“I hope you still enjoy it when you rule over a burning world scorched by your own hands!” Kaya pulled her chains again, to no avail.
My stomach churned as I watched. And Ovid was the bad shrimp that’d set it off. With the carts outside the palace and Nash’s blood in vials somewhere in this building, the whole raising Atlantis insanity had become horrifyingly real. If Ovid pulled this off and took Atlantis to the surface, it’d be pure carnage.
“Your Majesty, forgive my bluntness, but this discussion is unproductive.” Faustus sat up in his seat, apparently done with their arguing. “Worse, it is wasting valuable time. The Bestiary weakens every day, we have blood to collect, and the carts are coming in.”
Ovid turned up his nose. “She must be reasoned with.”
“I do not think that possible, Your Majesty. She is a distraction we can ill afford.” Faustus rose from his chair and walked to Kaya. He tried to take her hand, but she tugged it away so violently that she almost stumbled. “You see? There is no reasoning with her.”
Proudly, Kaya went on, her face close to Faustus’s but her tone loud enough to reach the entire room. “I will not bow to the will of something, or someone, I do not bel—”
Suddenly, she stopped. Her eyes widened in shock as Faustus breezed past her. Instead of the last words of her sentence, a sickening gurgle spilled out instead. I watched in horror as her chained hands flew to her throat, scarlet blood gushing through her helpless fingers. My eyes darted to Faustus’s hand. A thin, red-tinged blade poked out of his clenched fist.
She collapsed to the floor in a pool of her own blood, her body twitching. Ovid didn’t move. The guards didn’t move. No one moved. The king just sat there, clutching the armrests of his throne, staring in disbelief as the life left his only daughter.
My heart sank like a stone. Faustus had killed the queen.
Twenty-Nine
Nash
The room was completely silent. Blood stunned people in a way few things could. They said only surgeons, soldiers, and psychopaths got used to the sight of it, freshly spilled. But I’d never believed that.
It trickled down the steps, glossy and sickening. Kaya wasn’t moving anymore, but she still wore a look of gut-wrenching surprise. The slash had come out of nowhere, a coward’s hit.
I knew knives. Faustus held the deadliest kind—razor sharp, like a scalpel. Thin for concealment, with an edge that could cut skin and sinew like butter. And he’d murdered the queen with it.
Something came over me. A red mist descended across my vision and logic. Damning discretion, I tore a spear from the hand of the nearest guard and rammed the butt of it into the back of his head. He dropped like a bag of rocks, but the worst he’d get when he woke up was a lump and a headache. Kaya wouldn’t wake up. These idiots had let Faustus kill her. They’d trusted him, and it’d cost her her life.
“Get him! Get Faustus!” I roared. Spinning the spear, I battled my way through the still-astonished guards.
Finch dropped the Mimicry act, likely so we didn’t end up accidentally fighting each other in our disguises. He joined my attack, blasting rounds of Air and Fire and Telekinesis until Ovid’s mercenaries snapped out of their stupor. Luke flung weapons out of the mercenaries’ hands, and Melody hit them with transformation spells. One turned into a mouse, another gained a branch for an arm, and a third had only skin where his eyes should’ve been.
“The prisoners! Seize them!” A cry went up. I didn’t know whose mouth it had come from, but it definitely wasn’t Faustus’s. He had barely moved, still observing his handiwork with a sick grin.
Apollo’s black mist swept through the air and came down beside Faustus. He was acting the hero. It was a natural reaction, after seeing someone murder the woman you loved. But Faustus was ready for him. That deadly knife slashed at Apollo’s throat, and he bent backward just in time to avoid Kaya’s fate. On the other side of the throne room, Thebian charged through the mercenaries with his sword raised, cutting left and right with more skill than I would’ve given him credit for.
“You will rue the day you betrayed your queen!” Thebian hollered, above the clash of metal on metal.
The only one who didn’t get involved was Lux. Hard to blame her, with Ryann’s body to protect. Still, I wondered what the use of having a Child of Chaos was if they didn’t do anything when you needed them.
