And pulled.
Levaroth’s roar shook her. Shook the floor, the walls. Her eardrums felt like they’d burst.
The Shediem entity fought while she pulled. Emma’s pain and his rushed together and filled Adrianna. Her lips parted and she thought she cried out, but she couldn’t tell.
The pain flooded her every cell, and both of her nostrils spilled blood.
“Witch!” a voice bellowed.
She choked out a cry.No! He shouldn’t be here. “I’m not done!” Light flared bright behind her eyelids.
“Don’t stop,” Levaroth ordered, but his voice was weak. Too weak.
A tall, hulking figure crashed through the barrier she’d erected around them and barreled into Adrianna.
“No!” she and Levaroth screamed in unison as Tlahaz ripped her away from Levaroth, the connection severed.
19
Emma
The throne room vanished, and Emma stood in a dark room not hers. The chorus of three breathing, softly snoring males just confirmed what she already knew.
No , she pleaded silently.
Slowly her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she began to make out the slumbering forms. One in each of the two beds, and one curled up in a blanket on the floor. She didn’t need to see their faces to know which one was Blaze. Her feet carried her forward, her grip tight on the hilt of the black dagger in her hand. Every muscle in her body rebelled, protested each step. She hoped to shuffle her feet and wake him, but the magic forced her steps to remain silent. Not even her tears would fall.
Too soon, she stood above the beautiful man whose usually stern face was softened in sleep. He lay on his back, one hand behind his head, the other laid across his stomach. It was so relaxed, and he looked so heartbreakingly handsome that Emma wanted to cry.
She tried.
Her heart felt like a wild animal had burrowed inside it and was tearing it apart from the inside. Real, physical pain flared in the mark on her collarbone. Not her father’s—Levaroth’s mark. With her lips sealed and her voice gone, not even a grunt of pain escaped her. But internally, she screamed.
Emma knelt softly beside Blaze, gritting her teeth. His dark waves cascaded over his brow. It was such a stark contrast to see the fierce warrior at rest. He looked younger. Gorgeous and strong.
The mark seared beside her heart, and her legs trembled. Something was very, very wrong. Was Levaroth dying?
She barely registered her arm lift, and finally, the first tear fell.
NO, she roared, hoping her father could hear her. I won’t kill him for you!
She tried to open her mouth, to scream the words out loud, but her lips were locked tighter than a safe. Her flesh smelled like it was burning. Fire shot down her spine, wrapping down her limbs, stabbing into her fingers and toes.
Too much pain.
Her vision blurred. Shaking, she fought for control. She managed to lower the blade by several inches, and she fought harder, squinting with effort.
Something snapped inside her. Like a cord that stretched on and on, tying her to something. To someone.
Levaroth.
A choked sob finally broke through.
It was gone. He was gone. She looked down, but she couldn’t see beneath the collar of her sweater to check if the mark had disappeared.
The pain eased, and she wobbled.
Then the dagger rose higher, her strength nearly gone. It was poised above Blaze’s chest.
She brought it down, hard.
Eyes like steel flashed open.
In a blur Blaze rolled to the side, but the blade still caught flesh. He didn’t make a single sound when he shot to his feet. Crimson bloomed on his bicep where the dagger had sliced. Like a waterfall, the red flowed down the contours of his muscular arm.
They stared at each other, and she hoped that the anguish shone in her eyes.
His were filled with betrayal. Twin blades she hadn’t seen anywhere near his person glinted from his hands in the sliver of moonlight between the curtains. He watched her like the enemy she was, feet spread and body ready to spring.
“Emma, you don’t want to do this.”
I know! She hoped her eyes reflected the words she couldn’t speak.
She lunged for him, their training sessions coming back to her. She slashed at Blaze’s face while he dove to the right. An animalistic growl that wasn’t hers tore from her throat. Shock jolted through her, but her body moved like a puppet dancing for her puppeteer.
