Hidden Runes

by G. Bailey

  “What do you think the difference is?” he asks, suggesting he has his own idea.

  “That I won’t kill for the throne. Usually the leaders that kill for it, don’t deserve it or won’t be any good for the people. Hali’s mum was eligible for the witch throne but backed out when the current queen killed all ten of the other eligible heirs in their sleep two nights before the choosing. Hali’s mum knew she couldn’t go against someone like that, and only survived because she submitted to the queen before she could kill her,” I explain.

  “Don’t you plan to kill Erica though?” he questions.

  “That’s not for the throne, that’s not for power. That is for revenge,” I point out with a grin and jump off the building.

  Fifty

  Evie

  “Be careful,” Nix shouts, catching my arm as I zoom down the building, and he somehow manages to catch up with me even though I jumped first. “We are about to see the penthouse floor,” he warns me, the loud slap of the wind in my ears making it hard to understand him. I slow down, spotting the glass windows coming into view just below our feet and pause. The glass is far too stretched out for us to go around it. I know we don’t have any choice but to drop down and hope no one is looking out the window as we do. I nod once at Nix and let my clip go, falling fast past the window and stopping the rope when I’m just underneath. I swear I saw a flash of a familiar face in the room. Nix flashes me a confused look when I climb up the rope a little to see inside the room again, needing to know if I am right. I tighten my fists on the rope when I see Erica sat on a chair in the room, talking to a man with his hood up. Every part of me tenses up as I take in Erica’s perfect, innocent looking expression in her gold dress. She looks every part the princess, and I feel every bit the outsider literally looking in. Nix comes up to my side, looks in and rests a hand over mine on the glass where I’m holding the rope.

  “She has nothing on you. You are meant to be in there and have everything you deserve. But not if you kill Erica now. This isn’t the time, so get that look off your face and let’s see if we can use the situation to our benefit,” he tells me, being far stricter than I ever thought he was. And he is right. Dammit. I nod to him, and he lets my hand go before pulling something out of his pocket. It looks like a little grey stone and Nix places it on the glass. Seconds later, we can hear their every word, and I grin at Nix as we listen in.

  “I’m tired of the fucking games! There are no more heirs, why can I not just be crowned already?” Erica snaps, sounding very unlike the sweet princess I expected her to be like.

  “Your highness, please do not get upset. It takes time to build the energy and magic the room needs to choose an heir,” the keeper replies, his voice is a mixture of concerned and scared. Erica narrows her blue eyes on him, somewhat reminding me we both have our mother’s eyes.

  “But we won’t be using the room, right?” she asks, and I smirk at her nervous expression and know I can use that against her in the future.

  “It still must be prepared. It is our tradition,” the keeper replies firmly. It is clear he won’t budge on that.

  “Fine. I am sorry, it has been a stressful time with the loss of my sisters, and I just want to start my future. Just go. You say the same as the rest of them,” Erica growls out and points at the door. The keeper quickly stands up, bowing low before walking out of the room like his ass is on fire. The moment the door is closed, Erica rises up and calls a portal. I expect her to go in it, but instead a demon walks into the room. I recognise the demon as one of Azi’s brothers who helped Erica in Hell. This one is bold with a massive build and a serious expression. It is odd how he looks so different than Azi. The portal disappears as Erica walks over to the demon, her hips seductively swinging from side to side. It doesn’t surprise me when they kiss, but when I look away to Nix, he is shocked.

  “Not long now, Cex. Once I have the throne, you can access the grove and do what we need,” Erica purrs.

  “It is taking too long,” he growls, his hands tightening on her arms. It only seems to make her smile wider.

  “I can’t speed things up. I know it is annoying,” Erica says, stroking a sharp nailed finger down Cex’s cheek. Cex grabs her hand, harshly pushing it away and placing his other hand on her neck. He leans down close, his red eyes glowing against Erica’s pale skin.

