Eventide (Meratis Trilogy Book 2)

by Krista Walsh

  “You’d think he wasn’t your best friend, the way you’re acting like such a cold-hearted son of a bitch.”

  “Or I just focused on what needs to get done and leave my grief for the privacy of my room. I’ve tried to be patient, but we need to organise our priorities. What would Corey say to see you like this?”

  Jasmine’s face and knuckles went white and she looked ready to spit in her brother’s face. Jayden braced himself, leaning towards her, over her.

  The matching expression of anger on their faces grew as each one prepared for the other to lash out. Jeff caught Brady’s eye and the scholar just shrugged and gave a slight shake of his head.

  Before anyone could interrupt, cries and shouts sounded from the courtyard, the tremble of horses riding towards them in a mad dash.

  The four of them left the stable to see what the fuss was about and stood in awe at the dozen men drawing to a halt in front of the stable. Horses and men bloodied and shaken, many of the riders couldn’t hold their feet when they dismounted, or their stomachs.

  Jeff noticed the royal sigil on their chests. Queen’s scouts.

  One man stepped forward to greet them, and fell onto his knees. Jayden and Jasmine rushed over to help him.

  “What is it? What’s happened?”

  “Please,” the man said. Blood gushed from an open wound on his forehead, the odour that came with it suggesting more than just a battle with a blade. “Close the gates. Bar them. Keep them out.”

  And then he collapsed in a dead faint.

  ***

  Without further question, Jayden gave the order to close the gates, and then all energy went to getting the twelve men to the Healing Ward. None of them seemed able to speak of what had happened, so the Lord and Lady of Feldall held their questions, sharing amazed glances with Brady and Jeff at the extent of the scouts’ injuries. Gouges, slashes, the stink of poison: whatever they had got themselves into, they hadn’t come out of it well.

  “You stay with him,” Jasmine said to Jeff and Brady, gesturing to the man who had spoken as the physician’s aides carried him through the Keep. “Let us know if he wakes up.”

  She and Jayden split up to see to the arrangements of the horses and rooms, and if any word of what happened had followed the men.

  Jeff stayed put, keeping his eyes averted as the physician stripped the man down to inspect the wounds. What he saw was enough to turn his stomach. Deep, oozing gashes in the soldier’s shoulder and torso, the skin had already started to turn into black branches that stretched out from the wound. Unconscious, he struggled to breathe, ragged gasps that sounded wet and raw.

  Beside him, Brady couldn’t keep his gaze away, studying every last blood drop as if it would give him the answer to all life’s questions.

  “Incredible,” the physician said. “I’ve only seen this once before, and it was a miracle we saved him.”

  “Saved who?” asked Brady.

  “Lord Jayden.”

  Jeff’s mouth fell open, and he turned with more interest to the patient, doing his best to see but not see. He and Brady exchanged a knowing glance.

  The physician poured some alcohol over a cloth. “You don’t suppose Maggie—”

  “No,” Brady cut in. “She doesn’t have the strength to handle this many. She nearly didn’t survive with Jayden. In fact, I think it better she not know anything about this. Not yet.”

  With a disappointed turn of his mouth, the physician nodded. “In that case, you’ll have to step away, please. This won’t be pretty or easy. Please advise Lady Jasmine we may not be able to save him. Any of them.”

  Jeff followed Brady on shaky legs to try and find Jasmine, but she was nowhere to be found.

  “They were attacked by Raul’s pets,” said Jeff.

  “It means they had to have been close enough to him to be considered a threat.” Brady grimaced. “Hopefully one makes it through to tell us where that was.”

  Screams drowned out any other sound as one man woke up. And Brady and Jeff left the Ward, not wanting to get in anyone’s way. As they reached the corridor, Jasmine and Jayden returned.

  “Didn’t I tell you to stay with him?” said Jasmine.

  “He won’t be talking for a while,” Jeff replied. “If he ever talks at all.”

  “But we did learn something about the attack. The injuries are the same nature as yours, Jay. Raul’s sent out scouts of his own.”

  Jayden’s face paled and turned slightly grey. “We need to find out where they were.”

