Reign (Last Princess Book 3)

by A. M. Hardin

  "Part of it. I also just don't like blushing. So stop making me do it," I order.

  He grins. "We'll see."

  Dick.

  Wanting to wipe that smirk off his face, I pull his mouth onto mine, kissing him hard.

  * * *

  Andrei

  I look to the side, watching as Xander and two other men approach me.

  "You're sure this is supposed to happen tonight?" Xander asks. "We've been here for several hours now and there's been nothing. It's almost dawn."

  "That's what Ralnor said," I answer slowly.

  "And there's no chance that he'd lie?" Xander's tone is gentle as he asks the question.

  I shake my head. "No. He is extremely loyal to the Tira Kingdom. He won't do anything to put it in danger. His family is still here."

  "If you say so," Xander says carefully.

  "Maybe it'll still happen. They could just be waiting for us to lower our guard," one of the men, Connak, suggests.

  "That's entirely possible," Xander concedes. "We'll just have to stay vigilant then," he says with a shrug. "There's really nothing else for us to do right now. We've gotten the villages cleared. I don't think that the Ikishri will send large amounts of troops to each village so what I brought might end up being too much, now that I think about it."

  "You also brought so many to help corral stragglers," I point out.

  "That is true," Xander says. "I've been thinking," he speaks slowly, hesitating. "Maybe we should send some of the men back to Cherish."

  I narrow my eyes at him. "You know she'll kick your ass for even thinking that, don't you?"

  Xander groans. "I know."

  "She'd kick his ass for sending men back?" Connak asks, sounding confused. "Why? And I know that you guys found her and brought her here and everything. You're also her personal guards, but why wouldn't she give the same punishment that she'd give to anyone for ignoring her orders?"

  I chuckle with Xander as we exchange looks. He shakes his head. "You can explain it," he shoots at me as he turns and walks away.

  Rolling my eyes I look back at Connak. "To answer your question Connak, the Queen is actually in a relationship with Xander, Kade, and myself." Connak and the soldier beside him, Haryk, gape at me. Without giving them a chance to really react to my news I add, "She also isn't like other Kings and Queens. If she knows that you did what you thought was best, she wouldn't punish you unless your actions caused harm to any innocents. She also wouldn't punish someone for protecting someone."

  I pause and let that sink in. "One thing about Cherish is that she's as fiercely protective of us as we are of her. Even though we really don't need it. She would kick Xander's ass because it would leave him and me with less back up. Therefore, leaving us in more danger as he tries to make sure she is safe."

  Haryk frowns. "But, why would she be pissed that he wants her to be safe? Females make no sense to me," he mutters the last, making me laugh.

  "Because she doesn't want her safety to come before his own, even though hypocritically, she'd do the same thing for either of us." I shrug. "I don't really understand the way her brain works because she was raised as a human. That automatically makes her difficult for any of us to understand."

  "That makes sense," Connak muses. "Is it common on Earth for a female to have multiple partners?" he asks the question so casually, that I almost miss the slight judgmental tone to his voice.

  "From what I've seen, no, it's not," I admit, peeking at Connak beside me. "Why?"

  "It's just something we've never really seen around here. I was wondering if it was more normal in the human world."

  "Mhm," I mumble, not believing for a second that was really why he asked.

  A flash of light in peripheral is my only warning before we are thrown back into the house behind us, pain immediately hitting me like a tidal wave.

  Fuck.

  The building's ceiling creaks above us before rapidly falling apart directly on top of us. I quickly bring my hands over my head as I create a shield, protecting myself from the worst of the debris.

  Once the ceiling stops falling around us, I call out, "Connak? Haryk? You guys alright?"

  "Fine," Connak coughs.

  Haryk doesn't give us an answer and unease slithers down my spine. "Haryk!" I snap. "Answer me."

  Nothing except the sounds of boards shuffling around. "Found him," Connak announces. He's silent for a heartbeat. "He's dead."

  I groan as I focus my shield outward, pushing the debris off of me. Must have hit my head harder than I thought I did when we first struck the house.