The mercenaries retaliated, sparks and flashes of Chaos colliding in the air. Huntress raced away from Finch and dove through the legs of the men who tried to stop her. I knew where she was headed—to help Apollo in his one-on-one battle against Faustus.
Huntress! Be careful!
I always am, she replied without so much as a backward glance.
Watching her path drew my eye to the plinth where the thrones sat. Ovid knelt slowly beside Kaya’s body and pulled her limp frame into his arms. Not a king with a queen, but a father with a daughter.
Tears glinted in his eyes as he fixed them on Faustus. “What have you done? What have you done, you despicable cretin!” He rocked Kaya gently. “This was not the plan. This was not how I wanted to gain this throne. In the name of Ganymede, this is my daughter! How could you?” Bitter grief trembled in his voice. And rage. Absolute rage. The kind you could only feel when someone precious was taken from you.
Faustus twisted out of the way of Huntress’s attack. “There is a greater scheme in motion, Ovid, and we cannot allow any hindrances.”
“Ovid?” The king grasped at Kaya’s dress. “You dare address me in such a manner after what you have done? You will suffer for this, you abhorrence! You will pay the highest price!”
Faustus ducked a fireball from Apollo. Huntress went back for another bite, her jaws sinking into Faustus’s leg. He flung her off a second later. My heart lurched. Her paws skittered on the floor as she struggled to stay upright.
But I wasn’t resting on my laurels. Spinning the spear, I slammed the flat of the spearhead against whatever part of the enemy I could hit and drove the butt into the backs of their skulls. No deadly blows, but enough to down them.
Bedlam was everywhere I looked: exploding tendrils of Chaos, crashing blades, blood, sweat, and hand-to-hand combat. Finch whipped a guard around the legs and dragged them to the ground, only to get pulled down and punched so hard I almost heard Finch’s teeth rattle. Melody and Luke weren’t faring much better. Luke had gone into protective mode, using himself as a human shield. And these mercenaries weren’t messing around. I flinched and ran toward Luke as he took a blow to the stomach. I managed to hit his assailant in the back of the head, but another took his place. They had greater numbers, and we were slipping.
Out of nowhere, a blow cracked against the side of my skull. My knees gave way. Dazed, I hit the ground, and pain shivered up my legs. I tried to shake it off, but black spots danced in my field of vision. It only got worse when a figure appeared in front of me and a punch caught me in the jaw, jostling my confused brain.
Nash! A streak of white sailed over me. Growls and the snap of jaws echoed somewhere behind me. Slowly, I turned. Huntress stood with hackles raised, putting herself between me and the guard who’d struck me. He had the sense to back off, turning his attention on Thebian instead.
We can’t win this, Huntress said. She glanced back at me. There are too many of them.
We can’t retreat, either. I struggled to concentrate on her. Right now, there were three huskies, phasing in and out of focus.
“You bastard!” Finch claimed my attention. He lay on the ground with a knee in his back, his arms pressed against his spine. The extra power that had gotten us out of the prison seemed to have ebbed, or these guards would never have been able to take him down so easily.
“Atlantis will hear about what you’ve done!” Melody added her disgust to Finch’s. A guard had her in a chokehold. Luke fought against the two mercenaries who had him immobilized, but it did him no good.
Across the room, Thebian’s reign of terror had come to an end.
He was out cold on the floor, but I saw the rise and fall of his chest. And up ahead, Apollo had been wrestled to the ground. Even Lux had been forced to the floor, though she hadn’t put up a fight, probably a voluntary choice to spare her host. But I couldn’t understand why these turncoats had suddenly decided to back Faustus. He wasn’t their king. They’d watched him slice open their queen’s throat. What were they doing?
“This is nothing but idle chatter from the desperate mouths of fools who do not know when they are bested.” Faustus wiped Kaya’s blood on the sleeve of his overcoat. “I knew you would return. The moment the sirens sounded, I sensed it would not be long until we met again.”
“You loved her, Faustus.” Apollo strained against his captors. His voice thickened with emotion. “Why, Faustus? Why did you kill her?!”
“I have explained why.” Faustus sat on the top step and pointed at me with the murder weapon. “I am particularly pleased to see you again, Nash. We will need every last drop of Sanguine blood you possess once we have reached the surface.”
