by Everly Frost
I press my lips to hers, fitting my mouth to the curve of her lips, inhaling her soft gasp as she opens her mouth to mine. She tastes like a sky full of freedom. The world disappears around us, the sunlight warm on my back as she arches into me and her eyes close. When I break the contact, my lips hovering above hers, she opens her eyes with a controlled sigh that doesn’t quite match how rapid her breathing is or that one of her legs has curled around my calf. I turn slowly, the air moving around us as I fight the urge to kiss her again.
As the sky revolves around us, she suddenly freezes, her gaze fixed on a point in the distance. “Cassian! What is that?”
I spin in the direction of her gaze.
In the distance, a dark plume of smoke billows from the palace. Only a serious fire would cause that. I hesitate for only a second.
“We have to get back. Hold on!” I clasp her tightly as I swoop to the ground, spearing toward the sack I dropped. I can’t leave the creature behind. I have to show it to the King, make him believe the danger that’s approaching. I’m not one of his guards—yet—and I don’t want elevation or accolades. All I want is to protect my country.
Holding Elaina tightly with one hand, I drop to the ground, bend to pick up the sack, and sling it over my shoulder before I reach for her again.
“We’ll travel faster if I fly you,” I say, reminding myself that I need her permission.
She steps onto my feet again. “Yes.”
Wrapping one arm around her, I hold onto the sack with the other, confident that I won’t drop either her or it. With a sweep of my wings, we soar upward, speeding high over the trees. It’s awkward, but my wings are strong, quickly carrying us toward Crimson Court. The Court is open on all sides to allow gargoyles to fly in and out, giant golden pillars supporting a vast scarlet roof.
Fear grows thick and sharp inside me as the distant shapes, the flames, come into sharp focus.
Soldiers swarm around Crimson Court, their ranks spreading all the way to the palace, but they aren’t the king’s guards. These males are bare-chested, covered in blood, dragging bodies along the ground. Some of their victims are still alive, but others… I recognize some of the gargoyles being dragged as servants from the palace, visiting dignitaries…
In the distance, swords clash and the roar of battle assaults my ears. I pull up sharp. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. “It’s the Grievous Clan. They’ve attacked the palace.”
The Grievous Clan is the most ferocious gargoyle clan. They’re warrior gargoyles without any morals, the most distrusted clan of all.
I whisper, “The King has been betrayed.” I clutch Elaina tightly. Grievous gargoyles have no respect for females. “I have to hide you.”
Elaina begins to nod. Then she inhales sharply. “Wait! My parents!”
Below us, two males shove her mother and father inside Crimson Court. I catch sight of her parents’ emerald robes, their frightened, bloody faces, before they disappear beneath the roof. There’s a sickening pile of bodies growing beside the Court that tells me the Court is a slaughter ground. I fight the sick feeling spearing through me, fight the need to soar into battle and kill every Grievous gargoyle I can find.
I have to keep Elaina safe first. “It’s too late for them. We have to go.”
“No, Cassian!” She beats at my chest, struggling hard to be free. I don’t want to let her go, every instinct in my body telling me to run. I have to protect her. No matter what happens to me, I have to make sure she’s safe. “Let me hide you, Elaina!”
“I can’t leave my parents.” She grabs my face in her hands, forcing me to focus on her. “I know how to use a dagger, Cassian. I know how to fight. I won’t leave them to be slaughtered.”
I shake my head. My arms tighten around her, refusing to let her go, turning and sweeping my wings to carry us far away.
“Cassian! Let. Me. Go.” She grits her teeth, shoving at me, writhing in my arms, her wings attempting to spread.
No! She is too little, too slender. Within moments, she’s slipped my hold, her wings spreading as she soars to the ground.
I follow her, landing moments after she does.
The Grievous gargoyles around us jolt backward at our sudden appearance, clearing the space before my wings knock them over.
Elaina doesn’t pause, running as soon as her feet touch the ground. She flits through the group of Grievous gargoyles moving between her and Crimson Court, her figure as lithe as a silver wraith. She steals their daggers as she goes, her fingers nimble as she spins and dances out of reach while the filthy males startle at her appearance and try to grab her.
