“No,” Jacinta insists. “He knows. They can sense it.”
Bianca and Kaylee have been missing for just under 24 hours now and my patience is wearing thin. I stride up to the fairy, pushing Trey out of my way. I pull the gun out of the waistband of my jeans, grab the fairy by the scruff of his shirt and lodge my gun up under his jaw.
Trey steps up beside me. “Rylan, man, calm down. We still need him.”
“I’ll kill every single one of them if I don’t get what I want. Nothing is keeping me from getting Bianca back. You’re either with me or without,” I growl.
Trey silently nods his head and steps back, letting me do my thing.
Jacinta shrieks from behind me and quickly turns away. The fairy’s eyes widen in fear as he registers how serious I am. “You’re going to take us to the entrance of the Fairy Kingdom,” I demand.
His eyes flicker around the room, searching the faces of the people around me for any sign that I’m not about to blow his brains out. I flick the safety off the gun, his eyes widening even further. “Please, please, please, don’t shoot,” he stutters. “I… I just… I can’t… they’ll kill me if I give up their location.”
“I’m going to kill you if you don’t,” I snarl.
He groans as he thinks over his options. “Please,” he begs.
I push the gun further into his jaw
“Three.”
“Two.”
“Ok,” he cries, breaking into a sob. “I’ll do it.”
I nod to the boys who immediately get to work loading the fairy in the SUV. Jacinta places a hand on my forearm, stopping me from following the boys. I look up to see the most serious look I have ever seen staring back at me from her blue eyes. “The second we enter their Kingdom, you’re going to have to knock the fairy out. He is going to be a lot stronger the moment we enter his realm. Knock him out and stash him somewhere so we can use him to get out again.”
I nod in understanding and we both follow out into the midday sun. I hop in the driver’s seat and wait for everyone to finish up. Jacinta takes the front seat as Trey sits beside the fairy in the back. Daniel climbs into the open boot space, double checking over all the weapons we were able to get our hands on. I check the rear-view mirror looking back at him, making sure he is loading the guns correctly, though he was taught by me so I know his practice is near perfect but I’m not taking any chances today.
An hour later, the fairy directs me into a park. We all get out of the SUV and meet around back, loading up with weapons. Trey and I each check over our guns before jamming as many weapons into every waistband, holster, and boot as possible. I grab a few of the handmade explosives the boys had sat up making last night while making a mental note to thank Ben for suggesting we teach the students explosives earlier in the year, rather than at the end, like the curriculum had suggested.
Trey turns to Jacinta, placing two calming hands on her shoulders. “Babe, I need you to stay in the car.”
“WHAT!?” she screeches. “No way,” She looks to me for help, but I’ve got to say, I agree with Trey.
“He’s right,” I say, her eyes widening in fury. “It’s going to be a bloodbath in there and you have no formal training. You’ll slow us down, so unless you’re prepared to murder another creature in cold blood, then you’re not coming.”
She sighs in frustration but knows I’m right. A tear rolls down her eye and she fixes me with a hard glare. “Bring her back to me,” she demands before turning and climbing back into the car, slamming the door behind her.
“I’m going to pay for that later,” Trey grumbles as he shoves yet another dagger into his boot.
“You did the right thing,” Daniel says, clapping his friend on the back. “She would have gotten hurt in there,” he adds. We all hear the underlying comment in his words. More like, she would have gotten killed in there.
I make my way around to the back seat of my SUV, open the door and pull the fairy out. I drill him on the layout of the kingdom, specifically where the warriors and knights will be and where the prisoners are kept. I hold a gun to his temple, making sure enough fear travels through his body to ensure he speaks the truth.
Trey and Daniel stand at the front passenger door talking with Jacinta about how to manipulate the fairy to be able to be transported with him and after a quick discussion, the boys leave to listen to the directions the fairy is spouting.
We begin to move away when I notice Jacinta climb into the driver’s seat and turn on the engine. “What the hell is she doing?” I ask Trey.
