Another building goes up in flames and has my anger reaching its boiling point. How dare they come here and terrorize our community.
The night carries on and my ability to tell time completely vanishes. They could have been here for an hour or it could have been five. I have no idea. My body starts to weaken, but I don’t let that affect my performance, I will push on until the very end.
I notice Brett Norrington next to me putting in a great effort, but he clearly isn’t a fighter. I do my best to stay near him and I’m glad I made that decision when Marcus, the old High Council member who was voted out sneaks in behind him with a gun drawn.
Brett doesn’t notice him so I call out for him to get down, but his position with the fairy he’s currently fighting makes that impossible. Shit, I’m going to have to handle this. I give the fairy I’m battling a hard shove, sending him off balance then leap forward and slice his neck.
I jump forward and land on the back of the fairy Brett is fighting while screaming out for him to get down. My voice is drowned out by the sound of the gunshot and I watch in horror as the bullet tears through Brett’s chest and he immediately falls to his knees and crumples to the ground. His eyes wide as they look at me in fear.
“Brett,” I scream. No, not Brett. A sob rips from my chest. I need to help him.
I give the struggling fairy’s head a savage twist before falling to my knees beside Brett. I hold my hand to his chest, trying to stop the bleeding, but it’s no use, he’s bleeding out. There’s nothing I can do to save him. “Tell him I love him,” he whispers as a tear runs down the side of his face and drops to the pavement, mixing in the pool of blood below him. “Go fight,” he demands.
He’s right. I have to keep fighting. I give him one final look as I watch in heartache as he takes his final breath. I choke back a sob, the emotions way too overwhelming for me to handle right now, but I have no other choice. We’re in battle. I have to put this behind me, fight, and then come back to it later.
I have to find Marcus.
I’ll kill him for what he did.
My arms are suddenly pulled back with such force that I fear they may snap off as I’m hauled to my feet. I fight against the hold of my captor and gasp as I see a familiar body before me. “Kaylee?” I demand, wide-eyed. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m sorry, Bianca but I have to kill you,” she tells me.
“What?” I shriek as I struggle against the fairy knights tight grip.
“You only have yourself to blame,” she sneers at me. “It’s your fault I’ve been outcast from my family, and it’s your fault our queen was murdered,” she says. “I’m going to kill you and then my family will welcome me back with open arms.”
I struggle against the fairy knight behind me, but he isn’t letting up and I’m almost certain I have some freaky kind of fey vines attaching me to the creep. Kaylee raises her gun, aiming it right at my head. What the hell am I going to do? “Any last words?” she asks with an excited smile. I quickly look around, desperate for some kind of way out of this.
“Yeah,” I smile, seeing Rylan raise his gun out of the corner of my eye. “Get fuc-”
Rylan's gun sings out twice and I stand as still as possible as a bullet flies straight past my face and buries itself into the skull of the fairy knight while the other digs deep into Kaylee’s thigh. She drops to the floor screaming out in agony. Her gun clatters against the pavement as she holds onto her leg with blood pooling out around the wound.
She looks up at me, pleading for help. Yeah freaking right. You’re on your own, bitch.
I look up at Rylan knowing that wouldn’t have been easy to do and gasp as I see a very beaten Brax sneaking up behind him. Can’t we catch a break? Rylan’s eyes remain on mine, checking me over for injuries. Brax raises his hands and I notice the glimmer of a dagger against the fairy lights that still hopelessly hang above.
I reach for my belt and grab a dagger. I fling it across the street with as much power as possible. I watch Rylan’s eyes widen in shock as he sees the dagger hurtling towards him and sail past him with practiced ease. Brax’s hands start to lower, his knife trying to find a home in Rylan’s back, but my dagger is flying too fast. It buries itself to the hilt just under Brax’s ribs, narrowly missing his lungs and taking him out of this battle.
Should I have aimed for the heart? Probably. Would I have been able to live with myself afterward? Probably not. At least this way, Rylan and Daniel can deal with him any way they see fit.
