by J. N. Baker
“Again, sometimes we have to do things in war that we do not like. Besides, I knew you would never allow her to die. You are loyal to those you care about.”
I hated the smugness in his voice. And the fact that he was trying to help me control my new power. And that he was doing it without actually putting anyone I cared about in danger, as my own people had. And above all, I hated that he wasn’t nearly the monster he was supposed to be.
Damn him.
But he had used Annie to take me from my people. Whether he knew I wouldn’t let him hurt her or not, he’d still used her to get to me. And he’d still wiped Josh’s memory to control him, even if it did come back in the end. And he still wanted world domination, even if he was allowing my people to live so long as I remained with him.
He might not have been the monster I was made to believe, but he was still the spawn of Satan.
One of the Sythen shrieked and the hairs on the back of my neck stood. A few tears slipped down Illusion Annie’s face and the anger within me grew. It wasn’t these fake beasts that posed a threat to Annie.
It was Baldric.
And I would protect her from him. I refused to see Annie—in any form—in pain.
I let the power build within me, feeling the hum as the electricity coursed through my veins. As it reached the surface, I dug deeper, trying to pull more, ignoring the way my skin burned and blistered and my insides boiled. The lightning burst from both my hands, coiling up my arms and weaving in and out of my fingers as the power built even more. So much so that Baldric took a step back.
“Good,” he purred. “Now direct it at the multiple targets.”
Only there weren’t multiple targets. There was just one. My power would go straight through those Sythen just as my hand had gone through Annie. I had to go directly to the source. But if he wanted more than one bolt, I’d happily oblige.
With a groan, a flash of white shot from my outstretched hands, electrifying the blackened night as numerous bolts of lightning exploded outward. But instead of continuing their course toward the Sythen that were nearly on top of Illusion Annie, they arched toward Baldric at the last second. The many bolts conjoined into a massive one, blasting Baldric straight in the chest and sending him sailing through the air.
Collapsing to the ground, I panted as I cradled my hands. I didn’t even want to look at them. I wasn’t sure there was any flesh left.
I scanned the training area. As I’d thought, the Sythen, as well as Annie, had vanished. Baldric moaned on the ground a good thirty feet away, smoke rising from his flesh.
Shit.
Scrambling to my feet, I rushed across the training ground to where Baldric was, rolling him onto his back with the heel of my boot. He coughed up a bit more smoke and I tried to keep the smile off my face, failing miserably. I was definitely going to be punished for this.
Totally worth it.
I mean, what was he going to do, kill me? Though there were far worse things in life than death. I was living proof of that.
“Um, you okay?” I asked. Yep, I was definitely grinning like a damn fool.
Baldric coughed again, pushing himself up to sit. He ran a hand over his chest, a hole burned through his black shirt and his skin charred. Guess I might have pulled a bit too much power.
“I sent out multiple strands,” I went on to say. “Just like you wanted.”
Surprising me, Baldric chuckled, only slightly sardonically. “You are a quick study indeed.”
Without thinking, I offered my hand to help him up and Baldric froze. But it wasn’t from the gesture itself, but my hand. His dark eyes seemed to darken further as they took in the damage that I myself wasn’t brave enough to look at yet.
He reached for me and I retracted my hand, holding it to my chest with my other one. “They’ll heal,” I told him as he stood.
Baldric held out a hand. “Let me help you,” he said and I hated the sincerity in his voice. Where was the sadistic warmonger I’d glimpsed in battle?
“It’s fine, they’ll heal soon,” I said again as I reluctantly placed one of my fried hands into his much larger one.
He studied the hand, holding it gingerly. “Not soon enough,” he replied. “Follow me.”
I sighed, trailing after him as he retreated to the castle. The last person I wanted taking care of me was Baldric. It made me feel like I’d lost when I very much so hadn’t. I’d knocked Baldric on his high and mighty ass. I only wished someone had been around to see it happen. No one would believe me.
“You realize I won, right?” I asked as I followed him into a room off the main entrance with several beds lining one wall and sterile looking cabinets along the other. “You’re the one that was hit, not me.”
“And yet you are the one who is still healing,” he had the audacity to point out.
In a huff, I sat on the edge of one of the beds, finally risking a glance at my hands…what was left of them. I shuddered, pretty sure there were spots where I could see bone. A few of them.
Note to self: next time, less power.
Baldric brought a roll of gauze over and some sort of gel. “Burn cream,” he explained when he saw me eyeing the bottle.
“I don’t need it,” I told him, wincing as the muscles and tendons started to reform.
He sat beside me, taking my wrist in his hand. “This will at least make the healing process a bit less uncomfortable. Now, will you allow me to help mend your wounds? Please.”
I rolled my eyes and nodded. “Whatever.” If he got some sort of sick pleasure in taking care of me, then fine. He wasn’t getting pleasure any other way from me. No way, no how.
I held out my hands obediently as he skillfully used his one hand to coat mine with the icy gel, which felt amazing on my charred flesh, though I’d never admit it to him. He then carefully wrapped my hands in gauze to seal in the burn cream until I was fully healed.
