I keep myself on the ground as I watch the activity around me. A few guards are laughing amongst themselves. Some are fighting one another, most likely practicing. Two are guarding. Just seeing them causes bile to enter my mouth. Here they are, laughing and having a good time, while so many Ortarians are suffering. How many lives have they taken? Are any of them responsible for Sebastian’s capture? I’m seriously going to wring their necks. Okay, I can’t do that. But my hands are itching to. I want them to feel what they’ve done—carrying out Sorenten’s evil decrees. How could anyone obey that bastard’s wishes?
An older-looking guard walks over to the ones laughing. He says something to them and I need to strain my ears to overhear. I manage to catch bits and pieces. Something about an old couple claiming they know where the rebels are camping out. The other guards—who look no more than twenty years old—ignore him and continue talking.
The older guard grabs one of the guys by the back of his neck and lifts him in the air. The younger one thrashes around as he tries to break free. “Your commanding officer has given you an order,” the older guard snarls.
The younger one thrashes some more. “There are many who claim to know where the rebels are and when we check it out, we find nothing. I’m getting sick of it.”
The older guard’s eyes widen with rage. “You’re getting sick of it?” he bellows.
The younger guard whimpers. “I just—”
With a flick of his hand, the older guard slams the younger one to the ground. I hear the sound of bones being cracked.
The older guard addresses the others. “Does anyone else feel the same way?” he sneers.
They falter back, shaking their heads vehemently. The commanding guard eyes each one of them. “Good,” he says. “Now go check it out!”
They nod and rush off. The older guard sits down on a chair and crosses one leg over the other.
I know the rebels have left the shack, but I can’t help feeling worried about them. I hope they’re okay. I wish I could return to the spot I left them and see for myself, but I can’t deviate from the plan. Little things could screw everything up. The others are waiting for me to get into the palace. Then they’ll come and take on the guards. I’ll only put them in jeopardy by going to check on them.
Taking a deep breath, I focus on turning myself invisible. There’s no way I can sneak by undetected, especially by that older guard. He seems like he’s seen it all. He’d spot the snake in the grass.
Peering down at myself, I see that it worked. I’m invisible. I’ve practiced it a few times, but I’m not sure how long I can hold. Hopefully long enough to get past the guards and hide in Sorenten’s room.
I have to be careful not to rustle the grass. I lift myself off the ground a bit and float toward the palace. It’s far, but close enough that I can see it. The palace is black, just a plain coat of black. It looks like something from a horror movie. I’m pretty sure it didn’t look like that when Alaric’s parents ruled. Just staring at it causes goose bumps to pop up all over my skin. If the castle is encased in evil, I can’t imagine just how wicked Sorenten is. Seeing him face to face…there’s no way for me to picture what that will be like. Because it’ll be ten times worse than I can ever imagine.
As I float, I look to my right and left and at myself to make sure I’m still invisible. My thoughts are on Sebastian and my fellow rebels. Will we succeed today? Will Ortarus finally be the place it’s meant to be?
Will I see Sebastian again? Mom? Will I live?
The closer I get to the palace, the more guards I see around. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, I pass through them, careful not to make any noise, including breathing.
“Hey,” a female guard says. She and a few others are practicing their magic on the trees surrounding them. There are hundreds, and the guards don’t seem to care that they’re frying them with fire. “Did you hear something?” the female guard asks the guy standing near her.
Crap. Did I make noise? I back away from them.
The male guard looks around. “No.”
She narrows her eyes as she scans the place. “I could have sworn I heard something.” She nods toward my direction. “Over there.”
My heart pounds against my ribcage as I scoot farther and farther away. I must have been breathing too loudly or maybe my foot accidentally touched some of the tall grass.
The female guard heads over to me. She’s staring right at me. Can she see me? Her eyes are intense as she gazes at me some more. A second later, a smile breaks out on her face as she waves her hand around.
