Keenan manipulates the air around Bastian to draw him up the wall he’s leaning against. Bastian tries to fight it, but right now Keenan is stronger than he is.
“Back down now, boy and maybe I’ll let you live.”
“You hurt the girl that I love. No amount of penitence will ever make up for that.” Keenan steals the air in Bastian’s lungs. The good thing about air users, their magic does work on each other. Keenan can give back everything Bastian gave him, in spades.
“Will killing me be worth her death?” Bastian chokes in between gasps to breathe. “Because she is dying.”
I’m not dying. I am very close to unconsciousness, but these wounds won’t kill me. I’m stronger than that and he knows it. But it does what he intended. Keenan’s eyes shoot to me, releasing Bastian in his distraction and Bastian races toward Keenan. He moves so quickly I can barely follow his movements. In under a second he’s got Keenan’s arm behind him. He yanks hard and I can feel the bone break from six feet away. Keenan screams, but only when Bastian shoves him so hard he flies across the balcony floor, sliding into the other wall.
Bastian is on his knees at my feet in moments, clutching my throat once more. I choke, bloody fingers curling around his wrist. “Bastian, please.” I beg.
“The time for supplication is over, beautiful girl. I’m going to snap your handsome prince’s neck in front of your eyes and then we will be wed, tomorrow, and we will fuck and fuck until you give me an heir worthy of both our Houses.”
“I’d sooner die.” I mutter weakly.
Bastian starts to laugh, but it soon turns into a strangled gasp. I see blood spurt from his mouth. His pale blue eyes find mine for one brief moment before his body keels over beside me. When he does I see the long, black spear from one of the statued knights made of armor in the ballroom, thrust up into his chest.
Keenan wastes no time in getting the body away from me. He grips the spear and effortlessly tosses Bastian’s body over the balcony. Then he rushes to my aid. “Amara,” he cries, pulling me up into a standing position once more. “Are you okay?”
“I—I’m okay. I’m probably gonna pass out, but I’m okay.”
“I’ve got you.” Daxon says, arriving with Grayson and the girls.
“Daxon?” I almost smile, but the action hurts, tugging on the nerves at the back of my head. “Owe,” I whimper.
“Don’t worry, princess. I’ve got you.” Daxon coaxes me. He presses a cool hand to the warm blood at the back of my head and I wince as he begins to heal the wound. Then he tends to my ankle. It snaps back into place and I gasp at the sudden sting it causes me. After a moment it fades though and while I am exhausted, the physical pain subsides quickly.
“Ether user.” Keenan says to Daxon.
“Never even noticed.” Daxon says, steadying me on my feet.
“Thank you,” Keenan says to him. “For protecting her,” His eyes fall back on me. “Even when I didn’t.” He strains to drag his gaze away from me, back up to Daxon. “Now get her the hell out of here.”
“Keenan,” I cease him by the shoulders, forcing his blue eyes on me again. “Tell them it was me, okay?”
“Not a chance in hell.” he grumbles.
“Keenan, if you tell them it was you you’ll be executed. Tell them that I killed him.”
“They will call for your head, Amara.” he spits fiercely.
“Where I’m going that’s not going to matter.” I clutch the back of his head and press a kiss to his cheek. “Do it, Keenan, please. Save yourself, for once. I’ll be safe, I promise.”
“If I do will you get out of here, please? Before the guards come?”
I cease him and meet his eyes head-on. “We will see each other again.” I vow, pressing one last kiss to his lips. “I love you, Keenan Volterra.”
“And I you, Amara Boudelaire. Now go, before they catch you. Go.”
I stare for one more moment with longing and then I allow the others to rush me away. We don’t go over the balcony like Keenan and I had intended. Instead we rush through the palace and they usher me through the servants’ quarters. The servants down there are more than happy to oblige. They love me and they fear their king. Their dead king.
“Is he really dead?” Haven finally asks as the lot of us are rushing down the dirt road, away from the chaos of the Vakrovian palace.
