Attion’s eyes followed her movement. He spat a curse.
Diamond did not notice. She closed her eyes, wanting to feel her bonds with Hugo.
Come to me, my love. I will return your magic. Hugo’s voice was soft and persuasive.
I can’t, she snarled. They are stopping me!
Then I shall come to you, he growled in her head.
Her legs suddenly became her own, and her voice returned. She slid to the ground, utterly drained, not looking at any of them even when she was carried to the pile of cushions.
Her body shivered as if she had been covered in ice. She tried to get up but was too weak to move. Attion’s firm but gentle hand supported her head as he held a warm, sweet elixir to her lips.
She grabbed his arm as he held the cup. “He’s coming. He’s alive,” she whispered, staring wide-eyed at him then Rayan, before her gaze travelled over the healer and the guards inside the tent. Their expressions were dark and serious.
“Please rest, my queen. We will all be here to greet him when he comes,” said Attion in a voice she had not heard in many weeks. It was the voice of a heartless killer.
In the distance a wolf howled as Diamond fell under the grip of a deep, dreamless sleep.
Chapter 31
Diamond moved. The cool smooth silk of a cushion caressed her cheek. A groan escaped her dry lips at the uncomfortable pounding in her head.
Hugo!
Her eyes flew open. She rested on her side facing the canvas of the tent. A breeze blew against its sides, making the poles shake and the material thump. The noise almost drowned out the beat of her racing heart.
Hugo had spoken to her last night. He was coming back to her. Swallowing against the dryness and bitter taste coating her mouth, she pushed herself over.
Attion stood beside her, arms folded across his leather-encased chest. He looked tired, as though he had been there all night. His armoured wings were folded down but not pulled inside his body. He was ready to fight. He eyed her grimly but did not speak. It seemed he was waiting to see what she would do.
Diamond heard the rustle of material and creak of leather from beside her.
“How are you feeling?” Rayan asked. He, too, had changed his attire.
Her brow furrowed. Why has he done that? Hugo would never hurt her, he just wanted her to know he was coming back to her. Rayan’s intent gaze raked over her, assessing her movements.
Diamond ignored him but couldn’t help groaning. She pushed herself upright on the pillows. Her chest felt sore inside, as if a flame burned inside her. Tentatively she wiggled her toes and flexed her fists. “It seems my body is my own today,” she answered hoarsely.
“Good,” sighed Rayan. “You had me worried for a moment.” He rubbed his red eyes and sat with his fingers covering his mouth and nose, elbows resting on his knees. “We’ll talk about it in a moment. I’ll get you something to drink first,” he said, leaving her before she could utter another word.
“He has been by your side all night,” Attion told her. “He was more worried than a mere friend should be,” he observed coldly. His bright green eyes scrutinised her as she stood on shaky legs.
Diamond tried to look nonchalant as her attention went to the flap of the tent. It blew open, sending fine dust swirling in. Even the pale light of dawn had Diamond blinking furiously against the ache in her head.
“Where’s Tawne?” she croaked, ignoring his comment about Rayan.
Attion’s face gave nothing away. “Nearby, should we need him,” he answered.
A tug on her chest, more gentle than the night before but still there. She had to find Hugo, but for some reason her mind told her not to let Attion know what she was doing.
“I, erm, I’m going to my own tent. I need to freshen up.”
“Fine. I’ll come with you,” replied Attion.
“No, it’s fine. Stay and apologise to Rayan for me. I just need a moment alone,” she said, keeping her voice strong and her eye contact steady.
Attion’s green eyes narrowed and his fingers clenched into fists, but he nodded. “As you wish, my queen,” he said and watched her walk out.
It did not occur to Diamond to question his acquiescence. Her desperate need to find Hugo had her running across the camp. The wizard warriors let her through their midst, wishing her a good morning as they went about their business. A glance behind told her Attion had not followed.
Half running, half walking, Diamond passed the healers’ tents, unaware of the brown-haired healer from the night before dropping her water bowl and sprinting toward the prince’s tent.