Looking down, I see an animal—one that resembles a cat but also quite doesn’t. It has six legs instead of four. It crawls out from beneath me. It must have been hiding in the grass. It rubs its nose against her hand.
“So? What is it?” the male guard asks.
“Just a baby puckry.” The female guard giggles as the puckry continues to nuzzle its nose in her hand. The male guard rolls his eyes and tells her not to busy herself with nonsense. They need to train if they want to squash the rebellion.
Just hearing him say those words lights something inside me. Here these guards are ready to kill us all, but I’m not going to let that happen. No, we’re not going to let that happen. They could think they’ll squash us, but we’ll squash them. We’ll own them.
I continue on my journey toward the palace. As I close in on it, I notice that the wind has gotten chilly and the sky darker. I didn’t think it was possible for the sky to get darker, but it has. I can hardly see anything around me. Luckily, I can use magic to give me night vision.
The guards are in masses as they loiter outside the palace. Many are standing straight as they keep guard, but some of the younger ones seem bored and restless. I wonder how many of them are being forced to work for the king. It wouldn’t be fair to kill them, but how can I know who’s loyal and who isn’t? I’ll have to kill those who come after me.
After a few more minutes of walking and squeezing through guards, I come face to face with the palace door. I hadn’t thought about how I would get in, since I was too preoccupied with getting here undetected. Scanning around, I figure I can use magic to flatten myself and slide under the door. But there’s no room, even if I make myself thinner than paper. That may cause me to lose my invisibility.
I circle the palace a few times, trying to look for some sort of opening or crack, maybe an open window, but I find nothing. I’m just standing there for a few minutes, my head spinning as I contemplate what to do, when a heavyset guard opens the door, carrying a plateful of food. This is it. My chance to get in. I rush past him and into the palace, just as the doors close. I can hear the guards surrounding the palace wondering where the gust of wind came from. They don’t check it out, though, and I sigh in relief.
I gape at the inside of the castle. The walls seem to be made of stone, the floors marble. Large chandeliers hang from the ceiling and the walls are covered in pictures of the royal family—Sorenten’s family, that is. Portraits of Sorenten, his late queen and son are plastered all around.
I tear my gaze away because looking at them is starting to piss me off. I turn to my right, and then my left, remembering what Alaric told me about the blueprints of the palace. Sorenten’s bedroom should be on the third floor.
My breathing grows labored and I’m starting to lose feeling in my limbs, but I need to push through. Yes, I’m nervous, but I need to think about everyone else.
Sebastian.
He’s somewhere in the palace, most likely in the dungeon. I bite my lip and rake my hand through my hair. Should I save him? I could quickly do so, then battle the king. But what about Sebastian? Who will protect him? No, I need to stick to the plan and focus on the king. Candon and Merla are going to free their son.
I pass by the guards, careful not to accidentally brush against them. When I reach the stairs, I make sure I’m still invisible and float up to the third floor. I hope my fellow rebels are okay, that they’re c
lose to the palace. Alaric told me if things go badly, I need to kill Sorenten immediately. But I’m worried. What if Sorenten orders Sebastian to be killed? Maybe I should go save him. I shake my head. If the others aren’t here soon, I’m abandoning my task and freeing my boyfriend. I hope it won’t come to that.
When I reach the third floor, I peer around. About ten guards are walking up and down the hall, and I notice three more outside a room. Definitely the king’s. They’re protecting him as he sleeps.
I slip by and make my way toward his room. The door is huge, practically four doors fused together. I can just imagine how big his room is. It’s safe to say the door is locked. I glance around. The three guards right beside me seem to be on alert while the others are marching lazily, as though they haven’t gotten much sleep.
Hmm…how do I get into his room? I inspect the door, trying to find something—anything—that would give me a clue. That’s when I see it, a slight space underneath the door. It’s not big enough for an animal, let alone a person, to go through, but if I flatten myself, I should be able to get by, all the while keeping myself invisible.