  The sounds of battle are all around us by the time Connak and I pull ourselves out of the wreckage of the house.

  "That hurt," grunts Connak as he cracks his neck.

  "Tell me about it," I mutter. I pull my sword out of the sheath and glance over at him. "You ready to have some fun?"

  Connak grins, looking feral. "Hell yeah."

  Chapter 10

  Cherish

  Running footsteps and shouts in the hallway pull me out of a deep sleep. Kade's hand caresses my arm as he gently untangles his limbs from mine. He presses a firm but quick kiss to my forehead as someone starts pounding on the bedroom door.

  "Your Majesty, we need to get you to safety! Now!"

  I sit up immediately, the foggy feeling of waking up leaving me in a rush as I meet Kade's eyes while he quickly gets pants on, tossing a robe my way and making sure I have it on and shut before opening the door.

  "What's happening?" Kade demands.

  "Ikishri. They're here."

  I grind my teeth as I rush to my dresser and pull out a pair of jeans and a shirt, making sure I'm not flashing anyone as I change beneath my robe before dropping it to the floor. I toss Kade his shirt and he slips it on quickly, placing his hand on the small of my back, leading me out of my bedroom behind the guard.

  "Where are we going?" I ask quietly.

  "What is technically termed as a panic room in the human world," the guard explains. "The King used to call it his thinking room."

  "Thinking room?" I purse my lips. "Why?"

  "It's where he strategized all of his war plans before bringing them to his counsel. He would just have himself locked in there while he was plotting. Or if there was an immediate threat," Kade explains. "Although your father did sometimes fight with us, a majority of the time he preferred not to. When he was young he'd do it often, but the amount of fighting he did dwindled as he aged."

  The guard leads us to my father's office and once we're inside he quickly closes the door behind us before turning to the side wall and fidgeting with the paintings and bookcase that are on the wall. While he searches for the room I look up at Kade and frown.

  "How old was my dad?"

  Kade hums as he thinks about it. "He was about eight hundred and ninety three if I remember correctly."

  The guard grunts as a whirring sound fills the room. "Yeah, you're right, Kade. The room is open," he announces as he turns back to us. "I really need to get back out there to help."

  I nod in agreement. "Alright. Thank you for coming to get us."

  The guard gives me a funny look before bowing low. "It's my job, Majesty. Stay safe." With that, the guard leaves my dad's office barely cracking the door enough for him to slip out.

  To stop anyone from seeing the secret room, if I had to guess.

  Kade gives my back a gentle shove towards the room and shuts us inside. Once I actually look around the room, my mouth drops to the floor. What the hell?

  "I didn't think there was really any electricity here," I mutter to myself.

  Kade chuckles darkly. "There is, there just isn't a lot of it and it's usually only used for surveillance."

  I nod, mouth still gaping. "I'll fucking say." One wall is completely covered in monitors showing several different areas of the castle and the village around it. I move closer to examine the monitors, watching the fighting happening on each screen. "Why are we in here? We should
be out there, fighting and helping."

  "Mia," Kade murmurs as he wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close into his side. "We are in here because the Ikishri are here for you. Ma hai, they can't get you, the Kingdom wouldn't survive it," he pulls back, making me look up at him as his hand cups my cheek. "We wouldn't survive it," he corrects. "Me, Xander, and Andrei need you to be okay. We need you to be safe. Just because you have the abilities you do doesn't mean that we won't be worrying about you."

  "I never said you couldn't worry about me," I say honestly. "But I don't know that I can sit in this room, comfy and safe while there are people out there fighting for their lives. Fighting to protect me. You guys taught me how to fight and how to defend myself. We really should be out there. Helping them." Kade's mouth curves into a soft smile and I frown. "What? Why are you smiling right now?"

  His smile turns into a grin. "I'm just proud of you. You've come a long way since your birthday."

  My cheeks burn and I grumble under my breath, making him chuckle.

