The Wildest Woods

by S. K Munt

  It stopped where I had interrupted him, but I didn’t need to know anything else to know that if I didn’t act soon, we’d find my baby brother’s body exactly where he planned on hurling it. I gasped before I sobbed, crushing the letter in my fist, and thinking that what hurt most of all was the fact that he’d addressed it ‘To Whom It May Concern,’ instead of to me, because he didn’t think his death would concern me at all, did he?

  The door smashed open then and I locked up as I heard thunderous footsteps striding into the room.

  ‘Man, if you don’t want to hear that he cares about you more than you believe that’s fine, but believe me when I say that if you want to get out of here and back to Raphael, we’ve got to move fast. You just acted like an absolute psychopath and though I will applaud you for your candour and your big, royal balls once we’re clear of this place, I’m going to stress the importance of us doing what you’ve got to do now because they’re gonna lock you up-’

  ‘Sam, shut up!’ Kohén said, in a voice that had no breath behind it, and I whirled around to slit my eyes at my little brother as he gaped first at me, and then at the note in my hand. He was still flushed and furious looking, but I would have bet good money that I looked twice as homicidal and stunned in that moment, and when Ambrose or ‘Sam’ saw me, his face melted away. It didn’t drain of colour- it actually melted away, leaving an older, taller, redder and more shocked-looking young man in his place. I blinked once or twice, wondering how he’d done that, and thinking to myself that he was the most striking-looking man I’d ever seen in my life, but my shock wore off when he blinked back and I knew all at once that he was a Nephilim- one with the ability to change his appearance. Holy shit… what was Kóhen doing with someone like that? And how many other Nephilim were living free and unmonitored within the RIDF? We’d tested them all!

  ‘Oh. Shit.’ Sam backed up a step, lifting his hand. ‘Kohén… I think we best be on our way.’

  But Kohén’s eyes were on mine now, and I saw that he understood what I did- he wasn’t going anywhere.

  ‘What’s Raphael?’ I asked tightly, feeling every part of me harden to concrete, bit by bit, as I understood the depth of my little brother’s deception. ‘What’s there that’s worth faking your death for?’

  ‘Don’t answer him Kohén,’ Sam put his hand on the prince’s shoulder and drew him back, and I saw him dig his hand into his pocket as he did, guiding them both out of my reach. It wasn’t going to work- Sam had been right to say that Kohén wasn’t going anywhere, but I let them begin a retreat anyway, and felt something inside me burn like a coal when Sam’s gaze flitted over to the corral, and then back to me. ‘There’s more at stake here then the final word.’

  ‘There’s a lot at stake,’ I agreed, keeping my eyes on Kohén as I inched towards the satchel. ‘Both of your lives, actually, because we all know what happens to deserters of the RIDF…’

  ‘I don’t- I’m not a part of your brigade of witch hunters,’ Sam said quickly, eyes flitting towards the satchel again. I knew he was going to make a move for it, but I put my hand on the hilt of my own sword as I took another step its way, wondering if he was as fast and accurate with a gun, as I was with a blade. I don’t suppose it mattered- I’d take off his wrist and disarm him before he could even finish drawing it anyway. He frowned then, but tried to look nonchalant. ‘In fact, I’m just here for the meals...’

  ‘You’re a dark Nephilim,’ I hissed, feeling my abdomen clench in fear. ‘No one that has love for God in their hearts would conspire against a Barachiel king this way!’

  ‘Takes one to know one, hmm?’ Sam taunted me, and I felt like I’d been king hit. How did he know about mother? How many secrets had Kóhen told him?!

  ‘Both of you, stop it. No one’s a dark anything here and no one has to die!’ Kohén stepped forward and held up his hand, and though they were still blazing, there was contrition in them now. ‘Karol please, I’m not trying to betray this country or my family- I’m just trying to live as God wants us too- with the woman I love, in a place full of peace and harmony, where I’ll be out of your hair, and away from the things here that fill me with despair.’ He jerked his thumb at Sam. ‘And although I’ll agree that this one’s a right bastard, he’s not a dark Nephilim, Karol. They wouldn’t allow one to live in their kingdom!’