“All done.”
“Thanks…”
“You did well this morning,” he said, capping the cream and setting it on the bed. “Perhaps a reward is in order.”
I was pretty sure my jaw landed in my lap. “A reward?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “What? Did you expect a punishment for doing exactly what I asked you to do? You successfully drew out more of your power; I am quite proud of that. Even if it was at my expense,” he added.
The Twilight Zone music played in the back of my head for the umpteenth time.
“Would you like to walk the grounds?” he asked and I tried to keep my blackened heart from hammering out of my chest.
“Alone?” I almost squeaked.
He laughed as he stood, hovering over me where I still sat on the bed. “No. At least, not yet. I would go with you, but it appears I now have an important meeting this afternoon. I will send one of your two guards to join you. You can wait here.”
I bit my tongue before I could ask which of the two it would be. I sent up a silent prayer to a god I hoped was still listening—despite how often He clearly wasn’t—that the guard would be Josh instead of Lindsay. I wasn’t holding my breath.
Baldric strode to the door and then paused, turning back to me. “Again, well done. You may have tomorrow off.”
As Lindsay walked into the infirmary, I was sure God was laughing at me. It was a good thing I hadn’t held my breath or else I’d likely be turning blue by now. Still, part of me had hoped.
Apparently, my obvious disappointment showed because Lindsay rolled her eyes and said, “Josh is helping the king with his meeting. I’ll be joining you instead.”
“What’s the meeting?” I asked as I headed for the exit, trying to feign disinterest.
“I’m not sure,” Lindsay said, chasing after me. “I’m not privy to everything that goes on in the inner circle,” she added once she’d caught up.
“Inner circle?”
She shrugged. “That’s what I call it. You know, the group that is in the know and controls pretty much everything.”
“Of course he does. It’s filled with those he considers his most trusted advisors. They strategize, plan hunts, maintain order—the works.”
“And Josh is in it?” Color me surprised. I wouldn’t have thought Baldric would’ve let him in so quickly. Then again, he thought Josh was fully his. But he was wrong.
Josh was mine.
“Well, yeah,” Lindsay said matter-of-factly. “He’s one of the Chosen. The king invited me in a while back but I like to stay out of the messy stuff. I’m not much of a fighter. Like, not at all.”
Exiting the castle gates felt different when I knew I was about to explore instead of train. I took a deep breath of the salty ocean air and sighed. It smelled a lot like freedom, and a bit like home. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the second part. I had to believe that was because, outside of the past six or so months, I’d always been near the ocean. Surely it had nothing to do with how I felt about this new kingdom I was forced to live in. This was not my home and it never would be.
“So, what do you do then?” I asked, trying to determine where I wanted to go first. Part of me wanted to scout the lands surrounding the kingdom where the blazing torches tapered off into nothingness. If Josh and I were to find any time alone, it would be out there, in the pitch black of night. For that to happen, I’d need to know how far Baldric’s reach really went.
But I wasn’t sure how it would look if the first time Baldric loosened my leash, I went galivanting off into the darkness.
Instead, I forced my feet to carry me in the direction of the “village” along the outskirts of the kingdom where many of Baldric’s people lived. I couldn’t deny that I was curious what their lives were like. Maybe I’d find the truth to Baldric’s treachery amongst them. At least, I hoped I would.
“What do you mean?” she responded to my question.
“You said you’re not much of a fighter,” I replied, following the torch-lined path leading to the makeshift village. Baldric really did like to keep his kingdom lit up. The pathway was like a medieval rendition of an airport runway. My eyes weren’t used to so much light anymore. “What do you bring to the table here?”
“Not everything is about war,” Lindsay countered. “I help to run the castle.”
As we arrived at the bustling village, my feet faltered. “Whoa.”
“Not what you were expecting?” Lindsay asked, stopping beside me.
That was an understatement. I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, but it wasn’t what I was seeing.
It was like stepping back in time. Well-built wooden and stone structures lined dirt roads. Houses mixed with what looked like shops. Hell, there was even a large tavern. But it wasn’t just the village itself that threw me for a loop. It was the people. They strolled down the well-lit dirt roads, laughed on front porches, and went about their lives as if the world hadn’t just ended. They seemed completely at ease. That was until they saw me…
As we moved farther into the village, the laughter and chatter died away, replaced by hushed whispers and sideways glances. They knew exactly what I was…and likely who I was. I couldn’t imagine all of Baldric’s people being so quick to forgive and forget. Maybe coming here wasn’t such a great idea. I should have taken my chances pushing the limits of how far out I could go without drawing Baldric’s attention.
“They hate me,” I whispered more to myself than Lindsay. I shouldn’t have been so shocked by that. Didn’t I feel exactly the same way about them?
“Some,” she confirmed. “Others are just curious. No one will try anything,” she assured me, hooking her arm through mine like she’d always done as we’d stalked the halls back in high school.
But this wasn’t high school. This was war. And, while I was a force to be reckoned with, I wasn’t so sure I could take on a giant mob of angry vampires and shifts on my own.
