Everwinter (Chronicles of Naelyra Book 1)

by R. J. Lloyd

  Looking at her, Kane’s eyes shot daggers. But when he glanced down at me, I could see his heart breaking in the depths of his blue eyes.

  The men had freed Indrell, Sarah and Oberlea and pulled them out of the room, but more of Kane’s soldiers and Aeden’s warriors were filing in, weapons drawn. Aeden, having assessed that Indrell was not harmed, stood by Kane’s side, flanked by Wulfgar and Lochlin. “There is no way out of this. Surrender.”

  Mika laughed. “I don’t want out of this tree boy. I want him.” She pointed her long, bony finger at Kane. “And I’m not leaving until he tells me that this charade is over so we can be together.”

  “What happened to you?” Kane lowered his sword slightly. “Mika, this is insane!”

  “This has got to be about the prophecy,” Lochlin barked.

  Her hands balled into fists as she shouted, “I could care less about this prophecy! Don’t you get it? Without it, I get the love of my life and this world. With it, I get him and the pick of worlds. It makes no difference to me.”

  I tried to lift myself, the pain starting to recede. But she wasn’t about to let me move on my own, not wanting to give me the chance to escape.

  Gripping my hair again, she yanked me next to her leg as I screamed out again. “You crazy bitch! Let me go!”

  The sound of more men came echoing in from the hallway just as Dorian came crashing into the room, parting his way through the crowd. He was breathing heavy and covered in blood. Blood that I couldn’t discern if it was his or someone else’s.

  “Mika!” He pushed through the front line, shoving Lochlin aside. “Please.”

  Lochlin caught his balance, recovering fast and grabbing ahold of Dorian. “How did you escape?”

  Another Everwinter soldier came rushing in. “My liege, Dorian killed the guards.”

  “I have him.” Lochlin shoved the former commanding officer to the floor.

  “Wait! Please!” He gasped for air. “Mika… they will kill you. Please.”

  “What are you doing here?” She spat, looking at him as if disgusted.

  Her reaction to him must have cut deep. Dorian’s brows furrowed with his pain. “Mika, I love you. This is a foolish notion, and you know that we are supposed to be together, not him. Please. They will kill you. The prophecy will kill you.”

  “Your love for me is inconsequential.” She refused to look at him again.

  Lochlin shoved Dorian toward one of the soldiers behind him. “Send him to the stockade. This time, don’t give him the chance to kill and escape.”

  “Yes, sir.” The soldier took Dorian. Slamming the hilt into Dorian’s temple, he knocked him unconscious and then bound him before removing him from the room.

  Mika’s posture changed. Looking at Kane, her eyes softened. “Please, Kane.”

  “Don’t do this, Mika.” He stepped forward.

  But his movement made her tense back up. She pulled me to my feet, resting her pointed nails on my throat. “But what do I do now? You were supposed to tell me that I was right. Tell me that this has all been a game, and you…” She faltered for a moment. “You were supposed to tell me you love me.”

  Not dropping his sword at all, his eyes narrowed. “I loved you, Mika. I have loved you but not in the way you have wanted. And I did not love you when I turned you. This is madness.”

  “No!” She screamed. “You do! I felt it in your touch!”

  I cringed. Nausea was already rolling up in me, but her comment sent a wave of it that made me gag. My throat flexing against her nails enough that they pressed into my flesh, drawing blood.

  She inhaled, taking in the scent deeply. Kane lunged forward, but she pressed harder. I could feel my blood trickling down my throat.

  “Mika…” He warned her.

  “Kane…” She mirrored his tone. “Come on! Why are you dragging this out?”

  There was a silence. Then, Kane lowered his sword.

  Lochlin shook his head. “My liege…”

  But Kane ignored him. He reached out a hand to my captor. “Fine. Do not kill her. I want my offspring.” His eyes locked onto hers. “But this ends now. Come. This has been a long time coming, I will admit.”

  As if she had been holding it, she let out a breath. Her hand was still on my hair, but her nails retreated from my neck. “Finally.”

