“The wards are down,” Seb said, his brow furrowing in confusion. “What are you playing at?” he asked Liana.
She snorted, an indelicate sound coming from one so regal. “I’m giving you what you want, of course.”
“Liana,” Lex said in a warning tone. “What is it you’re not telling us?”
The fire slowly bled out of her eyes. “We’ve been hiding for too long, and not everyone believes in the cause any longer. The army you came here for is but a handful of warriors, the rest have put aside vengeance in favor of a new life in the Undercity. I had hoped that with Wilomena by my side, I would be successful in rallying them to fight. That I’d be able to ignite the fire for vengeance again, and that our hatred for the Draconi and the real hope of victory would unite us once more. But who will want to fight as cannon fodder, as a distraction for peace?” Her lip curled in disgust. “Go ahead. Try and recruit your army, and if you succeed, then I will admit defeat, and I will stand at your side.”
She expected me to fail. She expected us to fail, but failure wasn’t on my list of options. “Well, you best prepare to ride then.” I pushed past her and headed for the door. “Watch her, Lex.”
I pushed through the door, Seb and Azren at my back, and the world tilted on its axis. When my eyes were able to refocus, we were on a moonlit rise with a small town laid out below us.
A starlit square bordered by neat trees and hedgerows sat in the center of the town, and radiating outward were hundreds of two-story buildings lit up from within with an amber glow. Street lights winked and the smell of roasting meat drifted up the hill. The door was behind us, suspended in the air, still ajar, but there was only a swirling darkness beyond. Beside the door was a large bell rigged to a pulley system to ring it.
Not a soul was about.
“The atoms here move at a different speed,” Seb said. “This is a new world, another reality.”
“Another world?” Azren asked. “Or a small part of one like the Everdark?”
“The latter,” Seb said. “When your supernatural prison opened up into our world, it created a shockwave that not only caused the pockets of magic but, it seems, tore several holes in the fabric of neighboring worlds.”
So, this place had been another world once, and now it was home to the Shedim. “The Shedim here are oblivious and happy.”
“Yes,” Azren sighed.
And we were about to give them a rude awakening.
Seb grabbed the bell ringer and yanked it hard. The bell began to swing, it began to toll, but Seb didn’t stop, he rang it over and over, and slowly the world below us lit up with light and activity. Figures poured out into the street and began to make their way toward the hill. Seb kept ringing for a moment longer and then stopped as a mass of Shedim began climbing the hill. Some carried children, others walked hand in hand. There was no glamour here, no hiding their true form. They were terrifyingly beautiful, sleek and powerful warriors who had hung up their claws for a peaceful existence, one we were about to ask them to abandon to save a world that had never given them anything.
Azren placed a hand on my shoulder. “They will join us. They have to.”
As the Shedim made their way up the rise getting ever closer, their curious glowing eyes fixed on us, the interlopers, thunder rolled across the sky ... No, not thunder but the sound of hooves.
Azren stepped forward, his chest heaving. “Storm riders ... I thought they were extinct.”
The huge beasts came into view, ridden by massive Shedim sporting crimson armor. Liana’s loyal army, no doubt. They cut an impressive path up the side of the hill, but Liana had been right, there weren’t nearly enough of them to make a difference. We needed all these people to join us.
A baby cooed, its sweet cry rising up to stab me in the heart. How could I take a mother from her child? A father from his family? How could I ask them to do this? But it seemed like I wouldn’t have to do any of the asking, because Azren was stepping forward to be my voice.
The Storm riders kicked up dirt to either side of us, expelling mist from their flared nostrils as the warriors atop them leapt to the ground.
“Who are you?” a large female Shedim demanded. “Where is our queen?”
“Your queen is in Arcana,” Azren said. “And she has permitted us to speak with you all.”
The female Shedim’s eyes narrowed and then flicked to the door. She must know the wards were down, and only Liana could do that. Hopefully, she wouldn’t conclude that we’d coerced her because there were way more of them than us.
