Ravages

by Kit Bladegrave

  I swallowed hard at the sudden lump in my throat. “How do you know for sure?”

  Forrest grinned as he tapped the side of his head. “How do you think?”

  “So what, I’m supposed to just walk up to her and… and do what?”

  “Let’s be honest, Craig, neither one of us knows how this is going to turn out. Or if we’re going to live, so do yourself a favor and just tell her the truth, alright?”

  I nodded slowly as he finally let me go and I stood.

  “The truth, right, because that’s not hard at all.”

  He smirked into his cup, but I only had eyes for one person as she danced and laughed.

  I made my way to the edge of the table and caught her gaze as she spun around and around until she was laughing so hard she was crying.

  She grasped the hands of a few of the ladies nearby before she hurried toward me, staggering right into my arms like she belonged there.

  “Hey,” she said and sighed, resting against my side. “You didn’t want to dance?”

  “Not much of a dancer.”

  “Right, you’re too much of my burly protector,” she said and nudged me with her elbow.

  Suddenly I wasn’t so sure if Forrest was right about what he said he felt from her. “Something like that. Your protector, and Forrest’s, I guess.”

  “Does that mean you can’t have fun for at least one night?”

  “I did have fun. I’m fine, really.”

  “Don’t look like you’re having fun. What’s with the face?”

  Suddenly, her cheery mood after knowing she’d been so depressed for so long ate at me, and a weird bit of annoyance fluttered up.

  I ground my teeth and shook my head, backing away. “Nothing, it’s nothing. I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  I stalked out of the hall, away from the laughter and music, and headed upstairs. I passed Tristan on the way giving me a curious look, but he didn’t stop me. That was good.

  All I wanted was to get some rest and try to understand what was happening inside my head. Did she really think that I would be able to let everything go that happened the past few weeks? The worry she made me suffer through? But I was just her protector so what did it matter what I felt?

  Suddenly, I knew exactly how Broden must have felt while he watched over Celandine and Malcolm, the two destined to be wed. I wondered if he loved her even then, before she had no choice, but to turn to him.

  “Maybe he was right all along,” I muttered to myself as I reached my room and kicked out of my boots, chucking them across the room. “She doesn’t want to be with me.” I yanked my shirt over my head and balled it up angrily before throwing it, too.

  I washed my face off with the chilly water in the basin and wiped it on a towel when I heard my door open.

  “Just let it go, man, not in the mood to talk about it more.”

  But Forrest didn’t say anything, and I growled in warning.

  “Come on, I just want to sleep, alright? You were right after all—Kate?”

  She leaned against the wall just inside the door as she closed it. The click echoed loudly in my room as she tilted her head, studying me.

  “What was he right about?”

  I tossed the towel back on the cabinet top and shrugged. “Nothing.”

  “About how you feel for me?” she pushed on anyway, and I froze, “Or how I feel for you?”

  “Nothing, it doesn’t matter. I know how this is going to turn out.”

  I turned my back on her, hoping she’d leave, but I heard her bare feet pad toward me. I shut my eyes, my hands clenching into fists at my sides as I struggled to push my feelings for her down.

  But then she wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her cheek between my shoulder blades, and there was no holding anything back now.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered roughly.

  “The day you yelled at me, you were right, about everything,” she said and brushed a gentle kiss against my spine that made me suck in a breath. “And I’m sorry for putting you both through all of that worry, but I’m especially sorry to you.”

  I turned in her arms and mine went around her, too. “What for? You were going through hell, and I pushed you too hard.”

  “Not hard enough.”

  She stared intently into my eyes, and all I could do was stare back as the truth came to life in that one look.

  “Craig… I will always love Forrest as a dear friend, but… I love you, and I should’ve told you before I left to go off on my own, but I was scared. I didn’t know how you felt and if I’d died… I didn’t want you to be stuck with a broken heart because of me, and now I don’t know what’s going to—”

  I leaned down and kissed her, cutting off her rambling.

  She sank into my chest, and I held her close, thankful that she was still alive for me to hold in the first place.

  I lifted her off her feet, kissing her the whole time and telling her without words I felt exactly the same. Being with her was just right, and after so many years of feeling lost and alone, I knew with Kate, I would never feel like that again.

  “I’m going to guess you love me, too,” she said with a laugh when we came up for air.

  “How could you tell?” I replied softly. “Please for the love of the gods, do not scare me like that ever again, understand? I don’t think I can live without you in my life to drive me crazy.”

  “I’ll do my best, but we both know the future’s kind of bleak right now.”

  “For now,” I agreed. “But I am not about to give up the fight.”

  “Ditto,” she said and stood on her toes to kiss me again, pulling me into a tight embrace. “And I’ll never doubt us again, swear it.”

  I kissed the top of her head, never wanting to let her go. “Good, but you know, if you run, I’ll always find my way back to you.”

  She tilted her head back to stare up at me and grinned.

  “Always, Kate. And forever.”

  There was no need for words anymore.

  She grinned in my arms as we kissed again, the light of the moon flowing gently over us as her runes chased away the shadows in my room.

