by Dahlia Leigh
“Ashlynn, take your time. There’s no rush between us. I, too, am honored you would choose me. As far as the others, we will take that as it comes. I find that I’m not as opposed to the idea of sharing as I was when I thought we could all be your team. It is an honor to serve you whether individually or together as a team. Thank you.” He leaned down and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek and then stepped away.
“Thank you for understanding, Darien. I just need a little more time.” Her pendant heated and she felt her mother’s presence, approval, and love surrounding her. She smiled in response to her mother but also to Darien. She had chosen well, and she would have to admit Asteroth might have been right all along.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ashlynn
After a restless night of worrying about shadow shifters, the Unbound, bonding with Darien, and her decision about which guys to send home and which still to stay, Ashlynn remembered what her mother had suggested to her in the letter she found. She thought about her list of traits she looked for in a partner: love, courage, acceptance, and belief. The realization dawned on Ashlynn that each of the guys excelled at one of the traits she wanted in a partner. Darien was the first to offer her love. Under all his quirks and insecurities, Edmund had a well of courage waiting to be fully released. Taegen quickly and without thought, accepted Ash for who she was and acknowledged her strength as Sentinel. But where did belief fit in? She needed to put them to the test once more.
Before she did that, after breakfast, Ashlynn went to examine the condition of the veil to the Void. So, of course, the entire group went with her. She huffed at their insistence. “I can do things without you all following me around, you know.”
“There is no reason you should go the entrance to the Void alone,” Darien said.
“I just want to check on the veil and examine the strength of it for myself, especially after all the tremors yesterday,” Ashlynn replied.
“And you can do that, but we’re going with you,” Taegen said, leaning against the castle wall with his arms crossed at his chest.
“Fine. Come on then.” Ashlynn took the lead down into the dungeon levels, past Edmund’s lab and the lower level training rooms, and down farther. The halls soon turned into carved tunnels of rock, lit by torches, and the air grew thick and musty. Everyone moved in slow, constantly on the look out for an immediate threat with swords drawn. To Ash’s surprise, Edmund carried an old Pepperbox pistol. She raised an eyebrow in question at him.
He shrugged. “It belonged to my father and is my favorite weapon.”
Ashlynn nodded in appreciation for the unusual weapon choice.
Everyone expelled sighs of relief when not one shadow creature or Griever was seen. The castle and veil were still secured. With Ashlynn in the lead, the guys slowly followed her down the darkened hallway, leading to the cracks in the earth’s crust. But nothing drew the eye more than the shimmering, gold veil—the entrance to the abyss leading to the Void.
Taegen and Darien took turns pivoting around the group to ensure no one snuck up behind them. They were on guard and alert to anything that might be hidden in the shadows as they were the most familiar with the darkness of the Void.
“You can feel the tremors so much more consistently down here.” Edmund pointed out as he examined not only the veil, but the area around it as well.
“True, Ed. Other than that, the veil seems to still be secure,” Ashlynn said.
One tremor grew in strength, getting louder and shaking the ground they stood on. “I think it’s time to go,” Taegen said, cautiously looking about the tunnel.
“I second that,” Edmund agreed.
“All right, we can go,” Ash said, continuing to stare at the beauty that was the magic of the veil. Right as she was about to turn away, something moved behind the veil, and she gasped. Her pendant heated more and more the closer she got to the veil, but Ashlynn wasn’t yet sure what that meant other than a warning. She clutched it close to her heart and concentrated on the veil as something was revealed to her. The closer she got, the more she peered into the veil and saw a familiar pair of eyes looking back at her—Taegen’s eyes, though a little different. She turned to Taegen with a question in her eyes. Taegen squinted his eyes, confused and followed Ashlynn’s line of sight. His eyes widened when he saw through the veil what she saw. Perhaps there was more he hadn’t yet told her, something she needed to guard against.
“Not everything is as it seems in the Void. Don’t always trust what your eyes see,” Taegen said to Ashlynn even though the others curiously looked on.
Ashlynn thought about his words. She didn’t feel his avoidance of the topic was malicious, but something concerning nonetheless. She looked back at the veil and saw the eyes that looked so much like Taegen’s flash blue then were gone as fast as they came. “We’ll discuss this later,” she said to Taegen, to which he nodded.
A larger quake shook the ground and Ashlynn called for them to get out. She held her head, slightly feeling the effects of the tremors but she recovered even more quickly than before when the big ones hit.
Ashlynn heard the castle groan from somewhere nearby and she heard Asteroth’s voice say something ominous.
“Goo… bye… Ash…”
“Did he just say goodbye?” Ashlynn asked the others in a panic. She gasped and clutched her chest. Ashlynn ran toward the room with the “heart” of the castle. Swiftly she burst through the door. The green crystal barely pulsed with life.
“It’s still beating,” she reassured herself. Emotionally she knew they were now on their own. She felt the men come in behind her. “The energy from the dome is almost gone now.”
