Eric’s ship waited, and I gasped for air, finally feeling the warm suns on my face. My family climbed the ladder to the ship, and I clung to the bottom of the ladder, demanding that I be last.
I nearly screamed as a slick skin of a seal breached the water, staring me in the face.
Within seconds, the being turned into Eric, who grabbed my upper arm. “Up the ladder. Hurry.”
I nodded, hastily scrambling for the rope ladder. Eric followed behind me, stark naked. One of his crew members provided him with clothing as we reached the deck of the ship, but my natural curiosity dragged my gaze his way.
Natural curiosity… or situational awareness.
My heart clamored to a stop.
A rudimentary, black sun tattoo burst at the very base of his back.
I thought back to the night I’d shot the potential assassin, my first night in the castle. The same crude symbol that had been painted on the tattered piece of material in the insurgent’s possession sent me reaching for my gun.
As I felt for my holster, I could already tell that the Beretta was gone.
“Are you okay?” My dad held my mom. Logan stared at Eric.
Will reached for his gun… the gun I’d lost.
The gun Eric had taken from me.
“First,” Eric pointed the gun at my husband, and before I could stop him, he fired.
He fired, and I could feel the bullet tear through my husband’s skin.
Gripping my own heart, I felt to my knees.
“No… Will, no,” I reached for him as Eric’s crew surrounded us.
Will held his hand over the wound in his chest, shivering in shock. His face lifted to mine, disbelieving, as he pulled his hand away to stare at the sticky blood.
“Eva…,”
“You’re immortal, you’ll heal… it will pass,” I chanted his own comforting words, the same promise he’d given me after I feel from the balcony.
At that moment, West turned to an approaching crewman, thrusting his hand forward and crushing the man’s windpipe. Another man advanced, and my dad caught his arm, breaking it while simultaneously drawing his gun.
Logan, already aiming his pistol, shot a second crewman in the forehead.
“I’ll kill you!” I screamed, raising my hand in the air. Eric held his own hand out, and I felt his grip on my arm from across the ship deck. With his own magic, he jerked my hand behind my body, dropping me to my knees.
My mom started toward me, but other crewmen approached her with rifles, aimed to fire. Logan and my dad stopped moving as Roam shook her head pleadingly at the guards, and my dad was disarmed. Logan turned to attack, but when a rifle was pointed at Violet, he stilled.
Will raised his eyes to Eric, choking. “Why?”
Wearing only black pants, his tattoos were now clearly illuminated in the sunlight. Two suns, flames, and a melting blue-green orb.
Earth.
“You left us. In that dungeon. In that hell,” Eric hissed, pointing his gun in my mother’s direction. My father growled and started forward, but Eric drug the weapon’s aim back to me. “For all of the years Troy kept you at his side, you left me- and Meredith- locked up.”
“I could not… get you out… my father refused-…,”
“Silence.” Eric snapped, and I felt his mind’s release on my arm. The ship started forward toward the castle, and I reached for Will.
My mother shook her head, pleading. “If I’d known you were down there, I could have tried to convince Troy to-…,”
Roam’s words were swallowed as Eric approached her. Her chin quivered, but she stared him down bravely. “You were in your own hell, where you belonged, you scheming whore. Now, you’ll go back and bring us our king.”
Roam took a slow, even breath. Realization lit her watery green eyes. “You… don’t want him to rule. You want to kill him… again.”
“I want to torture him, as he tortured my family… and my love,” Eric backed away from her, and I flinched as his hand circled my upper arm in a merciless grip.
Meredith. He’s in love with Meredith.
Will’s breathing became less labored, and I knew he was healing. The strange rapture of Eric’s touch began to weaken my senses, and I managed to lift my free hand, spinning a quick circle. The effects wore off as quickly as they came, and I turned my scorching glare his way.
“If you killed my grandfather, there’s no way I can figure out how to go back into time- much less bring someone here!” I jerked away from Eric and dropped, holding Will in my arms. I tried to take his pain away, but every time I attempted a spell, I broke into tears. My eyes burning, desperate, I couldn’t think straight.