“I told her to wait in the driver’s seat with the engine running in case we need a quick exit,” he explains.
“Hmm,” I grunt. “Good thinking.”
“Learned from the best.”
In any other case, I would have agreed with him. I have always been the best. I pride myself on being the best. But today. I doubt myself, my moves are messed up, my thoughts scrambled. Hell, something as simple as a getaway driver, I didn’t even think about.
Daniel, noticing the look in my eye, places his hand on my shoulder “We’re going to get her back… If it’s the last thing either of us does,” he vows.
The fairy indicates that we’ve made it to the Kingdoms entrance. He hesitates, not sure he is doing the right thing but understands his fate if he was to back out now.
We each place a hand on the fairy and watch as he places his pointer finger to his left wrist. I stand behind him, gun in my hand. The world blurs before my eyes then instantly disappears, turning into a dark underground.
The fairy snarls a delighted sound and begins to turn on us. But he is far too slow as I am already raising my gun, bringing the cold hard metal down on his temple with incredible speed. His body slumps to the floor and I immediately drag his body off to the side, hidden in the dirty walls of the underground kingdom.
The boys and I don’t waste a second, guns drawn we take off into the maze of dirt passageways, navigating to the area the fairy said I should find my girls. I race ahead with caution, knowing the fairies would be able to sense an intruder within their kingdom.
“Remember, they can feel the death of their own and will be able to pinpoint our exact location,” I remind the boys. They both acknowledge my orders with a grunt as they follow behind me, flanking at my sides.
We come down into the passageway where I believe the girls should be. But there are no doorways. Four knights appear before us and between the three of us, they are taken out in no time. We pass straight by their bodies and head deeper into the passageway. We come to where I believe the girls should be and realise I am somehow going to have to hack into these walls to find them.
Six more knights come at us, this time ready for our advance. We immediately each take one down, leaving three behind. The earth starts shaking beneath our feet and I realise one of these Knights must be an earth user. I grab an explosive and throw it at the Knights before they have the chance to open up the ground below us.
“Get down,” I yell just as the blast hits, tearing the knight's bodies to pieces.
I get to my feet and look away from the mess of bodies before me. Fire from the explosion starts billowing around us and I know I need to act fast. I grab another two explosives and jam them deep into the roots that make up the walls.
I dive for cover as the explosives detonate. Debris flying everywhere. I get up once again and am thankful it had worked, the wall now completely gone. I find Kaylee immediately, laying in a crumpled mess on the cold ground. Trey shoots forward, pulling his dagger out of his boot and begins hacking at her binds. I see him scoop her up into his hands as Daniel and I move forward to search out Bianca.
We find her in the very next room.
The Queen hovering above her unconscious body, a knife at her throat. I take a quick moment to notice the pool of blood around her with deep cuts and bruises that cover her beautiful body, instantly filling me with the most intense rage.
Daniels' face grows ghostly pale. “Take
one step and she is dead,” the Queen orders.
Nope. Not happening. My gun shoots out and I nail the Queen in the arm, she drops the knife immediately and cries out in agony. More knights and a few warriors appear at the Queens cries. I leap towards the Queen and kick her hard in the chest, sending her far across the dark room and away from my woman.
“Fuck,” Daniel roars as he jumps into the fray, gun drawn and taking out as many knights as possible before any of them have the chance to bring in their magical abilities.
Nope, too late. The fire from the explosions, blossoms around us as Knights desperately work to put it out to save their kingdom while simultaneously trying to take us down.
The air grows thin and I realise, the oxygen is being sucked out of the air, hopefully, to stop fuelling the fire, rather than to kill us, but I’m doubtful. Water begins being drawn from the wall of roots and is immediately splashed onto the fires, putting them out. Leaving the Knights to focus solely on us.
I scoop Bianca up into my arms, being careful not to hurt her further. She moans at the movement and I pray we make it out of here alive.
