by T. F. Walsh
“I’ll do it,” he declared, his words shaky.
He met my stare and gave me a slight nod as if everything would be fine. But screw that… nothing would ever be right again.
“You can’t do that,” I pleaded, desperation gripping my voice, but I didn’t care. No one was touching Axel.
The world quivered beneath me, but I couldn’t be sure if it was the enemy or me.
A loud explosion thundered somewhere in the mountain, and the snap of energy snaked down my arms. An obvious battle took place above us.
“Now!” Stepan yelled, his hand grabbing mine, but I pulled it free and reached for Axel.
“Please.” I blinked, and Axel’s face blurred behind my tears. “I’ve gotten used to having you around. I don’t want to lose you. Not after everything.” My breath hitched all the way to my lungs.
Stepan seized my wrist, his fingernails digging into my flesh, and wrenched me backward.
I lost my balance and tumbled onto the grave. I could come up with a million reasons why Axel should stay with me, each one choking in my throat. But it all boiled down to one thing… I had to let him go to save everyone else. And even thinking those words shredded my heart.
Axel leaned over, his arm scooping under my back, lifting me off the ground. He held me tight in his arms, and I buried my face into his chest, crying, inhaling his scent. I’d lost so much in my life, and I’d be a hollow shell without him.
“I’m sorry, but we have no time,” Stepan demanded.
Those words haunted me. When was it ever all right to say farewell to someone? Fucking never.
I pulled out of Axel’s embrace and turned to face Stepan, kneeling between him and Axel.
The deafening screech of wood splintering drew my attention down a dark tunnel. A harrowing shriek followed.
“The darkness is here!” Stepan said. “Get to your spot, or you will be the reason everyone in Kutia Hollow dies.”
An inferno burned in my veins.
“Stepan, maybe this isn’t the way?” the fae leader said. “Luna might be right. I remember—”
“She’ll cause extinction because she’s in love with him.”
I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin. “Listen to Yakovich. You’re both in charge of Kutia Hollow, so you must know some other way.”
Stepan shook his head. “Time is out.”
An explosion detonated from behind us, the definite crack of stone resonating, and a rancid reek of open sewage assaulted my nostrils.
Oh, shit!
Axel and I were on our feet. I grabbed the blades from my belt. Terror overtook me, but I was ready to fight to the end.
My ears rang with each heartbeat. Thumping. Pounding. I would rather die alongside Axel than throw him to the demons. Or in this case, the vulsines. We didn’t come this far to give up.
The gelatinous mass crawled across the crypt floor like a greedy ocean sweeping across the shore, consuming everything in sight. Blood oozed in globs from pores on its back, popping and splattering the walls in red.
I backed away, terror tightening my lungs. The only thing that stood between the monstrosity and the princess were the four of us.
But in a flash, Axel dropped to his knees alongside me. He crashed face first, limp and motionless.
“Axel!” I yelled, dropped to his side, and rolled him onto his back. “Get up. What’s wrong?”
He didn’t respond, and he stared back at me with blank eyes. Nausea spun unrestrained in my empty stomach.
“Someone help him.” When I turned, my mind froze. Yakovich, Axel’s binding partner, lay sprawled on the ground, face down. A knife stuck out of his neck. Blood rushed free from the wound, draining into the starved soil.
Stepan bent over him, one palm pressed against his spine, the other lifting toward me. “I will drain every inch of your life force if it means saving Kutia.”
Everything numbed, and my thoughts vanished.
Yakovich watched me, his inhales raspy, heavy. His lips moved. “Give Axel blood.”
Before I could respond, a tether of white light speared from Stepan’s fingers. I spun away, but it struck the center of my back with such ferocity, I stumbled forward. The sensation of a knife piercing flesh sliced my own. I arched, writhing… and screamed.
Over my shoulder, I glimpsed Axel, unmoving, gone.
But at the entrance to the crypt, the darkness spread closer, coming for all of us.
Chapter 32
Stepan’s magical tether burrowed deeper into my back, my muscles tightening. An overbearing exhaustion swallowed me as a sensation of someone peeling my skin off engulfed me.
