“I didn’t kill her if that’s what you’re asking. No. She was already dead when I found her, screaming at the end of an alley. Everyone was concerned about the man, thinking he had been bitten, but Suji and I only saw her. We took her in. We kept her alive as the heart she conjured for herself gave out. I guess she gave her heart to another, quite literally.” He laughed, but the sound was harsh and angry. It scratched against my soul as everything he was saying fell into place, and everything Míra had been saying for years became truth. Ovailia had saved Ilyan in the end.
“We even sacrificed our sister to the bite of a Vilỳ so she could help. But even that didn’t work, which was fine, I suppose. I got what I needed from her in the end.” I could only stare at him as he flipped the staff again, magic stretching to the end of the room in a line of sparks.
The sparks of the magic that felt familiar. Now, I knew why.
It was Ovailia’s magic.
I didn’t know how he did it, and I didn’t care. Only one thing was pulsing through me now. Ovailia had sacrificed herself for Ilyan, and this man had killed her. This man had taken her magic, and figured out how to take the magic of others.
“Well, I guess we found who we are supposed to kill.” I stepped forward, Míra by my side, as we faced the man and his twisted smile.
“I wish you luck,” was all he said before he pointed the staff right at us and sent a stream of glittering white across the room.
Míra sent up a shield, but the second the magic intersected with his, it fell away in lines of fire, the attack still on a beeline for us. We darted out of the way, both of us falling to the floor as Míra dodged one way and I another. Chikara laughed as I stared at Míra, her face screwed up in determination as she looked from him to me.
“Looks like someone needs his dick cut off.” She jumped up, rushing the man and leaving me sputtering on the floor.
I really shouldn’t be surprised about anything that girl does or says.
She raced over the floor, running to the other side of the room so that Chikara was between us. She separated us and Chikara’s focus as he continued to swing the staff.
“Do you really think that will work?” he asked, clearly not seeing what I had. Míra may be on the other side of the room from me, but her magic was not. It spiraled behind him, unseen by him as he darted his focus between what he thought were his only two enemies. Me and Míra.
“Oh, no,” Míra said with a laugh. “I just wanted to see how dumb you were.”
Míra jumped into the air, yelling like some kind of warrior as she went high and her magic spiraled like a Catherine wheel over the ground. I stayed where I was, hands out as my magic soared from me and I flooded the entire space with dark fog.
I only got a glimpse of Chikara’s horrified face before the blackness swarmed him. Míra screamed as both she and her magic intersected with the man.
I raced forward, pulling my magic around me and her in a shield as the black began to break apart, and the fighting pair before me came back into view. The staff had deflected the Catherine wheel of Míra’s magic, leaving her fighting him head on.
Her plan may not have worked, but thanks to the black fog he was oblivious to my arrival from behind. I grabbed him, my arm circling around his neck as I pressed my hand against his back and let my magic spark directly into his bones.
He screamed, the high pitched shriek echoing over the walls as Míra stepped back, grinning in victory. I moved my other hand out, ready to restrain him when he swung the stick around and slammed the tip into my forearm.
The skin burned as whatever magic was in the stick cut into me, flesh searing as it was cut apart and what felt like knives zinged through my body. Screaming in pain, I dropped him and staggered back, already shooting a misaimed attack back at the man who was flinging the stick around again.
Lines of light sped from the tip, launching toward both me and Míra, and she was pissed.
“How dare you!” With a scream, she raced at him, vanishing from view with the slightest pop. Usually a Stutter was best used as a distraction, but Míra went right to him, reappearing on his back. She clung to him like a koala, screaming as she slammed her hands onto his head. A kill shot.
She didn’t get too far before Chikara flung the staff back, aiming right for her face. Sparks flew everywhere as she grabbed the tip of the wood with her hand, magic erupting around her palm.
“And you thought you were going to get revenge?” She laughed, still plastered to his back, the staff clasped in her hand.
He hadn’t even noticed that I was standing. That my magic was already soaring right toward him. He had no way to dodge, no way to fight back as the powerful attack slammed into his gut. Míra took off into the air as he was thrown back, right into the glass wall. It cracked but did not break as he slid down it, the staff in two pieces by his feet.
“Is he--?” I began, Míra’s attack zooming past me before I could even finish asking. It hit him right between the eyes.
“If he wasn’t before, he is now.” Yes, she really had spent too much time around Wyn.
Although, in situations like this I really wasn’t going to question it.
“Since I killed him, does that mean I won the hundred points?” I panted, my hand flat against my arm where the bleeding had thankfully begun to slow.
“Did you kill him? I’m pretty sure it was a group effort.” Míra was heaving as much as I was.
Her skin was sticky with sweat, her face flushed and streaked with blood.
Yet, somehow, she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
“I got the last hit. I’ll take the victory.” God, I hated that I was fighting this. I hated more that I was trying to win for one reason only.
“Admit it. You just want to kiss me,” Míra teased, I guess she figured me out.
