Hidden Runes

by G. Bailey

  “I do, and it is simple. Your dim-witted sister told me everything I need,” he replies and pulls out a dagger from his belt. He lets go of my arm to cut his wrist and then grabs my arm again, pulling me closer to him before stabbing the dagger into my black rune. I scream, trying to pull away from him, but nothing budges me from his grip as he pulls the dagger out, throwing it across the room. Cex puts his wrist on top of my black rune, and I cry out as he bonds with me. I feel all his power, his dark and disturbed mind for only a moment until he pulls his arm away, and I can open my eyes. Cex whacks me across my face, sending me flying across the room, and I roll across the floor. I turn my head to the side to see Cex punch the stone ground in the middle of the circle, casting a bright blue light into the room. The ground falls away to make a hole as Cex steps back. He jumps into the hole without looking back, and I pull myself to my feet, ignoring the burning pain in my arm and cheek.

  “Evelina, run!” Keeper Grey pleads, but I ignore him as I walk to the gap.

  “As your queen, I demand you heal Connor and get out of here. Do not follow me, Keeper Grey,” I tell him.

  “He will kill you. Please don’t order me to do this!” Keeper Grey pleads with me as he pulls himself to his feet.

  “I am the only one who can stop him. If he wants black magic, he will have to kill me first. Do as your queen asks.” I ignore Keeper Grey’s protest of fear as I jump into the cave and start to fall.

  Eighty-One

  Evie

  I gasp as I fall into freezing cold water, sinking straight in, and the cold water burns my eyes. I swim straight up towards the surface and the light I can see just above as I hold my breath, feeling the water burning the back of my nose which I really hate. I gasp as I break out of the water, shivering as it’s bloody freezing. Keeping my head low, I look around at the strange place I just fell into. There is an island in the middle of lots of water, where there is a massive tree that stretches to the dark cave above. The tree is glowing a dark red colour across all its branches which are empty of any leaves or flowers. Just dark, dead branches. At the bottom of the tree is a row of black coloured stone angel statues, holding hands around the tree.

  Cex is walking up to the tree when I spot him, dripping water onto the sand with every step until he gets to the angels. He hasn’t even noticed me fall in the water, thank god. I need every bit of help I can get. Cex grabs hold of the angel statues and pulls hard, smashing them to pieces on the ground which he just steps over like they are nothing. Cex pours a massive vial of blood all over the tree trunk which makes the tree glow brighter, and there is a cracking of wood noise that fills the room. I swim to the shore as quickly as I can, pausing only to see Cex place both his hands on the tree and start to glow a bright, dark red. Once I can stand, I run in the water and climb onto the shore. I know what I have to do, I just don’t know if it is possible that I can survive it. Either way, this is my price to pay. I have to do this, and it is best I don’t overthink it too much. I run straight up the shore and jump over the stone, stopping next to Cex who doesn’t even notice me.

  “If you want black magic, you’ll have to share, Cex,” I say coldly, and he turns his red eyes on me, reaching for me with one hand, but it’s too late to stop me. I press my hands on the tree over the blood near Cex’s hands and scream as a power like nothing else I’ve ever felt slams into me. I close my eyes, feeling overwhelmed by the sheer force of the black magic pushing into my body. Into my soul. I don’t know how long I scream, how much magic I end up taking until suddenly it stops like a power switch being turned off, and I gasp. My throat feels raw, broken from all the screaming, and I feel like my body is even worse. I open my eyes to see my arms glowing red like Cex’s are, and the tree in front of me disappears into ash, raining all around.

  “You stupid girl! I want the rest of the power. Now!” Cex shouts, reaching for me, but I hold my hands out, releasing a large amount of red energy that blasts Cex a good distance away. Damn, that’s some power. Cex growls, standing up off the sand and hitting me back with the same energy, sending me flying into the water much further than I hit him. I fall deep in the water, but rather than swimming up, I call a portal. I don’t know if calling portals under water works, but it’s my only chance. The portal appears right in front of me, and I swim in, only looking back once to see a glowing red Cex swimming towards me from a distance before I fall out of the portal on the other side. I quickly will the portal to close as I slide across the floor with the pouring water coming out the portal with me. Thankfully, it closes just as I see a red glow inside, and I take a deep breath of relief.

