by A. K. Koonce
“I said, do you think I am a pawn to be played with?”
“No.” The muffled sound of his voice can barely be heard, but I do hear it. “No, I don’t,” he repeats on a yell.
The violent winds halt in an instant. The swirling items drop, landing hard in a heap of a mess in the destroyed room. Warm sunlight filters in through the beams of the walls. The chatter of birds outside drifts through the silence as I wait patiently for him to untangle himself from beneath the broken coffee table.
“Goddess, I love when she’s angry,” Nollix says from somewhere behind me.
“There’s something seriously wrong with you,” Link whispers to his friend.
The man at my feet pushes at the debris covering him. White dust clings to the strands of his hair. When he looks into my eyes, he stares up at me as if it’s the first time we’re really meeting.
“Untie the bond.” The simmering feel of my magic settles to a dull hum within me.
Cameron looks to Berlin and their eyes meet just before fumes of pale pink smoke erupt from around the Warlock.
“I’m too old for this shit,” Berlin says just before he fades away entirely within the smoky magic around him.
“I can’t break the bond.” Cameron bites the inside of his cheek, not meeting my gaze as his eyes trail over the broken boards within the room.
“That’s a lie. Remove it or I’ll remove you.”
A humming sound of appreciation falls from Nollix’s lips and I roll my eyes at the sound. His hunger for violence is strange, but it suits him.
Why did Cameron even want me? Why break into the castle at all? Twice.
The memory of him asking if he’d be imprisoned within the castle twirls through my thoughts. He wanted to be there.
“What were you looking for?” Interest sparks within me and I can’t seem to stop it.
“Vi, we don’t have time for this. We have our own lives to worry about,” Link’s gentle tone tugs at my mind, but it isn’t enough to distract me from wondering what my father might be hiding within the walls of the Court of Darkness.
“Do you ever wonder why the King sent away his own daughter to the Wild Hunt?”
Every day.
“Not really.” I tilt my head at him, knowing he won’t resist telling his tale.
He shakes his head at me like I’m being childish.
I am.
“You’re powerful. The entire kingdom knows Violence Starling was a powerful little girl. It would only be accurate to assume you’d be an even more powerful woman.”
“Do I seriously have to sit here and listen to him woo her?” Nollix’s annoyance is heavy in his voice.
“What is the point here, Cam?” My gaze catches every emotion his features show me. Apprehension is in his eyes.
Can he trust me?
I pretended to trust him. He can pretend to trust me.
“Your father sent you away so he could breed an army.”
Breed an army.
“What kind of army?”
“An army of the dead.”
My lips part as my eyes narrow on him.
“How would he even do that? And, more importantly, I think you need to understand that what my father does is none of your business.”
He tips his head up to me and his pale amber eyes swirl with power. I’m reminded of how impressed I was with his abilities when we first met.
He planned all of that. He risked his life to get to me.
And now he has me.
He might regret that decision.
“An Elder Warlock wouldn’t have a problem raising the dead, or bargaining with the devil for souls. Especially if the King’s daughter is the one retrieving said souls.” He cocks a dark brow at me and I start to wonder why he’s making so much sense all of a sudden.
I never really considered where the souls we detain go. They go somewhere of course. I just assumed it was an afterlife of sorts.
Is he saying they’re being held somewhere else? Somewhere more … local?
“Why would anyone want an army of the dead?”
Silence pools after my question and I realize the other three men must be just as interested in Cameron’s story.
“You can’t kill what isn’t alive. With a little dark magic, they’d be strong. Indestructible.”
“But what purpose would they serve? Why would my father want this dark army?”
I consider the darkness that this conversation holds. It’s cryptic and disgusting.
I can picture my father doing it without conscience.
It also reminds me of the conflict that he’s always stirring with the cities to the south, the Obscured Kingdom. Would he really be so stupid as to raise a war with them after so many years of peace?
“I have no idea.” He shrugs slightly.
“Then how do you know it’s happening?”
He looks to the men behind me before settling his gaze on me again.
“Because your father stole from me first.”
My brows crease.
“A raid was done on my village in name of the King last week. His soldiers left with one thing. The book of Severed Souls was all that was confiscated.”
“Severed Souls?” I hate how lost I’m feeling in all of this.
“My great grandmother, Ebony Mary Crows, was an Elder Witch.” He pauses and I wonder if he’s leaving parts of the story out. Editing it to reflect what he wants. “The diary is outlawed in all eight kingdoms. It’s said she destroyed the text centuries ago upon instruction of Queen Delorence.”
“Obviously she did not.”
“Of course she didn’t,” he says with outrage. “I wish she would have.” His tone lowers as his gaze drifts to the messy space between him and I. “She enchanted it. It’s an everlasting script that can never be destroyed. It’s also the darkest source of black magic known to man; specifically used for keeping, strengthening, and using departed souls.”
What would my father want with an army of the dead?
Imagine the lives that would be lost upon impact with that kind of relentless power. He’s a reckless man. A selfish man.