“Oh fuck it,” I breathed, grabbing her around the waist and pressing her right against me. She grinned at me with all the saucy victory she possessed before she was the one to lean in and press her lips against mine.
Fireworks rocked through me, hungry need pulsing as I lifted her off the floor and held her, letting my touch devour her.
Míra’s lips danced alongside mine as her arms clung to me, her hands tangling in my hair as all of the glass in the high office exploded.
She giggled before kissing me again, her touch hungry and needy and wonderful.
“Well, I guess I should have seen this coming,” Joclyn said from right behind us. We both stiffened, Míra giving me another kiss before she slid from my arms and we turned to face not just Joclyn, but Thom and Wyn who stood in the doorway.
We hadn’t even heard the door open.
“Took you guys long enough,” Míra laughed, hands on her hips. “I had to kill that guy without you. What would you do without me?”
29
Ryland
“Are you ready for this, your majesty?”
I glared at Wyn, who was grinning at me in full awareness of what she was doing. She knew what was waiting for me on the other side of those doors, and she knew just how much I was dreading it.
But I had chosen this. I promised both Ilyan and Joclyn this, if only for a few years while Ilyan recovered.
And part of me knew it was right.
It was still just sitting very heavy on my chest.
We had only returned from the battle with the Kyō a week ago, and while I would love to say the world was promptly put back in order, it had only been thrown apart.
There was no leadership, and wars were bound to flourish again. Someone had to take control, and as much as Wyn wanted to be Queen Empress of the world, she had bowed out at the last minute.
“Aw, c’mon, you’ll do great!” It was Míra who threw her arm around my neck, giving me just as big of a smile as Wyn was. Those two were trouble, there was no way around that.
“Don’t think you are getting a tad bit too excited?” I asked. She just smiled broader.
If it wasn’t f
or what I was about to head into I would say that those two were up to something.
I gave them one last look before staring into the mess of ribbon in my hand and nodding to Wyn and Thom, who threw the door open with flourish.
“I present to you, the youngest son of Edmund LaRue, brother to Ilyan Krul, and our King, Ryland LaRue.”
Wyn’s voice rang out as I gave Míra one last look, the girl smiling as I slid the ribbon over my hand, securing it on my wrist as I walked into the hall.
The massive space was full of the Chosen, of Trpaslíks, and Skȓítek; more of which had come to our side after the Kyō had fallen.
They stood, staring at me, and as one they clapped their hands above their heads.
As one, we walked into a new world together.
As I stared at them, I couldn’t help but be just a little excited. There was a lot to do, more than enough things in this broken down world to repair.
But we could. We would find a way, together.
No matter how scared out of my mind I was, it was the hope that kept me going, and that was something we all had in common.
“I accept.”
30
Ilyan
She had been wrapped in my arms for the past few months, neither of us willing to let go. We had slept in a tangle of limbs and sheets, never getting enough of each other. Our days were spent curled together in playful curves, talking about everything that had happened, everything we had missed.
I absorbed everything she had to tell me, every story and every memory. While it had taken me a few days to open up about what happened to me, it felt good to share, to tell her of the fear and pain, and to know that I was not alone.
That she was there.
And that she understood.
While not the same, she had been driven to madness while trapped in Cail's mind. Driven to an insanity that even I didn’t reach. She knew the pain of that type of misery, of that torture. It made sharing easier, it made healing safer. It had been my love that held her while she had found her feet, and it would be her love that would help me find mine.
Seeing her dedication to me, that support, brought even more love into my heart. Into us.
Of course, that connection was made all the more amazing by the return of my magic.
It had been that kiss, right before she left to help with the Kyō, when it all came flooding back.
Like a bolt of lightning it sparked, pushing through like an explosion that I barely kept restrained. Jos and Wyn had already gone off to fight, and I had far too much healing for my body to catch up on anyway.
When she returned I swept my mate into my arms, announced I had a lifetime to catch up on, and rushed her away to the house in France that we both spent way too much time dreaming about. Thank goodness it was still standing.
We hadn’t left since.
Of course, we have had visitors, but most of the time we were alone; curled up under blankets, or cuddled together on the big squishy chairs on the balcony as we lost ourselves in each other.
Right now, however, as the sun dipped below the horizon and everything was covered in gold, we lay in our usual tangle, listening to each other's heartbeats.
What did you miss the most? Joclyn asked into my mind, her voice soft and hesitant as she curled deeper into me. The texture of her voice made it clear that she was drifting back to sleep again, the slow steady beat of her breathing cementing the fact.
“Sunlight,” I answered without hesitation. Whispering my answer aloud as she sighed.
She had asked me that question multiple times over the last few days, and every time I gave her a different answer. It was a joke that I had become obsessed with teasing her over. She could see the answer in my mind anyway.
She chuckled and burrowed herself into me, just as a soft knock on the door pulled my focus.
One flare of my magic told me who it was, and while years ago I may have been concerned with letting him see us like this, now it didn’t matter.
“Enter,” I called, the loud command in my voice making Joclyn jump.
