Thorns of Fate

by Hayley Todd

  “A week,” I repeated to myself. I could feel someone staring at me. I peeked out of the corner of my eye to see Carson’s eyes roving over my face.

  The door swung open at the end of the room.

  Anton sauntered back in and sat at a table and chair in the far corner. “Did I hear that she has a week?”

  Carson stiffened. “She has a week while she absolutely can't. Just because she can at that point, doesn't mean she should, or would.”

  Anton laughed a cruel sound. “Whether she does or not, she will still be my bride and she will still carry my children.”

  The words hit me like a physical blow. “Excuse me?” I hissed. “Do I look like I belong to you?”

  He laughed harder this time. “You do though. You haven't told her?”

  Carson looked away from him.

  “What aren't you telling me?”

  His eyes lifted to Damien. Kellic froze. “I think it's time to give them some space.”

  “No, no,” Anton urged. “I'm involved in this. I think not.”

  Carson wrapped his fingers around mine again, ignoring the stares issued by the other two men. “Do you want me to stay?”

  I hesitated. Unlike Anton, Carson seemed to actually care about my opinion. He wanted to make me comfortable. If he could care that much without really knowing me, I wouldn't refuse him staying with me.

  I nodded, squeezing his fingers. He softly squeezed back, reassurance filling me.

  Damien stood up, almost seeming angry. “I'm glad I get no say in this.” He mumbled. Then he swiveled, leaning forward and catching my gaze, hard lines on his face.

  “Kyra, I'm your father.”

  I stared blankly at him. “What?” I asked with a hiss.

  “I am your father,” he repeated, calmly.

  My head spun.

  “And?” Anton prompted.

  Damien glared at him. “I am the leader of Clan Magick. You are my only daughter, my only child. There have been other families trying to move in on the leadership of the clan. I made a deal twenty-six years ago that you would be allowed to live your life until you naturally came to discover us. Then, and only then, would you be prompted to make a decision. As a vampire, you become your own citizen. Until then, you are included under my citizenship. An ancient tradition dictates that the leader and challenger may arrange a marriage to join their families, instead of the leader relinquishing power. Anton is the son of my opposition, Henrick Van Murg.” He seemed to refuse to state the obvious.

  “So you sold me to him?” I shrieked. Anton had a smug smile on his face.

  “No, I would never. I entrusted that my daughter would be a very capable woman. I trusted your mother to prepare you for the day you'd be forced to make a decision. As a citizen, you can challenge Anton for the position of contender. If you win, you can leverage that over me to become the leader among our people, foregoing any need to be married. Our people will eventually expect children but nothing would be forced on you in the near future.”

  Marriage. Children. Everything I had feared could be lost when they began this story of vampires came swarming back as challenges and fears hovering over me. And my dad. MY DAD. This man who had been absent from my life for my entire existence was now standing before me and changing my life forever in a few simple words.

  Carson squeezed my fingers when I didn't respond. He was looking me over, trying to read my response. “So, who are you?” I asked him, ignoring the tension hovering over the room.

  “I have worked with your father for years. I am a hybrid, no true perceived loyalty to any clan. I'm...against this.”

  When he didn't continue, I realized they were going to force a response from me. “So what? In a week, you're going to force me to drink blood and die?” I asked, harsher than I had intended. Damien looked as though I had actually slapped him.

  “I will be able to give you everything you could dream of,” Anton suddenly interjected, not really answering the question.

  “And if I die?” I urged.

  “Then dear dad will have to have another heir.”

  Fury filled me. “So I'm just your interchangeable ticket to power?!” I shrieked. Energy filled me and my pain had faded to barely even a background thought. The light bulbs in the overhead lights exploded, shocking the room into darkness. Kellic shrieked.

  “Looks like a week may be an overestimate,” Anton said from the darkness, pleased with himself.

  “You're already exhibiting power…” Carson mumbled, confused.

  A set of emergency lights affixed over the door flickered on, casting an eerie glow around the room.

  I felt drained. The chest pains came crashing back and a machine on my left began emitting an alert in shrieking cadence.

  “Shit! You damn idiot!” Carson hurled, quickly lowering the bed when the door burst open and a team of doctors came running in. One of them picked up a clipboard, reading over notes on the page.

  He leaned toward Damien, delivering news in a hushed tone, but I could hear them clear as day. “Her heart is under too much stress. She may not make it. My best recommendation would be to issue the change while you can.”

  Wait...what?! I screamed.

  Or I tried to. The words left me in a gasping wheeze.

  Carson leapt to my side, avoiding the doctors scrambling into place. He stroked my hair back from my face with one hand. “Don't speak,” he whispered, “everything will be fine. I'll take care of you.”

  I didn't know what he meant but it did make me feel better. The pulsing pain in my chest continued with increased fervor.

  Black spots began flashing in my vision.

  The last words that I heard before that awful sticky blackness pulled me down again sent chills through me. My life was evidently no longer my own. I felt powerless.

  “Do it.”

  I'd like to think that Carson argued for me. He was the only one who seemed unafraid to stand up to Anton or Damien and truly cared about my interests. There was a good chance that I would never know.