A dangerous man.
“Don’t let this asshole lure you into his problems.” Nollix’s gruff voice tears at my attention and I look back at the three men.
Slowly, I stand. Plaster cracks beneath my boots as I stride through the demolished home. I exit through a large hole in the wall and Cameron trails quietly behind me.
“Where are you going now?” Jeriko asks in growl.
The sunlight highlights the tattered panels of Berlin’s home that now lay haphazardly across his pretty flower garden.
“I’m going to retrieve the book of Severed Souls.”
Before my father tears this kingdom apart.
Chapter Ten
Cock Blocking
The streets are quiet. Warm rain pelts down from the heavens as we stand atop the roof of the tallest building in the city. I lift my face to the feel of the water, letting it bead against my lower lip. It smells sweet and clean and free.
It’s a simple part of life that I’ve always enjoyed. It reminds me of a childhood long gone.
It’s only Cameron, Nollix, and me on this side. We’re on the back side of the palace, the secluded side, while Jeriko and Link lurk on the roof just above the entrance.
We’re waiting for the guards to close the front gate. Once the gates to the castle are closed off from the public, the security is lower. It’ll be easier to wander the halls then.
“I love when it rains.” Nollix sits with his feet dangling over the edge of the palace wall as he stares up at the clouds. The darkness makes his eyes a stormy color, washing out the pretty blue entirely.
It’s such a simple statement it makes me pause as I consider him. He’s always pushing to get under my skin. His confession makes my heart swarm with a strange fluttering feeling.
“So do I.”
Tension fills his frame before he pauses and looks back
at me. The small common ground seems to throw us both off balance and neither of us knows what to say now.
You’d think this Fae just confessed his love to me.
The sound of boots shuffling against concrete reminds me that Cameron is still tied to me. He seems to be testing our bond. I’m unmovable and he’s just a dog on a leash.
But he still seems to be attempting to push his boundaries. He takes another step, pushing hard just to move an inch forward. He does though. Approximately ten feet separate him from me. With a deep breath, he takes another small step. Slightly more than ten feet separates us. Another inch is gained. I cock a brow at him as he accomplishes another staggering step.
Nollix looks at me and, for a second, I feel like we’re both thinking the same terrible thing.
I stride forward with ease and take a seat next to Nollix.
My teeth sink into my lower lip as a stream of curses fall from Cameron’s mouth and he stumbles back, his body hitting the concrete hard.
The stars are my focus as I feign innocence in his accident.
“You’re just as evil as the rest of us.” Nollix’s voice is a deliciously low and rumbling tone when he smiles at me. It’s a real smile that makes the dimple in his cheek show. His happiness makes my heart fumble and I find myself smiling back at him.
It’s … weird.
Nollix isn’t friendly. Especially to me.
“Why are you being nice to me?” I ask, waiting for the ball to drop.
The breeze catches his damp, shaggy hair and he gives me a side glance.
“In three years, you never said a fucking word to me. You never gave me the chance to be nice to you.” He shrugs slightly, his shirt skimming my arm. “I just assumed you thought you were too good for us.”
My brows raise high and I think about every single time I ignored them. Every single time I closed myself away because it was easier. Every single time I shut them out.
“So, I’m not a snob and you’re not an asshole.” My boots kick lazily against the side of the palace as I look out at the little, glistening lights of the city.
His smile grows.
“No, I’m definitely an asshole.”
Again, that irrational fluttering consumes my stomach.
“I’m just fine, thanks for asking.” Cameron’s one-sided banter goes unnoticed, but I still listen intently for his shuffling as he tests our bond once again.
“Would you really risk your life to stop your father from having this book?” Nollix shifts closer to me, his body warming mine where our arms touch. My arm moves casually against his slick skin.
Yes, I would. My life was gone a long time ago. I can’t stand the idea of him taking other people’s lives just like he took mine.
“I’m going to at least try.” A breath shakes through my lungs. “You guys don’t have to do this with me.”
“That’s sweet, but I actually do,” Cameron says in the background.
“Goddess, does he never shut up?” Nollix’s hooded eyes hold mine before drifting down to my lips, making it hard to think, or speak, or even breathe. “We’re family. Where you go we go.”
The rain makes our arms glide against each other with every slight move and I can’t pull my gaze away from the serious look in his eyes.
Only raindrops separate his lips from mine. Reckless energy swarms between us, pushing against my chest. I lean into the feel of it. We’re so close his breath warms my tongue.
He tilts his head, angling my mouth perfectly over his. Not touching me but almost. My breath catches as my eyes start to flutter closed.
“You guys can still hear me, right? I’m still here, guys.”
Nollix’s eyes close slowly as he exhales a breath of annoyance before turning away from me. He shoves off hard from his spot, standing along the edge before striding away.
A tense breath leaves my lungs as I let my head tip back, the rain cleansing my messy mind of the strange feelings in my chest.
“Really though, you can still see me, right?”
Cock block; that’s the word that’s filling my mind right now.