“With a voice like that you’ll be claiming your crown again soon,” Ryland teased as he stepped into the room, his voice light and calm as he shut the door behind him.
“I am sorry to disappoint you, brother, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.” I made sure to keep my voice lower this time.
Ryland’s sigh was obvious as he sat down on the foot of the bed, his movements careful in an attempt not to disrupt us. The motion caused Joclyn to press closer to me, something I would not complain over.
“You promised me ten years, and that is what I will give you. Any more than that and I will simply bribe you,” he said. “I do not know how you ruled for so long, and so well.”
“It was not always perfect, and I needed my breaks as well,” I admitted, the memories of the time I had spent in the monastery, or building this house, or remodeling Rioseco making so much more sense now. “You will have to find time for yourself as well.”
“I’m afraid I haven’t mastered that yet,” he sighed, his blue eyes laughing as he ran his hand through his hair. “Maybe I’ll do that right after I finish convincing Australia's new government to stand with us.”
I chuckled lightly at that, his own frustration tickling his lips as he sighed and leaned against the massive footboard, looking from me to Joclyn as though this was nothing more than an everyday occurrence.
“Is she asleep?” he finally asked, the lack of disdain, anger, and ownership still catching me off guard.
“She is doing a very good job of pretending to be,” I answered, just as the girl in question let out a very large snore.
The sound made both Ryland and I laugh, although Jos refused to move, instead curling against me in an attempt to hide her chuckles.
“Well, you might want to wake her up for this,” Ryland prodded, his eyes dancing in delight as whatever secret he had come in here hiding threatened to explode. “I have news.”
“It better be good news,” Joclyn mumbled, Ry didn’t even hesitate to answer.
“The best.”
Jos sighed, groaned, pressed one last kiss against my neck and slowly turned, her eyes already shooting daggers at Ryland.
“I was almost asleep, you know.”
“You are still wearing your clothes, Jos.” His banter was meant for her, but I laughed right along with him, leaving poor Joclyn with the difficult decision of who to glower at.
In the end, she chose me, poking me in the ribs as she teased me right back. “You let in a straight up loon.”
“I’d be careful what you say,” I hissed as I ran my fingers up her side in an obvious attempt at tickling. “You never know how much of that runs in the family.”
“Who says…”
“I have news!” Ryland announced again, his voice loud as he pulled us out of our bubble.
The look he gave us was such a cross between the powerful king and the frustrated kid brother that I couldn’t help but laugh, the joy expelling from me in a loud burst that caused Joclyn to jump and Ryland to scowl deeper.
His curls bounced as he shook his confusion away, turning to us with a piercing blue stare as he looked right at me. “We found her.”
It was all he needed to say.
We had been searching for Kaye for months, seeing as the other tracking light on the webpage had led not to Kaye, but to some old man in Spain.
My heartbeat sped up, Joclyn's accelerating to match as she fell away from me, my still weak legs pushing me to stand beside the bed, bare chest, loose pajama pants and all.
“Where?” I heard Joclyn ask behind me in exhilaration.
Ryland mumbled something as the sound of crumpling paper pulled me back to them, the two curled over a map that Ry had obviously pulled out of a book.
“Sweden,” Ryland stated. “Sigtuna to be exact. I have never heard of it, but Wyn said…”
“Yes. I owned the first inn there. A tiny thing. We used it
as a safe house for many years…”
I drifted off as the memories hit me, moments in time that were almost lost.
“Yes, well,” Ryland cleared his throat as he pulled me back, Joclyn’s hand wrapping around my own in understanding. “Wyn said you would know this intersection.” Again another smile. “Which is the closest thing to where she is: here.”
The map crinkled as he released it onto the bed, the corners rolling as he dug in his pockets. Shoving a nicely folded square of paper toward me, Ryland looked from me to Joclyn in anticipation.
I couldn't respond. Luckily, Joclyn jumped up and wrapped her arms around Ryland’s neck, thanking him over and over as I began to unfold the paper and reveal an address in loopy feminine handwriting.
Kaye.
She was here. She was right here.
I could find here. I could thank her.
“Thank you, Ryland,” I whispered, my own thanks echoing Joclyn’s as I clenched the paper in my fist, suddenly determined to locate some regular clothes.
“You are very welcome, both of you,” Ryland said, peeling Joclyn away as he took a step toward the door. “I have some issues I must attend to, but call me when you have her. I would like to meet her too. And Jos, Ilyan; I wouldn’t wait too long. It seems she moves around a lot.”
“Thanks, Ry,” Jos said from behind me as he left, her voice distant as I began to make my way over to my dresser.
It was a curse I had grumbled about many times before. My now returned magic could do everything it had before, but no magic could make muscle grow. That was on me, and the slow healing of my atrophied appendages was only angering me.
“In five years it will only be a memory,” Jos whispered as she stepped past me, her hand soft against my arms.
“I would rather it not take that long.” I almost regretted saying it aloud, the anger and frustration was not really like me.
Flare of Villainy: The Imdalind Series, Book 10 Page 20