Witch's Reign

by Shannon Mayer

  The Bear had turned into a man, a big man, bigger than any I’d known since I was a child. He was big like a lion shifter big.

  I want to die. The curse swept through me again in a rush.

  I missed him completely with the swinging flail, and spun around with the momentum of the move. The Bear, now a man, lay on the snow, panting. Golden-haired, broad-shouldered, and when he lifted his eyes—a lion’s golden eyes—I stumbled back and would have dropped the weapon if it had not taken me in its hold. “No, it’s not possible.”

  “Daughter.” My father held his hand up to me and I couldn’t stop staring at him, at the blood soaking his skin and hair, at the desert sands around us, the cries of the dying and the taste of smoke on the back of my tongue. I blinked a few times. No, we couldn’t be back in the desert. That wasn’t any more possible than this truly being my father. My father was dead. Wasn’t he? Confusion rocked me and I put a hand to my head. Where was I?

  He pushed to his feet, wobbled and went to one knee, a hand around his middle, blood pouring through his fingers. “Daughter, please, help me. We can escape.”

  My father was dead. I knew he was. But this was so real, like I could reach out and touch him. Like he would hold me one last time. But it wasn’t him, I knew that. “I can’t.” But I couldn’t move either. His words and the image of the desert, of him injured again had frozen my feet to the forest floor.

  “You can help me, come here, daughter.” There was a snap of demand in his words that the cat in me wanted to obey, that the many losses of fights I’d had tried to remind me that I was supposed to be submissive. Not dominant, not alpha. I should lower my head and do as I was told.

  Like I did for Bryce.

  Like I did for Ish.

  Like I wanted to do for Maks.

  I shook where I stood, wobbled and took a step forward. He held one hand out to me, a hand I knew, that had wrapped my injuries as a child and held me close when I’d cried for my mother I’d never known. A hand that had never been raised to me in anger, though I’d given its owner enough cause to beat me senseless more than once. Father would never hurt me. I was his girl.

  The spell he wove grew tighter around me and I buckled under it.

  Someone shouted my name, tiny claws dug into my shoulder and a mouth jammed in my ear.

  “Zam, don’t! He’s stealing your memories and using them against you!” Tiny teeth cut into the edge of my ear, the pain slicing through the hold the Bear had on me.

  I drew a breath a split second before my fingers touched his. I forced my head up and looked him in the eyes, made myself stand up under an alpha’s gaze. Made myself feel the weight of it, and the disapproval of what I was.

  He stared right back, his mouth twisted in anger.

  His eyes full of hatred.

  My father had never looked at me like that.

  I yanked a kukri blade from its sheath and jammed it into his eye in a single fluid motion that took less than the beat of my heart from one pulse to the next. No hesitation. The tip of the kukri buried deep and I rode him backward as he roared. I pushed off, jamming the blade in until I could feel the back of his skull scraping against the tip.

  His body gave a jerk, a spasm, and I pulled the knife out, rolling to the side. I stayed in a crouch, breathing hard as I stared at the prone form of my father who was not my father. I had to still fight the desire to go to him, to let him hold me. He hadn’t shifted back into a bear form. Was this his true shape then?

  No, that wasn’t possible.

  He stirred, his body making a twisted snow angel, splattered with blood. Groaning, he rolled to his hands and knees, blood and white fluid spilling from the gouged-out eyeball.

  “Bitch,” he gurgled as he lifted his head to face me, shocking the shit out of me. How was he not dead? His one eye was wild with fury, pain, and I stared him down.

  “Not a bitch,” I growled. “That’s queen to you.”

  He roared, his whole body tensing as the sound rolled from him. I opened my mouth and screamed right back at him, the two cries clashing in the air. He’d impersonated my father, and tried to make me bend to his will. Tried to make me submit by using my nature against me.

  This Bear was going to be turned into a rug.

  “The flail!” Maks yelled from the other side of the Bear. “Use the flail!”

  The Bear—still in human form—twisted around to face Maks. They clashed as Maks raised the shotgun and pulled the trigger. The blast from the weapon rocked the Bear-man guardian back, slamming him in the chest, but didn’t drop him.

