Nicole was reeling on the inside though she kept her face slated. Every last word about Teya made sense. The way she belittled her in front of people, the way she made her feel like an outsider—all of it was Teya's way of keeping Nicole from thinking about wanting the throne for herself. She had done it too, and so easily. Made Nicole seem like a child who couldn't take care of herself and Nicole had fell right into her role like a fool. Inwardly Nicole groaned as the pieces fell into place.
"Now, it's time for you to play your part. You will lead my troops into war. You will be their general and I will have what's mine," Loch's voice was confident and commanding.
Nicole stared at him then after a moment right through him. She was done listening. She would not fight on his behalf. All her time had been spent trying to find a way to avoid this war so she wouldn't allow herself to end up fighting on Loch's side of the battlefield.
Loch walked to the door, "If you refuse to fight I will kill them all. All, as in that whole pathetic town you call your home back in Alabama, including your father. I'm done playing games."
**~***~**
Sleep came to Nicole in fitful bursts. A single nightmare repeated again and again each time the darkness took her.
She was standing in the middle of a battlefield, explosions and gun fire all around her, but she was frozen. Frozen by fear and confusion. Frozen by not knowing who the enemy was as bodies blurred around her: warrior and fae alike. The fog cleared a little allowing her to move but she refuses to fight anyone, dodging attacks, ducking bullets until she falls to the ground. When she tried to crawl forward she was suddenly staring into the lifeless eyes of Slade. His body was charred by fire but his face remained for her to bear witness to what her decisions instigated.
Digging her fingers into the ground she crawled closer to Slade but just as she reached out to close his haunting eyes a boot met the back of her head smashing her face down into the blood spattered dirt. Just when she thought she was going to suffocate the pressure released and allowed her to roll over only to meet the blue glow of Luke's palm. She could see his face behind the power, glaring at her with cold black orbs. "You should have chosen me sooner," He hissed as a burst of power escaped his hands.
Nicole awoke gripping her chest where she was sure the fire had drilled a hole into her skin. Tears rolled down her face while she struggled to catch her breath. Her eyes darted around in confusion before she realized that she was still in Loch's estate. A fate just as bad as the nightmare.
Sleep did not return to her that night and dawn brought no singing birds or happy thoughts. Nicole sat in a straight back chair watching the bedroom door. She was dressed and ready just as she was instructed the night before. A black military uniform was brought to wear so that she matched the rest of the warrior army. She pulled her hair back into a simple braid before taking her seat to wait for her "training". Once again she would be trained by the warriors. Only this time it would be Loch's warriors so she could lead them into battle against the fae.
After the fitful night without rest only one conclusion felt real: she would be a fool to pass up learning what Loch's army had to offer. She would contribute on the battlefield by learning the weaknesses of her enemy and using that knowledge to burn them down. Loch could try to control her but she would always try be one step ahead. "Smarts will win over brute force in this war," she told herself.
Chapter 21
"You've got to be kidding me," hissed Nicole when she walked inside the training arena. Obstacles courses, target dummies, weights, and various mats were placed around a building the size of a football field. All were occupied by warriors honing their skills which, from Nicole's vantage point, looked perfectly polished already. She only had a few moments to take in the spectacle before all attention turned on her. Fighting the pressing feeling she should run, Nicole lifted her head and walked out into the center of the floor.
Nicole's eyes were drawn to a window high above where Loch and Mr. Casey, the man she had met at Slade's cocktail party, sat watching the show below. Within seconds the crowd descended, surrounding her. The tension pressed in on Nicole but she held her ground.
"Hey there, sweetheart," taunts came from a broad but slender warrior with a scar running from the edge of his lip in an arch up to his ear like a half smile. "I've been looking forward to our playtime." He skillfully spun a small silver throwing knife in his hand. Before Nicole could react he buried it in the mat between her feet.