“Stop!” I yelled, but Stepan kept chanting. I meant nothing to him and was simply a means to rescuing the princess.
Axel lay slumped against the wall, dead. I sank to my knees so the violent shaking wouldn’t send me tumbling over.
Shear nothingness gripped my soul and threatened to take me. That heavy feeling suffocated me, and I choked on my tears. I had insisted Axel come to the compound to keep him safe for from the vulsines, but instead, I had delivered him to his death—to all our deaths.
I reached a shaky hand for his face, but he was too far away. My chest constricted, crushing my ribs. I remembered the way he stared at me with such desire and locked that memory in my mind for eternity. My world was crumbling away.
Axel!
Everything happened for the greater good, for the bigger population, but I quivered, clenching my hands and a cry gushed out. I’d lost Nyx, my home, my job, Talan, and who knows how many friends. Now Axel. My Axel. Nothing would ever be right again, and my heart turned wooden at the thought of a world without him.
Fire singed my insides as I staggered to my feet, drowning in the desperate urge to obliterate whatever stood in my way. I glanced behind, but something was wrong with the monstrous beast. The earlier gelatinous form now cinched together into the shape of a man. A figure drenched in dark, viscous blood stood at least twenty feet away. Only his yellow eyes contrasted against the red. Was this Acura, the evil fae who had attempted to kill Queen Rasha so long ago? He must have created the vulsines and threatened our existence.
He unleashed a snarl so deep the ground shook under my boots. I reeled backward, breath wedged in my throat.
Stepan remained focused on the grave, draining me. My legs wobbled.
The evil menace approached, now almost floating through the air. And dread chewed on my nerves. We were too late.
A crack of electricity prickled my skin, and I forced every inch of remaining power down my good arm. It danced across my fingers, and I concentrated, twisting the energy cords together. Then at once, I sliced my hand through the magical link from Stepan, lacerating our connection.
His gaze snapped upward, eyes wide and horrified.
“What have you done?” he spat.
“Get up and fight with me against this thing!”
He ignored me, his nose scrunching as he broke into a hum. His eyelids blinked as he drove energy from his open palms into the soil.
Fucking fine. I whirled around and raised an arm, holding my breath, and concentrated. Sparks shot outward from my fingertips. Every molecule in my body squeezed, muscles taut, lungs constricted.
My power bulleted toward Acura, but his hand shot in front of his face. The flare struck his wrist, and my attack wrapped around his arm as if it were a whip. His flesh morphed into stone.
I teetered for balance, gasping for air.
Cracks snaked up his arm. Everything below the elbow turned to dust, disintegrated before my eyes. Still not as much as a whimper from Acura.
“Stepan,” I turned my head toward him. “Work with me. Please.”
But a clammy, frozen hand clutched my neck, squeezing, lifting me off my feet. I met yellow eyes that were barren of life.
No effect. My scream came out as garbled sounds, air trapped in my lungs.
I blinked to clear my dancing vision, and emptiness swirled through me
as I kicked and punched. I had no one left to save me; I was alone against a monster.
His dry lips split open revealing pointy teeth, but beyond them lay a black abyss. When the mouth opened wider and larger, he drew me closer, ready to swallow my head.
I thrashed, my vision spinning, and I jammed my hand under his chin, shoving him away. My touch slid over his slippery skin.
Acura thrust his head toward me, my fingers bending backward. I cried out. In a spur of desperation, I unleashed what was left of my inner charge. Bright light spluttered from my fingers, hopping across his chin and into his mouth.
He hissed, steam rising from his tongue, and the flesh along his jawline turned to stone.
His grip eased, and he dropped me.
I fell, but with no time for fear, I swung a foot out, whacking it against Acura’s ankles. The fiend lumbered backward, hitting a wall. Not as big and scary as he put on. Mr. Baddie wasn’t indestructible.
