by N. J. Cooper
“Zarek?!” She demanded.
“Go away!” He growled as there was more crashing. Kyla didn’t hesitate, she stood back and sent pulsing waves into the door with her palms. The Oracle didn’t even bother arguing with the power use, there would have been no point and she knew that. The doors swung open and Kyla ran forward into the room, gasping at the chaotic scene before her. All the furniture was in an array of burnt and broken messes. Small flames danced along the wooden pieces that lay estranged from their counterparts. The blankets and pillows from his bed were torn and leaking fluff everywhere, and Zarek. Zarek was knelt down on his knees in the middle of the room, his hands clutching his head. Kyla ran to him dropping to her knees next to him and wrapping her arms around him. He fell into her, his breaths coming in heavy gasps.
“I can’t control it. It’s too much and I can’t show anyone because they aren’t meant to know, and I can’t…I’m not him Kyla. I’m not my father and I don’t have what it takes to fill his shoes. He has to survive.” Zarek whimpered. Kyla turned and shut the doors with her powers then clutched Zarek to her, her hand on his forehead, her lips by his ear.
“I get it, Zarek. I had to follow the same learning curve and you told me that I could do it because it was meant to be and because I had you. Well listen to those words now, Zarek. You were born to do this, it’s who you are. And I will be here with you every step of the way. You can show me,” She soothed. He held on to her tightly, burying his head into her.
“I don’t know what to do. He is sick and soon the supernatural world will look to me on what to do and at the same time, Onyx is going to come through and what am I meant to tell them? That everything is okay? Because it’s not. Onyx is a real threat and they could die but how do I tell them that without losing any support I have as the next in line to the throne?” He asked, his face a misery she couldn’t stand. She shook her head against him. She didn’t know the answer, all she could do was tell him what she would do and hope it helped.
“Tell them the truth. Let them prepare. Let them get ready for what is coming. They already know something is happening, Zarek. The city is closed, and they’ve been locked in their zones with no explanation, they’re floundering. Tell them why. Tell them that you want them to know, so they can protect themselves, let them know that their futures depend on the road they take next, loyalty or betrayal. Remind them why your family are in power and not Onyx.” Kyla explained. Zarek was stunningly silent before he looked back at her with eyes that told her he was considering what she said. Finally, he smirked, then leaned in and kissed her. It was soft and sensual before he pulled back.
“I’ll make a statement to the realm today,” He whispered then leaned in and kissed her harder. Kyla nodded against him, his mouth on hers a welcome distraction. Until he pulled back.
“I’m going to make you mine, Kyla. I want you by my side when I take over from my father. You’ll make a great Queen.” He said softly. Kyla’s eyes widened. She had thought as far as being his girlfriend and hopefully taking their relationship to the next physical stage, but she hadn’t taken the time to think what that would actually mean. She would be Queen, not just dating the Prince. She would be with the King. Well, that was a splash of cold water on her libido. She stuttered and climbed back from him, standing up. His eyes narrowed on her movements.
“I’m sorry, I just wasn’t expecting that.” She uttered awkwardly. He frowned and stood before her, his hands reaching for her. He placed them on her waist gently but made no attempt to move closer.
“I thought you wanted to be with me like that? To make things official?” He asked, the hurt in his voice crushing her.
“I do, I want to date and be a couple and even have sex, but I just didn’t think it would be that intense so quickly. I’m not looking to be Queen, Zarek.” She admitted, the thought scaring her, the idea of the pressure making her heart speed up. The supernaturals didn’t even accept her yet, how could she expect them to let her be Queen? It would hurt Zarek, not help him. The people would turn if they took that step to early.
“If I don’t claim you officially Kyla, then I will have to marry Elanor. She is official and if I am to be King, the people will expect me to have a wife. My father had to marry my mother and I will have to as well. I want you to be my Kalani, Kyla. I want you to be the first on my list not end up like my parents, trapped in a loveless marriage.” He explained. Kyla gulped. It was too much. She couldn’t think about it, when she could be dead in three days anyway. Kyla’s lip trembled. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she had to tell him she wasn’t ready for that yet.
