by Zizi Cole
I forced myself to relax in his arms, so he would loosen his grip. Then I smiled at him. “Guess you will just have to find out.”
As he bent down to kiss me, my knee came up and connected with his groin. He dropped to his knees. I punched him in the nose, then smashed a small statue over his head. He hit the ground, face first. I raced over to the door and began to pull on it. I hoped that I could get the door open and be able to get out of there without any more damage. I knew that in a fight with him, I wouldn’t survive. He was bigger and stronger than I.
The door wouldn’t budge so I went back to him and began searching him for the key. I felt the key and my hand clasped around it when Greyson began to move and his eyes opened. He looked straight at me.
Grabbing my arm, he pulled me down to the floor with him, flipping us so that he was straddling my waist. He gripped my neck and spoke softly. “I’m going to enjoy killing you, bitch.”
His grip tightened, cutting off my air supply. I struggled, trying to get away from him, but it was no use. I was going to die under his hands in this dank room that my husband used to plan his evildoings.
I heard the door rattle, we both froze for a second. Greyson’s grip didn’t relax though. Then there was pounding on it as the person on the other side tried to get in. I attempted to call out for help, but nothing came out of my mouth, except for a croak.
The noise from the door stopped. I felt all hope flutter away like a distant memory. I felt my body struggling to live, but the will was slipping away. I was tired of fighting. I fought too long, to no avail.
Darkness encroached my vision as white spots began to form around everything. My arms were too heavy to hold up, my heart was struggling to push oxygen through my body. My lungs were burning with the suffering of not having any air to fill them.
My body went limp and my mind shut off as my ears picked up one more thing. The sound of something hitting the door. My last thought was, they are too late.
Chapter 6- Tobias
I heard the doorknob rattle as I had been passing to look for Malina. She hadn’t been in her rooms and I couldn’t find her anywhere. It was odd that she would just disappear when the castle was in crisis. It wasn’t sitting right with me. I hadn’t seen that wretch Greyson either.
I approached the door cautiously and listened for a moment. I didn’t hear anything, but my instincts were screaming that I needed to go in there. I turned the knob and nothing. The door had no give. I tried again. Nothing. I pushed on it with my shoulder, thinking maybe it was just stuck. It didn’t move an inch. It was locked.
I thought I heard something hit the floor, but I wasn’t sure. I kicked the door, trying to get it to open. A chill passed over me, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. My heart rate picked up. I felt the urgency to get the door open.
I kicked the door again. I felt the wood give an inch. I continued to kick it until the door burst open, splinters flying. The sight in the room made my blood run cold, then boil with rage. Greyson, or should I say Satan, was straddling Malina. Malina appeared to be dead. I couldn’t see her chest move with her breaths; her face was pale and mottled with red and blue. Her blue eyes were staring up at me, glassy, lifeless. They were bloodshot.
Greyson stood up, staring at me. He smiled slowly as my eyes traveled up to meet his. He stepped away from Malina, like she was nothing more than a pile of trash. I watched as he pulled a sword from a sheath and pointed it at me. “Let’s see what you got, Reaper.”
I pulled my sword out as well, and we began the dance of swordsmen. Thrust and return. The metal from the blades clanged together every time they clashed. All I could hear is the metal of the swords and blood thundering in my ears. I had one thought. Destroy who destroyed mine.
I’m not sure how long we continued our dance, but I became wary of it. I caught him off guard and knocked the sword out of his hands, then stuck mine in the wall. Kicking his sword, I knocked it away from him, so he couldn’t reach it. Then I attacked with my fists. Pummeling him, I had him on the ground across the room from Malina’s body.
The rage took over. I started to let out my aggression and anger. I felt his nose crunch under the force of one of my blows. I continued to hit him until he was no longer conscious. Once he quit fighting back, and was lying lifeless on the ground, I crawled across the room on my hands and knees, making a trail of blood behind me as I made my way to Malina.
I pulled her into my lap and held her close. I couldn’t believe she was gone. I had really lost her this time. There were no second chances. I ran my hand down her cool face and closed her eyes. I couldn’t stand to see them without her spark.
I lowered my head to hers and let myself feel. It was the first time I completely let go of my emotions in years. I was going to let the pain show, just once, then I was going to put my heart in a stone box, so it could never be hurt again. Tears escaped my eyes and dripped onto her ashen face.
“I’m so sorry, my love. I knew that I shouldn’t have left you alone, yet I did.” I kissed her forehead, trying to blink back the tears. I knew she wouldn’t want me crying over her, but I couldn’t help it. She was the only person I had ever loved. “If I could only have one more chance, I’d do it all over again. We’d run away the moment you brought it up, forget about packing anything. We would have had our lives to live and love. We may not have had riches or luxuries, but we would have been happy. Together. I am so sorry, Malina. Please forgive me.”
