Savagery & Skills: Books 1-4

by Ciara Graves

  She lunged forward again, and I barely managed to hold her back. Shane jumped in to help as she continued to scream and curse Raine out. I had to agree with her. His actions were inexcusable for a parent. For a king.

  She was unstoppable. “I hate you, you hear me? I hate all of you.”

  “So be it,” Raine replied emotionless. “As Karina said, our daughter died a long time ago.”

  Seneca snarled then blurred out of the hall, the doors swinging shut long after she burst through them.

  “Father,” Marlie said with a sigh.

  Raine held up his hand. “I understand you thought you were doing a good thing by bringing her home, but she is not your sister. She’s not our Seneca. It’s time you see her for what she is, Marlie: a monster who should be watched very closely. Once this war with Rudarius is over—”

  “Then what?” I interrupted. “What do you plan on doing with her, huh?”

  “That is none of your concern.”

  “Actually, it is, since she is not your daughter according to you. If you touch her, if you lay a hand on her again, what I did to your son will seem like an act of mercy.”

  Raine glanced to Marlie’s left arm and his missing hand. “You’re the vampire who maimed him?”

  “I am. And I’ll do the same to you, worse if you try to harm Seneca. You call us the bloodsuckers, but you’re the one turning your back on your daughter.” I nodded to Shane, and we blurred from the hall just as Raine ordered the guards to remove us.

  “That went well,” Shane murmured.

  “Could be worse. Let’s see if we can find some weapons. Rudarius won’t wait forever to attack.”

  “You really think they’ll give us anything?”

  “Yes,” Marlie said from behind us, and we stopped so he could catch up. “I assume you’ll be fighting when he arrives?”

  “Not about to back down now.”

  “Armory’s this way. We’ll get you fitted for weapons. And Seneca. She’ll need them, too.”

  “Two short swords, onyx blades. That was what she had when we first had the pleasure of meeting.”

  Marlie assured me he’d see what he could find. “I’ll take the weapons to her. I need to talk to her, apologize for what our father did.”

  “You want to speak to your sister while she’s pissed off and you’re arming her? Bad move.”

  “I don’t want her thinking I’m the same as him.”

  “Give her time to cool off. Trust me.”

  I could tell he hated to admit I was right, but he gave in and took us to the armory to get ready for round two with Rudarius.

  I very low hopes for our success, but if seeing so much death and destruction was what it took to drive the point home of how desperate this situation was, then so be it.

  It wasn’t hard to track Seneca down. I followed the worried glances of the guards posted throughout the castle and as they watched out for the so-called tainted monster in their midst.

  She stood at the top of the wall, facing the direction we’d come from. Her hands rested on the stones that had crumbled around her nails as she dug them in.

  “How long have you been out here?” I asked, taking in the amount of dust at her feet.

  “Not long enough.”

  “I come bearing gifts.” I held out the two short swords Marlie managed to get out of the armory.

  She gave them a sideways glance. “You trust me with those?”

  “I trust you not to murder your family, if that’s what you mean.” I offered them to her again, and she took the blades by the hilts. “Not onyx, like you usually use, but figured they were good enough to get through a fight.”

  She stepped away from me and swung them easily in her hands, the motions coming naturally to her. “Not a bad weight to them.”

  Each move she made was more beautiful than the last, and I was transfixed by her perfect technique. I was damned glad we were on the same side now. One almost stake to the heart was enough to tell me the next fight would’ve seen me dead.

  “Where’s my family hiding out?”

  “Not sure. Didn’t care to ask.”

  “Idiots. They’re all idiots.” She sniffed the air and hissed. “Time’s up.”

  I frowned, but then the wind blew across my face, and I smelled the same thing she did. The stench of death was strong, and it was coming right for us.

  “You ready?”

  “Do I have a choice?” She hefted the swords as bells rang out behind us. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and kill him here and now. Or not.”