“Zarek, I want you. I want us but humans don’t marry this young. I…what if we don’t work and then we’re stuck together with so much responsibility on our shoulders?” Kyla tried. He frowned.
“We are now and we’re fine. Well I thought we were. Just spit it out, Kyla. You don’t want to make this official anymore? You wanted all the benefits but none of the commitment.” He scoffed turning away from her. Pain exploded in her heart as she watched his face wrinkle in a hurt that he tried to hide.
“I’m not saying I don’t want it, Zarek. I’m just saying can we wait, please? I can’t think this through properly with so much going on and I want to know for sure, that I am making the right decision at the right time,” Kyla explained. Zarek nodded once but said nothing. Realising that was as good as she was going to get, she sighed and pulled the list of her names from her pocket.
“I got Byron to talk. Here’s the list of Elders and witches who turned dark and are helping them.” Kyla said handing it over. He took it warily, eyeing it with a frown before glaring at her.
“What did he want in return for this? What did you promise him?” He demanded, expecting it to be big just like she had.
“A bottle of alcohol from your world. Said it was his vice.” Kyla shrugged. Zarek frowned harder and looked down at the list again.
“That’s it? Why would he turn them in for something so small? Did he say anything else?” Zarek wondered. Kyla shook her head, no.
“No but the Oracle thinks he wanted to give us those names, you can make what you want of that, but we needed the names, so I had no choice.” Kyla admitted. He nodded.
“I would have done the same, hold on, I’ll let Orion know so he can bring them in.” Zarek said taking out his phone and updating Orion. Kyla bit her lip as she waited and looked around the room. It was destroyed and Zarek needed practice, except she wasn’t sure how much help she could offer when he was mad at her now. “He’s rounding them up.” Zarek said coming forward.
“Good. So, do you want to train?” She asked hopefully. He shook his head as she knew he would.
“I can’t. I need to talk to my dad.” He admitted, dropping his head.
“He’s awake?” Kyla beamed until Zarek shook his head.
“No, he’s still too weak but I need to talk to him anyway. Ask him about the powers, how to control their influx and if the statement is a good idea. Then I need to make the statement. Hopefully he can do something to show me I’m doing the right thing.” Zarek sighed miserably. Kyla moved closer.
“You are doing the right thing, Zarek.” She stated fiercely. He looked her dead in the eye with a hopelessness she didn’t understand.
“Yeah, I thought so too.” He muttered then left the room, leaving her wracked with guilt for being the one to bring him down. She hadn’t meant to reject him, but the Queen thing was such a huge thing to expect, when they weren’t even meant to be together at all. She left Zarek’s room to find Wyatt, pushing aside all her love life drama to focus on training and merging. Wyatt had come to the mansion when he had learned the borders were closing, so he could still check on Sky, but he was being guarded closely. He had a sponsor, Holly who was helping him kick his vampire blood habit and so far, it was working. Holly was a tiny little sorceress with shoulder length, dirty blonde hair and a huge attitude. She didn’t put up with any of Wyatt’s attitude or flirting and m
ade sure she kept him in line. It was exactly what he needed, a bit of discipline and a woman who didn’t fall for his easy charm. Kyla found Wyatt and dragged him to the arena with much protesting on his part. He didn’t want to get his butt kicked apparently but Kyla wasn’t interested in his excuses. She had three days to become the strongest version of herself as she could. Including earn back the Oracle’s trust to merge.
