There is only one person I can think of whose presence could summon up the spirits of the dead.
It’s Erick.
Seconds go by before I am tossed in the opposite direction like a rag doll, hitting the floor hard. The metal gloves break, freeing my palms. The chains on my ankles yank me in another direction, and then I land face first on the granite flooring. Thank God my face isn’t made of glass.
The WarMan assumes a fighting stance and sends multiple orbs of fiery energy into the increasing number of spirits to no avail. The orbs disintegrate upon contact and the spirits multiply.
And then they attack.
They swarm into him, flooding his body, stripping him of necessary organs upon their exit until he crumbles to dust. The pain from the fall floods through my knees, into my thighs and radiates upward into my shoulders. Still, I force myself to stand.
“Destiny!” Erick’s voice echoes from up the stairs.
“Yeah? I’m down here,” I mumble, still struggling to get up.
While he races down the stairs, the fighting outside becomes more intense. Mournful wails echo through the walls. A blast of energy rocks the palace, creating a small fissure just beneath me. And just as I push myself up, he gently grabs me by my elbow and raises me up. The warmth of his hands offer a calming effect on my frayed nerves.
“We have to get you out of here,” he breathes.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “The only way to put an end to this, is to beat Karrine. We can run forever, and she will still hunt me and my daughter. I can’t live like that.”
“You have no idea who you are dealing with Destiny,” he warns me. “That female is about as ruthless and conniving as they come.”
“But now that I am probably at full strength, she can’t beat me,” I say, amazed by own boost of self-confidence.
Erick’s expression remains unreadable. “She killed your father who is the goddamn progenitor of Mercuria…”
“Yeah, well still,” I continue. “I can’t allow her to win.”
Now it’s Erick’s turn to shake his head. “We will have to discuss this later. We have to leave. Now.”
As more chaos ensues above us, Erick kneels down and snaps off the chains that bind my feet before taking my hand and leading us towards the exit. My only thought as we race up the steps is how badly I want all of this to end. My foot gets caught on the edge of the last step, but Erick catches me before my knees take another hit.
“Clumsy…” he grumbles loud enough for me to hear him.
“Whatever.”
He half drags me, and I half-stumble through the doorway, just to find we are greeted by three super-charged WarMen.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I snap. “What are they on, steroids?”
Erick mumbles something unintelligible, but I don’t have time to think about it. I send a blast of white-hot energy into all three of them, incinerating them on contact.
“You’ve grown stronger since you’ve been here,” Eric says.
I detect a hint of pride in his voice but I only shrug. He grabs me by the hand, leading us down another corridor that seemed to go on forever.
“Damn,” I breathe. “How many passageways does she have here?”
“Too many,” Erick muttered. “And this isn’t even her main…”
His voice trails off as we come to a quick stop. Standing in front of us is the very woman whose deadly beauty haunted me for most of my life. She stood, just a few feet ahead of me, dressed in black lace robing, her creamy café au lait skin creating its own ethereal glow in the low lighting of the hall. Her eyes followed me, watching my every movement, including the subtle rise and fall of my chest and shoulders as I took in each breath. Hatred burned in those dark eyes of hers, along with something else. I always wondered what this moment would be like. Would I fear her as I did in my dreams?
This is the woman who coveted my power. This is the woman who killed my father and the creator of this world for control of magic that was not her own. And here she stands before me…my enemy.
I almost gasp when I realize that she is guarded by the blonde Mercurian who fought valiantly against the Queen’s guards back at the airport. Hell, she stood her ground against me and Erick when we were first on the run from them…and now she stands before me to guard the very being who killed my father! Does that mean that the other two males who were also with her, back when we were being hunted are all Loyalists?
My mind races, thinking back to the hotel when Cecilia first introduced herself and then at the airport…Could this mean that Demetrius and Cecilia were in on this from the start, too?
