The Royal Shifters Complete Series Boxed Set

by Alice Wilde

  A sickening crack echoes through the room.

  Her neck is bent at an unnatural angle, a disturbing smile still plastered on her face, but her eyes grow dim as she collapses to the floor…

  Dead.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’d heard more than enough of that.” Roan says, standing where the woman had been only moments ago. He gives me a half-grin before his eyes rollback and he drops to the floor, too.

  Twenty-three

  Annalise

  “You have to save him!”

  “I’m trying,” Li says. “He’s fading fast.”

  “What’s wrong with him?” Saniya asks, pulling me into her arms.

  “I think she broke his back.”

  “I should have done something sooner,” Roan exhales shakily.

  “You did all that you could,” I say, “and more than any of us expected.”

  “Annalise, I need your help,” Li says, his voice strained.

  I pull myself from Saniya’s arms and drop down beside Ero’s motionless body. “What can I do?”

  “Whatever you did to save Roan, I need you to channel that energy now.”

  “I don’t know how!”

  “Look at me,” Li orders, taking both of my shoulders and giving me a little shake. “You can do this, Little Bird. I’m going to do everything I can to help, but I… Ero needs you. Okay?”

  I nod. Li lets go of me and we turn our focus back to Ero.

  I can’t see his face because of the way his body was contorted when Maarika threw him, and Li cautions me not to move him. I crawl to the other side of him and immediately wish I hadn’t. Ero’s eyes are open but unseeing as he stares through me. Choking back tears, I lay a tentative hand on Ero’s cheek, but he remains completely unresponsive.

  I close my eyes and will myself to feel for any sign of life, but unlike with Roan, all I feel is emptiness…almost. My eyes spring open and I stare across at Li in confusion.

  “What is it?”

  “Li,” I say slowly, “something’s wrong with him.”

  “Well—”

  “No, I know there’s something physically wrong with him, but there’s something else. He’s lost something.”

  “Lost something?”

  “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like…a spark.”

  Li and Roan share a worried look.

  “Lass, are you trying to say,” Roan pauses, trying to choose his words wisely. “Are you trying to say his soul is gone?”

  “I don’t know,” I mumble, aghast at the very thought. “I… no, it can’t be. If his soul is gone, he’d have to be dead.”

  Once again Li and Roan share an uncomfortable look.

  “Is he dead?” Saniya asks, asking the question neither of them has the courage to.

  “He can’t be dead.”

  “Why not?”

  I blink, staring down at his stony face and then up at Saniya. “He just can’t be! Ero wouldn’t dare… he’d never do that to me!”

  “Do what exactly?” Saniya questions gently. “Throw himself at anything trying to hurt you? Give his life in an attempt to save yours? I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean.”

  My bottom lip begins to tremble and I can no longer hold back my tears, I can feel my heart ever so slowly being torn apart in my chest as reality hits me. A painful, soundless sob tears through my soul and I scream silently in complete and utter agony. How could someone...something so sudden and unforeseen be what kills him?

  Ignoring Li’s previous warnings not to move him, I lift Ero’s head into my lap and cradle him. I sob, tears spilling out onto my cheeks and down onto him as I gently brush several strands of hair away from his forehead. Tracing the long scar down one side of his face, I lean down to kiss his lips one last time searching his eyes for any spark of life left in them. He stares blankly back up at me and I tenderly caress his eyelids with my fingertips, before closing them to me forever.

  My tears continue to stream down my face, but I’m otherwise silent. A dull, throbbing numbness floods my body.

  “Lass?”

  I can hear Roan, but it sounds like he’s talking to me through a wall and I have no energy to do anything but stare straight ahead. The longer I stay seated on the floor, cradling Ero, the more the world fades around me. I can hear Li, Roan, and Saniya’s voices but they’re nothing more than a low, unintelligible hum.

  We’d had so many close calls, so many near-death experiences that I hadn’t really thought death was an option…at least, not for my men. They’re not supposed to die. No one should be able to kill them unless…

  “Was she a shifter?”

  “What?” Roan asks.

  I turn slowly to stare at them, rivulets of tears still falling over my cheeks. “Was that woman a shifter?”

  “I don’t think so,” Li says. “Why?”

  “How could she kill him if she wasn’t a shifter?”

  Li and Roan blink in surprise.

  “She… shouldn’t have been able to,” Roan answers.

  “No,” Li says, “normally I’d agree with you, but she was using black magic. We don’t know how deep or powerful the magic she was channeling is.”

  The numbness slowly fades but only to be replaced with burning rage.

  “We leave tonight.”

  “Annalise?”

  “Help Roan,” I say through tight lips, “Saniya, I need your help taking care of Ero’s body.”

  “Of course.”

  “Lass--”

  “Please,” I say, cutting him off, “don’t ask me anything right now. I need you to do as I ask.”

  Roan bites his lip and Li nods. I carefully remove myself from beneath Ero’s head and Saniya signals several of her men to come over and help me lift him off the ground.

  “I should come with you,” Li says, helping Roan over to the bed.