She wanted to scream at him to run before she set fire to the house or was forced to slit everyone’s throats—even Sergei’s and Gertie’s.
“How long have you been a spy?” Blaze snarled.
Both his words and his tone broke her anew. Pain flooded her again, and her feet stumbled. A whimper vibrated in her throat. Her hands and knees hit the floor.
Sergei shot upright in his bed, indigo sparks flying from his fingertips.
“Get Gertie!” Blaze shouted.
Sergei’s eyes were wide, staring at Emma, unsure of what to do. Then he tore off his blanket and stood.
Emma got to her feet, not sparing him another glance before she charged. Blaze feigned left then shot his arm out, the tip of the blade grazing her cheek. She knew he’d pulled back on purpose. He couldn’t kill her even though his uncle had demanded he do so if she ever betrayed them.
“Let me help you, child,” Sergei said gently.
She made a low, menacing sound deep in her chest. Little by little she was becoming less and less like herself. Her actions and sounds were not her own; she was just a passenger in her own mind.
Emma lunged for the Spellcaster, ready to slice into whoever got in her way. Blaze’s solid body knocked into her from the side, sending her to the floor hard before her blade could catch flesh.
“Stay back,” Blaze ordered.
Even Axel was up now, though he made no move to interfere.
Blaze circled her as she spun like a caged animal, tracking his movements, preparing to strike, snarling like some deranged creature.“You don’t want to hurt me, Emma,” he said. Confident, yet cautious.
She sprang at him again, swiping for his abdomen, then his arm, then his face, moving faster than she could register. But he stepped and dodged her with ease.
Kill him.
Kill him.
Kill him!
20
Levaroth
“N
o, I almost had it!”Adrianna screamed, thrashing in Tlahaz’s arms, but he held her fast.“Let me go!” “You’re killing yourself!”Tlahaz’s eyes burned with rage that he leveled on Levaroth.
“Please, brother,” Levaroth rasped.
They stared at each other for a long moment.
“I can do this. But you have to let me try before I lose the
connection for good.” Adrianna’s voice was gentler. Pleading. Even her body went still in his arms.
Tlahaz growled a low, wretched sound. Then he released her. She rushed to Levaroth and laid her glowing palms on him
once more. His chest heaved with the pain still coursing through him. He clenched his jaw, preparing for more. It hit him hard, rushed through him like lava melting his insides.
His vision flashed, and Emma’s bright smile filled his mind. Her soft body caressed his rough palms. Her sweet, spicy scent filled his nostrils. Her wavy auburn hair flowed like silk over his fingertips when he ran his hand through it. He pulled her closer, and she came willingly, pliant in his firm grasp.
He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her with needy desperation.To ease the pain.To kiss her one last time.To finally tell her what he felt for her was true.
But her body grew cold. His eyes flew open, searching her face as it contorted in horror. Then she crumbled to dust. He reached for her, screamed for her, until her face faded from his mind.
Her name dissolved on his tongue.
The chamber surrounded him once more.
Adrianna falling into Tlahaz’s arms, spe
nt and unconscious.
Then blackness devoured him whole—an old friend that wrapped him in its eternal embrace.
His eyes flew open. Everything ached.
Tlahaz stood before him, arms crossed, expression blank. “Well?” he barked.
“Well, what?” Levaroth asked.
“Why are you here?”
The question puzzled Levaroth until he took stock of his
brutal injuries. His restraints, both magical and human. “I don’t know,” he answered.
“Who is Emma Duvall?” Tlahaz asked. His eyes were two
burning flames of hatred that Levaroth had never seen before. But that name…
Emma Duvall…
He didn’t know it. Human in origin, he guessed. “How should I know?” he scoffed. “Now what the hell am
I doing here?”
A cold smile spread across his comrade’s face, but it didn’t
quite reach his rage-filled eyes.“Welcome back, brother.”