Diamond pushed past grooms and cooks to get to the rear of the camp where the young wizards were disassembling the tents. Her heart raced. A sense of urgency gripped her as she broke into a run. Each heave of her chest pulled fine blue dust into her lungs. Despite the early hour, the heat was already oppressive, causing her cropped silk top and loose pants to stick to her sweat-soaked skin. Horses whinnied as she skidded to a sudden halt, sand raising in a cloud around her shaking legs.
In the shadow of a huge blue dune stood Hugo.
Her heart stopped, then started again. A bubble of emotion built inside her until it released on a sob. “Hugo?” she choked out, unable to believe her eyes.
He stared at her unwaveringly, his eyes as dark as the night, but his familiar smile lit up her heart. He had escaped.
“How?” she breathed, tears tipping from her eyes to dry almost immediately upon her cheeks from the heat.
“I came for you,” he said simply, his voice gravelly, different to what she remembered.
Alarm bells rang in the back of her mind. It should matter that he sounded different—but it didn’t.
“You are mine. Come to me,” he commanded, holding out a gloved hand.
Diamond swallowed repeatedly, trying to organise her muddled thoughts. It was as if someone had poured syrup into her mind and made it sticky and slow. There was a sharp tug on her chest.
“Ah,” she moaned stumbling backwards away from Hugo. Taking a breath and clutching her chest, she straightened her spine. “Why does that still work when I have no magic?” she asked him. “When our Nexus is gone?”
He stared at her, a mildly bemused expression upon his face. “I don’t know what you mean; nevertheless, I do know that you don’t belong here. Come with me. Let me take you to safety,” he entreated, moving to the edge of the shadow.
Another violent tug had her stepping backwards. “What the …?”
“My queen, that is not the shadow demon,” snarled Attion from behind her right shoulder. Green magic infused the air around him, the sun glinting off his armoured and glowing wings. He clutched a sword in each hand, the blades ablaze with his magic.
Diamond’s breathing hitched. No. This is Hugo...it has to be...
Tawne’s wolf—grey, white and huge—stalked to her side, a low menacing growl vibrated through his body, his pale eyes fixed upon Hugo. With shaking fingers, Diamond clutched at the soft fur on Tawne’s neck. He shook her hand free before prowling to her left, a predator sizing up his prey. A snarl bared his sharp fangs.
Hugo watched him move with a small smile upon his face.
Sweat covered Diamond’s brow, a shiver running down her spine despite the heat.
“Diamond, you do not need these males. You are mine, not theirs. Come to me,” Hugo ordered softly.
Her heart squeezed. Suddenly, she knew without a doubt this was Hugo. A calmness invaded her mind. It was simple. He was hers, and she was his. They were stronger together. Compelled to go to him, she took a step forward, then another.
Wings thudded against the air, a sudden tug on a thread deep inside her very soul making her cry out. She staggered, clutching her chest.
“No! She is not yours. She will never be yours!” growled a painfully familiar voice from behind her. The air shifted as another presence landed at her back.
No, come to me! demanded Hugo inside her head, his dark eyes—bl
ack and battle-ready—boring into her soul.
A growl escaped her as she fought the compulsion to walk forward. Magic wrapped around her bare arms, nipping at her skin; it hurt.
“Stop that!” she hissed, whipping her head towards the figure at her back.
Sapphire and silver stared back at her.
Oh gods! No, no, no!
His face was perfect. No scars or blood or broken bones. Blue glinted in his glossy sable hair…and that tug...
Her knees nearly buckled. She pushed them straight, fighting to keep her face cold as she looked at this perfect copy of Hugo. For that’s all it could be. Agony hit her then. She had watched Hugo—her mate—die; neither of these was him.
The stranger with the face of her soulmate threw his wings wide and armoured them before they had fully stretched. Shadow gathered around those beautiful wings, around his arms, spreading until it swirled around his whole body.
A growl inside her head had her snapping her attention back to the version of Hugo that stood in the shadows.
Come to me.
“Erebos,” she snarled.
The Lord of Chaos merely smiled, then those cold dark eyes fixed upon the male behind her. “She is not yours. You have no bond with her any longer. I, however, do.”