She is little but she is strong. Flinging a dagger at a gargoyle who tries to get in her way, she hits him square in the heart. She spreads her wings, rises up, and kicks another in the teeth so hard that he falls in front of her and she uses his sinking body as leverage to run up and soar in the direction of her parents.
I follow her footsteps, protecting her back, knocking out a gargoyle who tries to grab her from behind. I snatch his dagger as he falls, spin, and drive the weapon into the chest of another who attempts to stab Elaina from the side. I wrench the blade out of him, knowing I’ll need the weapon again.
The sack is hampering my movements, so I drop it, aware of a massive gargoyle—the largest I’ve ever seen—striding toward me from my left. He watches me with narrowed eyes but doesn’t run after me. When I leave the sack behind, he stoops to pick it up, staring inside it.
Elaina plows ahead of me to her parents, screaming when she sees them.
At the center of the Court, a massive gargoyle with a sharp nose and dark gray wings holds her mother from behind, one thick arm around her chest, his foot stamping the back of her calves to force her into a kneeling position. His movements are fast and brutal, choking off her cry of fear and pain.
I spread my wings and soar toward them, but the gargoyle’s blade is too quick. Far too efficient. As if he were cutting the throat of an animal.
Elaina’s horrified shout washes over me as her mother’s body hits the floor. “Mother! No!”
Her mother’s killer pays no attention to us and I’m too far away to stop him moving onto her father, who is being held immobile by three males. Elaina shoves the next gargoyle who tries to grab her, ramming her last stolen dagger into his throat.
Her father shouts, struggles, roaring for his wife. The sharp-nosed gargoyle crunches his boot into the back of his calves, snapping bone, his thick arm tight around his neck.
Elaina races toward them, desperate to reach her father in time. My dagger is poised, only seconds away.
The sharp-nosed gargoyle glances up, but he doesn’t stop. His knife hand cuts to the side in a brutal sweep.
Elaina catches her father as he closes his eyes, the deep cut across his neck stealing his life, covering her in blood. Her screams wash over me, triggering every protective instinct inside me.
With a roar, I slam into the male who held her father, driving my wing dagger into his shoulder. I was aiming for his heart, but he twitched just in time. Still impaling him, I force him downward. The moment he loses his footing, I retract my wing dagger, following his downward fall. I aim my fist and sweep my wings to give me extra force. His eyes widen. He tries to hit me, but my fist slams straight and true against his temple, knocking his head against the stone floor with a sickening crack.
Blood sprays, the gargoyle lies still, and I rear up over him, my wings spread wide. His shallow breathing fills the suddenly silent Court.
I spin to Elaina.
She struggles in the arms of three males who are dragging her backward. Two of them hold her wings, preparing to rip them off. The third clasps his hand over her mouth to silence her, his other fist gripping her hair, pulling her head back so that her eyes water.
Water or tears. Either makes my blood boil.
When I look around, I discover that the other gargoyles have cleared the space around us, all of them standing back from me, staying cl
ear of my wings.
I ignore them, focusing on the males restraining Elaina.
“You will let her go, or you will die,” I say.
The one gripping her hair snickers, but I’m already moving. My wings snap closed with a sweep that lifts me across the distance. The moment my wings close, my feet touch ground and my wing daggers dart forward, impaling the males gripping her wings—this time right through their hearts. At the same time, my fist closes around the throat of the male holding her hair. He doesn’t have time to shout, grabbing at my hand as I lift him off the ground. I expand my wings, flinging the other two dead males off my daggers. Their bodies hit the ground with a thud while my fist squeezes around the throat of the third, choking him to death within silent seconds. I throw him to the side and reach for Elaina.
Her gaze shoots to something behind me, fear reflected in her eyes. “Cassian!”
A thick arm snakes around my neck, a fist meets my lower back, and a boot hits my calves. The sharp-nosed gargoyle rams his face against mine, blood dripping from his forehead. I should have stabbed him in the eyes.
