Shadows of Rebellion

by L. M. French

  “Welcome back, Grey.” Veruca’s red hair was braided back from her face in an intricate design that left her heart shaped face bare. Her eyes were the same striking blue I remembered from my last visit and they regarded me warmly. If I were prone to having friends, Veruca would be one of them.

  My smile was easy. “Thanks, wish it was under better circumstances.”

  She looked over her shoulder at the luminous crystals before turning back. “I’ve never taken one of your kind through the Interstice.”

  “You’re concerned?” Pike asked.

  “We’ve no reason to believe her powers will interact with the Interstice but we’re cautious,” she shrugged.

  The Crux huddled around us where we stood. Emerick eyed the cavern. “Caution is good. I like caution.”

  “Have you gone over the plan with your circle?’ Bay was mission oriented on a good day and this was not that. He’d withdrawn completely behind his role as commander. He didn’t speak unless it was relevant to the plan and when he did, he was blunter than usual. Something I didn’t think was possible.

  Veruca’s posture snapped straight. Her respect for Bay obvious in the deference of her tone. “Yes, Commander. Everyone is aware of their roles once we breach Sanctum.”

  Bay speared me with a look. “You do not leave Pike’s side. Ozias will take point to find Sai’s body while the rest of us handle the Timorii.”

  I sensed stillness around us and realized everyone had stopped to listen, clans and circle.

  “There’s no sneaking into Sanctum. Crossing the barrier will trip all their internal wards. Confrontation is unavoidable.” He glanced at Jericho. “If you can incapacitate them instead of killing them, do it. We have one objective. Get Sai’s body out of Sanctum.”

  Everyone grumbled their assent before the many began to strip. The Howlers and Berserkers were going in as their wolves while the Bay and the rest of the Crux stayed on two legs. Bay and Jericho peeled off to load up on weapons from the back of the expedition.

  A hand slipped into mine before Ozias appeared next to me. “If something happens to Pike, I want you to run. Don’t think about it, just go.” He tapped the vial around his neck. “I’ll find you.”

  Pike snorted. “Thanks for the faith brother.”

  “After yesterday I’m not taking any chances.” Oz squeezed my hand before releasing me to try and cram more guns on his body.

  Veruca lifted a brow. “You faced the Din and survived. That’s a good day in my book.”

  Swallowing I met her eyes. “Phin didn’t.”

  Her sisters stepped closer, tightening the circle around us. The Amerai were to the witches what shield maidens were to Vikings. Except the Assembly was definitely a matriarchy.

  Veruca studied me carefully. “Circe is soon to cross the bridge. Tilla has been chosen to ascend as High Witch.” She glanced briefly over my shoulder where Pike stood. “I’ve been told to give you a message.”

  I felt Pike shift at my back and the what-the-fuck- grooves in my forehead deepened. “O-kay.”

  “There was a shift in the territories, it was felt by all the Assembly. We would provide you safe haven should you need it.”

  Dria, a seasoned Amerai, handed me a string of braided leather. “For safe passage through our territory.”

  She dropped it into my open palm and moved back into position behind Veruca.

  Circe was the eldest of the Assembly and had led them for more than a century. Witches like other breeds could live lifetimes longer than humans but few things lived forever. The brittle witch had only allowed me safe passage to honor the treaty that bound the Territories together yet her passing and Tilla’s ascension left me uneasy.

  Pike crowded my back to growl warningly at the circle. “Careful, Veruca. You don’t know what you’re biting off.”

  The Amerai tensed.

  “Consider your message received.” Bay's voice cut through the awkward standoff I’d found myself in.

  Everyone seemed to take a step back by collective design.

  The Daenali commander slid in front of me to loom over the enforcer and Veruca’s torc began to glow, highlighting string of runes engraved upon it. Bay looked about as concerned as a dragon would be by a lightening bug.

  “When you report to Tilla you give her a message for me.” He bared his teeth. “Over. My. Dead. Body.”

