“She’s bleeding,” Brander pointed out, touching my side. I jolted and tightened my hold against Knox’s throat, which didn’t go unnoticed.
“You’re safe, Little Monster,” Knox hissed. I noted his men behind him, watching cautiously as Brander sliced through the rope holding me to him.
“The rock scratched up your back, but it’s nothing that won’t heal on its own,” a warrior stated, glaring at me. I lowered my legs to stand on firm ground. “There’s a trail ahead. Luckily, it’s not as lethal as the last.”
“Walk, woman,” Knox demanded, ignoring Brander, who stared at the blood painting my dress. “Run ahead, Brander. Have our men ready to move when we reach them. It’s time to leave this cesspool and head toward the mountains. Have Aria’s cage readied as well.”
A cage? I turned, glaring at him as he smiled.
“Don’t worry. If you’re a good girl, I’ll take you out often and play with you.”
Knox’s men laughed as angry tears pricked my eyes. I glared at him, his eyes narrowing on me as if he didn’t like the flash of pain he saw. Dismissing him, I walked past, uncaring that my sensitive feet were sore and that every inch of my body ached in pain and need.
The sooner we reached Norvalla, the sooner I’d be able to put distance between us again. This man made my brain turn to mush, and everything within me wanted him, except, well, me. One minute I wanted to rip off his cock, and the next, I wanted to ride it.
I couldn’t make my creature realize the error of belonging to Knox, or that he didn’t really want me other than for what I was and what I could do for him. I was his weapon, one he intended to use against my people. And for the moment, I was helpless to do anything since he had placed magic nulling cuffs on me. On top of that, I’d expelled the magic I held to save my family from ending up beside me in cages.
Chapter Thirty-Four
I started up the narrow trail that followed the river, leading us back to the castle. I pushed past Knox, who insisted that I move faster, his men grunting in agreement. Several hours later, we reached the top of the plateau, and I could see the castle. My feet ached, and my legs burned from the hike.
Once we reached the castle gates, Knox pushed me to my knees, turning to issue orders to the men surrounding us. My ears perked, and I tilted my head toward the castle, hearing voices behind its walls.
“Knox,” I called, but he ignored me. My heart leaped into my throat, pounding harder as horror entered my mind. “Knox, answer me!” I screamed in a dead panicked tone, echoing as he turned, flashing irritation at me. “Are there people in the castle?” He narrowed his eyes, smiling, before noting the horror on my face, and his gaze slid over my head. “Undo me now!”
“No,” he growled, focusing on the castle where I could hear his men inside.
“Undo me, or your men will die! It’s all going to come down. It was part of the spell we crafted. Dammit, undo me!” I demanded, and he grabbed the cuffs that bound my magic to remove them. I lifted my unbound hands at the same time the castle groaned and started to crumble.
Magic rushed through me, and I watched in horror, realizing it wasn’t going to be enough to stop the castle from falling onto the men inside. I turned toward Knox’s witches, who stood absently talking to one another, staring at the castle.
“Help me!” I cried. Their eyes slid to Knox, asking permission, and he growled, swearing loudly at them.
Their hands grabbed mine, and I began chanting. Magic was the only thing holding the castle up as men flooded out the front gate. Knox’s hands touched my side. I sagged, holding me up while pushing power into my body. He took a step back, watching as more and more of his men escaped from the castle that continued collapsing, even as I fought to hold it up.
Lore exited the gate, looking worried. Seeing the fear on my face and hearing my chant, he turned back toward the castle, screaming for those still inside to exit quickly. Magic was leaking from my pores. Sweat beaded on my brow as men rushed from the stronghold carrying chests and other items. Lore remained by the large, wooden gates, and then exhaled, nodding to me as the last man ran free of the destruction.
I dropped the hold on the witch’s magic, staring at Lore as Asil’s stronghold collapsed completely, crumbling to the ground.
Everything went still around me, and I dropped to the earth, screaming in pain. It had taken every drop of magic I had to prevent Knox’s men from being crushed to death.
