Five Kinds of Love (The True and the Crown Book 5)

by May Dawson

  Cax pulls the medallion off the man’s neck as he still lays dying. When he turns to me, I duck and he throws the necklace over my head.

  For a second, my sight is clear. The man dead on the floor is just a guard.

  I shake my head as I pull off the medallion. “Give it to Mycroft.”

  He shouldn’t have to face his dead brother around every corner. My ghosts won’t hurt me as much as his will.

  Cax’s expression tightens with doubt, but he doesn’t question me. He nods and carries the medallion to Mycroft.

  Together, the five of us head deeper into Hell.

  Chapter 33

  Rian

  Alia’s not real.

  Well, not this version of Alia, who follows me, whispering in my ear that she’s dead because I left her alone in Avalon, that our father killed her, that I should have protected her.

  “He was right about you,” she tells me, her voice dripping with malice. “I should’ve believed him. It’s your fault that I’m dead. I guess you seek the Crown after all.”

  I run my fingertips over the stone wall to our side. The stone is rough under my fingertips, and my boots make the faintest scuff on the floor. This is real. Alia is not.

  But my heart races anyway.

  “You took my life away,” she says. “I’m going to take yours.”

  And then suddenly, her ghost wraps her arms around Tera and yanks her away down a narrow hall to the right. Tera screams for me to help her as she thrashes, trying to grab Alia’s arms and break her hold.

  I race after Tera. God, the ghouls can touch us. I didn’t realize that.

  Terror is a constant pulse in my ears, drowning out thought. I have to get to Tera before the ghouls disappear with her.

  “What are you seeing?” Mycroft barks behind me.

  He has to realize Tera is gone, right? Unless…

  I force myself to stop, even though Tera is screaming for me to help her, and turn back. Down the hall, a second Tera stands beside Airren, gazing at me wide-eyed.

  “I thought they took you,” I say. The ground feels unsteady under my feet, the way the sand feels when the tide is pulling it away from the edge of the ocean. I take a step forward, back to them.

  The floor behind me crumples away, falling into darkness below.

  “Get over here,” Airren shouts, but I’m already running. I stumble into the hallway with the rest of them as the last of the floor behind me falls away, dropping into the cell beneath it.

  Tera grabs my hand. “I’m fine,” she tells me. “You’re fine.”

  I draw a deep breath. I came so close to dying just then.

  Tera and I walk close together as the others move ahead. We’ve got to find more guards, and soon. But I’m realizing that this place doesn’t need many guards. The ghouls are enough.

  We’ve got to get Devlin out of here. If his soul were still in his body, if he was being tormented by these ghouls, I’m not sure he could survive. Devlin was tough when he was tortured, but the ghouls could destroy him with the way he tortures himself. He’s driven to prove that he’s a hero even while he plays a villain.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Tera promises me, squeezing my hand.

  I nod. It’s embarrassing that she knows that losing her is my nightmare, but I suppose that’s no surprise.

  “What do you see?” I ask.

  She bites her lip, hesitating as if she doesn’t want to give voice to her nightmares. But then she says, “I keep seeing the man from Avalon, the one who took my magic. The kids—they were just kids—who burned the name of their dead into my back.”

  My chest tightens. I’d seen the name tattooed with magic across her back, and I’ve wanted to know who it was, but I didn’t want to make her sad. I thought it was someone she lost. Not a stranger, a victim of her father’s.

  “I can find out who did it,” I say. I want to fix it.

  She shakes her head. “I don’t care anymore.”

  “And my foster mother,” she says. “The one I liked, the nice one. I kept going out hunting for a portal to get home, and no one could make sense of why I kept ‘running away’, and she couldn’t do it anymore. It’s funny that she never hurt me, but she keeps coming up in my memories here.”

  Because she abandoned Tera when she needed someone most.

  “All your nightmares are from Primus,” I say.

  She shakes her head. “Maybe I couldn’t bear those things because I was so alone. They cut a deeper mark.”