“I always knew you were a bitch,” Erick growls. “An idiotic, simple minded cunt who truly fits the definition of a blonde.”
“Erick!” The Queen scolds sharply. “That isn’t a nice way to greet an old friend.” Her gaze returns to me and remains focused on where I stand. “Besides, you never met your end of the bargain…”
Erick shakes his head. “She is here Karrine,” he says slowly.
“Not by your doing.”
“Doesn’t matter. The point is she is here.” Erick looks at my stunned expression and looks away. “Where is Kara?”
I swallow thickly. Even at the last moment, fifty ninth hour, fifty ninth second, I am still expendable to this man. Despite everything that we have been through…
“Kara?” The Queen asks, feigning surprise. “Oh, you mean your wife?”
The taunting smile she wears widens as Erick’s grasp of control loosens.
“Yes. Where is she?”
The blonde turns around and the two females share a look before they break out in laughter. The two males glance at each other but their expressions remain stoic. My palms tingle with energy and the only thing I can think of is getting out of Mercuria and getting back to my daughter. If Cecilia or that prickly bastard Demetrius hurt my daughter…
“Kara is dead, just like our arrangement.” Karrine stated coldly.
Slow footsteps echo from behind us and I quickly turn to see who it could be. Demetrius limped forward, blood oozing from his temples, his nose and his mouth. Exposed muscle mass on his right leg made me cringe. How this man is still standing is beyond me, but white- hot rage burns through his gaze. His focus is first on the blonde and then on Karrine. The two males prepare to face off with him, and Erick pulls me behind him as if he knew what was to come next.
Agatha becomes the wind.
And just like that Demetrius barely misses the hard swing of her short blade. Instead of cutting through his shoulder, it cuts off a loc of his. One of the tall dark-haired men lunge forward to assist the woman, but Erick stops him short by sending a dark shadow into his back. The man stops and gasps for air, falling to his knees choking before the shadow exits the man’s chest with his heart. The hard smack of the bloody organ hitting the floor seemed louder than Demetrius’ punch to the blonde’s face.
I can’t do this anymore. Hiding. That is what I refuse to do anymore. Karrine’s dark stare still haunts me, even as I close my eyes and suck in a deep calming breath. The hard pounding of footsteps from behind remind me that there will be no walking away from this without a fight. Without bloodshed. The cries of Mercurians still echo through my veins, of both the past and the present. And if nothing is done now, their cries will haunt the future, even as the barely audible whispers of the wind. They are my people as they were my father’s.
But my father did not treat everyone the same, and as a result, many of them suffered.
I also suffered.
Pushing myself away from Erick, my palms glowing an electric blue, everything and everyone freezes. Demetrius and the blonde remain as still as a statue, frozen in a fight to the deathmatch with the blonde’s blade angled just inches away from Demetrius’ throat. Erick, despite being frozen in his stance, still watches me. His eyes questioning what I am about to do.
And yet the only person who seems unaffected by my power is Karrine. Our e
yes meet, and a victorious smile spreads across her face. Slowly she extends her arm and in a dramatic fashion, opens her palm to reveal a glowing red stone.
“Your father thought he was so powerful,” she sneers as she begins to step forward. “Perhaps, the most fatal mistake he ever made.”
“Murdering my father still brought you ruin,” I gritted through my teeth. “You forgot that you don’t possess the magic to keep this world alive and because of you, you nearly sentenced everyone to death!”
“You know nothing about this world!” Karrine snapped. “But I will make sure that you know everything about the next!”
I don’t know what hit me. But whatever that stone is, the dark energy she summoned from it, engulfed my entire being. The dark magic burned my flesh, tearing away at it until it reached bone. I scream until the fire fills my lungs and strips away my voice. Erick’s voice is muted by the searing pain. It is a battle to remain conscious, and yet the last thing I see is Erick’s fist connecting with Karrine’s jaw and the two other males that remained silent lunging towards him.
We came so close to winning.
So, very close.
