“You’re a real bitch, you know that?” I snap, coming to the end of my patience. I leap out, grab her arm and yank her to me, while my other arms rears back, forms a fist and nails her right in the nose.
She lets out an ear shattering wail as knights from all around appear out of nowhere and rush towards me.
“Don’t kill her,” she warns, holding her nose. “We need her. But, by all means, give her what she deserves,” she orders, then presses her finger to her wrist, disappearing out of thin air, leaving me to face the wrath of the disgruntled Fairy Knights.
“You dare lay a hand on our Queen?” one knight demands as he draws the water out of the walls and roots, creating a dirty cloud of water which hovers before me.
He smashes the water into my face, attempting to drown me where I stand, I kick and thrash trying to get away when he finally removes the water, giving me the smallest chance to take another breath before starting the process all over again. Two more knights come forward to hold me down as they continue my torture.
Next up comes an earth user, who uses the vines to strangle me, tightening and tightening, until I can no longer breathe, then just as I’m on the brink of losing consciousness, he loosens the vines and I gasp for a breath.
Next up. The air user.
This type of torture carries on for the next hour, each Knight taking pleasure in my pain. They finally leave me in a pool of my own blood. My body is physically worn out and I gasp for each and every breath.
Unconsciousness comes and I close my eyes, praying that death takes me before they have a chance to touch me again.
Chapter 18
Rylan
“Come on,” Daniel groans as he turns to me. “We’ve been at this for ages and we’re not getting anywhere,” he says as Trey pummels his fist into the fairy we currently have tied to the motel chair. “Maybe he doesn’t know where the entrance is. It moves all the time.”
“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 and his eyes widen 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’ve 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’s 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 and making sure he’s 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 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 and places 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, making her eyes widen 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’ve always been the best. I pride myself on being the best. But today, I doubt myself. My moves are messed up and my thoughts are scrambled. Hell, something as simple as a getaway driver, I didn’t even think about.
Daniel notices the look in my eyes and places his hand on my shoulder. “We’re going to get her back. if it’s the last thing either of us do,” he vows.
The fairy indicates that we’ve made it to the Kingdom’s entrance. He hesitates, clearly not sure he’s doing the right thing, but he understands his fate if he was to back out.
We each place a hand on the fairy and watch as he places his pointer finger to his left wrist. I stand behind him with my 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’s far too slow as I’m already raising my gun and 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 before hiding it in the dirty walls of the underground kingdom.
The boys and I don’t waste a second. With guns drawn, we take off into the maze of dirt passageways and navigating to the area the fairy said I should find my girls. I race ahead with c
aution, 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 my gun instantly rings out at the same time as the boys’. Between the three of us, they’re 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 realize 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 each take one down immediately, leaving three behind. The earth starts shaking beneath our feet and I realize 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 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, kind of amazed we’re all still alive. 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 with debris flying everywhere. I get up once again and am thankful it’s worked as I look at the non-existent wall. I find Kaylee instantly. She lays 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 don’t search long as we find her in the very next room, but getting to her isn’t going to be quite as easy as getting Kaylee had.
The Queen hovers above Bianca’s unconscious body with a knife at her throat. I take a quick moment to notice the pool of blood around her and the deep cuts and bruises that cover her beautiful body. I’m instantly filled with the most intense rage, but I need to be smart about this.
Daniel’s face grows ghostly pale. “Take one step and she’s dead,” the Queen orders with an excitement in her eyes.
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 of the Queen’s warriors appear at her cries, knowing I only have a small window to get shit down, I leap out. With lightning speed, I kick out and connect hard with the Queen’s chest. In the space of only a second, she flies 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 blossom around us as the Knights desperately work to put it out to save their kingdom while also trying to take us down.
The air grows thin and I realize, 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 thrust 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 with 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 have no idea how we’ve managed to make it this far. I know without a doubt that there are thousands of Knights and Warriors, but I have no idea why the hell they aren’t here protecting their Queen and have left her defenceless. Whatever their reasoning is, I’ll have to think about it another time.
I see our exit up ahead and relief starts to fill me. We’re actually going to make it.
The Queen appears before us, blocking our path. Rage fills 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 have no doubt she’s about to give it everything she’s got. After all, she didn’t become the Queen for nothing, and not to mention, she’s pretty damn pissed off right now.
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, trying to ignore the agony in my shoulder.
I have come this far. There’s no way in hell I’m letting a bit of pain stop me.
I draw my gun and attempt to raise it, but my injury makes it physically impossible. In the space of two seconds, Daniel notices my dilemma and grabs Bianca from me while being 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 and do the only thing that will save our lives. I raise the gun and pull down on the trigger. I watch almost in slow motion as the bullet shoots from the gun and sails through the air before coming to a startling stop right between the eyes of the Queen.
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 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’s already on it. We screech out of the park, quickly losing the Knights, though I know they’ll be searching for us. The quicker we get the girls safe to travel, the quicker we can get back to the safety of the Academy.
Once we’re far enough away, we work on rearranging the girls to make them as comfortable as possible until 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 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 book the room. 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 washcl
oth 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 relieved she’s 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 and her eyes immediately zone 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 handled 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 Daniel’s eyes piercing into me as I lead Bianca into the bathroom. I know he’s with Nora now and said he has begun falling for her, but this kid is most definitely still hung up on my girl. 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 pool in the bottom of the shower and turn red with the blood that washes off her skin. “Can you hold me?” she asks.
Decimate: The Guard Trilogy Page 17