  “I was never really alone because I had Alia,” I say. “Poor Devlin didn’t have anyone.”

  Her lips twist. “Devlin protests the use of the word poor. He would like to remind you that he’s a much better fencer than you are.”

  I have to smile at the thought of offending Devlin from here.

  A pair of guards step out behind us. They seem to loom ten feet tall, their ghastly distorted faces scraping the ceiling. They look like monsters, but monsters don’t scare either of us like our own demons.

  “Weapons,” Airren orders.

  Mycroft takes the knife by the blade as he flips it toward me.

  I catch the hilt and Tera ducks seamlessly as I drive the blade toward the guard. He stops with it buried in his eye.

  “Let’s pretend that’s where I was aiming,” I mutter as he drops.

  There’s still one more guard coming, and Tera and I move as a team. I punch him, spinning him toward her, and she drops to sweep his legs. When he stumbles, I push him toward Airren.

  Airren catches him, one hand on his jaw and the other on the back of his head, and snaps his neck with an easy, practiced movement.

  Airren grabs the amulet from around his neck and holds it out to me.

  “You take it,” I say. “You’re the best fighter we have.”

  “And you’re the heir to the throne. Take it.” Airren says tightly. “You do alright.”

  “Warm praise,” I mutter.

  Tera rolls her eyes. “You both take one. I’m fine. I’ve lived with nightmares all my life.”

  “I guess it doesn’t matter who has an amulet.” I know I’ll be replaying that near-death experience over and over. The only thing that saved me was the voices of my friends, calling me back. “We’re strong when we trust each other.”

  Mycroft mutters to Airren, “Someone tell the prince we prefer to just snark at each other instead of coming out with sappy nonsense.”

  Airren claps Mycroft’s shoulder. “I think he knows. He just doesn’t give a damn what you prefer, Croft.”

  Mycroft snorts.

  We reach another long row of cells with doors that stand open, but the inhabitants inside are all helpless anyway. Some of them tear at themselves. As we watch, one of them attacks another. Mycroft reaches out, grabbing both of their heads, and after a second, they crumple to the floor, sleeping.

  “They’re highly suggestible,” Mycroft says shortly, as if he has to make an excuse, but none of us will judge his empathy for them.

  Then we reach a cell where the door is closed. Cax fiddles with the lock until it opens.

  Inside is Devlin. His face is pale, his body broken, his breathing shallow. They must’ve locked him in here to protect him from the other residents.

  Tera covers her mouth with her hand, biting back a cry at the sight of his bleeding body.

  Airren bends without hesitation to draw Devlin over his shoulders so he can carry him. “Let’s move.”

  We have to get him someplace safe to return his soul to his body and to repair all the damage.

  As Airren carries him, Devlin’s blood soaks into the shoulders of his white shirt. The sight makes anger spike in my chest. I’m going to see his mother dead if it’s the last thing I do, and everyone else that hurt him, too.

  When we step out of the tunnels and back into the city streets, it’s day.

  The sun is high above the spires. We all trade glances. How did we lose so much time?

  “We’ve got to hurry,” Tera
says urgently. “Devlin’s getting quiet in my mind. I thought I’d appreciate that more.”

  She might be making jokes, but tension is written all over her face. Airren nods and heads straight for the rooms we rented.

  The scent of smoke is in the air. The city seems to be on fire. Flames rise steadily from the castle, which stands above the city, and seem to lick the sky.

  Once we get into the apartment, Mycroft clears everything off the table with one sweep of his arm. Airren lays Devlin down.

  His wounds are grievous, and my stomach twists at the sight.

  “Tera.” I catch her hand, raising it with the ring. Together, we work through the incantation to reverse the effugium.

  It looks like nothing is happening—there’s no dramatic flash of magic—but suddenly Tera’s legs go out from underneath her.

  I catch her before she can hit the floor, falling to my knees myself to make sure she lands softly. I lay her down on the ground.