I knew it would come to this. Honestly, it was a bit disappointing to be proven right. Powerful people had a tendency to be predictable. Then again, I had the satisfaction of knowing that he was barking up the wrong tree. If he took my blood again, he’d get nothing for it.
“If you reach the surface.” Finch jumped in. “Do you think the Atlanteans will follow you after they discover you’ve murdered their rightful ruler? A woman who was universally adored? I don’t friggin’ think so. You might as well have murdered Ganymede herself.” His face contorted into a mask of distress. He might’ve had some issues with his ex-wife, but none of us had wanted to see her dead.
I noticed that Davin hadn’t moved a muscle, but the cogs were whirring, judging by the expression on his face. He’d gotten a prime position at the king’s side. Now, Faustus was threatening that. It served Davin to stay small and out of the way until he saw how this would play out. A coward, through and through.
“They will jettison you into the ocean for this,” Apollo rasped. Tears streamed down his cheeks. He kept trying to look at Kaya’s body, but his head snapped away each time. Somehow folks thought it’d help to see their loved one in their final state. But in cases like this, it was better to remember them before. This scene would torture Apollo for years to come. If he lived that long.
Ovid laid Kaya back on the floor and rose on shaky legs. His hands balled into white-knuckled fists. His mouth opened as if to confront Faustus, but no words came out. Faustus delivered a sharp backhand, so fast and brutal that the king didn’t see it coming.
Ovid lifted a hand to his smarting cheek but couldn’t find a single thing to say. The shock showed loud and clear on his face. He just blinked in confusion, pale and shivering, like a pup who’d been put out in the cold without knowing why. Grief and shock had clearly robbed him of his ability to act.
“Save your breath, Your Majesty.” Faustus filled the sentiment with sarcasm. “It will take time for all this to sink in, though it does not surprise me that you have been rendered speechless. You were never particularly articulate. Fortunately, you will have the opportunity to learn from me. In return, you will reveal any royal secrets that I do not already know or find yourself facing death once again.”
A storm’s brewing. I felt it. A dark electricity splintered the atmosphere. Faustus had his stage, and he wasn’t about to waste the spotlight.
“I have been thinking that it is time for Atlantis to gain new leadership,” he continued, turning the knife in his hands. “You are too selfish and easy to break, Ovid. And, as everyone has said, you are not well-liked among your former people. You are not a plausible candidate. Indeed, you are a rather laughable one. Kaya was the true threat. How tragic that you chose me over her. You really should have listened to these surface dwellers; they are much more perceptive than you gave them credit for.” He chuckled darkly.
I couldn’t contain myself. “Just because you kill a threat doesn’t mean the threat is gone. Atlantis will smell a rat, and when they follow that stench back to you, they’ll see you pulled apart by Kelpies.”
Faustus grinned wider, his pearly teeth flashing. “And who will inform them of what you have seen here? You mentioned me being jettisoned from Atlantis, but you will be the ones facing the dark cold of the ocean. A shame that you will not be here to watch me give Atlantis the leadership it truly deserves.”
I held his menacing gaze—and smiled.
His face twisted into a scowl so sour, it could’ve turned milk. “Why are you smiling, you oaf?”
“No reason at all.” Let him feel the paranoia. I grinned back at him, knowing it’d push his buttons. He wanted to hurt me, but he couldn’t. One explosive outburst, and he risked destroying his precious walking blood bag. And where would he be then?
If only you knew, Faustus. This Sanguine blood bank had run dry.
Thirty
Finch
She’s dead… She’s actually dead… Bile rose in my throat at the sight of Kaya. She hadn’t deserved a cowardly execution. She’d had a good heart; she’d just been blinded by her faith in Chaos’s guidance. I wasn’t just sad because we’d lost our last hope of a royal who could be reasoned with, to stop Atlantis from rising. I was sad because… well, because Kaya was dead. And she shouldn’t have been. Faustus should’ve been the one with his blood spilling down the steps, but the snakes of this world rarely got the comeuppance they deserved.
