“Kill her!” Tristan demanded, and I gasped as a blade pushed through my chest.
All hell broke loose. Knox rattled violence, slicing through the guards that stood beside him before I’d even processed he’d moved. Brander’s sword was out with lightning speed, and with one swift twist of his body, Tristan’s head went sailing toward a building, bouncing off the window, leaving a spider web in the glass. Knox rushed toward me, his eyes lowering to the blade still protruding from my chest as the man behind me slowly withdrew it.
I turned, shoving my hand through the guard’s chest, and he squealed as blood exploded from his lips. “Didn’t your momma ever teach you not to stab a lady?” I scoffed, withdrawing my hand, holding his still-beating heart, causing me to gag as I dropped the useless bloodied mess. I turned to wipe my hand on the other guard as something sailed past me. His head, I realized. “Gross!”
Spinning around, I glared at Knox, who dropped his gaze to my unbloodied chest, lowering the blade he’d used to remove the guard’s head. He stepped closer, pulling me against him, inhaling deeply. His lips brushed mine, and then he pushed me away as his eyes studied me, touching me as he examined the cut in the dress I wore.
“What the fuck, Aria?” he demanded.
“Oh, this is awkward. I’m not actually here, Knox. I wasn’t ready to tip my hand, showing that I had perfected my spell to work outside the dream state, but here we are,” I smirked, studying the anger in his eyes. “Don’t look at me like that. Tristan was abusing power and raping witches for rent. He was a really bad guy. The world won’t miss him.”
“He was a lord under my rule!” he shouted, anger pulsing through him as the tic in his jaw hammered visibly.
“Pot, meet kettle. Stick out your spout, and I’ll lick it for you, big boy,” I offered, wiggling my brows while letting my tongue trace over my lips. “I guess I’m not the only one with a dirty house, am I?”
“This is getting old, Aria.”
“I told you I wouldn’t be easy to catch, didn’t I? I could have sworn that I did.” My hands touched against his chest as his men moved closer with their weapons at the ready.
“It’s only a matter of time before I catch you, and when I do, you’re not escaping me again, Little Monster. I’m closer to finding your family, and when I have them at my disposal, you’ll be a good girl and do as I say, or you’ll watch them die one by one. There are only so many places for them to hide within the Nine Realms that wouldn’t cause a stir. You’re going to look so pretty on your knees, waiting for my orders. If you’re really good, I’ll even fuck you and make you come for me.”
“You think we didn’t account for that? I’ve been here for five months, and I have already brought houses to their knees. I have barely scratched the surface. You won’t find my family, and if you do, I will protect them at all costs, Knox. I don’t care if I have to sell my soul to the devil to keep them alive, I will.”
“I know. I’m counting on it.” He smiled cruelly as he stepped closer, whispering against my ear. “If you ever make me murder anyone else for you, last night will seem like pleasantries between lovers compared to what I will do to you. Do you understand me, woman? If you were anyone else, you’d be dead already for what you did last night and today. I will not warn you again.”
“Are you saying you want me alive?” I whispered raspingly, brushing my cheek against his while my fingers slid over his armor, lifting to his cheek. “I like you too, Knox. Although, I think I prefer you mute and beneath me. Unfortunately, I got to fly. See you soon?” I asked, stepping back as he watched me through narrowed eyes.
My body-double dissipated as ravens flew through the air, rushing to where I knelt on the edge of a cliff. Knox’s eyes followed the ravens’ flight as they reached me, once more becoming tattoos covering my flesh.
I stood slowly, building up the rattle before releasing it loudly, watching the men with him respond to the sound, forced to bow, even though they fought the command. The world around me rattled with the sound, fearing my beast as lightning struck the earth behind me.
Knox peered at his men, his eyes darkening to obsidian as he returned the battle cry, causing my back to arch as I frowned, hating that my legs weakened. Before I could stop myself, I went down hard on my knees, glaring down at Knox as everything within me screamed to go to him.
Knox’s rattle was absolute, without question.
