by Todd, E. L.
Zyle felt his mind go black as his oxygen was restricted from him. He thought about Accacia in his last moment and he heard her voice in his mind. It was beautiful and powerful.
“Get off my husband.”
Zyle felt the pressure on his throat decrease. He thought he heard his soul mate’s voice but knew he had imagined it. It wasn’t possible. Drake tore his gaze away from Zyle and looked up. Zyle wondered if he had heard it as well.
“Now step away from him.”
Zyle felt his body shake. He recognized that voice. Accacia was here. His imminent joy was replaced by fear. He rolled over and looked at her. She didn’t meet his gaze. Her sight was only for the king. “RUN, ACCACIA!”
Aleco looked over and couldn’t believe his eyes. Accacia was really standing there. She wore the Asquithian armor made to fit the contours of her body perfectly. Her hair cascaded around her face and reached down to her shoulders. Her eyes were brighter than he had ever seen them. Her guild sword hung at her side, the warrior sword remained in her belt. Her posture was straight and her shoulders were squared. She looked like a fearsome warrior—an pissed one. Aleco felt his body shake. He forced his arms to move against their screams of pain and slowly crawled to his knees. He looked at Accacia. “GET OUT OF HERE NOW!” Aleco fell to the floor, too weak to hold himself up.
Drake stepped away from Zyle, no longer interested in the man lying at his feet. “Your husband?” he asked in astonishment. “This man is your husband? Then I will have to kill him. You obviously can’t have two.” Drake withdrew his blade.
“Don’t touch him,” she commanded him.
Zyle tried to move out of the way but Drake pressed his boot against his chest. “LEAVE! HE CAN’T BE KILLED, ACCACIA.”
Drake laughed. “Accacia has nothing to fear. She knows I would never kill her.” He pressed his heel into Zyle’s chest. “I was told that you were dead—I am happy to see that I was wrong. Now we can pick up where we left off.”
Accacia didn’t react to the meaning of his words. “Then release him. He has nothing to do with this.”
“I think he does.” He pressed his boot into him harder. “I will kill him, Accacia. Any man that has had you will die—except me, of course.”
“Then start with me.” Aleco rose to his feet, overcoming the pain of his injuries and approached the king. Drake looked at him, and Zyle took the opportunity to slip away and run to the other side of the room, grabbing his red blade from the floor. When Zyle was out of the way, Aleco let himself fall to the floor, feeling his body fail him.
“It’s over, Drake,” Accacia said. “This ends today. As a merciful queen, I will generously offer to let you surrender and no harm will befall you. I will not offer this again. Lay down your weapon and surrender.”
Drake stared at her with a hungry look. “I will surrender to you any day, Your Highness. And whose queen would you be? Mine?” He stepped toward her and stared at the beautiful face he had missed for so long. “I’ve been meaning to fill the vacancy for a while.” Drake came up to her and his face changed, contorted in a look of pain. “I’ve missed you, Accacia. You have no idea how hard this has been for me. I’ve thought about you every day.” Accacia stared at him and said nothing. There was no emotion on her face. “Did you miss me?”
Accacia shook her head. “Not once.” She watched the anger return to his face. He reached out to grab her throat but she caught his fist and shoved it back. He stumbled with the force of her push, surprised at her unsuspecting strength. “Will you surrender, Drake? This is my final offer.”
Drake smiled at her. “This is what’s going to happen. If you fight me, I will defeat you, and when I do, I will take you right here on this floor.” He tapped the floor underneath his boot. “Your husband and former lover can watch. And then I’ll kill them in front you, forcing you to witness their deaths. Surrender to me and you can avoid this.”
“I don’t accept those terms.”
Drake spun his blade in his hand and it whirled in a flash. “I was hoping you would say that.”
Zyle tightened his sword as he listened to them. “Don’t do this, Accacia. Turn around and run. I’ll hold him back.” Aleco felt his mind sinking further into death. He was happy to be spared of the sight of Accacia’s death. He hoped Zyle could give her enough time to flee.