~ 27 ~
Kyla stared out the window of her room, the sky darkened with every passing minute. The full moon peaked over the horizon as the sun descended into safety, where it could pretend the horrors of the night weren’t about to exist. She turned towards the door to her room that clicked, revealing she was no longer alone. Zarek stood there, his distractingly handsome body sheathed in a white and gold battle suit, similar to the one Kyla had been given. They were expecting the worst, yet she still clung to hope. Hope that the precautions they had put in place would stop Onyx from getting through, but she knew better. The nervous flutter in her stomach and the freezing temperatures, in a realm that was normally a placid warmth were telling her otherwise. Kyla guessed the snow would make an appearance within the hour and the second that moon hit its peak, they would feel the pressure. Zarek’s tan hand rested on the end of his sword, his face stoic as he hid the storm of emotions, she knew were ripe within him. They had barely spoken over the last three days, there wasn’t much to say. Not until after. He had trained on his own, she had trained with Wyatt and his father had barely spoken. If he had said anything to Zarek specifically, then the Prince was keeping it close. Kyla stepped away from the window, the eerie silence between them making her uncomfortable.
“You haven’t merged yet,” Zarek acknowledged and she tried to ignore the accusatory tone, but it bit at her confidence. No, she hadn’t. The Oracle had barely spoken to her, still refusing to even try merge. She was hurt, Kyla felt that and knew it was her own fault, she had betrayed her alter ego by saving her mother and she would do it again, but she knew that it wasn’t what she should have done. Now she had lost the Oracle’s trust to put the realm needs above her own and in truth, Kyla questioned it too. Could she let those she loved die, if the time came? To save the realm? Kyla had no idea. She knew what her heart told her, which wasn’t what the Oracle wanted, so she stayed silent and refused.
“Nope.” Kyla said refusing to elaborate. Zarek’s jaw clenched.
“You don’t think you should try? We’re going to need the Oracle tonight if Onyx gets through.”
Kyla bristled at his comment, unsure whether it was meant as a dig that she wasn’t needed, only the Oracle.
“I have tried. She’s not interested. She says if I can, not care what happens to the realm, then why should she?” Kyla imitated. Zarek shrugged.
“I guess that’s fair.” He admitted. Kyla’s jaw dropped.
“You think she’s right? That I should have let my mother die?” Kyla demanded. Zarek shook his head.
“No, I just think you should have taken the time to come up with another way to do it, rather than rip the powers from her.” Zarek admitted, his eyes on her without wavering. Kyla glared at him.
“It’s my business. I’ll merge when I can.” She dismissed going back over to the window and looking down to where centaurs stood in an armed ring around the centre of the realm; the entrance to the mansion. The gates were closed and right in front of it, was an onyx barricade that they were hoping would stop the point from opening for the nexus. Zarek moved to stand next to her, looking down as well.
“The centaurs rounded up all the names on Byron’s list. Nothing happened so I can’t figure out why he wanted us to have them.” Zarek admitted. Kyla had been wondering that herself.
“I don’t know. Did he enjoy his alcohol?” She scoffed. Zarek shook his head.
“No, the idiot dropped it the first day he got it, smashed the bottle everywhere.”
Kyla’s mind swirled. He had dropped the alcohol he had been so obsessed with? He had given them names he shouldn’t have? It didn’t make sense. Not until the Oracle moved forward.
‘Go check the maps, Kyla. That’s what I’m seeing. Pictures of our map and the human one.’ Oracle muttered. Kyla ignored Zarek’s protests and ran through the halls, taking the steps to the portal room where a base had been set up, two at a time. Centaurs were in there, a large table and paperwork spread out. She burst in, rushing over to the table and grabbing the maps from under the centaurs scrutiny, ignoring their protests. Zarek caught up quickly, coming in as she placed the human map over the supernatural realm, her mind checking the longitude and latitude of the points. She scanned every inch, paying attention to the dot that had been marked as the nexus then looking at the supernatural realm, measuring out the same distances.
“Kyla what is it?” Zarek demanded. Kyla ignored him, grabbing a ruler and doing the measurements herself. The Oracle burned with intensity, urging Kyla on. She drew the last line across the paper, gasping as the point she came to was not the same as the centaurs. Her head snapped up.
