“I see,” Connor says, looking unconvinced. “But how—”
“We don’t have time to argue it with you,” Cole says, taking a deep breath. “This woman, Daelera, said a team of assassins is going to kill the emperor and Eve.”
“Inconceivable,” Connor replies with a laugh. “There’s no—”
Noah’s had enough, and he grabs Connor by the front of his tunic, lifting him with one hand and throwing him against the wall. “Listen, you insecure piss-ant,” Noah rumbles. “She said that Kaelen and Eve are with the Moonstone. I’ve never even heard of such a thing . . . but I can see by your eyes that you have. What is it, and where is it?”
Connor blinks, rolling his neck and gesturing at two of the other Guards. Cole drops into a defensive stance, but the Guards don’t raise their weapons at all. Instead, they look at Connor, who nods once, and they salute him before running inside the castle. Cole looks at Connor, who’s holding the back of his neck. “What was that?”
“One’s going to get horses, the other your weapons. You’d better hope you’re right . . . because if not, pissing me off will be the least of your worries.”
“What do you mean?” Tyler asks, and Connor laughs.
“You think Kaelen promoted me to Captain of the Solarian Guard because he needs a warrior to protect him? I’m an administrator. You go in there unnecessarily armed against His Excellency . . . those weapons won’t do you any good at all.”
Chapter 28
Cole
The horse thunders underneath Cole, and for the first time in a long time, Cole feels comfortable riding. His sword is strapped across his back, the weight thumping against his broad muscles with every bounce of the animal between his legs, and Cole urges the animal faster, harder.
“How much further?” he asks Connor, trying not to yell over the rush of wind that tears the words from his mouth almost as fast as he can utter them.
“Not far. The cavern is only a few kilometers—” Connor starts but silences as they all see a group of black-garbed riders ahead of them. Six men on black horses, nearly blending into the shadows as they ride on the same path the Guardians travel. Connor points before drawing his thumb across his throat, and Cole understands, urging his horse to go faster.
The chase is hard but short. There just isn’t enough distance for more. The black-garbed men’s horses might be stealthy, but they’re nothing in terms of speed compared to the finest steeds in the Solarian Guard stables. Even Cole has to admit that his horse is one of the finest he’s ever ridden as they close the gap.
Jacob!
Before Jacob can do anything, though, Tyler’s sat up, his bow unslung and an arrow in his grip. Cavalry archery isn’t his specialty, but his draw is sure and his aim true, the silver streak of his arrowhead in the moonlight carving a path through the blackness and into the back of one of the men, sending him tumbling from his horse.
The other assassins, seeing one of their number taken down, split up, two wheeling back to slow their pursuers while three more push on. Tyler is able to unleash one more arrow, his quiver unfortunately clumsy on horseback, but Noah handles the other, his staff flying like a javelin through the night, missing the rider but smashing into the head of the horse and knocking both to the ground.
“Nice throw!” Jacob yells. “Now what?”
“Now it’s our turn!” Cole yells, getting ready. He can see the three remaining assassins come to a halt, jumping off their horses and disappearing into a fold in the rock. Hopping up, he vaults off his horse, rolling once along the ground before gaining his feet, reaching for Eve’s Star Stone dagger. His sword’s too long, too big for the sort of fighting to follow, and it feels comforting to know that her weapon is in his hands.
Jacob lands right next to him, much more nimbly, and his hands have a knife each, a cocky smirk on his face that Cole knows is Jacob’s laughter that he looked better jumping from the horse than Cole did.
The first of the three assassins is waiting for them, his short sword thrusting just as Cole and Jacob come around the corner. Cole reacts with the reflexes of five hundred years of training, the edge of the sword just slicing open his cheek as he twists, his elbow striking the black-garbed man in the base of the skull before Jacob comes from below, his knife gutting the man from belly button to breastbone before Jacob releases the knife, leaving it and the body behind.
Cole takes in the chamber, shocked for a moment as it seems that he’s stepped . . . back into the woods. He can smell the unmistakable change in the air that comes from a cave, and there’s no breeze, but his eyes tell him he’s standing in a rocky spot on the forest floor.