Accacia ignored Zyle and stepped toward Drake. The king stepped back, smiling at her as she approached him. Seeing her clad in the armor of a warrior, with her flaming green eyes, elicited an erotic excitement deep within him. He couldn’t wait to have her again. His queen had finally returned to him. Zyle approached the king from the side with his sword raised, but Accacia held her hand out to him without looking at him. The fire dancing in the hearth suddenly roared to life and reached out of the fireplace, crackling in an angry inferno. The Asquithian Queen flicked her wrist and the flames reached across the room, forming a barrier around her and the king. Zyle was excluded to the outside of the flames along with Aleco, but Zyle could still see them through the flames. The King of the Asquithians stared at Accacia with a look of anger, furious with her for risking her safety like this, keeping him out of the way. Accacia read his mind and turned to him. “It’s annoying, isn’t it?” Zyle ignored her words and ran to the other side, reaching Aleco, who was barely clinging onto life. Zyle ripped his cloak off and tightened it around Aleco’s bleeding cuts. Zyle would give him blood but he knew their blood types weren’t compatible.
Aleco opened his eyes and looked up at Zyle. He could see the flames over his head. “What the hell is happening? Where’s Accacia?”
Zyle looked into the flames. “She’s fighting the king. She conjured the fire around her so we couldn’t intervene—to protect us.”
“She conjured fire?”
“Yes.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes,” Zyle said with annoyance. He didn’t care about that right now. He only cared about his wife.
“She has the stones,” Aleco whispered.
“What are you talking about?”
“Accacia has the elemental stones—it’s the only explanation. She has the means—she can defeat him.” Aleco felt his mind flicker. He wanted to stay alive to see her kill him but he was losing his focus.
Zyle nodded. “I’ll kill myself if she doesn’t.”
Accacia stared at Drake across from her. The dancing flames licked her skin with heat and she began to sweat from the rising temperature. Drake was perspiring from the scalp as well, and his smile vanished as he watched the flames encircle them, cutting them off from any outside help or aid. The signature arrogant attitude disappeared and was replaced by fear. For the first time, Drake felt truly afraid. “That was a nice trick,” he said.
“I have plenty more.” Accacia thrust her sword into him and Drake parried the blow, but his sword almost flew from his hand, slipping from his fingertips. The strength of her arm caught him off balance and he was stunned at the revelation. She was far stronger than she had ever been. He didn’t know what changed.
Drake stepped back from her and changed the grip on his blade. “You’re angry.”
“You just figured that out?” She whirled her sword at Drake and pushed him back. She noticed the gems in his armor gleam like the stars in the night sky. Accacia realized the purpose of his protection. It was embedded with Soul Binders. The thought fueled her anger to a new level. “What you did to me was unforgivable—you will pay, Drake.”
Drake lunged forward and parried her sword with ease. He pushed her back and unleashed his strength against her, realizing he was going to have to commit himself completely if he wanted to defeat her. She was stronger than any other opponent he had faced. Her blows couldn’t be predicted, and when he tried to use his strength against her, she danced out of the way before he could reach her. She didn’t tire as she engaged him. If anything, she was becoming stronger by the second. “I’m sorry for what I did to you, Accacia—I mean it.” Accacia aimed for his neck
but Drake ducked out of the way. He knew his words meant nothing to her. “I’m not just saying that. I really love you—I always have.”
“Even when you beat me until I was on the verge of death? Or what about when you killed my child even when I begged you to spare him? Did you love me then, Drake?” Accacia whirled her blade around in a flash and cut him along the arm, slicing his skin. Accacia couldn’t control the hate coursing through her body.
“No, but I love you now,” he said. “I knew I loved you after you left—truly. I’ve been miserable without you.” Drake meant what he said. He admitted he had been cruel to her but he had fallen in love with her over time and he couldn’t recall when the emotions began. When she left, he thought he would die without her, unable to move forward. A part of him knew he had always loved her even though he hadn’t shown it in the best way.
Accacia kicked him in the knee and he cringed in pain. “You are full of lies, Drake. You’re just trying to save your ass.”
