by A C Wilds
Black smoke blows out from the copper bowl, and images form. Nox and Uriel stand with a mage, a glowing orb between them. Uriel and Nox fight, their love splitting, that same mage taking the orb with him and jumping through a portal.
The vision swirls, then I’m in the citadel. Rahna is in her office with the mage. They argue about something, and then she slices him with Ira, her sword of wrath, killing him instantly.
She takes the orb for herself, then goes into her private spell casting chambers. I’ve only been in there once when she needed my blood for a spell. It makes so much more sense now.
Rahna strips her clothes off before laying on her altar. She sprinkles herbs around her stomach, chanting an incantation I’ve never heard as she positions the orb right above her lower abdomen. When she’s finished, the orb is absorbed into her body.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT!
Rahna is the witch who carried me to term. I have her DNA running through me. She’s my mother.
The vision then fades to Rahna pregnant and ready to give birth. Three Tenebris witches attend her as I’m born. My little body is covered in goo, my dark hair matted to my head. She takes me instantly, showering me with kisses and letting me nurse from her breast.
A swirl comes over the smoke, and suddenly I’m two years old and playing at her feet while she’s working in her office. I’m so happy. I’m babbling to her, and she looks down at me with a smile.
A tear drips down my face as I think about the love I had robbed from me.
The next scene is her casting a spell on me to erase my memories because when I look back at her, my face is blank. Tears fall down her face as she hands me to the witch, who was my nanny, until I could study with the other witches.
I’m brought back to Caedis’ apartment in New City, He’s agitated as he sorts through the copper bowl, then pulls a beautiful purple dagger out of the ashes. He holds it close to his chest. I hear what the Fates tell him like it’s in my head.
“She is yours, but not only yours. She will come when the blood and shadow come together. Find her, aid her, and mate her.”
We’re sucked back into the present, and I yank my hand back. I push off the couch, moving away from him in an instant. He knew. He knew everything. All the questions, more than I ever thought possible, he figured out with witch magic.
“Now you see I’m not lying. This isn’t something I take lightly.”
It’s not a threat, but it’s also not a suggestion. He wants this—feels /we should be together. His touch did something to me, but that vision was so powerful, so real.
He gets up from the couch and walks over to his bedroom area. I squint at him, readying a dagger in my hand in case he tries something, but he only steps over to the draw and pulls out a cloth.
He walks over to me and extends his arms like offering me a gift. My eyes flick over his face to see if this is a trick. When I see nothing but openness, I sheath my dagger and take the bundle of cloth.
I open it, sucking in a breath. It’s the dagger from the vision. Its hilt is filled with purple stones, but comfortable enough to grip. The blade is curved and honed to perfection. They infused the black onyx with purple lines. But I don’t understand what it means.
“It’s yours. It’s always been yours.”
And I don’t think he’s talking about the blade.
Twenty
ANIMA
The walk back to the room is a blur. My mind is pulled in three different directions. I clutch the dagger so tightly that I cut my palm before I trudge inside.
Four startled faces stare at me as if I’ve grown four heads, but now I know the real reason they look guilty—because they are.
“You sold me to the Death king.”
My voice isn’t pleasant. I’m burning with the need to hit something or someone. Namir comes up to me and tries to comfort me with his body, but I step away from him. I don’t want to be touched.
“It wasn’t like that. We were at war. Nox was nowhere to be found. I had to make a sacrifice to appease him. He’s a ruthless leader. We were all going to die. You weren’t even a possibility. I didn’t know you existed.”
Tears stream down her face, and Togmerin pulls her into his shoulder. Her confession does nothing to quell my anger. Sitting in this room with them is making me feel like I’m choking. I need to get away from them.
Throwing the balcony window open, I look down. It’s not far. I’ve jumped from worse. With one more glance at the room full of people I almost trusted, brought into my life, and considered family, I jump.
The wind blows my hair back, and I land with a soft thud on the dust-coated ground. The sun is no longer streaming down on me as harsh as before. The evening is turning into night, the cooler air pushing against my leathers.
I walk, having no idea where I’m heading. There is a thicket of trees tucked in one corner, but not enough to get lost in. When I round the edge of the palace, there are several buildings. One looks like the stables and another a storage unit.
The third is covered in a thorny vine. The only thing visible is the door. Never one to let a mystery go, I jog over to the strange building. Its brass handle is smaller than my hand, but the door opens easily enough when I push.
Inside is what I’d call heaven. Weapons of all kinds line the sides of the structure. Knives, blades, guns, and even a flame thrower. I get giddy walking farther in and touching all this hard steel.
A shooting range sits behind the studio, which has a huge hearth in the middle. Maybe this is where the smithy works?
I pull out my SIG and clean it with a cloth and gun oil I find on one table. As I go through the motions, I try to let myself relax. The movements of doing something that reminds me of my actual life are like a balm over my nerves.
I click the gun back together, then load it up before pulling a pair of earmuffs from the hook and stepping into the booth. Loading up the dolly, I send it back five hundred yards. I’ll start with something easy.