It doesn’t matter. What does matter are the two assassins, both of them going for Eve and Lightwing. They’re standing, their hands locked together and their hands touching something that looks like a pulsing blue column of light that illuminates the entire chamber. The assassins, dedicated to their cause and sworn to secrecy, are ignoring Cole and Jacob in a last desperate attempt to kill their targets.
Cole knows he must give them no chance. Launching himself across the chamber, he tackles one of the assassins, clipping him behind the knee. They tumble, a twisting, writhing ball of limbs and grunts.
This isn’t the honorable stand-up fighting of the battlefield, where adversaries attack with blades and battle cries. This isn’t even the respectful wrestling that Cole engages in with his brothers for fun, exercise, and competition. This is gutter fighting, and Cole feels the assassin scrambling, knees hunting for balls as thumbs search for his eyes and fingers try to rip open his nostrils.
But Cole’s fueled by not just a desire to live but the love of the woman fewer than five feet away, and even though his enemy manages to rip at his ear, he grabs the hand, biting hard into the meat of a dirty, sweaty palm. His enemy screams as blood fills Cole’s mouth and he slides past his enemy’s leg, mounting him fully. Grabbing his neck, Cole slams the assassin’s head into the stone floor once . . . twice . . . and on the third time, a splash of blood blooms out of the back of his head and the man goes limp.
Spitting out the now-dead hand and the blood, Cole looks up to see Jacob just finishing off his own opponent, deftly drawing his remaining blade across the man’s throat, a fountain of blood arcing out to splatter on the rock.
“You okay?” Cole asks Jacob as Noah, Tyler, and Connor enter. While the fight felt like it took minutes, the reality was the whole thing took fewer than ten seconds.
“Of course,” Jacob says with a chuckle, wiping off his knife. “You look like you need a rabies shot though.”
Cole grunts, ignoring Jacob’s joke. After all, there is no rabies in the Fae realm. Getting to his feet, he looks at the bodies. “Who are they?”
Connor drags the body of the man nearest the entrance into the light and pulls off his hood, looking him over. “I know this man. He’s a Lunarian bureaucrat.”
“I’ve never seen him,” Noah rumbles. “Are you sure?”
Connor nods. “He worked in the Lunarian embassy, supposedly for the Council ministry. He’d stand in for Cassina on minor Council matters, send messages . . . things like that.”
“Things like assassination,” Cole says, shaking his head. “Whatever. What is with Eve and Lightwing?”
The Guardians and Connor turn to the blue rock, but neither Eve nor the emperor have moved. In fact, Cole’s not even sure they’re even breathing until he studies Eve carefully and sees the shallow movement of her chest.
“The emperor told me that the Moonstone is powerful and that it’s a window to knowledge,” Connor says as the five of them gather around, but Cole can hear in his words that he’s not sure what’s going on either. “However, he’s never allowed anyone but him in here before. I’ve never seen it before.”
“Moonstone?” Tyler asks wonderingly. “Like from legend?”
Connor nods. “Most think it a myth, which is what the emperor wants. The power inside is supposedly immense.”
“Yeah,
well, time to wake up,” Jacob says, reaching out to grab Lightwing to pull him away. He doesn’t move, though, and when Jacob goes to yank, a force propels him away to fall on his ass.
Tyler snickers. “Well, looks like the emperor’s too stiff for you.”
“Yeah, yeah. I have that effect on people,” Jacob jokes. “Usually beautiful women though. Now, are you going to stand there looking all Legolas-like, or do you have anything helpful to add?”
For the next ten minutes, they try everything to pull Eve and the emperor away from the Moonstone, but nothing works. Even Noah and Cole, working together, can’t get Eve’s feet to break a fraction of an inch from the floor.
Each time they heave, a force propels them away or does something to keep its users fixed in place, not moving at all.
“It’s not like they’re heavy,” Noah gasps after the force pushes them away for the umpteenth time. “It’s like . . . like they’re stuck, dimensionally.”
