TWISTED DESTINY: The Complete Saga

by Leia King

  “They can feel my power. They respect it just as much as they fear it.”

  Something caught Ryan’s eye in his peripheral vision. Something with the potential shift the entire dynamic of the battle.

  Oriana was descending the steps, a protective bubble enveloping her.

  Ryan tensed when she raised both her palms and fired shards of something their way. The moment they reached him and the frontline, all he could smell was burning flesh. Howls of agony tore through the night.

  Silver! She was firing fucking silver!

  “Use your shields!” Ryan commanded. “Brace yourselves!”

  Oriana fired again. It was impossible to block all of it with the shields. The sickening screams from his wolves churned Ryan’s stomach. He couldn’t let it continue.

  He stepped forward, right into the line of fire.

  A rush of silver rained down over him.

  He turned into it. His leather jacket absorb some of it, but the shards were everywhere, zillions of them. They burned any part of his flesh that was exposed. He swallowed down the pain, focusing on the battle, on his wolves.

  “Back up!” he called over his shoulder.

  “Ryan! No!” Damon called back.

  “That’s an order!”

  His command to back up hadn’t meant what it’d sounded like. To anyone but his army, it would’ve sounded like he was calling a retreat. But, they’d worked out a plan beforehand. It was code for his wolves to execute their back-up plan. To feign a retreat amid a distraction, one that he was about to cause, and approach the rear of the castle to infiltrate the dungeons to recover the second orb.

  Ryan watched Oriana lower her palms. She ordered her vampire guards to pull back. And then, she sauntered over to him.

  “Sacrificing yourself for your wolves? Foolish, my son.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “My son?”

  “Yeah. As far as I’m concerned the mother I knew died when my father did.” He glared at her with contempt. “This version of you means nothing to me. So, don’t consider me your son any longer, Oriana.”

  “As you wish.” She smiled maliciously. “It’ll make this easier.”

  “Make what easier?”

  Her eyes flashed. “This,” she hissed, snapping her fingers, her magic sparking around him.

  Chains suddenly encircled him, binding his arms behind his back. Instantly, they started to burn through his flesh. More silver. Unbelievable! “Sadistic bitch,” he growled.

  “Ryan!” Damon cried. Ferocious growls followed, his wolves raging at the sight of their king being tortured, suffering right before their eyes.

  Via wolf tongue, he commanded them to carry out their backup plan, to leave him to handle Oriana.

  Adrenaline shot down his spine when he saw Oriana preparing to strike them.

  “Let them leave and I’ll come with you without a fight.”

  She scoffed. “A fight? You are bound in silver.”

  How little she knew about the true power of the Wolf King. Strange, considering that his father, the former king, had been her mate. Did they not discuss that during their entire time together? Or, more likely, he reasoned, had Cornelius purposely kept the truth of his abilities from her?

  Locking eyes with her, he thrust his hands out either side, the chains shattering under the strain of his strength. He heard gasps from his wolves. He saw the shock all over Oriana’s face.

  No wolf could break silver restraints.

  But he was no ordinary wolf. He was their King.

  Since acknowledging it, accepting it, he’d been able to access all the gifts associated with that duty.

  “So? Now do we have a deal?”

  She glared hard at him. Then, with a wave of her hand, she dismissed her vampire guards. As they began filing back into the castle, Ryan felt his wolves retreating, unopposed now.

  Catching him off guard, her magic sparked, causing his surroundings to dissipate. A split second later, he found himself standing in one of the castle dungeons. Worse than even that was that he was now trapped, forcibly restrained. His arms were raised above his head, confined by cuffs that connected to hefty chains extending up to the ceiling. He was shirtless, his boots and socks gone too. He looked down to see that his ankles were cuffed, the chains connected to them screwed into the dungeon floor.

  “Fuck,” he growled. The bitch worked fast.

  “Profanity after profanity. Just like your father,” she muttered, appearing with a flash of magic.