  “By going out ourselves?” Jeff asked. “We don’t know what’s out there. What if the creatures followed these guys back here?”

  He knew he shouldn’t have said it. Knew he was tempting fate.

  Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, a horn blast cut through the noise of the Ward. Jasmine and Jayden didn’t hesitate to break into a run, and Brady and Jeff followed.

  Why am I following? Go back to your room, you idiot! Jeff berated himself as he ran. His vision got spotty with the effort. But no matter how many names he called himself, he knew he would go. He had to know. His curiosity would kill him, one of these days.

  They climbed three series of stairs up into a guard tower, another area of the Keep Jeff had never visited in person, and only once in his series. The view from the window was breathtaking. Not just for its beauty, but for the sight of three eagles swooping down on the courtyard.

  The alarm had come early enough for most people to hide inside, but those trapped in the lanes fell victim to the bird attacks. Jeff couldn’t see the details from up here, of which he was relieved, but at least one dark shape on the road didn’t get back up again.

  “Get to the crossbows,” Jayden ordered his men. Jasmine took the first floor-mounted weapon, while the guards manned the others. Jayden stood in the window, unable to wield the weapon single-handed. Jeff and Brady stood in the next window, trying to get a good look at these circling demons.

  When Jeff did, he wished he hadn’t.

  The faces bore no feathers, the skin a mottled grey. Red eyes stared out and the pointed beaks reflected in the sunlight. Metal. Around their necks, a large mane of soft brown feathers, a deceptively cuddly part that likely contained enough poison to kill Talfyr. The talons were daggers, curling and uncurling as they pushed off roofs, and left rock crumbling beneath them.

  Jeff watched the archers to see if the weapons would have any effect on the birds. He kept his fingers crossed against the waves of doubt.

  Jayden gave the order and the three crossbows fired. Jeff watched the arrows fly, and fist pumped when the first bird fell. Those arrows packed a punch. The bird swirled in the air like a vulture before landing in a heap on the ground.

  He saw Brady’s eyes light up, remembered how the scholar had wanted to study the cougars after the attack in the woods.

  “Think you’ll get your chance this time?” Jeff asked.

  Brady’s face fell, and he pointed out the window. “Nope.” The dark spot on the ground had already disappeared into a pile of ash. But a sudden revelation changed his expression again, his brow rising, and he leaned forward to grip the window sill. “They’re dead.”

  “Not all of them,” said Jeff, pointing to the other two in the sky.

  “Yes, they are. These animals aren’t alive, just animated. That’s why they decompose so quickly.”

  “So what does that mean? Doesn’t make them any less deadly.”

  “No, but it might mean Maggie can help us get rid of them.”

  Jeff grinned at the thought. No more fighting these messed up beasts with the thousand and one built-in death traps.

  He let out a cheer as the second eagle fell, and was just about to let out another “Whoop!” at the death of the third when Brady stumbled. Jeff grabbed hold of him, and didn’t let go until his friend appeared steady on his feet.

  “I’m fine. Just need something to eat. I’ll check in with you guys later.”

  He left, holding
onto the wall as he went down the stairs. Jeff didn’t feel right letting him go alone, but by the time he decided to follow, Brady had already disappeared.

  Trusting Brady knew best, he turned back to Jasmine and Jayden. “Congratulations on some good aim. Sure showed them.”

  “For now,” Jasmine said. “Who knows how many more he’s got coming.”

  “We’ll spread word for people to remain indoors,” said Jayden. “I don’t think it will be much longer now. Just like last time, he attacked us to keep us away. It has to mean he’s close.”

  Jasmine twisted her head around. “Where did Brady go?”

  “To get some food. Said he felt dizzy. But he thinks Maggie might be able to help us with the animals. He thinks they’re dead. Some kind of necronomicalmancy spell or something. Might be worth talking to her about.”

  His last words slurred with a yawn.

  Jasmine smiled. “I’ll go talk to her. You get some sleep. I think our lives are about to get even more exciting.”