  I dove forward as the two men’s fighting intensified.

  “Help Maks!” I yelled up at Lila as I scrambled to prepare myself. To die, I wanted to die. The flail warmed and I could have sworn it was happy. I ran toward the fight in time to see Lila cut between Maks and the Bear-man. A hand shot out and grabbed her around the waist.

  She screamed, a howl that made my skin crawl with fear for her. I didn’t slow down, but instead sped up, spinning the flail for all I was worth once more.

  I want to die.

  “This way, bastard!” I yelled at him. He turned, Lila still in his hand. He was shifting back to his bear form. I could see the energy spike around him. I swung the flail right at his head. There was a moment where the shock in his eyes would have made me laugh. Like he couldn’t believe what was happening.

  Then the two spiked balls slammed into the side of his head. The first one hit his cheek and the front of his face, the second hit over his ear and directly onto his skull. A loud crack of bone, like the snapping of an ancient tree branch seemed to throw us all back. More like there had been an explosion versus a simple blow to the head. I sailed through the air, the flail’s handle still in my grip. I hit the ground, rolled and was back on my feet in a crouch, waiting for the Bear-man to get up.

  His form was unmoving on the snow. But he hadn’t moved the first time I’d hurt him either. Lila winged down to me and landed on my shoulder.

  “You okay?” I asked without looking at her.

  “Bruised, but dragons are hard to break. Even when they’re small.”

  I nodded and took a creeping step forward, then another and another.

  Maks was doing the same from the other side. He put a finger to his lips. I wanted to roll my eyes because, let’s be honest, either the Bear would hear us or he wouldn’t no matter how careful we were.

  Maks’s hair was mussed. Blood was on his face and he was limping, but otherwise, he seemed okay. At least he’d fared far better than when we’d dealt with the White Wolf.

  I leaned over the Bear-man looking for signs that he was dead. Like dead, dead.

  His hands shot up at me. One wrapped around my neck in a vise grip that instantly cut off my air supply, blood supply, and ability to think. I reached for the hands around mine as I got my feet under me and kicked at him, nailing him in the ribs.

  “I might die, but you’ll die too, bitch.” At least, I think that’s what he said. There was a pounding in my ears that I was fairly certain was my heart about to explode. I fought his grip but it was unbending, unending. Spots danced in front of my eyes as I bucked against him. But even I knew my efforts were dwindling, weakening. There was a roar of fury and pain and the hold on me tightened further. My fingers slid off the handle of the flail.

  And then just like that, it was gone, the fingers slipping from my neck.

  I fell to the ground, half on and half off his chest. I lifted my head to see Maks standing in front of me, his hand on the wooden haft of the flail, the two balls buried in the head of the guardian, splitting it like a ripe melon. My eyes were fuzzy from lack of blood, but I was sure, for just a moment, Maks was floating, like a vengeful spirit come to life, his eyes blazing with anger and his body shaking with adrenaline.

  “Maks, let go,” I whispered. There was no way he’d survive the flail drawing on his energy and life force.

  And then there was nothing but blackness as my eyes clo
sed and I slumped all the way to the frozen ground.

  I don’t really know how long I was out, but I caught bits and pieces of conversation between Lila and Maks.

  “I can’t believe the acid didn’t work on that Bear,” Lila murmured.

  Someone tightened their hold on me. “It’s okay, Lila. None of us knew what we were getting into there. And we’ve got farther yet to go.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The Ice Witch has an army, Lila. You know that, you said they killed dragon fledglings for their armor. She doesn’t just depend on the guardians out here. The army she has is wild ice goblins for the most part. Few people know about that last line of defense. Never mind what else she might have in the castle guarding her. She’s no fool.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I know a lot,” he said softly.

  I twisted to sit up and I realized I was in Maks’s arms, astride Batman. I blinked a few times, so close to Maks’s face that I could see the individual whiskers of the stubble growing in. When had he shaved last? I wasn’t even sure I’d ever seen him shave. Part of my head knew that the ideas roaming through my skull were a scattered mix because of the fight. The other part thought it was perfectly logical. Which was stupid, of course.