Without hesitation Nicole yanked the knife from the floor and sent a streak of silver through the air. The blade cut a red trail across the warrior's unscarred cheek before he knew what hit him. "That was your warning. Next time I'll make sure it's deep enough to have you wearing a permanent smile all the way across that ugly face."
The man wiped the blood from his cheek with the back of his hand then lunged forward smashing into a body that wasn't there seconds ago. "Brien, her warning was clear," Claude commanded the room with his strong voice. Nicole was taken aback by the authority that resonated off the man she had once thought to be no more than Slade's driver and body guard. The black uniform suited him, like he had donned this role for years. The crowd backed away silently but the message was clear: Nicole wasn't welcome here.
Claude turned his head toward Loch who was watching the scene play out with eager attention. He gave Claude a nod then walked away from his seat in front of the window.
"Shall we begin?" Claude motioned to a balance beam that hovered a few inches off the ground. "One rule: No using your fire power. You are allowed your speed and strength but that is all. We have a special area we use to train those more…explosive abilities." He waved a hand towards a tall woman who was positioning herself on the far end of the beam, "Shala will be your sparring partner for this exercise."
Shala was the embodiment of intimidation. Her slender but solid frame screamed discipline. The composed stance she took with a wooden staff in her hand did not project arrogance, it screamed confidence and strength. Nicole would have guessed her young enough to be in college except the hardness of her eyes said she was much older and wiser than a woman in her early twenties.
With a deep breath Nicole pushed away the intimidation and planted her feet on the narrow beam, quickly finding her center. She took the cold, wooden staff that was offered to her. It felt bulky and awkward compared to the baton she had trained with in the police academy, but there was no time for test swings. Shala lunged forward slamming her staff into Nicole's with a loud bang. Nicole pushed hard shoving the warrior back a step but Shala immediately swung the staff low sweeping Nicole's legs from underneath her. Nicole landed with a thud on the beam but didn't fall off.
The hoots and cheers for Shala by the warriors barely registered in Nicole's ears. She lurched to her feet and balanced on the narrow piece of wood again. Giving Shala a confident smirk, she drove forward in a blast of warrior speed. Shala managed to block the swing of Nicole's staff but not the head butt that followed. Seeing her move had stunned her opponent Nicole swept her leg out knocking the warrior's feet off the beam and sending her backwards to the mat below.
Shala's eyes glowed bright red as she stared up at Nicole. The woman was struggling to contain her anger as the faint glow of crimson pooled in her palms. Fire roared to life in Nicole's hands just as Shala slammed her fist against the floor then pushed to her feet. The fire was gone from her extended hand. Nicole stared at the woman confused at the sudden change. "Seems you may be able to teach me a thing or two, freak." Shala gave a small smile that bordered on friendly.
Nicole let the warrior shake her hand…well, it was more like her wrist because that's where she placed her hand on Nicole's arm giving it one strong shake before she took a step back.
Claude nodded his approval then pointed Nicole to the next section of her training. A large obstacle course containing a track of barbed wire inches above the ground, two story tall walls and a long rope bridge but that wasn't the worst of it. All along the pat
h were warriors of all shapes and sizes who intended on blocking her path and the last one she would face on the bridge would be her favorite scar wearing warrior, Brien.
Claude explained the route to her then stepped back. "Don't let them get to you," he whispered. If they see your fear they will kill you. You don't belong here and they want you gone."
"Well the jokes on them because I don't belong anywhere," Nicole shrugged her shoulders flashing a cocky grin. "Let's do this."
Claude gave a quick nod, "Begin!"
Nicole had been through the academy and seen enough military movies to know what she needed to do. She dove below the barbed wire and slithered on her stomach, expertly keeping her body from touching the spikes. Just as she neared the far side gunfire erupted around her.
Blanks, she instinctively thought just before a burning sensation ripped through her calf. There wasn't time to check the wound and really no point. She knew by the warmth of the blood and the heat of her leg a bullet had struck her but she lunged forward again using her arms as much as she could.