Summer, your mommy loves you.
Stay strong baby…
Chapter Thirty- Nine
Erick
The stone! How and when did Karrine acquire the stone? My mind races as Karrine smiles wickedly when the red light of the bloodstone ignites. That stone will not only kill Destiny but strip her of her power. Destiny’s screams rip through me and within seconds just as her power dips, her hold on time is unlocked. I know about the stone. Karrine’s gaze remains focused on Destiny while the roars of approaching WarMen are closing in from behind, reminding me that I must act quickly.
There was a time when I witnessed my mother unleash the full power of a Cursed, into a royal guard who thought he could have his way with her. My father had gone to work in the mines as ordered by Mercury, leaving us alone to deal with the misery of how we were treated. Like most of the royal guards, this one had paraded in the dark streets of our ghettos searching for trouble, taunting and challenging those of us with dark magic, hoping to start a fight. Most refused, opting to cower than to face further punishment, if brave enough to respond. But my mother was beautiful. Her dark magic enhancing that rare beauty of hers, likening her to the mysteriousness of a siren.
The guard approached us on a night when neither moon was full. And that is when I learned what she – what I – could do….
“Tu tu ma-aat tei yu naiyum k una,” I begin to chant, opening my arms wide. A dark orb forms near the center of my chest and all physical reality melts away.
“Soom ka na ta tua,” I whisper. Darkness creeps along the edges of the white backdrop that surrounds us. Demetrius is still holding his own in battle against Agatha, after Thaddeus and Drakus having joined the fight. His energy is diminishing, and as much as that male has irked my nerves, my respect for him runs deep. Agatha and her two stooges will pay too.
Karrine’s eyes are no longer on Destiny but are narrowed with their heat-seeking focus on me. The stone stops glowing, and Destiny is finally freed from the painful imprisonment of its power, yet she remains unconscious.
“I should have killed you a long time ago,” Karrine hisses.
“Then do it now and be done with it,” I challenge her.
I never take my eyes off of her as she circles me, hands hanging loosely at her sides. “You and I could have ruled together as a true king and queen partnership,” she says.
“I had better options,” I shrug.
“Then you will die in the same manner as Kara did. I always wanted to know what it felt like to hold the magic of a Cursed!” Karrine sends out a telekinetic energy that attempts to lasso me, but I duck just in time. My palms hit the ground and from it rises several dark shadow entities that tower over both of us like sentinels. I mentally send a command for two to assist Demetrius just seconds before Agatha stabs him in the chest. Karrine launches her own attack, sending bolts of lightning into the shadow warriors, successfully incinerating one of them.
“Ma na ma ka!” I shout as more spirits step forward, melting through the walls from the realms of the dead, heading directly for Karrine. She swats them away like gnats using elemental magic -the very power that Kara possessed. From fire to electricity, Karrine fights away the angry spirits with a vengeance.
I am so sorry Kara…
Rage nearly blinds me as I conjure up more dark power into a concentrated ball before sending it directly into Karrine. She screams as she takes the hit and I watch without mercy as it is absorbed into her body. You see, Karrine forgot something about the kind of magic I possess. My mother had it. Her father had it. His grandmother had it. And so forth. Only one in each generation of my family was born with this innate and lethal ability.
Her body bounces onto the ground, along with the blood stone. More screams echo throughout the hall, including that of Agatha as the spirits of the dead take hold of her. She fights like a mad woman as four individual spirits take hold of her limbs, pulling in separate directions. I turn my head just before they tear her into sections. Thaddeus and Drakus suffer the same fate. But nothing is as satisfying as watching Agatha’s disembodied spirit rise from her remains only to be dragged away by the dark shadows.
I take my time approaching Karrine’s fallen body. Patience is always key with this kind of situation. Slowly the dark orb emerges from her chest, and inside it?