  Chapter Six

  I blinked my eyes hard, the moonlight at the end of the tunnel pouring into them. The cheering shook me to my bones but the arena was alive with a buzz of electricity I could feel deep into my skin. I hoisted the shield strapped across my back into a more comfortable position and felt again for the weight of the sword in my hand.

  Marcellus stood at my left shoulder, one hand delicately pressed against the small of my back, the other guiding me by my shoulder. Three burly guards dressed in armor and wielding spears marched closer from behind us.

  As my eyes adjusted to the light, the vision that may very well be my last unfolded before me. The Coliseum floor was developed into a round arena directly before me. It led up the rafters behind, to a tower filled with private seating for VIP guests. At its center, stood the figure of the Emperor, flanked by his wife on his left and his evil mistress, Cassandra on the other side. I could see her icy gaze locked on me even from this distance.

  All around the arena were thousands of Romans, on their feet and shouting all of their frustrations into the sky. The fervor was palpable. Electricity shimmered across my skin from that heavy feeling in the air.

  Marcellus shivered at my side. I glanced at him to find him staring at me with an unexpected intensity. He quirked his eyebrows, confused. “You've got this?” He said, leaning to whisper delicately in my ear.

  I returned my gaze to my impending doom, truly wondering about my odds. “I've got this,” I responded.

  His hand squeezed on my shoulder and moved me to my waiting location at one end of the arena.

  “Good luck,” he whispered, releasing me and stepping back onto the sidelines.

  A clanging began emanating from the Emperor's booth. The crowd quieted from a raucous roar to a dull whisper. It was really the best they could expect during such a spectacle.

  “Welcome,” roared the voice of the Emperor. “Today is quite a grand occasion for us. Before us, we
have a traitor among the realm.” His hand waved in my general direction and several attendees booed. “Today, she will face her crimes in gladiatrix tradition!” He boomed.

  The crowd roared again, a shriek that stung my sensitive ears. “Let the gods decide her fate!”

  And with that shrill cry, gates before me opened. The first string of fighters left the sidelines. I suddenly found myself flanked by a heavily muscled squadron of gladiators. The two on either side approached me slowly, brandishing long shimmering nets. The one slowly advancing on me held aloft a sword and shield much like my own.

  I glanced up, making eye contact with the wench in the stands for a brief moment. I felt the energy in our gaze build in me. She spewed venom in the glare.

  Cassandra was tall and thin, build like a lithe dancer. She had long blonde hair, swooping to the backs of her thighs. For this ridiculous spectacle, she had it sported partially in braids and gathered into a pile on top of her head, laced through a tiara that adorned her scalp. She had huge round eyes filled with violet orbs of hatred and supple pink lips. Essentially, she looked like a princess and got away with damn near anything because of it.

  She wore an elegant green velvet dress that draped her body as though it had been painted on. I grinned, knowing that fabric had to be pretty hot in this weather.

  I subconsciously wiped my free hand across my forehead, relieving myself of a sheen of sweat already gathering there.

  The three men approached.

  “If this is how you wish it,” I leapt to the side, smashing my elbow into the nose of the man on my left. It spewed blood and his head rocked back at the blow. “This is how it will be.”

  I could feel the heat of the man who had been on my right approaching me from behind. Despite the roar of the crowd, I could faintly hear the sputtering of his heartbeat as he neared.

  I leapt backwards, unexpectedly landing behind him. I lifted one sandaled foot and smashed it into his back, sending him sprawling forward into a heap on the ground.

  “Hyah!” A voice shrieked. The last guy lurched towards me, lifting his sword high.

  I ducked, tucking myself to his side and sending my fist between his readied arms to connect with a heavy thud to his chin. His head cracked backwards and he fell to the ground.

  I held my unsheathed sword toward Cassandra. “Is this all you've got?!” I shrieked in defiance.

  A group of men in white garments came running out onto the field, flanked by a troop of guards on either side.

  I stepped back slowly, sheathing my sword and leaving a clear path to the men I had bested.

  A glance up reassured me that Cassandra was seething at my taunts. She leaned forward in her box, her hands clenched into fists along a railing. Her eyes were narrowed at me and her lips were twitching in what I could only deduce was a spell.

  “Well, that's impolite,” I murmured to myself.

  The injured men had been cleared from the field at this point and the gates they'd come from had been reset. I reorganized myself, positioning again at the center of the field.

  “Again!” Screamed the Emperor with a glance at his furious mistress.

  Again, the bars shrieked open and the arena echoed with the furious roar of a pride of lions. They meandered across the field, obviously agitated by the crowd’s excitement. They advanced on me.

  “Really? Innocent animals? Cruel, Cassy.”

  I leapt on the first lion, my arm locking around its neck. He was big but scrawny, obviously having been starved to insight fury in him. After a moment, he went limp. I rolled him to my side just as a pair of hissing cats leapt at me.

  I ducked forward, rolling below them as they launched at me. The first flew over me, the second connected with my shoulder but continued overhead. I stopped several feet from where they landed.

  And felt the tear of claws along my back.