  The pain that I had endured in the attack was nothing compared to the pain that shot through me as he took her hand. My entire world spiraled, and I if I had been nauseated before, that paled in comparison.

  But the anger. The anger that filled me was engulfing. When it reached my skin, I could feel the prickling of energy that was gathering. The entire situation flashed through my mind. The portal there. The feelings of being lost, scared. The attacks. The pain. All of the bad things welled up, pushing a level of energy forward that I didn’t know was there to be controlled.

  The look of elation in Mika’s eyes and the sight of Kane holding her hand was enough to send me over the edge.

  And it did just that.

  The scream that ripped out from within me was feral. It wasn’t one from a wounded person. Nor was it out of fear. Something deep within me called out… my soul screamed in agony. And with it, I gathered the energies around me and pushed them out.

  The emotion that wrecked me emanated out around the room, hitting everyone within reach. Each of them gasped, their hands flying to their heads or their hearts as they were pushed back. Each person tearing up as they were filled with such intense emotional anguish.

  Mika lost her grip on my hair and was pushed out of Kane’s grasp. Her eyes went wide as she spun on me with utter shock and agony written on her face.

  I couldn’t look at Kane. I didn’t want to know if he still reached for her. I didn’t want to know anything other than how to get out of there. There was no next step. Just escape.

  “You fucking bitch!” Mika bellowed, bent over, gripping her chest. “You do not get to ruin this for me!”

  I couldn’t find any direction to run. The doors to the bathroom and the hallway were blocked by dozens of armor clad soldiers and warriors. All of which were scrambling to figure out what just happened. Those that were able to react thrust forward but were met with a similar invisible wall that Mika has put around me when she came in.

  Mika stood, arm raised and the most anger-fill, evil smile on her lips. “Come here so I can rip that pretty little face off of you.”

  I leaped up onto the window bench and gripped the opening to the only way out. Glancing back, I saw Kane watching me. The anguish on his face matched mine. A fear which grew as I stepped into the open window.

  I knew there was nothing below other than the broken pieces of what I’d dropped to gain his attention. No cart full of hay like you see in the movies. No cloth draped awning to catch my fall and bounce me gracefully onto me feet. And I couldn’t fly. I could only hope to survive the fall and not kill the life growing inside me.

  The pain on Kane’s features were quickly replaced with hatred when he realized that the barrier she’d thrown up had sealed him in with us. When he saw Mika lunge toward me, fangs out and claws extended, he went after her. His reaction confusing me after what had just transpired. A reaction that cost me the precious seconds I would have needed to jump, and she was able to grab my arm and yank me back in.

  Kane pulled her off of me, and I fell back onto the floor, back to the solid bench seat now behind me. “You will die!”

  They grappled with each other for a moment as I slid to the side to the wall. Slowly, I stood, trying desperately to reevaluate what to do… escape or test my magic. I didn’t know how to use it yet. What I’d known from earth was all but useless – weak and nothing to do with combat.

  Nothing was coming to me. And nothing would. Not in time.

  Mika slashed her claws across Kane’s chest, splitting his flesh open and spilling his blood. She went to turn to come after me again, but he lifted her off the ground. Using his own momentum against
him, she spun and sank her teeth into his neck.

  “Fuck!” He roared, yanking her off of him and throwing her to the ground.

  The men banged on the invisible wall. Some tried their own magic to dispel it. But nothing worked. Nor was it doing anything but keeping me from thinking straight. It was that moment of distraction that turned the tables. And while I’d love to say that it was in my favor, I’d be lying.

  Mika, as she ripped out of Kane’s grasp, reached up and slid his dagger from its sheath on his hip. As he reeled from her bite and the venom it sent coursing through his veins, she sprung up. Launching from the floor, she sprinted to me.

  I had no reaction time. Her advancement didn’t drag out in slow motion. I hadn’t even seen her coming. I felt her hand on my shoulder, pressing me to the wall. And just as I hadn’t felt her coming, I also hadn’t felt the sharp blade of the dagger pierce the skin on my abdomen, sliding in until her fingers, on the hilt, pressed against me.