I scrambled upright and rushed to Stepan. “You need to help me.” I grasped his arm, but the moment I did, he collapsed onto his back, shaking. His eyes remained closed, and his cheeks were sunken. All color had faded from his face. The idiot… he’d poured too much of himself into the ground, rendering himself useless.
He said, “Blood,” as his head slowly turned toward Axel. Just as the other council leader had said. I could only assume they meant for me to give him blood. What good would that do except get Axel high if he were still alive? But what did I have to lose? I’d do anything if it meant maybe, just maybe, Axel would return. A tiny flicker of hope had me stumbling to his side. I took my knife and ran the blade across my palm. I gritted my teeth, riding the throbbing ache.
Axel lay motionless, and tears welled in my eyes. His death punched through my chest, my heart, my soul. How could I have lost him? Rawness consumed me and left me hollow. But we were in the council compound where magic happened, where a princess lay sleeping underground. If there was ever a spot where miracles materialized, this was the place. Please bring him back.
I pried open Axel’s lips by pulling down his chin. With my fist clenched, crimson droplets fell onto his mouth. “Axel, if you can hear me, please come back. I love you.” My voice croaked.
I heard a crunch of soil approaching from behind me. When I turned, a fist collided with my face with such strength, I flew backward and over Axel’s body. Curled in on myself, I huddled against the wall, trembling.
Acura marched to the grave and fell to his knees, digging the dirt aside with one hand, soil tossed behind him. His jawline had disintegrated, leaving a tongue and the upper row of teeth, his lip curled upward. I cringed at the sight.
Every instinct demanded I stop the monster. The room seemed to shift sideways as I got up. I pushed one leg in front of the other, lurching forward. I gripped a knife in each hand and ignored the deep, piercing pain pinching my shoulder. With a dagger lifted, I lunged toward Acura and stabbed him in the back. His flesh was soft, making a squishing sound as the knife sank deeper. The metallic tang of blood teased my senses.
Acura belched a deafening snarl, but his arm continued swinging wildly.
I ducked and skewered him in the neck. The blade disappeared inside him. When I jerked my weapon free, a river of blackened liquid gushed out of the gaping hole.
He shook as a rabid animal might, so I kicked him in the ribs, sending him skidding on his side. But Acura threw a foot outward, smacking into my shins.
My knees buckled, and I stumbled, tripping. The second I hit the grave, electricity snapped through me, sending me into a convulsing frenzy. “Fuuuck.”
I lay helpless, being electrocuted. This had never happened before. Sparks leaped upward from the grave and folded around me like a tangled vine, cocooning me, forcing me onto my back, paralyzed.
Acura hovered over me, his upper lip drawing into a twisted grin. His foot stomped down on my throat, blocking my air passage. Sweat drenched my skin, and a ringing vibrated in my ears. My lungs tightened as the reality of death crashed into me.
A miasma of darkness surged from his mouth as if it were a serpent streaming down onto my chest. Iciness slithered over my collarbone and over my chin, pushing against the seam of my lips.
I thrashed, shaking my head, but the abomination only spread across my face and blackened my vision.
Dread locked my gut. Events from my life rolled through my mind: the fun times with my sister, the love I had for Axel, my admiration of Santasha for always raising my spirit. They never gave up helping others. There were so many incredible things to live for. This filth didn’t care but obliterated what we stood for.
My chest burned, starved, ready to explode.
Laying my palms on the gritty dirt, I called the energy… if it surrounded me, I should be able to control it.
Fill me with your ability, I repeated in my head. When the faintest spark tingled my fingers, I grasped onto that lifeline. I inhaled the blaze as it crawled up my arms and flooded me.
I raised a hand in desperation and released the few sparks I’d managed to conjure.
At once, the constricting pressure lifted off my face and throat. I gulped for air and curled onto my side, coughing.
A radiant blue cord wound around Acura’s neck. He shrieked, scratching at his restraints, retreating.
I drew myself to a kneeling position, yet my head kept swaying, and I gasped mouthfuls of air, unable to fill my lungs.