  “He must have been devastated when he found out you were his destined mate.”

  “How dare you!” She fired a bolt of black lightning, slicing a deep wound across his torso.

  “What the fuck do you want? Why am I here, huh?” he demanded, sighing inwardly with relief as he felt the wound she’d inflicted already start to close up. Cora’s blood still ran strong in his veins.

  “A simple request.”

  “Yeah? Get to it then.”

  “The name of your son.”

  Adrenaline shot down Ryan’s spine. “Why?” he seethed.

  “You have yet to officially name him in any realm. Until you do, as far as the laws of magic are concerned, he does not truly exist in the world. As a result, he cannot be impacted by magic.”

  “You mean, harmed by it? By you?”

  “Yes.”

  “You would kill your own grandson? My son?”

  “It was supposed to be you, but given your recent separation from your wife, I have been left with no other alternative.”

  “What does Cora have to do with this?”

  “She is the only real threat to me. She must be eliminated. I cannot defeat her in a battle of power. No one can. But she can defeat herself.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Should she lose control, she will engulf herself with her own magic, doing my job for me.”

  “Let me get this straight. You plan to kill my son, in order to kill my wife?” Ryan asked, spitting the words with disgust. “Nathanial was right. You really are a bitch sent straight from the fires of hell.”

  She slapped his face with her magic, ripping his left cheek open.

  He grunted and hissed at her.

  “Watch your tone around me, Ryan. I can crush you with barely any effort.”

  “I’m not telling you shit,” he snarled. “So, give it your best fucking shot.”

  She smiled. “So hotheaded, just like a common wolf.” Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “You have no idea what you’ve just done. You will beg me to end your suffering before I am through with you.”

  Ryan’s jaw clenched in resolve. “Do your worst.”

  15

  Nathanial led Cora and Luca through the Dark Realm gates.

  “I can feel her,” Cora announced, turning up her nose with distaste. “Her magic is everywhere.”

  Nathanial nodded. “Yes. Her unnatural hold over the realm.”

  When they reached the bridge, Nathanial thrust his palm at the castle. A glowing sphere of black magic hit the barrier and ricochet off it. He caught the rebounding magic with ease, reabsorbing it with a sigh. “Just as I suspected. She has a protection barrier enveloping the castle.”

  “Not for long,” Cora said. With a flick of her wrist, hundreds of magical fireflies fluttered into being. They flew at the barrier, sticking to it like glue. Their wings became a blur, a vibrating force of motion.

  “Close your eyes, guys,” she warned.

  While Luca heeding her warning, Nathanial did not. He needed to keep an eye on her, so he had to know what she was up to at any given moment. He was still her teacher, and he would remain so, until he was absolutely certain that she no longer needed supervision.

  He watched as the magical fireflies shone, growing brighter and brighter, until his sensitive vampiric vision could barely stand it. They exploded in a silver fireball of light, the barrier shattering at the impact.

  “You can open your eyes now,
” she said, turning back to them.

  “Wow,” Luca exclaimed.

  “Impressive,” Nathanial added.

  Before he could get another word out, Cora let out a shrill scream of agony and collapsed to her knees in front of them.

  “Cora!” Luca cried out, instantly dropping down beside her. “What is it?”

  He reached out to touch her arm.

  “No! Don’t!” she screamed.

  But it was too late. He made contact and let out a pained snarl. “She’s in agony, father! Help her!” he cried, frantically.

  Nathanial watched Cora bring her hands to her head. Her white power shone vibrantly.

  A moment later, she was climbing to her feet, as if she had not just been incapacitated.

  “I’m okay now,” she assured them. “I managed to block it with my magic.”

  “Block what?” Luca asked.

  “Ryan. It was his pain. We’re connected.”

  Nathanial tensed, his fists clenching. “Ryan is suffering?”

  She nodded, grief clouding her features, as she revealed, “He’s being tortured. Oriana has him in the dungeons.”

