Emperor’s Throne: Desert Cursed Series, Book 6

by Mayer, Shannon

  I stepped out of the alcove. The two women had their backs to me. Long skirts in black, the edges darker as if they were wet from walking in the water. Tall, slim, and both had their graying hair bound up in near-identical buns.

  “And if I told you,” I said and they spun around, “that we could end that monster, would you stand with me?”

  The old witch’s eyes took me in, her face not giving away an iota of what she was thinking or feeling. She was good. “How are you here?”

  “I am not what anyone thinks I am,” I said. “I have more bloodlines in me than anyone has a right to have, you’ve seen that, which means . . .”

  “You are far more dangerous than we realized,” the old witch, the mother of them all, slowly nodded. “I am Etheral. How do you propose we stop Ollianna?”

  This was where things got tricky. “I need to keep this one alive if my plan is going to work.” I pointed a thumb at the alcove and Merlin slowly slid out. The two witches eyed him up and down.

  “He’s in rough shape.”

  “Ishtar has a binding on him of some sort,” I said. “Can you—”

  “No,” Etheral said. “If he is bound by Ishtar, it is only with her death that he will be freed. And that is if he isn’t so tightly bound that he doesn’t die with her. But that still does not answer the question. How do we stop Ollianna? If you cannot answer that, then you are of no help to us, and I can take you to Ollianna now, and gain myself favor with her.”

  The witch next to Etheral blinked a few times as if she were surprised by those words. I smiled. “Your friend doesn’t seem to think that would be the case.”

  “She does not know my mind,” Etheral said.

  “I have a plan,” I said, and looked at Merlin. “But no one else can know.” I pushed him away and sent him back to the land of living, as it were. Just in case Ishtar could see through him, through whatever connection they had.

  I drew a breath and faced the two witches. “It’s a terrible plan, and one that will likely end in my death, but it will save the world from Ollianna and her demon spawn.”

  “Then tell us, so we can help. Because even if some of us die,” Etheral looked me straight in the eye, “my other daughters will live, and that will be worth it.”

  I understood her fully. A mother’s love for her children, an alpha’s love for their pride, they were the same.

  I opened my mouth and spun out a plan that I could only hope would be strong enough to bind Ollianna and her child tightly, so we could throw them both into a pit and be done with them once and for all.

  13

  Merlin

  Merlin gasped as he was shoved quite literally out of the dreamscape by Zamira. She’d looked so sad, and yet so sure of herself when she’d pushed him away that he knew he had to get back to her. He had to make sure she went where he wanted her to go.

  “Merlin, what is happening?” Shem grabbed his arm which sent a powerful bolt of pain through him, stopping him from relaxing at all, stopping him from getting into the dreamscape. This was not the time to lose control of this game.

  “Let go of me. She shoved me out. I need to get back to her!” He growled, coughed, and more pain blasted along his middle, reminding him of the deeper injuries that were slowly bleeding him to death. For now, it was in his best interest to be wounded.

  Kiara had stitched up everything she could, but there were so many injuries that she hadn’t been able to see.

  Gods be damned to the seven hells and back! The voices around him were scattered and tense.

  Finally, he gave up and opened his one eye. “Maks.”

  Maks crouched next to Zam’s body while she swayed, sleeping where she sat, dreaming in the dreamscape and making whatever plans she thought to make with the witches of the Swamp. Sweet goddess, this was a terrible idea! “Is she okay?”

  “She was alive when I left her,” Merlin said. “What is she planning?”

  Maks shook his head and took a quick look over his shoulder. Merlin followed his gaze to the sound asleep Steve and Darcy. Still, the half-Jinn lowered his voice. “To get the flail to the Emperor. We have to do that before we face anyone else. The flail is demanding it of her, driving her.”

  Merlin looked at the man who’d stood by his niece, fighting for her even when he’d been possessed. “You have to keep her from making whatever deal she’s going to make. Do you understand?”

