She listened, her chin quivering, the green paint on her face blending into her watery, jade gaze. “I… didn’t know…,”
“Don’t go near the stairwell,” I repeated.
“I got this, Mom,” Christopher appeared from the hall with Cole, and both of them were dressed like something straight out of Modern Warfare. “Logan,” he threw his hand in my direction, and the cumbersome guard uniform that I wore was replaced by the Marine camo that I was used to. “Weapons- what do you need?”
“A fucking RPG.” I ordered, glancing back at Roam. “Just go to the sword room, Cam, please. Your baby,” I reminded her, gesturing to her stomach and hoping she’d think about her own unborn child.
She covered her abdomen, finally nodding and turning for the room. “I will. I’ll help Violet. Don’t die,” she begged before turning and running for the corridor.
The music had been replaced by screaming and gunshots for long minutes, and I flinched as Aerosmith’s Back in the Saddle began. Christopher grinned, shoving a magazine into his rifle.
“Sounds like my sister has the hall covered.”
I weighed the RPG in my hands, raising my eyebrows. “Don’t die,” I repeated Roam’s words, turning for the massacre in the hall.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Eva
“Where did he go?” I swirled my hand over my head, changing quickly from the costume into jeans, my vintage Foo Fighters tee, and my favorite boots. Gasping, I caught the arm of a soldier who jumped me from behind, flipping him over my shoulder to the ground before stomping on and twisting his neck.
Will turned the rifle in his hands toward an approaching soldier, taking him out with one clean shot in the forehead. “There is a passageway through his office to the east corridor!”
Aerosmith’s Back in the Saddle blared through the hall on my command. I held my hands out, spinning at the four approaching soldiers, watching them all go up into flames. I fought two more off of me with a powerful kick and an elbow to the throat.
“Eva, behind you,” Will shouted, and before the bullet expelled from the guard’s rifle, my father had him disarmed and on the ground, shooting him twice in the head. “West, where is Troy?”
He pointed at the doorway. “I’m going after Roam. Troy opened the cells. Eric will be coming for you,” he shouted, and I ducked as Will pulled a knife from his belt and hurled it over my head. The blade’s target was a beast of a man, and he fell face-first to the ground, driving the knife even further between his eyes.
“Go through his office, it will take you to the hall, there’s a passageway behind the door,” Will yelled over Steven Tyler’s screeching lyrics.
I had no time to say goodbye to my dad. In a quaking explosion, the entire front wall of the hall was brought to rubble, and Christopher and Logan faced the atrium with an RPG.
I watched as a horned, beastly giant with the face of Satan picked up a soldier and tore him limb from limb.
“Berserker,” Will grabbed me, throwing me down to the ground as I heard the rocket motor of the RPG boom before the warhead hit the ogre.
My ears; I cursed my vulnerable, human hearing, waiting impatiently for the high-pitched whine in my head to dissipate. Disoriented, I felt Will moving me, and finally the sound of his voice registered. “Eva! Eva, your fire!”
I threw my hand at the rubble near the front hall, and flames roared from floor to ceiling.
But not before Eric’s face came into focus.
His hand shot outwards, and he had Will in the air, throwing him across the room and slamming him into the stone with his magic.
Screaming, I watched my husband fall limply against the floor, and then my heart stopped as some fat, slithering creature make its snake-like way between the dead bodies toward Will.
“These are my friends. I have spent centuries in that dungeon with them; they will do my bidding,” Eric grinned as the snake inched toward Will.
I threw fire at the serpent, but Eric extinguished it before it left my fingers.
His hands slapped to my upper arms, and he lifted me completely off the floor. “You will touch me,” his voice coaxed, and I hated the drowning feeling of his presence as I fought his overwhelming enchantment. “Come to the sea with me, Eva. Let me drown you,” he urged, and I blinked, trying desperately to fight the lustful reaction in my body.
My mind cleared almost the instant I watched Christopher’s blade separate Eric’s head from his shoulders.
The selkie’s blonde head rolled across the floor and turned from human to seal in three turns.