  Or he would kill us is what she meant to say. The already dark sky dimmed even more, until it was worse than the dead of night.

  Orders for torches and braziers were shouted over the clanging of the bells.

  Soldiers joined us on the wall, silver-tipped arrows ready in their bows. They eyed Seneca and me warily, but when a red beam of light exploded from the trees, everyone inside the walls fell silent. It crackled like lightning across the sky.

  Seneca and I backed up a few steps, tilting our heads to watch the deadly light show. The lines pulsed with power, not disappearing.

  “Seneca,” I whispered, ready to grab her and run for cover as the hair on my arms stood on end.

  She elbowed me hard. Her face paled, and her eyes were wide in fear. She shook, and I worried she was going to drop the short swords.

  I followed her gaze and froze.

  Rudarius.

  He rose above the trees with his entire army in his wake. Glimmers of light shone from his left hand. Five in all. Five rings.

  “You think you can stand against me?” he bellowed, his voice tinged with dark power, making us all cringe. “The fae kingdoms will fall. In their place, will rise a new kingdom of death.” He raised his arms over his head with his last words and the red lightning overhead sputtered and shattered. Balls of red fire crashed to the ground sending soldiers and innocents alike fleeing for cover. “The time has come for the end of the fae.”

  “Draven.” Seneca shoved me hard.

  I hit the stones and rolled, just as a ball of red fire slammed into the wall, right where we’d stood.

  She screamed as the wall collapsed, taking her with it.

  “Seneca.” Smoke blocked my vision, and I frantically searched for her. “Seneca, answer me!”

  One of the soldiers yelled to open fire and then the vampires were at the wall, pouring into the courtyard.

  More climbed over the pathetic defense, as balls of fire continued to crash to the ground.

  Two charged along the top of the wall, lights glimmering from their hands.

  Rudarius had given the vampires rings.

  Three more climbed up, taking down fae, left and right.

  They’d already wiped out half the line of fae when I threw myself at them, knocking them down.

  I drove my two silver daggers straight into their hearts.

  They shrieked as they died, and I yanked my blades free, unleashing a battle cry.

  I blurred along the wall attacking with everything I had, all the while praying Seneca was not buried beneath a pile of rubble. Dead.

  Chapter 7

  Seneca

  I heaved the stones off me with a grunt. I’d hit my head as I fell, but nothing felt broken.

  I coughed as more dust fell around me, while the wall continued to break apart from more explosions.

  Of course, Rudarius couldn’t just attack like a normal vampire. Oh, no, he had to use crazy insane magic I’d never seen before, raining fire from the sky like he was the freaking second coming.

  I freed myself from the rubble in time to have a vampire throw himself at me, fangs bared, ready to bite my neck.

  I caught him and spun him around, slamming him into the stones.

  My swords! Where the hell were they?

  The vampire grabbed my hair and yanked.

  I yelled in pain, fighting to get free of his hold when something silver caught my eye.

  “You will n
ot win,” the vampire hissed as he tilted my head back further, his fangs aimed for my neck. He couldn’t drink my blood, but he could damned well rip my throat out with his fangs.

  My swords were so close.

  The vampire’s fangs hovered over my skin.

  I collapsed to the ground. He fell with me. More like on top of me as the move had caught him off-guard, and I scrambled to my feet, kicking him off, then rolled backward.

  I scooped up my swords and slashed them together right as the vampire charged at me again. His head toppled backward as his body fell to the ground, twitching.

  “Sorry. What was that?” I kicked the dead body out of my way and searched the top of the wall for Draven.

  There was no sign of him in the chaos that had taken only seconds to unfold. So much for Nova’s speech about their walls holding or their army being strong enough. Soldiers raced above me, but none of them were the one vampire I needed to see.

  If Draven was up there, I couldn’t find him, and there was no time to keep looking.

  I swung my swords as more vampires charged. Each one met a quick death.

