TARNISHED (Book 5.5, The Caged Series (Novella))

by Natusch, Amber Lynn

  When I awoke the next day, starving and exhausted, I looked up to find her preparing something for me, that same wicked smile painted across her face.

  “You need to eat,” she told me, bringing me a bowl of various fruits. “You must keep your strength up for the trials ahead.”

  I lunged at her, scooping her in my arms and pinning her against the wall.

  “I must keep my strength up for you,” I countered, pushing her robe up well above her waist.

  “And you will, but first there are things that require your attention. Ares told me of your power, your abilities...your birthright. But he is concerned for you, Aniketos. He fears that what softness you still possess will be your undoing.” Her eyes averted mine for a moment while she collected her words. “I know how the last Healer was lost...”

  A growl came from me, low and warning.

  “You will never speak of her again, do you understand? Never. The man that allowed that to happen no longer exists. He is dead. Gone. Your concerns are a waste of breath. There is no longer light burdening me.”

  “Good,” she replied with a sinister stare. “Now, let's prepare you for what is to come...”

  * * *

  “Prepare” had been an odd choice of words. I had not planned to fuck my enemies to death, but as we tore apart my home in a sex-driven rage, I felt myself settling into a brutal place in my mind. One that I had rarely ventured to before Isadora's death and had scarcely shown to the outside world—only doing so when the situation warranted it. But more and more of him slipped to the forefront with our every encounter; Sophie was like a dark siren, calling him forth with every touch.

  Ares could not have been more pleased to see my transformation and was quick to praise Sophie for the exemplary influence she had on me. “A true warrior's mate,” he called her, and it seemed as though the other brothers approved of her too. At first.

  As violence pervaded my bedroom, it also surrounded my life. There was great unrest in the supernatural world, leaving my brothers and me very busy. And there were many casualties. Sophie struggled to keep pace and proximity to the numerous battles we faced, but even with all her talents, we lost many. It became apparent that having one Healer would no longer suffice as the otherworldlies spread throughout the broadening lands.

  Ares and I strategized at length, trying to come up with a suitable solution. After a great time, we decided there was no choice but to place brothers in locations permanently, far away from the rest of the PC. Those assignments would leave them isolated and without the services of Sophie, so we sought out Healers who were willing to serve, though they would receive none of the advantages that Sophie did. They would not be bound to us. They would not gain immortality. They would live on the outskirts of a war and likely become casualties of it themselves. Only a very few accepted those circumstances, but those that did became the changing tide that we needed to better protect the human world from those that were not and keep the death toll of the PC brothers to a minimum. Ares had not been in a fathering way for many years. Our numbers seemed finite until that fact changed.

  From that point on, the brothers were spread wide across the world. Elders, guardians and warriors of Ares from his days of reign, were stationed with them to report back to Ares and maintain a hierarchy. None, however, were ever assigned to me. Ares looked at me as his protégé and I answered only to him, and those in my company all answered to me. The power was intoxicating.

  Wherever I went, so did Sophie. For well over a century, I fought and fucked my way through life, reveling in the routine. They both fueled me equally, and I eventually couldn't remember what life was like before they consumed it. It was apparent that any goodness I'd once had in me was long gone, utterly consumed by the depravity that then filled me.

  The PC's reputation grew within the supernatural community during that time. What they once viewed as a peacekeeping organization quickly became known as a virtual terrorist group. They all feared us, though some did their best not to let that fact become known. The more formidable ones had a nasty tendency to want to overthrow us, which never ended well for them. Eventually, they learned that their efforts would only be in vain. The feeling of walking into a coven, a pack, a seethe, or any other paranormal family, and sensing their terror did nothing to stop my tendencies. It only encouraged them.

  While they all cowered at the mere mention of the brotherhood, they feared me above all the rest.

  They would soon see why that was wise.

  The Attack

  I only left Sophie for a moment―hardly long enough for someone to make an attempt on her life. But they did. And they paid for it dearly.

  There was unrest in the werewolf community, infesting the far eastern lands. I had been dispatched to help those who were permanently stationed there, knowing that a war was on the brink and that human casualties would be exponential if it were allowed to occur. In light of that knowledge, Sophie traveled with us. Despite our reputation for ruthlessness, our numbers continued to be an issue. Had a battle been waged between the PC and the werewolves, we would have been greatly outnumbered. Undoubtedly, the PC would have diminished as a result, even with Sophie and me present.

  So, with her in tow, we made the long journey east to rendezvous with Jerzyr and the others. Upon our arrival, we devised a plan to subdue the wolves before it came to a bloodbath. Though I desperately wanted to shed my share of theirs, Ares warned against it before we left, exposing a side I hadn't seen for a century or two―a cautious one. Heeding his words, we demanded a meeting with the alphas involved in the feud. I felt it best to leave Sophie behind with some of the brothers, expecting to return before sundown.

  I never made it far.

  A shrill cry split the cold winter air around us, and I wheeled in the direction it came from―Sophie's shelter. In seconds I was at her side, ready to kill anyone or anything that posed a threat. And I found one.