  Veruca blinked at him before her face split into a grin and the glow of her runes faded. She shrugged sheepishly. “Everyone’s got a job to do, big dog. I’m just doing mine.”

  Good Gods.

  Whirling back to her circle, Veruca raised her voice. “Getting into Sanctum is easy; the interstice will deliver us in their foothills but the commander is correct- the moment we cross the barrier we’ll set off all their alarms. There is no element of surprise here.”

  “That seems like a crazy big flaw in our plan.” I looked to Bay to confirm my observation.

  His face was resolute. “We were never trying to sneak in, firefly. It’s impossible. If we want Sai’s body back, we’ll have to take it by any means necessary.”

  I felt Jericho’s glare against the side of my face. He blamed me for all of this.

  The clans gathered around us in wolf form as Veruca and her circle led us toward the caverns. Bay leaned down and brushed his cheek against mine. “Stay close to Pike.” His lips stopped at my ear. “Promise me.”

  I shivered feeling his breath against the sensitive skin of my neck and Pike’s heat at my back. “Promise.” I breathed.

  “Alright folks, keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times.”

  At Veruca’s nod, Dria stepped forward murmuring softly as she led us deeper through the glowing corridors. The crystals sprang from the ground like directionally challenged lightning bolts, crawled across the walls like hydra scales and dripped from the ceiling like hanging wisteria. It was a stunning display of unusual textures and mismatched colors, blues and greens and pinks that all intensified the deeper we traveled.

  All at once the glow overwhelmed my eyes and only Pike's grip on my hand kept my feet moving forward. His hand squeezed tightly as if to reassure me we were fine and mine immediately began to sweat because fine was rarely the case these days.

  If we were ambushed on the other side I was going to die. Without question. And I would stand there and let them kill me cause I was freaking blind.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Veda

  I hissed when my ears popped suddenly and my vision began to clear in bouts of spots.

  “You didn’t close your eyes.”

  I didn’t have to see Pike to know he was laughing at me. “No one said I had to!”

  He snort-laughed. “Self-preservation usually takes care of the common-sense stuff.”

  “If you two are finished I’d like to cross the barrier and trigger full scale war while we execute a rescue mission.” Veruca’s dry remark drew chuckles around us.

  Pike laced our fingers together and pulled me closer into his side while Bay barely spared a glance our way as his eyes roamed the area around us. The needy, insecure part of me wondered if we should be hurt by his inattention. Thankfully the level-headed and rational portion of my brain was in control, and we decided we liked the care he took in making sure we weren’t ambushed two steps onto Timorii ground. Making sure I wasn’t executed was always sexy.

  Taking a page out of his book, I scanned our surroundings. My first look at Sanctum was inhibited by floating spots but I could see we’d arrived at the foothills under the bridge that led to the hold's walls. Water rushed a few yards away concealing the sounds of our arrival; feet and paws shifted restlessly as we found our bearings outside the Interstice.

  The full moon hung low in the sky bathing us in its illumination. Bay gestured to the wolves around us, and I knew this accompanied some telepathic order. As one our group turned towards the rushing water and descended until it rushed around our boots. Each step felt heavier, the air denser un
til I felt the barrier like humidity against my skin. Like my companions, crossing the barrier was as simple as recognizing it was there and I felt the fizzle across my skin as we step across into the Shadows.

  The Crux wolves had crossed first with the Amerai and the Berserkers and Howlers had crossed at my flank where I stood with Pike. It was the tacky feeling under my feet that I noticed first, the utter void of sound next. No one moved around me and the hairs on my arms and neck raised in alarm. My whole body was telling me the fight we’d come to instigate had turned on us.

  Our people had stopped shoulder to shoulder just inside the barrier. The breadth and height of the Crux meant I could see neither in front nor around me. Shifting my feet ever so slightly I tried to see between Jericho and Dria.

  Feeling my foot slide a bit, I froze just as Pike's hand seized my forearm. One look at his face told me the shit was deep and we should have worn bigger boots.