21
Emma
P ain sharp and blinding sent Emma to her knees, giving Sergei time to escape. Agony stretched through her and she retched, expelling the contents of her stomach onto
the floor. Something warm fell from her nostrils and ears. When she wiped it away with the back of her hand, it was stained red. Was she dying?
The door flew open and the light flicked on as Gertie marched forward, hands raised. Blue sparks flew from her palms, then transformed into what looked like arrows whizzing for her.
“Don’t hurt her! Try to get it out of her!”
A gust of wind broke the arrows into a million particles that disappeared before they ever touched the floor.
“I’m not strong enough on my own,”Gertie barked as Emma’s eyes darted back and forth, considering whom she should attack.
Emma didn’t wait for whatever hocus-pocus they were attempting before loosing a bellow of rage, then leaping through the air toward Blaze. He barely moved back in time.
The searing agony tore from her back, and she was sure her spine had been ripped out. She collapsed on the ground as another roar filled the room and shook the house, but this time it wasn’t from Emma’s mouth.
A tall, shadowy creature with long claws and glowing red eyes screeched before it lunged at Blaze. He tore his blades through it in rapid succession. It screamed so loud the windows rattled.
It dove for Emma, and she curled into a ball with the dregs of her remaining strength. A bright light flashed behind her eyelids and the creature screamed again.
Then the unmistakable voice of Prince Asmodeus boomed through the room. “You have betrayed me for the last time, daughter. None of you will make it out of this place alive.”
Her eyes wouldn’t open.
It doesn’t matter, she said into her mind, not caring if her father heard. I’m dying already. I just hope someone saves my mother.
Her lungs were on fire. She tried to breathe, but it felt as if a car had landed on her chest. She felt herself slipping away.
This is it, she thought as another tear rolled down her cheek, fiery hot against her icy skin.
I’m sorry, she tried to say, but her lips wouldn’t move.
Then the darkness swallowed her whole.
22
Emma
M uffled voices floated through the fog. Her body felt heavy; especially her eyelids. Every inch of her ached. Like she’d just spent the past twenty-four hours
working out.
“…explains so much…”
“…seen this before…”
“What was it?”
An older, female voice spoke the words Emma could not.
“The Mark of Fallen Flame.”Gertie. A younger woman spoke next, and it took Emma longer to place the voice.“I didn’t think those things existed anymore. Then again, it’s not like princes just wander around on Earth.” Tar y n. Her indifferent tone made Emma want to fall back into the dense fog that clouded her mind, but little by little, her awareness was returning.
“Why isn’t she waking up?” Blaze growled.
“Calm down, Hulk. She was possessed by a prince for who knows how long,” Taryn said. Blaze must have given her his death glare because a moment later she muttered,“Hey, at least she’s alive.”
Emma almost snorted. Just because she was alive didn’t mean this was over. Her father’s promise replayed in her mind over and over. She needed to get to her mother. To Haddie. To Adrianna.
Adrianna! Had she been the one to remove her father’s mark? “Why was she in Sheol in the first place?” Darren asked.
The reply came from Sergei, accent thick and voice gruff. As if he’d been crying.“Her mother was abducted.”
Emma swallowed hard, and the room fell silent.
“Emma?” Blaze stroked her cheek with warm fingers.
“Is it…is it gone?” Her lips felt glued together and the words were garbled. She tried to open her eyes, and her lids reluctantly parted for a blink. The bright light made her squeeze them shut again.
From a click, Emma sensed the lights had been turned off. She tried again, prying her eyes open.
The room was still lit, with just a single lamp, making it easier to adjust.
“Thanks,” she rasped, trying to sit up.
Everyone, with the exception of Taryn and her brother, had creased brows and frowns. Even Axel looked apprehensive.
Blaze gently slid his hands beneath her back and helped lift her to a sitting position. She glanced over her shoulder at him. His lips were a firm line and his eyes looked like dark storm clouds. They always seemed darker when his mood changed.
