by Ciara Graves
“You’re an asshole.”
“Sorry, had to be done.”
She shrugged her shoulders, grimacing as she reached around to her exposed back. “Guess we should try to get the hell out of here.”
“Might not be a bad idea.”
“Remind me later to kick your ass for getting us into this mess in the first place.”
“I didn’t know what your brother planned on doing. Being close to Rudarius before we were ready was not part of the plan.”
“Well, I hope you have a plan now. Between Rudarius’s attacking vampires and the fae in this castle, we’re surrounded by enemies. Apparently being a princess doesn’t do shit for you if you’re tainted.” She hissed sharply, shaking her head.
“Seneca,” I started, but then she glared at me, and I swallowed back whatever I was going to say. She studied me with a curious look that said we were going to have a very long discussion later if we got out of here alive.
I tossed an idea out. “We should make for the main floor at least, see if we can’t sneak out in the chaos.”
“Right, because that won’t get us killed.”
“If you have a better idea, I’m listening.”
She bit her bottom lip then motioned us onward. “Let’s get moving before we’re caught.”
Shane led the way, and Seneca fell in behind him. Every few steps, she shrugged her shoulders, cursing under her breath as she reached around to her torn shirt.
Each time, I found myself looking at those horrid scars, the way the skin around them appeared burned. Where her wings had been torn from her back, the skin was puckered and red, twisted in knots.
We reached the bottom of the steps leading to the main floor when I caught Seneca’s arm.
“What?”
I removed my shirt and handed it to her. “Here.”
Some of the rage slipped from her face as she took it.
It was hard not to miss her eyes flickering down my chest and abs with an impressed arch of her brow. What could I say? I was built.
She glowered. “Turn around, both of you.”
Shane and I did as she asked. I heard her shirt hit the floor then some shuffling around. She said she was good, and we turned back around. She nodded her thanks and crept up the steps.
Shane shot me a look, but I hissed at him real low, and he held up his hands, as if saying he was backing off.
I was sure I’d get shit for that move later, but if we were going to get in a fight, Seneca could not be distracted. That’s what I told myself, anyway. Not that I did it because I felt sorry for her and hated seeing her uncomfortable. Or that those scars deeply disturbed me. Seneca was not the fae I’d first assumed her to be. Not even close.
At the top of the steps, she held out her hand to stop us, peering around the wall.
“Guards?”
She shook her head, frowning. “No one.”
“No one at all?”
“What I said, isn’t it?” She took another step forward then another. “Something’s wrong.”
I was about to ask her what when the whole castle quaked on its foundations and crumbled around us.
“Go.”
Seneca and Shane sprinted ahead of me, the stairs we’d been standing on giving way and falling into the dungeon as I reached the top. I leapt forward, and a hand grabbed hold of my arm, yanking me away from immediate danger.
I expected it to be Shane, but it was Seneca, dragging me along through the corridors as more walls broke apart and fell around us. Sounds of fighting filled what remained of the castle, and as we stumbled into what used to be the great hall from the looks of the scattered tables and chairs, we skidded to a sudden stop.
Vampires and fae were locked in combat from one end of the room to the other. Bodies littered the floor, fae mostly. More vampires poured in through the hole in the side of the hall and beyond them came a bright flash of red light.
“Get down!”
I grabbed Seneca and pulled her to the floor as Shane hit the stones beside us.
The red blast shot over our heads and into the wall, creating another massive hole. The same red blast I saw come from fae rings worn by Rudarius. If he was here, we couldn’t stay.
I was about to tell Seneca we needed to find another way out when a vampire locked eyes with me. He hissed and flung himself at me, taking me right back down to the floor.
I bashed my fist into his face, rolling us over, so I pinned him to the floor. I beat at him over and over until he stopped snarling and went limp beneath me.
Seneca shouted a warning, but when I turned around, grabbed the vampire by the shoulder and flung him backward.
He rolled back to his feet and blurred at her. They fought viciously, moving almost too fast for me to keep up.
I rushed to help her, but she grabbed the vampire by the head and twisted.
A sharp crack told me she broke his neck and his body collapsed. It wouldn’t keep him down for long, and more vampires kept on coming.
The fae shouted a retreat, someone else yelling for the King and Queen to get to safety.
“Seneca.” Marlie rushed toward us, sword in hand and covered in blood.
He had three guards behind him, all of whom raised their swords to us until he ordered them to aid the others in retreating from the castle.
“You must come with me, quickly. All of you. Rudarius’s forces are overrunning us.”
“Why the hell would we come with you?” Seneca looked like she was ready to attack Marlie.
Not that I condoned anything that had occurred because of her family, but now was not the time for her to duke it out with her brother.
The castle shook again as if it was ready to come crashing down on our heads.
“Would you rather stay here and be captured by Rudarius?” he challenged.
She hissed at him.
I stepped forward, putting myself between them. “Do you have a way to disguise us or not? I’d prefer we don’t get attacked by any more of your guards.”