  ***

  After Jasmine went off to talk to Maggie, and Jayden disappeared to update Michael, Jeff thought only of getting to bed. On his way, he passed by the library, but once again the door was locked and, although light flickered under the door, no sounds came from inside. Brady already back at work. Jeff wondered what his research involved. And whether it was as harmless as Maggie thought. He trusted her opinion—anyone who knew what to do with books full of maggots and moths had to know something about rituals—but he still worried. Brady was the rational one, the level-headed one. He suspected they would need his specific type of strength in the days to come.

  He stopped a second time on his way back to his room, this time outside Cassie’s door. He thought about what Jasmine had said, thought about the injured men, and the eagle attacks. Time was running short. He wanted to talk about all these things with Cassie, see if she would be willing to take things one step at a time and face the next battles together. But his old friends Doubt and Fear, returned. Halfway towards knocking, Jeff let his hand drop, fall by his side. He would tell her, but not today.

  He stepped away from the door just as it opened, Darcy emerged with Cassie behind him. They were both fully dressed, but with the sharp eye of jealousy, Jeff thought he detected a hint of dishevelment in her appearance.

  “Hey Jeff,” Darcy greeted, sounding sincerely pleased to see him. Not the least amount of bragging or smugness in his voice. Jeff hated that. As if the guy thought himself so certain of his conquest, he couldn’t even be bothered to rub it in.

  “Hey,” Jeff replied, unable to reach the same degree of nonchalance.

  “Darcy was teaching me some new self-defense moves,” said Cassie, smoothing out her ponytail. “I figured it couldn’t hurt, considering everything. Do you know what the commotion was all about? We went to find out, but everyone was running around.”

  “Right. Yeah. Good idea.”

  “Everything okay?” Darcy asked.

  “Some of the queen’s men just arrived. They were attacked on the road, and we’re not sure they’re going to make it. And the Keep was attacked.” Which you’d know if you hadn’t been so busy, the green-eyed demon accused.

  Cassie’s mouth fell open. “Attacked? Is it over? By who?”

  “More like by what. It was some of Raul’s eagles. We got them down, but there might have been a few casualties.” His voice sounded bland and robotic to his ears, doling out the facts without the emotions. He looked to Darcy. “Jayden’s with your dad, filling him in if you want the rest of the details.”

  He started walking away, but Cassie called him back. “Jeff, are you all right?”

  Jeff paused, turned back with a small smile. “Tired is all. Just need some sleep.”

  He made it back to his room and slammed the door, flopped down on the sofa, and poured himself a cup of wine from the pitcher on the table.

  He drank a cup to forget Darcy’s relaxed presence in Cassie’s room, and the thought that she was better off with someone who wasn’t a confused mess. Drank to forget about Raul for a while, to block out the worry of what would happen next if they failed. To forget about the men downstairs, their bodies festering with poison.

  He drank until his thoughts were fuzzy, and then he fell into a wine-induced sleep.

  Through the haze, a voice called him awake. Someone yelling inside the Keep. Moonlight spilled through the window over the empty bed and it took Jeff a few moments for his brain to work through the alcohol and make out the words.

  “Murder! Murder! The Keep has been attacked!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Murder!” The voice cried again, and this time Jeff shot up with a jolt, the words and panic sinking through his cotton-filled thoughts. Holding onto his head to keep the room from weaving, he got to his feet, and tore open the door.

  “Stay inside,” Jayden ordered as he ran past, shoulder-checking Jeff back in.

  But again Jeff’s curiosity won over his personal safety. Ignoring Jayden, Jeff pursued, listening for sounds of battle or chaos in the direction of the screams, and hearing nothing. Jayden outpaced him and was soon out of sight.

  As Jeff reached the main level, the sound of clashing swords rang from the dungeon, and Jeff tripped on the stones as his haste fought against his fear.

  A piercing scream and then the fighting stopped, followed by the clomp of heavy boots speeding up the stairs. In the darkness of the hall, a shadow pushed against Jeff, and they both stumbled backwards. Connecting the scream with the fleeing shape, Jeff pushed reason and intelligence aside and swung a fist at the shadow before it could regain its balance.