Mine had been loud and cute compared to his.
Like a child imitating something an adult had done.
My body heard the rattling call and answered his, bending softly, intending to be freaking mounted. I purred huskily in response. I could not prevent the noise from slipping free as his rattle lessened, and he purred to relieve the pulsing ache he’d knowingly created within me. I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I sat there, holding his victorious gaze as my body calmed, and everything within me slowly returned to normal.
“See you soon, Little Monster,” he whispered, and yet his words floated to me from my perch on the high cliffside that gazed down over the shitty town below as if he were right beside me. “You smell fucking delicious. Next time you rattle, make sure yours is the biggest, baddest one in the area because I won’t hesitate to answer your call, proving who the fucking alpha really is, little girl.”
I lay upon the ground, drawing the marking for a portal, slicing my hand through the palm before I opened it, and rolled through. The moment I had, Kinvara stared down at me, smiling as she knelt, pushing my hair out of my face. Her wide, blue eyes smiled as they slid down my body, scrunching her nose absently.
“You look exhausted.” She smiled softly, tapping my forehead.
“What the freaking hell are you two doing here?” I demanded, groaning. I sat up, staring at Dimitri, who pulled me up to my feet, sniffing me as he muttered beneath his breath.
“Gods damn, girl,” he said, growling low in his throat, his eyes like glowing sapphires. “You smell… good. I’m willing to clean the mess I smell with my tongue.” His lips kissed my shoulder, and I glared.
“Puppy, you try to bite me, and I’ll personally pull out every tooth you have until you eat puppy chow from a straw. One alpha hunting and harassing me is enough.”
“Calm your tiny tits, Aria. Just making a statement and an offer,” he said, lifting his hands in the air in surrender as he stepped back. “Besides, someone is going to need to help you out sooner or later. You are reaching your limit, and won’t be able to fight it much longer, nor will you care that I’m not Knox when fucking your tight pussy.”
“That’s my problem, not yours. Why are you here? Knox is right behind me!” I seethed worriedly. “You need to go, now. He had his witches hiding around the corner from where I just used the cloning spell.”
“Aurora found information after you took the power from Taren. We think we know where the next fragment is, but there’s more. She thinks we can break the curse on us, but we have to break them all to do that. Also, if this plan works, we will have a way to raise the House of Magic earlier than anticipated, which means we can escape that dusty tomb. You wouldn’t have to keep running, and we could protect the witches who still follow Hecate without you having to do it alone.”
“I’m listening,” I said, pulling magic to me in the event Knox’s witch could open a portal into the area before Kinvara and Dimitri escaped. “Tell me what Aurora found, and the details of this plan. You have five minutes, and then you’re both out of here. Open a portal, just in case. He’s rather angry with me at the moment.”
“What did you do to piss him off this time?” Kinvara asked, smirking.
“I made him kill one of his… lords. In fact, I’m not even sure what you would call that disgusting prick.”
“You did what?” she asked, her mouth opening and closing while she blinked.
“It’s not as if the man was a saint. He was forcing witches to sleep with him to make their rent. I’m pretty sure they will not miss their lord. Knox can’t be one-sided
. His house is dirty too, and if we’re cleaning the Nine Realms, I’m cleaning all the houses.”
“You’re going to push him too far, and when you do, this plan will be dead in the water, Aria.” Dimitri pushed his fingers through his hair while studying my face. “He’s their King. He can’t slaughter his lords, or he’ll lose control of all his subjects. If Knox loses control, someone who can’t be reasoned with will take his place, and then Aurora’s plan will fail.”
“You mean someone I can’t seduce, Dimitri. You guys assume he wants me. Last night I used the dream potion, the one Aurora suggested I try to see if it worked to contact you assholes. He hurt me while I was with him. He meant to do so. Knox wants to use me as a weapon; that much is clear. If he wants me for something more, it is still up for question. You have four minutes now. I suggest you use them wisely. His witch hasn’t cast magic today, which means they can open five portals before tiring, and I’m exhausted from running for months to stay ahead of him. Let’s hear the plan.”