Drake tried to parry her sword from her grasp, wanting to relieve her of the sword so he could grab her, but he didn’t want to hurt her. “I speak the truth, Accacia—give me another chance. I promise I won’t hurt you.”
“You just threatened to kill my husband.”
“I don’t care about him.”
“Then you don’t care about me.”
Drake felt disgusted at the idea of her being married to another. She belonged to him and no one else. He wanted to punish her for betraying him, teaching her a lesson in disobedience. He had deflowered her so she was rightfully his. He had claimed her as his own. Drake faked his next blow and aimed his sword into her side. Drake smiled at her, and Accacia’s concentration shattered when she saw his grin of victory. It was the same look he gave her when he wanted her—when he was going to take her in a violent way. He tripped her feet from under her and Accacia fell to the floor. Drake pinned her arms to her side, holding her down on the floor, and Accacia felt the fear course through her body at her compromised position. She couldn’t reach the stones in her armor because her hands were held to the floor. She could hear Zyle yell on the outside of the tornado of controlled fire, screaming for her to get up and evade him. Accacia knew he would die if he had to witness his wife be violated against her will, unable to stop it. She knew how horrible he felt when she was injured in Paso Robles and she couldn’t let him feel that way again. Accacia tried to lift her body but Drake’s size was too strong for her. She squirmed under his grasp but she couldn’t free herself. He smiled at her as she tried to move away.
“Just like old times.” Drake held her hands down with his knees and began to undue his trousers, preparing to take her against her will again. “No one is going to save you.” Accacia trembled at his words. He had said the same thing to her when raped her for the first time. The king began to unlace her trousers, and he slid his hand down her pants, forcing his fingers within her. She cried at the sensation. The tears came to her eyes as all the painful emotions of her past came back to her. She had felt so safe with both Zyle and Aleco that she forget how painful the experience was. Accacia tried to fight but she couldn’t move. She was pinned down. Accacia remembered the day Aleco forced her into the ground in this exact position. He didn’t move even when she screamed at him. I’ve got all day. Aleco didn’t stop until she figured out how to escape, believing she could flee if she tried hard enough. The experience had been painful and she was angry with Aleco at the time, but now the memory gave her courage and strength when she thought she had none. She would get through this—Aleco had given her the ability.
Accacia reached up with her leg and wrapped it around Drake’s neck, squeezing his throat as she pulled him off. Drake’s fingers slid out of her, and she rolled on top of him and struck him in the nose with the heel of her hand, forcing his head back. She punched him again and his eyes closed as they became swollen. Accacia moved her hands to his armor and began to unbuckle the clasps, trying to remove his protection before he could resist her.
Drake realized what she was doing. He pushed her off with a violent shove and she fell back. Her guild sword remained on the ground away from her, unreachable. She withdrew her warrior sword and engaged him. Accacia deflected his blows and returned with her own but she couldn’t gain any higher ground. Drake wouldn’t let her near his armor and she knew that was the source of his immortality. His eyes shone with fear every time she lunged for the metal protecting his chest. Accacia rolled out of the way of his oncoming sword and grabbed the guild blade from the ground, abandoning her warrior sword. She lashed directly at his armor, aiming for the Soul Binders directly embedded within the material. Accacia knew the blade was destroying the Soul Binders because wisps of smoke escaped the shattered capsules. Drake understood what was happening. Accacia knew he would try to kill her now that she had a Soul Relenter to destroy the Soul Binders.
Drake pursued her with all the strength he had, but he was no match for Accacia. He couldn’t land a single blow on her body. Her skin was flawless. She didn’t even need the armor she wore. Drake became frustrated with his own inadequacy and lunged at her with blows to kill, but she parried the attack and took advantage of his compromised state to destroy a Soul Binder in his chest. She had destroyed almost all of them. Only one remained and it was directly over his heart. Accacia caught the fear in Drake’s eyes, but she didn’t pity him.