We turn to bolt back down the passageway to the exit, the Knights hot on our heels. Daniel continues shooting, easily taking out a few more knights. I look over to check Trey is ok with Kaylee. He has her thrown over his shoulder, while he throws a dagger, with all his might right into the forehead of a knight that blocks our way. We pass the knights body and I notice the vines in the walls beginning to move, they start to snake in our direction and I know this isn’t good.
Daniel grabs an explosive from his pocket and throws it into the fray behind us. Taking out the last of the knights and in the process, stopping the moving vines. I see our exit up ahead and relief starts to fill me. We are actually going to make it.
The Queen suddenly appears before us. Rage filling her eyes, but that doesn’t stop us, we continue on towards her, perfectly fine with bowling her right out of the way. She raises her hands and I know she is about to give it everything she’s got. After all, she didn’t become the Queen for nothing.
Vines shoot out from the walls and come right for us, faster than bullets. I shift Bianca in my arms and turn my body, protecting her from the assault, as I’m really not sure she could survive anything else.
The vine pierces through my right shoulder, narrowly missing Bianca’s battered face. Pain explodes through me and I fall to my knees, careful not to lose my grip on Bianca. Daniel grabs a dagger, raises it high and brings his hand down, easily slicing through the vine and freeing me. Blood pours from my wound and I get back to my feet.
I have come this far. I am not giving up now.
I draw my gun and attempt to raise it, pain shooting through my shoulder.
In the space of two seconds, Daniel notices my hesitation and grabs Bianca from me, careful not to jostle her. I want to take her back, but I know Daniel will guard her with his life.
We shoot forward knowing the Queen would be preparing for round two. I take my gun in my left hand. Doing the only thing that will save our lives now. I raise the gun and pull down on the trigger. Shooting the Queen right between the eyes.
I hear the cries of pain echoing from all around us and I know we only have milliseconds to get out of here. “Dude,” Trey says, breathing heavily and adjusting Kaylee on his shoulder. “You just killed their Queen.”
“I know,” I grunt as we reach the exit. I grab the still unconscious body of the fairy I had knocked out earlier and quickly place his pointer finger against his wrist as the boys grab hold.
It takes a few seconds for the spell to work with so many passengers travelling from an unconscious fairy. I see the rush of knights storming towards us as the underground begins to blur. I hold my gun out and shoot as many rounds as possible until the park finally comes back into view.
Still not out of the clear we sprint to the car, thankful that Jacinta is still sitting in the driver’s seat, now with the car turned around to face the exit. Fairy Knights start appearing in the park behind us as we continue running towards the SUV.
We reach Jacinta and dive into the car. “GO. GO. GO,” Trey demands, but she is already on it. We screech out of the park, quickly losing the Knights, though I know they will be searching for us. The quicker we get the girls healthy to travel, the quicker we can get back to the safety of the Academy.
Once we are far enough away, we work on rearranging the girls, to make them as comfortable as possible till we can find the safest motel to clean them up. I switch places with Daniel in the back so I can be with Bianca. I study over her injuries, hoping she can hold on just a little while longer.
Half an hour later we pull into a gas station. Daniel rushes in and buys as much first aid supplies as possible, then quickly barrels back into the car, shouting out directions to the closest motel. Moments later we pull in and barge our way into an empty room as Jacinta rushes down to reception to actually hire it. Trey and I carry the girls into the room and lay them down on the bed while Daniel fetches some water and washcloths to help clean them up.
I lean down over Bianca with the cool washcloth and press it to her face. The moment the cool water touches her bruised skin her eyes snap open and her hand flies to a choke hold on my neck. Not sure whether to be happy she is awake or heartbroken as to what she would have gone through to have caused this reaction.
I gently pry her fingers off my neck. “Baby, it’s me,” I say, running my fingers down past her temple and tucking a stray lock of mattered dark hair behind her ear.
