Throne of Fire

by Addison Moore

  I round the corner and find a glass door with a security officer outside looking as if he’s about to shit his pants. He’s smaller in stature. He’s jittery, wild-eyed, and full of palpable fear.

  “I’m here to relieve you.” What the hell. It might work. What else could a guy like him want to hear?

  “Thanks, man.” He slaps me five. “I owe you.” He’s so busy stealing glances down the hall, not once does he look at my face. Not that it would matter with the Halloween mask I’ve donned. He’s gone faster than Ellis was able to cut the power. I head to a second set of double doors that lead to an oversized lab. A smaller door sits against a wall of windows and, sure enough, I find a bed with a lump under the covers, dark hair cascading off the side of the mattress. I give a quick thump over the window before heading inside.

  Come on, Sleeping Beauty. I’m here to take you home.

  Kresley rolls over, and my stomach drops as Laken looks back at me. For a moment I forgot all about Ezrina’s dubious plastic surgery practice.

  Her eyes spring wide as she struggles to sit up and, holy crap, her stomach is bulging like a beach ball. Simply put, it is huge. Gage mentioned she was pregnant, but I wasn’t expecting her to deliver in the process, and she certainly looks ripe to do so.

  “Wait a minute.” She squints at me hard. “I know you!” she hisses low as if not wanting to alert the authorities.

  “Yes, you do.” I scoop her into my arms and storm back into the hall without offering her an option. She’s heavy as a battleship, not that I would mention it—but it looks like I’ll be needing to tap into my Celestra strength after all.

  The hall to our right is crawling with a steady stream of those oversized Spectators, roaring and grunting as if they were hungry to rip off the first head they could reach. And they will. I just need to make sure they don’t belong to Kres or me.

  “Wait! What’s happening?” Her fingers dig into my flesh as she buries her face in my neck.

  “Don’t you worry about it. Just do as you’re told, and if you’re very lucky, you’ll be back in Wesley’s bed tonight.” I don’t bother telling her who she’ll be sharing it with.

  “Oh no.” She struggles to buck out of my arms. “Do not take me back there. You do not have my permission.” Her fists beat against my chest lightly. “You take me to Host, or better yet, to Emma’s! She’ll take care of me. Emma loves me.”

  “I’m sorry, Kres. You don’t have a choice,” I whisper as we near the exit on the side of the building. “Do not say a word once we get outside.” I give a quick glance around the vicinity before dashing for the door and stop in my tracks when I spot an entire crowd of Raven’s Eye’s best and brightest milling around scratching their heads, bewildered, shaken—looking to a row of men that just stomped over, each with their own high- powered weapons as if gun power was their only hope, and they might be.

  Kresley shakes me as if pulling me from a trance. “We can’t go that way.”

  “We have to.” I glance back at the rows of deformed Spectators still trudging down the hall, howling horrific screams that I have never heard from them before, and the birth of an idea hits me. “Hey, boys!” I shout over to the deformed monstrosities, and a few of the stragglers turn this way, squinting, moaning—unsure if leaving the herd were a good idea. It won’t be, but that’s not my problem. “This way!” I jump into the middle of the hall and dangle Kresley at them as if she were a flesh-covered carrot.

  Kres grinds her face into my neck. “I hate you!”

  A couple of the Spectators turn their course and stagger on over, and I run toward them a few feet in an effort to lure the rest of them.

  “Would you stop!” Kresley grips her stomach and cinches her hold on the back of my neck at the same time, so hard and fast she could have snapped my spine. “I don’t want to die. Not like this. I’ve seen what they can do, and it’s not pretty!”

  “Honey, I think we’re the only two people who aren’t dying on this island today.” I give a sharp whistle, and just like that, the stampede has redirected itself and is coming this way, dangerous and slow as lava. I wait until they’re five feet away, and Kresley’s whimpers and strangulating cries let me know she’s not too keen on the idea. “All right, boys.” I lead the way out with Kres in my arms and nod over at the line of weapons drawn at us. “They’re coming!” I bellow and send the white coats scurrying like ants. “I’ll get her to the woods!” I shout at the spooked security detail. “Fire at will! Fire at will!” I can’t help but grin a little as I stride right past every armed guard that the US government has to offer, through the crowd of disoriented scientists, and straight into the arms of the evergreens welcoming me as if I were an old friend.