  19

  Craig

  “Demon King,” she murmured, lying beside me in bed. “I still can’t believe it. Both of you are kings now.”

  I shrugged and pulled her closer.

  We’d been talking for most of the night, lying in bed and just holding each other close.

  I caught her up on everything that happened after she left, anything I hadn’t told her yet, and she had slowly started opening up about what went on inside her mind while the plague had her in its grasp.

  I’d tried not to get angry, but she’d been dragged down so far and nearly lost herself completely because of that bastard. The second I found Cassius, I was going to rip him apart with my bare hands.

  “Yeah, it’s odd,” I replied.

  “Odd? You’re the new demon king, and all you can say is it’s odd?” she teased.

  “When you grow up thinking your entire clan hates you and then suddenly you’re the king? And they actually like you being king, and listen to you? Yes, it’s very odd,” I muttered, covering my face with a hand. “I have bodyguards.”

  “Now you know how it feels.”

  I gave her a sideways glance. “I don’t follow you everywhere you go,” I tried to argue, and her right brow arched. “Alright, but I’m not hovering over your shoulder, or giving you lectures on what not to do…” I trailed off when her other brow joined the first. “What?”

  “Nothing, nothing at all except you just described how you’ve been since you found out about our past lives,” she said with a shrug, “but please, continue to complain to me what it’s like to have an overbearing bodyguard.”

  I grunted and reached for her with a smirk. “Are you complaining about how I watch out for you?”

  “No… what are you doing!” She burst out laughing as I tickled her sides
and she tried to catch my hands, but failed.

  We cackled, holding each other close before our laughter subsided and dissolved into more kisses that left us both breathless.

  She smiled at me and snuggled even closer as our laughter filled the room and the moon moved across the night sky.

  I woke up confused as sunlight landed across my face. When I managed to open my eyes, I grinned at Kate sleeping soundly next to me and kissed her cheek.

  She smiled in her sleep and rolled over, pulling the covers up over her head.

  I got out of bed and stretched and yawned. After so many weeks of running on no sleep, I felt fully recharged and ready to take on whatever came at us next.

  The floor was cold beneath my feet, so I moved to the hearth to start a small fire so Kate wouldn’t be too cold when she finally woke up.

  I had just sparked the first flame and shifted the logs around when the room spun around me.

  I cursed, throwing my arms out to stop myself from face planting into the fire and hit the floor hard on my side.

  “Craig?” Kate murmured behind me, and I heard her jump out of bed.

  “I’m fine,” I replied. “Just dizzy.”

  I shook my head to try and clear away the sudden fog, but it only got worse. I opened my eyes wide trying to see, but then everything disappeared from my sight, and I was falling.

  I felt Kate’s hands on my shoulders, heard her calling out to be, but then there was nothing but darkness and dead silence around me.

  I spread my arms out wide, trying to feel for something, anything, but all my hands met was air.

  “Kate!” I bellowed, and my voice bounced right back at me, louder, and I winced. “What the hell is this?”

  For a second, I thought somehow Cassius had gotten inside my mind and was trying to turn me, but then my body was thrown forward, and I landed in a heap on the ground.

  It trembled beneath me and the sounds of battle surrounded me.

  I tasted blood in my mouth and felt a sword held tightly in both hands. Smoke burned my eyes as I sat up, pain ricocheting through my body. Clashing of swords was close by, and suddenly, a hand yanked me to my feet.

  “Can you hear me?” Forrest yelled to be heard over the surrounding din. “Craig!”

  “Yeah,” I yelled back, and couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

  He was drenched in blood and covered in mud, but it was the field we stood on that I didn’t want to believe was real.

  Broken catapults rested on the ground behind him, and the dead were everywhere, plagued and some of every race alike.

  Fire spread through the dry grass, and as I spun around, muttering, “No,” under my breath the whole time, I saw the shifter castle caved in on one side. The wall had been utterly destroyed, and it too was burning.

  Black smoke billowed out of the rubble as plagued swarmed everywhere.

  “What… what’s happening?” I demanded.

  “Cassius, he attacked with his full force,” Forrest said, but it was all I heard before a plagued beast, with dripping fangs and black matted fur slammed into us both, sending us rolling across the field.

  I rushed to get back on my feet as it barreled straight toward me. Instinct kicked in, and I attacked with both swords, bringing it down in seconds when an explosion rocked the field, and I barely managed to stay upright.

  I searched for the source of it and spied a brilliant blue dragon soaring overhead, chasing a dark, shadowy shape.

  “Kate,” I whispered.

  Electric blue flames shot from her mouth, but the other dragon dodged the attack and whipped his tail around, catching her in the face.

  They grappled in mid-air, and I sprinted toward them as she let out a roar of pain, crashing to the ground.

  Forrest was close behind me as the other dragon landed and attacked her again.

  I yelled, ready to dive in, when light burst out of Kate and threw the other dragon across the field.

  Shadows erupted where he’d landed and when they cleared, Cassius stood there instead. He was bleeding from a few wounds on his face and arms, but when I drew nearer, it was Kate’s injuries that made my gut clench in fear.