Christopher put a bullet in Eric’s flopping torso, and then, as if on second thought, fired two more. “I don’t know how the fuck to kill whatever he is! What is he Eva?”
“He’s just a stupid seal,” I burst to my feet, kicking Eric’s head at the snake. The face of the serpent whipped and hissed in my direction, and I turned to Christopher as Logan and Cole prepared to detonate another RPG. “Lollipop fucking Chainsaw. Now.”
He grinned, rolling his eyes and catching my hand in mid-air. “You’re so dramatic. Deal. But I’m driving the radio, then.”
“Warm it up, Chris,” I challenged as the chainsaw appeared in my hands. I was dressed like a cheerleader, my blonde pigtails bouncing.
“That’s what I was born to do,” he answered, and I felt my fire split in two and pour into Christopher’s body.
My brother reared back, flames licking at his blue irises before he grinned and turned to the monster behind him.
I watched, stunned as the Minotaur poised to attack. Christopher opened his mouth, and my fire sprayed from his lips, dousing the Minotaur in flames.
My brother was breathing fire.
Holy fucking hell.
Will. Snapping my focus back to my husband, I ran for the snake.
Aerosmith ended with the wave of Christopher’s hand. Wu Tang Clan’s Kill Bill Theme began, and I rolled my eyes. Of course he’d pick this song. Such a fucking boy.
“You think you’re Quentin Tarantino, don’t you?” I yelled, and he laughed, unloading a round into giant, boil-covered troll.
I took a running leap with the chainsaw and had the snake quartered before Will could open his eyes. He blinked, focusing.
“Eva?”
“It’s me.” I waved my clothes back to jeans, and my blonde pigtails were replaced by my red curls. “Eric’s dead.”
“And so is the Minotaur.” Will noticed as the beast slumped on the floor over my shoulder. He held his head, brushing at the blood coming from his nose with the back of his hand. Already he was healing, and the bleeding slowed. I turned to see that Logan had blown the flaming Minotaur away.
“Most are leaving… they want freedom,” Meredith’s voice tore my attention away from Will. I reared my hands back, ready to strike at her, but Will caught my elbow.
“No, Eva.” He stepped between us, and Meredith turned her head to the side, as though trying to remember her own brother. “Meredith, this war is over.”
“William,” she murmured, turning in a slow circle, looking over the devastation around us. “Where is our father?”
My nostrils flared. “My father is killing him right fucking now.”
Will sighed, glancing at me with irritation before turning back to Meredith. “Troy will be given an option for surrender. West has agreed to spare him if he is willing to yield.”
“What? Oh my God, that’s hilarious. If my dad told you that, Will, he was lying his ass off, I promise you that.”
“West is honorable. He will keep his promise.”
The earsplitting screams that echoed throughout the hall clashed with the seditious music. A figure of a woman hovered near the ceiling, fading between apparition and reality, between elderly and youth. Her long, white hair drifted around her head as though she moved underwater, and her incessant shrieking made me want to throw up.
Logan fired two shots at her, and she screeched, flying toward him in horrific, jerking movement
s, unscathed. He dropped his rifle and held his ears, and Christopher threw his hand in the air.
“Silence!” My brother roared. The banshee was startled, soundless, and as she took on the face of a young maiden, her madness was almost heartbreaking. She slipped along the ceiling before disappearing into the night air.
“They are retreating…,” Will noticed the guards as they ran from the wreckage of the great hall. “Meredith, stand down. Eric is gone.”
Meredith stared at the separated body of her lover, shaking her head slowly. “I care nothing for him. He was a means to an end.”
“It is time to make peace with the end,” Will took a step toward her as Cole shouted to Logan. A fresh wave of soldiers approached, and this time, they carried firearms.
A lot of firearms.
“I love him, William. He will love me again,” Meredith cried, and I cringed at the sickening inflection in her tone.