  “You best not betray me, little princess. I know you like it when I get mad, but trust me, you won’t like me when I am angry,” he warns her, and she only smiles like a lunatic. Being that I dated an overlord demon, I know you don’t want them angry. Then again, Azi would never hold me like that and hurt me. I would chop his balls off if he tried.

  “I understand,” she whispers, her hand sliding to start undoing his belt. I look away, lowering the rope so we are out of sight and Nix copies.

  “I didn’t expect that,” Nix says, and I shake my head. Neither did I.

  “Let’s sort out one problem at a time. The next floor is where keeper Grey’s room is, right?” I ask, needing to shout with the wind blowing more harshly against us, and Nix nods. We quickly rappel and slow down when we get to the glass for the next floor. Nix slides down faster than me, pausing right outside the glass and getting four little cubes out of his pocket. He attaches the cubes to the window as I look in, seeing nothing but an empty, very dark room. Once the fourth cube is attached, a line of blue fire shoots out of them, making a perfect square which Nix kicks and it falls to the floor on the other side, making a slightly loud noise. We don’t waste any time jumping in the room and unclipping the rope. I hear a slight scrape of something to my right where Nix is and go to warn him, but I’m too late as a dagger is pressed against his throat.

  “Who the fuck are you? And what do you want?” the man asks, his face hidden under the hood. Nix rears his head back, smacking against the man who grunts, and Nix somehow disarms his dagger at the same time. Damn, I think my guys are stronger and smarter than they look.

  “Take the hood off, keeper,” Nix growls out, sliding in front of me, which seems kind of pointless as I can protect myself. The keeper steps into the light and lowers his hood, as his other hand holds his bleeding nose. The keeper has short white hair and runes on his cheeks that stand out on his pale skin. His brown eyes look almost gold and seem to have a glow to them. He reminds me of Connor for a brief second. Just a much older one.

  “Nix?” the keeper asks, and Nix lowers his hand with the dagger in it.

  “Keeper Grey, I would like you to meet Evie,” Nix says, stepping aside. Keeper Grey’s eyes widen, and he steps back.

  “I wouldn’t try and run if I were you,” I warn with a low chuckle. “I do like to play catch.”

  “We need to have a talk about how not to scare people…and me at the same time,” Nix chuckles, and I frown at him.

  “I thought that was nice? I was warning him. I could have just attacked and—” I’m cut off by keeper Grey clearing his throat and getting my attention.

  “Evelina Ravenwood, I never thought I would see you as anything but a crying baby again," keeper Grey states, resting against the sofa arm as he wipes more blood away. Nix pulls a tissue out his pocket and hands it to the keeper as we seem to be stuck watching each other. He knows me?

  "Why don't you tell me how exactly you know me," I ask, making sure my voice is far from nice, and he nods.

  "Sit down then. It is a long story, one I have tried to forget over the years," he says, and Nix grabs my hand, making me sit down, but I never take my eyes off keeper Grey. I don't trust him, and if I find out he had anything to do with my mother being killed, he is dead anyway. Nix won't be able to stop me.

  Fifty-One

  Evie

  ”I was ten when you were born Evelina," he starts off, as if telling me our age difference is important somehow. That makes him thirty-five, but I don’t see why he wants to tell me that. Maybe because he looks so much older.

  "You can call me Evie, no one calls me Evelina," I reply.

&
nbsp; "If you are here to see me, I know what you want, Evelina Ravenwood. You need to claim your royal name if you expect the people to see you as a royal. Names have power, so much more than you understand. Do not worry, I will teach you," he says.

  "You sound a lot older than you are," I reply, not wanting to talk about my long name. It only brings back bad memories of my adoptive parents. I don't remember much of them, only little things, but the last day I was with them is stuck in my mind. I was so angry that a toy oven wasn’t cooking my cookie dough quickly enough. I look back and think what a silly thing to be mad at, but the next thing I know, the whole toy oven is on fire and the rune on my arm is burning for the first time. My parents who claimed to love me, threw me out the house and locked the doors. The last thing I heard them say was, “Never come back, Evelina.” I guess that is why I don’t use the name.