Cole nods, knowing what Noah means. He can touch Eve’s clothing, and it moves. Even pressing against her cheek, he can feel the warmth of her skin. Brushing her hair back, the strands move like silk floating in a soft morning breeze . . . but as soon as he takes ahold of her to move her body or in any way adjust her touch on the Moonstone, she becomes like trying to lift something that is both there and not there.
“So, what do we do?” Jacob asks, rubbing his foot from where the Moonstone’s force last hurt him. It might have been foolish, but for Jacob, the opportunity to kick an emperor in the ass was too tempting to pass up. “Just sit here and wait?”
Cole shakes his head. Looking at Connor, who’s been quiet and confused for the past few minutes, he for the first time feels bad for the man. He’s right, he is an administrator, a good executive officer who is able to effectively organize and deploy men, but he’s not the sort of creative thinker that this situation calls for. He’s a very good soldier for peacetime, but in war, he’d be a terrible frontline leader.
“Connor, can you go back to the castle and get some men to gather these bodies and investigate?” Cole asks. “If we go back, I suspect Cassina might end up with a sword between her breasts.”
Connor nods, wiping his face. “Of . . . of course. If you will stay here, protect the emperor . . . and your lady?”
Cole nods. “That, I swear.”
Connor clears his throat and turns to leave the chamber. At the door, he pauses, looking back at the Guardians. “I was wrong about the three of you. The emperor was as well. He . . . he ordered me to work you hard, to keep you distracted. I trusted him, but he was wrong. I was too. I thought you were honorless . . . but you are good men.”
Cole nods. “Thank you.”
Connor leaves, and Cole looks around at his brothers. “Well?”
Jacob chuckles softly. “I never thought I’d see the day that particular Fae got the stick pulled out of his ass. For him to do it himself? Color me shocked.” Jacob goes over and looks down at one of the two assassins’ bodies. “He’s still not on my Christmas card list though.”
“I noticed you said you will protect the emperor and Eve,” Noah says quietly, and Cole smirks. Leave it to Noah to notice the details in what wasn’t said. “So, what do you plan to do to protect them?”
Cole looks at the Moonstone and reaches behind his back. Unsheathing his sword, he probes upward carefully, checking to see if the invisible roof over his head would stop his swing. “This is the most powerful weapon I know of,” he says as he carefully brings the sword down in a quiet arc before returning it to his side, “and the Moonstone is holding our beloved and the emperor hostage. If we cannot break them of the enchantment of the stone, then we must try to break the stone.”
“Is that safe?” Tyler asks, shaking his head at his own question. “Never mind. Of course we don’t know.”
“But that might not be the only group of assassins,” Cole adds. “We can be assured that Cassina will find out about this. It seems that lips in Castle Solaria are looser than—”
“Cole, I do believe I’m rubbing off on you,” Jacob interrupts before Cole can finish the joke, “but not in a good way. Okay. Do what you need to, and we’ll deal with the rest.”
Cole looks around and sees the trust in his brothers’ eyes. Taking a deep breath, he looks at the Moonstone, checking again his target. If he’s off with his aim, he’s going to slice off someone’s hand . . . and if that’s going to happen, he’s going to make sure it’s Lightwing’s.
The Star Stone inserts in Cole’s blade begin to glow as he settles himself, and the massive sword feels lighter than ever as he puts every fiber of his muscle into the swing. Cresting over the top, he can feel the magic flowing through him, powered by his love for Eve.
We’ll see you soon, Princess, he thinks as he brings the blade crashing down. Just before he can complete the swing, though, a bright flash envelops the entire chamber and he’s stunned, stars dancing in his vision as the world seems to shift.
“What the—” he exclaims, but before he can say any more, his feet are swept from under him and he crashes to the dirt on his back. Wait . . . dirt?
Jacob! Tyler! Noah!
“We’re here,” Tyler groans, and Cole can hear the pain in his voice. His vision slowly returns, and he sees a black-haired man standing above him, a spear pointed in his face.
“Uhh . . . guys?”
“Yeah, this isn’t what I expected either,” Jacob says, and out of the corner of Cole’s eyes, he sees Jacob on his knees, a sword pressed against his neck as the black-haired men around him talk in an unknown language. “So what now, fearless leader?”
