by Donn, KL
“Is that Carson’s sister?” Their eyes are eerily identical.
“Yeah. Names are on the back of every fucking photo.”
Sick to my stomach, I send a message to an old SFA—Ireland’s Special Forces—contact I have, knowing he’ll gladly secure the building and send his teams out to find any of these girls who might remain alive.
Gripping Carson’s sister’s picture, I stare in her eyes. I can see the fear she experienced down to her soul. Her agony can be felt through the paper, and for that, I’ll make sure Judas suffers as much pain as every girl who passed through here underwent.
12
Arianna
Cold penetrates my bones.
Warmth invades my soul.
Agony washes through my veins.
Every breath is a struggle as the world slowly makes its way back into my subconscious. I can feel the women around me as they breathe. I absorb every ounce of pain from their suffering that I can as I flutter my eyes open.
The ruined ceiling above me.
Shattered rock surrounds me.
Magic infuses me.
Sitting up, gasps of shock ricochet off the old walls of the ravaged castle. Blinking rapidly, I can’t vacate the fog clouding my eyes, and I feel like I’m peering through goggles. I hear the pounding of their hearts, saturated in fear of…
Me.
They fear me.
Their princess.
The one person who has fought with everything I am to bring them home.
“Arianna,” Asher’s soothing voice calls to me, and I turn, my mind dizzy, to see him and Ares standing in the doorway to hell.
Walking towards me, I recognize respect in their eyes. For me.
Ares doesn’t hesitate as he approaches. Grasping the back of my neck, he pulls me forward and drinks from my lips. Sucking the air from my lungs. My heart pounds painfully in my chest as his other hand grips my hip.
Asher’s warmth is felt at my back as he holds me close. “We thought we’d lost you, princess.”
My golden hair sways as I shake my head. “Never. You’ll never lose me.”
“Good,” Ares barks. “Let the dark one go,” he demands.
“I’m never leaving you, my sweet princess,” her voice whispers in my ear like she’s in the room with me.
“Don’t listen to her,” Asher commands.
“You can hear her too?” Shocked, I tremble between them. I thought I was losing my mind, hearing her so frequently these past few months.
“We can. We’re ingrained in you, princess, in every aspect.” The relief that swamps me at Asher’s words is nearly overwhelming.
“They’re nothing,” the mage says. “You’ll be mine forever, and eventually, they’ll fade away like fire.”
Asher turns my head and drops his lips over mine, ignoring the threat. Taking what he wants and exactly what I fear I may lose.
Them.
I never knew I longed for love until I heard Asher’s voice on the phone with my father. Now, I can’t imagine a life without my brave men.
“You’ll live far beyond their years, sweetness. You’ll watch as they grow old and suffer death. You’ll live on. What’s the point in loving what you’ll only lose?”
“No!” I scream as Asher pulls back, gripping my cheeks and placing his forehead to mine.
“Don’t listen to her. She’s jealous. Living a life of loneliness, when you have us.”
“And what of Callista?” Her nagging voice laughs.
Forcing the dark mage from my mind, I try to focus on the present and ignoring what the future may bring.
Closing my eyes and intaking a deep breath, I free my mind completely. I can feel the fear around me, but there’s anticipation too.
Ensnaring Asher and Ares in my gaze, I ask them, “You know where he is?”
They don’t bother to question how I know this time. “We do,” Asher confirms.
“I’m coming with you.” It’s not a request. I am going. This man deserves to feel every moment of misery we went through. My own undertaking not nearly as distressful as the others, but not in any way something I wish to experience again or will be able to forget.
“You’re staying here.” Ares glares as he crosses his arms.
“You need me,” I remind him. There is so much more I could do to help them.
“No,” he grits out.
Grinding my teeth, I breathe slowly as the anger washes through me. “I’m coming, and there isn’t any way for you to stop me.” He opens his mouth to argue, and I interrupt him. “But I can stop you.” I regret the words as soon as they pass my lips.
Threatening him, either of them, with magic I don’t yet understand, is petty and weak, showcasing my immaturity.
Ares says nothing, but I can see the darkness overcome his gaze. It’s the same murkiness I feel every time the dark mage invades my mind.
I did that to him.
I broke our bond, and as Asher shakes his head, following after his friend, I have to wonder if I broke us too.
Ares
“She’s just angry, Ares. Don’t take what Ari said to heart,” Asher suggests. Except, how can’t I? She’s right, she could stop us from going, and we could lose her altogether.
Frankly, if I were in her shoes, I’d demand the same. Hell, I have. For my entire life, I’ve gone to war over my country. How can I not expect her to do the same?
Because she’s a woman, my inner voice taunts. I grew up protecting the powerless, the innocent. Women just like her. Only not like her. There’s a line I won’t cross, and that’s bringing a woman into battle even if I’ve fought alongside some of the strongest women in the world.
Arianna is mine. A precious gem to be protected at all costs.
If only it weren’t for her magic.
Her magic makes her different and, in some ways, incredibly vulnerable. If she feels impervious to injury, she’ll make mistakes that could cost her far more than her life.
