They started running.
They ran as fast as they could, Noelani and Westin obviously frustrated at having to keep pace with the others.
They weren't fast enough.
Leo felt the walls brush the sides of his arms, getting tighter, and still there was no end in sight.
Ahead, Westin, the broadest of them, had turned sideways, the walls already too narrow for his wide frame.
"Noelani!" Leo yelled. She turned back and met his eye, saw the plan there.
"Yeah!" She called back. And then they were both channeling Leo's Gift, sending it surging through the chain of their friends' linked hands. Westin had just let out the first grunt of pain when Leo's Gift reached him and the walls continued to close, sliding through his body without harm.
The sound of stone against stone was all that could be heard as the walls closed completely. Still, they kept moving, all of them trapped inside of solid stone, their molecules lighter than the rock around them, keeping it from crushing them.
They kept moving, kept pushing forward through solid stone. Leo knew that his Gift was the only thing allowing them to survive. Without it, they would have been crushed between the closing walls. Like the final alligator that had been leading them had been crushed, its bones piercing its skin. Leo also knew that if they didn't find the end soon, his Gift would start waning. If he reached the bottom of his power, they would solidify there, trapped inside the stone walls forever, bodies and sediment becoming one.
He felt the coppery tang of blood in his mouth, felt the lightheadedness that accompanied using too much of his Gift. It helped having Noelani there to share the load, but it was still difficult. Still a struggle to maintain the group's intangibility as they kept going, looking, hoping, for a way out.
Leo felt the trickle of blood in his nose. His vision dimmed as darkness crept in from the edges.
But part of him knew that this was why he was here. Knew it was his Gift alone that kept his friends alive. Kept Seph alive. He would keep it up, keep them going even as his breath began to burn and rattle in his lungs.
For the first time in his life, Leo had someone in his life that he would suffer for. Someone he would die for, if it meant they would live.
Finally, finally, the end came into view. Just a little further.
They burst out of the stone, emerging from the wall one by one. When the last of them made it through, he finally let go. His knees shook, threatening to buckle. Blood dripped from his chin as he sank against the wall.
They had emerged into a large cavern, lit by flickering green torches that gave the already ominous cave an eerie vibe. In the center sat a large, stone sarcophagus, the rock etched with carvings of war and death. Large chains wrapped around it, securing it shut as if whoever had closed it never want it to open again.
After catching his breath, Leo looked up to find everyone standing around him. The gratitude in their eyes was almost enough to bring tears to his eyes. Almost.
Kian cleared his throat. "Thank you. You saved us all."
Westin coughed, his eyes suspiciously bright as he rubbed at his arm, "Yeah. Thanks."
Noelani grinned, "Aww, congratulations, Tiger, you earned your stripes."
Leo arched a brow, "I didn't earn them when I saved your sister from being sucked into the ground by an oversized groundhog?"
She rolled her eyes, "Jo would have found a way out of that." Although she was obviously trying to keep the conversation light, gratitude still shone clearly in her eyes.
"Well, isn't this touching?"
Their heads all snapped toward the voice that spoke from the other side of the tomb they had emerged in.
Noelani and Jo let out a gasp as the King of Ettria stepped out from the shadows.
Chapter 39
Sunny
Writhia, 5220
The Wastes
He was there. There with them. He'd found them.
The king stepped from the shadows, a smug smile stretched across his harsh face. The face from her nightmares. The face she would never forget.
Sunny's heart picked up speed and all at once a tingling awareness crawled its way down her spine as her body responded to his presence. She could feel him there, feel the aura of satisfaction that radiated off of him, and she knew that if she closed her eyes, she would be able to sense his exact position in the chamber, no matter where he went.
It was similar to the Match bond, but instead of harmonious peace her body went to war with her mind. Even through her brain screamed at her to run, her foot still inched forward a step as if being called to him.