I reach for Haven’s hand and squeeze it fiercely. “He’s dead, Haven. The king is dead.”
—CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR—
KARA
SAFE
Today is the day.
Theon and Aaric have soldiers marching at dawn to race out and bring Amara home.
And I couldn’t be more nervous.
That’s what brings me to the dining room. The private one we ate at when Aaric got here. I need some peace and quiet, away from the riff raff. I always eat when I’m nervous. It calms me. But my silence is short-lived when Kol walks into the room.
As soon as he’s seated to my right a waiter comes over and places a full plate of food in front of him as if he had anticipated Kol’s arrival. How they are so quick and silent I’ll never know. You don’t know they’re coming until they’re up on you.
“How are you feelin’?” he asks brightly.
“Nervous.” I confess.
“Don’t be nervous. They’ll be fine.” His tone is so casual it infuriates me.
“Don’t be nervous?” I question him. “We spent months trying to keep Amara’s location from Theon to avoid exactly this. You said that if Theon went after Amara too many of your people would die. What’s changed?”
“What’s changed is Theon doesn’t care what I think, and Aaric is encouraging this so there’s nothing I can do about it, but sit back and let them get our people killed.”
“I don’t buy it.” I argue. “You’re not a do-nothing kind of guy, Kol. You’re not stopping them because you don’t want to stop them, because you want her here.”
He whirls on me. “And what’s wrong with that, huh Kara? What’s wrong with me wanting Amara here, where I know she’s safe, where I know she isn’t being tortured or almost killed by a selfish king using her blood to do whatever it is he’s trying to do!”
“Nothing.” I say simply.
“What?” he snaps, floored by my answer.
“There isn’t anything wrong with that, Kol. I want her here too. I’m pretty sure I’d be willing to slaughter an entire army to do just that. What kind of people does that make us?”
Kol pulls my hand resting on the table into his, brushing his thumb over my knuckles gently. “We may not be human, Kara, but we were born with human emotion so I guess what that makes us is human.”
Kol has aged much in the last five months. His skin is paler, void of any sun. He’s got the tiniest bit of stubble, which makes him look a couple years older than he is. He’s always been thin and lean, but he can stand to gain a few pounds. Lots of meals skipped I’d bet. His blue eyes have darkened more than they already are. He loves her, as my brother loves her, as the prince loves her. Oddly enough though I don’t feel a twinge of jealousy, knowing this. Instead it makes me sad for him, because I don’t know if she’ll ever love him back. I don’t know where her heart lies anymore. Maybe when I see her she’ll tell me.
“Are you going with them?” I ask, instead of commenting on the sadness in his eyes. Kol will get defensive and brush it off like he’s the exception to everything he just said. I don’t want to see defensive Kol right now. I don’t think I could bear it.
“No.” he says, breaking his gaze away from mine. “Theon says it’s too dangerous. Doesn’t want to lose his future king.”
“So he still intends for Amara to marry you.” I surmise. “What do you think of that?”
Kol turns to his plate and stabs a fork into a piece of smoked breakfast ham. “I think that Theon is going to be in for a rude awakening when Amara gets here and tells him that she’s not going to do as he says anymore.”
“Y
ou think she will?”
I’m surprised when the thought brings a smile to his face. “I know she will.”
I smile too. “Good. It’s time someone stood up to him.”
“Talking about me?” Theon asks from the doorway.
Kol stands and curls a hand around my shoulder, squeezing gently. “You are not living in Amara’s shadow, Kara. You couldn’t. You’re your own spotlight.” He presses a kiss to my cheek and leaves me alone with Theon.
Theon comes and sits where Kol has been sitting and I turn my attention to my food. “Someone’s still smitten.” Theon says with one of those half-smirks he gives when he’s trying to pretend that he’s more amused than annoyed.
“Don’t be jealous.” I tease, biting into a piece of bacon. “It shows weakness.”