  Eye to eye, she sneered. “Because you took him from me, I am taking everything you love from you, including your life.”

  I stared at her. My eyes didn’t go wide. My mouth didn’t open. And for a moment, I didn’t breathe. I simply watched my murderer as she watched me. I expected to see satisfaction. Hell, I would have not been completely shocked by a hint of regret. But I hadn’t expected that her expression didn’t change. She still pulled her brows in tight, anger and jealousy blanketing her face without wavering.

  Unlike my lack in ability to see her coming or my inability to feel her run the dagger into me, I felt the exact moment the life inside me was extinguished. It was like a fluorescent bulb in its last moments before burning out when it clicks on and off in a haphazard patter of light until it blinks out, leaving everything in darkness.

  She held me there, watching as I faded. I could see Kane having joined the ranks of the rest of the crowd that was desperately trying to get to us, which meant she had moved her shield of energy closer to us. So, I was on my own.

  Something coursed through me. A surge that combated with the radiating pain. I reached out and clasped my hands on hers, both of us gripping the dagger. I was too weak to try to fight her to remove it. All I could look down in shock.

  Something became clear. A line at first, then two… three… until the entire spell came into focus. The cluster of words and symbols near my wrist stood out. My other hand let go over hers, my thumb running over the ink that had adorned my body for so long that it had become a part of me.

  It dawned on me. Every single spell on me was a part of me. It was… a part of who I was. And a part of this moment. Or at least one would be.

  I opened my mouth, but the nausea that had plagued me reared up, and I convulsed with the pain, blood pouring from my lips. But I choked it back. Trying again, I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand.

  She leaned in. “Your beloved vampire will watch as you bleed out. He will live eternity knowing he could have saved you if he’d just forsaken you and came to me. But now, you’re going to die while he is just out of reach.”

  “No.” I coughed, nearly choking on the blood I’d vomited up.

  Kane was on the other side of the barrier, banging his fists on the invisible wall. “Auriena!” He slammed his fists harder, his own blood staining the air in front of him. “Mika! Stop!”

  She laughed, ignoring him. “But yes.”

  “Fine, but...” I reached up, placing my hand over her heart. “I’m taking you with me.”

  I closed my eyes and whispered a binding spell. Finally, the anger radiating off of her shifted as she reached for my hand, but she was unable to pry it from her.

  The resonating banging of the fists of the soldiers, warriors and friends, trying desperately to come in ceased, but they were still shut out. I could feel them still as a heat rose up from where I touched Mika.

  The new flow of energy that had begun to wash over me had filled every vein, every cell. The power behind it grew and pulsed from the deepest parts of my being out past, rippling like an aura.

  My lips parted. But instead of blood pouring out over them, it was words. I read the incantation that was tattooed on my arm as I stared into her eyes. It was in the tongue of my mother’s family… one of the languages spoken by the man who had also held me captive, using my body as a living grimoire. I still knew it. My mother had taught it to me saying that not all in our lineage were bad. And one day, whether it be for good or to ward off bad, I may need to know it.

  And in that moment, I knew just how right she was.

  “Vin să mă răzbun pe tine. Să mă răzbun pe mine, viața și iubirea mea. Îi chem pe zei să se răzbune pe tine. Să mă răzbun pe mine, viața, iubirea mea. Pe măsură ce pierți, zeii să refuze toată mila.” As the last word crossed the threshold of my tongue and was uttered out into the universe, the heat between us intensified. With it, a light became blinding and started to engulf us.

  I heard Kane shouting through the barrier, banging his fists on it again. “Auri no!” he raged against the force.

  But it wasn’t just Mika that was holding it up. I was, too. I didn’t want any of them near what was about to happen. And while I didn’t know what it was, I knew it would be far worse than making them feel my despair.

  I was dying. But I was taking her with me.

  Mika froze, unable to move. She fought against the inability to even take a breath. And while she couldn’t change her expression, the fear that echoed in her eyes said it all.

  I turned to look at Kane, holding my free hand out to him. My blood dripping from my palm.