Knox kneeled beside me, touching my face as he stared at me. “What the hell is wrong with her?”
I couldn’t even blink, and yet I felt nothing but pure pain ripping through me. I screamed, calling for help, but no one replied. They continued talking as if they couldn’t hear my screams. I sobbed inwardly, stuck inside my head, realizing no one could hear me crying for help.
“My guess?” one woman said as she leaned over, smiling down at me. “She just used up all of her magic and is stuck inside her head because she’s drained herself to the brink of death.”
“Can she live like that without being in pain?” Knox asked, and she nodded, still smiling at me as her eyes turned cruel.
Lying bitch.
I was being ripped apart from the inside out.
My eyes stared sightlessly at the sky as my wails continued to go unheard. I was dying a witch’s worst nightmare, trapped in a shell without the magic to escape.
It was the one thing you didn’t do as a witch, no matter what happened. You never drained your last amount of magic because to do so was a fate worse than death. I’d thought it was a myth, and now here I was stuck inside my mind.
“No. You’re wrong. She is in hell right now,” another witch admitted, causing the other to snort. “She is in the worst pain you can imagine, and without help, she will stay that way until death finally claims her.”
“Goddess be damned, you’re such a stupid bitch, Siobhan. She is our enemy. Aria Hecate is an enemy to our King!”
“No, Bekkah, she isn’t. If you leave her like that, My King, she will die. She is stuck in her mind, slowly being ripped apart because she used every ounce of magic she had to save your men from dying. Allow me to help her.”
“Save her life, Siobhan. She is not to suffer such a fate, especially since she saved my men.”
“As you wish, My King.” Siobhan turned to look at Bekkah. “Help me.”
“No. She’s my enemy,” the dark-haired woman hissed.
Knox touched my cheek, staring down at me as he nodded. “Do it, Bekkah. Lore, bring Aria’s cage so she can rest as we travel. We leave here within the hour.”
I felt Siobhan touching me, her magic pushing through my soul as she helped ease the pain. I still couldn’t move, couldn’t speak as what bit of magic she gave me wasn’t enough, considering the power I typically held in reserve.
My eyes closed on their own as powerful arms lifted me, holding me closely before placing me onto blankets. I sighed, hearing the metal lock clink closed, knowing it sealed me into my cage like a pet.
I fought against the overwhelming panic that rushed through me, wrapping around my throat, cutting off my air supply. The blackness that came with my panic saved me, enveloping me as I faded into unconsciousness.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Soraya
Sweat beaded on my brow, the night stiflingly hot while I watched the large army below the cliffs I hid upon, preparing to ride out. They had placed the silver-haired witch into a cage, and her body was limp from expelling too much magic to protect the King of Norvalla’s men, who would have died, crushed beneath the massive castle.
I’d been studying the witch for a few weeks, and nothing she did, made any sense, other than destroying keeps that belonged to the weaker witches. She had started with the lesser keeps, moving through them easily. Then, without reason, she’d come to a stronghold and Asil herself admitted her and several others she had with her.
It was the first time she hadn’t been alone, and those accompanying her looked closer than
just a coven. They had laughed and acted like a family.
I had intended to rush off to Ilsa and report that they were all inside one of her strongholds together, but the sight of Esme on the battlements peering down into the sprawling courtyard stopped me. She’d hidden within the veil, moving freely around the castle as if she, too, was tracking the silver-haired witch.
No battle drums sounded as the army started up the curved trail that led away from the crumbling stronghold. There was no celebration of victory that normally clung to an army from setting siege on a fortress and leaving victorious.
Of course, the army themselves hadn’t had to lift a single finger to bring the stronghold to its knees. The witch had done that alone. The others with her had stood on the battlements, working a spell that had exploded away from the castle, spreading through the air until I’d felt my body jerk with the intensity of it moving through me. It had spread across the land, something Ilsa would have felt, and would expect answers.