  The sound of explosive rapid gunfire shakes the entire island, the faint sound of screaming layered just beneath.

  “Fire at will?” Kres comes up from hiding, her chest rattling with a nervous laugh.

  I give a little wink as I traverse us to the spot I last left Brody. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”

  “You commanded those assholes like a boss!”

  Before I can properly accept my accolade, I spot Brody and another pair of shoes next to his, the owner of those shoes blocked by the trunk of the evergreen, but as soon as I round that corner, I see one of my favorite people, Gage Oliver.

  Brody takes Kres from me as soon as we get within feet, and Gage collapses his arms around us as the chaos, the sound of guns detonating like grenades dissipates to nothing. One dark sky is traded for another, and just like that, we’re standing in front of Wesley’s monolithic haunted house, safe and sound, for now.

  Brody sets Kresley down, and soon enough her enormous girth is exposed. She’s wearing an oversized hot pink dress, government-issued no doubt. Something easy to spot if she ran.

  Her face turns a matching shade as she looks my way. “I told you I didn’t want to come back here.”

  “You’re welcome,” I say just as Wes and a very pregnant mirror image of the girl we just rescued greet us at the door.

  “Kres.” Wes bolts for her and pulls her in, examining her blooming belly a moment before taking up her hands. “Forgive me.”

  “Never!” she roars before slapping him across the face. No sooner does she get the satisfaction than she grunts hard, clutching at her belly, groaning in pain.

  Laken is quick to hover over her. “Kresley, my name is Laken. I think it’s best if you come with me.” She reaches for her lookalike and helps her inside. “Wes, I think maybe you should stay away. Get Ezrina,” she shouts, and I can’t help but chuckle at the dude. Wes looks as if he just walked through a plate glass window he never saw coming.

  “It looks as if everything went well.” He looks to Gage, offering a congratulatory nod.

  “Because of this guy.” Gage slaps me over the back. “What happened?”

  “What didn’t happen?” I glare at the two of them. “They’ve fucked with the Spectators. They’re tall as trees and just as strong.”

  Brody offers up a voracious nod. “If they get off that island, there’s no stopping them.” He shoves Wes hard over the chest. “Not even an asshole like you will be exempt from their wrath.” He glares at Gage. “Get me out of here, man.”

  Gage and Brody head for the cobbled road and dissipate before ever leaving the grounds.

  I barrel past Wes and head into the castle. I’m assuming Ezrina will be here soon enough.

  “Two kids, Wesley,” I say as I head into the great room to warm myself by the inferno lighting up the rear wall. “You must be proud, and apparently virile.”

  An explosive laugh comes from our left, and I spot Coop making his way over.

  “I’m betting good money that the baby in Laken’s belly is mine. And just as sure as I am about that, the baby Kres is carrying is definitely his.” He offers a shit-eating grin Wes’ way. “Lady Luck hasn’t been treating you right for some time now.”

  “Very funny.” Wes isn’t laughing. “Se
nd Ezrina to the back when she arrives.” He takes off toward the shrieking going off somewhere in the bowels of this overgrown toilet.

  Coop shakes his head my way. “We need to get to Tenebrous. Do you have access?”

  “Skyla does, why?”

  “Because if I’m right, there’s something more to that place than meets the eye.” He glances to the flames. “Something downright hellish.”

  Gage steps into the room, the reflection of the flames flickering across his face as he strides on over.

  “You made it look easy.” He slaps me five. “Thanks, man.” He wraps his arms around me in a spontaneous embrace. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “Yes”—I say, looking to Coop with my curiosity piqued—“take us back to Paragon.”

  Rain accosts us as Gage lands Coop and me on the porch at Whitehorse before heading back to the Transfer to deal with Kresley, as he put it. We both know she’s a pistol under normal circumstances, but add an involuntary imprisonment and a baby that’s looking to make an entry into the world at any moment and you have a shitshow.