  “You alright?” I ask.

  She manages to nod, although her eyes have fluttered closed. “His head is a very dark place.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “I’m glad I got to see it.” She presses her palm to the side of my face, holding me there close to her. “He loves you. Like a brother. In case he never told you that.”

  “He’s not really the type,” I say. “But I know.”

  Devlin sits up abruptly on the table, his heels scraping across the wood, and he screams.

  It’s just a short desperate sound before he breaks off, suddenly realizing where he is. His chin rises instantly, no matter how bloodied and broken he is, putting his usual act on again.

  “Thanks for the rescue,” he says off-handedly, but his voice comes out gravelly with disuse.

  “No problem,” Airren mutters. “We just all love being back in Vasilik.”

  He twists to look over his shoulder, and the rest of us follow his gaze to where the city seems to be in flames.

  “Let’s get you healed up fast,” Mycroft says.

  Mycroft goes to work, healing Devlin, moving as fast as he can.

  And all the while, the city burns.

  Chapter 34

  Tera

  Devlin crushes me to his chest, burying his face in my hair. I smile against the hard planes of his chest.

  “We’ve been so close,” I murmur. “How come this feels like a reunion?”

  “Too close,” Devlin says, wry humor in his voice. He slips his thumb under my jaw, tilting my head up to meet his gaze. “You know all my secrets, Tera.”

  It’s a flat statement, but there’s a question in his eyes.

  I can’t respond with one more flippant remark or light-hearted bit of banter.

  “I love you,” I tell him. I’ve seen everything he’s been through, everything he’s done, and I love him. I love him all the more for knowing how strong he is, what he’s managed to come through.

  He stares at me for a second, and then silver sparks in his gray eyes. He kisses me hard, his arm tightening around my waist to draw me even close to his body. The two of us trade quick, wild kisses.

  I finally break away, realizing I’m breathless. I turn a teasing smile his way. “I guess that kiss was supposed to mean I love you too?”

  He smirks. “Yes.”

  I shake my head. “A woman likes to hear it, you know.”

  “I know.” That smirk falters, and I can tell he’s going to tell me something true, something that weighs on him, even before he says, “I’ve never said it to anyone in my life.”

  “Never? Not your…” Today’s probably not the day to mention his parents.

  “We weren’t exactly an affectionate family,” he says.

  I never thought anyone would make Padrick Donovan, the Dark Lord, look like Dad-of-the-Year, but I think Devlin’s parents make mine look pretty decent.

  “You don’t have to say it to me,” I whisper. “I know.”

  I’ve seen how he sees me.

  “I will,” he promises me. “Give me…time.”

  “We’re going to have all the time in the world.” It’s not a promise. It’s a wish.

  “I can’t leave,” Devlin tells me. “My people are rioting in the streets. They’re trying to stage a rebellion. I can’t just walk away.”

  “I know.” I’ve known what would happen when we rescued him. But it still hurts to separate from him all over again.

  “Go with them and stop the rips from spreading,” he says. “I’ll fight with my people here. We’ll be together again soon.”

  “Are you just sending me off because you think I’ll be safer out of Vasilik?” I demand. I’d imagined I’d be torn between my men. But Devlin is telling me to go with the others.

  “No,” he says, and his voice is bleak. “I don’t think there’s anywhere we’ll be safe until we end this.”

  “Then why don’t you want me to stay with you?”

  “Because I’ve got faith in you.” His thumb slips across my cheekbone. “Go save the world, Tera Kate. And then come back to me.”

  “You can’t keep me away.” I promise him.

  No matter how much we banter, my vision blurs with tears. I want so badly for us all to be together. It feels like we’re stronger when we’re together.

  He leans his forehead against mine, breathing in my breath as if he gains strength from me too. Quietly, he says, “I’m counting on that.”

  Together, the six of us walk out into the street. We’re trying to keep a low profile as we head for the railroad station, but murmurs rise in the crowd as we pass.