“Speak.”
“I am Azren, and—”
“Elora’s pet.” She hawked and spat on the ground, her face contorting into a horrific mask of disgust.
Seb sighed. “Will you please just shut up and listen to him?”
“And who are you to co—”
Her words were cut off by the disappearance of her mouth.
Seb sighed. “That’s better. Go on, Azren.”
The Shedim female’s eyes were wide above the smooth expanse of skin where her mouth should have been.
I grabbed at Seb’s arm, noting the flex of muscle beneath. For a creature made from ether, he was entirely too taut. “Seb, stop it. She can’t breathe.”
“She has a nose, she can breathe just fine,” he said flippantly.
Azren must have thought so too because he was already continuing with his speech. “I know you’ve made a home here. I realize that you are settled and at peace, but above you, the city is about to be devastated.” He told them about Elora’s plan and the Arcana Institute’s countermeasure. “The only way to stop the needless death is to steal the key from under Elora’s nose, and for that we need to stage a war, a distraction, and for that ... we need an army. We need you.”
The Shedim broke into conversation amongst themselves, some loud and heated, some soft and tentative.
“We fight only for our queen,” one of the loyal Shedim said. “What has she to say to this?”
“She will ride with us, if you agree to fight.”
“Fight for what? For the Draconi who spurned us, or for the Shedim too weak-minded to withstand Elora’s curse, or maybe for the neph who care nothing for our existence?”
“You fight for honor. You fight because that is what we do, that is who we are. We do not sit back and allow innocents to die. We never have, and we will not start now.” Azren slammed a fist against his chest. “The souls above us are living a lie spun by Elora, and they will die due to no fault of their own if we, as free Shedim, as warriors, don’t do something about it. You can hide in your Undercity like cowards and turn a blind eye, or you can don your armor and your weapons and help us avert a travesty.”
His words were getting to them—it was in the shift in their stances, the clarity in their eyes. Yes, they remembered who they’d once been, and they recalled the honor that Azren spoke of. They were on the edge, almost with us, and then one of Liana’s loyal spoke.
“Our queen would not bleed for anything but the annihilation of the Draconi. She wouldn’t agree to let them live.”
“No, she wouldn’t, and she doesn’t, and yet, she is willing to accede to defeat and bow to a new view.” Azren turned to me. “Her daughter’s view.”
Several gasps filled the air.
“The queen has no progeny,” the loyal Shedim said.
“Yes, she does.” I stepped forward. “She had me, and she hid me, and she spelled me, but I found my way back. I found my way here. I found my way home.”
“You’re not Shedim,” the loyal spat.
I smiled. “Yes, I am. I am Shedim.” I let go of the reins holding me in human form and felt lighter as my body began to drift.
The woman stared at my lower half.
“And I am Draconi.” Scales erupted across my skin and swords were drawn. I held up my hand. “I’m both. I’m Liana and Ivan’s offspring. I’m proof that there can be peace. That love can bring us together.”
“And when it do
es, something beautiful can be created,” Sebastian added.
The stunned silence was broken once again by one of the loyal. “Why? Why would she lie?”
“To protect me.” I smiled wistfully. “Or so she says. To use me as a figurehead in a war to end a race, but I refuse to kill my people. I refuse to kill innocents. You are my people. The Draconi are my people, and we can coexist. We can thrive, but only if we act now.”
“The Shedim above you weren’t weak-minded,” Seb said. “They simply weren’t in close proximity to the queen when the curse hit, and so they weren’t protected by the life in her belly, the unique creature whose power shielded you from the effects of the spell.”
Me. He was looking at me.
The Shedim were listening now, really listening.
“Wilomena is the future for us all, and if you let her, she will lead you into battle.”
Lead the battle? I was no warrior, but Seb’s tight grip on my arm encouraged me to lift my chin and offer them my best go-get-it glare. Azren’s jaw ticked, but he didn’t contradict my ether-kindred. Now was the time for solidarity, we could hash out the details later.