“She’s going to do what she wants, Ares. Let her come. I ’d rather her have us with her, then go it alone.”
Leaving the dungeon, I head back upstairs and go outside. Needing to disengage my mind and enter soldier mode once more, I stare up at the sky, allowing the soft breeze to brush across my face.
Knowing that Judas probably has men laying in wait for us, if not an entire army of them, the likelihood of any of us making it out of here alive is slim to none. But we’re going to proceed anyway because a man like Judas can’t be allowed to live. He’ll only start over again and become savvier about it too. Better hiding places, aligning himself with more deadly guards, and charging even more for the pleasure of their predilections.
We must put an end to the madness. I had only hoped that Arianna wouldn’t be involved.
“You can bring her back,” a soft voice whispers through my mind.
This telepathy is beginning to wig me out.
“She must confront him. For her sanity, she has to embrace the darkness.” Shaking my head, I try to dislodge the sound.
“It’s going to consume her. Take her to a place where she won’t even recognize herself. You and Apollo will bring her back. You’ll set her free.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I know it’s Callista now.
“If she kills him, the darkness will sweep her into the Catalina Valley where the dark mage is, and she’ll be lost until you can find her again. You and Apollo are the key to unlocking the spell.”
“Don’t fucking put that on us,” I snap.
“She was born for this. For you both. Forever in time, Princess Arianna is yours.” There’s an emptiness in my mind as she drifts away as quickly as she came.
“Who the hell are you talking to?” Apollo barks, and I spin to catch him searching for someone.
“Callista.”
“And?”
“Why the fuck are you so cool with this shit? Voices in our heads, women who can toss men across the room. Why the fuck aren’t y
ou freaked out?” Why am I?
“Because we’ve seen the unbelievable before, Ares. Just because this is a different kind makes it no less real. Time to accept what fate has chosen for us or move the fuck on, friend.”
Wise words.
“You tell Carson about his sister?”
Before he can answer, we hear, “What about my sister?” Shit.
“Nope.” Apollo glares at me. Withdrawing the photo I found of her from his back pocket, Apollo stares at the image for a moment. All of Carson’s hopes of finding her just might end right here and quelling someone’s hope, their desire to find a loved one, is no easy task. “This her?” He hands the photo to the man.
Carson’s hand shakes as he tentatively accepts the paper, closing his eyes as Arianna walks up behind him. Seeing or maybe feeling the emotion radiating from him, she places a hand on his shoulder and pales.
She’s fucking doing it again. She’s taking away his pain so he can see clearly.
“Knock that shit off,” I demand through our connection.
A mischievous smile emerges as she shakes her head at me.
Her defiance is going to be a big fucking problem for me soon.
“That’s Demi.” I can see he wants to say more, ask questions, but he knows that whatever answers unfurl, he won’t like them.
“Let’s go get this son of a bitch,” Apollo says as a caravan of vehicles drives up.
“Asher McCall! Where ye been, my man?” A guy jumps from the first vehicle, a smile on his face, and a machine gun in his hand.
“Wilde West, thanks for coming!” Asher grins as he walks forward. After a back-slapping hug, he brings the man closer, and I feel Arianna move behind me, gripping the back of my shirt. The tension in my chest eases slightly. The confrontation from earlier forgotten.
She still needs me. Trusts me. I hadn’t realized just how much I depended on that.
“I owe you one, mate. Anything you need ‘tis yours.” The sincerity in the newcomer’s eyes speaks volumes as he reaches out to shake my hand. “Ares, eh. Heard some…interesting things about your travels, friend.”
“Can’t say I’ve heard the same of you, but glad for your help.” After a firm shake, he tries to peek at Arianna hiding behind me. After all the rage she directed at Judas and her desire to deliver justice to the man, now she fucking hides?
“Must be the princess, yeah?”
Striding over to her, Apollo slips a hand around her waist and whispers in her ear, “I trust him. You can too.”
“Mate damn well better,” Wilde mutters with a smirk.
“Wilde, this is Arianna,” Apollo introduces as she steps out of her hiding space, gripping my hand even as she shakes his.
Squeezing hers for reassurance, I pull her back to my side when he holds onto her longer than is polite. “I know who you are, Mr. West,” she says. He looks doubtful. Apollo and I share a glance, already anticipating what’s about to come.
“Ye do, huh.”
“The compassion you showed to the shaman woman in the Sunda Islands seven years ago is still one of the greatest and most rewarding accomplishments of your career. You’re talked about reverently because you saved her village and people from mercenaries.”
Tears pool in the man’s eyes as he pales and drops to his knees in front of Arianna. Closing his eyes, Wilde whispers something before grasping Arianna’s free hand and kissing the top.
“’Tis true then? You have the mage in ye?” He’s mesmerized as he gazes up at her.
“The dark mage.” Her voice trembles as she corrects him.
“Neigh, lass. Not dark. Maleficent, yes, but you have the good in you. You just have ta find it.”
“Thank you,” Arianna responds as she bends forward to kiss his hand.
“You ever just going to pick an accent, man?” Apollo breaks the tension with what everyone was surely wondering.