  My eyebrows shot up. ‘What kingdom?’ I demanded, incensed. ‘What girl?

  Kóhen’s eyes flooded with light, and it was like someone had pulled on a string and dropped my old brother back into his body. ‘Her name is Erika, and the kingdom is called Raphael- it’s a paradise, Karol, and I tried to hide it from you, because I knew that once it was infected by the rest of the world, it would be ruined.’

  And the insults just kept coming! I shook my head, wondering if he had a chance of making it out of this room with his head anyway! ‘This kingdom… I don’t suppose it popped up where that colony was, that I sent you to investigate?’

  But Kohén sighed. ‘I’m not telling you anything more than I have to, not until you’ve calmed down. Yes I tried to deceive you and yes, I know that you think that was wrong, but I know in my heart that I was doing the right thing, and that it’s not too late for you to do the right thing either, Karol, so put the sword down, sit down, and try to breathe, all right?’ he began to lower his hands. ‘This doesn’t have to end in bloodshed-’

  ‘Don’t tell me to calm down!’ I bellowed at him, and though they flinched when I roared, I did not flinch when Sam drew his gun because I knew that Kóhen would not let him shoot me. If he wanted me dead, my younger brother would have killed me already, but he didn’t have an assassin’s heart. ‘You never listened to me when I asked you to calm down, did you? You never took my advice at all- and look what happened to this family because of your determination to follow your heart the last time!’ I strode over to the corner and spilled the contents of the satchel onto the chair, eyes lighting up when I saw maps- a beautifully drawn, incredibly detailed series of maps, actually, and the moment I picked them up to study them, the Nephilim boy hissed through his teeth and cocked the hammer. ‘Well, what have we here? Answers to the questions that you refuse to answer?

  ‘Put those down, you bug of cum and pus!’ the Nephilim growled at me, but I saw Kohén disarm him and then drop to pick up the gun off the floor, just as I’d expected him to. ‘Hey! What the fuck?’

  ‘Don’t be a fool- he could get the location off the pilot from Tariel anyway-’

  ‘Not if he’s DEAD he won’t-’

  ‘Shut up! Both of you!’ I looked up from the map of the north with a racing heart. It looked like there was a lot more than a struggling colony there, but a kingdom as complete as our own, albeit a lot smaller. ‘What is this place? Who founded it?’

  ‘The archangel Raphael,’ Kohén said softly. ‘Their king, and a greater king I have never known!’

  ‘That better be because you don’t remember our father!’ I snarled at him. ‘Or is that a lie too?’

  ‘Karol-‘

  ‘I said shut up, and I meant it!’ I sifted through the papers, but the pages and pages of elegant scrawl were written in a language that I could not understand, so I sighed and tossed them back onto the chair, thinking that my brother had to be the biggest fool on earth if he believed that the archangel Raphael was still alive! ‘What of this girl then?’ I arched an eyebrow at him. ‘I suppose she’s the princess? Heaven reincarnated, maybe?’

  ‘No, actually she’s a Companion too, a refugee from Janiel.’

  What?! I was sure that my eyes were about to explode out of their sockets, but he rushed forward again, holding up his hands.

  ‘She was not a deserter, Karol, she was kidnapped by pirates and rescued by another band of pirates that took her and the woman that she was kidnapped with there! If you don’t believe me, ask King Bronx and his son, Prince Philip! They will remember their stolen Companions, won’t they? They were both favourites and they have the brands to prove it, and if
I remember correctly, their kidnapping was the reason why Companions were given tracking devices in the first place, yes?’

  I made a face at Kohén. ‘Are you trying to tell me that you’ve fallen madly in love with a forty-something year old whore?’

  But Kohén frowned. ‘No. Erika is only about my age-’ Sam groaned and I sucked in a breath, whirling on him.