Ovid stared blankly at Faustus, a livid handprint on his cheek. We’d warned Kaya not to trust Faustus. Ovid should’ve heeded the same advice. Either way, this wasn’t a time for “I told you so.” It couldn’t undo what had been done.
“Do something, Ovid, for crying out loud!” I couldn’t keep quiet. Kaya lay dead on the ground, and Ovid’s men were obeying Faustus now.
Ovid’s face hardened as his rage overtook his grief. “New leadership? There will be no new leadership. This is my throne, this is my daughter, and this is my city. You will die before you lay a finger upon it!”
Ovid braced to attack. Radiant white tendrils billowed out of him like the tentacles of an ethereal squid. Grief and fury glinted in his eyes—a deadly mix. He reeled back, ready to unleash that luminous rage onto Faustus. But the serpent had other ideas. Quick as a flash, a shimmering shield of pale blue light zipped around him, cordoning him off from any assaults. He’d learned a trick or two, it seemed. And the white tendrils bounced right off the shield, doing no harm whatsoever. Ovid looked stunned, his fury turning to crushing disappointment. A weakness that Faustus took full advantage of.
The traitor raised his hand, a signet ring on his middle finger pointing right at Ovid. Blue light throbbed from the silver ring: Faustus’s Esprit. It was the magical equivalent of aiming a loaded gun at someone. “Curious, because I do not appear to be dead yet.”
He released a pulse from the ring, the fizzing blue blast slamming Ovid in the guts. Ovid buckled, bending double from the impact. A wheeze heaved out of his lungs, and his hands clamped down on his abdomen.
“And there you are, King Ovid, upon your knees in front of your new ruler.” Faustus laughed as Ovid’s legs gave way, leaving him in a swaying genuflect. A great word for a not-so-great moment. His hands clawed his stomach, gasps of pain hissing between his clenched teeth. Whatever spell Faustus had used, it looked painful.
“I suppose I could kill you,” Faustus continued. “But you are of more use to me alive. I have grand plans, and you will help me to achieve them. Now that Kaya has been dispensed with, you will be a puppet ruler, obeying my every order and seeing my plans enacted. And the people will understand, once I have explained why you were resurrected. Kaya left no heir, so we shall tell the Atlantean populace that you were brought back in order to continue your bloodline. I shall conjure some tale to clarify why it could not be Kaya, and all shall be well. I do not need to be the figurehead in order to rule.”
A loud clap ricocheted between the throne room wal
ls, bouncing back until it sounded like the applause came from all around. Faustus’s head whipped around in surprise. Davin had finally decided to enter the game. After finishing his solitary ovation, he got up from his seat and strolled toward Faustus.
“Congratulations,” Davin purred.
Not again… The Necromancer switched sides like I changed underpants. He’d clearly been sitting back, assessing the situation, until an opening appeared for him to ingratiate himself with the new overlord. I could read him like a book—one I wouldn’t have recommended to anyone. Zero-star reviews all around.
Faustus arched an eyebrow. “You took your time.”
“I like to observe, so I don’t find myself caught in the middle of a brawl. I’m a lover, not a fighter.” He smiled. Davin had turned up the smarm. Chaos, I hated that man. If Faustus sliced him open like a fish, I’d have been the one clapping.
“For a moment, I thought you might have lost faith.” Faustus took Davin’s offered hand.
“Not at all. You are the victor, and that is cause for celebration.” They shook hands as though it were a fight, with each trying to out-shake the other. “I knew you were perfectly capable, Faustus, the very first time you came to me at the prison and told me about Ovid’s plot. A man of ambition and strategy. I wouldn’t have spoken with you about altering the plan if I thought you would fail. I am an exemplary gambler—I always know whom to put my money on.”
What? Devious Doncaster clearly had his finger on the pulse again. I looked over at Ovid to see stunned confusion on his face. His silence spoke volumes; he understood that he’d been bested. And I doubted he wanted to see what else Faustus had up his magical sleeve, since he’d so easily rebuffed Ovid’s attack. Plus, grief could do weird things to a person. He kept glancing at Kaya, like he couldn’t quite believe she was gone.
Harley Merlin 16: Finch Merlin and the Blood Tie Page 26