  What appeared to be a young boy stood beside her, arm outstretched, with a low glowing light emanating from it. Fey... Sophie cowered in the corner, her eyes rolled back in her head as her body convulsed violently. He was killing her, just as the fey had killed Isadora. There was no more conjecture about their guilt in that murder once I saw what was transpiring before me.

  With a single blow, he flew out of the makeshift tent, far into the field surrounding it. The brothers had gathered, but none interceded. In retrospect, I should have held him, questioned him, tortured him, and once I had extracted the information I desired, killed him. Instead, I cut to the end without a single thought. I never said a word to him, just crushed his skull with my bare hands until there was nothing left but my palms pressing against one another with a thick coat of blood running off of them.

  “Aniketos,” Sophie called from behind me.

  I turned to see her standing before me, pale and weak, but unafraid of what she saw—what I had done. She approached me carefully, knowing that I hadn't fully come back from my rage. With a single hand on my back, she let me know that things were going to be fine.

  “You must go,” she softly ordered. “Ares was very clear about things. He wants you to put an end to this. It must be you, Aniketos. The wolves all fear you. To you, they will listen.”

  I looked down at my hands, coated in the blood of the fey, and growled, knowing that she was right. The wolves would fear me even more when I arrived in a blood-soaked rage. I hadn't satisfied my need for punishment with that single kill. I wanted more, and I wanted it quickly.

  Grabbing her fiercely, I kissed her, not caring who was still hovering around the gruesomeness that had just occurred. I would have laid her down right there, but she pried herself away, demanding I do my duty first. Always duty first.

  “Jerzyr will stay behind,” I said, turning to him as I gave the command. “You will keep her safe, or you will die.”

  He nodded once in response before I turned to run and catch up to the others who had continued on while I had raced back to protect
and avenge the one who truly understood me. The one responsible for making me what I was. And as I ran, I thought about Isadora, the one I could not protect.

  But I would avenge her too.

  So much time had passed and still a chill ran through me as I thought of her cold, pale face as she died in my arms. I swallowed those feelings, stuffing them down to rot in the void. There was no time for sadness and grief. There was only time for retribution and death.

  And, for those responsible, there would be much of both.

  The Plan

  As far as the wolves were concerned, our peacekeeping efforts were exceedingly successful. One look at my out-for-blood expression and the alphas were extremely compliant with my demands. The fact that I strangled one of them upon our arrival until his eyes nearly popped out seemed to offer them further encouragement to play nice with one another. Lastly, I explained that if I had to return, I would be far less forgiving. Their paling faces shook vehemently in agreement before we went our separate ways.

  In the time it took us to return home and report back to Ares, I thought about one thing and one thing only―vengeance. Knowing that Ares' suspicion had been correct all along, that it had been the fey that attacked Isadora, I fumed at the time lost. The fairies should have been handled long before they had a chance to go after one of ours again.

  It was time to right that wrong.

  There would be no diplomatic approach, no meeting like the one I had just left. There would be carnage and nothing else. Once the brothers learned of what had happened to Sophie, they would be enthusiastic to follow my lead.

  When I told Ares of what had happened, he gave the official orders as though I needed them; I would have proceeded the same way without them. He decreed that the fey were to be hunted down and massacred. Not a soul to be left alive at the end. The task was made easier knowing that they were a tightly knit breed and never ventured too far apart. They also never wandered far from their king, from whom they gained their strength in magic. Though their powers were impressive, even deadly for some, they were not accomplished fighters. Most had lived relatively peaceful lives without disturbance—but that was all about to change. Once we located them, their deaths would be imminent.

  The thought brought me immense satisfaction.

  “You will leave when the others arrive. I have dispatched notice for many of them to return. We cannot spare them all, of course, but you will have a small army at your disposal, not that you should need it,” Ares informed me as we walked the grounds of our secluded town. “You must do something else, Aniketos, once they are dead...so that they may not rise again.”

  “What do you require of me?” I replied, studying his expression.

  He smiled in response.

  “You have truly become what I had envisioned, haven't you? You are exactly as I was before He came and lowered me to my current station, lessening my greatness. But you...you I can use to do all that I would have done had I not lost what was taken from me. And I believe I have your mate to thank for most of this. She calls to your warrior, Aniketos. She calls to that which will make you the greatest power this world has ever seen. Let him out, fully. Do not fight to contain him. Lose whatever shred of civility you clutch to your chest and set him free. There will be no stopping you then. You and I will create this world as we want it. It will be ours to play in.”

  “What do you require?” I repeated, reminding him of the job at hand. Accolades could wait. My vengeance could not.

  “Always duty first,” he replied with a wry smile. “You must collect their essences. I will give you a vessel with which you can do that. Once you have them all, it must be sealed and remain unopened. This is crucial. Do you understand me?”

  “It must remain sealed.”

  “Good, now, to find what you must, you have to remove their hearts. Do this carefully. You must not disrupt the light...”

  “The light?”

