Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms Book 2)

by Amelia Hutchins

  My eyes lifted to find the male with the softer blue eyes studying me. Unlike the others, there was an intensity in his stare that caused me to become unsettled. His lips tipped up in the corners like he’d felt what his gaze did to me. He was strikingly handsome with a ruggedness that spoke of hard lines and jagged edges. His shirt failed to hide the strength of his body, which held my stare hostage.

  He rattled low, and my eyes widened at the sound. My body jerked, and I slowly blinked, lowering my eyes from the power of his rattle while it rushed through me. A louder rattle sounded behind me, forcing my eyes toward Knox and his men.

  Knox looked murderous, his eyes staring past me to the man who had rattled. Soft turquoise eyes met and held his in challenge, and I exhaled, moving my attention away from the pissing contest to where a body was revealed.

  “That can’t be good,” I muttered, and then gasped as someone grabbed both of my hands, and the men started chanting. Power rushed through the room, and my body burned from the pressure of it pulsing and throbbing through me.

  The magic felt right.

  It felt like home. I whimpered, opening my eyes to find the male watching me through heavily hooded eyes. He smiled, exposing razor-sharp fangs that caused my body to clench with anticipation. The magic stopped, and the men supported my weight when my legs threatened to give out.

  “Be careful, young one,” the man beside me stated, smiling. “It drained your magic to release her from the binding spell.”

  “You might want to tell the pretty little princess what is about to happen,” the male opposite of me said, his eyes still sliding over my face.

  I peered at the motionless form before me. The woman had silver hair, brushed to a fine sheen that glittered in the light of the crystals, creating a halo around her head. Her dress was aquamarine and didn’t carry a single wrinkle. I moved to get a closer look, but the men held firm, refusing to release their hold.

  “Eva is about to wake up, and she’s going to attack you,” the male beside me announced, as if he’d told me it looked like it would rain soon. “She’ll be confused, and since you’re the only female present, she will test you. Don’t let her win, or your life will be forfeited. If you cannot beat her than your existence is unneeded.”

  “Excuse me? It sounded like you just said that you made me wake her up, freeing her to kick my ass. So, I must have heard wrong.”

  “Hecate trapped Eva here, luring her with the song of magic. It made Eva think her true mate was within the tomb, that the other half of her flame burned within it. Once Eva was inside, Hecate drained her power and left her without magic. The fact that you carry both royal bloodlines allowed you to free her from the spell that held her in stasis.”

  “Yeah, no. Not happening.” I peered across from me, watching the male who oozed sexual tension toward me in spades.

  “I’ve watched you, sweet Aria,” he said softly. “You’re more advanced and stronger than Eva. All you have to do is fight her until she tires, and you’ll survive. You can do that. Your father created you for war; to wage it and win. You’re an alpha, and you know it. Let your pretty monster out to play. I know she wants to come out.”

  “You’ve watched me?” I asked.

  “I’ve watched you do many things.” He dragged his stare down my body, which caused an angry rattle to sound behind me. “You are a rarity, and a beauty unmatched comes from within you. Yet you throw it away on a man who can never return that fire. He may see your fire, but he will never taste your flames.”

  “But, you would?” I snorted. “This is insane. I’m gone. It was so nice for you to lure me here. I’d say it’s been fun, but it really wasn’t. If you intend to use me as well, do me a favor and fuck off,” I growled, moving to leave the platform when a rattle sounded that made the hair on my nape rise.

  “Good morning, Eva,” the seductive male said, watching the woman rise into a crouching position on the altar. “This is Aria, and I intend to mate with her. Be gentle with Aria, for she is untrained, and stubbornly prideful.”

  I wasn’t sure what horrified me more, that the woman with the matching soft turquoise eyes had zeroed in on me, or that the male had dropped the mate shit like it was already decided. What the hell was it with the men in this hellish world?

  The woman rattled again, and everything within me went on high alert. I watched the men move away from Sleeping Beauty, who bared serrated teeth and surprisingly long claws. She crawled to the back of the altar and rattled again.