Rylan looks back at me in shock which is quickly replaced with thanks and I take advantage of the fairy free moment and dash across the street to fight side by side with the man I love, and to tell the truth, we’re probably better off fighting as a team.
“You okay?” he asks as he quickly looks over me.
“Yeah,” I say, doing the same to him. “You?”
“Fine,” he grunts, seeing a new flood of fey coming our way.
I take a quick calming breath before launching myself forward into the fray. “Jacinta?” I grunt as I kick another fey in the chest and send him flying backward, knocking another three of them over, which I quickly take advantage of.
“Nice,” Rylan commends. “Jacinta’s fine…I think,” he says with a grunt. “She took off with Nora.”
Thank God.
We continue side by side, working off each other’s strengths the same way we’ve always done during training, making one hell of an amazing team. I start to notice more and more of our Front Lines making their way towards the community center which I’m really hoping tells me that the fey numbers are starting to dwindle.
I finally lock eyes with Daniel and give him a nod as he does the same, letting each other know we’re okay before jumping straight back into it.
The sun is starting to rise in the distance and my body is aching when the final fairy is taken out, leaving the community center an absolute blood bath, and even though I see hundreds of fey bodies littering the streets, there are also some of our own, way too many if you ask me.
Rylan lets out a shaky breath as he turns to me and wraps me up in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he tells me as our Front Lines start to gather around us.
“I know,” I whisper searching his eyes to make sure he really is alright. “I love you,” I tell him.
“I know, I love you too,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to my dirty forehead.
He latches onto my hand as he turns to face the crowd of men and women of the Front Line. “Shit first day on the job, hey boss,” Daniel murmurs from beside me for just us to hear.
“Too fucking right,” Rylan grumbles before addressing the crowd. “This isn’t over yet. I know you are all exhausted and each and every one of you have done an amazing job, but the threat has not yet passed. We need a thorough sweep through the whole community. I do not want one more of those bastards left alive,” he orders before spotting one of his friends and requesting he take the lead in the search.
Rylan delegates another friend to put a group together and search out our wounded fighters. “Trey, Daniel,” he says. “I know you want to go find your girls, but it will have to wait. I need you to go find our members and ask for anyone who knows first aid to come forward. Do not let any children out to witness this,” he says sending them off.
The boys have barely gotten a meter away when the earth starts to rock and crumble. A hole starts to appear in the center of the ground and begins opening, wider and wider, creating a massive canyon right in the center of the community, and right down the center of me and Rylan.
He gives me a hard shove, pushing me away from the gaping hole in the ground so I don’t fall in. I stare at it in shock and realize that a hole this large could only be created by an extremely powerful fairy. This must be their new Queen trying to get her last piece of revenge as her war failed.
Everyone starts to crowd around and for the first time, I feel extremely far away from Rylan, even though he’s only on the other
side of the canyon, just a few feet away.
The new Queen appears, having teleported in and stands before Rylan in an absolute rage as she looks around, taking in the state of her fey. “Are you the one I seek?” she demands.
“Don’t you dare come into our community and make demands,” Rylan growls at her in absolute fury.
“I am the Queen,” she seethes. “I will do as I please.”
“Look around, lady. You’re no one’s Queen here,” Rylan says, then raises one hand, a direct signal we have all been trained with, meaning to raise your gun to a threat. The Queen looks around as gun upon gun is aimed at her chest, something not even her teleporting skills would be quick enough to avoid. “I killed your last queen with a simple bullet and after the havoc you have brought down on my people, I will not hesitate to kill you the same way.”
“How dare you?” she roars as she raises her hand and makes a massive gust of wind blow inwards from all directions, forcing the Front Line closer and closer to the canyon. I fall to the ground, the same way everyone else does and dig my nails into the bloodied dirt, desperately trying to hold onto anything to keep myself from flying into the canyon while also trying to keep hold of my gun.