Jumping to her feet she blurred to the climbing wall hoping for shelter from the shower of gunfire. The shots kept ricocheting off the concrete floor and even embedding into the wooden wall she was expected to climb. Grabbing the rope she started to hoist herself up when another bullet grazed her tricep. "Sitting duck," she mumbled. Claude was right, so far they were giving her minor injuries but if she left herself open for too long they would try to kill her. Was this Loch's Plan? Would he let her die in a training scenario? She didn't think so. This felt like pure hate by the warriors that had been told to follow her. Egos and pride were being bruised and she was at their mercy….unless.
Images of training with Luke flashed in her head. She called wind to her, creating a shield that wrapped from her left side, around her back, and ended at their right side. With a smile she grabbed the rope again and started to climb. She wasn't in the mood to test the limit of her immortality today. After all, there did have to be a limit or neither fae nor warrior would fear war. Immortal doesn't equal invincible.
The wind roared around her making it almost impossible to hear anything but the clink of bullets as they tried to penetrate the barrier. At first her footing was difficult because of the blood that had dripped from her leg down to her boots. But after the first few steps the slickness wiped from her soles leaving a trail of red shoe prints behind.
As she pulled herself over the top a silver knife dug into the wood between her fingers. Scarface, the nickname she had given Brien, wasn't wasting any time. Positioned halfway across the rope bridge he slung knives with every step. Nicole could still see the streaks of dried blood from the wound she had inflicted though it had already healed but what really caught her attention was the look of pure hatred that came from him. He wanted her dead.
The wind shield wouldn't allow her to see where she was walking so she dropped it just as Brien reached to pull another knife from his waist. She discreetly drew the knife from the wood as she stood keeping it tucked inside her palm. Running forward she side stepped when he threw another knife narrowly avoiding being stuck in the eye. She hit the rope bridge hard causing it to sway wildly so Brien was forced to hold on then she rolled forward and sprung straight into Brien landing hard on top of him. "Don't move!" Nicole held the blade against his neck cutting a small crimson line to get his attention.
Brien's nostrils flared and his eyes were glowing red but he remained still as she stepped over him to the other side of the bridge. Nicole turned to run but just as she reached the edge of the platform she heard it—the roar of fire.
Slammed forward by the force of the flaming ball Nicole landed on her stomach sending all the air rushing from her lungs. The lick of the flame didn't completely devour the fire retardant military fatigues but she could still smell the stench of burning cloth as she rolled to her back. Shouts were echoing around her then hands were rolling her back to her chest.
"I'll put it out." Shala covered Nicole with a jacket and began patting frantically. A few moments later she removed the cloth and gave a satisfied grunt, "All good."
"Thanks," replied Nicole.
Shala held out a hand pulling Nicole to her feet just in time to see Brien jumping to the floor below. He bounded into a group of warriors laughing and exchanging high fives until Claude's voice echoed off the walls. The barrage of profanities that flowed from Claude seemed to wick the joy from Scarface. "Sucks to be you." Shala said dryly to Nicole.
"That's an understatement," joked Nicole as she accessed the damage. Her uniform shirt was crisp and flaky as she pulled it off but the t-shirt underneath was untouched.
"Well, at least the fire didn't do much damage. Why didn't you fire back?"
"I think death is senseless."
"But he tried to kill you. The fact that you're still alive is amazing because Brien never misses. That's his gift and it's a deadly one."
"Doesn't change my stance on this war and really that's all this is about. The fae want me to see how destructive warriors are and the warriors want me to see the evil in the fae. In turn the majority of both sides seem to hate me." Nicole started rolling up her pants leg to see how bad the bullet wound was.
"You're in a very hard place, that's for sure. Maybe you should just wipe us all out." Nicole's eyebrows shot up at the boldness of Shala's statement but Shala lowered her voice and continued, "Has either side really been pure good?"