I slip on the plastic goggles on the podium, then aim for the bullseye.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
Three rounds in a row. I place my gun down as I flick the switch to bring the target back to me. One clear hole through the dead center.
“One out of three is good enough.”
I turn around to frown at Caedis. Still stalking me.
“That wasn’t one round.” I hand him over the paper, and he looks at it. The hole is bigger than his index finger. “It was three through the same hole.”
Smirking, I turn back around, sliding another paper on the rack and sending it out again. I put the safety on my SIG before placing it back in its holster and waving in the target’s direction.
Caedis smiles and picks up a 9mm from one rack. He takes his stance. His enormous frame practically takes up the entire booth. His jeans are formfitting, and his t-shirt hugs his back muscles like a second skin.
Now that I know the truth behind it all, I look at him with interest. It may not be a romantic interest, but I realize I want to get to know him. He’s been the only one during this whole ordeal who has been honest.
I don’t even hear him fire the rounds, just see his smile when he turns around to me, holding up the bullseye. It’s a blinding one, reminding me of true happiness.
“Seems like you met your match.” He beams, wiggling his finger through the giant hole.
I can’t help but return the smile. There’s not much I love more than weapons.
“What is this place? Besides the storage and the shooting range?”
I take off the goggles, leave them on the podium, walk out, and hang the earmuffs on their peg. He follows my movements and slips his hands in his pockets, looking around.
“This is my happy place when I’m here. I’ve always had a thing for weapons, and I guess I collect them?”
“You mean this isn’t a forge for your army? This is your personal collection?” I can’t keep the awe out of my voice. It’s not like I see a collection this big
every day.
With renewed interest, I walk around, touching everything. He has close to five hundred swords of all different types and models. There are guns hung on the walls, but some are in a glass case.
I run my hands over a few swords that look like they’re from before the world burned. When I lift one, I almost drop it. Fuck, it’s heavy.
“It’s a Viking broadsword. Those fuckers were huge and brutal. I’ve never seen an angrier group of people. Always fighting and fucking.”
He bites his lip on the last ‘f’ sound, and I have to shake my head to look away. His face isn’t like anything I’ve seen before. He’s beautifully dark. His black hair curls at the ends, and his eyes are the color of the greenest grass. His beard is barely there, but it contrasts nicely with his pale skin.
Stop ogling the Death king! You have a mate, I chastise myself.
“How long have you been visiting the Mortal Realm?” I place the sword down on the table with a clang, then make my way over to the rocket launcher. It’s a beauty, all dark metals and power.
“Since he created the humans. I was the one who showed them magic; hence why I’m Fallen.”
He says it in a matter-of-fact tone as if it no longer causes him pain.
“That’s why you knew Tenebris magic in the vision. You created it.”
He nods as he picks up the rocket launcher. “Want to fire it?”
A glint of mischief lights his face, and I follow him out of the building. The sky has turned pitch black, and I stop for a moment before I follow him.
“I’m going to make those trees explode.” He points, but I can’t see anything beyond him. I can only see around him because his skin glows a little.
“I can’t see a thing. It’s like someone permanently shut my eyes.”
“Use a spell. The foresight spell works, or you can use Namir’s sight.”
I stumble on something, but he catches me before I fall. Shrugging out of his grip, I’m grateful it’s too dark to see his face.
I start the enchantment and my eyes light up with their silver, making everything around me glow for a moment. Then the spell takes hold, and I am in awe of everything around me.
It’s like the entire world has lit up. In the dark, where the normal eye can’t see, is another world. Plants, trees, and animals appear.
“How is this possible?”
“You see the true Deathlands before he cursed it. It wasn’t always this decimated, but when the Creator cast me out, he wanted to punish the ones I loved, too, so he turned the demons and land I protected into a wasteland. They can only show their true selves at night when he’s no longer looking. It’s a spell I cast; it’s meant to hide the obvious.”
I say nothing. Instead, I take a walk. For the first time, I see what this realm is all about. The trees look like they’re coated in lime-green skin. The purple flowers bloom with an explosion of color, and the dust-coated floor is a neon yellow. It’s like I’m stepping into Wonderland.
“Let’s fire this thing,” he says, taking off into the woods.
“No! You can’t damage any of this,” I say, trailing behind him. His long legs make it hard for me to keep up with him.
“Don’t worry. It will grow back. This isn’t like the Mortal Realm.”
“In that case, can I fire it? Please.” The last word is out of my mouth before I even know what the hell I’m saying. I said please to the Death king.
His eyes sparkle with something other than curiosity, and his cocky grin makes me feel like I may have said the wrong thing—or maybe the right one.
He hands me the launcher, and the weight is unexpected. That’s twice I’ve shown weakness, and my teeth grit with the thought. I hoist it on my shoulder, steadying my stance.
“That’s the tree,” he says, pointing his long arm. I look through the scope. The image comes in clear. I reposition the launcher, so the tree is in the crosshairs. With a deep breath, I squeeze the trigger, exhaling as I go.
The kickback throws me into Caedis, who pushes me right back up so I can see the boom.
And it’s enormous!
The heat from the explosion caresses my face, giving me a slight sunburn. I drop the bazooka and jump up, raising my hand in the air and screaming out into the night.