Focus!
“Lessons are best- and most quickly learned- when there is personal investment,” Eric’s voice, sinister and flat, sent a chill down the back of my spine.
He turned to Roam.
“Don’t hurt my daughter,” my mother froze, staring Eric down. “You can’t get what you want if you hurt her.”
“Agreed. These two, on the other hand- dispensable.”
He gestured to Christopher and Violet, and one of his crew members shoved them both forward. I watched my dad and Logan fight as weapons were pointed at their heads and shackles attached to their arms.
They are not immortal here.
Rage, in its purest form, sent me to my feet.
“You will not touch them,” I fired at Eric through clenched teeth. The sun burned against the back of my exposed skin, but I ignored the beads of sweat and saltwater dripping from my hair.
He smiled, turning to my mother. “Roam will choose.”
Violet and Christopher struggled against the men, and I lifted my hand, pulling from every ounce of magic I possessed. Do something! Emotions clouded my thoughts, and I choked back a sob, trying to concentrate. Think! A spell! Fire, music, anything!
“I won’t choose between our children,” Roam’s horrified gaze shifted to West’s, and he roared at the chains on his wrists.
Eric’s eyes turned a garnet yellow, and his pupils shrunk to pinpoints. I grasped for sanity, for control, unable to believe that I couldn’t use magic. What is wrong with me?
“Shall we allow our queen to choose?” He turned the gun to me, and I stumbled backward. Will tried to climb to his feet, exhaling painfully. “Your brother or your sister? Which will it be?”
The ship approached the dock, the castle ominous in the distance. “If you hurt either one of them, I will rip Meredith apart while you watch.”
“Oh, our fiery little queen… and where is your magic?” He chuckled, those demented eyes boring into me. “Feeling helpless now? Just as I took your magic away when you nearly set the castle on fire, I’ve taken it away now. You are merely a spoiled girl who’s fallen in love, ruling a kingdom that was never meant to be yours.”
“Your threats are bullshit, and I’m going to kill you. Magic or no magic,” I felt my fingernails cut the insides of my palms, knowing my nostrils were flaring.
“Allow me to teach you how to make a proper threat,” he took a step closer, and I curled my toes to hold my ground. “Show what you will do… but keep some guarantee.”
With that, he lifted my gun to Violet’s chest and fired.
The ship docked, Logan nearly broke his wrists pulling at the iron shackles, and Christopher dropped to his knees.
Violet turned to him, and then to Logan, blinking slowly. A dark, red stain grew rapidly on front of her wet tee-shirt.
She’s not immortal here.
“No!” I raised my hand in the air, panting, screaming, and the earsplitting frequency rolled through a myriad of songs.
My mother held her breath; I knew she was struggling not to pass out. My father’s blank, shocked expression was my undoing.
“Fuck the music, Eva! Unchain me!” Logan roared at me, and I began to hyperventilate, dropping my hand from the air to run to Violet.
Will, now on his feet, caught me in his arms.
I knew the moment the light went out from my beautiful sister.
Christopher reared back and smashed the heel of his hand into one crewman’s nose, and blood ruptured like a geyser from the soldier’s face. He retrieved the sword from the moaning man, turned, and I watched as he impaled the advancing soldier.
He suddenly writhed, dropping the sword as his fingers contorted at a strange angle. I turned to Eric, realizing he was using his mind to hurt my brother.
I organized my emotions, tucking away my broken heart and unleashing the wrath that was setting my insides on fire.
Pulling away from Will, I centered on Logan. The chains around his wrist clanked to the deck of the ship. I expected him to attack, but instead, he ran to Violet and dropped at her side.
“No,” he turned to me, demanding, furious, his dark brown eyes swimming with tears. “Bring her back, Eva! Bring her back!”
“I- I can’t Logan, I don’t… know how,” my words chipped away at the thinning air through my sobbing breaths.