  "My mother and father were keepers who unfortunately died in a demon attack when I was eight," he carries on his story about his life, and I sigh, looking towards Nix with a frown. I’m thinking tying the keeper up and threatening him with my daggers will get me answers a lot quicker than this.

  "I don’t want to hear your history. We do not have time for it," Nix says. Who is the unfriendly one now?

  "Right. Right. I am sorry, the past is sometimes hard to forget. Basically, I was kept with the other keepers and learnt my craft by being around them. I followed them everywhere, knowing I needed to pass the keeper tests, and I especially followed keeper Cadean," he says, and I tighten my hand in Nix's.

  "He called the demons on my mother, didn't he?" I ask, but I know he did. The smug look on his face in the vision is etched in my mind. I bet he made Erica the way she is, or at least made her crueller than she needed to be.

  "Yes. I snuck into a chamber to watch a ritual. I thought it would get me ahead in my tests…but what I heard was far worse. They spoke with a demon, told him they wanted him to attack a woman and a baby. Keeper Cadean told the demons where to find them," he says, the horror in his eyes showing me this still haunts him.

  "Did you know it was the queen they spoke of?" Nix asks, guessing some things without me saying it.

  "No. I decided to warn the woman because I couldn’t live with knowing a baby was going to be attacked and that I knew but did nothing. So, I ran to the building at the edge of the city, one that looked in disrepair on the outside, so no one would go in it," he stops, moving his hand away from his still bleeding nose. I feel like I’m glued to his every word, desperate to know what happened. “It wasn’t in disrepair on the inside, and there were dead royal guards outside the doors.”

  "What did you find?" I ask.

  "I snuck in through a back door after moving a dead guard and climbed up the stairs. When I got to the second floor, I heard a woman scream. I pulled the door open to see a blast of blue fire that slammed me back into the hall. The holy fire was so strong that I knew someone powerful must have cast it, and I couldn’t see anything but blue fire for so long. I couldn’t hear anything but the sound of demons screaming. When it stopped, I pulled myself up and walked into the room to see the queen with a sword in her back, a tiny baby with blue hair in her arms,” he says, his eyes expressing sympathy as I watch him.

  "Fucking hell," Nix mutters.

  "I ran to her, and she simply kept smiling at her baby. The queen only met my eyes once to ask me to pull the sword out of her and find her sister," he says, his hands shaking a little and feeling a lot like my emotions. I stand up, walking to the window as he keeps talking. "I pulled the sword out, tried to heal her the best I could. I grabbed a blanket and helped her wrap the baby up. She pulled the baby to her chest, pressing a kiss on her cheek. I listened to her whisper to her baby before I ran away to find her sister like she asked me to."

  "What did she whisper?"

  "You are everything, Evelina. My light, my soul and part of my heart. Your father is an angel, a brave and selfless one I have been in love with since I was a teenager. I chose duty over love, and in the end, I still couldn't live without him. Your father will come for you, and he may hate the price I will happily pay, but I know his soul is not lost. Even without me in his life, he will have you. My beautiful girl, you are made from nothing but love. Remember that always," he drifts off as I stare out the window at the golden city and try not to show any emotion at his words. Even if I feel like falling apart at the sound of them, and how familiar they sound. It's like some subconscious part of me remembers her words. In my head, I can hear them spoken from her lips, her voice a whisper and cracked with pain that is unimaginable.

  "Evie?" Nix says, placing his hand on my shoulder.

  “She sang a song to me, didn’t she?” I whisper, somehow remembering the tune I’ve hummed since I was a kid. I knew the song had to come from somewhere.

  “Yes,” keeper Grey answers. I move Nix’s hand off my shoulder and avoid his eyes as I turn around, keeping my arms crossed as I watch keeper Grey stand from the sofa.

  "Will you help us? Will you help me?" I ask, fully expecting him to say no as Protectors have never been open to helping me, so I doubt keepers will. Well except for the guys, but I’m assuming they aren’t like the others.