“They know who you belong to,” Lindsay continued. “They’ll learn to let the past go eventually, as I have.”
“Let’s just go back.”
“We can’t,” she blurted a little too quickly and I hit the brakes.
“Excuse me?”
Her eyes looked anywhere but at me. “I just mean we should take advantage of you being able to go out like this. It would be a shame to waste the opportunity.”
“Lindsay,” I bit out, snatching up her wrist before she could bolt. “What’s going on?”
She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment too long and I gave her wrist a gentle squeeze that had her whimpering. I didn’t want to cause too much of a scene while surrounded by hundreds—if not thousands—of people who would love nothing better than to see my head on a stake. Just as they’d done to Ryuu.
“I’m supposed to keep you away from the castle for a while,” she confessed, trying to pull her wrist free. I gave it another squeeze, eliciting one more cry. She was right: she really wasn’t made for fighting.
“Why?”
“The king wants you away for the meeting, okay? Now let me go.”
I ignored the yellow flashing through her normally brown eyes, pulling her closer so we were nose to nose. “Why doesn’t he want me there? Who is the meeting with?”
“I don’t know!” she shouted, drawing more attention our way. I released her and she cradled her wrist to her chest, rubbing the already bruised flesh.
If Baldric was having a meeting with someone he didn’t want me to see…
“Zoe…” Lindsay said, her voice lowering in warning. “Don’t even think about it.”
But I already had. I bolted down the dirt road in the direction of the castle, ignoring her desperate protests as she shouted after me.
I had a meeting to crash.
I tiptoed into the castle, trying to determine where Baldric would hold a meeting with someone who didn’t belong to him. He wouldn’t take them to the war room, and the dining hall was for “family meals.” There had to be some sort of equivalent to a great hall here. Maybe I should have spent more time exploring the castle and less time in the library exploring Josh.
After getting turned around more times than I cared to admit, I saw a set of double doors on the second floor that looked official enough. I inched toward them, listening for anyone inside.
Voices carried from the room. One of them all too familiar. My blood turned to ice in my veins.
Alec.
The anger built within me.
Alec had told me that he’d attacked Josh in self-defense when Josh and the Sythen had come after him during the Great Battle. He’d sworn up and down that was what had happened, going as far as to tell me to use my ability to look into the past and see the truth. I’d stupidly believed him and his crocodile tears.
It wasn’t until I was brought to Baldric’s kingdom that I’d found out he’d lied to me. Alec had attacked Josh and left him for dead. He’d tried to kill Josh to get rid of him because Alec wanted me for himself.
At least, if what Lindsay had told me about Josh being found in the forest half dead was the truth. Unfortunately for Alec, I believed Lindsay in this. He’d always been jealous of Josh and our relationship. Deep down, Alec knew the pull I felt toward Josh was far stronger than anything I’d ever felt for him. He knew if given the choice, I’d always choose Josh—human or not.
“This wasn’t the deal,” Alec roared.
“This was exactly the deal,” Baldric countered, an edge to his deep voice.
“I gave you the redhead. In exchange, you said you wouldn’t take Zoe.”
I gave you the redhead. Those words echoed in my head until I was dizzy. I leaned against the wall as the hallway swayed around me. Alec had handed Annie over to Baldric? He was the one wh
o’d taken her?
This isn’t how this is supposed to happen.
That was what Alec had told me before I left with Baldric. At the time, I’d thought he’d meant our lives—the situation we’d been put in. But he’d meant the deal he’d had with Baldric. He literally meant it wasn’t supposed to happen. He’d made a deal with the Devil using my friend’s life and was shocked when the Devil found a way out.
“And I did not take her,” Baldric replied, a bit more calmly. “She willingly gave herself over in exchange for all of your lives. Lives you are now risking.”
“Bullshit,” Alec snapped, the anger in his voice mounting. “You used the redhead to make her give herself up.”
“I am not sure what has you so upset,” Baldric said. “Again, she willingly chose to come with me. Besides, you were able to keep the redhead in the end.”
“I don’t want the redhead. I have come to collect what is mine. I will take her back.”
Rage sank its claws into me and I saw red.
Before I could fling the doors open, a large hand clamped over my mouth, pulling me back. My assailant snaked an arm around me as I began to struggle, pinning me to their muscular frame as they bodily dragged me away from the room. Fire exploded within me and I wasn’t sure if it was from my anger or the person who was holding me.
Josh practically threw me into an empty sitting room, following in after me. “What the hell are you doing here?” he hissed and then his eyes fell to my hands, still wrapped in gauze. Concern flooded his face. “What happened to you?” he asked, reaching out and taking my wrists in his hands.
“You should have seen the other guy,” I sneered, pulling my hands back. “And what am I doing here? How about what are you doing here?”
“I’m here in case anything goes wrong in the meeting,” he replied, still eyeing my hands where they sat on my hips. “Which it might if you go barging into that room.”
“That asshole put Annie’s life in danger,” I snapped. “Not to mention he’s the one who damn near killed you and left you for dead. And now he’s threatening to ruin the fragile peace I purchased with my own life. I’m going to rip his damn head off.”