  I glance around, not even sure where I brought myself when I opened the portal, and see that I am in my apartment corridor. A pretty safe place, I suppose. I quickly stand up and open my apartment door, getting inside and pacing for a moment before knowing I need to go to the throne room to find my guys. Cex needs to leave the city or I do, he is too powerful now, and I’m the only thing in the way of him destroying the world. As I walk to the door, it bangs open, and Nix walks straight up to me, covered in blood and dust.

  “Evie,” he sighs in relief and shock, pulling me into his arms, and I gladly hold him back. I place my hand on his cheek, calling my healing rune to fix all the cuts I can feel throughout him as he tries to explain what is going on when the building shakes suddenly and my eyes must widen.

  “The Protectors’ city has fallen. The city is evacuating as Cex brought an army with him to destroy us. Trex and Connor are helping the people escape with the keepers. Azi and the guards are fighting off the demons to buy the others some time. My job was to get Star, though I can’t find her. We were going to wait for you as we couldn’t get in the room you jumped into,” Nix says, looking less than impressed.

  “I may have taken at least half of the black magic that Cex was taking to stop him. I don’t know what the cost of that will be yet, but he cannot do what he wanted without killing me now. We need to leave and get as far away as possible,” I explain, rubbing my arms.

  “We leave then, where is Star?” he asks, and I search my bond with her, only sensing a general feel for where she is.

  “Come on,” I say, moving my hand away and running out of the door with Nix close. I open a portal to where I think she is and jump through, coming out into a battle field inside an unfamiliar building. I spot Star straight away as she jumps on a demon, ripping out its neck, and Trex is right behind her, two swords in his hands as he kills demon after demon in an effortless movement from one to the other. They are working as a team, slaying them all. Two demons run at us while we are distracted, and Nix hands me a dagger before he jumps for the one as I go for the other. My dagger finds the yellow demon’s heart perfectly as it tries to claw at me, and it bursts into flames. I fall to the floor, rolling as I land. As I stand up, I look around at all the demons here and see that all of them have dark yellow skin and are throwing yellow fire around like it’s a bonfire or some shit. They are unfamiliar to me. I don’t even know what yellow demons are meant to do.

  “Evie!” I hear Azi shout, and I turn around to see him running over to me just as a burning sensation fills my stomach. My hands start to feel like they are suddenly burning, and I look down, seeing them glowing a swirling dark red. I feel the power building up in my chest, spreading to my hands, and I know it’s going to escape soon.

  “Everyone! Get down!” I scream before I wrap my hands around my waist as a burst of red, uncontrollable energy blasts out of me. I collapse to my knees, hearing the screams of demons and my men calling my name, but I have no voice to reply to them. The last thing I see is Azi running through the red energy like it can’t touch him and his lips calling my name.

  Epilogue

  Cex

  I swim out of the water, growling that I missed that stupid queen by only a small distance, knowing that I made a mistake leaving her alive. The black magic spreads through my body, powering me and furthering my stolen angel abilities, but it is not enoug
h. The queen took at least half of the black magic from this place, and I cannot do what I need to until I have it all. But I will destroy her city and her people before taking her life to get the rest of the black magic back.

  I jump out of the room into the room above, seeing it empty except for one person. Erica runs over to me, wrapping her tiny arms around my waist. I pick her up by her neck, loving how she holds my hands desperately and pleads for her pointless life.

  “I can help you find Evie. I can help you still, and we can rule together,” she chokes out, barely understandable.

  “I should thank your sister, really. I was getting tired of pretending to care for you, pretending to enjoy fucking you,” I tell her. Erica is very annoying, but thankfully I do not need her anymore.

  “If you kill me, you won’t find her,” she says, gasping and clawing at my hands.