  "I could not save your mother. I could not change your aunt's mind as she hid you as a baby and killed herself to make sure you were never found. I have watched the Protectors fall more and more in chaos over the years with no real ruler to command us. Our history is hidden in lies because two people fell in love and one happened to be a queen. I wish to support a new queen who will change this," keeper Grey states and stands up. He walks straight over to me and goes on his knees, holding a hand out flat so I can see the eye rune on his hand. What kind of rune is that? I give Nix a confused look, and he takes my hand, placing it over the top of keeper Grey’s. I feel a shock shoot up my hand at the contact, and my eyes feel locked onto keeper Grey’s as he talks.

  "I will be your keeper. I will be your power. I will be your guide in the darkness that shadows the crown. You are Evelina Ravenwood, and I recognise you as a true heir," he removes his hand, leaving a tingling feeling in my hand as he stands up.

  "What was that?" I ask, rubbing my hand. If this keeper has done anything dodgy, I’m chopping something dodgy of his off.

  "A blessed promise. Come to the Protectors in the morning in three days and make your announcement for the throne. I will be there and side with you. What we just did, means I will die if I break my promise to protect you as my royal," he explains.

  "Sounds shit for you if you betray me," I say, making him laugh, but it dies off as I narrow my eyes on him. “Nothing any magic could do to you would be worse than me if you pull back on your promise. I’m trusting you, keeper Grey.”

  "We should go," Nix says, sounding somewhat jealous as he wraps an arm around my waist, and I frown up at him. Keeper Grey is somewhat ok looking, but I'm really not into the whole priest thing, and I just threatened him. I know some people like that, but yeah, not for me. Maybe it’s because I said I trust keeper Grey? Does Nix not think I trust him or something? I guess I never really told him that.

  "Time to go?" I suggest, knowing we can't really risk being here much longer than we need to, but I also know calling a portal here isn't a good idea. We can get to the ground and call a portal a few buildings away, at least that way they won't track us back to keeper Grey. I frown when keeper Grey waves a hand, a blue portal burning into existence.

  "Safe travels, Evelina. This portal will take you to London, where you can find your own way, and the alarms do not go off for keeper portals. Do try not to break anything when you visit me next time," keeper Grey says and Nix laughs.

  "Evie always breaks something. I swear it's built in her," he laughs out, and I hit him in the stomach. Asshole.

  "Thank you for saving my life as a baby. If my aunt wasn't called, I would be dead. I will protect you for as long as you are loyal to me," I tell keeper Grey, and respect shines in his eyes before he bows. I turn and walk i
nto the portal, not looking back once. In all the years I looked for my past and who I was…I never expected the truth to hurt me as much as it does.

  Fifty-Two

  Evie

  “They’re back!” I hear Hali shout as I close the portal I opened after Nix jumps through. I turn around just as Star launches herself at me, smacking me onto the floor as her giant body smothers me. I push her off and she only licks my face, looking pleased with herself.

  “Star, come,” Trex commands, and Star huffs, but she climbs off me at his strict command. Nix offers me a hand up, and I scowl at the amused grin on his lips.

  “That was a lot cuter when you were small, Star,” I say, brushing off the cat hair all over me. White cat hair and black leather do not look good together.

  “How did it go?” Connor asks, and I look over at Hali, going to tell her to leave and she shakes her head, folding her arms as she sits on the sofa.

  “I’m not a kid anymore, remember?” she sarcastically comments. “And I’ve always wanted to know about your past. Tell us what the keeper said, or I’m going to make you watch more Love Island with me and give all the bacon to Star.”

  “Fine,” I groan, watching Star’s ears perk up and knowing I cannot watch anymore reruns of that show that she loves. Hali has a point about not being so much of a kid anymore, and I’m really scared the damn cute cat will eat my bacon.

  “Keeper Grey has agreed to side with Evie. We will go there in three days to make her claim in public,” Nix says and Trex nods, a small smirk on his lips.

  “Brilliant,” Connor replies as I go and sit on the edge of the seat Hali is in. Azi walks in the room, sweat dripping off his naked chest which he rubs with a towel. Hot damn.