Diamond felt warmth suffuse her mind. Her thoughts became sluggish again. Her feet began to move.
“Shadow demon, if you do not stop my queen, I will,” growled Attion.
Diamond kicked and thrashed at the hold on her mind. She had felt this before. Her anger sparked. No!
“Diamond, don’t go to him. That is only my body. It is not me, he does not have my soul. He is coercing you. He still has the venom bond with you. Don’t!” the stranger growled as her foot inched forward.
She heard the desperation shaking his voice and cried out at the touch of familiar magic on her arms. He was trying to hold her back. It did not matter; Erebos’ magic touched her now, its cold fingers creeping across her skin, turning her lips blue and her breath into small clouds of mist.
Erebos chuckled, the scar on his face twisting skin that had lost its golden appearance. Now she was close enough to see it, the paleness of death turned Diamond’s stomach.
“Let’s give these pathetic mortals something to occupy them whilst we leave, shall we, my dear?” Erebos crooned. He lifted his arms, words she didn’t understand falling from lips that had once kissed her.
Bile burned her throat, her blood freezing as the shadow receded, leaving a line of Ashmea in its wake. Her feet began moving even as another voice yelled out.
“Diamond. Stop! What are you doing?” cried Rayan.
“Ooh, look. Wizards. What fun! It’s been over a millennia since I fought wizards,” Erebos chuckled.
Diamond looked at Rayan. Face pale, he stared back at her, then at Erebos. Recognition dawned and his expression hardened.
“Kill them!” Rayan bellowed. The squad at his back began chanting and casting at the same time he did.
Diamond had never seen Rayan cast, but the look on his face told her he would be as cold a killer as Hugo had ever been. Red magic thrashed around them, its energy and power filling the air, singing to her blood, her heritage.
A familiar form landed upon the summit of the dune behind Erebos. Then another.
Elexon! Havron!
Joy suffused her heart at the sight of her friends. She could not allow Erebos to take her. She would die first. That incessant tugging on her chest yanked so hard she had to fight to ignore it. Her eyes were soft and her face slack as she continued walking forward.
The Ashmea roared as one, their four arms stretched wide, their talons flexing. Baring their fangs and hunching their bone-encased bodies, they ran forward. Within seconds an icy breeze thrashed against the slight material of her clothes as they charged past her. Some thrashed their bat-like wings and took to the air.
Sand dusted her boots as she walked closer to the one she had loved most in this world, the one who was now her greatest enemy.
“See? She is all mine,” Erebos sneered at the shadow demon as a hideous smile revealed those sharp teeth that had once marked her.
Chapter 32
Eryanth kept rage and utter panic off his face. He tugged on his soul bond with Diamond again and again, but her face remained serene, her eyes hooded. With languid steps, she moved towards her nemesis. Even the nausea that had hit him when he had beheld his old body did not compare to the turmoil in his heart and soul right now. He had returned from Chaos for Diamond; she had kept him from falling into that swirling void, had kept him alive, and now Erebos almost had her.
He tugged. Hard. “She is not yours to control! She is a goddess! She is controlled by no one!” he bellowed. “Fight his evil, Diamond! Do not let him take you!”
Erebos laughed and pointed at him when she did not react. “Kill the shadow demon first. I want his soul back in my control! Then destroy them all!” he commanded the Ashmea before blasting out a wave of icy, dark magic.
The wind roared. Columns of sand rose, swirling up from the dune where Erebos stood. There were bellows of panic; orders were yelled. More wizards began casting, and Havron and Elexon shot skyward, their red magic already flying.
Eryanth daren’t look behind but the clash of metal upon metal was enough. Erebos had an army of Dust Devils. He had them surrounded.
Erebos looked Eryanth right in the eye. “Mine,” he mouthed with a vicious smile. Lifting the dagger he held, he licked along the blade with his tongue.
Eryanth froze. His heart stumbled. The Lord of Chaos had no intention of taking Diamond anywhere. He was going to end her.