“Is it gone?” she asked again. She knew it wasn’t inside her anymore, but she had seen it outside of her body. Whatever it was, letting it roam around and terrorize humans was far from ideal.
“Yes,” Gertie whispered to the silent room.
Emma licked her lips, but it was just sandpaper on her already cracked skin. Blaze rose from the bed she sat on and walked into the adjoined bathroom. Water ran from the faucet and into a glass that he carried back for her.
She took it with a weak smile and downed its contents. He watched her, arms folded over his large chest, muscles tensed.
“I’m not going to attack you again,”she said, attempting levity.
“How long?” Blaze demanded, low and rough.
She swallowed the lump that rose in her throat. “How long…?”
“Were you under a Shediem prince’s control,” Sergei offered gently, but he wouldn’t quite meet her gaze.
Emma stared into the empty glass in her hand, for once feeling the freedom to speak about such things. Her eyes burned with tears.
“Since I got back.”
Blaze lowered his eyes, shielding his emotions from her.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Emma said, wishing the tears would dry up, but instead they leaked out. She wiped them away angrily.
“We know you didn’t, dear,” Gertie replied.
Taryn snorted.“You don’t know that for sure. She could be a Shediem sympathizer—”
“I’m not!”
The room fell silent again, but Taryn stared at Emma, her lips still tilted to the side in a smirk. Emma lifted her chin, refusing to let Taryn or anyone else accuse her of willingly betraying the Giborim.
No. She sighed. I did betray them willingly. I agreed to join them to save my mother.
“My mother,” she said quietly. Another tear burned a trail down her cheek, but this time she made no move to clear it away. Her head lifted and she looked at Sergei.“They’re torturing her. She’s…She’s not…” A sob broke free, and Sergei’s face paled. Emma hunched over, head in her hands, and she wept.
Blaze released a long breath as he came to kneel before her. He placed a hand on her knee, but she didn’t look up at him.
“I need to know everything, Emma. How much information was betrayed; everything you know.”
She nodded, wiping her nose with the
back of her hand.
“How did the Shediem get inside the wards?” he asked, and she stopped abruptly, eyes tearing to him in both horror and anger.
“What are you talking about?”
“There have been two Shediem attacks on the compound in the past few days. In one of them, they were cloaked and able to pass through the wards without lowering them.”
Emma started.“Oh my god, is Breanna okay? And Isaac?”
Blaze searched her face. “You didn’t know anything about them.” It wasn’t a question.
She shook her head anyway.“Are they okay?”
“They’re fine,” Blaze assured her, clasping her biceps with his large hands.“Emma, I need to know the truth now. How much information did you give away? Every last bit.”
Emma was opening her mouth to answer when shrill, animalistic howls pierced the usually quiet property. No one dared breathe. Expressions ranging from concentration to fear lined each face in the room, and Emma’s heart began to pound again. The sounds weren’t from a dog or a wolf—they were cries of desperation and bloodlust.
A cacophony of the shrieking howls sounded again, and confirmation registered on nearly everyone’s faces.
“Gargoloscks!” Blaze and Axel dove for their swords at once.
Taryn, Sergei, and Gertie all lifted their hands, and colored glows began to illuminate the room.
Footsteps thundered on the other side of the house. Gwyndoline and Constance burst into action but didn’t head toward them, going for the front door instead. Gertie’s face pinched with concern, glancing toward the open door—she clearly wanted to help them, but more devilish cries drew her attention back. They were much closer. From Emma’s estimation, they’d made it through the wards already.
“Ugh, this is exactly what I wanted to be doing tonight,” Taryn sneered as she raced out the door and down the hall. Darren followed close behind, but he sent Emma a wink before leaving.
The next round of beastly wails told Emma the creatures had the house surrounded. Her father’s words snapped into perfect clarity: he wanted them all dead here and now.
The Throne of Broken Bones (Weapon of Fire and Ash Book 3) Page 17