He gathered her lifeless body into his arms. Ringlets of white-blonde hair stuck to his dampened face as his shoulders shook.
“And there we are,” Eric’s voice throttled my attention, and I turned to him, tears rolling uncontrollably down my face. “You possess a hereditary magic, to give immortality, to manipulate the elements… and to travel through time.” He aimed the gun my way. “As did your grandfather. You’ll send the bringers of the prophecy back to the beginning, and they will return with Troy. I will have my revenge.”
“And if I don’t?” I demanded, already knowing his answer.
Eric walked to Will, and I seethed, stepping between them. “I will kill each member of your family… including your husband.” He grinned, a crazy grin, the kind that told me he was too far gone to hear me reason or beg. “I will live forever, with my queen. With Meredith. You will give me your king’s immortality.”
“What? No fucking wa-…,”
I stopped as he lifted his gun to Christopher. Two of his uninjured men shoved my brother forward while Chris bucked and struggled.
“I could keep him here, and stop the second sun from burning. Or, I could end him. And end the second sun all together. Your choice now, Queen Eva.”
The barrel of the pistol dug into Chris’s temple. I turned to Will, and he reached for my hand.
“Just do it, Eva,” he held his chest, breathing slowly. “Give him what he wants. He will not be around much longer.”
Eric laughed from the center of his gut, his beady eyes sending chills through my arms and down my fingertips. “You want this?” I managed, my voice breaking.
“Don’t fucking do it, Eva!” Chris growled, fighting against his captors. I ignored Chris, my vision blurred through the non-stop violent flow of tears as my eyes kept fleeting to Violet’s body.
You will mourn.
“Yes,” Will managed. Eric slapped his hand at Will’s in a locking grip.
“And you want this?” I turned to Eric, imagining new ways that I would kill him- most of them involving dismemberment.
“Yes,” he hissed impatiently.
“It is done.”
Will, now mortal, leaned into me, and I wrapped my arm around him. Eric took a step back, his wicked smile chilling me to the core.
“Finally. Now, you’ll meet my queen.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The walk from the ship to the castle left me emotionally destroyed.
Logan carried Violet in his arms, and I silently pleaded with him, feeling so inept. I couldn’t even save my own sister… Logan will never forgive me.
Wynn… Rose… every time I stumbled, crying, Will caught me in his arms.
My parents were kept separated, as though their mere proximity posed a challenge to Eric. Christopher continued to fight at his shackles the march to the castle, poking at and instigating the guards until my father finally turned to him.
“Enough, Christopher.”
He was silent after that, but I could feel the pain radiating from his young, sweltering temper.
The people of the castle were gone; I assumed many had been imprisoned. I thought of the kingdom, the innocents, wishing I’d done more to protect them.
I knew Eric couldn’t be trusted- I felt it- why did I ignore it?
As we entered the hall, my eyes found Meredith immediately. Long, black hair framing sallow skin should have made her oval face ugly, but something about her seemed haunted rather than sickened. The woman sitting on my throne refused to watch anyone else as we entered the great hall, keeping her shadowed, crazy eyes focused on me. Their depths of insanity sent terrible waves of nausea rolling through my stomach.
Will’s voice at my side gave me a pinch of confidence. “Meredith. You do not wish this for me,” he reasoned in a familiar way. “This is Eric’s doing.”
“Remove the dead woman’s body from my presence,” she spoke, monotone.
Logan carried Violet in his arms, giving a murderous look to the approaching guards. “Don’t fucking touch her,” he growled.
“She will be treated with respect.” Meredith’s long, raven hair was parted down the middle, disappearing into the folds of her black gown. She raised her hand toward Logan. “Uncle. Your time to grieve will come. Now, you have a task to complete.”
“Where is Asher?” My father demanded, stepping forward before Logan could speak.
“Ah, West. So this is the enemy of my father.” She traced the length of her hair as a guard tried to take Violet from Logan’s arms. Meredith noticed the struggle, turning to my mother. “Roam. You will take her body. Go with my guard.”