  I felt my mind switching, and yet it didn’t fully send me to the backseat as it normally did when my creature took control. I leaped onto the altar, crouching to mirror her pose. My chest vibrated, and my mouth opened, releasing a rattle that sounded through the cavern, echoing off the walls as I arched my spine. I felt twitching within my body as things attached to my spine itched to be freed from my flesh.

  “I am Eva,” she hissed.

  “I am me, and you are threatening my host,” the creature snarled, using my lips to speak. “No one touches my Aria. Not without having a really nice cock for me to use.”

  “You’re not even combined fully yet,” Eva mused, and when my hand lifted, and the middle digit rose, she snapped. “I’m going to rip your head off,” she snarled.

  “You can try, but I don’t think you have the tits to do it,” I shot back, smiling coldly as the female’s eyes became solid turquoise. “Shoulders back, tits out, and let’s fuck some shit up, Creature.”

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  The woman lunged, and I barely avoided colliding with her. Her body smashed into one figurine, sending the statue and the crystal into the water. My eyes slid to Knox, finding him and his men watching me.

  I jumped from the altar, slowly moving around the woman toward them. My creature itched to fight, but she had also done the math of how many men were in the room with us, recognizing that those wanting us alive were on the other side of a barrier.

  Eva rattled, and I echoed it. I could feel my creature helping me from within, directing me through the knee-deep water.

  She lunged, and I flipped into the air, landing on Eva’s shoulders. Slamming my body over hers, I sent her crashing into the barrier that sizzled and popped. Eva howled an ear-piercing scream that had my hands coming up to protect my ears.

  I danced away from her and the barrier, noting her charred skin from touching it. Knox, on the other hand, had his hands pressed firmly against it. His eyes studied my movements, but there was anger in his stare that worried me.

  He thought I had led him here. Eva moved in at an inhuman speed, sending me sailing across the room to crash against the barrier.

  I howled, jerking my skin away to find pieces of it still stuck to the shield. I growled from deep in my chest, slowly moving closer as I silenced the room, homing in on her and only her.

  Eva moved again, and I jumped, kicking my leg up into the air with the weight of my body, sending her crashing against another statue. She stood, cracking her neck while staring at me.

  “You’re one of us,” she snarled.

  “No, I’m really not,” I grunted, watching her head cock to the side while her eyes slid over me.

  “Not entirely true. I hate liars,” she jeered, zipping forward.

  I used the same movement, crashing into her with my claws extended, my creature releasing them to cut through Eva’s side before I reappeared on the other side. It was the first time my creature and I worked as one, and it seemed to be successful.

  Eva moved again, and I lost her in the jetstream, peering around the cave’s emptiness until she appeared before Knox, rattling.

  Knox’s eyes slid to obsidian, and I rattled, forcing him to peer over her shoulder. He smiled, cocking his head to the side as he purred for Eva. I silently studied the way he flirted, noting that Lore’s mouth had dropped open, and Brander seemed just as floored that there were more females like me.

  I purred low, deadly, watching as Eva turned just in time for me to hi
t the jetstream and shove her against the barrier, holding her there. My eyes held Knox’s heated stare, and I rattled until his lips tightened, and his men struggled through the call.

  Pain ripped through my stomach, and I snarled, slamming Eva against the barrier before I shot back, uncaring that my belly had her nail holes in it.

  “You fucking bitch, fighting corpse of a hooker!” I leered, watching her eyes sparkle with amusement while she slowly strode forward.

  She didn’t attack. Instead, she lifted the dress over her head to reveal nothing beneath. Knox’s eyes slid over her body, and I glared at him. She was flawlessly built, with large rounded breasts and hips that gave her the perfect hourglass figure.

  Eva bent over, and I watched Knox and his men tilting their heads while they took in the goods. Pigs.

  Eva lunged, and I slammed into her, punching and ramming nails into her torso, shredding it while she howled and cried out until she dropped to her knees. Instead of removing her head, I backed up until I was far enough away to see an attack coming.