  “We both should,” Roan says.

  “No,” I whisper. “Just be ready to leave when I return. Saniya?”

  She bows her head in understanding and leads me and the men carrying Ero out of the room. “How would you like to take care of him?”

  I walk quietly beside her for a few minutes. “I need you to preserve his body.”

  “What?”

  “Only for a few days, perhaps a week at most,” I say hurriedly. “I want to give him a proper Viking burial, but I won’t be able to until after I take back my kingdom.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Can you do this for me?”

  Saniya looks at me, her eyes full of grief for me. “I can, temporarily.”

  “How long?”

  She sighs, her brow furrowing. “I can give you five days, it won’t be possible to keep him… as is, for any longer than that.”

  “Five days then.”

  We walk on in silence for a while longer, and Saniya leads us deep underground. It’s quite a bit cooler beneath ground, but still not nearly as cold as it would be back home. She orders large blocks of ice to be brought into a small stone room, and Ero’s body is lain on a thin wooden cot on top of the ice.

  I kiss Ero’s forehead, readjusting his hair and crossing his arms over his chest, before backing out of the room as a large stone slab is pushed in front of the door to seal the cold inside.

  “Thank you,” I say softly, tears once again spilling onto my cheeks.

  Saniya wraps her arms around me and kisses the top of my head. “I can only begin to imagine the agony you’re going through right now. He was your lover?”

  “Yes.”

  “And the father of your child?”

  I grow stiff in her arms. “How did you know?”

  “Just a guess,” she says. “At least, I hoped as much.”

  “How—”

  “My queen,” Akachi’s voice echos through the stairwell down to us, “come quick!”

  “I’m sorry, Annalise,” Saniya says, releasing me from her embrace, “I must see what’s going on.”

  She
steps quickly up the stairs and I hurry to follow after her, Akachi is waiting at the top of the stairs and almost jumping up and down with excitement.

  “Hurry, follow me,” he says, beckoning us.

  “What is it, Akachi?” Saniya asks as we race to keep up with him.

  “You’ll see,” he says, leading us out of the small palace and through the garden to the main gate. “Look!”

  As we come to a standstill just at the entrance, there are a crowd of men waiting for us and they immediately turn toward us.

  “Saniya,” one of the men shouts.

  “Saniya!” the other men chant. “Long live Queen Saniya!”

  “What is all this excitement about?” Saniya asks.

  “All of our wives have given birth,” one of the men answers.

  “Oh,” Saniya responds with as much delight as she can muster, “many happy returns to all of you.”

  “Thank you, my lady,” another man says, “but that is not all.”

  “What do you mean?”

  The men all look around at each other and then one by one, they lift their tiny, newborn babes into the air. Saniya glances down at me nervously, unsure of what to expect next, but then she takes a bewildered step forward.

  “Your children…” she trails off.

  “All girls, my queen!”

  “How is this possible,” she gasps.

  “The curse is broken! Long live Queen Saniya.”

  She congratulates them and then we turn back to the palace, Saniya lost in thought.

  “If you don’t mind me asking,” I say carefully, “when did Maarika first visit?”

  “I…” Saniya trails off. “Now that I think about it, it must have been around the time my mother died giving birth to me. She was by my father’s side for as long as I can remember, before he suddenly disappeared.”

  “I think she was the reason your city was cursed.”

  “I believe you are right,” Saniya muses. “Then your Ero has done more for us in death than most will do in their lives. You are lucky to have had such a good man.”

  “Good men,” I say softly.

  “Ah,” Saniya gasps, looking rather smug at this, “I thought that might be the case. In that case, I doubly apologize for any crassness earlier, you have exceptional taste in men.”

  “I’m blessed to have them.”

  “I think it’s the other way around, dear girl,” Saniya laughs, “and the sooner you know that, the better.”

  Twenty-four

  Annalise

  Roan is up, dressed, and moving again by the time I get back to our room, much to my relief, and I run across the room to hug both of them tightly.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Much better, lass,” Roan says, giving me a sad smile.

  “Good,” I say, swallowing the tears that are trying to force their way out again, “because I need both of you to stick around for a very long time, okay?”

  “We’ll try—”

  “That’s not a request.”

  “Very well, Little Bird.”

  “As you wish, lass.”

  “Excellent, now where is a dragon when you need it?” I ask as brightly as possible, turning toward the door.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” Li says, catching my hand and pulling me back. “I took the liberty of searching him out while you were gone.”

  “Oh, and?”

  “And he’s ready to go as soon as you are,” Li says, leading me toward the balcony.

  “I’m ready now.”

  “Then so am I,” Avalon’s rumbling voice says in my mind as he suddenly touches down outside the bedroom.

  “Where have you been?” I ask, startled by his unexpected appearance.

  “I had to fly above the storm,” Avalon answers. “I apologize for what happened before, but I wouldn’t have been able to take you to that altitude without killing you. By the time I realized we could have flown away, it was already too late.”

  I eye him warily. “How do we know you won’t leave us like that in the midst of a real battle.”

  The dragon growls low. “I gave you my word, do not question me again.”