He eyed my shirtless appearance with a raised brow, and I suddenly had the urge to deck him. His gaze flickered to Seneca, who was wearing my shirt, but he nodded. “I do. I don’t ask you to trust me, but you rescued me from Rudarius. Let me return the favor.”
“We don’t have another choice,” I told Seneca as I glanced back to find her with her arms crossed, shaking her head. “Well?” I asked as I turned back to Marlie.
“Follow me. Stay close.”
Seneca seemed reluctant to get going, but more vampires were coming toward the wall, and I shoved her after her brother. She glowered at me, but whether she liked it or not, we were at Marlie’s mercy. He led us through the ravaged castle, sprinting past other fae and guards, all fleeing the destruction and the army bearing down on us.
Marlie made a sharp right and directed us into what appeared to be an armory of some sort for the guards here. He grabbed three of the heavy violet cloaks and tossed one to each of us.
“This?” I held up the cloak in disgust. “This is your great plan? We’ll be seen.”
“No you won’t, not with the madness happening right now. It’s the best I can do.”
The castle shook violently, and a roar like a wild beast made us cringe.
“We don’t have time to argue. Put them on. We’ll fall in with everyone else that is retreating.” He scrambled around and grabbed one of the fae undershirts too and tossed it to me. “Cover yourself.”
“I’m sorry, do I make you uncomfortable?”
“You are in the presence of a princess.” He stood toe to toe with me as if he was at all intimidating. “You will dress accordingly.”
“And the fact that she’s wearing my shirt doesn’t bother you at all.”
“That is another matter, for which I will scold you for later.”
“You’re not even going to ask why?” I scoffed as I tugged on the shirt and then draped the cloak around my shoulders, knowing full well Seneca could hear us both.
“At least I had the decency to offer her something to cover her back, instead of having to expose the horrors she endured to everyone she passed. Something you should have done the moment it happened, instead of standing around gawking with everyone else. She is your sister. Perhaps you should learn to take better care of her.”
My anger wasn’t just from Seneca’s scars being exposed as they were, but for everything that happened since Marlie dragged her here. She was tormented by Rudarius, turned by a vampire, all because her family left her in the human realm. And then they had the nerve to call her tainted. It was beyond appalling and the longer I looked into Marlie’s green eyes, so filled with light, where his sister’s were filled with darkness, the more I wanted to rip his throat out.
Marlie adjusted his grip on his blade, but then Seneca was there, getting between us. “Save your pissing contest for later. Let’s move, now.” She covered her face with the heavy hood and motioned for Marlie to get his ass moving.
His lip twitched at me once more in disgust, then he turned, and we kept right behind him, falling in with the rest of the fae rushing from the castle.
I held onto the edges of my hood, ensuring it stayed in place as we met up with the captain of the guard and the rest of the soldiers who survived the assault. All of them were bloodied and haggard, though the fight hadn’t been going on for long.
The unnatural darkness caused by Rudarius only made the situation seem even more dire.
“To the trees,” Marlie called out. “Fall back! The King and Queen. Did they make it out?”
“Yes, Prince,” the Captain told him, eyeing the three of us suspiciously. If he suspected who we were, he said nothing. “You must go, quickly. We’ll bring up the rear.”
Marlie took off, and we were running once again into the forests that surrounded the castle.
We climbed a steep hill, meeting with more and more fae who had already fled.
At the peak, we paused long enough to witness the final destruction of the castle.
Marlie cursed, while other fae cried out in horror at seeing their home destroyed.
The vampires’ cheering reached our ears, and another bright beam of red light shot up into the sky.
Rudarius.
He’d claimed the first fae kingdom, and there wasn’t a chance in hell he was stopping with that.
“Come,” Marlie told us, “we have a safe haven in these woods. We’ll regroup there.”
“And then what?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” He looked lost as he said it. “That is for the King and Queen to decide.”
“The other kingdoms, you have to warn them of what’s coming. They’ll use their armies to fight back.”
“Clearly you haven’t been in Otherworld in a very long time.”
“What do you mean?”
“The three fae kingdoms are not allies. Not anymore.” He glanced at Seneca sadly, as he added, “It’s part of the reason our parents sent her to the human realm in the first place.”
Seneca tilted her head, clearly listening, but she didn’t ask him anything about what the other reason was.
“What happened to tear the kingdoms apart?” I asked.
“Politics, like always. Otherworld has changed. The fae kingdoms have been at each other’s throats for years now.”
“But with the vampires attacking, they’ll put all that behind them, right? Rudarius won’t stop with just one kingdom. He’ll keep coming until he kills all the fae. It’s what he’s been planning forever. It’s why he started by wiping out the mages.”
“I understand how serious the situation is, I do,” Marlie said. “But none of them think vampires will ever topple the fae kingdoms.”
“If they don’t believe, why do you?” I asked as we trudged up another steep hill. “Why were you in the human realm to begin with?”
“As I told Seneca, Macron came to me. He said I needed to find her. I’m just sorry I was too late.”
“Sure you are,” she hissed.