I didn’t hear the movement behind me until it was too late. The blade bit through my shoulder and the point came out the front of my shoulder joint. I stared down at the blade, uncomprehending.
Footsteps coming around my side told me I would have an answer soon. I looked up to see Greyson standing over us, smiling. There was blood running down his face, and his teeth were covered in it, but he still smiled.
I was defeated and knew it. Gently, I placed Malina’s body back on the floor and got to my feet. I was going to die, but I didn’t have to do it over my love’s already dead corpse.
“I can’t believe it. The Reaper, has fallen by my hand. All because he decided he had feelings for this shit of a woman. The great Reaper, the assassin of assassins has fallen in love and became weak. Pitiful. I will be glad to be rid of you, then I will be known as the best of the best.” He laughed. It was cold and calculating. “Now, kneel.”
I knelt in front of him, facing him. If he was going to kill me, I was going to look him in the eye as he did it. He walked over and pulled an axe off the wall. It looked as if it had been sharpened recently. He held it high and prepared to swing.
A loud pop sounded in the room. Blood blossomed on Greyson’s chest. He looked down at the wound, then back at me, confused. I had no idea what happened or where the shot came from. Another shot rang out, and half of his head disappeared. Blood and brains splattered all over my face. I continued to kneel, eyes closed, trying to keep the debris out of my eyes. I couldn’t help but wonder what fresh hell this was.
I heard the gun hit the floor. Footsteps and grunting caught my attention. Gentle hands wiped at my eyes, as Declan’s voice rang out. “Don’t move, Tobias. This is going to hurt like a mother fucker.”
He yanked, the blade slid out of my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see Malina lying on the floor, gun inches from her hand, but she was in a different position than I left her in. I frowned as I watched her fingers move and her head raise. My heart stopped. It couldn’t be. She was dead. I was sure of it. I had seen her lifeless eyes.
Her eyes opened, making direct eye contact with me. I stood and ran to her, falling on the ground over her. I scooped her up, holding her against me. She was warm. Her color was coming back. She was alive. I couldn’t believe it.
“Tobias, I can’t breathe,” she croaked.
I loosened my grip and looked down at her. Her eyes were still bloodshot, but she was returning to her regular milky complexion. I kissed her hard on the mouth. Her arms came up around my neck, and I could
feel them tremble. She was still weak from the attack.
“How?” I asked.
“I couldn’t let him kill you,” she whispered into my neck. “I heard you, but couldn’t talk. Tobias, you brought me back. I wanted to give up, but I had to keep fighting. For you.”
I was overwhelmed with emotion while I held her. I had been so afraid of losing her that it had stunted my performance. Now I knew that I couldn’t live without her, and I didn’t plan on living without her anymore.
The sound of a throat clearing caught my attention. I looked up to see Raynor, Declan, and Scarlet standing there.
“Sorry to interrupt your reunion here, but we have some things that need taken care of,” Raynor said. “Like a Pope outside the walls.”
I let Malina go and stood. Helping her stand with me. I could feel the blood running down my arm, and briefly worried about losing the arm. Those thoughts escaped me when I saw the bruising around Malina’s neck. I wished I could go back and kill Greyson again for that.
Scarlet grabbed my arm, forcing me to sit down so she could patch up the wounds on my arm. Then she went to Malina and cleaned her face up, so there wasn’t dried blood on there anymore.
“We need to find,” Malina stopped and swallowed before continuing. “Jacob, Duke of Windsor.”
“Already done, milady,” Raynor said.
Jacob entered the room. He looked around, eyes landing on Scarlet. He stared at her for a long moment, before slowly making his way to her. We all stood there watching, unmoving. He touched her face, fingers slowly moving over the ridges of the scars.
I glanced at Declan to see with surprised that he had his hands fisted and muscles were coiled like he was ready to strike at a moment’s notice. Malina stepped to him, putting her hand on his arm and shook her head no.
“You look so much like your mom,” Jacob whispered, pulling her into his arms. He hugged her, while she stood still, arms hanging at her sides.
She looked over at Malina, and made a signal. Malina smiled. “That is your father. Your mother had everything written down.”
Scarlet’s eyes widened; she turned to look back at Jacob. Then she threw her arms around him. He apologized to her for not knowing and helping before. “I promise though; I am here now.”
Malina stepped forward, took Scarlet’s hands, and looked into her eyes. “It’s time to finish this.”
Malina turned and looked at me; I gave her a slight nod. She was right. It was time to finish. I was ready to be done with this.