She felt the group's eyes on her, Westin's panicked confusion, and she frowned down at her feet as she realized she was now a step ahead of everyone else. When she looked back up, her eyes were drawn to Azmodeous' against her will, the king's smile was triumphant.
Jo's sharp inhale alerted Sunny to her fear as she caught on to the fact that, though incomplete, her bond with Azmodeous was still giving him control over her in some way.
Sunny wanted to act. She wanted to lash out with her whip, with her words, and wipe that stupid smile off his face. She wanted to have a witty comeback. Wanted to strut forward with a display of strength and power. Unaffected.
But instead she was frozen. Her feet were glued to the floor, her limbs too heavy to move. A deep trembling began in her bones. Instead, she was afraid. And her fear, in that moment, made her powerless.
Next to her, Westin stiffened, and she knew that he could feel it. Her fear.
Azmodeous' gaze zeroed in on her, taking in her clenched fists and stiff legs. His mind brushed against hers in a long, sensual sweep. "It isn't very wifely of you, Eleyna, running from your Match like that."
Westin's growl echoed through the tomb.
The king let out a dark, unhinged sort of chuckle. Anger, laced with insanity, flared in his pale eyes as they shifted to Westin. "You. For an assaulter, you're awfully protective of my Match."
Westin blinked in confusion. Sunny let out a shuddering breath as that confusion gave way to understanding. As he realized what the king was insinuating.
His voice trembled with rage when he spoke, "The only assaulter here is you, the man who can't keep a woman even when he has her under lock and key and mind control."
Sunny could feel both Westin and the king's fury practically fill the cave. The sharp angles of Azmodeous' face distorted into something dark and insidious as Sunny felt his mind latch onto Westin's. As she saw the image he shoved into her Match's mind. Into all of their minds.
The scene showed Sunny kneeling on the hard, black marble floors of the king's bedroom. She looked up at him with adoring eyes, clad in only one of those ridiculous nighties he forced her to wear. "I can't wait to be your queen, my king," her tone was low and dulcet when she spoke. And then, the king was taking her hand, bidding her to rise before pulling her into his lap. She straddled him, the two of them kissing hungrily, passionately.
Next to her, Westin's breathing turned ragged as he clutched his head in his hands, his eyes squeezed tightly shut as if that would somehow block out what the king was forcing him to see.
Panic froze her heart as Sunny reached for him only to jerk back at the last second, hesitant to touch him. "Westin. Westin it's not real!" Her voice came out high and frantic. "Westin, listen to me, it's not real. He's making it up."
She wasn't sure if it was her voice that finally got to him or if he felt the truth through their bond, but his grip on his head finally loosened, his arms falling limply to his sides.
As Westin turned to her, she was ready for that old anger to be back in his eyes. The hatred. The disgust.
Instead, there was only understanding and relief there. As if he understood exactly why she had made up that horrible lie and was glad she had done it.
The understanding there, the utter acceptance, thawed the fear in her veins enough for her to find the courage to speak.
"Westin would never," she said, quietly but fie
rcely.
The king's eyes flew to her, widening. "Don't you understand? I'm disgusted by you. It was a lie. To keep you away from me. I would have died-I will die-before I ever let you touch me like that."
He flinched back as if she had slapped him. "But what about all we shared? What about when you danced for me, Eleyna?"
Sunny's teeth ground as he hurled images at her mind. Her, half naked, dancing for him. His eyes memorizing her movements, taking away everything that had ever made them special. The time she had forced herself to kiss him so that she and her sister didn't have to suffer the painful consequences of whatever mistake they had made. She couldn't even remember now what it was.
The images cut off as the solid shapes of Jo and Westin appeared before her, blocking her from Azmodeous' sight. She felt Jo's mind spring for the king's, batting it away from Sunny's thoughts with enough force to make him flinch.
His head whipped up, his glare landing on Jo. "That is enough, Josephine," his tone was admonishing. That of a parent scolding a child.
