Alec swept in on the opportunity, hooking his arm around the top of the ravager’s head to hold it steady against his own shoulder as he sliced through its neck.
The beast dropped with a thud. Its blood flowed down the sword’s handle onto Alec’s hands and wrists, but the moment was empty of any sense of victory.
His breaths heaved as he stared down at the body. It wouldn’t bring his sister back. It wouldn’t bring Adira back. But damned if that thing got to live in a world it had taken Alec’s loved ones from.
“Thank you,” Dvorak said from the ground by his feet.
Alec turned his scowling face to the regent. “Don’t thank me.”
Dvorak reached out his hand. “It’s all right. We’ll make it right. Together.”
Alec shook his head. “I will make it right. And they,” he said, pointing his sword toward the city, “will decide your fate.”
Grabbing the regent by the back of his collar, Alec yanked him to his feet, then chained Dvorak’s hands behind his back and pushed him toward the sector.
His comrades had taken out many of the ravagers, and the ravagers had taken out many of them. But the death scene before him lacked any ability to move him. Everything was dull. Every step empty. Every goal mindless.
Adira had made him think he deserved to be loved, and he’d allowed himself to believe he was safe to love another. But he’d been wrong. Death still followed him. Death still took everything he dared to care about. He might as well have killed her himself.
Now that she was gone, what did that leave him with? What he’d had before? That’d been a lie. His sense of duty had belonged to people who cared about no one but themselves. His loyalty had belonged to a man who intentionally misled his people.
But Adira had sacrificed for this sector, and damned if Alec was going to let that be in vain. He would save them. For her. He would give them back their hope. Give them back a life where they could sleep at night without fear of ravagers attacking. A life without the sobs of grieving mothers echoing through the streets.
He would give them what Adira had died to give them. What she wanted for them. And that meant handling the piece-of-shit regent the right way. As much as he wanted to, he could not kill the leader of their sector—he needed the sector to decide the regent’s time was up. Otherwise, there would be anarchy and riots when what they needed was a revolution.
With that in mind, Alec marched Dvorak to one of the runestone lamps and secured him there before assessing the situation. To one of the guards, he shouted over his shoulder, “Protect him.”
If the sector was going to survive, the guards needed to get organized, so Alec assisted in killing more of the ravagers nearby, then instructed the two closest guards to start evacuating people into the castle.
No one questioned him.
Once he had instructed his comrades, he and those fighting with him focused on eliminating the remaining ravagers.
“Not one more of our own dies,” Alec ordered, stabbing his sword into another ravager. “Chase them to the borders!”
Adira had done most of the work when her magic had seeped into the ground along the outskirts, but there were still more than a dozen ravagers loose in the marketplace, and who knew how many had infiltrated deeper into the city, into people’s homes and into the forests. It would take days to fully restore their safety.
Constantine fought by Alec’s side in silence. When a ravager bit into Constantine’s leg, Alec decapitated the beast, even if that meant another ravager taking a chunk out of his own leg. When Alec was outnumbered, Constantine threw his ax, spinning it through the air until the blade sunk into chest of another ravager, leaving himself weaponless until Alec could return it to him.
Alec used himself as bait to draw as many of the ravagers to the outskirts as he could, but they didn’t wait for the ground there to kill them. Constantine attacked from behind, taking them out while they were in a weakened state.
No wound hurt as deeply as the loss of Adira. No kill avenged her death. No amount of blood made Alec feel alive again.
By the time night had fallen, Alec’s searches for more beasts to kill began to turn up empty.
A hand came to rest on his shoulder. “It’s over,” the voice said. “Let’s go home.”
Alec swallowed, staring out over the sector. There was no home anymore. Home was about who you were with. And now he was alone
“The people of the sector need to stay under the protection of the Guard until we are certain every last beast has been put down once and for all.”
“Alec,” Constantine said softly, “you know that will take time.”
“I do,” Alec said, slowly leveling his gaze at Constantine. “And you will be the one to oversee that it is so.”
“Me, brother?” Constantine’s eyebrows knitted together. “But you—”
“I’m leaving,” Alec said quietly. “You will be head of the Guard.”
“Leaving?”
“The city has been haunted by fear long enough. It’s time for real change.”
“How?”
Alec turned to face the border once more. “Staying on the outside,” he said. “Getting rid of the ravagers once and for all.”