  When she flew out of the water, I stepped aside, allowing her momentum to send her body careening into the barrier with the projected force. She turned, glaring at me while I waited for her, calm, collected, and intending to shred her face off so Knox wouldn’t think her prettier than me anymore.

  Jealousy was a bitch, but then, so was I.

  Eva flew at me, and I jumped before she reached me, appearing on the altar. The dress was offending my skin, forcing my attention to where it itched against my flesh. I reached down, lifting it over my head only to come face to face with Eva, whose hands lifted to my face.

  “One of us is something more than she thinks.” she offered, and I punched her in the stomach, hard. Eva coughed, choking on the dust in her stomach I’d just sent to her lungs. I flung my body up, perching on the statue as I built up a rattle, allowing it to escape until it demanded she bow. “She thinks she’s the alpha. You’re cute, Aria. I see why Aden wants to breed you. You’re strong and fertile. But you’re not the alpha to our kind.”

  “Are we done yet?” I asked, staring her down as my skin itched, and everything within me felt as if it wanted out. My teeth elongated, and my skin turned black at my fingertips, gradually spreading up my arms.

  Eva slammed her foot into the statue, and I flipped backward, landing in the water as she landed in front of me, kicking me into the air before I found my footing. Her other foot lifted, smashing into my face before she turned her back, ripping my arm forward and sending me over her shoulder, directly into the barrier.

  I slid down it, growling as I shot forward, slamming my knuckles into her face, enjoying the crunch. I didn’t stop hitting her, sending one punch after another until her head jerked back, and she vanished, appearing next to more silver-haired men who’d emerged from thin air.

  Eva’s bloodied face was still pretty, and Knox wasn’t looking at me anymore. His eyes were on the men who helped Eva into a clean dress while I walked toward them.

  “Enough. It is finished.” Aden kept his eyes trained on my face.

  “Because you say it is? You wanted me here to wake Eva up. You said Hecate placed her here. I want to know why.”

  “You’re not ready for that answer.”

  “I didn’t ask if I was or not. I’m tired of everyone knowing who and what I am, while I know nothing!”

  Aden smiled, finally letting his eyes slide down my body with a hunger that sucked the air from my lungs. He vanished, and I spun, searching the room for him. Something grabbed me, and before I could argue or fight back, I was dressed, and Aden was standing where he’d been before he’d moved.

  “When you’re ready to know who you are, you will come to us. I look forward to that day, Aria,” Aden said, bowing his head before they all vanished, leaving me standing alone in the cave.

  My attention moved to Knox’s men, who watched me through narrowed slits. Knox turned the moment Lore spoke, scrubbing his hand down his face at his words.

  “I don’t know where Eva went, but I want to go there! That was another like Aria. Right? Daddy needs one too! Knox, we have to follow them! She was hot, hot, hot!”

  “Yes, she was.” Knox held my eyes with something cold and deadly playing in them. “You led me here alone.”

  “I led you here?” I scoffed.

  “You led me to a room filled with men, Aria. Your sweet words and needy flesh forced me to follow you. Who were they?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “They say I’m like them. But they’re wrong.”

  “Are they though?” he asked.

  “I’m much more advanced than they are.”

  The barrier dropped, and Knox’s men zipped around the room at an inhuman speed. My heart pounded in my ears, but I remained still. They created wind with their sudden movements, and I knew they searched for the jetstream the others had used to vanish. I tilted my head to the side, brushing my fingers against my neck, feeling the soreness of the fight down to my soul.

  I may be more advanced, but I lacked the training Eva had. She hadn’t allowed outside influences to interrupt her thoughts, moving fast and without pause. Her hits were brutal and hard. Mine had probably seemed like love taps in comparison, but I’d known her every move. I’d calculated her actions, subtracted her thoughts, and met her head-on.

  I sensed power sizzling against my back and felt Knox’s fangs before they slid through my shoulder. He wrapped his hand around my stomach, while the other applied slight pressure to my throat as he growled against my flesh. We sank in the water, him marking me, and me unable to stay upright with the sheer pleasure his mouth sent rocking through me.