  “You have whiskers.” I reached up and touched his cheek. Maks looked down at me with both eyebrows raised.

  “I think we need to worry about more than my unshaven face.”

  I shrugged or what passed for a shrug in his arms. “I kinda like it.”

  Lila snickered. “Careful, or I’ll remember that I saw you two kissing.”

  Maks’s arms stiffened around me, and I leaned my head against him. “That was just a dream, Lila. Humans and supes don’t mix well. I would never do that. And Maks likes Darcy, if I recall.”

  He didn’t relax. In fact, he tensed further. There was something I needed to ask him about. Something to do with the flail, but my brain would not give me the words I needed.

  “We need to dismount, and stash the horses. We’re close enough to the White Raven’s territory that we need to think about more stealth. We should go in on foot from here out. Like you planned,” Maks said.

  Another male voice piped up. “I can help with that.”

  We both twisted to see Merlin standing in the snow not more than twenty feet away. Fury coursed through me so hot, it burned away any residual shock and dumbness from the fight. I scrambled out of Maks’s arms and dropped to the snow, hissing all the while. Balder and Batman danced sideways away from me.

  “You son of a camel! You tried to kill me. Are you back to try and finish me? Because if I’m right, you can’t use magic, which means I’m about to kick your ass!” I started toward him, wishing I could shift into a lion so I could bite his face off. If he thought I’d go down easily, he was dead wrong.

  He rolled his eyes. “I was not trying to kill you. You yourself had the thought that you needed to get rid of the shadow attached to you. I just helped that along. Ah, I see your human is still with you. That’s a bit of a surprise.”

  “You helped her by pushing her into the river, under the ice?” Maks snapped. “That’s a crock of shit if ever I heard one, mage.”

  Merlin gave Maks a tight, strange smile that I would almost have pegged as condescending, but it was there and gone in a flash. “The shadow spirit no longer follows her, which means the queen has lost her eyes on you. For the moment, at least. And don’t be rude, boy. You should know when one of your betters is talking to you, and that they shouldn’t be interrupted.”

  I stared at him, wanting to call him all sorts of names, but the reality was . . . I hadn’t felt the eyes of the shadow figure on me since the river. But I’d also lost my ring. Whatever was between him and Maks would have to wait.

  Lila flapped between us. “Are you sure, though? She didn’t actually die.”

  The warlock rolled his eyes. “The spirit had only to take his attention from her for a short time and then I helped him along. Sent him back to the haunt he came from.”

  “Why?” Maks threw the question down like a challenge. “Why are you really helping us?”

  “Oh, I’m not helping you, human.” Merlin drawled that last word and I wondered just what he was getting at. “I’m helping Zamira. She has a rescue to perform. A jewel to steal. A wall to break.”

  “Tell me Darcy is still alive,” I blurted out before I could think better of it.

  Merlin nodded. “She is, but she’s starting to give up hope, and with that, her strength wanes. And the Jinn are only hours away now. You have to hurry.”

  Maks made a strangled sound. “Hours?”

  Merlin gave him a nasty smile. “Yes, hours.”

  Maks stepped between us. “You’re trying to get us all killed.”

  “Well, not Zamira,” Merlin said softly. “You, on the other hand . . .”

  “Wait!” I put both hands into the air, my voice echoing between the four of us. “Stop it, both of you idiots. I don’t know what’s between you and I really don’t care.” I wobbled a little where I stood. “Here’s the deal. Merlin, you stash the horses for us on the banks of the river, a mile away from the castle on the far side of the river. Maks, you, me and Lila are going in as soon as the sun drops. We need the cover.”

  “I’m not going with you into the castle. I only said I’d get you to the castle itself,” Maks said. Which was totally opposite of what he’d just said only minutes before. Then he’d said we needed to stash the horses and find a way into the castle. As if he’d been coming with me. But no, the more I thought about it, he’d not ever explicitly said he’d go in with me. With us.