  Devlin stops abruptly. “I’m putting you in danger. Go ahead. I’ve got to face my people.”

  Cax reaches out and grabs his hand to shake it. “Good luck.”

  “Thank you.” Devlin seems genuinely surprised, even before Cax suddenly pulls him in and gives him a quick hug, clapping his back.

  Mycroft says, “I’m not a hugger.”

  “Everyone knows that,” Devlin says impatiently.

  “But I’ll be glad to see you on the other side.” Mycroft smacks his shoulder.

  My men all say goodbye to each other. Devlin nods his head to me, his expression haughty and cold all over again. I have the funny feeling he needs his mask right now.

  We’ve already said goodbye. To say anything more would hurt even worse.

  I turn and walk away. The rest of my men close around me.

  We’re almost to the end of the street when I hear a roar of voices. My chest tightens with fear and I whirl, thinking that the mob has attacked Devlin.

  But when I turn, he stands in the center of the street. I can see him clearly as his gaze meets mine, even at this distance, because everyone in the crowd around him is kneeling.

  Then someone distracts him, holding out the crown. Devlin kneels, and they slip the king’s crown over his dark curls.

  My heart aches at the sight, even as the crowd around him cheers. He’ll have a fight to keep that crown. People have been battling in the streets all day. Rag-tag bands of civilians fight Queen Emety’s soldiers.

  When he rises, he pushes the crown back absently, knocking it slightly to one side. The familiar sight of his cockeyed crown makes me smile.

  Vasilik is in good hands.

  The five of us head back toward Avalon.

  Chapter 35

  We’ve barely crossed the border into Avalon before all Hell breaks loose.

  Something slams into the train. The wheels against the tracks scream as it pitches to one side.

  Rian catches me against his chest as the train tilts, then falls off the tracks. Somehow he keeps his feet beneath him as everyone is thrown around the car, which slams into the ground, then slides across the ground.

  Airren breaks a window without hesitation. Maybe we should run, but all around us, people are hurt, and the cabin is filling with smoke.

  “We’ve got to help them,” I say. “Rian, you’ve got to run. We don’t know what’s going on.�
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  “No,” he says.

  “Don’t argue with her,” Mycroft says. “It’s pointless anyway. You’re going to lose.”

  Mycroft looks to me. “I’ll cover him.”

  Rian curses, but he’s the one that his father wants most of all. We have to keep him and Alia out of his hands.

  He nods and together, he and Mycroft struggle through the wreckage, looking for a better, less obvious escape route in case this is a trap.

  The rest of us try to help everyone out of the wreckage. The smoke is getting thicker, heavy with oil that curdles in the back of my mouth.

  I press my sleeve to my mouth and go back in, searching through the smoke for someone who needs help.

  I find a woman pinned by fallen luggage, and together, Cax and I dig her out. When we pull her out, Cax pushes her up and Airren, who stands in the broken window, helps her out.

  Then Airren reaches down to help a young woman, the last one out. She looks too clean, not frazzled like the rest of them, and my lips part in alarm.

  But Airren’s already seen. He throws himself back, trying to escape her, but she whips out a wand. “Scissura!”

  Airren doubles over, clutching his stomach.

  “One wrong move, Tera Donovan,” she says. She doesn’t even look away from Airren. She holds her other hand up, her fingers pinched together. “I’ve just eviscerated him. If my fingers separate, so do the two halves of his torso, and everything will just…splatter.”

  “I know you,” Airren manages through gritted teeth. His chest flutters with pain. “We fought together in the Savage Night—”

  “Yes, in the good old days before you betrayed your country with the second coming of the dark lord. What’s it going to be, Tera? If you and I walk off this train without any further bloodshed, I’ll fix him back up.”

  “And you know I’ll find you and—” Airren’s voice is harsh.

  “Shut up,” I tell him. I love him, and I don’t need him getting himself killed for me. To her, I say, “I’ll come with you.”