  Across the grounds, I spotted Marlie. He was fighting damned well, what with being one-handed. He had a pile of dead at his feet. Captain Lark stayed nearby, protecting his prince, but there was no sign of the kings and queens. Nor the two princes of this kingdom. Figures, they’d hide away like the cowards they were, instead of fighting out here with their men.

  The fae were easily being overwhelmed as fire continued to fall from the sky. A few attacked with their rings, bursts of sunlight mowing down groups of vampires, but there were just too many.

  Rudarius had been busy building an army these past few decades, one that appeared neverending.

  A vampire launched himself at my back, and I spun around wildly to throw him off, driving one blade straight through his heart to hold him, then used the second to decapitate him.

  As I shoved his body off my sword, I heard Draven’s yell. He leapt from the wall with several fae, right before another ball of fire landed and destroyed it.

  I sprinted toward him until I slammed into something solid that grabbed me by my shoulder and threw me across the grounds. I rolled, narrowly avoiding stabbing myself with my swords, and spat grass and dirt from my mouth.

  A vampire stood yards away, glowering at me as she stalked closer, baring her fangs. There was a wild, hungry look in her eyes as I got to my feet and readied my swords.

  “So you’re the freak,” she shouted.

  “Really? You come all this way, and all you can call me is a freak? That’s sad.”

  “You turned him against us. Didn’t you?” she accused. “You took him from his master, from me. I will make you pay.”

  “Lady, I didn’t take anyone from anybody. He came to me.”

  “Liar. You turned him.”

  Then she attacked, and I met each hit with my blades. She had no swords, but she moved too damned fast for me to pin her down.

  I gasped in pain when she swiped her clawed nails across my face, then grabbed both my wrists. She twisted, and my fingers went numb, making me drop my weapons. Then she headbutted me, and I staggered away, seeing black spots.

  A glowing caught my eye, and when I was able to see clearly again, I spotted the glimmering rings on her hand. She’d used fae magic to bolster her attacks. That was just fine. If she wanted to use magic to fight, then so would I.

  Her fist collided with my face, those rings burning into my cheek when they struck.

  She went for an uppercut, but I grabbed her around the middle and threw her away from me and into the rubble of the wall.

  My rings pulsed as I focused on my magic, forcing it out of me. They sparked as if they were shorting, then they went out.

  “Damn it! Come on, you pieces of shit.” I shook out my hand, but then the vampire bitch was on me again.

  We punched and kicked, moving in a blur of speed. Dark shadows crept from her rings, surrounding me like ropes. She curled her hand into a fist, and those ropes crushed the air from my lungs.

  “Shame you’re only part vampire,” she mused, circling around as she squeezed her fist tighter. The ropes loosened for a split second, then tightened worse than before. If she did it again, they’d break my ribs. Hell, they might break my spine.

  “Lacy, let her go,” Draven shouted as he appeared behind her. “Your fight is with me, not her.”

  Lacy, evidently the name of the vampire attempting to kill me, sneered as she glanced at him over her shoulder. “What is that tone of voice you’re using, hmm? What is that?”

  “I thought you were dead,” he replied. “Killed by the fire.”

  “It takes more than an explosion to kill me.” She lifted her ringed hand, making me cringe as the pressure mounted again. “Don’t tell me you care for this creature.”

  Draven didn’t look at me. His lips remained firmly closed.

  When Lacy glanced away, however, his gaze found mine, then darted to my rings.

  Did he think I wasn’t trying to use them? I cleared my mind, or attempted to, but that was hard to do when I was slowly being crushed to death.

  I tuned out the fighting happening all around me, ignored Lacy’s taunts trying to get a rise out of Draven.

  I focused only on my beating heart and the magic that existed inside of me.

  After so many days of summoning sunlight, I’d become weakened. There hadn’t been enough time to recover, and my rings sparked once more pathetically, then went completely dark.

  “You have sided with the weak,” Lacy told Draven, cackling as she saw my rings fail me. “You will die with the rest of them.”