  This is dumb, this is dumb, Jeff chanted as the blow struck what might have been his temple. The stranger reeled back, but Jeff’s punch hadn’t been hard enough. The shadow threw a swift blow to Jeff’s gut and fled as Jeff gulped for air.

  He debated pursuing the attacker, but the sound of footsteps had already faded away, and in the darkness Jeff couldn’t tell in what direction. On top of that, rationality had begun to sink back in, and he could only be shocked by what he’d found the courage to do.

  His moment of pride was replaced by worry as the sweet metallic smell of blood hit his nostrils.

  A sudden flash of light as the torches downstairs were lit, and then he heard Jayden’s yell, and the clatter of a sword falling to the floor.

  “Oh gods, Jasmine, sister, it’s okay. You’ll be okay.”

  Jeff flew down the rest of the stairs and jogged to the end of the corridor. He stopped when he saw the scene in front of him.

  Both of Venn’s regular guards, the two Jeff had threatened to rewrite into nothing, lay dead on the floor, blood spread out around their bodies and spattered on the walls. Jayden was on his knees, facing the stairs as he bent over the form of Jasmine who lay across his lap. He brushed her hair out of her face, smearing blood across her forehead. Panic swirled behind his sea-green eye.

  She was conscious, but barely, her fair skin looking white and clammy under the torchlight. Jayden’s hand reached to cover hers, which pressed against her stomach, blood seeping between their fingers. Her breaths came short and shallow, face pinched with pain.

  Jeff whipped his head towards Venn, who knelt on her knees in the cell, hands clasped around the bars. Her face and hands were covered with blood, eyes glazed over as she stared at Jasmine, but otherwise she appeared unharmed. For a brief moment, he felt a torrent of fury that she had done this, but reason crept in, and he saw the cell was still locked and barred.

  As soon as his brain ran through everything he saw, he dropped to his knees on Jasmine’s other side.

  “What happened?”

  “Attack. Tried to—kill Venn—” Jasmine panted.

  Jayden hushed her, smoothing down her hair before hurriedly returning pressure to her wound.

  “Go, get Maggie, get Brady, get help!” he barked.

  Jeff started to get to his feet, but Jayden grabbed his wrist, forcing him back d
own.

  “Not you,” he said, and jerked his chin towards the stairwell. Jeff looked over his shoulder to see two guards scrambling back up the steps. “I need you to press down here. We need to stop the bleeding.”

  Jeff pressed down with both hands, not relenting even when Jasmine yelped. Jayden eased her gently to the floor so she lay flat and then he rose to his feet. His hand trembling by his side, he turned towards Venn. “Tell me.”

  Jeff watched as the girl blinked a few times, trying to focus, her attention rapt on Jasmine.

  “Tell me!” Jayden repeated.

  Venn jerked back and stood up, her shoulders straight and chin raised. “I was asleep. The torches weren’t lit so I didn’t see anything. But I heard him. At first I thought it was just one of the guards walking around, but then someone screamed. Then the other guard woke up and started yelling that we were being attacked. They started to fight, I heard the blades, and then that woman—”

  “Lady Jasmine,” Jayden corrected through clenched teeth.

  “Sure. She ran down. The second guard fell, then she screamed, and whoever it was ran away. You passed him on the stairs.”

  “Couldn’t see a blasted thing with one fucking eye,” Jayden raged, the anger directed at his own weakness, Jeff could tell.

  Jeff thought of the shadow. Very likely that had been Harold, slinking away. He’d been pretty spry for a paper pusher of his years.

  Jasmine writhed on the floor beneath Jeff’s hands as another wave of pain passed through her, her face scrunching up, sweat mixing with the blood on her cheeks. She choked on a breath, a weak coughing fit followed, and then another gasp of pain.

  Jayden strode up to the wall, slamming the heel of his palm into the stone before coming back to Venn.

  “Stop—pacing,” his sister scolded. “Making—me dizzy.”

  He dropped to his knees beside her. “Where the fuck is everyone?”

  Jeff wished he could say something to help, but fear had numbed his mind to realities and possibilities. “She’ll be okay.”

  Jayden’s hardened stare moved up to meet his.