Acura clawed and ripped at his shackles. Flakes of skin floated to the ground. His glare promised my death, demanding I die from this stare alone. Not happening in this lifetime. Kneeling on the grave, I jammed my hands into the surrounding dirt, drawing the fire into myself. Overbearing heat claimed me, but this time, I welcomed it.
When something moved in my peripheral vision, I snapped around to discover Axel climbing to his feet.
Hope radiated in my heart. “Axel!”
Shadows concealed his facial features, and a blue glow encased his fists. How did he have power? Was it my blood? Didn’t matter when he raised his hands, throwing bolt after bolt at Acura. Each smashed into the monster’s body, his legs, his head.
The screech of a dying animal pierced my ears. But this was our chance.
On my feet, I closed the distance, hurling balls of electricity. Whatever mojo lay within the princess had ignited my ability. I didn’t even care how any of this shit was happening… just that the possibility of Axel being alive and that our future hung in the balance.
Acura crouched in a small ball, vertebrae dotting his curled back.
I stepped closer, and Axel emerged from the shadows. But I shuddered to find his eyes white, his face ashen and not a spark of life within him.
“Axel?” I lost all feeling.
No flinch or response, he continued attacking the creature with such ferociousness, I gasped with horror. This wasn’t my Axel. And that earlier heaviness returned, the one that crushed any chance hope I’d held onto.
Behind him, an azure cord extended from the middle of his back as if someone controlled him like a puppet. I followed the line to where Stepan lay on the ground, but I was unsure what I stared at.
A female stood next to the open grave, glowing in a bright haze. She wore no clothes. White hair, sparkling with a rainbow of colors cascading over her shoulders, barely covering her breasts. Blood red lips widened into a smile contrasting against pale skin. Her eyes were as green as grass in the valley. But what levitated behind her had me recoiling.
Two times her height, a translucent replica of the woman hovered in a flowing gown, her hair pulled off her face. Shimmering filamentous wings stretched outward, the tips brushing either side of the crypt walls. The apparition watched me, her head tilting, her stare burrowing into my very essence.
Was I hallucinating? I rubbed my eyes, but she didn’t vanish.
“P-Princess Kutia?” I lost my breath, my body buzzing with the urge to touch her, make sure she existed. But what was the image behind her? I’d never hea
rd about it in any history books? Kutia was our savior, and her warmth sat in my heart. Damn, I was face to face with a goddess. Maybe I’d hit my head and imagined this.
A soft female voice caressed my mind. Help me, I need your strength if you are to survive.
I couldn’t pull my stare from Kutia. Her beauty. The calm on her face had me tearing up. The figure behind her shook her head at me and kept flicking her gaze behind me.
Focus, child.
I turned toward Acura just as a flash of light darted from his fingers, coming right toward me. Too fast for me to dodge.
Panic froze me in place.
Chapter 33
A fiery orb bulleted through the crypt, hot sparks in its wake, and came straight for me. But I couldn’t move.
Trust me, child. Princess Kutia’s voice inundated my thoughts.
The ball slammed against my chest. Hard and unforgiving. I stumbled backward. Threads of electricity zipped across my flesh like hundreds of blades cutting into me.
I cried out loud, terror rattling me to the core.
Don’t fight it. Inhale it into your system.
Was the princess insane? “Help me!” I called to her and glanced across to find Axel still throwing energy bolts into Acura, but they weren’t helping. The princess’s power wasn’t strong enough yet.
Acura hurled another blue lightning strike into my shoulder. I tottered deeper in the crypt, but there was nowhere to run. I hit the wall with my back, and my mind drowned in darkness. I tensed and called to my power.
Luna! Listen to my voice. Surrender your power to me and let me use it.
“I don’t know how,” I yelled. “Tell me what to do.”
The room blurred around me, and I ached everywhere from my ankles to my neck. I should have studied at school more about the princess and her powers. But I’d spent my time learning PPD rules.
Acura stormed closer, yet I stood there helpless, staring death in the face. “Please don’t do this, please.” I raised an arm to cover my face.
Another strike smashed into my gut. I curled against the wall, riding a tidal wave of agony tearing me apart from the inside out.