“You will not like it,” she warned.
“I kind of figured that one out on my own,” I snorted, leaning my head against her shoulder. “Talk. I’m listening.”
“I hate that you’re so exhausted, and out here alone.” Her hand came up to hug my head closer. “I wish you would allow us to help you.”
“You are, Kinny. By staying safe, I don’t have to worry about Knox catching or finding you to use against me. Three minutes.”
“Here it is…”
Chapter Twenty-Five
I entered the keep through a portal, strutting in like I owned the place. Technically, I guess I did. I’d come in through the front, noting the skulls of the dead I’d left littered upon the ground. Moss and ivy had taken root on the castle’s walls, making it appear abandoned. I’d added an enhancement spell to expedite the growth, but what had occurred was far beyond my hope.
The castle was half-destroyed, the front of which blown wide-open to discourage others from seeking the safety it would have otherwise offered. The high battlement’s metal railing hung from a ruined pathway, thick wood splintered beneath it, some of which had collapsed to the ground to be hidden by flowery sage.
Inside the crumbling keep were several pathways that moved to different locations in the bowels of the castle. The protection crystals I’d placed before leaving had stood to ward off anyone that didn’t belong.
I put my fingers on the rainbow tip of the largest one, and light shot out to expose a wide barrier. Whispering a spell beneath my breath, I charged each crystal, knowing I wouldn’t be back for a while, and what was to come during my absence.
Once completed, I entered the first hall, turning left, continuing down a long winding hallway. To anyone that got past the crystals, it would look like a dead end. It took me twenty minutes to get through the wards below, placed to keep everything and everyone out.
Kinvara had access to enter through the bottom level, bypassing all the high-level security I’d added to the castle. She and Dimitri had a way in for when I was gone. I’d seen to their needs, knowing they were now under my care and my responsibility.
My feet didn’t make a sound as I entered the large room, sliding into the shadows to observe the people Esme had chosen to bring with her. Women moved around with large baskets of the cloth and material taken from other keeps I’d destroyed. Some sat around tables, kneading dough with their knuckles. At another table, witches bound thread around small sticks of sage, ready for smudging.
It looked like a scene from a medieval movie was playing out before my eyes. Men entered the large room, silently placing shields and armor into large stacks. My eyes settled on the crest containing a skull with twin ravens adorning one shield’s face before scanning the others. There were several adorned with Knox’s crest, along with chest plates of armor. Swords were tested, sharpened, and then added to the growing stack.
Children milled about, kicking what looked to be a leather ball. Some moved together, while others observed warily. Exhaling past the unease those stares provoked, I noted the potions the witches were creating with alchemy.
If I had ever doubted that Esme was the wrong woman to help me, that was no longer the case. She watched with a close eye, noting the men until they vanished into the hallway that led out into the fields behind this castle. It was probably where they were collecting the armor. Esme went back to her task when they were gone, and the children moved into another room to continue their game.
I stepped out of the shadows and walked toward her. Esme was helping a child into a dress, and she paused, lifting her head. Violet-colored eyes locked with mine, and she shooed the child away, rushing to me with purpose.
“You’re not a witch!” she hissed in a hushed tone, noting the smirk that played on my lips. “You’re a lot more than that. You need to explain, now. How am I supposed to get people here with the guise of saving them if things are happening that I don’t understand myself?” she demanded, her eyes studying the witches close to us.
“I told you I was more than just a witch. Does this mean I still cannot call you Esme, Esmerelda?” I countered, sliding my attention to the group of witches she’d collected, that were now watching us.
At least she had done as I’d asked while enjoying the show. I’d feared she would change her mind after watching me sink to my knees from Knox’s rattle, but let’s be real, who wouldn’t? Even his men had gone to their knees as he’d reminded the world he was the ultimate alpha caveman.
“Yeah, but you’re like him.”