  “You will tell me why they appear around you, Aria. He touched you, and that isn’t something I will allow to happen again.”

  “You eye-fucked Eva, so we’re even,” I snapped, and he chuckled.

  “She was pretty,” he stated, and I snorted. “But you’re mine, and she isn’t. Now, let’s get the fuck out of here. You’ve wasted enough of our time.” He stood, pulling me with him to my feet.

  “I wasted your time?” I watched his attention move back to me slowly. “I didn’t ask you to bring me here. I didn’t plan on releasing some magical creature from her stasis, either. You can go to Hell, King Karnavious, and take your ever-changing tone with you.”

  “Oh, Aria, we’re already in Hell. Your family built it, and I’m just the asshole making it crumble to the ground. Funny, you think my tone changes, and yet you were just begging me to fill that tight cunt less than an hour ago,” he growled, pushing his fingers against the wounds in my stomach. “Be a good girl and dunk your body under the water so that your wounds heal. It’s a long walk back to camp, and I’m about to lick the attitude out of you.”

  “Lick?” I snorted, turning my head to watch the blood dripping down my shoulder.

  “I’m about to eat your pussy until the only thing you can do is scream. Now dunk yourself in the fucking water, woman.”

  “Screw you,” I growled, and a sinful smirk spread on Knox’s generous lips.

  “Leave us,” he announced, prowling toward me.

  Knox lowered his gaze down my frame and then nodded at the water. Rolling my eyes in annoyance, I dunked my body where it was scratched or bruised. Once the water touched the damaged tissue, it glowed while healing my body. I stood as his lips twisted into a sinful smirk.

  “Sit on that boulder, now,” he demanded, and I turned, peering over my shoulder before moving my attention back to him.

  Knox was inches from me, causing my heart to thunder in my chest. I gradually stepped back, needing distance between us to think. He didn’t allow it. Knox hunted me with an inferno burning in his gaze. He looked angry, yet there was something else in his eyes that swam just below the surface.

  My legs bumped against something cold, and he caged my body in by placing his hands on either side of me. His mouth lowered, brushing against my throat while his silence unnerved me. His heated m
outh moved over my throat, nipping the flesh as a soft moan escaped my lips.

  Knox lifted me without warning, staring at me while something dark and dangerous passed behind his eyes. Possessiveness. His eyes promised me he fully intended to possess me and make sure I knew to whom I belonged.

  “You looked at another man,” he accused, pushing my legs apart before he settled between them.

  “You did the same thing with Eva,” I shot back.

  “You think I want her, Aria?”

  I swallowed, hating the tightening in my stomach at the idea of Knox wanting anyone else. I may not want him, but I didn’t want him with anyone else, either. It was selfish and pathetic, but it was how I felt. His eyes searched mine, and the smile that spread over his face pissed me off.

  “I hate you,” I swallowed, gasping as his hands tightened on my thighs in warning.

  “That’s not nice, now is it?” Knox chuckled, his lips closing the distance between mine. “Now I’m going to have to torture you, Little Lamb. It seems you need reminding of whom you belong to.”

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Knox

  Aria’s eyes studied me while I drove her to a heightened state of fear and need. The subtle line between them was so thinly drawn that it was hard to decipher one from the other. Her eyes grew hooded, and I hadn’t even fucking teased her yet.

  My hand snaked up, wrapping around her throat to anchor her on the stone. When she reached up and touched it, her pretty blue eyes closed as a gasp of pleasure escaped her pouty lips that I wanted to taste.

  Fuck if I didn’t crave those lips against mine or around my cock. I enjoyed watching Aria’s eyes fill with heat while I fucked that welcoming throat. Aria may be naïve in many things, but she knew what I liked, and she used it against me.

  Her knowing tongue would draw swirls against my cock while that throat cradled the head, and within moments, she’d drain me and have me purring like a bitch. Not that I’d ever told her the effect it had on me when she’d done it in the mansion's basement in Haven Falls. No, Aria felt my pleasure and used it as a weapon to bring me to my knees, and fuck if I hadn’t lost it and come in her tight canal while she drank me down.