“He’s your dad, and gross,” I pumped the rifle in my hands as Meredith screamed and dropped to her knees in utter insanity. Wincing, I turned to my husband. “They need order, Will, I don’t want to kill them all, and that’s what will happen if they march in here. These men are protecting their king; they are doing what they were trained to do. They need to know they serve a new king now. I never thought I’d say this, but now’s the time for compromise. Do something.”
His mouth fell open slightly, and he stared at me with pride. “Eva, you are right,” he wrapped an arm around my waist, and in a second I was up and against his body. His mouth drove me insane, and was never enough, and in the midst of the crashing music and utter mayhem, I kissed my husband deeply, clinging to him. “You are truly fit to rule, my queen. I need your frequency, love. I need my voice to be amplified,” he explained.
I grinned, nodding, moving my lips to his again, this time with magic.
When he opened his mouth to speak, his voice lifted over the music, and the piercing frequency drew the attention of every human ear.
“Hold your fire,” he called to Logan and Cole, and Christopher looked back at him in surprise. Will climbed to the altar to stand on top of Troy’s throne, his throne, speaking to the army approaching. “Army of Icepond. You will surrender to your new king. You serve me now. My father’s reign has come to an end.”
I could see Will’s words sinking in to many of the soldiers as they looked to each other with confusion.
“It’s working, keep going,” I whispered to Will.
Something pushed me forward, and I stumbled, reaching for my abdomen. Annoyed, I looked up in bewilderment, unable to register what was happening in my stomach.
“No!” Christopher threw his hand in my direction, and Meredith burst into an inferno. The heat from her burning, screaming body was too uncomfortably close, and as I tried to back away, I staggered.
“God, Eva, no,” Will caught me, and I followed his eyes, looking down at my body.
The sword had been driven clean through my stomach, and the blade protruded from my back.
Meredith…
Touching the blade, I felt the first hint of pain. My body began to shake, and an eerie cold tingled in my toes.
“Burn, you fucking witch,” Christopher growled at the screeching woman. The smell of flesh made me gag, and Will held me, lifting his eyes to Christopher.
“Help her,” my husband begged. “Give her my immortality-…,”
“I don’t know how to do that!” Christopher was shouting.
“Eva, hold on, baby,” Logan’s voice now. I flinched at the pain, realizing now what had happened.
Meredith had driven the sword through me.
I was not immortal here.
I was dying.
With all of the strength I had left, I turned to Meredith’s squirming body, extinguishing her flames.
“What are you doing?” Christopher demanded, ready to set her on fire again.
“Bring her… to me,” I begged, and Logan reached for her burnt arm, dragging her across the floor even as flakes of ashes and charred, boiling skin trailed behind.
She stared at me through the fire lit darkness, her eyes seeking relief. I felt my breathing labor, knowing what was happening inside of my vulnerable, human body.
“You have to agree,” I managed, reaching for her fingers. She tried to cry, but her voice only came out in rampant breaths. “I will release you from this torture. I know you want to die. My brother would keep you alive and burn you for the rest of your immortal life. Give me your immortality, Meredith,” I ordered, finally letting the tears of pain stream down my face.
She only nodded once, her blackened lips parting.
“Yes,” she managed, choking.
I closed my eyes, reaching for my magic. At that moment, Will pulled the sword from my stomach, and I cried out in pain.
Meredith was dead. The blood spurting from my body trickled, and then stopped all together.
“See… to… our people,” I turned to Will, halted, knowing that I was healing but struggling through the throbbing ache. “Control your army,” I ordered.
“Yes, love,” he kissed my lips, nodding. “I have you now.”
Chapter Thirty
Roam
I ran down the corridor towards the fencing arena, trying to process Logan’s words. He didn’t betray me; Troy was going to hurt Eva.
He saved her.
He came out of nowhere, slamming into me so quickly that we rolled together, skidding across the floor. Troy was scrambling for my sword before I could register his movements, but I was smaller and quicker. Ducking beneath his grasp, I retrieved my sword, jumping to my feet.
“Don’t run from me, Roam!”