  Coop and I jump into my truck and end up in the Landon driveway. Skyla scuttles down in a pair of long rubber boots, an umbrella bobbing along with her as she jumps in the back seat. Coop texted and let her know we needed to head to Tenebrous.

  “I was just about to move.” Coop flicks his hand through the air as if wanting to make the switch.

  “I’m fine.” She waves him off. “Trust me, it feels luxurious to have this much space all to myself. Lucky you called when you did. Tad is late coming home from work, and he would never have allowed my mother to watch the boys. He says he’s putting his proverbial foot down. Allowed.” She gags on the word. “Can you believe he has the audacity to speak to my mother that way? No wonder she’s sniffing around Edinger pastures. Ironically, Demetri would have gladly watched the boys along with her. Tad’s just trying to teach me a lesson on motherhood. He thinks I’ve got it too easy, coming and going as I like. Please.” She sits up and catches her reflection in the rearview mirror, combing down her curls with her fingers, but I’m still stuck on the fact she said Tad was late coming home from work. Crap. I hope the guy makes it. I wince into the windshield. This mess was not my fault. There will be no blood on my hands from this one. A sigh expels from me. No matter how much I say it to myself, I don’t think I’ll ever believe it.

  Skyla bounces in her seat, still giddy with the excitement she burst into the truck with. I’m betting the fact she thinks she’s marrying my nephew in a few months has something to do with it.

  “So, Coop, how’s Laken?” She chatters away. “Last I spoke with her she was getting cabin fever in the Transfer.”

  “She’s great,” Coop says. “I was just with her.” He looks to me. “Does Skyla know?”

  I shake my head and glance back at her.

  “Know what?” Her tone is markedly less cheery. Skyla isn’t a fan of being left in the dark. I’m not shocked Gage didn’t mention it, though. Skyla wouldn’t have wanted me to go in. And if I persisted, she would have gone in with me. Something I would have never let happen.

  “Kresley’s home”—I shrug it off as if it were no big deal—“She’s safe. Might be in labor.”

  “What!” Skyla gasps. “How? Who?”

  Coop turns around. “This guy right here.”

  “Oh my God. Is she okay? And she’s having the baby? That must be why Ezrina said she had an emergency about an hour ago. Alice has an earache, and I was letting her know what worked with the boys. I have to admit I marveled at the fact Ezrina of all people would ask me something like that, but apparently she feels like she’s all thumbs around Alice sometimes. But Kresley’s back. Wow. Logan. I want to both kiss you and throttle you.”

  A quick laugh bumps through me. I figured so.

  “I think she’s fine,” Coop offers. “And with Ezrina there, she’s in good hands.”

  “Perfect.” She clears her throat. “Logan? Are you hurt? What happened at Raven’s Eye? How did the switch go off with Emerson? Did my mother work a little magic and make her look like Laken, too?” Her voice is sharp. Gone is the bubbly Skyla. The leader in her is front and center.

  Emerson? I glance to the sky a moment. Figures. Candace had a plan, and Emerson was a part of it. I don’t need anyone to tell me the specifics. I can take a wild guess. Candace arranges for Emerson to look like Laken, like Kresley, then dies in their care. The feds don’t go wild and lose their government-issued shit. End of story. A clean rescue is had. But that’s not the way this story ended. I wonder if Gage knew all of those facts? The thought has my blood rushing through my veins like ice.

  “I’m fine. Emerson wasn’t needed. In fact, I’ll fill you in on everything some other time. The details are boring, I promise.” I’m not sure if I just lied to Skyla. Other than the gigantic mutant Spectators, it was really unremarkable. The feds were quaking in their boots like a pound puppy on D-Day.

  Skyla’s mouth rounds out in horror as she does the Kragger math. “Okay. If that’s how you want to play it. But as soon as we’re done in Tenebrous, I’m heading to the Transfer. Poor Laken must be all over the place with this. That girl is still wearing her face.”

  Coop turns and nods her way. “And their bodies look the same right about now, too.”