Screaming caught my attention. I glanced at Raynor and took off outside to find out what was going on. I made my way up to the wall walk and peered over to see a battle between the duke’s troops, who finally arrived, and the Pope’s troops. Soldiers were falling left and right. It was bloody and painful to watch.
I wasn’t sure who was going to win until black figures slipped out of the woods and began to emulsify the Pope’s troops. I noticed the Pope’s carriage was gone, so I was sure that he got away, but the battle would dwindle down soon.
I felt a hand on my good shoulder, and I turned to see Malina standing next to me, watching the battle below. She didn’t say a word. Didn’t need to. I slipped an arm around her waist and watched the fighting ensue.
It wasn’t long before the Pope’s troops retreated, so they could fight again another day. When that was over, we headed back inside, where all the remaining nobles were gathered in the ballroom.
Malina made her way to the front of the room, it fell silent and all eyes were on her. She walked up the steps of the dais and turned around slowly to look at the crowd. She stood, back straight, shoulders back, and looked absolutely stunning.
She spoke quietly, in her raspy voice. She needn’t to speak loud, since it seemed everyone was holding their breath, waiting for her to speak.
“I want to tell you what is going on. New information has come to light, that I need to share with you. First, everyone knows the laws about a king having to rule. Well, as one of my last actions as queen, I am abolishing that law. Our kingdom will now be passed down to the heirs, whether or not they are a man and married. We will go back to the old days, where the hierarchy was based on blood, not whether or not you have a penis.”
There was some grumbling, but no one spoke up loudly about the changes. I was thinking about what she said when it hit me. She said, ‘last actions as queen’. What did that mean?
She looked out at the crowd and nodded. I saw movement, then Scarlet, Declan, and Jacob approached the dais. Declan helped Scarlet up there, then followed suit. He stood behind her and slightly to the left.
“Now,” Malina continued. “I want to introduce you to your true queen, and heir to the Tiven throne, Scarlet. Scarlet is the daughter of Princess Amelia, Princess of Tiven and Sir Jacob, the Duke of Windsor.”
She turned and faced Scarlet. Carefully, she removed the crown from her head, and placed it on Scarlet’s. “I now, crown you the Queen of Tiven. Long live the Queen!”
Echoes of the sentiment rang out through the room, before I knew it everyone was chanting, ‘long live the Queen’. Scarlet stepped forward and began to sign with trembling hands.
Declan spoke, “The queen would like you to know that she will do everything in her power to ensure that you are treated fairly and with the respect you deserve. Over the next few months, she will be making changes to our bi-laws and codes, so they aren’t as harsh. Punishments will be dealt out justly and deserving of the crimes. She wants everyone to feel safe and loved in this kingdom. She is also going start to working with the other kingdoms, to restore everything to its former glory from before the wars.”
Malina walked off stage after hugging Scarlet and sauntered in my direction. As soon as she approached me, she grabbed my hand and pulled me along. She led me outside to the fountain.
We stood there, staring at it for a long time, neither of us speaking. I knew she was reliving the nightmares of what happened there. I wished I could take the pain from her. She turned and looked at me, tears in her eyes.
“There has been so much pain here. It’s been dark for a long time,” She placed a hand on her heart. “This has been dark for a long time. When I was lying on the floor dying, the only thing I could think about was you. How I hated the thought of leaving you on this cold, hateful earth alone. Then when I woke up and saw what was about to happen, I knew I couldn’t let it. Tobias, what I’m trying to say is, I love you.”
“I love you too, Malina. I always have, always will.”
She looked back at the fountain. “I wanted to share some light in one of the darkest places I know. I am also going with you.”
“What do you mean?”
She smiled. “When you leave, I am going with you. It’s already been decided. I am going to start training as an assassin. I have already okayed the play with Declan.”
“What?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Not only was she stepping away from royalty, she was going to join me in a life of darkness and murder. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”
She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Of course. Apparently, I have a knack for killing people.”
I chuckled. “Sweetheart, you do more than kill people. You help them live again.”
I kissed her. I couldn’t wait for our time to start together. As lovers. As husband and wife. As partners. As assassins.
Other Titles by this Author
The DAMNED Trilogy
Sweet Nightmares
Sweet Visions
Sweet Conflict
The Princes’ Collection
Afflicted
Stand-Alone
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep
Featured Anthologies
Through Their Eyes
War Cry
Capture
Mirror
Zizi was born in Kirksville, Missouri in 1985. She lived there most of her youth, until she moved to Brookfield in 2001. She attended college and obtained her Associates of A
pplied Science degree in Early Childhood. Later, she went back to college and received her Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resources.
Zizi resides in a small town in Missouri with her two boys and cat. When she isn’t writing, she likes to spend time with her boys and do some reading.
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