The confused and broken soul of none other than Mercury’s murderer. Her sad ghastly face looks up at me, mouthing “why?” as she is carried away, following behind the spirits and the tall sentinels as they return back into the realms of the dead. There she will be judged and the only thing she can hope for is that her soul is not condemned to the bottom realms where it will be food for the demons that remain there.
I stop to pick up the stone. The smooth cold texture of the stone, which is no bigger than a quarter, reminds me of the empty space that now fills my own soul. Kara is dead because of me.
But because of me, Destiny lives.
Swallowing thickly, I tuck the stone away in my pocket and head on over to Destiny who is still unconscious. Her skin is hot to the touch, but I think she will be fine.
We have a new Queen. Mercury’s heir and our world will continue. And because her heart is big, holding more beauty within it than she could ever imagine, for the first time in my existence, I am confident that Mercuria will thrive again. We didn’t just inherit a Queen.
Destiny is an angel.
Chapter Forty
Destiny
I have no idea how long I have been out, but just before I open my eyes, I see my father Mercury and this beautiful angelic-looking woman smiling at me. Her eyes held crystal tears as the two of them looked down on me. She leaned forward as I struggled to ask her name and she kissed me gently on my forehead, before they disappeared. My eyes snap open to Summer’s worried expression. Dried tears stained her cherub cheeks. With what strength I can muster, I force myself to sit up against the pillows, but pain and fatigue instantly remind me that it is just not time yet.
“What happened?” I groan.
“You’ve been sleeping for two days,” Summer whimpered.
“Oh…”
“Erick did it!” Cecilia chirped from the other side of the room. “Karrine is dead. Mercuria is free now!”
“Huh?” The room is spinning. The last thing I recall is being imprisoned in a fiery, red-hot orb of pain. I cringe at the memory.
“Where is Erick?” I hear myself ask.
“He is helping Demetrius prepare the people of Mercuria for your return,” Cecilia said, gently taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
“You were so brave,” she continues. “Erick and Demetrius told me that you ‘faced off with Karrine like a boss’…” She then gives me a confused look. “What’s a boss?”
“Alright,” Summer announces, looking annoyed. “I think we should let my mom rest.”<
br />
“Yes!” Cecilia agrees. “She needs to heal up quickly so she can address our people.”
“Wait,” Summer demands. “Does this mean we are going to have to live there now?”
“Let’s figure all of that out later,” I say with a sigh. “My body hurts entirely too much to even think about anything.”
“My baby is awake!” My mom’s voice grabs everyone’s attention as she enters the room. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I almost died,” I grumble.
“Jesus! I almost lost my baby!” My mother cries. “Thank God you’re alive!”
“Mom,” I groan. “The volume…”
“Louise,” My father scolds. “Let her sleep.”
Summer takes the lead in ushering everyone out of the room and nearly a hundred years later, I am alone.
Queen. Heir. It’s crazy how everything turned full circle. For years I suffered through unexplainable headaches, nightmares and visions of a world that I refused to believe truly existed. Next thing I know, the man I barely spoke to at my job turned out to be a citizen of that world and someone who made a deal to turn me in to the woman behind all of this in exchange for his wife. Summer and I were chased, nearly killed, captured and then fought for our lives and all of it leading up to where I am now.
I have the answers to questions I never thought I would have. Everything just finally makes sense. And that kind of peace, is something that could never be bought. My life is different now. Forever changed. Summer asked if we were going to live in Mercuria. I know my parents want us here.
As I nestle my exhausted and sore body underneath the soft blankets, there is not one doubt in my mind that we can do both.
Erick
Finding Kara’s body had not been easy. It was buried underneath the rubble of what was once the Palace of Mercury. I owe this woman so much. She dared to love me when she had every reason not to. She dared to stay here when we could have easily abandoned Mercuria and ran away together in the earth realm, trusting me to do the right thing. Trusting that I would come back to her. Kara had always been loyal to me.
The Lost Queen- Mercury's Heir Page 18