Rylan uses the wind to his advantage, leaping into the air and flying towards her. He comes down on her hard with a massive blow to her side, using every last ounce of strength to fight her while not being forced in.
It’s a losing fight, she’s too strong and continues getting stronger as she soaks up the energy coming off the dead fey. Rylan has spent the whole night fighting and I know he’s amazing, but he’s also human. He can’t keep this up for much longer.
We are all utterly exhausted and I realize I’m going to have to help him in some way. I raise my gun as my body slips closer to the hole. I need to hold on. I take my aim as I feel the final bit of my strength disappear. This might just kill me, but if it means saving Rylan, then I’m in.
I take the shot.
The wind claims me as my body is lifted up off the ground. I fly towards the canyon with a terrified scream just as the bullet flies directly into the Queen’s skull, the same way Rylan had taken out the old Queen. As she drops to the ground, her power over the wind fades away and I begin falling, right down towards the canyon.
“Rylan,” I cry as I shoot my hands out and catch myself on the side. I dangle over the edge and I’ve never been so terrified. I’m not ready for this life to end.
I feel my fingers slipping and I know I’m only moments from falling to my death. He’s too far away, he’ll never catch me in time. My pinkie finger falls free, followed by my ring finger.
No, no, no, no, no. I’m not ready to die.
Rylan runs at full speed towards the canyon and leaps through the air. He clears the gap and lands on my side as my final hold on the edge of the canyon gives way and I begin to fall, screaming out in fear.
“Bianca,” I hear Rylan’s urgent voice calling as he throws half his body over the canyon and reaches out. He catches my wrist in his hand while his other holds us up, stopping both of us from plummeting to our deaths.
I let out a terrified whimper, but it’s not over yet. I dangle hundreds of feet above who knows what, held on by my wrist, a wrist that is covered in dirt and blood. Rylan squeezes my wrist, desperately trying to keep hold of me and I feel my bones breaking beneath his grip. “Hold on, baby,” he tells me through clenched teeth as his muscles and veins bulge from his arms.
I hear people rushing around him, desperately trying to help haul us both up. “Don’t let go,” I cry.
“Never,” he says as we finally start moving back up the canyon.
He is maneuvered around so he can reach me with both hands and the second his body is securely on the earth, he hauls me right up with him. I come flying up the canyon, scratching the shit out of my body in the process before crashing into Rylan.
I hold on tight to him and gasp for breath as I try to get my emotions under control. “Holy shit,” he breathes as he lays back on the ground in exhaustion, taking me with him.
I lay on top of his worn-out body, unable to move my own as I fight to catch my breath and calm my racing heart. “Yeah,” I grunt, listening to the sound of his rapid heart beating through his chest. “Daniel was right. This really is a shitty first day on the job.”
Chapter 28
I sit in Rylan’s living room with Daniel and Trey as Jacinta and Nora rush around, tending to all our wounds. I wince and cringe as Jacinta dabs at me with cotton buds and am thankful she does everything she can to avoid my wrist which we have pretty much confirmed is broken, but as the infirmary is currently overflowing with stab and gunshot wounds, my wrist is going to have to wait.
“You should all rest,” Jacinta tells us with a sad, encouraging smile, but little does she know, after the things we’ve just witnessed and done, sleep won’t be coming easy for any of us.
“Nah,” I say. “I’d like to wait for Rylan.”
She gives me another encouraging smile before nodding. “I thought so,” she murmurs quietly, knowing there’s no way I’ll be doing anything until I have a chance to see Rylan which is probably going to be a while. After he pulled me out of the canyon and let me cry on him, he handed me over to Daniel and went to help with the sweep through the community.
I shake Jacinta off when she starts poking at a gash across my forearm. “I think I’d prefer a shower instead,” I tell her.
“Yeah, that’s not a bad idea,” she says, looking over the grime and dirt soaked into my hair and skin. “Come on,” she adds, hooking her arms under mine and helping me to my feet. “You’re going to need me to wash your hair.”