Sunny felt his Gift swell around them, rising with his anger.
"Why are you even here?" Jo asked. Though her voice was soft and full of venom, Sunny could feel her fear, the stark terror that flowed through her. The way it froze her so that she had to force her mouth to move, force her voice to remain low and calm as she addressed her father.
The king chuckled darkly, "Who do you think brought you here?"
"Seren had a vision," Sunny said quietly, but her voice was unsure.
Now, the king threw his head back and laughed, as if he was enjoying himself. "And who do you think gave him that vision?" He laughed even harder at their dumbfounded expressions. "Thanks to our bond, my love, it was not difficult for my power to reach the young Watcher's mind through yours." He tsked, glancing at Seren. "So much potential, but so little ambition."
Sunny sensed Seren withdraw into himself, his guilt eating at him. Sunny wanted to tell him that it was okay.
She didn't blame him. It had seemed so real, she had believed it, too. But he looked away, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.
"You were always going to end up here, girls, whether you stayed or ran, this was your final destination."
"Final?" Sunny asked while the group shifted uneasily.
Azmodeous smiled a snake's smile. And that's when they were ambushed.
A loud rumble shook the tomb around them as the rock ceiling above them opened, and soldiers poured through. As she took in their specialized dark clothing and wickedly sharp weapons, Sunny realized these were no normal warriors.
She felt it then, their Gifts were so much more powerful than that of the average soldier. One of them had the ability to control stone and Sunny knew they could bring the tomb crashing down around them.
The soldiers-most likely assassins-landed in a circle around them. Even with Westin's speed coursing through her veins, Sunny barely had time to blink before one of them was behind her, the edge of a sharp blade pressed against her throat.
Her Gift surged, reaching out, reaching to grasp any of the Gifts around her, but it was quickly pushed down.
There was a Queller among their guests. A strong one. Her friends struggled against their captors and the power of the Queller and Sunny's eyes found Jo's. Almost imperceptibly, her chin dipped in confirmation. Sunny let her shoulders relax. They would wait, then, for the right time. They had one shot, it had to be perfect.
Jo let loose a deep breath before looking up at Azmodeous with wide, blue eyes. "Why did you lead us here, Father? Why are you doing this?" Her normally soft voice was even softer, almost childlike as she spoke. Even as Sunny felt her mind reaching for the king's, looking for a way in.
As the king started to frown, Sunny brought his attention to her. "My king," she pitched her voice low and his pale eyes were bright as they turned their attention on her. She smiled a shaky smile, the smile of a woman attempting to gather her strength. "What do you have planned for us?"
The king smiled a bit, softening his hard face the tiniest amount. "It will be alright, Eleyna. I just need a bit of your blood and Josephine's, and then it will all be over. You'll see, just a bit of blood and I can give you everything you've always wanted. He's promised it to me. Together, with him, we will have all of Writhia at our fingertips."
Sunny fought to keep the blood from draining from her face at the manic gleam in his eye. She was almost afraid to ask, "Him?"
His smile grew, his teeth gleaming, "You'll see, Eleyna, you'll meet him soon enough. We'll all be together again."
Suddenly he whirled, his face contorted with rage as he rounded on Jo. "WILL YOU STOP THAT,
JOSEPHINE?" His face was red, spittle flying from his mouth. Next to her, Leo stiffened, shifting so that she was slightly behind him.
Azmodeous glanced around at their gaping faces as if just realizing he may have lost his temper. He straightened, brushing a hand over the front of his shirt. "Now, Josephine, what have I told you about trying to enter my mind? Do you think that I can't feel you pushing?
Trying to find a way in?" He chuckled, "Little Josephine, always acting so superior. You're much more like me than you think, love. There's a ruthless streak in you," his eyes gleamed, "I can't wait to nurture it. To see all of the great and terrible things you're capable of."
"She'll never be like you," Khione hissed, her guard tightening their grip, pressing their dagger flush against her neck.