  “Yes, the light from within them. That is their essence and what needs to be removed. Handle them with care. They are delicate and fragile.”

  “So? If it breaks, won't they die? Be unable to regenerate?”

  His expression changed from one of pride to one of contempt.

  “Are you questioning my orders?”

  “No.”

  “Then just bring me what I have asked for. You don't need to know all the finer details, nor do I have the patience to impart them upon you. Do as I ask, how I ask it, and all will be well.”

  I nodded once and turned to leave, sensing my dismissal.

  “And, Aniketos,” Ares called from behind me. “You must leave Sophie behind this time. Whatever losses we take will have to be considered a consequence of war. We cannot put her in harm's way like that again.”

  “Agreed,” I replied before continuing home. In a matter of days I would be gone to decimate the fey. Until then, I was going home to claim what was mine.

  The Annihilation

  It didn't take nearly as long as I had anticipated to find the fey. It was as if they weren't aware that there would be consequences for what they had done. In light of their cavalier behavior, I decided that we could carry out Ares' instructions and enjoy ourselves in the process. Torment was the order of the day.

  We picked off a couple of stragglers to start with. While it instilled fear into those who wondered what had happened to their brethren who had disappeared without a trace, it also afforded us the opportunity to slowly and methodically find their essences. Those were of utmost importance to Ares, and I tucked them away for safekeeping per his orders. As tension mounted, it became apparent that the fey were getting ready to flee whatever power was causing their own kind to go missing.

  I had no intention of letting that happen.

  Though they may have been aware that an unenviable fate approached them, it changed nothing. One by one, they met it anyway. We plucked off the lesser fey easily at first, making a game of it, taunting the others. By the time full realization of their eradication befell them, it was too late. Not even their beloved king could save them—not that he bothered trying. He remained hidden while his people screamed his name as their lives faded.

  With every one of them that fell, my bloodlust grew. And death was no longer enough to quench it. Pain and suffering were both ripped from my enemies in an attempt to assuage the emptiness left behind when my soul finally—truly—abandoned me.

  When we were finished, their precious land was riddled with their already-rotting corpses. We worked quickly to collect the rest of what Ares demanded, gathering their essences to ensure that there could be no bringing them back. The fey weren't necessarily the most powerful of the supernaturals, but they were resilient and resourceful. Had even one escaped, that lone fey would have been enough to revive the entire race, if their essences could be retained. Ares wouldn't have tolerated an oversight of that magnitude. Neither would I.

  “Are we done here?” Jerzyr asked, wiping his blade across his blood-soaked pants.

  “Do you sense any more of them?” I countered, searching the area as he approached.

  “No. And you?”

  “I do not...”

  “But?” he asked, sensing my hesitation.

  “Something just feels off to me. Search the bodies again. Make sure we have everything we came for.”

  I looked on as the brothers meticulously but ruthlessly rummaged through the corpses to ensure we had completed our task. When Jerzyr finally gave the nod, I announced that we were leaving.

  The enemy was to remain as they lay.

  “Let the earth take them,” I growled in disgust. “Their cloying stench offends me.”

  Without a word, the others followed me, walking for days without rest until we arrived at the ship awaiting us on the shore. The journey home was long, and I was restless in my own skin, needing to fight. Needing to feed the void that hollowed me out slowly. It was all-consuming.

  To distract myself, I tried to make sense out of a leader too weak to
come to the aid of his own. The thought disgusted me. The fey king was unworthy of his title and deserved to die a faceless nobody amid the ones he allegedly served. He died with no honor, no pride—no identity.

  Though the knowledge of his cowardice offended me greatly, I was glad he perished as he had. It was most fitting. We would have shown him no respect. No dignity. He deserved none after what he had done to our Healers.

  Word amongst the supernatural community spread quickly; the fey had fallen, casualties of their own stupidity. My confidence that we would not face another such attack on Sophie was great. The PC was no longer simply respected.

  We were feared.

  * * *

  By the time we landed on the glorious beaches of home, I was desperate for an outlet, and any one would do. Ares greeted us as we hopped over the side of the vessel, his face a mask of calm and stateliness. I could tell though that he was eager to get what he had commanded we return with. I, however, had a short fuse and needed to get to Sophie as quickly as possible to release the tension mounting within me.

  I needed an outlet.

  “Aniketos,” he said with a nod. “I hope you have done as I've asked.”

  “Easily,” I replied handing him the box containing what he sought, ready to make my way home.

  “Excellent.” He stroked the ornate carvings delicately before he thrust it deep within his robe. “A moment, Aniketos, if you can withstand the pull of Sophie for a minute longer.” I stopped and turned to face him, feeling my skin nearly burn with the desire to either kill or fuck. “You should all celebrate tonight. We will all celebrate tonight,” he announced grandly, sweeping his arms wide in acknowledgment of what we had accomplished. “And you, Aniketos,” he whispered in my ear, placing his arm over my shoulders, “should find Sophie before you kill everyone here. I'm quite certain she has missed you in your long absence and will be quite willing to accept all that you have to give her in this moment.”