I slipped into the shadows, watching the impressive king and his men as they led the army at the forefront. My stare slid over the men at his side. They were strong, hungry-looking men that made my body heat with need that had gone unsated since the day Julia had returned home with black, deadened eyes, turning my life upside-down.
I’d once earned a lucrative income by selling tonics, creating spells, and entertaining visitors from across the seas and lands of the Nine Realms. Countless people had come to our town to procure my remedies, to ease ailments, or remove curses, and yet that had stopped the day they built the palace.
Ilsa coming to town had run away my clientele, and then disaster had struck down against the village as darkness flooded into the souls of the weak. Those not inflicted, or that had willingly succumbed to the darkness escaped, leaving their homes behind.
Some of us didn’t get that choice before the men of Ilsa’s army sought to slake their needs, to rape, and take women brutally. Broken women were easier to control. I was away that day, seeking passage for myself and Julia on a ship in Dorcha to escape the palace and the Kingdom of Vãkya.
I’d returned to find my sister raped by a group of men, her arms and legs bound to her bed, beaten brutally. Julia’s vacant eyes had leaked tears, and yet she’d never spoken or whispered a word about what happened in my absence. I’d screamed and yelled at her to get up, fight the darkness I could sense entering her, and instead, she’d let it in to quiet the pain.
My eyes slid over the men, and I swallowed down the nervousness at letting them get too close while stuck in my memories. Slipping further into the shadows, I watched sharp sapphire eyes slide to where I hid within the shadows, outside of where they could sense my presence.
The cage moved closer, and I winced at the pain etched on the silver-haired witch’s face. Even with her eyes closed, agony etched her delicate features in a pinched tightness. Almost as if within her mind, she was living inside a nightmare.
I knew that pain intimately. I’d sold my soul to stay close to my sister. My body was used viciously by cold-bastards who got off on hurting us for fun. Whatever it took, right?
I felt a connection to this woman’s pain, and I hated her for it. I hated that I felt anything for the woman since her life could release Julia’s from the nightmare she lived at Ilsa’s bidding.
The man with sapphire eyes paused, canting his head on his large warhorse, peering right at me. Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I fought the sudden thundering of my heart as it thumped wildly in my chest. Eyes that bespoke of fire slid over my body, and I went completely still, staring into their promise of passion and power.
Someone up the line spoke, and he turned back toward the male with platinum hair and amber eyes, who slid his golden gaze toward me and frowned. The larger of the two males nudged his mount forward, and something touched my shoulder.
Spinning toward the hand, I frowned at finding Esme there, watching me. I vanished without warning, unwilling to deal with her or her group of rebellion leaders today. I appeared outside the palace on the rolling hill filled with crumbling graves and crude gravestones.
“You’re not making it to the palace to tell your master what happened,” Esme snapped, appearing before me.
“Get out of my way,” I warned, pulling power toward me.
“You fire at me, and I’ll be done with you, Soraya. I know you think Ilsa will allow Julia to escape, but she won’t ever allow her to go free. You and I both know that. Come with us and help us. We can make a difference together!”
“By doing what? Pretending what I do fucking matters? You and I both know that unless you find someone much stronger than Ilsa, you’re only stalling the inevitable from happening.”
“I found someone stronger,” Esme argued, lowering her voice as guards passed by the road above us.
“Like the last one? Or maybe like the one before her? The corpses of your so called hero’s now swing from the walls inside the palace, Esme. I know because I pass their rotten bodies every day. I enter that blasted place to see my sister, who remains trapped in her body filled with darkness.”
“I know you think Julia is in there, but even if she was, you can’t remove the darkness. No one can! Julia is gone, and you need to face that fact! You and I both know that she’s lost, Soraya. You can’t save her any more than I can save my sisters. Once they succumb to the darkness, they’re gone. You know what Julia went through, and why she took that darkness. She was sweet and pretty and didn’t stand a chance in this world. They never allow those types of girls to live long. The smart ones got out and hid, and yet you couldn’t let her go. It’s understandable to want to save our bloodlines, but think about this, there’s a reason they’re rotting within their bodies. They’re already dead.”