“We’re something similar, yes. It doesn’t change who I am, no matter what I carry within me. I am Hecate’s granddaughter, and I intend to protect the witches who have not run amuck through the Nine Realms, rather than destroying it for their ill-gains. Our children do not deserve to be slaughtered, persecuted, or turned into slaves due to their genetics when they have done nothing wrong. Fueled by grief, Knox is prejudiced against us for the wrong-doings of the past. I plan to change that and make him see we can easily be on the same side.”
“The King of Norvalla isn’t wrong, though. The High Queen has allowed her followers to destroy anyone who doesn’t yield to Hecate’s reign. You haven’t been here, and suddenly you show up like some white knight that’s come to save a bitch. Why do you even care? We’re nothing to you. What stops you from joining his side, or worse, the high queen’s?” she asked as we moved toward a bench away from the others.
I sat down, staring up at Esme, considering my answer carefully. “When I was a child, I was told my grandmother was a saint, and that everything she did, she did for the greater good of the Nine Realms. In school, they taught us to worship her. The other races, too, and no one spoke about any of the Nine Realms’ shifters or other creatures. Why? What made our line so special that everyone had to learn about Hecate and all the things she’d accomplished while the other races had also done amazing things? Frequently, those made into saints are merely sinners, who crafted their stories to fit a narrative that made them appear good.
“I didn’t buy it. The shit our teachers were selling felt wrong. It felt forced, scripted, and contrived to turn people away from the fact that Hecate took control of a realm that wasn’t hers to take. Take Norvalla, for instance. They refused to bow to a false queen when Hecate wore the crown, demanding that every king and queen bowed to her alone. They wouldn’t adhere to her laws, and so bad things started happening to them. Their crops failed without cause, leaving the entire realm of Norvalla starving, forcing them into a trade market with other realms in which they didn’t have relationships. Joining the trade market opened their borders for the other realms and forced them to adhere to Hecate’s laws. That permitted outside influences and politics to occur that they’d refused to allow into their realm until Hecate forced them to obey her. However, the King of Norvalla found other resources and began trading with the King of Unwanted Beasts, another ruler who had refused to bow to Hecate.
“The summit of kings a
nd queens turned into a slaughter. The opposing rulers, who had refused to bow to an unwelcomed, self-imposed queen, died, murdered on their departure to return to their homelands after still refusing Hecate’s rule. It’s not a coincidence that only those opposing her were murdered.”
“Hecate was slumbering during that time,” Esme pointed out, her brows wrinkling skeptically.
“So the legend goes. Who could prove that, though? Her witches or her own daughters? Daughters she murdered when they spoke against her? Sure, because that makes perfect sense. Let me tell you the story of Hecate, as told by my aunt. Hecate had three groups of children. The first group of daughters became jealous of one another and killed each other off. Seeing this, Hecate invoked the Laws of Magic, creating a failsafe that would deter her next born daughters from the same outcome. If one sibling moved to harm their sister or her offspring, they would suffer the same fate. Now, Hecate didn’t bother to tell her daughters about this restriction, so when Hecate favored one of her four daughters more than the others, they plotted that sister’s demise, killing themselves the moment she took her last breath. Learning from her mistakes, Hecate told her final set of daughters the stories of their lost siblings, ensuring they would survive and also that they would never speak or work against Hecate themselves for fear that there was another secret failsafe in place.
“That’s a great story and all, but I call bullshit. The Laws of Magic invoke only if a mother kills her daughter, and Hecate isn’t immune from it. I believe she cast the spell that led to her daughters growing jealous enough of the other, resulting in their deaths before they could testify to the elders that Hecate wasn’t in slumber. I think the ‘failsafe’ resulted from Hecate’s actions against her daughters, and she just told my mother and her sisters about it to keep them in line. Hecate’s daughters said she was evil, fueled by a need to rule over others, and turn the world into her personal idealist playground. Hell, she’d taken control of the Nine Realms once before, slaughtering the old ones because they refused her when she first showed up.”
Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms Book 2) Page 18