  He stopped, his hands pressed against the energy fore. “Please.”

  I touched my lips with my fingertips then held them out to him. “I love you.”

  “No!” He shouted. “No. You can’t go!”

  “I will always love you, no matter where I go.” I turned from him, unable to see his face without crumbling anymore.

  “Auri!” He slammed his fist down one more time. When I didn’t look back, he spoke, his words coming out ragged and hoarse, “I love you, too.”

  With one hand on Mika’s heart, I placed my other hand on her forehead. “What you seek for me be three-fold upon you. So mote it be.”

  The blinding light and inferno heat swelled up in a swirling, radiating tornado around us. The flames licked every inch of my skin, burning. The searing pain replaced every other sensation, taking over my senses.

  In that moment, I became the fire.

  Opening my eyes, I saw Mika’s flesh molting, flaking away from her. Her mouth was open in a silent scream. Hair waving in the winds of the flames, the ends singing away as the fire ate each strand from the tip up to her scalp. Her skeletal hands let go of the dagger and of me. The undead life that had filled her petrified and exited out of her mouth in a cloud of dust, carried away in the tornado of flames.

  My hand sunk into her chest without resistance. My fingers wrapped around the still, lifeless heart that rested there. It crumbled with my touch, leaving no possible avenue of return to any sort of life, undead or otherwise.

  The fires started to recede, replaced by the pain that had been there before. With one hand on the hilt of the dagger that was still lodged in my abdomen, I followed Mika’s burnt corpse to the floor as the flames receded completely, leaving only her ashes as a reminder that they’d come.

  I swallowed down another wave of nausea, planting my free hand on the floor so I didn’t go completely down. But I was wavering. It was a failed mission from the start.

  Looking up at Kane, who was clinging to the barrier, banging on it again in sheer frustration, I shook my head. “I’m so sorry.”

  “No!” He roared, dragging out the word in a soul crushing guttural scream.

  Everything started flickering out like the energy inside of me. Like the dying fluorescent light in an abandoned building. I dropped down on my side and rolled onto my back as I let the energy shield down.

  Hearing numerous footstep
s rushing over me, I only saw Kane’s face as he fell to his knees, picking me up to cradle me in his arms. “Auri…”

  “I’m sorry.” Everything went black, and I heard nothing more.

  Chapter

  Seventeen

  All for What

  “Bring him to me!” I had never heard Kane sound like that. He was completely lost in his anger.

  Then, it dawned on me. I heard him. That was Kane’s voice. Albeit full of rage, but as my vision came back, I was looking down into the room as it had been before it all went black. The only thing different? I was also looking at my own body.

  Within moments, one of the Emalne soldiers came forward with Dorian in binds. Standing him up, they held him before Kane.

  Dorian was clearly out of it, still reeling from the effects of being knocked unconscious as he was dragged out of the room. “Mika?”

  Kane ignored him. “You helped her.”

  Dorian’s brows furrowed as realization set in, seeing the pile of ashes on the floor near my body. “I hoped she would leave if I helped her escape to be free. I just wanted her to be free.”

  “You… helped… her,” Kane repeated, teeth clenched.

  “I loved her.” Dorian went slack. The Emalne warrior released him, letting Dorian fall onto the floor to his knees. Not realizing the peril he was in, Dorian held his head in his hands and sobbed. Or maybe he didn’t care about his own safety if she was gone. “I loved her. I wanted to save Mika and have her take me with her. I just wanted to be with her and love her in a way you couldn’t.”

  Kane looked back at me, his face contorting with even more fury. Turning back to the sobbing vampire, he reached down and lifted him up off the ground by his throat. There was no recognition on Kane’s face that he heard Dorian’s words, and if he did, he didn’t show any sign that he cared.

  He gripped Dorian’s throat harder as his jaw set. “She took my heart. Now, I will take yours.”

  Without hesitation, Kane punched into Dorian’s chest, bypassing the armor, the flesh, the bones. A sickening crunch resonated through the room with the path of his fist, followed by an even sicker sound as he pulled it back out, clutching Dorian’s still beating heart.