The murmurs died down, and a Shedim from the mass that had come up from the town stepped forward. She was clutching a sleeping baby to her chest.
“I will fight with you,” she said.
Another Shedim stepped forward. “And me.”
“And I,” one of the loyal said.
“Wait!” The loyal Shedim held up her hands to hush the crowd. “I would hear this from our queen’s lips. I would hear her say that she has been swayed, that she truly will be with us in this endeavor.”
The Shedim who’d lost her mouth nodded fervently in agreement.
Seb brushed the back of his hand against mine and then stepped through the door. He returned a moment later, Liana in tow. Liana stood tall, regal, and powerful, and there was no denying her charismatic presence. The loyal fell to one knee, and the rest seemed to grow smaller.
“Have you agreed to ride?” Liana asked.
“Only if you will lead the charge with your daughter,” the loyal Shedim said.
Liana’s brows shot up, but she recovered quickly.
“Your daughter speaks of peace,” the loyal said. “She speaks of a world where Shedim and Draconi may coexist as equals. She speaks the words of Ivan. She speaks the words you once spoke to us. But for centuries, you have spoken only of blood and vengeance. If your heart can be altered, if you can believe once more then so can we.”
Liana exhaled sharply and turned to look at me. This was the moment she could fuck it all up for us. All she had to do was say the wrong words. Despite everything, she still had the power and she knew it, but would she be so petty?
Her gaze was speculative, and then she smiled. My heart squeezed painfully in my chest because that wasn’t the smile of a conniving, heartless bitch. It was a smile that could almost be genuine.
“Yes. My daughter has convinced me that my old vision could be reality. Her very existence is a testament to that vision, and I can’t help but have hope that together, we may be able to usher in a new era.” The smile hardened slightly, edgy and cunning, at odds with her words but much more familiar to me.
What is she playing at? Seb said in my head.
“I have carried the burden of leadership for too long,” Liana said. “It is time for my daughter to lead the charge. Time for her to take her rightful place as the heir to both thrones. And when Elora falls, when the spell is broken, then we shall have a united front under a queen who represents us all.”
Queen? Me? Panic numbed my brain as an icy prickle skated across it, but Azren and Seb took one of my hands each, channeling their strength and support through our respective connections. Not now, they said. We can hash it out later. Not now.
“So, will you join us? Will you follow your future queen?” Liana finished.
The hill was suddenly filled with a chorus of voices willing to do just that. Voices willing to follow me.
Chapter 21
The kitchen was a hive of activity when we materialized in it. Gilbert hovered by the stove, Valance and Daria sat at the table with markers and a large piece of paper, Quinn was pouring tea, and Leopold was slicing cake.
Amber looked up from her coloring book and then sighed. “I suppose you’ll want me to take this into the lounge?”
“Thank you, Amber,” Noir said.
“I can’t wait till I’m not a kid anymore,” she muttered as she skulked from the room.
A quick glance at the clock showed that it was gone seven in the evening. Had it only been seven hours since we’d left for the Triumph Games? It felt like an age, like days and days and, oh, God, I was tired, even with my mates’ power thrumming through me, even with Seb holding me up, I was weary. It was a psychic weariness, an emotional vampiric drain.
“Well?” Valance said. “How did it go?”
“We have the army,” Seb said.
Valance closed his eyes and sat back in his seat, exhaling in relief.
“What about the Others from the Petting Zoo?” Leopold asked in his smooth, dulcet tone.
“Lex thinks they won’t want to fight,” Azren said.
Leopold shook his head. “No. They just need the right brand of motivation. A reminder of who they are. More than simpering fools in cages, more than pretty skin and gentle songs.” He morphed into his hound form and bounded out of the room.
There was silence for a long beat.
“Um ...” Quinn looked from Seb to me. “I’m assuming he’s headed to speak to the Others?”
Daria laughed. “Yes, it was an abrupt exit.”