The king directed all of his attention in protecting the remaining Soul Binder, his mind blind to everything going on in the fight. It was the first time she had seen Drake in a weakened state, one that left him frightened and fearful. She had only seen the look of joy on his face when she had been scared or hurt, and she gave him that same look of happiness. Accacia took advantage of his stupidity and sliced off his head, severing it from his body. Accacia relished the feeling of decapitating him. She was looking forward to doing it again.
Drake’s body regenerated and he stood before her with eyes widened in fright. Now he was fighting for his life. There were no more Soul Binders at his disposal. Accacia could read the look on his face. He knew he was going to fail. Accacia engaged him with her sword and fought his attacks with ease. She was giving him a false sense of hope before she ended his life forever. Accacia recalled every evil thing he had done to her. He had stolen her virtue, imprisoned her for years, and killed her parents and Father Giloth. He had tormented Aleco for too long and it was time for it to end. She aimed her sword to decapitate him, thinking of Aleco as she let the blade slice through his neck.
“Accacia, don’t do this. I’m sorry—I’m sorry.” He screamed before the sword swiped his head off, and his face was set in a permanent look of horror. Accacia stood still for a moment, unable to believe that it had really happened. She was free forever. The tears fell from her eyes. It was done—it was finally over.
Aleutian Keep
38
Accacia caught her breath as she stared at the corpse of the king at her feet. Drake’s head had rolled away to the edge of the circle and Accacia couldn’t force herself to look at his face. She was finally free of him forever, even in the afterlife. Never again would Accacia have to fear him, nor would Aleco. Accacia felt her sword drop to the floor as the reality set into her bones. She succeeded in the mission, one that no one expected to accomplish. Accacia watched the fire swirl around her and she felt the reality sink in. It was finally over.
The queen thought of her loved ones on the other side of the swirling flames of fire. She knew Aleco was badly injured. She immediately ended the spell fueled by the power of the stone and ran to Aleco. She dropped to her knees beside Zyle and grabbed Aleco’s face. His breathing was deep and shallow and his eyes were closed. Accacia felt the blood of the floor soak into her trousers and she felt her heart fall. She feared she was too late.
“Thank you for kicking his ass, Accacia,” he said without opening his eyes. His voice was quiet and weak. “Now I can die happy.”
Accacia felt the tears fall from her face. She
didn’t know what to do. Aleco was covered in mortal injuries. She didn’t know how he was even speaking coherently. Zyle said nothing as he sat beside her, understanding it wasn’t the time to speak. Accacia examined his wounds and realized there were too many. Even if she could find an extraordinary healer, she would be too late. Aleco would be dead when she returned. Accacia felt the sobs shake her body—this couldn’t be happening.
Accacia pulled her hands away from Aleco and tore off her armor, throwing it aside. Zyle watched her in confusion, not sure what she was planning to do. Accacia placed her hand over Aleco’s heart and closed her eyes.
Zyle pulled her hand away. “What are you doing, Accacia?” His eyes were larger than she had ever seen them. He gripped her wrist with his strength.
“I have to save him, Zyle,” she said through her tears. “I won’t let him die—I can’t.” She placed her hands over his heart but Zyle pulled her away again.
“Stop this, now. Accacia, do you not remember what I told you? It only works on animals—not humans.”
Accacia shook her head. The tears were falling from her face and landing on Aleco’s cold body. “No,” she said. “It can work on humans—it just isn’t recommended.” Accacia tore her hand away from her husband and grabbed Aleco.
“IT WILL KILL YOU!”
Accacia shoved him back. “I don’t care.” She was hysterical in her pain. It reminded Zyle of the day Accacia realized their commitment to another. Her heart was broken in agony. She couldn’t accept the truth. “I can’t let him die, Zyle. I refuse to do it. I need him to live.”
“I can’t let you do this, Accacia.” He grabbed her hands and held them to his chest. “I need you to live.”
Aleco moaned from his semi-conscious state. “Accacia, please don’t do it. Let me go.”
Accacia grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “I have to.”
“No.” Aleco felt his mind slip away. He wanted to say more but his body was no longer responding to his commands. It was time.