As they reached the main floor entry, Ashlynn noted chunks of stone and rock crumbling on the inside from a wall of the castle already in disrepair. The destruction would get worse once the Grievers, and anything else that wanted to, could get into the grounds and attack the castle.
“Can you all check the alternative defenses, see what’s holding and what’s not? I need a moment to myself.” Ashlynn needed to collect her mind and separate herself from the castle.
Chapter Forty
Rozalind
Rozalind camped out in the cave with the crystal, waiting for her demon underlord to make an appearance. When she left the castle, she had nowhere to go and found herself at the cave entrance. Roz knew she couldn’t stay there long. Eventually, one of the shifters or Unbound would come to check the crystal for messages from Nightstead.
“Been waiting for me long, love?” Salvatore’s voice rang through the crystal.
“Not too long,” she lied. “The Grievers are at the castle doing their job.” She smiled remembering when the Grievers first came out of the forest. “You should have seen the Sentinel’s face when she and the others saw the horde rush the castle dome. The moment was priceless.”
“You are right on track, Roz. You are closer than anyone else has been to taking the Sentinel’s throne.” His words were smooth and meant to boost her pride, but she liked to hear them anyway.
“As soon as the dome is down…”
“That is why I am here, actually. The magical boundaries are down. Now is the time for you to make your move. Get into the castle and seize the Sentinel. Then, together, we can strip her of her powers, giving them all to you.” His voice was strong and sure, he spoke to the heart of Roz. “You deserve her powers, Roz. Go and take them for yourself.”
“I no longer have the backing of the shadows to keep the warriors busy while I get inside. I will need more reinforcements to make a forceful show of your power,” she flirtatiously crooned.
“Anything you need, my pet.” And with his last words, the crack in the crystal opened and he sent through another horde of Grievers. They emerged from the crystal rock in a mad flurry of wings and shadows. Roz laughed as they flew over her head and out the cave to await her instruction.
Chapter Forty-One
Ashlynn
With Hijinx sitting
on Ash’s shoulder, she watched from her tower window as the last of the castle’s energy drained from the dome and retreated into his heart. The sight gripped her in a way she hadn’t thought seeing the dome disintegrate would. The Grievers flew in like bats out of hell and surrounded the castle, effectively trapping them inside.
Edmund and Taegen had worked hard to get all the illusions set up as guards in time. With the illusions and the help of Ed’s amazing light crystals, they were keeping the Grievers at bay. Unfortunately, the illusions wouldn’t hold the Grievers for too long.
Ashlynn’s heart ached at what had happened to the castle. She lightly ran her fingers over the statue in the tower. “Oh, Asteroth, I don’t understand all that happened to you. You never told me this was a possibility. I should have done something more to stop this.” She wiped at the tears flowing from her eyes then pushed her shoulders back and regained her composure. What was done was done. Ash didn’t have time to reflect on the reasons why. She had to save her castle, her home, and her men.
“I made you a promise and I’m going to keep that promise. I will protect you and the veil and find a way to strengthen your magic.”
Edmund knocked on the wall in the open doorway. He held a book in his hands. “Ashlynn, I found this in the Sentinel Library. There’s a passage in here about the hearts of the other castles and when they stopped beating they essentially…”
“Died?”
He nodded his head once in confirmation. “The passage goes on to say if the castles had preserved even an ounce of energy, they could have lived and found their way back.”
“So maybe this didn’t happen to Asteroth? Maybe he knew this. You’re suggesting he went dormant, forcing himself to shut down so we wouldn’t lose him completely?”
“Exactly.”
“Then for Asteroth we will fight. We have to keep him safe not only to preserve the veil from falling, but so he can come back. We can do that.” Ashlynn’s hope and drive was restored. Too much was at stake for them not to succeed.
Ashlynn knew this time would test not only her still growing powers, but also her new connection with the guys. There was no better time to see what they were truly made of, thus cementing her choice for the future.
Chapter Forty-Two
Taegan
Taegen and Darien watched for Grievers out the windows of the large front entry room on the main floor. They had been checking the stability of the entry points around the castle. Darien seemed lost in thought as he stared blankly out onto the grounds.
“So, rough time with your father today, huh?” Taegen awkwardly asked trying to pull Darien out of his mind.
Darien shot Taegen a look that expressed he really didn’t want to talk about it. But he mumbled under his breath, “What would you know of it?” Then he continued louder, obviously needing to get something off his chest. “You probably had a cushy pampered lifestyle below ground you can’t wait to get back to.”
Taegen grew quiet, thinking of his own father. “I do have a big family and we were all well cared for. We had status and never wanted for anything. In fact, I was recently chosen as my father’s heir because I am the most powerful among my siblings, and the eldest of my brothers. My brother Ezarach, though, is best suited to rule in my father’s stead. I don’t want to. But I was chosen anyway.” Taegen sighed. He had never told anyone else that much about himself before. In fact, he had planned on telling Ashlynn first, but the words had poured out of him.