  “It’s too late. She agreed to give the flail to the Emperor in exchange for Bryce’s life,” Maks said. “A good bargain. It’s just a weapon despite the magic in it.”

  Merlin groaned. “You understand what it can do?”

  Maks went quiet, closed his eyes and seemed to be deep in thought. And then his mouth dropped open and his eyes flew open, a new knowledge in them. “Shit. I do now.”

  Merlin stared at him. “You still have the memories of those who possessed you?”

  “When they feel like it,” he said. Maks looked at those around and waved them closer. Lila wiggled in on his shoulder, her eyes worried as she touched Zam’s ear.

  “What’s happening?”

  Merlin sighed. “Let me explain. The Emperor wants the flail because it can break his prison, you all understand that. But the flail is more than that. It is a weapon that in the wrong hands could be used to rule all of the supernatural world. If the Emperor can make it work for him, he could control and draw on the energy of any supernatural creature alive. Anywhere. There would be no safety for any of us.”

  He was stretching the possibility of the weapon some, but Maks didn’t argue with him.

  Shem gave a low whistle. “So he can’t have that flail, even though she’s agreed to give it to him.”

  “Could she use it like that?” Ford asked quietly and Merlin turned his head to the young lion. “Could Zam use it in that way?”

  Merlin shook his head. “It was always tuned to be a man’s weapon, to be held by a man to rule, and all the limits on it were designed with a man’s power. Maybe Maks could use it like that.”

  Maks was already shaking his head. “My memories are saying that there is a reason the Jinn let it go. That the flail drove them all mad when the power was opened to them. So while it might have been meant to use as a way to rule, the weapon itself did not work that way. It was too dangerous, and had too much of its own mind on how to do things. It’s why the Jinn fear it.”

  Merlin groaned, trying to figure out how to spin this to work for him and the world. Even if the cost was Zam’s life, the rest of the world had to survive. “If the Emperor was to go more mad, with more power, that would be worse than the falak.”

  Carefully, he wove a slight spell over the others, bending them to his will ever so slightly. Using their own fears to get them to see what he wanted them to see.

  “Then we have to stop her from taking it to the Emperor,” Shem said softly. “We have to take the weapon from her, and we have to hide it from both of them.”

  The pit in the middle of Merlin’s stomach seemed to open up. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, or even possible. The weapon could turn on her, or whoever tried to take it.”

  He looked up to see Maks looking back at him, uncertainty on his face. “I’m not sure.”

  “Of course you aren’t,” Ford growled. “You wouldn’t stand against her, even though it’s the best thing for her.”

  Merlin wanted to groan but instead made himself lift a hand between the two men. “We are agreed that we need to stop her from whatever plan she’s come up with?”

  They agreed, all of them, even Maks and Lila, which surprised him. They loved her, and Zam was the key to stopping this madness, but not if she was herself driven mad by the flail and the power within it, and in turn handed it off to the Emperor to rule them all.

  14

  Zamira

  Trust is a funny thing, and once broken can never truly be fixed. It wasn’t like a bone that once mended was stronger. No, there was always that weak spot in a relationship when tr
ust was broken.

  I pulled myself out of the dreamscape with some difficulty. The sun had nearly set, which meant I’d spent the majority of the day inside the dreamscape talking to Etheral and making plans. She was a sharp old broad for a witch. I didn’t trust her, but I could read her like a book, and she was scared of Ollianna and what that idiot daughter of hers was doing.

  Having learned my lesson about trusting witches, I held back some of my plan from her. Just enough that I could keep myself and my family safe.

  Which brought me to this moment where trust was scattered like bread crumbs in the wind.

  Merlin was asleep next to me as I pulled myself out of the dreamscape. I put a hand on his forehead, and his brow was cool. If he was right and there was no healing him, then I had to make the choice to leave him behind. I had to go forward without him.

  I stood, my legs tingling as the blood flowed back into them, making me curl up my lip with the discomfort. I wove my way around the horses to find Kiara sitting with Bryce next to a small fire.