  “It’s a sight to behold, that’s for sure,” I say, pulling deep into the Black Forest. We hop out, and Skyla takes up each of our hands. “Will you have enough to get us there and back?” It’s no secret Skyla’s powers have been waning significantly, and I hate that I know the reason why—hell, that I see it.

  She blows a breath through her lips. “I hardly have any power left in me at all, but oddly enough, as far as heading to Tenebrous goes, I’m just as strong as ever. Go figure. I’m guessing it has to do with the fact it was gifted to me by Demetri and not my mother.”

  My stomach sours at the implications. “I’m guessing you’re right.”

  The ground shifts beneath our feet as the verdant evergreens are exchanged for charred skeletal versions. The scent of smoke and death mingles in the air to greet us. Tenebrous, or the Tunnels as we called it for so long, used to belong to the Fems and the Counts. It’s where Celestra was imprisoned for longer than I care to remember—where our people came to die in droves.

  “Home sweet home.” Skyla gags as she waves her hand over her face trying to get a decent breath. “Can you believe this, right here, is where I met Wes?” She wrinkles her nose at Coop. “He sucked my blood like a real live vampire for the better part of what felt like eternity. God, I hated him back then.”

  Coop groans as we begin to walk along the sooted path, “Don’t tell me you’re softening your stance.”

  “Only because he happens to be the father of my sweet niece, Tobie. Plus, he’s Gage’s brother. That’s sort of taken the edge off him. But let’s be crystal clear. Wesley Edinger is the enemy, and he will go down right along with anyone who has ties to the Steel Barricade.”

  “Including Gage?” I can’t help but throw out the challenge.

  Her gaze hooks to mine. Skyla is spewing venom my way without uttering a single word. “So, Coop? Please end the mystery to that book Ezrina is decoding for us. Is there anything we can use to cut the enemy off at the knees?” She jabs her elbow into my ribs. “And yes, that includes Gage.”

  My gut twists in a knot to hear her say it. I’m sorry I even asked the question. I don’t think either of us will ever warm to the idea of standing opposite Gage Oliver when it comes to the battle line.

  Coop takes a few steps forward, hands on hips as he looks to the murky sky with its dappled purple clouds. “It was a map.”

  “A map?” Skyla and I ask in unison.

  He cuts a quick glance my way, and my gut says he’s lying or in the least not telling the entire story.

  “Leading to what?” Skyla catches up to him and so do I. “A treasure?”

  His forehead wrinkles deep with concern as
he shakes his head. “This is no treasure, Skyla. But it will explain a hell of a lot.” Coop pulls out a piece of paper. “These are my lousy notes: The ancient stone is where one stands. A necrotic draft leads due east. A place where the river bends. The woods twisted and gnarled.” He shakes his head. “A bubbling cauldron of pain.”

  Skyla clucks her tongue. “It all sounds so lovely, it’s a wonder we don’t vacation here.”

  “Coop”—I step in close as the heat of this hellhole begins to strangle me—“do you think it’s important we find whatever it is at the end of this pot of mold?”

  He stares at the two of us intently as if wagering something privately. “Yes, I do. Let’s see if we can knock this out. The sooner we hit the bull’s-eye, the sooner we can get out of here.”

  Skyla starts on ahead. “The ancient stone must be the stone of sacrifice. I’m more than familiar. It’s where Chloe and I bonded our suckered souls a year ago. It’s just one fond memory after another down here.”

  The three of us set out on this burnt highway of desperation and regret, nothing but the ever dimming light, the scent of a hard forest burn to keep us company until we hit the oversized slab of granite sitting in a desolate field.

  “A haunted house would be warmer and far more welcoming than this place. There’s not a sign of life here,” I say, taking in the dismal scene.

  “Evening,” a monotone voice rumbles from behind.

  “I stand corrected.”

  The three of us turn to find Ingram, alive and in the gray flesh. He’s always reminded me a little of a walking corpse. He’s slouched and long-faced—everything Nevermore is not. Ingram is Ezrina’s first husband.

  “Ingram!” Skyla speeds over and offers a quick embrace. “Don’t mind us. Coop is leading us on a little adventure.”

  “In Tenebrous?” He tips his head with curiosity. “Sounds like the losing end of a bet.”