Just like Nollix, I push off from my spot along the edge of the roof and attempt to put some space between me and … everyone else.
Chapter Eleven
Unseen Trespassers
The gates close with the shaking sound of metal against metal and the five of us are dust in the breeze before the lock’s even turned. I move slower behind the others with Cameron weighing me down, but I’m careful not to release him. My magic wraps his body so tightly it consumes him until he too is swirling dark particles.
We slip into the castle between a loose brick in the foundation, pouring out into the second-floor hall like sand in an hourglass.
Jeriko is the first to stand; he always is.
We’re an unseen group of trespassers, standing in plain sight.
“Where to, Vi?” Link’s bright eyes shine into mine. The dim lighting makes his hair more golden than normal.
“He has a vault on the top floor where the crown’s coin is kept, but this is something he’d want close by. Something he’d be working with too often to part with.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.” Nollix appraises the high-arching ceiling of the hall, taking in the small details of the polished gold trim lining the walls.
“It’ll be in his bedroom for sure,” I say with dread dragging through my stomach.
“Lead the way.” Cameron nods to me and I don’t hesitate for a second before letting my magic dissolve me entirely. I carry us down several halls and up countless staircases before swirling in front of the wooden door I know is his. The magical breeze shifts us through the keyhole, the metal skimming across my body as I slip inside his room.
Darkness surrounds me. The familiarity of the space is still there though. On quiet steps, I turn to the wall and flip on the light. A hazy golden hue spreads through the room as the lights flicker on. A large bed with neatly tucked covers sits on the far wall. Books of every shape and size line the right wall and his bathroom door is cracked open on the opposite side. But directly across from me is the glossy mahogany desk I remember him always working at when I was a child.
Jeriko and Nollix begin rummaging through the bookshelf. They literally pull the books out and toss them to the floor when it isn’t the one they’re in search of. Another book hits the ground hard, the pages folding in on itself as it lays open at Nollix’s feet.
“Could you show a meager amount of furtiveness?”
Nollix’s eyes lock with mine, reminding me of our moment on the roof. The knowing half smile that pulls at his lips makes me turn abruptly away from him.
I can’t believe I just cowered away from a smile. What is wrong with me?
“What’s the book look like?” Link asks Cameron.
It’s the first intelligent thing any of them has said or done since we stepped foot in here.
“It’s big. Leather bound. There’s no writing down it’s spine but has ‘Severed Souls’ in hand written text across the front of it.”
I take my time rummaging through the stack of documents at the corner of the King’s desk, skimming the thick papers to take a peek into his life as I search for what we’re really here for.
Petitions, proposals, complaints and agendas make a towering pile that’s nearly a foot high. I push them aside and sift through the rest of the parcels. Nothing of interest. The top drawer is locked and that alone drops curiosity all through me. I try to carry on, sorting through the other three unlocked drawers.
Not one book is found within the desk. My fingers push over the smooth, glossy surface, my focus holding on the locked drawer.
I could break it.
It wouldn’t take much strength to rip the desk in two, or even just crack the lock, but I just lectured Nollix on keeping a low profile.
The thudding noise of another book hitting the floor sounds through the room and I look back to see half the bookcase cleared off. The
books lay messily along the floor. Jeriko grabs the next one hastily, turning it over to see the front before chucking it to the floor with the rest. Nollix does the same, both of them destroying the tidy room without thought.
Link is looking under the bed, pushing back the heavy blankets to see beneath it. Cameron opens my father’s dresser drawer, his lip curling as he tosses aside a pair of white underwear.
Just as my fingers brush over the golden lock on the top drawer, the door opens.
Another book hits the floor, falling from Jeriko’s hands right as my father’s gaze clashes with Cameron’s.
And it’s then that I realize, the Warlock does not possess the same invisible magic that the Wild Hunt does. The magic of the Wild Hunt can break his body down to dust, but it can’t veil him.
Huh, who knew?
“You again.” My father’s lips thin into a hard line as he glares at the man holding up a pair of his white underwear like a flag ready to surrender.
“I—” Cameron looks to me, dropping the underwear in an instant, “I can explain.” he says slowly.
My heartbeat thunders through my ears as I take careful steps toward Cameron. I walk as if the floor is in danger of falling away, causing us all to come crashing down.
Link keeps his gaze locked on the King’s furious face, but I know he’s aware of me. All four of them are aware of my slow, silent movements.
As soon as my hand slips into Cameron’s he squeezes it hard. The five of us dissolve into the air, flowing away slowly on a whisking breeze.
I hear my father curse my name as we fade away from the Court of Darkness. The cool breeze caresses me. It relaxes me almost instantly.
We travel for miles toward a secluded meadow that always calms my thoughts, but just before we reach our destination, a stronger magic pulls us hard in the other direction.
Death is more powerful than all of us.
Chapter Twelve
Death
The universe pulls us through the wind, guiding our paths to what I can only hope will be the fastest death I’ve ever witnessed. Jeriko lands first. When my vision comes into focus, my stomach drops.