  “Don’t try to manipulate the master of manipulation, girl. See, I am Evie’s knight, and that means I can always feel where she is. No matter where the queen runs, her knight will follow. I will destroy her, and the Protectors will be no more,” I inform her and call my black magic to the surface. The red fire burns a screaming Erica away slowly, and nothing but pain and regret flash in her eyes as I turn her into nothing but dust. Everything around me falls away until I can see the bright sun in the sky above me as I lower my hand. I laugh at the destruction around me, the demons my brother created for me killing anything in their path. At least my brother did one thing before he betrayed me by helping Azi escape, and I had to kill him. Then I killed all my brothers, just in case, except for Azi and Seth, but I will finish them. When the queen is dead, they are next on my list. I step forward through the dust of the building and enjoy the screaming around me. When this is over, I will enjoy the screams of Earth as it becomes Hell.

  Link to pre-order Runes of Royalty here…

  Protector. Angel. Assassin…and now Queen.

  Evie is now queen of the Protectors, and rumoured queen of the demons as well, but dealing with the black magic she can’t control is far more dangerous than either of those titles.The Protectors have fallen, demons along with them, and Earth is not far behind.

  Can Nix, Trex, Connor and Azi help Evie survive a power no one understands? Or knows how to stop…

  There is a war to be won, and Cex is tracking her every move, can the assassin—now queen—win the war?

  Demons will rule.

  18+ RH

  Prologue

  Seth, Cheri and Hali come through the portal just after us, and the moment the portal disappears, it is like time just stops. Every person on the street is frozen, the cars on the road behind us are paused, and there is just silence in New York City. I wave my hand in front of a random woman’s face, and she doesn’t flinch or move at all. What is going on?

  "Seems like Lamia knows we are here," Azi mutters, looking at the house right in front of us. It is completely out of place here in the middle of all these high rises. It's an old fashioned house, made with dark wood timbers, and there is an odd white picket fence around the front garden of weeds and grass. A small gate is right in front of us, and I step forward to open the gate when Azi catches my arm and stops me. "Wait."

  "Salvatore...I have been looking forward to your visit," a voice speaks into my mind, the sheer pressure of her voice making me grab the sides of my head and mentally beg her to stop talking. "Come inside with only the death-marked witch at your side."

  The voice stops, and I gasp, sucking in air as Azi holds me, trying to ask me what is wrong, but everything is silent for a second before sound just seems to return like a smack to the face.

  “Vi, what the hell is wrong?” Azi demands, holding my face with his hands and looking into my eyes like he can see the problem and wants to destroy it with his gaze alone.

  "A woman, I’m assuming Lamia, said to come inside with Hali only," I explain to him, and he grits his teeth in anger, but the mere fact he doesn’t immediately say no means Azi really does trust this woman. I’m a tiny bit jealous, but I know Azi well enough to understand this isn’t a woman he loves. Just knows and trusts, I assume. "I can keep myself and Hali safe. Just wait for us."

  "You don't understand who she is," Azi bites out as Hali comes to my side, clearly not needing a pep talk to follow me into a creepy haunted house because a voice in my head told me to. That's my girl.

  "Well, I'm about to find out, aren't I?"

  Eighty-Two

  I don’t know how long I crawl through the red, dusty storm almost endlessly, never having a clue where I am meant to be heading. I don't remember when I started crawling, where the dust storm came from, or why I am so terrified of stopping. I cannot stop, I know something bad will happen if I do. I crawl and crawl through the endless dust. The red dust does nothing but fight me, punish me, but I can't stop. I never can stop because I finally realize he is right behind me, wanting the power—and my death alongside it.

  "When do you think she will wake up?" Azi asks, though his voice sounds nothing like my Azi, as I become aware of the real world and not the dream of dust that never seems to end. The demon I'm in love with has never sounded so panicked, lost and angry all at the same time. "Will my Vi wake up?"

  "I'm no doctor, but black magic doesn't kill the host. Not from what I read about it," I hear a slightly familiar voice reply. "Father never spoke of the magic, and his books were never clear on anything, let alone this."

  "Leave us alone and watch the girls just in case he finds us sooner this time," Azi instructs.

  "I will," the man replies, "though Evie darling is much stronger than this magic. She will wake, she is too stubborn not to."