  The pain increased tenfold and several ribs cracked. I screeched from the pain, but then the ropes were gone, and I crashed to the ground in a heap.

  Draven and Lacy fought, snarling and hissing like wild beasts as each tried to get the upper hand. He was strong, but I wasn’t sure he could last against Lacy with those freaking rings on her hand.

  A burst of darkness shot from her hand and Draven was thrown through the air. She was on him a split second later, pummeling his face as he fought back. He was trying to get on his feet, but the blast had debilitated him. He couldn’t hold her off forever.

  I lay on the ground, holding my aching midriff and sides. Each breath rattled in my lungs and sent a stabbing pain through my body. I was sick of vampires. Sick of fae. I was damned tired of all of them believing I was weak, or a freak, or something to be used as a means to an end.

  Fury filled me. Fury for my family, Rudarius, and the fae who were too damned proud to call for aid when an army of vampires overran them filled me. I was not going to die because of their mistakes.

  Draven. I couldn’t let him die either. As much as I might not have wanted to admit it, we were more alike than I first assumed. He was the better out of the two of us, and there he was getting his ass kicked by Lacy.

  If I didn’t get to him, no one else would save him. The fae would let him die.

  Gritting my teeth through the pain, I pushed to my feet. My ribs were already healing, and with every step toward Lacy and Draven, my anger went up another notch.

  Every hurt ever caused me, every wound, every pain and betrayal passed through my mind, and suddenly, I needed a way to unleash so much raw hatred. Suddenly, I wanted to be evil and not give a shit about what I was about to do.

  A vampire threw himself at me, and I lifted my hand with the rings, catching him by the throat.

  He chomped his jaws as he clawed at my hand. My rings burst to life, but it wasn’t the pure light of the fae, not even close. Shadows wrapped around the vampire’s neck, then up around his face. He screamed as they tightened and crushed his skull. I threw his limp body aside and continued on.

  “Our Master would have liked to kill you himself,” Lacy was saying when I approached. “But I will just have to tell him in vivid detail about your demise. I’ll have the moment for myself as revenge for your audacity a
t ever believing you could have bested me. Say goodbye, Draven.”

  “Goodbye,” I hissed in her ear as my hand closed around her throat.

  I tore her away from Draven, slamming her into the ground as hard as I could. Her body left an imprint in the dirt, and I lifted her up to do it again and again.

  “How does that feel?” I raised her up to do it once more when she managed to kick me in the chest. I dug my bare feet into the ground, my rings burning a deep crimson.

  Narrowing my eyes, I beckoned her forward.

  She spat blood and grass then threw herself at me with a screech. As her fist came toward my face, I threw my left hand up and a dark shield of shadows formed in front of me, blocking her attack. Her fist bounced off, and she shrieked even louder with rage.

  Each time I blocked her attacks, I cackled as I witnessed her coming apart so easily.

  When she came at me the next time, I raised my fist to deck her, and the darkness swarmed her body, catching her in its tendrils, then flinging her into what remained of the stone wall.

  I held her there with my power, relishing at her struggle while at my mercy for a change. It was about time someone else was at my mercy.

  “Sucks, doesn’t it,” I hissed as I pressed her harder into the stone wall. “Being tortured by another. Caused pain by someone else.”

  She spat at me, but I didn’t give a damn. There was nothing this bitch could do to me to make me slow down.

  I lifted my other hand as the darkness swarmed around her like an angry hive of bees.

  “You can’t kill me.”

  “Is that a challenge?” I pressed my palms together, watching her struggle in vain, but she wasn’t breaking free of my hold. My magic was true, not borrowed. The sunlight, that had not come from me, I knew that now. This darkness, these tainted shadows, they were mine.

  Slowly, I pulled my hands apart, and the swarming shadows dug into her body, then ripped her apart.

  She shrieked as the shadows seeped into her very being, then obliterated her completely.