Three Ashmea charged toward Eryanth. He threw up a wall of shadow, a shield to temporarily slow them down. At the same time something tugged deep in his chest. He almost wept at that feeling. He had missed it so much. Through the wall of shadow, he roared at the approaching Ashmea.
Diamond was only feet from Erebos. She appeared to stumble, dropping to her knees.
“No!” Eryanth cried out, taking a step toward her.
She glanced at him and, for just one moment, her expression cleared. Determination and cold intent shone as she looked pointedly at the sword clutched in his right hand.
Around him a battle raged. Swords clashed and magic flew.
He looked for Attion and Tawne, for that was who he knew the wolf to be. He would recognise his friend’s wolf anywhere. Joy filled his heart at the sight of his friend, but he would not be distracted.
“Strike at the back of their necks, below the third spine. It kills them,” he roared as loudly as he could. Tawne snarled and launched onto the back of an Ashmea. His massive jaws clamped down, but he could not break its armour. The Ashmea grunted and threw him off.
Eryanth’s gut clenched as Attion nodded and focused his bright green eyes upon the closest Ashmea. Before the creature reached touching-distance of Tawne, green magic, like vines from a tree, whipped out to wrap around the Ashmea’s arms and legs. It fell onto its belly in the sand. Attion leapt. He landed solidly, his glowing green sword cleaving at exactly the right spot.
The Ashmea’s scream hurt Eryanth’s ears. Thrusting his swords forward, he cleaved off the arms of another creature. Before it could expel a roar from its hideous mouth, he shot upward; somersaulting, he landed behind his prey, swiping his swords across the vulnerable section of its neck.
Smooth and seamless, he met more of his attackers. Chaos had prepared him well for this. Aware Diamond stood staring into Erebos’s dark eyes, Eryanth struck with his magic, dragging an Ashmea down by its neck. He twisted his blade and struck at its spine.
Erebos slipped a hand around Diamond’s lower back and yanked her towards him.
A desperate tug on Eryanth’s chest had him bending his knees and launching into the air. Eryanth flipped and rolled as violet eyes lifted to his, demanding his help. Diamond had a hand stretched behind her, ready to catch something. Without hesitating, he dropped one sword. The blad
e fell uselessly into the sand as he slid a small knife from a sheath on his forearm.
Beating his wings ahead of an Ashmea, he shot over her head and released it, letting the Ashmea catch him as Erebos looked up with glee.
Eryanth’s blood rained down as the Ashmea sliced open his lower back. He only hoped he’d done enough. Slowing down, he allowed the Ashmea to get closer. When it screeched and reached for him, Eryanth flipped over its head and struck. It died instantly, falling to the ground with a thud.
The pain from his back was nothing compared to the agony he had suffered in Chaos. He ignored it and pushed his wings, working his muscles harder and faster to get back to his soulmate. From the air, he beheld the extent of Erebos’ army. It stretched over the whole camp and beyond. Wizards and soldiers fell to the Ashmea and the Dust Devils, their bodies rising moments later to fight for the enemy. Blood and bodies covered the dunes.
Elexon roared at the white-haired wizard Diamond had called Rayan. Rayan whipped his attention to the red warrior. A cage of sand appeared around an airborne Ashmea. Elexon released a blast of fire and the Ashmea was encased in a cage of thick, red glass. Elexon and Rayan bellowed in unison, and together they drove their merged magic into the Ashmea’s spine. Bone and flesh exploded.
“Work with the red fae!” bellowed Rayan to his wizard warriors. “Combine your magic to kill them!”
Eryanth felt his dragon’s patience wear out. Their mate was down there, and he needed to remove her from their enemy’s hands. His change was almost instantaneous. Scales exploded across his body, his talons curling in readiness. If I have to rip her away from him, I will, his dragon snarled. Eryanth agreed fervently.
Still with a dreamy look in her eyes, Diamond raised her left hand to cup the cheek of what had once been his own face. Erebos was no longer grinning. His furious, coal black eyes were fixed upon Eryanth’s guardian. It was clear he did not know the body he occupied had once held such a precious being. He roared his rage.
The Goddess and The Guardians Boxset: The Complete Romantic Fantasy Quartet Page 98