  I try to pull my eyes open as I hear a door open and close in the distance not much later as the warm sun shines onto my face for only a second before disappearing. Spreading my fingers out, I notice I am nestled in satin sheets that are rather comfy. There is a lavender smell in the warm room, but I can hear nothing more than Azi's breathing and muttering close by. When my eyes finally listen to me, I blink them open and look up at the glass ceiling that shows off the deeply moody and grey clouds hanging in the sky above. I am lying on a large bed in a square room with one window to the side. There are big white double doors on the other side of the cream painted room, and there is little else in here that I can see as I glance around.

  "Looks like it might rain," I manage to say, but my voice is cracked and not much more than a whisper.

  "Vi," Azi all but shouts. His loud voice in the quiet room makes me jump as he comes to me on the bed and helps me sit up only to pull me to his chest. I hold him close, keeping my head on his wrinkled top as I just relax in the fact he is alive and alright, though he smells like he hasn't showered in days, and he has a thin line of black dust, old blood, on his arms like he quickly washed down and didn't bother much. Azi's black hair is messy, pushed to the one side, which furthers my idea that he hasn't been showering. So does the partial beard he has grown out, but it somewhat suits him. The last time I saw Azi like this was when he thought I was dead, but even then, he wasn't this bad.

  "What happened?" I ask, thinking back to the events before I was here, knowing it was all so important. They all rush back to me in a flood of memories. Becoming queen and beating Erica, but Star was hurt. Cex forcing me to make him my knight and getting to the black magic tree. I look down at my hands in my lap, remembering the moment I put my hands on that tree and absorbed half the black magic, with Cex taking the other. I was lucky to escape, only to find the Protectors’ city was under attack.

  "I don't know where to start, Vi," he gently says, placing his hand on my face, and I look into his tired eyes. "It's been three days since you passed out in the city."

  "Tell me everything," I demand. "I need to know what happened, Azi."

  "The Protectors’ city is destroyed, overtaken by those yellow demons that I'm sure my dead brother helped create for Cex," he explains to me, and I feel nothing but guilt. This is my fault. I’m the god
damn queen, and I let everything be destroyed because I fell in love. Do I regret that choice to save Connor? No, and I never could regret it, but it doesn’t stop the overwhelming feeling of guilt. I push the feeling to the back of mind, the place where it can gather dust with the rest of my supressed emotions I can’t deal with.

  "Are Connor, Nix and Trex okay?" I ask, barely able to say the words and getting angrier by the moment as worry builds up. Why wouldn’t they be here with me? Where the hell are we? "Star? Just tell me if they are alive, and if they aren’t…tell me where to find Cex."

  "They are alive, don't worry," he tells me, and the air I was holding in whooshes out. Thank gods. Though the more I wake up, the more I feel through our bond that Star is fine. I sense nothing but a longing to be near me again. After the test and nearly losing her, I feel the same way. "They can't be near you when you are like this, and your surviving people needed leaders while you recover."

  "What do you mean they can't be near me?" I ask. “I don’t understand.”

  "The black magic...you sent out a shock wave which luckily they all just avoided, but only I and other overlord demons can withstand the power. You have destroyed three homes we have taken you to, but so far you seem okay today," he tells me. "But you did kill a lot of those yellow demons and gave your people a real chance to escape, so the power isn’t all bad."

  "Small bonuses then, huh?" I aimlessly state, pulling away from Azi and getting off the bed.

  “I’m sorry about your houses, and thank you for helping me…again. I feel like I’m a long way past the person I used to be who never needed help.” I wrap my arms around myself as I walk to the window, seeing Big Ben and other familiar London buildings all around us from the high position we are in. The busy city keeps going on like the world isn't close to ending, because they don't know what evils go on around them. They live their lives quietly without any clue of the massive battles we all face to save them. If Cex wins, they will know without a doubt and suffer with no one to save them. I never wanted to be the hero, the one the humans, demons and, hell, even Protectors are no doubt looking at to save them. I was a damn assassin, clueless of who my parents were and living a relatively normal life. I know I will never be able to go back to that life because it is gone. The sun shines out of the grey looming clouds for a second, shining against me and feeling like even the sun is telling me I have to fix the darkness in this world.