  Snarls started low, rolling, and growing until growls echoed all around me. Pike's hand tightened over my forearm as I practically vibrated with the need to do something.

  The sounds filling the air could not be accounted for by only the clan wolves. There were too many which meant we were outnumbered.

  “Ah, the ever-faithful Commander of the Daenali. I’d heard dogs were loyal.”

  Ivory.

  “You know, whoever told you to just be yourself gave you real shit advice.”

  Fucking Emerick.

  “Turn over the king’s body and we’ll let you surrender.”

  Senevia. Of course, if her power-hungry crotch-goblin was there so was she. Talk about toxic co-dependency.

  “Get fucked.”

  Bay. Short, sweet and to the point.

  Pike bent to whisper in my ear. “They brought the horde and slaughtered the priests. Be ready to run.”

  “Y’all really gonna show your neck to a Reaver? You’re nothin’ to them. Less than cannon fodder.” Ozias’ voice rose above the rest.

  A gruff, throaty voice blistered the air. “Better to hunt with filth and be free than scavenge on a leash for royalty.

  Senevia stepped forward. “Aligning yourself with the wolves will lead to the destruction of the Assembly,” she said, turning her focus to the Amerai. “Step aside and you will be shown the mercy Sailas refused his own people.”

  I choked on the sheer audacity. “The Din abandoned your cause when you released reaping beetles into the territories. That is not mercy.”

  My voice caused her body to jolt and Ivory’s eyes to widen.

  That’s right, sentinel-not-sentinel - 1, sadistic psychopathic reaver - 0.

  Bay’s body was rigid and Ozias tried to shift subtly closer to my side but I moved out of the protective shelter of the clans.

  My heart thundered when the Berserkers and Howlers edged closer, fur raised across their spine as fury rolled in the backs of their throats. They mirrored my movements step for step as I revealed myself to my worst nightmare.

  Sweat gathered between my breasts and my hands slid against my pants as they grew clammy. I could feel Phin all at once, struggling with Ivory, pushing energy through our bond to bolster my own fight against the reaping beetles. In the end I’d failed to do the same and it sat like salt on my tongue.

  Senevia’s eyes hardened as she took me in, clearly, she thought she’d ended me back in that tent. “Our alliance with the Din lives on, dear Veda. Tell me how are your allies? Phin, was it?”

  Her aim was true, and pain moved through me like a sword. The horde swelled forward and at once the precipice we stood upon loomed heavily in front of me.

  “He’s dead.”

  Ivory smirked but I wiped it off his face with my next breath.

  “But so is every reaping beetle you set loose.”

  His teeth snapped. “That’s not possible.”

  “And yet here I stand.” Fire moved through me, and my vision sharpened until I could count the particles in the air.

  In the dreamscape with Myra, she’d created a ball of energy. I thought it’d been sunshine but now I knew better. It was whatever was inside me, whatever I’d used to destroy that field.

  Lifting my hands, I held them cupped in front of me and surprised every damn body there when my own ball of light expanded perfectly in my hands. “You never did ask me how I made it out of that tent.”

  Whispers rolled through the horde at my little show but Ivory practically salivated.

  “Try not to torch the place till we find Sai’s body.” Bay mused from his position on my left.

  Ivory clapped gayfully. “Was that supposed to scare me, little sister? You think to make a deal to save your precious king?”

  The feel of Phin's hands in my hair, his lips on mine echoed through me and the knowledge that was gone forever tipped me over the edge.

  I lost control.

  Of my mouth.

  “Deal?” My laugh was mocking. “There is no deal.”

  I stepped out ahead of the clans. “You can run and I’ll kill you. You can fight and I’ll kill you. You can surrender and I’ll still fucking kill you. This is not a negotiation.”

  Like a lit match dropped in a pool of gasoline, the place went up.

