Queen Witch

by Elle Middaugh

  I buried my face into Gage’s scales and tried to keep my nausea at bay, but not being able to see where we were going only made me more nauseous. I sat back up.

  Ahead, the zombie darted through the streets, entering buildings, raising screams, then exiting and doing it all over again. I had no idea what he was after. Had Nerissa and Julian managed to gain control of the thing? Was he on a mission? Or had he evaded them so far, and he was simply running wild?

  Gage flew ahead, circling back and blazing a trail of flames across the zombie’s path. As the dead guy ran through, bits of his clothing caught fire. But instead of instantly igniting or freaking out, he merely stopped and patted himself down.

  Then he glared up at us and hissed.

  Fear shot through my body like an electric current.

  “I think we got his attention,” I muttered nervously.

  Gage roared and shot out another quick burst of flames, once again catching bits and pieces of the zombie on fire.

  The creature charged, clawing at the buildings beneath us, climbing upward in an attempt to get closer to us.

  A loud boom echoed off the walls of every nearby building as Nathan’s gun went off.

  The zombie fell, landing in a heap on the road. When he miraculously stood back up, there were bones poking out of his skin. I turned away, desperately wishing I had a stronger stomach.

  The gateway to the Outlands lay just up ahead. If we could get him outside the city, we could at least stop the carnage of the capital citizens. Though, I had no idea how we’d ever clear up the emotional damage that had been done.

  Gage dropped low, hovering a mere few feet above the street. The zombie jerked his bones back into place, then chased after us as fast as he could.

  My mouth went dry. “Faster, Gage!”

  He pumped his wings and propelled us wilder, leaving the zombie in a wake of sandy dust. We were still close enough to hold his attention, but to my dismay, he suddenly turned down a side street and disappeared.

  “We lost him!” I shouted.

  A gunshot fired nearby, and I paled. Laken! Had the zombie decided to attack the easier targets once more?

  Gage quickly spun around and chased the dead guy through the streets. People ran screaming, not just at the sight of a rampant zombie, but also at the sight of a massive dragon soaring through the midnight sky.

  I spotted Laken and Nathan climbing back into the car, and I could finally breathe again.

  But the zombie was on a mission. He no longer attacked arbitrary people on the streets. He no longer detoured into random buildings. He stayed on his path, heading straight toward the palace.

  Gage and I rushed after him by air.

  Laken and Nathan rushed after him by land.

  But none of us were fast enough.

  As more and more chaos erupted, the direness of the Queen Witch situation magnified. More than ever, we needed a leader to put her foot down and end the supernatural pandemonium breaking out all around us.

  At least, that’s what the Blood Witch seemed to think.

  She magically plucked us from reality and dropped us into another realm.

  I tensed, looking around, surprised to find myself in a cave. There were three cages nearby, barred and empty. Bones hung from the ceiling on ratty ropes, entire rib cages in some places. Small fires burned in various locations across the stone floor. No one appeared to be around but me.

  “This is the Sixth Trial,” the robotic voice said. “You may save the captives of a single cage.”

  I studied the cages closer, confirming what I thought I already knew—that they were empty.

  With a poof of magical dust, Catfish appeared in the first cage.

  “Get me out of here!” he shouted, frantically meowing as he circled the floor.

  I took a step toward him, but another poof went off in the second cage. A dozen small children, no older than kindergarteners, sat huddled and crying.

  “Please help us, Princess Eliza!” they sobbed, tears literally streaming down their tiny faces.

  My gut wrenched.

  Poof! Gage appeared in the third cage, and immediately tried to pry the bars apart.

  My heart completely stopped.

  “You have five minutes,” the calm voice said. A digital hologram appeared on the wall: a five, a colon, and two zeros. A timer. “Choose wisely.”

  The timer started ticking down.

  My heart launched into my throat, and I covered my mouth with shaking fingers. How the fuck was I supposed to do this? I didn’t know how to physically break them free any more than I knew how to emotionally choose between them.

  It would be impossible.

  Gage pressed his face to the bars. “Don’t you dare save me. And don’t save the damn cat either. Get those kids out and take them to safety.”

  Catfish hissed.

  “You know, I used to like you, asshole,” he snapped. But of course, Gage couldn’t hear him. “Don’t listen to him, Eliza. I swear, I’m already on my ninth life. You have to save me; I’m not ready to die!”

  “Please!” the children moaned, weeping pitifully. “We’re so scared! We want our mommies and daddies! We want to go home!”

  “First place,” the robotic voice announced. “Nerissa Strand.”

  I looked up. On the wall, the timer read four minutes and forty-five seconds. Oh, of course she’d be finished in fifteen seconds. She had no conscience to contend with.

  My heart was breaking, crumbling into dust as if used up by magic. I cared too deeply about each victim in the cages. And if this trial was anything like the last, then they were all in very real danger.

  I couldn’t pick just one. I wouldn’t.

  I would save them all.

  “Second place. Annika Eriksson.”

  Gnashing my teeth, I searched the cave for anything that could help me formulate a plan.

  “What are you doing?” Gage shouted. “You’re wasting time! Save the kids!”

