t feel them. Or Zagan had them outside her boundaries.
Maybe he figured she would take his threat to heart and pick him over his sons? Sadie nearly snorted. She held it in and forced back the urge to roll her eyes instead. The visit would still take a considerable amount of tact.
“I demand the respect I deserve by allowing me within your walls to discuss matters like civilized rulers.”
She stood firm, head held high. “No. You’ll be allowed through that gate once I say so. Not a moment before. And by the looks of it, you’re not off to a great start.”
Her men shifted their weight between their feet on either side of her, watching the threat expectantly, like they were itching for a taste of battle.
“I am king!” he shouted, spittle spraying from his mouth.
“Not my king. And certainly not over my land,” Sadie said.
He laughed. “I admire your tact. Your ability to stand your ground and stick to your guns.” He pointed a finger at her. “Very well. Let’s move on to the reason for my visit.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know why you are here, Zagan.”
He paused and slowly nodded. “And?”
“I’ve made my decision on who I would choose to be my ally. I regret to inform Your Majesty, you didn’t make the cut.” She held her head high, ready for the repercussions of her next words. Ready for war. “But your sons did. I have chosen all of them.”
Zagan turned rigid, nearly shaking with rage that poured off him like thick fog. “I warned you, did I not, that choosing any of my sons would be considered an act of war.”
“Yes, you did. However, I’m perfectly capable of making decisions of my own, without the threat of death and violence.”
He continued as if Sadie hadn’t spoken. “Yet, instead of choosing just me, you chose not only one of my sons, but all of four?” He shook his head and made a ticking sound. “Now that won’t do at all.”
“Works perfectly fine from my perspective,” Sadie said, still standing her ground, refusing to back down.
“That’s too much power for you. Power that threatens my seat on the throne. The very throne that my sons have been trying to kill me to claim. Did you know that? Oh, yes. It’s true! You are a powerplay. A puppet. And I just won’t stand to see my seat claimed by the likes of you or my sons.”
He turned to leave and signaled to the distance, shooting a bolt of fire into the air like a flare. As it rose higher toward the ceiling of the underworld, it grew bigger, whiter, hotter.
A dull roar echoed toward Sadie and her men.
This was it. The fight he had promised.
The roar grew louder as an even bigger army grew from tiny silhouettes to larger forms. Goblins, other demons, creatures she could only guess at, and smoky forms that held little shape but swerved toward them, travelled wickedly fast. They seemed to have enhanced momentum from the witches that Zagan surely had. They moved at such an ungodly speed.
Sadie hadn’t sensed them. Only the smaller army Zagan had brought with him. He must have known she could tell when someone stepped onto her land and wanted to use the larger force to overthrow her the moment she turned him down. He accounted for that possibility. And with the sheer numbers heading for them, Sadie worried he would succeed.
She shifted her gaze to Zagan, who stared from over his shoulder at her with a devious grin.
“Pyra,” she said, and climbed on top of her. She wouldn’t let Zagan get away. Not if she could help it. “Fly!”
The dragon pushed off with its strong hind legs and soared into the air.
Zagan faced her, eyes narrowed on her and that grin replaced by a deep frown. He lifted a hand.
A large gust of wind blew into her and the dragon. The force was strong enough to send Pyra spiraling backward. Sadie lost her grip on her pet and fell, crashing hard to the ground with a heavy thump. Pain ricocheted through her arm, back and shoulders. Sharp throbs shot up her leg when her ankle landed at an odd angle. Her hands burned from the sting of tiny rocks that had embedded into her palms.
Still, she stood, biting against the pain that coursed through her. Quickly, she searched for Pyra, finding her not far from where Sadie stood. She seemed a little jarred, but otherwise unharmed. She sighed with relief and leveled her gaze on the demon king and conjured up a bow and arrow made of smoke.
Rage burned within Zagan’s eyes. “Get to my sons. Slaughter them or be slaughtered yourself.”
They charged the gate. The princes met them there.
Sadie shot a smoke arrow toward the demon king. He waved it away with a flick of his wrist then sent another gust of wind into her. “Let me in! I’m far more powerful than you. Open your gates and the fight will end. Or, continue your obstinate defiance and watch your army, my sons, and your fortress fall brick by brick, limb by limb.”
“Never!” She quickly conjured a smoke shield to block the next gust to come after her.
Pyra flew past her, blowing fire at the soldiers hacking at the gate to enter Sadie’s fortress. The dragon let out a loud, painful howl and fell to the ground.
“No!” Sadie rushed to her pet, taking out a few skeletons trying to surround the poor creature with her fire magic.
Zagan called to her. “Demon Queen, reconsider, and this will all end.”
Fat chance.
After making sure Pyra wasn’t gravely injured, she faced the demon king again. “I will never surrender to you!”
He moved quickly, sending a blast of fire, engulfing the gates of the fortress in blue flames.