  Something on one of the screens catches my attention, a growl trickling out of my mouth as I point, showing Kade what I'm seeing. "What the fuck are they doing here?! They were supposed to be at the villages!"

  Kade watches as Xander and Andrei fight alongside each other, going through enemies quickly as they work as a team, unlike the Ikishri. They don't work as a team. Almost as if they have the 'every man for himself' mentality. Or elf, as it is.

  "They probably came back when they finished things at the villages and heard what was going on here," Kade says, tone soothing.

  I study my guys on camera again and feel my frown deepen. “They look exhausted as hell. Do we know if there was an attack on those villages? Or if it was just a distraction?”

  Kade moves some papers off the table in front of us and taps a few buttons on the keyboard that was hidden beneath the papers. The screen in front of his face changes from surveillance to a message board looking page. Instead of asking what the hell he’s doing, I stay quiet beside him, letting him work as I keep my eyes on Xander and Andrei. Not willing to let them out of my sights while I can see them.

  “It looks like those villages were attacked but our people managed to get rid of them easily enough. It may be why it looks like nearly all of the men that Xander left with have returned.”

  “Nearly?” I ask, feeling queasy.

  “As long as there is war, there will always be casualties, Cherish,” Kade explains softly.

  I shoot him a look. “I’m well aware of that,” I grind out. “Can we please go to the others? I can’t stand in here and watch this anymore. Not while everyone out there is risking everything.”

  Kade straightens and studies me closely. “Are you sure you can handle this?”

  “Yeah, I can. I have three totally kickass teachers.” His lips curve slightly on one side.

  “On one condition,” he starts, “you need to stick by me or one of the guys at all times. You don’t take off on your own.”

  “I can do that,” I easily agree.

  * * *

  My mouth drops open as I see the bodies strewn across the floor outside my dad’s office. I didn’t see that when I was in that panic room. Then again, it’s hard for me to tell which hallways are which. I still haven’t done a whole lot of exploring.

  “Jesus,” I mutter as Kade leads me down the hallways. I’m assuming toward the direction where Kade and Xander are.

  We turn three hallways without running into any trouble besides the bodies littering the floors of each hallway. On the fourth turn we run into a few of my castle guards fighting with Ikishri that had apparently snuck past the others. The only problem is that my guards are losing. Badly. There’s three Ikishri for every one of my guards in this cramped space if I’m counting heads right.

  Without waiting for instruction from Kade, I reach inside me for my magic and let it loose. Without warning, vines burst out of the ceiling, floors, and walls, grabbing hold of each of the Ikishri soldiers and holding them in place. The vines even started strangling a few of them. I wince at that, but it’s my people or the ones who mean my people harm. It’s not all that hard of a decision.

  A few of our soldiers stand there for a heartbeat as they process what just happened before snapping out of it and killing the remaining Ikishri soldiers.

  “Thanks,” one of our soldier’s says, nodding his head to Kade. Probably assuming Kade was the one who helped.

  Kade smirks. “That wasn’t me.” His eyes flick to me. “You couldn’t let me have just one?”

  I shrug. “We need to get to Andrei and Xander. Didn’t feel like fucking around,” I admit a little sheepishly.

  Our guards gape at me before shaking themselves out of it and Kade grabs my hand. “Right. Let’s go get them, shall we?”

  As we run down our next hallway – empty of live bodies but full of dead ones – I look up at Kade and ask, “How far away are we?”

  “Two or three more turns, I think. Assuming they haven’t gone down a different hallway.”

  Two turns later we come to a halt as I narrowly miss getting stabbed by a sword. Kade growls low in his throat and quickly disposes of the male that almost stabbed me before moving on to the next.

  Adrenaline courses through me as I pick up the fallen soldier’s sword, thankful it’s not heavy enough to throw me off balance and join the fight. Slashing, cutting, blood spraying – both mine and theirs – stabbing several of the sorry sacks of shit for having the balls to come after me.

  Pain lances through me as the soldier I’m fighting slices his sword against my wrists, forcing me to drop my weapon.

  Fuck!