  “Argh!” I cried, my skin parting easily below the curved blades. They dug in along my shoulder and back, making me feel weak. I dropped to my knees, reaching behind me and connecting with fur. I squeezed and hurled my torso forward, tossing the female behind me across the arena.

  She crashed into one of those who had leapt over me, knocking them both to the ground in a pile of fur, teeth, and claws.

  The other one advanced on me, his jaws hanging open, fangs revealed.

  “Nice kitty,” I cooed, holding my hands out.

  The lion didn't stop.

  Damn.

  I dashed towards him. He struggled to keep track of me. A few feet before I'd collide with him, I stretched a leg out and slid across the ground, my arms latching around his neck on the way. I let my body weight drop, putting pressure on his windpipe. After a moment of struggle, he fell limp.

  Two more approached me from behind, while the pair I'd tossed together came from my left. I dove toward those on my left, startling the male. The female had been prepared and lurched at me.

  She was proving to be the most cunning of the group.

  I rolled, letting her jump over me and getting another knock out in on the male. He went down but not before digging his claws into my exposed leg. The female rejoined the last two, and approached.

  I dragged the blade from its sheath, eliciting a ring as it left the cover.

  One of the lions hissed a growl.

  I launched forward, digging the sword into the back of the one farthest left of me. I then leapt from his body, using it to propel me into the next one over. I connected my fist with her face, sending her rocking to the side. My arms slipped around her neck, tugging another one into unconsciousness.

  Then I faced off against the last of them, the one to score on my back. I flexed, the wounds having already healed, though I was sure they'd still be coated in blood.

  She roared at me and launched forward. I made quick work of smashing her to the side and locking my arms around her neck too. She quivered and fought against me, making me lose my grip. With a quick swipe, she scored another slash across my exposed chest. I locked her down again, and after a moment of quiet fury, she went still.

  I cleaned my blade on her hindquarters, pressed it back into the sheath, and stepped away from the bodies. Again individuals exploded from the sidelines, carrying stretchers and variety of other moving vehicles to cart away the lions.

  The crowd had gone quiet, murmuring instead of shouting. The Emperor was whispering fervently to Cassandra far above me.

  Once the arena had cleared, Cassandra moved her eyes back to me. She hated me. I could see it in every move of her body. And I only reveled in it. Her hate would not keep me from protecting the innocent. She would not stop me from being who I had to be.

  Without preamble, the gates opened for the third and final time. A platoon of warriors stomped out of the tunnels there. I couldn't count them all and wasted no time trying. They didn't wait for a signal. They thundered after me, trying to overwhelm me.

  I pulled the shield from my back and slung it onto my arm and drew my sword from its sheath. The first group to meet me consisted of four men. They were almost twice as tall as me and laced thickly with muscle. They wore armor on their chests, but their arms and legs were mostly exposed.

  I leapt into a dive, lashing my blade out along a pair of thighs. Two men went down, each clutching their own separated tendons.

  I whipped my arm backwards and smashed my shield into another man, knocking him backwards and into another string of men, taking several down with him. The other man stepped forward and swung his sword towards me. I recovered my shield and lifted it to catch his charge. I then lunged forward with my sword, taking him in the side beneath his armor. He fell aside with a groan.

  I took the men down in easy cadence. I was fast. Far faster than they could keep up with. I took two more blows. One thick stab wound through my upper shoulder, the other down the back of my left leg. They healed, slower than I would've liked. I didn't have too much left in me.

  My ire leveled again to the box the Emperor and his entourag
e occupied.

  “Let's finish this here and now, Cassy!” I shrieked, pointing the blade of my sword at the delicate mistress. She flinched away from me, as though I had attacked her physically. The Emperor looked hard at me, then shifted his gaze to her. Some sort of understanding flickered across his face.

  Cassandra slowly stepped backwards, making her retreat with dignity.

  Or so she thought.

  “I don't think so,” I hissed.

  I gathered strength into my right arm, dropping the sword back into its sheath. I pulled from the energy of the crowd, from the royalty’s confusion, from the Emperor’s box’s anger.

  I turned that energy into something I could use. I whipped my arm away from myself, a long cord of lightning blue electricity exploding out away from me. I snapped the whip up toward the box. It extended along with my will and caught Cassandra about the hips.

  With a sharp crack, Cassandra came tumbling over the banister of her box. She flew through the air and dropped to the ground.

  Just before she connected with the dirt, she held her hands out below her.

  An explosion of black encompassed her hands and a bubble appeared around her, tinged with darkness. She came to a soft landing, delicate and refined despite her multi-story tumble.

  She straightened, brushing imaginary dust from her dress. “This was a mistake for you, Achillia.”

  Shouting burst out above us. The crowd was torn between eager excitement and hushed whispering. The royal boxes were abuzz with fevered activity.

  “Sure thing, Cass. As long as you come with me.”

  I lunged forward, swinging the energy out again. It snapped against her skin. She leapt back, clamping her hand over her arm with a hiss. I could already see red welts beginning along her skin.

  She threw her hand toward me, a red cloud emitted there. A bolt of fire shot out. I lurched to the side, feeling it singe the longest strands of my hair. She shot another which I flipped over with no time to move to the side.