  “Tortured? What is her purpose?” Nathanial had heard many stories of Oriana’s torture practices and they had even churned his stomach.

  “She wants our son’s name.”

  Nathanial saw the question in her eyes. She wanted to know why it was so important to Oriana.

  Having little choice, given the circumstances, he explained the situation.

  Her reaction was more than a little concerning. A murderous rage betook her, a darkness flashing in her eyes that he had never witnessed from her before. As she screamed out into the night, her magic firing wildly, he and Luca exchanged a look. This was what they had both feared. Her losing herself to emotion, losing control.

  “Cora, this is her goal. She wants you to lose control. You must rise above it. Many lives are at stake. Entire Kingdoms,” he warned, his tone fierce and commanding, hoping it would serve to jolt her back to herself.

  “He is right, Cora,” Luca added. “Keep in mind that she cannot harm your son, because you have the ability to stop her. He is not at risk. Do not let her convince you that he is.”

  Cora withdrew her magic and hung her head, breathing deeply. “Yeah. You’re right. He’s fine. He will be fine,” she murmured to herself, as she fought to get a hold of herself.

  Nathanial sighed with relief.

  He and Luca remained silent, allowing her time to calm herself.

  The stark silence enveloping them enabled Nathanial to pick up a faint sound in the distance. A female scream? He tracked the sound. It was coming from somewhere beneath them. Peering over the bridge, he was more than a little startled to see Jada there, below.

  She was curled up in the fetal position on the grass below, clutching her head and screaming in pain.

  Jada’s pained experience was identical to that which Cora had just suffered, before stopping it with her magical ability. She had been feeling Ryan’s pain, because they were connected, destined mates. And Jada was... realization socked Nathanial brutally in the gut.

  No! It could not be. It was not possible.

  “What is it? Who is that?”

  Nathanial started at Luca’s sudden interruption.

  He glanced back at Cora. She was too close for him to say anything aloud. He gestured to his head, silently asking Luca to open his mind to him.

  With Luca’s nod of acceptance, he connected with him telepathically.

  You hear, nor see nothing. Are we clear?

  What? There’s a screeching woman down there. What’s going on?

  Nothing. You must heed my warning, Luca. Cora cannot know.

  He grunted his displeasure aloud. Fine. But I want an explanation later.

  Very well. Now turn away, before she becomes suspicious.

  “What are you guys doing over there?” Cora called.

  Before she could start towards them, Nathanial and Luca sped back to her, ushering her further away from the side of the bridge.

  “A wounded vampire guard,” Luca explained. “Father was concerned, but we determined he is already healing.”

  “Uh huh.”

  Nathanial noticed her vacant stare. She was barely paying attention.

  “Cora?” he queried.

  “I can’t block Ryan’s pain for long and I can’t fight if I’m weak with it. Let’s get on with this.”

  Without waiting for their word, she strode ahead, towards the castle entrance. The gargoyles reacted to her approach and an army of guards filtered out from within the castle, primed to attack.

  With a burst of speed, Nathanial grasped her arm, holding her back.

  Summoning his power, he bellowed, “Exsolvo!”

  Immediately, his gargoyles and guards froze. They blinked rapidly, shaking their heads, fighting to regain their equilibrium now that he’d released them from Oriana’s control.

  “Your majesty,” came a collective greeting, as they all lowered themselves to bended knee.

  “I sense the wolf army below, attempting to break into the dungeon. Assist them,” he commanded.

  Despite the fact that they had been fighting the wolves for the past two centuries, not a single one of them questioned his orders. They knew better.

  They sped off to do his bidding.

  Nathanial marched into the castle with Cora and Luca at his back. He resisted the urge to teleport to Ryan and Oriana. He had no idea what magic Oriana was currently torturing Ryan with. It could put all three of them at risk to just materialize before her.