  ‘That is not possible! Prince Philip of Mossgrove is a child of NINE, Kohén! So unless you’ve become a paedophile-’

  ‘What?!’ Kohén paled, looking to Sam, who had collapsed back against the wall and was groaning into his hands. ‘No! Erika’s a young woman, close to my age- and a more lovely, more captivating creature I have never known! I don’t know why she-’

  The door burst open then, almost knocking Sam off his feet, and I stood up straighter when I saw General Alvarez march into the room. I blinked in confusion at the sight of him, for I hadn’t been expecting him back for days, but I was relieved that he was here- who better to subdue my lying little brother?

  ‘General Alvarez! I boomed, and saw Kohén cringe and shrink into himself. ‘What grand timing you have!’ I motioned for Kohén. ‘I need you to arrest Guardian Barachiel here, and his nasty little friend for-’

  ‘I’m sorry to interrupt, your highness,’ General Alvarez strode towards me, his expression grim. ‘But you made it clear that if Larkin Whittaker was found, I was to come to you immediately and-’

  ‘Of course!’ I dropped the maps back onto the chair and moved towards the General, giving him my complete focus as my heart palpitated with excitement. ‘Please tell me that is what you have come to say! I’m in great need of good news-’

  ‘I don’t think it’s good news, sire, but it’s certainly important,’ the general held out his hand and lying on his palm was a small, violet-coloured cylinder, the likes of which I’d held in my own palm numerous times before. However, this was the first time I’d seen an active one with my naked gaze, so the blinking light stunned me a little. ‘We followed the signal that was traced to Larkin Whittaker’s tracking device, your highness, but when we got there, the tracking device was all that we found.’ He rolled the cylinder over into my clammy, open hand. ‘It was tangled up with some ocean debris in the shallows of a beach near St Miguel, and there was no body with it or near it sir- no trace that feet had stepped onto that beach for years before ours. I don’t know if she’s still alive, but I am sorry to tell you that any chance we had of tracking her has most certainly perished.’

  ‘Oh… shit…’ Kohén said, as I closed my eyes and wondered if I’d inherited some of my father’s power too, because I certainly felt like I was heartbeats away from frying everyone in the room with my mind.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ the general said again, stepping back. ‘I know what finding her meant to you...’

  No he didn’t- no one did. No one knew that it was all I had lived for. No one knew that I would have given my life to find her again. ‘I-’

  There was a sudden commotion, and my eyes sprung forward just as I saw the redheaded Nephilim spring forward and make a desperate grab for his bag of papers. He managed to collect all of them but two, but when I drew my sword and the General drew his gun, the man retreated, quick like a snake, leaving the papers that he’d missed on the ground. I shot forward now, holding my sword out while commanding the general to hold his fire, and picked up one of the loose pages of the floor, gasping when I turned it over and saw a true to life rendering of Larkin Whittaker captured on that page. In the illustration, she was standing in front of a beautiful palace in front of a turquoise lake, leaning her head on the shoulder of a man who’s face was fixed with an adoring smile. The man looked familiar to me, but I couldn’t quite place him, and when I dropped my eyes to read the inscription at the bottom of the page, my heart seized up.

  ‘Larkin of Aztaroth… and her father, Bastien Birch, take a moment to enjoy the splendour of their new paradise...?’ The words tasted like foreign objects that did not make sense together, and they must have sounded the same to Kohén because he looked over at the page (keeping his hands in the air) studied the illustration and then frowned, shaking his head.

  ‘That’s not… that’s Erika, the girl I…’

  ‘The girl you WHAT?’ I snarled, waving the paper madly, suddenly remembering what he’d said about how he’d gone two years without having sex with anyone. Had he meant that in the past tense, because he’d recently broken his dry spell? ‘Kissed? Flirted with? Was deceived by? Answer yes to any of those questions brother, but do NOT tell me you had unprotected sex with the evil queen of a rival nation because if you did, you have just FUCKED this kingdom harder than you did the last time you hurled your crown at her feet!’