His blade jabs the air at the corner of my vision, a descending flash of silver, pressing to my throat, forcing me to freeze. If I try to free myself, I will cut my own throat.
At the same time, three more gargoyles dart forward to restrain Elaina, shoving her to her knees, holding her face so she has to look at me.
I don’t want her to see me die. “Close your eyes, Elaina! Close your eyes!”
The blade shifts, pain pierces my skin—
A guttural roar sounds from the side of the Court. “Stop!”
The massive gargoyle who picked up the sack I dropped strides across the distance, holding my dead prey in his raised fist.
The creature’s panther-like body dangles across the newcomer’s arm as he holds it high. Like his brethren, he is naked to the waist and his bare chest bulges with corded muscles. His eyes are black ochre and his jaw is square with a cleft in his chin. He wears a metal chain around his neck with a single, silver claw attached to it. He is easily the largest gargoyle I have ever seen. Even more ferocious than the King.
The other gargoyles part for him, dangerous grins growing on their faces. The newcomer may have stopped my execution, but his arrival is bad news, not good.
He stops mere paces away from me. “I am Grievous Howl.”
“The King will kill you,” I snarl.
He laughs. “The King is dead. He lies in a pool of his own blood in his burning palace. I killed him myself.”
Howl barely gives Elaina a glance as he leans down to me, his eyes filled with all sorts of crazy. “Who are you?”
Through gritted teeth, I say, “I am Cassian of the Hideaway Clan.”
“I am your king now, Cassian.” The animals head lolls in Howl’s arms, its teeth bared as he raises it high above his head again, shaking its dead body and shouting, “Brothers, behold! We have a new brother among us. Cassian is now Grievous.”
The Grievous gargoyles inhale sharply before they roar, a deafening cry.
I stare at them in confusion. First they wanted to kill me and now I’m their brother? The blade pressing to my throat says I’m not out of danger.
Howl rips out one of the dead animal’s claws, dropping the carcass to the floor before he compares it with the claw around his neck.
He gives me a satisfied smile. “Larger than the one I killed.”
He turns in a circle to the increasing roars around us. “Here is Cassian… who killed a shadow panther—one of the most ferocious creatures in our land. Only Grievous are strong enough to kill shadow panthers!”
While the roars continue, Howl ducks down to me, the claw clutched in his fist. He whispers, “The warrior who holds you is Grievous Gerst. He is my second-in-command—stronger than any other in my Clan—and yet you bested him. Right now, the damage to his shoulder is a liability. If you wish, you will be able to escape his hold, fight him, and you will win. But then you will have to fight me.”
His eyes gleam. “You have Hideaway’s wings. The first in centuries. It would be a pity for me to kill you. So I’m going to give you a choice.” He points at Elaina. “I will let you live if you kill the female.”
I stare beyond Howl to Elaina. She tugs fiercely, trying to free herself from the hold of the three gargoyles who leer at her.
All my hatred flows to the surface as I turn back to Howl. “No. Kill me instead and let her go.”
He laughs. “No?”
He moves so fast that I don’t have time to breathe. His arm snakes around my neck, yanking me out of Gerst’s hold, lifting me so that I dangle beside him. He drags me like a helpless toy across the floor toward Elaina. I ram my elbow behind me as hard as I can, kick back, try to spread my wings, try to use my wing daggers, but he barely budges.
He’s strong.
Too strong.
For the first time… I’ve met someone who is stronger than me. I’m not fully grown, not at the full peak of my power, but even if I were…
“You will never defeat me, Cassian.” Howl continues whispering into my ear as he forces me to my knees right in front of Elaina. If we reach out, our fingertips would touch. “She’s too beautiful to be a slave but too fertile for my harem. I can’t let her live. You will kill her mercifully, whereas my clan…”
I raise my eyes to the other males. Elaina whimpers as one of them smells her hair, sucking on the strands he holds, his lips drawing back into a snarl.