The king turned to her with a bored expression.
"And who, pray tell, are you?"
Khione's mouth opened and then closed again when the blade at her neck pricked her skin, sending a drop of crimson blood down the column of her throat.
"That's what I thought," Azmodeous said before turning back to Jo. "As I was saying. . ."
The king continued to talk, telling Jo about the grand future he had planned for them. And while he talked, Sunny's mind crept through the dark recesses of his thoughts, worming their way inside of his brain, so distracted by Jo's obvious, unceasing attacks that he failed to notice Sunny creeping in from behind.
This was the game they had learned to play. A tumultuous, ever-changing game with shifting rules and poor odds, but a game they had mastered, nonetheless. Showing him what he wanted to see. The young, promising daughter. The hopeful, submissive Match. Playing into his moods that they had learned so well over their months in captivity. Learned to play like a poker match that no one knew was happening except for them.
So, while the king prattled on to Jo, Sunny thanked whatever force was watching over her that her friends had remained silent. That they had trusted her and her sister enough to let them work. To let them play the game they knew so well. To let Sunny sink her claws, carefully, softly, into the Dark King's mind.
She struck.
Sunny channeled her strength, merging with Jo's, as she captured Azmodeous' mind in hers and clamped down, squeezing it like a fist.
The king cried out and the knife fell away from her throat as Jo took control of the assassins around them with an ease that surprised even Sunny. Sunny twisted on the king's mind and he fell to his knees.
"You should have learned by now that we're stronger than your Quellers," she told him, watching as he cried out in pain. Jo wasn't the only one who could be ruthless.
Around her, her friends drew their weapons, tentative hope lighting their faces.
But then the king looked up, his eyes meeting hers.
Stop, his voice was a whisper in her mind and before she knew it, she had released him.
Come, he whispered once more.
Rivulets of sweat dripped down her face and into her eyes as she struggled to fight the command before she failed completely and felt herself glide over to him.
"Noelani, what are you doing?"
She heard Westin's voice and, though her eyes yearned to look at him, she continued to walk, her head unable to turn in his direction.
And then he was there in front of her, reaching for h
er.
Fight him , Azmodeous commanded. Do not let him take you.
When Westin reached for her arm, Sunny's hand snapped out, catching his wrist in a crushing grip.
Westin's eyes widened as he stared down at her.
Break his wrist, the king commanded.
Sunny's grip tightened the smallest amount, but, as Westin's eyes stayed steady on hers, she hesitated.
"I said break his wrist!" the king's voice thundered, the command taking root, almost impossible to resist.
"Noelani, look at me," Westin's voice was as soft and steady as his pulse beneath her fingers. "Fight it. You have to fight this. Break my wrist if you need to, but I want you to fight this. You're my Match, and my Match is strong.
You're strong." He took a deep breath and then he whispered, "Come back to me."
Sunny's hand shook as his warm words seeped into her skin, washing away the dirt of the king's command.
And then she whirled, her grip releasing Westin as she clamped down on the king's mind once again.
Azmodeous reeled as he crumpled beneath her strength.
"Another thing you should have known, Azzy," Sunny sneered down at him, "the true Match bond will always be stronger than whatever bullshit you tried to pull."
Azmodeous' eyes were wide with pain and silver with murder.
And you should know by now that I am stronger than you.
The voice whispered through her mind a moment before the world shifted. And then everything was on fire. Flames, as real as any Sunny had ever felt, sprung to life all over her body, the heat blistering her skin immediately.
The pain bit deeply and Sunny was forced to release her hold on the king's mind, as Cerise and a battalion of soldiers appeared from thin air.
Chapter 40
Jo
Writhia, 5220
The Wastes
Jo whirled around at the sound of Sunny's cry. She was on the floor, rolling and patting her body, and Jo immediately knew why. Knew the invisible flames that Cerise liked to inflict on her victims. Knew how it felt to think she was burning alive.
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