“That was fucking amazing!” My adrenaline is hyped. I want to do it seven more times. “Do you have another cartridge?”
The Death king’s face is lit up as much as the tree he’s standing next to. His smile is from ear to ear, and the surrounding forest highlights the sparkle of the green in his eyes. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone this happy.
“You’re amazing. So much more than I gave you credit for. It’s surreal seeing you after all these years and then finally talking to you.”
He crushes my mood with his segway into being a stalker again. I adjust my leather vest as I clear my throat.
“It’s still not cool, you keeping tabs on me. It violates my privacy. Why not try to talk to me?”
He picks up the bazooka, examining it. This is not the Death king I was expecting. He’s so normal, so human.
“It wasn’t the right time. If I told you all I saw before you knew for yourself, would you have believed me? Believed that your high priestess was your mother and also the one who cast you out? I had to wait.”
“I wouldn’t have believed you, but then I’d have a choice. And it would have prepared me for this war. Regardless if Rahna is the witch who gave birth to me, I can’t let her shape the words. She needs to be stopped.”
“But now that you know, could you kill her?”
I swallow the lump that formed in my throat as I think about his words. Can I kill the woman who nursed me, cradled me, and loved me? Why did she give me up? Why not raise me as her daughter?
“I don’t know. Before, it was easy, but now it’s as if the complete story has changed. Killing her might not be something I can do.”
“If it comes to it, let me take the burden. I don’t want you to have to bear it.”
He looks to the sky, exposing his long, powerful neck. I don’t know what happened between him and the Creator, but I’m sure the betrayal he’s feeling is like mine. We love the ones who raised us, and they destroyed everything.
“I should get back. I didn’t leave Umbra on the best of terms.”
He chuckles. “She deserves your wrath. A demon assassin who is a demon herself. I wouldn’t guess in all my eons of living that I’d be mated to a female who has the power to kill me.”
I stop in my tracks to pull his arm. “We’re not mated. I’m mated to Torque. You know that, right?”
He sighs, but tugs my hand into his large ones. “I’m aware the Blood king got to you first, but understand that we can’t forget this. A fated mate doesn’t go away regardless of how many you have. It’s something I’ll have to accept.”
“What if I don’t want to accept it? I know nothing about you except you’re a stalker and the Death king. Who you are is still a mystery to me.”
“We’ll learn each other in time. Right now, our concern is stopping Rahna from taking the Bloodlands. Torque’s portal leads directly into New City. Once she has control of it, there will be no stopping her.”
His change of subject is like a bucket of ice water on my feelings. Rahna is our endgame, and we have to make sure Torque and his people survive.
“You’ll come with us then? To the Bloodlands to fight?”
He nods as he starts back to the castle. “Tomorrow, we portal to the Bloodlands. We’ll meet your mate and the other soldiers there.”
“They won’t be there. It’s only been a day. They had a week-long trip ahead.”
“Time in the Deathlands is faster than in the other kingdoms and realms. I’m a prisoner who can’t have anyone by his side. To watch the world go on without me being able to catch up.”
His saddened face makes me want to comfort him, but then I remember my place. He’s not mine to comfort. He can’t be mine, regardless
of what a vision told him. I have Torque, and he’s enough.
Twenty-One
The next morning, Umbra and her guys are seated at the table, talking in hushed tones. They set an array of food out before them, but I have eyes only for the coffee.
I pull the carafe to me, then pour the brown liquid into a large mug, adding cream. Umbra tries to speak, but I hold up my hand and take a sip, closing my eyes and relishing in the liquid of the gods.
Only after I feel the sleep monster inside of me subside do I open my eyes and address her. “We’re going to the Bloodlands today. Caedis has agreed to help us.”
“On what terms? What will we have to do for him?” Umbra growls, thinking she has the right to be angry.
“Nothing. He wants Rahna gone. He’s been up to date on everything that’s happened.”
“You told him of our plans?” Donaas snarls.
I sit up in my seat to place my coffee cup on the table. “Are you insinuating I disclosed classified information to someone outside of our team?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Laughing, I grab my mug up again. “You’ve mistaken me for someone else. I don’t break rank, lie, or steal. I follow commands and do what is best for my team. It’s more than any demon in this realm can say.
“I’ve been lied to and manipulated since the day I stepped into this realm. And people continue to do so. The only one who hasn’t lied and shown me the truth is Caedis. I’d think of that the next time you accuse me of giving away secrets.”
I slam the cup on the table, hot coffee sloshing over onto my hand before I kick my chair out and leave the room. I don’t care if I appear like a petulant child; I have every right to be mad. Fucking family.
The nuckelavees are tacked and ready when I enter the courtyard we were in yesterday, except there are many more soldiers. When we first arrived, the Deathlands were deserted. Now the courtyard is so crowded I can’t make out where one nuckelavees ends and the soldiers begin.
“Anima,” someone calls from the left. Turning in that direction, I see Caedis tacking up his horse. He’s dressed in fighting leathers with the Death coat-of-arms stitched on the front. A thin sheen of black onyx sits on his head like a crown.