“Nope. I enjoy fucking with folks. Now to business. You have a bad guy to kill, and I have a castle to secure. You have a list of girls needing finding, ya?” Serious again, Apollo connects him to Tac, who then takes over.
“Hey, Demi Shay is top priority. Dead or alive, he”—I point to Carson where he’s standing guard at the entrance, listening to everything we say—“needs to know what happened to his sister.”
“Got you, friend. He staying with me?”
“Nope, he’s with us. You and your team get the girls that are inside to the hospital, secure an entire floor. Heavily guarded. No exams without at least one man you’d trust with your life in the room. Got it?”
“You can count on me, Ares!” he shouts as he starts issuing his own orders to the men he brought with him.
“Here we go,” Arianna whispers as the four of us make our way to an available vehicle and head to the airstrip.
13
Asher
Why do I feel like we’re about to step into the lion’s den as his dinner? There’s an ominous foreboding eating away at me, and I’m not sure why. It’s a gut feeling, and I learned a long time ago not to ignore those.
The trouble is, I’ve always been able to predict where the danger is going to come from, at least. Knowing Judas will fight is simple enough to guess. The dark magic pushing Arianna is where my problem lies. We know nothing about it, therefore, can’t foresee what’s going to happen to her.
Or what she’ll do.
At the moment, she feels uncontrollable. Making threats that I don’t believe she would ordinarily think about without this force in her blood, but it controls her in ways none of us are prepared for.
A soft hand on my thigh draws my attention away from my inner turmoil. Directing my gaze at her, I see the worry in her mesmerizing pools. The color has completely vanished. Her emotions remain, but she’s been overtaken.
Cupping her cheek, I try again. “Please stay here.” I have no doubt now that if she gets her hands on Judas before any of us, she’ll kill him, and there won’t be any coming back from it. Not for her.
“I have to do this,” she sighs, closing her eyes and leaning into my touch. Dirty, bruised, dried blood in her hair, none of it matters. She nearly died once protecting a girl she barely knew. “Do you remember your battle in Malaysia nine years ago? The family you nearly died trying to save?”
Christ. I shouldn’t be surprised anymore; she’s done it enough today, but fuck if I’m not. “They died anyways, Arianna.”
Pirates were invading the small fishing village and kidnapping children. Team Olympus was dispatched to put a stop to it. I got emotionally invested because of the kids. They’re my kryptonite.
Captured and tortured, I was forced to watch as they were brutally murdered after fighting off half a dozen men, trying to get them out of the village. We almost succeeded, too, until I was shot twice in the legs. I could barely move.
“They may have been taken from this earth too soon, but they left knowing there was a man willing to die for them. They had hope for salvation, and despite the pirates’ best efforts, they did not feel pain. They found peace.”
“I was there, Arianna. There was no fucking peace.” Rage rips through me, my heart beating uncontrollably as I’m brought back to that day.
“See for yourself.” Her soft voice whispers in my ear.
Blood. It’s all I remember from that day.
So much fucking blood.
But no screams.
The crying has stopped. Nobody is pleading for life. There’s laughter from the pirates, and soon, there’s cursing and frustration. Horror washes through me as I watch for a second time as they shoot, first, the young girl. Her eyes are closed. Hands are steepled in prayer. Serenity blankets her in warmth somehow. Same with her mother and father. Even her older brother smiles as a bullet pierces his heart.
None of them felt fear at their imminent deaths.
That doesn’t make sense.
“How?” I blink rapidly down at Arianna.
“Whether you believe or not, Asher McCall, there
is another life waiting for us, and they were welcomed into their new existence to spare them the pain of their first.”
“Because of the mage?”
She shakes her head. “Because of unwavering faith. There is so much in this world to feel hatred towards that people often forget what to be grateful for. What to believe in. So, we simply embrace what’s in front of us. What we see, touch, feel. It’s far easier than to believe there is life beyond death.”
Running a rough hand down my face, listening to her, seeing the evidence in the flashback, what Arianna says should be unbelievable.
Yet, it’s taught in church. Preached about. In the Bible.
Life after death.
“And for men like Judas?”
“A fate far worse than Hell.”
Arianna
“You must stop this, princess!” Callista yells at me again. For the past hour, she’s been battering at the wall I’ve erected in my head.
“No, he must be relieved of the pleasures of this life. I have to do this.” I absorbed Ainsley’s pain, her suffering, and took it in to my body as if it were my own. I’d die a thousand deaths to save her or any other from that torment again.
Judas Willows deserves to die.
I don’t care about the consequences to me.
“You’ll never come back from this, Ari. The dark mage has doomed you, and now, you’re feeding into it. Please, I beg of you, don’t do this.” I can hear the tremor in Callista’s tone as I build up my mental barrier further, blocking her out.
I need a clear head in order to make this sacrifice.
I feel the shared looks between Asher and Ares as we drive towards the airstrip. I’m unsurprised to learn that this coward is running from his crimes. Despite the horrors he inflicts on the defenseless, at his soul, he is nothing but a weakling. He cannot impress his power on those stronger than him, so he preys on the fairer sex and uses them to indulge his deranged proclivities.