“Weak?” He chuckles. “I’d hardly call jealousy a weakness, love. It is one of the few emotions that remind us we’re alive.” The smile he gives next is enchanting. That is what this man does to me. He enchants me. I should hate him, for Tristan, for Braylie, but he makes that impossible. With his sad stories, his kind smiles he saves only for me, the way he looks at me as if I am the only one left in the world to him.
“Ya know, you’re not as charming as you think you are.” I say. A defense mechanism, to break him out of the smile he’s giving me.
“Oh liar-liar, love.” Another smirk comes my way, to melt away my hatred for him. How does one continue to hate the only man who’s done anything to save their best friend? “I am exactly as charming as I think I am and you know it.” His playful smile washes over me, almost igniting a smile of my own, but as charming as he is, we need to get serious for a moment.
“Theon, by this time tomorrow Amara could be here, with us. I was there, drowning in her emotions. She is going to fight. She’s done running from what she is, but it’s like I said. I was in there with her. And if she has to face another captive situation it may just kill her.” My voice breaks as I feel Amara’s emotions slither through me like they had that night. I can feel it all again and it damn near brings tears to my eyes. “You need to either let her decide that she wants to work with you, or you let her go. Forgiveness isn’t even an option for me if you don’t.”
He believes me. He knows I’m not just saying this, trying to manipulate him into doing what I want. He knows that if he tries to force Amara into anything she doesn’t want to do then I will leave, with these babies, and he’ll never see me again. Maybe that’s why he says what he says next. “I am willing to do this your way, Kara, as long as you have my back. I’ve told you my story. I’ve told you why not fighting is no longer an option. If Amara refuses to work with me I expect you to at least try to make her see reason.”
“I’ll do what I can.” I promise him. “But you forced your sister to murder the very first boy she ever loved. And then you murdered Braylie Fairchild right in front of her brother, out of spite. You’re going to have to answer for that.” I slip a hand onto his shoulder, squeezing gently before I leave him.
Out in the hallway I catch Haydan and Aaric speaking in hushed tones. I haven’t really had the chance to talk to Aaric alone since he got here. He’s been held up in Theon’s war room for days ironing out battle plans with him.
Like Kol, the months have seemed to age him considerably. It’s all in his eyes. They’ve darkened, as he has. Months separated from Amara. He hasn’t been through any terrible ordeals like Amara, except for the occasional Hunter attack. No, his damage is emotional. Him and Amara never spent more than a night apart up until we were taken at Tristan’s funeral. Even when we had sleep overs as children he’d stay the night too, hanging out with Keenan so that they weren’t far. I doubt he’s had a good night’s rest since Tristan’s death.
“Hey there, gorgeous.” Haydan smiles over at me.
“No.” Aaric says, so hard and fierce I have to wonder what that’s all about. Haydan frowns, but leaves us like a child scorned. Once alone Aaric approaches me. “Well, I think it’s time you and I had a chat, don’t you?”
“Come with me.” I say solemnly.
I lead Aaric to the small courtyard at the center of the palace. He circles the small island of grass and wild flowers in silence for a time. Then he asks me to tell him everything that’s happened from the moment I stepped foot into this place. So that’s what I do. I tell him everything. Our conspiring to keep Amara’s location a secret from Theon, the babies being Theon’s, which he somehow already knew. I tell him of the prophecy and everything we know about it.
By the time I’m finished we’re seated side by side on the bench facing the small garden and he asks the dreaded question I had hoped he would do me the courtesy of not asking.
“How did it happen, Kara?”
“Aaric, please don’t make me say it.”
His blue eyes flash to me and I know he’s not going to let up until I tell him. “I need to know.”
I sigh and then launch into my story. “It wasn’t long after Kol arrived at the palace. I was angry and hurt and I needed to get my mind off of it so…Tristan, Bay, Niykee, Jayla, and I all snuck out of the palace down to the lake, to that cabin Kol held Amara in when he kidnapped her.” Aaric nods me along. “We were there to drink, to forget. I wandered over to the lake and that’s when I saw him. He was dressed in a guard’s uniform. I thought he was just a palace guard. I didn’t know who he was, Aaric. He was charming and he was kind to me. I…” I look away from Aaric’s eyes, unable to face them. “I can’t, Aaric.”