Chapter 29
Eve
“What is going on?” I ask Kaelen as we move our way through the streets. “You’re the expert on this one, not me.”
“According to what I read, Zhang Xianzhong starts off his rule of Sichuan by promising reforms,” Kaelen repeats, “but if you say you saw the—”
“I saw the Dark Rider,” I confirm. “My father has a unique look to him.”
Kaelen stops, turning to me. “Wait . . . he’s your father?”
I nod, looking around. “That’s what he claims. And I saw his eyes.”
“Then whoever Zhang Xianzhong might have been, he’s been inhabited by the Hell King now,” Kaelen murmurs. “We need to make our way into his war camp. He doesn’t trust staying in Chengdu itself, according to the histories.”
“Well, then, I guess we need to head for his camp. Lead on, MacDuff.”
“Mac . . . huh?”
I roll my eyes, gesturing for Kaelen to take the lead. “You really have to learn more human culture at some point.”
We head out of town, but along the way, I see things that disturb me. From what Kaelen said, the people of Chengdu surrendered with no resistance. They’d become tired of the old regime. So why are there hundreds of bodies littering the ground already?
“Are you sure you read the history right?” I ask Kaelen, but he doesn’t reply. Ahead of us, a trio of men stand in the road, spears in their hands.
“Halt!” the one in the middle calls, stepping forward. Like Kaelen and me, he’s wearing armor, although he’s armed with a spear instead of swords like us. “Identify yourself!”
Shit . . . I don’t know my name, and if I call out Eve Carter, they’re for damn sure going to know something’s up. “Ahh . . . Chung!” I reply, knowing as soon as I do that Jacob would bust a gut laughing at me. “Wang Chung!”
“Wang Chung?” Kaelen whispers, and I shrug. I’m making shit up as I go, so forgive me if some of it isn’t the best material.
“And you?” the guard asks Kaelen. “Do you have a name?”
“Mao . . . Lee,” Kaelen says nervously. “We are messengers, with important news for our lord. Where can we find his camp?”
“Up the road,” the man says, not moving aside. “Password.”
“Password?” Kaelen says, but before the guards can say anything, I pull my sword, cutti
ng the leader deeply. The other attacks, and I dodge while the third reaches into his armor and pulls a bamboo whistle, the tone shrilling into the night.
“Shit!” I mutter as I deflect the second guard’s spearpoint, glad that Cole taught me the basics of how to fight against an opponent with a longer-reach weapon. Darting inside, I impale him on my blade before pushing him off, sending him to the ground. Turning, I see Kaelen still standing there in shock, looking at me in utter disbelief. “What?”
“You killed two humans,” he says. “Why?”
“Because in our little jaunts, I’ve been shot, stabbed, slashed, electrocuted, gassed, and hung. Quite frankly, I’m fucking tired of it!” I growl. “And unless you want to find out just how twisted the ancient Chinese can get when it comes to death and torture, I suggest you pull your sword and fight!”
We don’t have long to wait. As we make our way up the road toward the Dark Rider’s camp, men seem to come out of the darkness on all sides. Over his initial shock, Kaelen fights admirably, not as skilled as Cole but more than enough for those coming at us. He even gets creative, picking up spears from fallen opponents and throwing them with remarkable accuracy when he can.
“You know . . . this would be a lot easier if we could use our magic!” Kaelen grunts as he heaves another spear, taking down an enemy.
“It’d be a lot easier if I was patient enough to work with Tyler on the bow!” I counter, cutting down another opponent. I’m having to use a single-sword style. The swords I’ve come across are too long and heavy for me to use in my familiar dual-weapon style, but Cole’s lessons are helping. After all, in this body, I’m taller, stronger, and able to fight more like he can.
Reaching the edge of Chengdu, we leave the road, running across the fields to avoid detection as we try to circle around. It’s not a moment too soon, as my arms are aching and I’m bleeding from a cut on my arm that’s starting to sting deeply.
Guardians of Moonlight: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (Guardians of the Fae Book 3) Page 18