"Is anyone pure?" Nicole let the question hang in the air, turning her attention back to her leg. She took the sleeve of her ruined shirt and wiped at the blood. The longer she wiped the more her brows crumpled together, "Do you see this?" Pink flesh as smooth as a baby's butt was hidden under the crimson fluid. There was ,lood that hadn't had time to dry.
"I see." replied Shala with a hint of annoyance, "A normal warrior's body would have taken hours to heal from that."
"Another perk of being a freak." Nicole joked. The shine of silver caught Nicole's eye. Sticking a finger just inside her boot she pulled out the slug that had been in her leg only moments ago. "Hey, Brien!" She tossed the lead to him. "A souvenir from an event you will never get to relive."
Brien fisted the slug tightly but held back the remark she could see fighting to burst out. Nicole had a feeling this wasn't the end of butting heads with him. His hate ran too deep. Honestly, after today, the feeling was mutual.
**~***~**
After a full day of training Nicole found herself back in her room. The guards had taken their places so it was back to business as usual—guards guarding and prisoner imprisoned. She lay across her bed her hair still wet from her recent shower. Her body was tired but still fueled by adrenaline from the day's events so she was restless. A day full of watching your back in a room where everyone wanted to kill you has that effect. Half the time she didn't know if the attack was real or part of the training. Confusion of that degree could have ended very bad.
One thing she did know was there were a few people high on her list to watch out for. Of course Scarface took the number one spot but there were also a couple of brutes that she had dubbed the twins. They didn't resemble in physical traits like family members would but instead it was their skills with the sword that peaked her interest. Nicole had watched them sparring from a distance at first but was drawn closer by the intensity of the two men. Each had an identical stance. Each swung the blade with such ease and never once did the other let the steal touch him. It was like a deadly dance, perfectly choreographed to hint at danger but never stirring it. The duel was eventually called a draw and left Nicole with a new respect for the swordsmen.
Strangely enough number four on the list was Shala. Nicole couldn't gauge the tough-as-nails woman. At times she bordered on friendly but there were those moments when calculation was clear in Shala's dark brown eyes. The look was of someone studying hard to figure something out but what exactly Nicole wasn't sure. Maybe she was just curious about the limits of Nicole's powers or maybe she wa
s looking for Nicole's weakness. Either way there was no letting her guard down for anyone.
Rolling onto her back Nicole closed her eyes. She tried, as she had each night since her imprisonment, to reach out to Luke's mind. Her heart hoped for a response but her mind told her it was foolish to keep trying. True to logic no response came making her situation all the more unbearable. She wanted to know that they were preparing, she wanted to tell Luke what she had learned, but most of all she needed to hear his voice. Not knowing if he was safe, never feeling the tug of their warrior's connection and being left with an empty hole in her heart was weakening her spirit more and more with each passing hour.
At some point while deep in her thoughts sleep did pull her under and for the first time in a long while her spirit awoke in Titania's company. The graveyard, though over-ridden with weeds, was in full bloom. The willow's limbs were a bright green with opening buds and dandelions exploded into hundreds of cotton dancers pirouetting on the salty breeze. Even the small yellow flowers that marked her path in this magical place on her first visit were exceptionally vibrant.
"Spring is beautiful," whispered Titania staring out across the landscape.
"My favorite time of year," replied Nicole.
"Yes, mine too. After a hard, cold winter the world needs spring. It reminds us that good things always return to our lives. It's a timeless formula that never fails to repeat."
"Do you really believe that? With all you've been through?"
"Yes." Titania said simply.
"But you're trapped in this limbo." Nicole waved her arms around the spiritual graveyard that had been her grandmother's prison. "You chose death over immortality so how can you tell me you believe things will get better?"
"My path, though it was hard, lead me here so I could guide you. If I had passed on to the other realm then I wouldn't be here for you now. Every trial has a greater reason behind it just as your journey is for a greater good."
Blood Of Fire (The Blood Burden Series) Page 18