Now, Sadie was pissed. She had enough of demons using fire to destroy her home. She lost her apartment that way, and she refused to let her fortress fall to the likes of an egomaniac like Zagan. His temper tantrum would end before the gate fell. Come hell or high water. All because she said no.
Boo fucking hoo. Get over it.
She shot some shadow arrows at him. One landed in his shoulder. It didn’t do much damage, except prevent him from being able to shoot more fire at her gate.
He smiled at her. And as if he knew what she thought, he proved her wrong by adding more blasts of blue flames to the gate.
The metal screeched and whined.
Sadie rushed forward, stopping just outside of the heat of the flames consuming her gate. She conjured metal vines from the ground in hopes of reinforcing the gates. But they burnt to a crisp before they could do much good.
Since that didn’t work, she aimed them toward Zagan. He shrugged them off effortlessly, never wavering from his casting.
Frustrated, she threw everything she could think of at him. Fireballs, vines, shadow arrows, smoke walls. Nothing fazed him.
Why won’t you just die! Zagan came prepared. He seemed to know when she was going to attack and with what, and that angered her even more. She wanted him gone, the fight to be over, and be done with him for good. But she just couldn’t land a good enough hit to him. And his forces were making short work of the gate, seeping through in small clusters, going after her and her men.
If Sadie was going to succeed in this battle, she needed to be quicker, out-smart him. And that was where the problem lay.
Creatures started to break through the gates. Goblins, skeletons, and demons alike. The wraiths shot lightning toward the princes. Mordecai, of course, had shifted into shadow. Kaiser shot fire at the creatures, and Steele dodged each bolt. Damien used Lightbane to somehow absorb the bolts.
Sadie sighed in relief.
What she thought was a goblin dashed toward her, slashing her leg with its long, talon-like nails. No, this wasn’t a goblin. This was something else entirely. A hybrid, a horrific creature with pale skin and solid black eyes and sharp teeth that protruded from its mouth. She summoned her smoke sword and fire shield. She used the shield to burn the skin of the creature, filling her nose with powerful, vomit-inducing stench that clung to the back of her throat.
Dizziness swam through her and she struggled to stay on her feet. She slashed with her sword, nearly blind from the tears that welled up in her eyes from the aroma of the creature’s blood. The blade sank into the creature’s skin like a hot knife through butter. She squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to clear the sting and tears from her eyes then went for the next creature. She continued using the vines to ensnare oncoming hordes of Zagan’s army.
Sadie refused to let this be her last fight.
Chapter Eight
Sadie
Sadie’s bruises darkened, and her arms and back throbbed with pain. She was tired and covered from head to toe in the result of her carnage. She wasn’t sure where the blood of the creatures she killed ended and hers began. But the fight wasn’t over yet. She would worry about tending to wounds and getting cleaned up soon enough.
Zagan continued to send more of his troops to the gate. Sadie and her men, along with Pyra, fought the best they could to keep the gate from completely collapsing. Her men seemed worse for the wear, but she couldn’t assess the extent of their injuries to be sure. Each time she dismantled a skeleton, took out a demon, goblin, or one of those other scarier creatures, another one took its place.
This wasn’t working. She needed to think of something to get the upper hand on the fight and fast.
Zagan stood just outside of Sadie’s reach, his smug expression showing that he was rather pleased with himself for turning the tide in his favor.
Sadie was done with this. Tapping into the power in her amulet, she pulled from the energy what she could and screamed as she held her hands out in front of her, sending bright steams of fire from her to the advancing soldiers and
then toward Zagan.
The earth beneath her feet and the stalagmites on the ceiling shook. Some fell off, crushing some of Zagan’s forces.
But before she spent too much time processing what she had just done, as it was new and different, she refocused herself as another one of the demon king’s soldiers came after her. She stood, prepared to fight with her shadow sword and flaming shield as a loud roar came from behind, growing in force and intensity the closer the sound drew.
She peeked over her shoulder to find her ifrits, in all their blazing fiery-orange glory, charging the fortress grounds toward the gates, weapons held high and ready for battle.
She hoped that they would be enough to even the odds if not tip the war in her favor.
Facing her opponent, she dispatched him and shouted at Zagan. “Enough of this, coward! Face me and fight me like a king, instead of hiding behind your army.”
Zagan narrowed his eyes on her. “You chose this by forcing my hand. I cannot stand by as my sons plot to overthrow me with you by their side. I warned you. You disregarded that. This is your chosen fate.”
Sadie wasn’t taking excuses. Especially his excuses. She used her mental connection with Pyra and urged her pet dragon to flank Zagan.
One way or another, Sadie was ending this fight before any lives were lost on her side.
Pyra landed behind Zagan, inching up behind him. He turned and faced the dragon, palms igniting in purple-blue light.
Oh no you don’t.
Sadie used her fire shield to launch a fire missile at his back. Zagan’s magic faltered. The glow dissipated. He turned to face her again, anger forcing his eyes to turn red and glow with fury.