  “Okay,” I say, not wanting to lose what little help we still have.

  “Weren’t there four of you before?”

  “Yes,” Li answers quickly for me. “There was an incident with one of Damien’s allies.”

  “Here?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where is this ally?” the dragon snarls, “I’ll tear him limb from limb.”

  “She’s already been taken care of,” Roan says, “save your energy for the real battle.”

  “Speaking of,” I say, finally composing myself enough to speak, “there’s been a change in plans.”

  Li and Roan glance at each other anxiously.

  “What change?” the dragon asks.

  “We’re no longer going to make a slow approach,” I say.

  “Annalise—”

  I raise my hand to quiet Li. “I want us to attack fast and hard, while we have the element of surprise.”

  Avalon’s mouth turns up at the corners, his eyes sparkling. “Now this is a change in plans I can stand by. I shall do as you command; just say the word and we’ll take this Damien down in a flurry of smoke and fire.”

  “I have one more request,” I say cautiously.

  “What is it?”

  “After…after we are victorious in battle, I need to return here to collect Ero’s body. Would you be willing to help me in that quest?”

  “It would be my honor,” Avalon says in a solemn voice. “I should have protected you, it is only fitting that I help atone for not doing so.”

  “Thank you. Are both of you ready?” I ask turning toward Li and Roan.

  “As much as we can be.”

  “Good, then it’s about time we took back our kingdom.”

  “Our kingdom?” Li asks.

  “Yes. Now, let’s fly.”

  “Ero wasn’t kidding when he said Damien was draining the life out of everything,” Li mutters as he gazes down at the blackened earth below.

  “It almost looks like it was burned down,” Roan says.

  “No,” Avalon says, “what you’re seeing is the shadow-version of the world you’re used to. This is what happens when corruption and evil overpowers good.”

  “How can I possibly fix all of this?”

  “You can’t,” the dragon answers.

  “What?”

  “You can’t fix it,” he repeats, “you can only destroy it. New life will return in time, but we must first destroy the source, and then the roots will wither and die.”

  Death to bring about new life.

  Where as Ero’s life had brought joy and happiness into my own, his death had brought the same to Saniya’s city. If someone I loved so much could bring joy to others even in death, I can only begin to imagine how much good we will bring the world by ending Damien’s…

  It won’t be long now. One way or another, this is all coming to an end.

  “Annalise,” Li says, “are you sure you want to attack this way?”

  “Yes.”

  “We may be putting innocent lives in danger.”

  “They’re already in danger,” I retort. “I know the risks are great, but I’m done waiting for things to happen. I’m done bowing and tiptoeing around Damien and allowing him to rule over our lives even from afar. It’s our turn to strike first.”

  “Very well,” Li says, “we’ll be by your side until the very end, whatever end that may be.”

  “That’s already more than I could ever ask for.”

  “There’s no turning back now,” Roan says, pointing ahead, “isn’t that your castle—”

  A huge boulder rushes past us, barely missing us.

  “Wo can,” Li growls, “they’ve been expecting us! Avalon, evasive maneuvers!”

  Roan wraps his arm tightly around me as the dragon dives and winds his way through the air.

>   “How could he possibly have known we were coming?”

  I’m so angry, I could cry. Just when I thought we were finally going to have one win, it’s taken away from me before we’ve even had the chance.

  “Welcome back,” a dark voice speaks in my mind.

  My heart falters in my chest, I’d nearly forgotten the sickly feeling of Damien’s voice seeping into my mind.

  “Lass? What’s wrong?”

  I want to answer him, but I don’t know how.

  “Tell him,” the voice challenges. “Tell him I’m on your mind. Give him a taste of what you’ve come back to.”

  “No.”

  “Suit yourself, it won’t be long before I can show him myself,” Damien says. “Now, hurry home to me, wife. You have a great deal of time to make up for before it’s too late.”

  “You’re right, I do have a lot to make up for,” I growl back, “you being—”

  Damien laughs deeply, cutting me off before I have a chance to finish and vanishing from my mind.

  “Annalise, you’re as white as snow.”

  “Damien. He’s even worse than I remember.”

  “Of course,” Roan growls, “but this time we’re not going to let him get away with it.”

  “No, we’re not,” I say. “Dive!”

  Avalon drops through the sky as soon as the word leaves my mouth. We race toward the castle, and I can see archers stationed on the ramparts lighting arrows as we draw ever nearer. I only hesitate for a moment, but it’s long enough for the archers to release their first volley of arrows at us. One lodges itself between two of Avalon’s scales and he roars in pain. It’s just out of Roan’s reach as he tries to lean back to pry it loose.

  “I can’t reach it!”

  “Let go of me and take care of it,” I say, and then turn to look at him when he doesn’t move. “That’s an order.”

  He reluctantly releases me and shifts backwards to remove the arrow and toss it aside. Avalon dives again, and this time I don’t hesitate.

  “Fire!”

  The dragon breathes fire down on the ramparts and the men on them. I grit my teeth against the screams of agony, but my stomach twists painfully inside me.