  “I’m saving you all!” I snapped, feeling the pressure once more.

  Then I closed my eyes and pressed my fingertips to my temples. A headache was already starting to form at just the thought of how much light magic I’d need to use.

  I took a deep breath.

  “Third place. Chloe Arctimo.”

  “Damn it!” I roared.

  Time was running out.

  “With all the power I possess, save each victim from distress!”

  The cave began to shake, and I rattled off another spell, adding to it and making it stronger.

  “By all the power within me, set these innocent beings free!”

  Chunks of rock let loose from the ceiling, crashing to the floor in tiny jagged pieces that sprayed around my feet.

  And still, I added one more for good measure. There were three cages, after all.

  “I will not leave a single one, make it so this trial is done!”

  Light exploded from every inch of my body, blinding me and probably everyone else too. The cave floor cracked and split. Hisses of steam burst into the air, along with the rotten stench of sulfur. I wondered if hell was literally breaking loose.

  Then my head cracked. It was like lightning had struck my skull and started frying my brains. The pain was unimaginable.

  “Trial complete,” I thought I heard, over the violent destruction going on in- and outside me. No mention of my placement.

  But the pain didn’t end with the completion of the trial.

  I screamed, desperately squeezing my head as a strange gravitational sensation took hold of my body. It felt like I was falling, and I half hoped that I was—at least if I died at the bottom, the agony would stop.

  But I didn’t hit the bottom.

  Before I could figure out what happened, I passed out.

  Chapter 20

  I awoke some time later in the infirmary to the tear-streaked faces of my sisters.

  My brows furrowed. Had I come so close to death? I supposed it wouldn’t
have surprised me... that last Trial was excruciating. Gingerly, I touched my head, but it felt completely fine. The mind-splitting migraine had waned.

  They didn’t smile when they noticed my consciousness, only cried a little harder. Something was wrong.

  “What?” I asked, uncertain if I even wanted to know the answer.

  Fear gripped me suddenly, and I frantically searched the tiny room for Gage, Catfish, and the children. None of them were there.

  Dizziness washed over me like a wave, tumbling and drowning me in an undertow of dread.

  I was about to puke.

  “It’s Mom and Dad,” Laken said, sniffling.

  Relief hit my bloodstream like a drug, followed quickly by heady guilt. I shouldn’t have been comforted by that, but I couldn’t help it.

  “They’re dead,” Maren finished. “Nerissa’s zombie killed them while we were in the trial, along with nearly a hundred others.”

  I couldn’t breathe.

  I didn’t necessarily see eye to eye with my parents, especially my mother, and especially lately, but—

  Oh my God, my mother! The shitty conversation we’d had... it would forever be our last.

  Angrily, all I could think was, “How do you feel about your precious daughter now, mother?” My muscles shook as I flexed them, fighting the urge to punch something. I was so mad at her for not listening to me, for being naïve enough to trust Nerissa and for allowing her stupidity to get herself and Dad killed.

  I shook my head, looking away as a steaming hot tear slid down my face.

  “And what about the Sixth Trial?” I asked. “How many points do I need now in order to still beat... the necromancer?” I couldn’t bring myself to call her sister.

  I turned back around to face them.

  Laken gazed at the floor, unable to make eye contact.

  Maren sighed. “You were one point behind Nerissa after the Fifth Trial. As far as I know, you received zero points in the Sixth. As it stands, even if you won first and Nerissa took last in the Final, you’d still be one point behind her.”

  “What about you?” I asked Maren quickly. “Or Annika or Sasha? Do any of you stand a chance at beating her now that I’m basically out?”

  Maren shook her head. “I’m still a solid ten points behind you, and they’re further yet.”

  I laughed right out loud, but to my dismay, the sound quickly turned into ugly sobbing. I might be able to snag first, but there was no way in hell I could win.

  It was over. I fucked up. I ruined my chances at becoming Queen Witch and therefore saving our kingdom—maybe even the whole world—when I followed my heart and broke the rules of the trial.

  Trying my best to ignore the all-encompassing poison of defeat spreading through my body, I took a shaky breath.

  “And... what about Gage? Catfish? The children?”

  Maren frowned. “Children?”

  “From the trial,” I said, barely able to get the words out through my swollen throat. Holding back tears was so painful. It burned up the entire length of my neck like it’d been soaked in gasoline.

  “The trial wasn’t real this time,” Laken said, speaking up. “Everyone imagined something different.”

  I shook my head, grinding my teeth so hard I wondered if they’d break.

  So it didn’t even matter. I could’ve done as Gage had asked, saved the children and been done with it, placed first or second, and still had a shot at defeating Nerissa for the title. But no... I had to be a damned bleeding heart. I had to be good, and learn light magic, and choose virtue over victory.

  “That said...,” Laken continued, then trailed off.

  Maren filled in the end. “Gage was still hurt in real life. After you fell off his back and he brought you to safety, he and Nathan went after the zombie. Turns out, the hellish bastard’s immune to bullets and fire.”

  My hand immediately flew up to my mouth. Tears spilled anew. Even my skin quivered as sorrow and desperation shook me.