Logan seethed. “I’m not leaving her-…,”
Meredith’s voice oozed with a thick, morose cry. The sound was something out of a facility lined with padded walls. “Logan, your wife has already left. This is her shell. Your journey with your love has ended, and you will accept this in time. I’ll allow Roam to prepare her for the pyre; my condolences for your suffering.”
My mother, brushing at her tears, focused on Violet’s body. Finally, she walked to Logan
Reaching for him, touching his face with her hand, she whispered something that made him crumble into tears. I had never seen Logan cry in my entire life, and my chest caved inward with horrible pain. He closed his eyes tightly, gripping my mom’s hands, choking as she brushed his tears away with her thumb.
The guard gently gathered Violet’s limp body.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry,” she whispered to Logan, again and again.
He pressed his forehead into hers, cringing, fighting. “Take care of her, Cam,” he begged, and my mother nodded, her shoulders shaking with the force of her tears.
My strength, usually unaffected, wavered. I turned and gagged, shoving my fist over my mouth to keep from throwing up on the stone floor.
Meredith’s head snapped to my direction. “This? This is the prevailing queen that I am to fear? This frightened child?”
“You have killed her sister,” Will defended, and I noticed the first trace of illicit fury in his voice. “You threaten her family. For what? Revenge on our father?”
She gave a distant smile, sitting back against the throne. “The torture that I have planned for our father… is vast. Choreographed. I will destroy him slowly, over years, as he did to me.”
My father glared at her. “He has hurt everyone in this room. He has killed my wife and child for centuries. Now, he continues to murder and destroy through you. You’ve become exactly what he was. Was that your intention, Meredith?”
She listened to my father dispassionately before slowly rising to her feet. Eric scoffed next to Christopher, shaking his head.
“West,” she circled him slowly, calculating, like a hungry cat. I tensed, taking deep breath and pulling from the very back of my mind before raising my hand over my head.
As she reached to drag her long fingernail along his face, I erected the same electric fence between them that I had used to prote
ct Will from my father’s fist. She screamed and pulled away, holding her hand in pain.
Inevitably, music accompanied my emotional attempt to protect my dad, and the penetrating beat of Black Sabbath’s Electric Funeral thundered through the castle.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?” I sneered, wrenching from Will’s grasp and stalking to Meredith. Finally, with the support of the stabbing bass, I stepped between her and my dad. “Hurts a little less than your sick, twisted fuck of a father. You want me to send them back to get him? Fine. When he comes through, I’ll end you, and him, and your fucking fish-man, and then when you’re dying in a flaming pile of bitch at my feet, I’ll laugh in your fucking melted face.”
She had at least six inches on me in height. As her eyes widened to maniacal orbs, I remained in complete control, finally feeling superior to this threatening woman.
“Oh, and I’m going to help her do all that,” Christopher added, spitting in Meredith’s general direction.
Instead of attacking me (which I silently begged for) - she turned her eyes on Will.
I closed my fist, cutting the music. When I tried to lift my arm, Eric’s magic twisted my arms behind my back.
Meredith’s hand whipped my face to the side too quickly; and explosion of pain burst in my nose and eye, and if it wasn’t for Eric’s invisible grip, I would have fallen to my knees.
“Your wife is a little cunt.” Meredith spat, glaring at Will. “And I am going to punish her.”
“You will die trying,” Will responded softly, with a slight shake of his head. He pulled against his chains, but I held my hand up, wiping at the blood on my lip. “Eric cannot keep his hold on Eva and defend himself at the same time. I have already seen this.”
“Eric has no need to defend himself.” Meredith gestured to me, turning to Eric. Eric approached, and only then did it occur to me that the guards working with him were once the guards who swore to protect and serve me.
“Traitors,” I sneered as they grabbed Will.
I stood, alone, in the center of the hall; each one of my family members were chained and held at gunpoint.
Rule (Roam Series, Book Five) Page 21