  They looked good together, their heads bowed as they talked quietly back and forth. He’d be good for her, if he could get over his hang-up of wanting Darcy as his mate. Then again, I’d not seen him so much as glance in the bitch’s direction. Maybe he’d given up on her finally. One could hope that he saw just what a liar and a manipulator she was.

  I sat across from them. “Merlin is dying.”

  Kiara stood and started toward the stretcher, but I grabbed her hand. “No, there is nothing we can do. Even if we healed every wound, there is a hold that Ishtar has on him. And I think she can find us through him.”

  “Fuck.” Bryce shook his head. “You think she’s coming for you?”

  “I think she’s biding her time. We have to leave Merlin here. It’s not the best place. But there’s water, shelter and I’ve seen signs of game.” Here came the hard part. “I need at least two people to stay back with him, to see this through.”

  To bury him when he finally died. To give him that much.

  Kiara and Bryce shared a look and he nodded. “Okay, I’ll stay with Kiara. We’ll watch over him.”

  “Good.” I stood and they followed me, a little too closely, a little bit too much to either side of me as if they were flanking me. The skin on my neck prickled. “Where are Maks and Lila?”

  “They went out hunting,” Kiara said. “They should be back soon.”

  I reached for the two closest to my heart through my connection to them and found them far closer than they should have been if they were hunting. Worry flickered through them both, and that emotion made me jittery.

  I reached for Shem and found him and Ford close by too. Ford was still connected to the pride then? More than that surprise was that the four of them were in a formation that I knew all too well. A formation for taking down dangerous prey.

  Only I was at the center of it.

  I paused and bent as if I were tying my boot, because I had to be wrong. My own people wouldn’t turn on me. Steve and Darcy? They would be at the front of the line if there was a list of people I didn’t trust, but not the others. Not my pride. “You two go ahead. I’m going to check on the horses, and then—”

  “No, let’s talk first,” Bryce said, his voice on the edge of sorrow as he stopped behind me, keeping me flanked.

  There was only one person who would have set them up for this. Only one who would try and convince them to turn on me. Even dying, Merlin couldn’t just let things be.

  I stood, dusted off my hands and strode back to Merlin. I kicked his stretcher, knocking him awake with a yelp that slid into a groan.

  “You might be dying, but I’m not going to put up with your shit, old man. What did you do?” I glared down at him. “Because my pride thinks to take me down. As if I’m a dangerous animal. What did you say to them?”

  Merlin looked up at me. “The flail cannot go to the Emperor, Zam. There will be another way to stop him, but if you take the flail to him now, it will be the end of all we know.” He held out his hand. “Give it to me. If I hold it, I could use it to absorb energy, to heal my wounds.”

  The flail shivered, and behind me, I felt my brother tense. Apparently, this was not part of what Merlin had convinced him to do.

  I did a slow turn, seeing Shem, Bryce, Kiara and Ford closing rank around me and Merlin. He knew I wouldn’t kill them, and they had to know that I would do all I could not to hurt them. I looked past them to see Maks on Batman, Balder with him. Waiting. He gave me a slow nod.

  He would step in if he needed to, but he trusted me to handle this on my own. I could see that in the quick glance between us.

  Lila, on the other hand, shot down from above to land on my shoulder. “I don’t know what you’ve got up your sleeve, Zam, but I trust you. Even if these fools don’t.”

  “You agreed!” Shem snapped.

  “I fucking lied to your face!” she snapped back.

  They drew closer, and my heart sank. I wouldn’t fight them.

  Which meant it was time to run.

  “Lila.”

  “Ready.” Her talons dug into my shoulder as I shifted to my four-legged form, faster than any of my pride could reach me. Lila shot into the air dangling me above them, and Bryce jumped for me, his fingertips brushing against the soft pads of my front paws. I stared down at him, knowing that they were doing this because Merlin had convinced them that it was the best for me. Knowing that they weren’t trying to hurt me, but also knowing that the only way he’d have been able to turn them was if they didn’t fully trust me and that hurt . . . a lot more than I thought it would.