Constantine narrowed his eyes, his lips pressing together in a grim line. “Suicide.”
Alec sheathed his sword. “I don’t care.”
He shouldered past his comrade and headed toward the outskirts, but Constantine grabbed his arm and spun him back. “It’s the doomed queen, isn’t it? What happened to her?”
Alec gritted his teeth, glaring at his comrade for making him say it aloud. “Fate.”
“So now you’re going to get yourself killed? Do you really think that is what she would have wanted?”
He spread his arms out to the destruction all around them. “I know she wouldn’t have wanted this.”
“What about the regent?”
“After a fair trial, I’m sure he’ll be joining me,” Alec said. “Please see to that.”
Then he turned and headed off into the ravager lands.
Alone.
Chapter 35
Dead ravager bodies marred the earth in every direction with their rancid, decaying flesh and blood. The night air stung Adira’s lungs, but her skin was numb from the cold.
This is what comes after the end?
Was she cursed to walk the world unseen, stuck here, forced to watch the outcome of her failure? They might have defeated the ravagers and restored the border, but without her, would everything simply go back to the way it had been before?
She floated to her feet and braced herself to look farther into the sector.
Too many dead. The marketplace was littered with bodies. Her magic had been too little, too late.
She squeezed her eyes shut and bit back a sob, then opened her eyes again to take a second look. As much as it pained her, she would need to look in the face of every dead body, because she could not spend her eternal afterlife not knowing that Alec was okay.
He had to be okay.
She glanced down at the shimmering earth. Her magic hadn’t extended very far beyond the border. That was it? All of that for…this?
Steeling herself, she marched forward. Some had to have survived. There weren’t enough bodies to account for the entire sector. But somehow, that brought her little comfort, especially since they were nowhere to be seen.
Unless she just couldn’t see them. Maybe that was part of death. The way no one could see her spirit gliding through the afterlife, perhaps she could not see their souls still inhabiting the living bodies on Othala.
She sucked in a breath and held it, then crept between the bodies, forcing herself to inspect face after face of fallen citizens, saying a silent prayer for each of them as she passed.
Each time Alec’s eyes did not stare back at her, the tightness in her chest eased, and the guilt stabbing into her heart deepened. His life was but one. He would never be so selfish as to put one life above all o
thers.
But she couldn’t help how she felt. All that mattered, even in death, was Alec.
When she had checked every body, she turned her back and strolled along the border. The ravagers couldn’t touch her anymore. But nor could she touch them. If Alec were alive, though, he would protect the people.
She just wished she could see him one last time.
The stroll along the border led her to where the regent had imprisoned the male witches. Their bodies, still trapped in the rune cells, were sprawled in the frostbitten grass.
After breaking the rune cell with her sundial, Adira kneeled beside one of them and swept the hair from his forehead.
The male witch sputtered and coughed. Then his eyes blinked open. “Adira?”
Her fingers came to her lips, and she leaned back. “Jedrick? You’re alive.”
He nodded. “Alive, but weak. These runes are draining.”
“But if you’re alive…” Adira shook her head. “You can see me.”
The male witch’s brow furrowed. “Of course I can see you, Adira. You’re standing right in front of me.”
“I’m alive,” she whispered. “I’m alive. Alec is alive, and I’m alive.” She glanced around, the moment slamming into her with renewed energy. “And you’re alive!” She pulled him to his feet. “Come on. We need to get everyone back to the castle.”
“But the regent—”
She shook her head. “I think I took care of that. Let’s go, quickly. The ravagers are repopulating the area, so it’s best we go now.”
Jedrick obliged, but then paused. “How long have you been out here, Adira?”
“A few hours. Why?”
“What about the ravagers that survived on the outskirts. They didn’t see you?”
She moved to the next rune cell. Using her sundial charm to open it, she released another witch. “Looks like I might have done something right after all,” she said over her shoulder. “Now come on. Help me.”
The pair roused the other witches, and Adira shared enough of her magical energy with them to give them the strength to make it back to the castle. When they knocked on the castle doors, the male witches in a small crowd behind her, a familiar guard answered.
Constantine stared at her, unspeaking, his still expression slowly coming to life. “A-Adira?” His eyebrows pulled together. “Everyone thought you were…dead.”
“Myself included.” She swept into the castle and glanced around. “Where’s Alec?”