A dull throb had started at the base of my skull. Seb reached up to massage it almost absently, and beside me, Azren went very still. In fact, he’d been silent since we’d left the Undercity, not saying much at all when we’d picked up Noir. But he was about to explode with whatever he’d been holding back; it was a crackle in the air, and yes ... it was the reason for my headache.
“Just say it,” Seb snapped. “You’re hurting her.”
Azren’s eyes fixed on my face in concern and then flicked up to Seb, flashing in anger. “You shouldn’t have volunteered Wila to lead the army. She isn’t a warrior.”
Seb hadn’t been the only one to volunteer me as leader. But if it rallied the troops, then it had to be done. It sucked because my forte would have been the sneaky shit—getting into the Keep and stealing the key, that was where my strength would lie, but the guys would have to do that without me. Fuck, would I have to ride one of those Storm riders?
“It’s done now. There’s no going back.” I pressed my fingertips to my temples. Panic did a back flip and kicked me in the ribs. “How the fuck am I going to lead an army?”
“You’re not,” Seb said. “I am.” He grinned. “We are one, after all.”
“But that wasn’t the deal.”
Seb’s body shimmered and shrank and then I was staring at myself. He shrugged a slender shoulder. “Will this do?”
“You might want to work on the voice,” Quinn said.
Seb cleared his throat. “How about this?”
“Shit, he totally sounds like you,” Quinn said. He walked around Seb’s version of me. “This version is too perfect. You have this slight bump on the bridge of your nose and your left eye is slightly larger than your right, and—”
I threw up my hands. “Okay, okay. I get it. I’m not perfect.”
Quinn blinked at me. “That’s not a bad thing.”
“I think what he’s trying to say is that your imperfections are what make you beautiful,” Valance supplied with a smile. “Your quirks and the way you scrunch up your nose when you’re unsure about something, they all come together to make you entrancing.”
My cheeks heated and Daria slapped a hand on the table. “When the hell did you get all poetic, cousin?”
Valance ducked his head, his smile decidedly lopsided and sheepish. My fingers ached to touc
h that smile to remind myself of its shape against my mouth. He looked up, locking gazes with me and sending a lance of heat through me; it soothed the ache at the base of my skull, and tugged forth memories of a different time, a time when it had been just the two of us under an eternally dark sky.
In that moment, all I wanted to do was curl up with my mates, just skin on skin in a tangle of limbs and sleep, and dream of them all, of a future without uncertainty and awfully difficult tasks to be completed. In that moment, the last thing I wanted was to be a leader, a figurehead, or an inspiration. In that moment, all I wanted to be was a woman who was loved.
Seb morphed back into himself and leaned in to whisper in my ear. “In that case, you’re going to need a much bigger bed.”
Laughter bubbled up my throat and spilled from my lips. I pressed a hand to my mouth to stem it, but it leaked around my fingers and into the room. But my mirth died just as quickly as it had risen, and once again, I was left feeling drained and weary.
“You need to sleep,” Valance said. “Daria and I will finish working on the map. We’ll let you know if Taylem calls. Go rest while you can.”
“He’s right,” Noir said. “I’m going to tuck Amber into bed.”
Seb pressed a butterfly kiss to my cheek. “I’ll be drifting if you need me.”
Yes ...Yes, I needed to sleep.
I took Azren’s hand and led him from the room. We could both do with a good night’s rest. We’d fought, he’d died, I’d brought him back, and we’d recruited an army. We had a plan, we just needed to execute it, but right now, I needed to recharge.
***
I woke to the moon and the stars watching me through my window, to Azren’s soft, easy breath in my ear and his velvet, taut skin against mine. His arm was draped over my waist as he played big spoon, and heat bloomed against the small of my back where his arousal pressed against me eagerly.
He nuzzled the back of my neck, his breath warm and tantalizing as it skimmed across my skin, his tongue rough and wet as it left a trail along my spine. The world was hazy and soft with sleep, warm and lazy as he rolled me onto my back and parted my thighs with his hips, grinding against me in small, maddening circles.
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