Her eyes focus in on me and her body immediately relaxes, relief flooding through her. A sob rips itself from her throat and I lean down to hold her.
Tears begin flowing from her eyes when she suddenly gasps. “Oh, God. Kaylee,” she says.
“It’s ok. We got her. She’s ok,” I soothe, pointing in the direction of the still unconscious Kaylee.
Jacinta suddenly opens the door, her eyes immediately zoning in on Bianca. Jacinta's knees go weak and she falls to the floor as she begins to sob for her friend. Trey scoops her up and holds her on the couch. Pride suddenly fills me with how these kids have all handles themselves. Especially Jacinta.
A half hour later, Bianca’s tears dry up and I manage to get some water into her. Her voice is hoarse as she tries to talk. “Can I shower?” she asks.
“Yeah, babe,” I say. “Can I help you, or would you prefer Jacinta?”
“You,” she whispers. “Always you.”
I feel Daniels eyes piercing into me as I lead Bianca into the bathroom and I know he is with Nora now and said he has begun falling for her. But this kid is most definitely still hung up on my woman. Though, now is not the time or the place to get into it.
I sit her down on the edge of the bath and help peel her out of her clothes, cringing at the sight of her bruised body.
“How bad is it?” she asks.
“You’re the strongest woman I know. It’s nothing you can’t handle,” I encourage. She cringes at my words, knowing I’m sugar coating it.
I lean into the shower, start it up and help her in once the water has warmed. She stands on shaky legs and watches the water run down her body, turning it red as it washes away the blood. “Can you hold me?” she asks.
I strip off and climb in with her, washing her hair and body, free of the dirt and blood that coats her. Her face brightens once the clean feeling settles over her and she snuggles into my chest. I hold her as tight as I possibly can without hurting her as she rests against me. “You’re hurt,” she says, noticing the wound on my shoulder.
“I’m ok,” I smile, trying to reassure her.
This girl has been through absolute hell and here she is worried about me. God, how did I ever get so lucky.
Ten minutes later I wrap her in a towel, drying her off. I study her clean body, finally able to make proper sense of her injuries and am relieved that the majority is just bruising and nothing too serious. Though, I don’t know what could be said for he
r current state of mind after what she has been through. Though, I know she will tell me when she is ready.
I wrap her ribs to help soothe the bruising and rub cream into her wounds. Jacinta knocks at the door and hands me a pile of clean clothes. I get her dressed and lead her out into the room. Jacinta sits with her and quietly brushes her wet hair, then braids it so it is out of her way while Daniel hands her something easy to eat. As soon as she is done, Jacinta lays her down on the bed and snuggles in behind her. The two of them instantly fall asleep.
I watch as she settles into a restless sleep then focus my attention on Kaylee, I study her injuries which so far seems to have nothing on Bianca’s. Relief washes over me that she will be ok.
“She has a nasty lump on her head,” Trey explains as he notices my gaze on Kaylee. “I’m sure she’ll wake up soon, then we can get her cleaned up and out of here.”
I nod in agreement.
Trey eventually falls asleep on the couch while Daniel sprawls out on the floor with a blanket. I take a seat at the too small desk and watch over the people who have, in the space of 24 hours earned my utmost respect.
Chapter 19
I wake to the sound of hushed whispers around me. I keep my eyes closed as the memories of the last two days come rushing back. God, I am so thankful to be alive.
“I know you’re awake,” my favourite voice whispers from beside me.
I open one eye, a headache instantly making itself known as I squint into the brightness of the room. I find Rylan crouching down beside the bed. “Hi,” I whisper to this beautiful man who risked his life to save me. “How’s your shoulder?”
He shakes his head and I let out a giggle, knowing just how frustrated my question would make him.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, running his fingers, ever so gently down my face.
“Ok,” I say. “My throat is a little sore and I have the mother of all headaches.”
Decimate: The Guard Troligy (Book 2) (The Guard Trilogy) Page 17