“She’s going to die, Cassian. The only question is whether it will be quick.”
“No.”
Elaina shifts opposite me, her arms pinned behind her back. Her dress is covered in blood, the pale blue turned crimson. Her eyes are wide, but suddenly… not frightened. All the fear drains out of her expression, her cornflower eyes becoming clear and focused.
The worry and pain on her face smooths away as she says, “Cassian?” Her voice compels me to focus only on her. “It’s okay.”
“No.”
She tilts her head to Howl. Her gaze doesn’t leave mine as she says, “Tell your soldiers to let me go, Grievous Howl. I won’t run.”
He takes a moment to consider her before he says, “Very well.”
He nods to the males and they release her. She rises slowly to her feet. Her dress swishes around her legs, torn up one side. A patch of new blood grows on her thigh. Despite the wound, she doesn’t limp, gliding the short distance between us, the most beautiful female I have ever seen.
I can’t lose her. I can’t… I have to fight. I have to think of a way to win. I will think of a way. I just need a little more time to slip Howl’s hold…
She kneels in front of me while Howl continues to squeeze my throat.
She ignores him, holding her arms close to her sides, one hand tangled in her dress. Her knees nudge mine. She smiles. Soft. Gentle. A smile only for me. “I’m sorry I didn’t fly away with you, Cassian. I hope you will find me again one day. I’ll be waiting for you.”
I shake my head, a determined denial. “I won’t let you die.”
She leans forward, her hand untangling from her dress as the corner of her mouth hitches. “Remember not to be so polite.”
Her arm rises.
Too late, I see the dagger she holds. She must have snatched it from one of the guards who held her. But she isn’t pointing it at Howl. She places its tip over her own heart instead.
“No!” I surge forward. My hand stretches. My fingertips brush the handle—
Howl jolts me back.
She rams the dagger into her own chest, her eyes filling with tears, a cry rising from her lips as she collapses across my knees, her silver wings falling across us.
“No! Elaina!”
Howl finally releases me, freeing my arms so that I can wrap them around her, pulling her up to my chest.
I want to shout, roar, wrench her soul back to me.
“Why?” I grasp her shoulders, supporting her head as she inha
les, dragging air into her lungs one last time. “Why did you do this?”
She presses her soft palm to my cheek, the brightness in her eyes fading. “One day… you will understand…”
Her final breath washes across my mouth, the scent of freedom fading as her hand drops away.
Howl grabs me, hauling me up so fast that Elaina’s body crashes to the floor, her wings spread across it and her face turned away.
I want to kill him.
I will kill him.
Howl’s cold smile greets me as he rises up beside me. “You belong to me now, Cassian,” he says. “Heart and soul.”
1. Marbella Mercy
Now
For seven years, I lived my life according to a precise set of rules. At the top of the list: subdue the storm every day, don’t touch anyone, and follow the protocols. I obeyed all of them. Until the rules were swept out from under me like yesterday’s dusty rug.
Now, there are no rules.
I set the storm free. I touched Baelen. And the protocols? Actually, it wasn’t me who burned those to the ground; it was the Elven Command when they tried to kill Baelen and take my power. That’s when they made me their enemy.
The boundaries that once existed around my life are gone. Literally. Now there’s open space and deep stretches of blue sky. And the determination that I will heal Baelen’s wounds and bring him back to me. Whatever it takes.
The Phoenix soars through the cloud cover that floats over elven country. I lean forward in the moist air, tugging on the back of Jasper’s armor to get his attention. We’re riding on the Phoenix’s broad back while the Storm’s spirit sails along behind us, connected to me just like she promised she’d be. At this moment, she’s floating on her back, riding the slipstream created by the firebird’s wings.
Baelen’s head rests in my lap and his feet lie alongside Jasper, securely tethered between us by ropes made out of lightning. It’s not exactly the kind of thing I ever imagined, but the Storm bound him safely to the Phoenix and promised me that he wouldn’t fall during our journey. A journey I never thought I’d make. To gargoyle country. The home of our worst enemies.