  “They’re okay,” Laken said, rushing to my side. She took my hands in hers. “They each needed stitches and a special antidote from Ezra, but they’re awake and talking.”

  She smiled and it pierced right through me, allowing some light into my soul.

  “I need to see him,” I said, letting go of her hands and pushing off the cot.

  “Last door on the right,” Maren said, smiling faintly as she moved out of my way.

  I went to leave, then stopped, and turned around. I shook my head and a pitiful smile emerged on my lips.

  “No matter what happens, I want you girls to know that I love you. So incredibly much.”

  I instantly started crying again, which started them crying again, and before I knew it we were a huddled mess of ugly sobs with a puddle of tears between our feet.

  “I can’t believe Mom and Dad are gone,” Laken moaned in between gasps.

  “We’ll make it through,” I assured them, trying my best to be the strong one now that I was the oldest and wisest one left.

  “Will you have to be Queen of Terranea now?” Maren asked me.

  I almost choked on my tongue. “God, I don’t know. I guess it all depends on the outcome of the Trials. If Nerissa wins Queen Witch, then it’ll have to be one of us. Whoever scores highest in the end, I guess.”

  I looked from Maren to Laken.

  “It’s anyone’s game at this point,” I said softly.

  I had no idea what their thoughts were about ruling a kingdom. None of us ever had much of a choice, and least of all now.

  Laken shook her head. “The citizens might call for us to step down from the throne after all this. They probably feel we’re unfit to rule, and they’re probably right.”

  My lips thinned. “We’d keep them a hell of a lot safer than an ignorant human could. We need to stay in power here. What little protection we have to offer is still better than nothing.”

  I took my time, looking at each of them, trying to read their thoughts like I could my cat’s. But it was impossible. All I had to go by were muted facial expressions. Laken’s was one of anguish. Maren’s was one of resolve. Neither got to the root of the emotions deep inside. I hoped my face wasn’t showing the hopelessness I felt.

  I sighed. “I’m going to see Gage now.”

  We then took turns hugging, and kissing each other’s cheeks, before we each went our separate ways.

  I walked slowly down the hall, willing the slow clicking of my heels to somehow decelerate time. To pause things before they got any worse. My steps stopped short just outside Gage’s room. Would I be able to handle what I saw?

  “Eliza?” he called, with a raspy voice.

  My heart pounded, deep booming beats that pumped panic through my bloodstream.

  I stepped around the corner and into his room.

  “How’d you know it was me?” I asked.

  He smiled, but his dimples only barely showed. “Would it freak you out if I told you I could smell you?”

  I let out a tiny laugh and crept closer.

  His whole midsection was wrapped in pristine white gauze. An IV tube was attached to a vein in his left arm. Heavy purple bags hung under his beautiful blue eyes. He looked completely worn out.

  I gently rested a hip on the side of his cot.

  “So what do I smell like?”

  His smile widened. “Like sunshine and roses on an ocean breeze.”

  He reached out and laced our fingers.

  I brought them to my lips and placed a tender kiss on his.

  “I’m so sorry, Gage. This was never supposed to happen. I promised to keep you safe, and I failed epically.”

  He squeezed my hand. “You promised to keep me alive, and you’ve done an excellent job. So, thank you, Princess.”

  I bent down, resting on my elbow, and stared into his eyes. There was so much emotion inside me, dying to spill out, but I didn’t know how to put it into words. I supposed, though, that a spell might be a decent place to start. I brushed hi
s dark hair away from his forehead, then traced a finger across his lips. He closed his eyes and took a comforted breath.

  “With all my strength and love and bliss,” I whispered, leaning even closer. “Heal him with a magic kiss.”

  As our lips touched, energy surged. Some sort of wind burst out of me, ruffling our hair and swirling around the room like a cyclone. Glittering magic mixed in with the wind, circling around us in a beautiful array of color before filtering into his body through his chest.

  As he regained strength, he kissed me back—hard. Passion flooded my system, momentarily overriding the migraine that was waiting patiently on the outskirts of my mind. He sat up and ran his fingers through my hair, pulling me closer, delving in deeper.

  My mind was awash with a numbing ecstasy that completely took control of my body. It compelled me to climb up into his lap on the cot. When he grabbed my ass and squeezed, it drove me to roll my hips into him. We were making each other absolutely crazy.

  Then the headache struck.

  I gasped and pulled back, squeezing my skull with both hands, trying to crush the pain. But it wouldn’t leave. I knew from experience that it would likely hang around for quite a few minutes, if it wasn’t awful enough to completely black me out.

  Gage didn’t look surprised or scared. He simply pulled me back into him and began kneading my neck. He took his time, loosening up the muscles there before moving his fingers into my scalp and rubbing away the tension there too.

  I rested my forehead on his chest and savored the feel of his skin on mine.

  “You are incredible,” he muttered before kissing the top of my head.

  I glanced up, realizing I felt considerably better. “No, you are. Thank you for the massage. It actually helped a lot.”

  “Not as much as this,” he said, sliding out from under me and unwrapping the gauze at his core.

  I don’t know what it looked like before, but there were now four long scars on the side of his rock-hard abs, reaching from his ribs down to his hips. Claw marks.