“Why is this wrong? Why is the point off centred? The prophecy said in the centre of the realm, this is not the centre.” Kyla urged pointing to the dots that were separated by at least two inches on the map. A centaur came forward.
“The mansion is the middle of the realm, Oracle. And nothing gets in here, we believe that to mean the threat is out of the gates.” The centaur explained. Kyla’s eyes went wide, her heart pounding as her mind worked with the Oracle’s clues to connect the dots.
‘The middle of the realm is in the dungeons, where we have just sent vampire, giant and goblin Elders, a whole lot of dark witches and Byron.’ Oracle snarled, her anger transferring through Kyla.
“Call every centaur in this damn realm to the mansion, Onyx is getting through.” Kyla bit looking out the window to see that the moon was halfway to its apex. They had a couple of hours left at most, and as suspected, snow fell lightly against the windows.
“How do you know?” He demanded.
“Because we made it possible. Every creature he needed to get through, is now exactly where he wanted. In the dungeons, which are the very middle of the realm.” Kyla explained with a scowl, her heartbeat racing that the prophecy was so close to coming true. Her death was imminent, she couldn’t beat Onyx on her own.
“He needs more than just his people and a full moon, Kyla. He needs to have sacrificial blood and it would have to be ridiculously powerful.” Zarek interrupted her melancholy. Kyla racked her brain when her and the Oracle came to the answer at the same time.
“The glass.” Kyla whispered.
‘From the bottle.’ Oracle confirmed. Kyla relayed the information to everyone staring at her in the room like she was crazy.
“Get the centaurs ready and contact the werewolf guard. The prophecy is real, and we haven’t stopped anything. We’ve helped it happen.” Kyla winced before going to leave but Zarek stopped her. His expression was pained and tore through her.
“Kyla. The vampire and giants areas are being run by the centaur packs because of everything that happened with Byron and the Elders. Those areas are on lockdown, they can’t get into the city.” Zarek revealed, his voice low. She saw the fear in his eyes. They had walked into every trap, and now Onyx had the perfect set up to take them down. Most of the centaurs were locked out of the city, Byron was ready in the dungeons with everything he needed, and they had been the ones to orchestrate it all. She cursed under her breath, her mind aching with frustration as she tried to think of a way out. Except there was none. Onyx was going to get through, the nexus would open, and they would have to fight for the realm.
‘But will you, Kyla? Will you fight for us, even if we start losing, even if the lives of your friends are in jeopardy?’ The Oracle asked. Kyla clenched her eyes shut, the pressure building behind her eyes. Zarek was waiting for direction, the Oracle was extending an olive branch and it was too much.
“Breathe, Kyla. We’ve got this.” A melodic voice said
through the air that dropped a few degrees. Kyla gasped and turned to see bright red hair and wide green eyes staring at her. Kyla ran into Sky, her arms wrapping around her.
“Sky.” Kyla breathed. Sky chuckled.
“You didn’t really think I was going to let you get your asses kicked without me, did you?” She teased. Kyla smiled.
“I did but I shouldn’t have. How did you…” Kyla went to ask but by the blush in her cheeks, Kyla knew the answer “You went through the shadows?” She asked. Sky shrugged.
“Yeah. Otherwise the centaurs would have stopped me. But I’m fine, I’m really strong now and can help. Those shadow things can be hurt from this side, which will give you guys at least a chance of getting to Onyx.” Sky explained. Kyla blew out a breath of relief. That was something. She looked behind Sky to see Kasyn standing protectively at her side.
“That blade you have, does it hurt them?” Kyla asked of his immortal blade. He gave her a lopsided grin.
“It kills them.” He replied. Kyla smiled, good. She nodded in thanks then turned to Zarek.
“We have to check on the werewolves, let them know to go ahead with things on their side. Then we go stop Byron.” Kyla decided, her mind clearing from having her friends with her. Right on time, Wyatt wandered lazily down the hall, his under-eyes were bruised from withdrawals, but he hid his needs well. He stopped before them, hands in his pocket as he leant against the concrete wall.