  “Meet me at Ollianna’s, Merlin. That’s what you can do if you want to fucking help!” I yelled at him as Lila dropped me into Balder’s saddle and I shifted back to two legs. Bryce and Kiara ran toward us, but it was too late.

  I leaned into Balder and kissed at him, and he plunged forward, happy to be running even if it was the end of the day and the sun had disappeared.

  Maks and Batman kept up well, and moments later, Steve and Darcy were hot on our heels. Not that they’d be able to catch up if I didn’t want them to. Their horses were not as well fitted up, nor did they have the heart to run like our two boys.

  I let Balder run for nearly an hour before I slowed him. By then, Steve was right pissed.

  “What the fuck was that?” he roared as he yanked his puffing, heaving horse over next to me.

  I wasn’t about to tell him the truth, so I fudged it. “You know how it is, Steve, when it’s time to make a break, you make the fucking break. Am I right, or am I right?”

  Steve glared at me, and his hand went for his weapon, a rifle he held under his leg the same way I kept my shotgun.

  Lila tightened her hold on my ear with one clawed hand and tangled the other into my hair, grabbing at a handful of it. “I wouldn’t,” she said. “I can spit my acid on you before you even get it free.”

  Steve’s hand stopped. “I wasn’t going to shoot her. I need her to . . .”

  Oh, now he had my interest. Which was good, because my heart and mind were torn up with what had happened back there. Merlin had convinced the others that I had to be stopped. I glanced at Maks and he mouthed a single word.

  Later.

  He wasn’t wrong. We couldn’t show any weakness to Steve and Darcy.

  “So tell me again why you are going to the Emperor?” I asked Steve, thinking he might slip up if given the chance.

  Steve stared straight ahead, not even bothering to look at me. “None of your damn business.”

  “Hmm.” I urged Balder to step sideways, away from Steve and closer to Maks. We might be going in the same direction, but I wasn’t about to actually ride with my ex-husband. Gods, what a shit show this was turning out to be.

  Lila did a single bounding hop off the front of Balder’s saddle and shot up into the night sky. “I’m going to do some recon.”

  I waved at her. “Be careful.” She barrel rolled and flew backward so
she could wave at me.

  “You care more for her than you care for your own kind,” Darcy said. “It’s not natural.”

  I snorted. “Please, you aren’t my own kind and I came for you when no one else would.”

  “I rescued her, not you. You just got in my way, like always. Every stone we recovered was me, not you. Ish knows it, and so does everyone else,” Steve growled.

  My jaw dropped and I stared at the two of them long enough to see Darcy flush, even in the dark. “Is that the story you tell yourself? Do you actually believe that horseshit, Darcy?”

  Steve stiffened. “Don’t answer her.”

  Darcy’s jaw tightened and I smiled at her, unable to help the laugh. “Remember, this is what you signed up for. You wanted him. Even after seeing how he treated me and Kiara, you wanted this. Enjoy it. Enjoy being ruled by an asshole who only wants you to keep his dick warm at night.”

  Before she could answer, Maks and I rode ahead of Darcy and Steve, putting a good distance between us. I needed the space before I swung the flail and just put us all out of our misery for having to deal with the sheep fucker.

  “You showed restraint back there.” Maks had the nerve to chuckle at me. “I’m impressed.”

  “Don’t be, I thought about killing him,” I said under my breath. We rode quietly for a moment. “You going to tell me what happened back there, with the others?”

  Maks sighed. “The flail has more magic than even we realized. My memories are showing me it possibly being used to rule the supernatural world, but those were more theories than actual truths. The Jinn would have used it that way, you understand?”

  I nodded. I did understand, Davin would have kept the flail for himself if it had ever been a possibility he could have ruled the world.

  Maks went on. “But it was always meant to be held by a man. So the abilities it would give the Emperor are different than the abilities it would give you. If it gave you any at all.”