Shutting my eyes, I focus on remaining invisible. When I’m certain my magic is still strong, I channel my energy into compressing myself. Once I’m small enough, I slide underneath the door, not sure what to expect on the other side. More guards, probably. I should have looked through the door to the other side. I guess there’s still a lot I need to get used to with this whole magic thing.
I push my rambling thoughts aside and stretch myself to my normal, human size form. I’m still invisible.
I’m shocked to discover there are no guards inside the bedroom. Sorenten must like his privacy when he sleeps. Good, I can use this to my advantage.
He’s sleeping soundly in his large bed. It’s triple the size of a king-sized back on Earth, and is bathed in silky sheets and blankets. His pajamas seem just as silky. He really is sleeping like royalty.
He’s a big guy, and I can see his muscles bulging out from beneath his blanket. His hair is long and golden, like the color of the sun—which seems strange, since he’s such an evil person. He’s got a weird expression on his face, a sinister smile, as though he’s planning his next decree that will cause his subjects to suffer even more.
He seems to be in a deep sleep. He’s snoring loudly. I swallow and examine the room. There are three closets and a few dressers and an inner room, which is probably the bathroom.
Watching his lip curl into an even wider smile, I’m so tempted to just kill him in his sleep. But that wouldn’t be smart. Alaric told me that Sorenten sleeps in a magic bubble and it would sense me the second I move closer to him. It’s important for me to keep my distance. He’d wake up and call for the guards and they’d attack me before I have a chance to kill him. No. He needs to be awake, no longer in his magic bubble, and caught off guard. That’s when I’ll pounce.
Inhaling another deep breath, I look around once more before slipping behind one of the closets. It’s larger than I thought and hides me well. Hell, it’s bigger than my bathroom on Earth. Good thing, because it looks like I’m going to be behind here for a while. I have a few good hours until the king wakes up. Hopefully the others will get here soon.
Chapter Thirty-One
My head is drooping, but I force myself to stay awake. Peeking out from behind the closet, I see Sorenten is still snoring. Again, I’m so tempted to just off him, but I force myself to relax and be patient. The others will attack the palace, which will alert Sorenten. He’ll be so confused, he won’t know what’s coming.
Using my magic, I amplify my hearing so I’ll know when the others get here.
I lean my head against the wall and count from one to a hundred. Then I count backwards.
A few minutes pass before I hear a commotion outside the palace. It sounds like people yelling. That must be my cue. Making sure I’m invisible, I rush out from behind the closet and lift my hand toward the door of Sorenten’s bedroom, creating an invisible wall to lock the guards out. I don’t want to kill them unless I need to.
Sorenten is sitting straight up in bed, his gray eyes wide. The guards must be banging on the wall, calling his name, but I created such a thick wall that no sound can be heard. He leaps to the window, where he must see the battle going on between his guards and the rebels outside the palace. His body trembles as he calls for the guards. They can’t hear him.
He’s so disoriented and confused, and this is my chance. I sneak up behind him and am about to shoot lightning at him, when he whirls around and grabs my hand. He squeezes my wrist, causing pain to explode all over me, and shoves me to the wall. As my body slams against it, my head rings and my invisibility disappears.
With an evil smirk on his face, Sorenten marches over. He’s a really large guy, almost like a giant as he bends toward me, his smile vanishing as he stares at my face. “It…it can’t be…”
I jump to my feet and aim for his chest, but he raises his hand, creating an invisible shield that deflects my fire. I duck to get out of the way and the fireball strikes the wall.
His eyes widen. “That hair…those eyes…are you my brother’s offspring?”
I’m not listening to him, I’m just focusing on sending more attacks. He deflects them all.
“Have you come to kill me?” He chortles, so deep I can hear it in his stomach. “You, a mere human.”
“I might be just a human,” I growl as I attack, “but this human is going to take you down.” I gather an electric ball in my hand and launch it at him. The ball zooms toward his chest, but he throws his hand down, pushing it to the floor. I muster my energy, from the pit of my stomach, and send two large balls of fire at him. I’m expecting to blast him to bits like I had done to one of the guards after they attacked the compound. But Sorenten deflects them as well. Okay…I anticipated he’d be strong, but not this strong. My magic isn’t even making a dent. It must be due to the rage he’s got inside him. It fuels his power.