“I’ll be okay,” I insist.
“Stop being so damn stubborn. You’ve got a broken wrist, you’re hardly going to be able to undress, let alone wash your hair.”
“Fine,” I grumble as we turn down the hallway.
“Let me know if you need a hand,” Nora calls after us as she gets back to tending to Daniel.
Half-an-hour later, after an extremely awkward shower, I feel a million times better. My body aches and stings, but the hot water managed to help, leaving me clean and making me feel like a new person. Jacinta rifles through my clothes and helps me pull them on before coming back down the hallway to find Trey asleep on the couch and Daniel lost in his own thoughts.
I take a seat while Jacinta stands behind me and brushes through my hair before braiding it. “Why don’t you take a shower too?” I suggest to Daniel. “It’ll make you feel better.”
“Yeah, I might,” he says, painfully getting up. “Thanks.”
I give him a smile before sending Jacinta off to find him some of Rylan’s clothes and a towel. “You know Rylan has a gun or a knife hidden in every drawer,” she comments as she returns to the couch.
“Yeah,” I smile, fondly.
The door opening has Trey’s eyes popping open, but it’s only Rylan. Daniel walks back down the hallway. “Make yourself at home,” he grunts with sarcasm as he spies Daniel in his sweat pants and top before coming over to me and looking me over again.
Daniel gives him a smirk, knowing he’s just teasing and flops back down into the couch.
“Are you okay?” Rylan asks as he leans over the couch and presses a kiss to my lips.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I tell him, holding my wrist up for him to inspect. “It’s broken, but I’ll get it looked at when the doctors aren’t so busy.”
His eyes grow regretful as he studies my wrist. “I’m sorry,” he says. “If there was any other way, I would have done it.”
“I know,” I tell him. “You don’t need to apologize. You saved my life…again.”
“Yeah, and you saved everyone else,” he says.
“How are things out there?” I ask, watching him move around the couch and take a seat beside me. Despite my cleanliness, I reach over and lace my fingers through his dirty ones.
“It’s not good,” he says with a tight, regre
tful smile before looking up at everyone. “You guys will be staying here a while, the hotel was burned,” he informs them.
Nora gasps. “Our things?” she asks.
“Don’t know, that’s not really our priority at this stage,” he says with a shake of his head, which honestly kind of makes me a little mad, after the devastation and destruction that has just occurred, she’s worried about her things. Seriously? No wonder, it’s taken us so long to build any sort of friendship.
“Oh, yeah…of course, I know,” she says, looking down at her lap, instantly realizing the error of her ways.
“Were there any more fey around the area?” I ask, getting to the important things.
“There were a few lingering around trying to find their survivors and teleport back to their kingdom. They were all wiped out,” he says. “The clean-up crew will be starting shortly, but it’s going to be a big job. I’ll be going back out to help.”
“I’ll come,” I volunteer at the same time Daniel says. “I’m in,” and Trey murmurs, “I’ll help.”
“Thanks,” Rylan nods to the boys then turns on me. “You’re not coming,” he tells me, then continues as he sees the protest about to spring from my lips. “You won’t be any help with your wrist.”
“Fine,” I grumble in frustration. Today isn’t the day to push it.
“So,” Nora starts. “Obviously our dead will be taken away for a memorial, but what happens to the fey bodies?” she asks out of curiosity, which to tell the truth, I wouldn’t mind knowing the answer to that.
“Honestly?” he asks with a devilish smirk as we all watch on in interest. “They’re getting thrown into the canyon, right where they belong.”
“Hell, yeah,” Daniel laughs under his breath.
“What’s going to happen now?” I ask him.
He takes a deep breath before a grim expression crosses his face. “There will be a mass memorial held tomorrow morning at sunrise. The great hall wasn’t touched so it will be held in there, then after that, there will be a private one for Brett,” he explains, giving me a tight smile, knowing just how much Brett meant to me.
Queen and War: Slayer Academy (Book 3) Page 21