“Seneca.” Marlie reached for her, but she pulled away.
When he tried again, she whirled around and grabbed for his throat.
“Do not touch me,” she seethed. “You are nothing to me, understand? Nothing.” She shoved him aside and sped up, getting as far away from him as she could.
Luckily the only fae beside us to see her outburst was the captain and he merely glanced at his Prince, waiting for direction.
“She needs time,” Marlie said, rubbing his throat.
“No,” I corrected. “She needs revenge, and she’s been unable to get it for too long.”
“You talk as though you know my sister better than I do.”
“When was the last time you saw her? She doesn’t even remember you.”
“You’re a vampire.” He held out his sword to stop my forward movement. “I don’t care what you think you are to her now, the moment we no longer need your help to deal with Rudarius, you’re gone, understand? You will not interfere in her life.”
I looked at the sword, then at him. “I will do whatever Seneca wants me to do.”
“You’re using her. You told me so much yourself. Nothing’s changed.”
“You sure about that?” I grabbed his wrist and moved around him, not even sure where those words came from.
Nothing should have changed. I needed Seneca and her power to stop Rudarius, now more than ever, since he was already moving against the fae kingdoms.
It was only the beginning, but I found my plans shifting from using Seneca to helping her instead. I shouldn’t care, but I did. She was beyond a broken soul, and if no one helped her, she’d fall further than I ever did. She would become the villain Rudarius attempted to turn me into.
If she gave into the darkness, if she let herself become the monster, she could become unstoppable. There was a damned high chance she’d be worse than Rudarius even. Out futures were certainly connected, and I realized suddenly the tables had just been turned on me. The face I’d worn for too many years fell away, and the old Draven came rushing back. The one who used to give a damn about Otherworld and everyone who lived here.
As we walked on through the night that was never going to end while Rudarius was here, I kept a close eye on Seneca’s back.
She was going to snap, and I feared for whoever stood too close when she did.
Chapter 2
Seneca
It took a couple of hours before we caught up with the rest of the fae who escaped from the castle and the surrounding town that had been attacked first.
I stayed to the outer edges of the makeshift camp, watching as Marlie spoke with the captain, directing guards to watch posts. More fae were tending to the wounded, while some gave last rites to those who hadn’t made it.
My brother had taken me out of my mostly quiet life, quieter life, and dropped me right in the middle of a freaking war zone with people who hated me because of what I was. The safe haven Marlie spoke of was inside what used to be some sort of massive fort. The walls were useless against keeping the enemy out, seeing as how they were broken and fallen in. There were no guard towers, the armory had long since been emptied, and the stores depleted.
The only thing it did was give all these refugees a false sense of security. Rudarius’s forces could overrun them here in a matter of seconds if he decided to pursue us. Even the main structure had long since been reduced to piles of scattered stones.
Several fae passed, and I lowered my head, keeping the hood pulled down low.
Shane and Draven were nearby, probably more worried than I was that we would be spotted at some point and tied up, or worse, killed.
After a while, I considered our chances of sneaking off into the trees without anyone noticing. The moment we were found out, there’d be a fight. Most of the time I’d be alright with getting my knuckles bloody, but there were too many guards for me to take on at once. Yep, leaving as soon as possible was our best option.
“Don’t,” Draven said, as if
reading my mind.
“I wasn’t going to do anything,” I muttered, tugging the cloak around me tighter.
“Bullshit. You go out there, you could run into Rudarius’s vampires. Or him. Is that what you want?”
“Staying here surrounded by people who hate me is what I don’t want.”
“Not everyone here hates you,” he said so quietly I almost missed it.
I wanted to ask him what he meant, but then the captain approached, with several guards at his sides.
I braced, waiting for them to attack until Marlie stepped out from behind them. “Seneca, would you come with me, please?”
“Why? Going to throw me in another prison? Want to show off any more of my scars?”
The guards and the captain stiffened. So these fae had been there when my back was exposed. Perfect. I ground my teeth, fighting the urge to hiss at them all. None of the others knew we made it out of the castle yet and I wanted to keep it that way. Attacking my brother right then would be a dead giveaway. Sadly.
“No, and I am sorry for what occurred back there.” He lowered his gaze for a moment, but his sympathy felt anything but genuine. “I need you to trust me.”
I laughed harshly, then spit at his feet. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m your brother—”
“Now, you’re my brother. Where were you before, huh? Where? You are nothing to me. You got that? Nothing at all, so don’t you dare stand there and tell me I mean so damned much to you. Your guards won’t move fast enough to save your life.”
The captain and all the guards immediately drew their swords, but Marlie raised his hand.
“My Prince, she cannot threaten you like that.”
“She can, because she is as much in command of you as I am.”
The captain bristled. “I will not listen to any words she says.”
I arched my brow at Marlie, but he just sighed. “I need you to come with me, Seneca. There isn’t much time. Our parents need to understand what’s going on with Rudarius and you need to learn why you were sent to the human realm. Please?”
I would never admit it to him, but I was dying to know why they gave me up when I was a baby.