  As they reached the steps to the dungeon level, he slammed into something that exploded at his touch, blowing him back several feet. He roared in pain, his flesh afire. Sunlight!

  “Nathanial!” Cora cried out, running to his side.

  Luca reacted quickly, putting out the flames with his magic.

  As he climbed back to his feet, he saw Cora cringe at the sight of the first-degree burns visible on his face and hands. “It will heal within moments,” he assured her.

  “Shit,” Luca breathed. “I’m glad that wasn’t me.”

  Nathanial glared at him. “Quiet.”

  Cora approached the barrier, studying it. “Fused with sunlight,” she said, confirming what he had already determined the hard way. “It’s strong. She’s good.” With a wink, she pressed her hands to the barrier, calling her power forth. “Not as good as me, though.”

  As she went to work, Nathanial paced up and down the hallway, more impatient than he had ever been. They longer it took, the longer Ryan suffered. He could not stand the thought of it. He knew Oriana’s brutality well. Knowing someone he had come to care for deeply was being subjected to that was twisting him up inside.

  “How long do you think it will take her to break it?” Luca whispered.

  “If I was able to see to it myself, had it not been infused with sunlight, it would have taken me ten minutes, I suspect. With her power, I expect she will have it down within half that timeframe.”

  “Astounding.”

  Nathanial nodded and returned to his erratic pacing.

  But, once again, Luca’s words had him halting. “Perhaps, I shouldn’t be here for Ryan’s rescue.”

  “You are concerned about it at this juncture?”

  “I hadn’t thought much about Ryan’s reaction up until now. I’d just wanted to assist you and Cora. But, now we finally have a moment, I’m thinking about it, father. I’m the last person he’ll want to see. My presence could aggravate an already dangerous situation.”

  “We may need your power, Luca. I am aware of your mother’s torture practices. I will be surprised if Ryan is still conscious when we get to him. So you can relax knowing that.” Just uttering the words aloud made it far worse. He ran his fingers through his hair, struggling to keep his anguish for Ryan in check. His worry was such that he could barely contain the demon within.

  It had clearly become noticeable, as L
uca laid a hand on his shoulder, telling him, “He cannot die, father. Cora’s blood in his veins will see to that. He will be fine.”

  “I am hoping against hope that she has not inflicted any permanent damage.”

  Hold on, Wolf King.

  16

  Ryan couldn’t tell if he was awake, or dreaming.

  He’d lost the ability to tell long ago.

  He’d slipped in and out of consciousness so often that he’d lost track.

  The pain Oriana had inflicted upon him was such that he was almost numb from it. His body had shutdown from the sheer agony and extreme damage she’d put him through.

  She really hadn’t been kidding earlier. Her warning of suffering had actually been a major understatement. She was a fucking sadist.

  But, not matter what she did to him, he knew he couldn’t die. There was comfort in that. He didn’t have the luxury of giving into death. So many people were counting on him. So many depended on him. His son, his wolves, Nathanial, Cora. The list just seemed endless.

  Through every brutal thing he’d endured from the bitch, one thing had kept him from breaking.

  His son.

  There was nothing more precious to him in all the realms. He couldn’t even bear the idea of losing him. And every time he thought about his mother’s threat, it incensed him, giving him the strength he needed to hang on.

  The only problem was that he didn’t know how long he’d need to hold on for. She wasn’t showing any sign of stopping. She was fucking enjoying torturing her own son. The rush of power, he suspected. Nathanial had told him that she was all about power. It was all she cared about these days, after losing her mate.

  Wait. That was it. The distraction he needed to catch his breath, to heal up just a little bit, so he could endure longer.

  “Cornelius,” he sputtered.

  Sure enough, it worked, and she pulled back her insane electrifying bolts of magic.

  “What?” she stumbled. “What did you say?”

  “Cornelius would hate this,” he choked out, blood filling his mouth.

  “He is not here to see, is he?” she shot back.