“Kara,” Aaric reaches over and clasps my hand in his. The feel of his skin on mine makes me look back at him and I find tranquility in his eyes. It soothes me like nothing else. “Just tell me. I’m not going to judge you.”
I believe him, even though he has every right to judge me. I press on. “We were talking and then all of a sudden there were these four hooded men approaching us. I didn’t know who they were at the time, although now I assume they were Hunters. They were there for me. We both knew it. He killed every last one of them. It was the scariest thing I had ever seen at the time and yet he made me feel…”
“Safe.” Aaric whispers.
I meet his eyes. “Yes. After that night I began sneaking out to meet him. I did this for weeks until one night…I shouldn’t have done it. I know that. It was reckless and stupid and…” I can’t bring myself to say all the words it really was. Whore. Harlot. Nothing he could say is anything less than what I’ve thought of myself every day since.
“Hey,” He squeezes the hand he still holds and then I see a smile break over his face. “I slept with Braylie Fairchild, remember?” he says and I laugh out loud. “Nothing gets worse than that.” We continue to laugh together for a moment, chasing away my fear and shame. “You didn’t know who he was then, Kara, but I get the feeling you know who he is now.”
My smile disappears, slowly fading into what can only be understanding. “I do.” I say quietly. “At least, I think I do. You can never truly tell with him. He’s done terrible things, I know that. But terrible things have been done to him too. His methods may be poor, but I think that if we want to succeed in trying to deliver your people out of subjugation, we may need his help.”
Slowly, Aaric nods. “Yeah, I think you might be right.” He glances back at me. “Do you wanna see what we’ve got planned for tomorrow?”
Naturally I want to say no. I don’t want to know about the bloodshed they have planned, but I sense he doesn’t want to let me out of his sight so I let him take me down to the war room and tell me about their plans of attack.
“Do you think it’ll work?” I ask him once he’s finished.
“It better. It only took us three days to come up with it.” Aaric says.
Our attention goes to the door when Clea comes rushing inside. “Stop your battle plans.” she pants, hands on her knees, bending over to catch her breath.
“What?” Aaric steps toward her, a puzzled look on his face.
“There’s no need for them a
nymore.”
“What do you mean, Clea?” I press.
“Amara is here.”
“She’s what?” Aaric and I both gasp.
“Amara is here, and she’s not alone.
—CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE—
AMARA
HOME
Our liberation from Vakrov was rough, but nothing was more difficult than willingly leaving Keenan behind to deal with the fallout of our escape.
Bastian Beaugrand is dead and I don’t know where Vakrov goes from there, but I don’t care. That country did nothing more than chew me up and spit me out. It’s Keenan’s problem now.
The palace was so busy dealing with the chaos of the battle and Bastian’s death that getting through the city to the ship dock was easier than anticipated, even with hundreds of us. Three to be exact. There were three hundred Borderlines locked away in Bastian’s dungeons, all captured at one point or another over the course of his short reign. All ages, from the elderly to small children. There’s even one woman who gave birth in the cells to a beautiful, Borderline baby boy.
Managing to commandeer three ships big enough to hold all of us was the difficult part, but none of the Vakrovians were prepared to handle what some of these Borderlines can do. They never stood a chance against us.
On the ship before we docked Daxon came to me, to confess something.
“Before I tell you what I need to tell you, I need you to know, Amara, that it was always about you.” he’d began, sending a shockwave of nerves through me, wondering what fresh betrayal I was going to endure next. “Roman Novak isn’t the one that sent me. I’m one of Theon Beleros’ guards and he sent me to track you down at the funeral, to bring you back to Llìria. When I failed I killed a Vakrovian guard for his clothes and followed you to Vakrov, to protect you.”
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