  “Cherish!” Kade shouts as he tries to fight off four Ikishri soldiers who seem to be doing their best to stop him from getting to me.

  My heart races as I step away from the depraved elf in front of me who is grinning wickedly, a sick gleam in his eyes. God. This guy is enjoying this. What the fuck?

  I do a quick glance around and notice that all of my guards are busy fighting their own enemies, though Kade is the only one with more than two against him, they don’t seem like they’ll be able to get to me in time either.

  I close my eyes, lifting my arms above my head as a shield when the soldier lifts his sword to take a swing at me. A heartbeat later, I hear a loud pop.

  My heart stops. The last time I heard that sound...

  Oh god.

  I open my eyes, lowering my arms as I stare at the ashy statue of the soldier in front of me. I watch all the ashes fall to the ground, vaguely aware that every Ikishri soldier in this hall is doing the same.

  I look up and meet Kade’s relieved gaze.

  “Thank fucking hell that doesn’t only work when you’re pissed,” Kade expresses, relief as much in his voice as on his face while he moves to me. He quickly pulls me into his arms kissing me hard. “Next to me,” he growls against my mouth. “Do not move from my side until this shit is done. I cannot handle another scare like that, mia.”

  I might have bristled at the order and anger in his voice if I couldn’t also hear the shake from his fear. His fear for me. That I might be hurt. “I’m okay,” I whisper, giving him a squeeze before backing away.

  “We should be right around the corner from Xander and Andrei,” Kade announces as he takes my hand again, leading me and the other guards down the hall. The second we turn the corner I watch as Andrei’s impaled by one of the Ikishri’s swords from a strike from behind.

  Chapter 11

  Cherish

  My heart aches and my stomach drops as I watch Andrei fall to his knees. A horrible, gut-wrenching cry escapes my mouth as I break free of Kade’s grip and run straight through the fighting to Andrei’s side.

  I wrap myself around Andrei as I glare up at the man who stabbed him. His eyes have that same sickening gleam as the other soldier. God, were all Ikishri this corrupt and horrid?

  “You can burn in hell,” I growl at him, tears falling d
own my cheeks, a split second before I let my power lash out at him and he starts burning from the inside out. A painful and gruesome death. Definitely one he deserves. I don’t take my eyes off him until he is on the ground, screaming as his skin and clothing catch on fire. I turn my full attention to the man in my arms, completely ignoring the burning man beside me. “Andrei?” I ask uncertainly.

  “Cherish,” Andrei gasps out, “wh-what are you doing here?”

  “I wasn’t going to leave you guys to fight alone,” I snap as I cup his face in my hands. “You should know that by now, damn it.”

  He smiles weakly at me as his hand lifts up, brushing a strand of hair off my cheek as we ignore the sounds of the battle around us, even though I’m acutely aware of my other guys fighting and standing guard near us, ensuring no one can bother the two of us. “Baby,” he whispers. “You should have stayed where it was safe.”

  “I’m safest with the three of you,” I state firmly. “You know it as well as I do.”

  Andrei’s eyes droop shut as he leans to the side. My stomach knots as I move around him and adjust myself so that he can lay his head in my lap. I brush the strands of black hair out of his eyes. They flutter open showing me his dazed and beautiful chocolate gaze.

  “Stay with me,” I beg softly, my heart aching as tears continue falling. “Please, don’t leave me.”

  “I love you and I’ll never leave you, Baby. You know that,” he assures me in a slightly slurred voice as his eyes fall closed again.

  Panic grips me and I pat his cheek. “Eyes on me.” Nothing. I pat his cheek a little harder. “Andrei, look at me!”

  I sob as his eyelids open halfway but he doesn’t even look like he’s all there. His eyes flow shut again, this time no amount of begging or patting his face to get his attention works. I pull him to me, feeling his heartbeat slow as I sob into his chest, begging him to come back to me.

  No. I can’t live without any of them. They all have to be safe and with me and... here. Andrei can’t die. He can’t leave me.

  Please, please don’t leave me.