I lunged, slamming my fist into Esme’s nose before she could deflect it. The crunch of bone meeting fist was satisfying, and yet the pain her words created within me caused hot tears to prick my eyes.
“I will do whatever it takes to free my sister. Unlike you, mine didn’t get out in time.”
Esme snorted, her violet eyes flashing with the pain we both felt at reliving the memories of the first few weeks of Ilsa moving into this place. Her dark head shook silently.
“I lost my mother, and both brothers, Soraya. I lived the same horrors. Ilsa’s soldiers held me down and raped me until I wanted to die. Do you know how many men can fit into one woman’s body? I do, vividly. I watched them slit my mother open from her throat to her pubic bone, withdrawing her organs while her children watched. They spared me what came next because I was busy entertaining five men in the bedroom. Five men, for what felt like days, who all took turns raping me until I wanted to consume the darkness within the jar they held in front of my face. They left me for dead after they’d beaten me to nothing more than a pulp. So, don’t come at me with your accusation for leaving you and Julia behind. You escaped the worst of it by searching for a way to get her out. I am sorry for what happened to Julia. But she knew what would happen when she consumed that vile magic. You won’t want to hear this, but she is free from the agony. She does not feel or remember the pain she endured while they brutalized her. I relieve it every day.”
“I’m not betraying Ilsa without a way to get Julia out of her fucking presence.”
“I’m not asking you to betray Ilsa. I’m asking you to keep what you know about Aria Hecate to yourself,” Esme snorted, wiping the blood from her nose.
“Who the fuck is that?” I countered, narrowing angry eyes on the blood dripping from her nose. At least I knew she wasn’t dark or one of Ilsa’s spies yet, which the red blood proved.
“The silver-haired witch you’ve been stalking,” Esme snipped, her eyes rolling at the question. I opened my mouth to argue that I hadn’t been stalking her when she lifted her hand, shaking her head. “Don’t even, Soraya Waterford. I have been stalking you while you’ve spied on Aria. Do you know what she’s done?”
“I’ve watched her taking down weak
keeps, if that is what you’re asking me.”
“Asil’s keep was weak? Because I’m pretty certain Aria just leveled a stronghold by herself. I watched her dream walk into the King of Norvalla’s head. Tell me, how many witches do you know with enough power to do that? Many have tried, but none have even come close to breaching the walls in that man’s head.”
“None. But that means nothing,” I argued, knowing damn well it was a huge accomplishment.
“The same day, within hours of doing that, Aria cloned herself. She fucking cloned herself and stood against Tristan and his men, then faced off against that same monster that has her now. She stood in her cloned form before Knox Karnavious, and he couldn’t tell it wasn’t her. That isn’t just power, Soraya. That’s Hecate bloodline power mixed with something else. She’s unlike anything I have ever seen before.”
“So she’s powerful? Who fucking cares? It changes nothing.”
“You’re wrong. It changes everything. Think about it, Soraya. If Aria can remove Ilsa from power, she could rule the Nine Realms. She could stop the King of Norvalla from hunting witches and slaughtering us, one witch at a time!”
“You think she’s strong, but right now, she’s in a cage, being taken to goddess knows where!” I argued, hating that her words had caused hope to glimmer in my chest.
“I think she’s our only hope of winning against Ilsa, even if she can’t overpower King Karnavious, yet. I think we’d be stupid to let this chance slip through our fingers.”
“You thought the same thing about the last two saviors, Esme. Look at them now! They’re nothing more than rotten corpses preserved to remind us of what happens when we step against Ilsa. Thousands of witches died when you tried a plan like this last time. What is going to stop it from happening again? Who is going to protect those who cannot protect themselves?”
“Aria will. She has vowed not to stop until she’s removed those who have trespassed against Hecate’s laws. She hasn’t been here for very long, but in that time, she’s rained down hell on this realm. You know she has because Ilsa sent you out to deal with her! You’re the only one who can get into that camp, and we all know it.”
Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms Book 2) Page 25