  Horde warmed the cavern, some racing sideways across the walls, some launching themselves over the charging masses. Adrenaline shot through my veins and my body move like it was on autopilot, racing towards my target while ducking the snarling jaws of the horde.

  If anyone had asked me last week, I’d have said I wasn’t a particularly bloodthirsty being and I wasn't much one for holding a grudge.

  But I owed this them, pound for pound. And I was going to get it.

  Pike's curses followed me as I jumped over wolves and skirted grasping hands in my determination to get my hands on Ivory or Senevia.

  Out of the corner of my eye a large blade swung towards my neck but momentum was too fast to stop.

  I dropped, arching into a back bend that left my hair sweeping the floor. I slid forward on my knees and the blade cut through the air over my head.

  Without stopping, I popped back to the balls of my feet to charge forward and left Pike to deal with whomever had tried to decapitate me.

  Senevia appeared out of the masses and our eyes locked.

  I knew the plan. Bay and Ozias had been merciless in their efforts to ensure I’d memorized even the minute details of the plan and the contingencies they’d devised. Nowhere in the plan did I confront Ivory or Senevia. Nowhere in the plan did I provoke them by making myself an easy target.

  They were going to need a new plan.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Veda

  Senevia stood her ground as I bore down on her. Her hands and lips moved, and I felt ice stab through my body as my blood seemed to freeze.

  Freaking priestess bullshit. Manipulating the body on a cellular level.

  My feet stumbled when my own power, white-hot, clashed with her ice breaking the hold of her magic.

  Surprise blanched her normally flawless face and I enjoyed it for a split second before I followed it with my fist. Her head whipped around from the force, but she quickly recovered throwing a donkey kick into my abdomen.

  Wheezing, I counter stepped and slid my knife off my right hip. Holding it by the handle, point down I shot forward and cut her across her shoulder then back across her abdomen.

  She shrieked in outrage. “You mongrel half breed!”

  “You need new material.” I gritted out. She threw more magic and my muscles seized as if electrocuted all at one. She took swift advantage swinging another kick at my face.

  Pain exploded across my cheek and my body hit the ground. Senevia’s fist gripped my hair while my central nervous system went into full mechanical failure, her magic disrupting my body's electrical impulses.

  Petty bitch that she was she slammed my face into the ground before slapping me once, then twice. She twisted my hair where it was gripped in her lift fist and drew back her right hand
.

  Her eyes were eclipsed by white and it felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked from my body. Warmth slid down my face and if I weren’t sure she was killing me I would have bet it was blood.

  Her open hand shot towards my chest, likely the cumulation of her incantation but I caught it, palm to palm with my own. Lacing our fingers together, I forced our hands back. I would have laughed at her if I had breath in my body, but I had to settle for silently mocking her. My fire didn’t need oxygen to breathe. If I died, I was taking her with me.

  My arm glowed as my power pulsed between us when she began to shriek. She struggled to pull away from me but I held tight and incinerated her hand. Her skin melted between my fingers, the bones sifting to the floor between us before she finally wrenched free.

  Swiping blood from her face with her remaining hand she went to throw it in my face, but I ducked and shoved the knife I still held in her chest.

  She blinked and dropped her eyes to the knife in her chest. “No-”

  I twisted the knife hard and watched blood pour from the wound. “Yes,” I hissed.

  Air filled my lungs as satisfaction overtook me.

  She wasn’t full blooded Timorii, but she was Timorii enough. With her seal gone, her magic would die with her.

  My happiness was short lived as I was ripped off my knees and flung into the wall of the cavern. The wall had not been particularly close and I hit it with significant force. Coughing, I rolled onto my back where I’d landed. It wasn’t a shock to find Ivory looming over me before he pulled his boot back and kick me back into the wall.

  He dragged me up by my neck and my feet dangled above the ground. “You thieving bitch!”

  He threw his fist into my face before slamming into the ground. Instinct made me throw my hands up to protect my poor nose and pain exploded through my wrist where it absorbed the shock.