Darien watched Taegen suspiciously. “Why are you telling me this?”
Taegen shrugged. “I decided we had daddy issues in common, let you know I understand why you did what you did and respect the decision you made… what you gave up.”
Darien gave Taegen a curt nod and offered his outstretched hand to which Taegen shook.
“I hear those stupid Grievers banging on the windows down the hall. Let’s go check on it.”
They checked all the entrances to ensure the crystals were still in place and functioning. After their heart-to-heart, Taegen felt more comfortable initiating small talk while on their rounds.
“The trees are so different top-side than in the Void. They have so much life here, whereas the trees below are dark and twisted. Sometimes the roots of the really old trees up here will break through into the Void, but chances of that happening are rare.” Taegen pointed to the nearby copse of trees next to the castle. He noted a group of Grievers who had taken up residence in them.
“It’s true. The trees in Nightstead were similar to those in the Void, but bare and the branches curled like vines. I actually kind of like them,” Darien said.
“The air is so fresh here.”
“The air below was always so stagnant.” Darien agreed.
Taegen was impressed his small talk worked. They were conversing. “I know I might have to go home, but I can’t imagine not being able to fight by Ashlynn’s side.” Taegen hadn’t expected himself to get vulnerable, but he’d done it—with alpha-boy, no less.
“I hope I never have to go into the Void, but at this point I wouldn’t doubt going there at some point. And as for Ashlynn… I, too, would go anywhere and do anything for her.” Darien shot Taegen a look filled with understanding. “You don’t want to go back, do you?”
Taegen’s express grew serious when he responded to Darien’s question. “No, I don’t.”
“Maybe you aren’t so bad, after all… you know, for a demon of the Void.” Darien slugged Taegen in the shoulder.
Taegen laughed but then more serious he added, “Don’t ever hit me again unless you are prepared to fight it out.” But before Darien could react, Taegen laughed again.
At another window, Darien looked out beyond the borders. “A battle is coming soon and we need to make sure Ashlynn is prepared.”
“Agreed, but I think something else is already here. Look out at the far edge of tree line.” More Grievers came in droves over the hillside in the distance.
“They look like a swarm of killer bees from here,” Darien observed. “We better tell Ash.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Rozalind
The magical barrier around the castle was indeed down. Rozalind took great pleasure in watching as the additional horde of Grievers, her demon underlord gave her, flew across the border. They attacked the castle with great exuberance, even the smoke-made guards couldn’t stop them altogether, but they did distract the mindless minions she had to work with.
“That’s just irritating,” Roz said, spitting through her teeth.
Finally, the small creatures of smoke and bone got through to the castle in certain parts. They dug in with their talons and took apart the unprotected parts of the castle’s exterior, stone by stone, crumbling as they fell.
While Roz waited, she could feel the demon she thought of as her future. He called to her through their connection made when she agreed to work with him, giving him her blood. His timing irritated her as she had just started. The Grievers needed a little more time to break through, creating an entrance for her. The insistence with which he pursued her through their bond gave her pause. He had not been that impatient with her before.
“I better see what he wants. Maybe he has more surprises to offer me.” She would then return to see her little minions’ progress.
ROZALIND
In the cave, through the crystal, the demon, Salvator, waited for her. She sensed his impatience the moment she entered the cave.
“You called?” Roz asked, irritated. “I was just getting on a roll.”
The demon reprimanded her on her tactics. “You are tearing down the castle I am obtaining for you to rule. There are many other ways to use the Grievers other than for destruction. Think creatively, Roz.”
Rozalind blew out a frustrated breath. “I assessed the castle from the outside. You were not there. This is the only way to get into the castle.” She stood tall, ran one hand through her unruly hair, and placed one hand on her hip. “You did not give me instructi
ons when you lent me the Grievers. If you don’t like my tactics, I will find a way to get into the castle on my own.”
The demon laughed haughtily. “You still don’t realize how much you are dependent on me, do you?”
“I will show you just how capable and powerful I am.” Roz angrily stormed out of the cave, back to the castle. She had a job to do and she was going to see it done in her own way.
The demon let her go.
Chapter Forty-Four
Ashlynn
Ashlynn met with the three men back in the weapons room of the new wing. She had double-checked the light crystals were placed outside the hallway to ensure no shadows could listen in, even though they shouldn’t be able to get into the new wing or the castle. As far as she knew, no shadows remained in the castle. They hadn’t sensed or found any since the Unbound had attempted to trap her in the shadows of her mind.
As the men gathered and sat around the table, she noted how they chatted amongst themselves, a far cry from when they’d first arrived. They even seemed to have bonded some since they’d been there. Darien and Taegen even seemed amicable, which was new to her.
“I need to test you all in one more area. I need to see how you handle multiple threats when you have no backing from the castle. I’m also looking to see if more than one of you can be chosen.” Unsure how they would react to working together, she was surprised to realize they all nodded their heads, agreeing with her.