He retaliates with his own fireball and sends it at me. I shoot an ice ball at him, and as our magic collide, they explode, sending shards of ice all over us. I drop to the floor for cover. Sorenten holds an invisible umbrella over himself, which repels the shards.
His eyes meet mine and his lip curls up. With one hand still raised, he aims the other at the door. Yellow light shines around him, as though he’s mustering up all his energy, and he shoots the light toward the door. The room shakes. My eyes nearly fly out of their sockets when I realize what he’s done. He made a hole in the invisible wall. It’s only large enough for one person to fit through, though.
A guard rushes in. “My king,” he says as he bows his head. “The palace is under attack. Come, quick. We must get you to safety.”
I don’t think he notices me crouched by the closet. I lift my hand to strike him, when Sorenten points to me and shouts, “Kill her!”
The guard turns to where I’m hiding. He launches his magic at me, and I use mine to defend myself. Once he’s down, more guards come in, one by one.
Sorenten stands there, watching as I use my power on each guard. There doesn’t seem to be an end—more and more come. I’m using fire because lightning takes a bit too much energy, energy I’ll need to defeat them all. Sorenten doesn’t join in the fight. Watching me get my ass kicked must amuse him. I know what he’s doing—he wants his guards to weaken me so he can finish me off.
The guards keep coming and I feel my body growing weak. Dammit. I can’t let his plan succeed. But I’m not sure I can take on all of the guards. I wasn’t ready for this. I didn’t anticipate Sorenten destroying the wall.
Sorenten is trying to smash the wall with his magic to let more guards in, but it’s too strong. “Kill her, you good for nothings!” he shouts as I hurl more fire at the guards coming at me. I can feel sweat all over, can feel my limbs burning, but I can’t give up. As much as my body is crying for rest, I won’t let these guards win. I’m going to accomplish what I’ve set out t
o do. I’m going to make sure Ortarus returns to being the world it’s meant to be.
When I feel like my magic isn’t enough, I make use of my arms and legs, punching and kicking the guards as they ram themselves into me. Most are using magic, and I bend to the right and left to avoid them. I can hear Sorenten chortling a few feet away from me, and I wish I could wring his neck. He thinks this will break me? Well, he’s in for a big surprise. Because I’m not going to give in that easily. I can’t.
I don’t know how long I battle the guards, but it feels like days. Once I bash the last guard in the head and throw a fireball at him, Sorenten calls for more. But no one comes. He doesn’t leave the room. Perhaps he fears what’s outside. Hope fills me. Maybe the rebels have succeeded.
My body is weak and I can barely support myself. I’m heaving, trying to catch my breath, when a shadow stands above me. Sorenten. His gray eyes burn with anger. My heart leaps in my throat as I back away from him, barely able to move my limbs. Unfortunately, I don’t have much room to move to, since the wall is behind me.
“You human!” he spits, his eyes searing. “You’re responsible for this! And now you’re going to die.” His hands curl as he raises them over his head. “You think you can destroy me? I’m the king of Ortarus! Nothing can destroy me!” The room quakes as he roars. I try to lift my hand, but I can hardly move a muscle. Is this it? The end? Did I come so far just to be too weak to finish this bastard off?
He waves his hands around, most likely gathering his magic. Just as he’s about to slam his power into me, I hear a crack. Sorenten howls, crashing to the floor, blood pouring out of him. That’s when I see him. The person responsible.
“Sebastian,” I gasp.
He rushes to my side. He doesn’t look injured but completely okay, as though my magic protection healed him from Sorenten’s torture. “Are you hurt?” His fingers examine every inch of my face before checking out the rest of me. He’s holding a sword.
Keeping the Genie (Genie's Love, Book 3) Page 17