“No!” I screamed, making an attempt to get to the pool. I can’t lead him right to Violet and the children; I have to stop him. His breath was too close to my neck, and fully clothed, sword in hand, I dove for the water.
As I surfaced, green paint swirled with red; I realized either he was bleeding, or I was. He was in the water, thrashing closer to me. I screamed and dove again, swimming across the pool with all of my strength. When I surfaced, I’d managed to put a few feet between us, and used that as an opportunity to hoist myself out of the shallow end.
He caught my foot, and I moaned, whipping around with my sword. The blade drug across the tanned flesh of his cheek, and he roared, ducking away.
I managed to climb to my feet, and through the glass walls I could see some kind of beast lurking in the hallway. It locked black eyes with me, and I watched in revulsion as the wings on its back unfurled slowly. It had the body of a tall, naked human man, his dark, sinewy muscles gleaming in the chandelier light. Thick, curled horns aimed like a battering ram’s, and I knew he was going to attack me through the glass.
When it grinned, his pointed teeth dripped with saliva, and I screamed.
“Give me the sword!” Troy ordered me. I struggled for breath, and he turned his gaze between me and the creature, his eyes blazing with rage as blood dripped from the slice on his face. “Give me the sword, now, Roam! That is an incubus, and it will fuck you and kill you!”
The creature crashed through the glass at that moment. The music blared ten times louder as I pushed Troy aside, raising my sword and running for the beast.
It grinned, and even as I ran the Kenauri-Rak through its heart, it picked me up and slammed me against the wall, tearing at my wet clothes.
Troy lunged for it, producing a knife and clinging to the creature’s winged back as he drove the blade into his throat. The incubus snarled, smacking Troy away as though he was no more than a minor nuisance. The blade did little damage, and Troy landed on the floor with the knife in hand.
I felt all the air sucked from my lungs as the devil’s claws punctured my thigh, dragging ragged strips of leather and blood away from my legs.
Gasping for breath, I watched as the walls around me began to crumble. The incubus released me and fell when the floor beneath him completely gave way.
&n
bsp; Troy gripped for the edge of the pit, swinging his weight up and over the hole. I stood on a thin ledge against the wall, watching as the incubus fell several feet before it spread its wings and caught itself in midair.
It slowly lifted its evil face, grinning up at me.
“Run, Roam!” West’s voice called to me from across the room; he was controlling the shaking ground, his eyes flashing amber and raising to the ceiling.
I slid on the ledge, screaming and nearly falling down into the bottomless, dungeon pit. I felt strong arms secure me, pulling me from the edge. The ceiling crumbled and fell into the hole, littering the pool with stone and concrete in the process. Troy was dragging me away from the falling debris, trying to get me to my feet, and West was running for us both.
He led me to the fencing arena, and Violet backed against the wall with a shriek as Troy and I thundered through the doorway. Finally pulling myself together, I wrenched from his grasp and crouched before kicking him in the jaw.
His head snapped to the side but he recovered quickly. I charged again, but this time, he caught me, flipping me over to the soft mat.
“Stop! I’m not going to hurt you, but if you keep this up, you’re going to hurt my baby!”
I struggled to breathe beneath his heavy, pinning body, staring up into the eyes of the man who had tortured, raped, and murdered me for centuries.
With all of the pleasure and animosity I could muster in my soul, I sneered. “This isn’t your baby, Troy. This is West’s child. You are not my husband, and I will never love you. Let me go or rot in hell.”
He gazed down at me, panting, his eyes roving over my body before returning to my face.
“It’s always been West. It will always be West. I love him, and all the weapons and magic in the world couldn’t change my love for him.”
West stilled in the doorway of the arena, staring at the scene before him.
Troy shifted, and only then did I realize that his knife was poised at my throat.
“Troy,” West’s voice, so low and strong, comforted me as the blade touched my skin. “I promised your son that I’d give you a chance to surrender and let you live,” he met my eyes, reassuring, calming. “I would love to break that promise. You’ve seen what I’m capable of. If you cut her, I will heal her. And I will end you.”
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