Constantine scratched the back of his head. “Adira—”
A small body slammed into her, tiny arms wrapping around her waist. “Adira, I knew you’d make it!”
Anastazie beamed up at her. Both familiar and unfamiliar faces stared at her from around the room. The hushed whispers began to fill Adira’s stomach with dread. Her embrace on Anastazie loosened.
“Where’s Dvorak?”
Constantine tipped his head to Adira. “Awaiting a fair trial, as Alec insisted.”
She stepped away from the small girl and closer to Constantine. “And where’s Alec?”
“He’s…” Constantine dropped his gaze. “I’m sorry, Adira. Alec’s gone.”
“What do you mean he’s gone? Is he—?”
“He’s not dead,” Constantine said, putting up his hands. “Or he wasn’t the last I saw him.”
“Then where is he?”
Constantine looked past her now. “The Deadlands.”
Adira shoved the large man. “The Deadlands? How could you let him do that?” She pushed him again. “He’ll die out there!”
“There was no stopping him,” Constantine said, unmoved by her outburst. “You know how he gets.”
Hot air pushed through her nose. “I do,” she said. Turning on her heel, she headed toward the castle doors.
“Wait,” Constantine called, darting into her path. “You can’t go. The people need you.”
“And I need him. Move.” When Constantine didn’t budge, she lifted her hands and used her magic to move him to the side and hold him there. “I’ll be back soon. With Alec.”
As she stormed off the castle grounds, her mind swam, trying to think where he would have gone. It didn’t take her long to figure it out. He would have gone back to where it started.
His family’s farm.
She broke into a breathless jog and did not stop until she arrived. He was sitting outside the crumbling barn, sword in hand.
“Alec,” she called.
He stared right through her.
“Alec!” She ran the rest of the way over to him. “The sector needs you.”
“They needed their queen,” he said bitterly. “You left us.”
She walked up to him and pushed the sword from his hand with her mind. Then she wrapped his fingers in her own. “I’m here, Alec.”
His gaze lingered on her lips, then lifted to her eyes. His mouth fell open.
She smiled and gave his hands a gentle squeeze. “It worked, Alec. The Origin spell worked. I can feel it.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed, and tears glazed his eyes. “It killed you. I saw you. You were dead.”
“But it brought me back. And now I need to bring you back, because I can’t do this alone. There’s a whole sector of people who need you right now.”
He pulled his hands back, his expression turning stony. “No, Adira. They need you. This,” he said, waving to the land around him. “This is where I belong. I failed to protect you before. Failed to protect the sector. I won’t fail again.”
Adira placed her hands on the sides of his head and stared into his eyes. They still had so much to learn about each other, and yet, she knew everything about him she would ever need to know.
“You didn’t fail,” she whispered. She leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to lips, pausing until she felt his tension melt away. “Now come on. We have a sector to rebuild.”
“But if the borders fail again—”
She shook her head. “They won’t. Do you trust me?”
“Of course.”
“Then it’s time to go home.”
When the pair returned, the room was even more silent than the first time. Adira leaned in to Alec and whispered, “Why is everyone so quiet?”
“I believe,” Alec whispered back, “that they’re awaiting a statement from their queen.”
She gave a firm nod before stepping forward, closer to the center of the great room. “We’ve returned,” she said, and for some reason, that was all it took for the room to erupt into cheers. She raised her hands. “Quiet down,” she ordered, her voice pushing out an authority she didn’t know she had. The energy of the original sixteen buzzed through her. “It’s time for change. And this time, we are doing it together.”
And they did.
Adira stepped into her role as regent, with Alec at her side as king. Dvorak, although exiled from the Inner Sector, was put under the protection of new borders created by Adira with recreated runestones. Anastazie grew up to be the sector’s healer, and for the first time in a very long time, Sector One’s regent brought forth an heir.
Arcadia.
The End
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About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Hamilton lives in Georgia with her husband and four kids, all of whom inspire her writing.
Somewhere in between using magic to disappear booboos and sorcery to heal emotional wounds, she takes to her fictional worlds to see what perilous situations her characters will find themselves in next.
Represented by Rossano Trentin of TZLA, Rebecca has been published internationally, in three languages.
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Origin: an Adult Paranormal Witch Romance: Othala Witch Collection (Sector 1) Page 23