  Kate held the shield in her left hand, but her right was wrapped around her ribs as blood oozed between her fingers. Her face was beaten and bruised, and she was covered in slashes. Her gaze shifted to mine and the look of defeat hit me hard.

  “No,” I whispered, sprinting toward her.

  This wasn’t real, it couldn’t be real!

  But Cassius was bellowing as he charged toward her, sword in hand alight with black flames.

  She raised her shield to defend against the attack, but was so weak already, and the hit forced her back a few steps.

  I was so close when more plagued swarmed around me and Forrest, stopping us from getting to her.

  I barely managed to keep sight of them as they fought while I tried to shove my way through the plagued surrounding us.

  Kate lost ground quickly, and when Cassius slashed his sword toward her again, I felt the air leave my lungs, and my heart shattered.

  “No… no!”

  Her mouth gaped open in shock as she stared down at her chest. The shield meant to save her was broken in two, the second half lying on the ground at her feet.

  Blood gushed from the wound, and she sank to her knees as Cassius bore down on her.

  I slashed and stabbed at plagued as Forrest cursed behind me.

  We had to get to her! Had to save her! But then his arm pulled back, and he plunged the sword straight through her chest.

  She toppled over, and he yanked it free.

  I willed for her to get up, to keep fighting, but she didn’t move again.

  “Kate!” I bellowed and managed to break free of the plagued, charging in a blind fury right for Cassius.

  I was going to tear him apart, destroy him, when something slammed into my chest and I staggered to a stop.

  My swords fell from my suddenly numb hands, and I glanced down, tasting more blood in my mouth. His blade protruded from my chest. I grimaced, falling to my knees and struggling to breathe.

  Forrest rushed passed me, and I saw him go for Cassius, but the bastard was glowing now, covered in red runes, mimicking those on Kate’s body.

  He easily grabbed Forrest’s neck with one hand and lifted him off his feet. With his gaze locked onto mine, he squeezed, and I heard bones snap as Forrest’s body went limp in his arms.

  I wanted to scream at him, to get up and avenge them both, but I couldn’t move.

  My breaths were ragged and hollow sounding.

  The last thing I saw before my eyes closed was Cassius stalking toward me, whistling as he tossed Forrest’s body aside like trash. He crouched in front of me, smirking as he grabbed the hilt of his sword.

  “Accept your defeat,” he whispered. “That’s all you’ll ever know. Failure and defeat.”

  He tore the sword in my chest, and everything went dark.

  I was falling again, down and down into nothingness. Part of me wondered if I would see Kate and Forrest whenever I got to where I was going.

  But the second I hit something hard again, I knew this was wrong.

  I tasted blood in my mouth, felt the swords in my hands, and my eyes shot open to see the fighting happening all around me, again.

  Forrest was there, and I gulped as I realized what was about to happen.

  I was going to have to watch us all die, again, and again… and again.

  20

  Forrest

  Even before I heard Kate yell for help, I knew something was wrong with Craig.

  I felt his anger and fear slam me back into my bed as I tried to get up.

  After taking a few deep breaths, I managed to drag myself up, and rushed down the hall to his room. “Craig!”

  I threw the door open, and Kate was on the floor, Craig’s head in her lap, as she shook his shoulders. “He won’t wake up!” she told me, holding back tears. “I don’t know
what happened. He was just starting a fire, and then he just keeled over! What’s happening to him?”

  “Whatever’s happening, he’s in pain,” I grunted as another wave of anger struck me.

  Together, we got him up onto the bed as Lucy and Luca appeared in the doorway. They rushed in to help, Lucy laying her head on Craig’s forehead. She closed her eyes, whispering something under her breath when I gasped for air and fell back against the wall clutching my chest.

  “Forrest?” Kate rushed to me, holding me up as I struggled to breathe. “What? What’s wrong?”

  Words wouldn’t come, and all I could do was try to breathe through the immense pain that made me feel like I’d been stabbed through the chest.

  “Vision,” I murmured. “I think he’s having a vision.”

  “Then why won’t he open his eyes?” Kate asked.

  “I don’t know… but whatever he’s seeing, it’s not good.”

  I needed to break into his mind and see if I could pull him out somehow. Whatever Craig saw was worse, far worse than anything we’d seen yet on this journey.

  He growled fiercely on the bed, and we all watched, hoping he’d open his eyes. They remained firmly shut, and Kate squeezed his hand, begging for him to wake up.

  He shifted, and I thought he was coming to, but then he thrashed and bellowed in pain. It took all of us to hold him down and stop him from hurting himself.

  “Ropes!” I yelled to whoever else was at the door. “We need rope!”

  Kate and I pinned his shoulders while Luca and Lucy grabbed hold of his legs, but whatever had hold of him made him lash out, and he was damn stronger than before.

  He nearly threw us all to the floor before Tristan and Greyson rushed in carrying chains.

  “Thought this might work better,” Tristan explained at my curious look.

  As gently as we could, we chained Craig down as he continued to strain and snarl as if he’d gone completely mad.

  “What do we do?” Kate whispered. “Forrest?”