  And now?

  Not so much, apparently.

  The curse twisted around me and again I thought I could hear Marsum’s laughter against my skin, heating it, cursing me further.

  One companion gone now. Because I’d wanted him with me.

  Damn my cursed life.

  I twisted around and looked at him, shock settling into me. Of course, he was close enough, he could go now. He could escape, go back to the human world and forget we were trapped here. Just like the humans always did. Anger spilled through the hurt like water through the desert, finding the smallest cracks in my armor.

  “Right then. Off, you fuck,” I said and turned my back on him, choosing not to think about the stab of pain in the region of my heart. It was better this way that he left now, better that I not get any more attached to him.

  “And just how is that going to go?” Merlin said softly. “You don’t have a map.”

  My jaw ticked. “I saw the map back at the Stockyards. I was studying it as I study all my resources.” Goddess, I wondered if they could tell I was lying. I had no map. The only map had been with Kiara and Steve. And now there was zero time to go back, find Kiara’s horse, her saddlebags, and hope the map was there.

  Hours, Darcy had hours to live, hours before the Jinn showed up.

  Merlin arched an eyebrow and his lips twitched as though he held back a smile. “Sure thing, Zamira. Off you go then. Rescue your friends.”

  I took a step, then another and another. Lila dropped her head and whispered to me, “You don’t really know how we’re doing this, do you?”

  I shook my head.

  “I could scout,” she offered.

  I shook my head again. “We need the cover of the trees. The White Raven will see us otherwise.”

  There was only one way I was going to slip in and that was in my smaller form. For the first time in years, shame didn’t follow the prep for shifting. It caught me off guard. Maybe it had to do with seeing my mother, of knowing that she had strength in being tiny too. Or maybe it had something to do with Maks liking me. Maks not minding my smaller form.

  Nope, nope. I was not going there.

  Maks was no longer part of my life.

  End of that chapter of my story.

  I dashed the one tear that fell from each eye before it froze to my skin.
<
br />   Chapter Eighteen

  I didn’t even wait to get to the trees before I stepped through the doorway in my mind that took me from two legs to four. My weapons and clothes worked themselves into a collar around my neck, bigger than I’d ever had before. But then that could be the flail’s doing. It was only then I realized it was still with me, reattaching itself to my back like it belonged there.

  I swallowed hard. Why hadn’t it taken Maks down?

  Lila dropped to the ground and trotted alongside me, keeping up easily.

  “I can’t believe Maks just abandoned us,” she said.

  “You said it yourself,” I flicked my ears trying to pick up on the sounds of anything that might do us harm, “he’s a boil.”

  “A toad,” she whispered, and I thought perhaps her voice hitched. “But I kinda liked that toad.”

  “Yeah. Me too. For a human, he wasn’t so bad. But he’s better off leaving now and not ending up on the end of an ice goblin’s spear,” I said. But I didn’t slow. We had just ducked under the canopy of the trees when the shush of feathered wings above us dropped me to my belly. I flattened on the ground and burrowed under the snow. With a grumble, Lila followed suit.

  Let her find us, I thought, and the curse tightened, then relaxed.

  I peered up through a break in the snow to see the shadow of a bird float above the treetops. Sure, the Ice Witch might not have a shadow attached to me anymore, but we did just kill her Bear.

  That had to give her at least a place to start when it came to tracking us. I breathed out slowly as the shadow faded.

  Lila burrowed out first. “You know, we have killed the first two guardians. Why not just take out the White Raven and then we can go in clean?”

  “Because.” I shook my coat to shed the loose snow and then broke into a trot.

  “That’s not really an answer,” she said. “Because why?”

  “Because that White Raven is not just any raven. Because that Raven is known to scoop people up and climb through the clouds where she tears their bodies apart so it rains blood. She’s like facing a dragon, Lila, and I can’t do that. Neither can you.” I glanced at Lila. “There are rumors that she eats dragon fledglings. That the dragons would eat her if they could but never are able to catch her. That there is some power holding the dragons out of her territory.”