  ‘No! No that’s not-’ but Kohén’s voice broke and he turned to Sam. ‘That’s not...’ and then his entire face seemed to concave, and when understanding lit his eyes, the urge to spill blood overcame me. ‘You lied to me!’ Kohén balled his fists and suddenly, blue torrents of electricity were crawling over every inch of his flesh. ‘Was this a planned entrapment? Were you to kill me on the way home? Or was I to be batted around by her after my return, like a cat with a mouse?’

  The Nephilim boy had three sets of eyes burning into him, but instead of falling to his knees in surrender, he merely shrugged. ‘It wasn’t planned, not at all. A lot of improvisation had to go into pulling off that masquerade!’ He grinned at Kohén, slinging the bag over his shoulder. ‘But my God, it was quite the party wasn’t it? When our queen does something- she goes all out!’ His expression soured. ‘Even if it means throwing herself onto your toxic sword for the good of others- again!’

  And then before anyone could react, he charged across the room, and went crashing straight through the plate glass window, just as I had.

  ‘Fuck!’ General Alvarez didn’t understand half of what Kohén and I did, so he had more wits and reflexes about him. He ran over to the window, peered down at the ground and then to my absolute horror… slowly looked up. He turned to us, his expression one of disbelief. ‘Holy shit, your majesty- he’s flying away! With wings, just like hers!’

  I looked at Kohén, and he looked at me and for the longest time, that was all either of us could do. General Alvarez began asking questions and pacing, but neither of us heard a word he said, so locked were we in our united state of grief and disbelief and hate. That changed when Ora Camden appeared in the door though, and screamed at the sight of the glass.

  ‘What happened?’ she demanded, running over to the window while clutching her hand to her chest. ‘My God! We have to put bars on these things!’ She spun around, her lovely face contorted with shock. ‘Someone say something! Tell me what happened?’

  I didn’t have an exact answer for her, but neither did Kohén, so I reached down and picked up the other piece of paper that had been left behind, and snorted when I saw it was one of the ones covered with foreign words. ‘I don’t know for sure… but you scored well on your PCE, Ora so tell me… do you know anything about the name Erika? It’s Origin? It’s meaning? Does it have any demonic connotations at all?’

  Ora frowned. ‘Demonic? Why no…it’s an old Nordic name, means something along the lines of ‘Eternal Ruler,’ or possibly ‘Ever Powerful,’ or ‘Sole Queen,’ Kóhen moaned while Ora’s entire face screwed up. ‘Why? What does that have to do with anything?’

  ‘Quite a lot.’ I clicked my fingers toward Kohén, and though he looked startled, the general stepped forward and grabbed the crowned prince’s hands pulling them behind his back. Kohén did not fight him and he did not even look at me- he merely stared at the ground until a tear rolled out of his eye and onto the floor. I saw it fall, but I had no sympathy for him, not anymore.

  I also saw that I’d been stupid to ever have felt anything for him or for Larkin at all.

  ‘...But I’m pleased to inform you that Larkin Whittaker has been found at long last.’ I looked Ora dead in the eye and said coldly. ‘And she is not onl
y every bit as evil as I said that she was, but more, and as soon as I’ve found a ship that’s suitable to sail into the north- she will be arrested as Kohén has been, but sentenced to death by fire! Not only because she’s a witch, but because fire is the only thing that could possibly cleanse the earth of such a wicked influence!’ I walked out of the room, but paused back to sneer at Kóhen, who was whispering prayers fervently while tears streamed down his cheeks. ‘That includes her ill-gotten child too, Prince Of Nothingness, so if you’re going to pray for anything, pray that her uterus was inhospitable with your royal seed, or that I find her before she starts showing, because if she’s pregnant when I find her, your first child will go up in flames with her, and there’s not a man on this earth that will have the strength, power or the inclination, to prevent it!’ I looked away, feeling foul inside for my threat, but knowing that there was no way around it. Perhaps my family had encouraged this evil to germinate in the world again, but as the king of all that mattered in the world, it was up to me to stop it from spreading any farther than it already had- even if it meant killing everyone in my own family to do it- including myself once it was done- to see it through. ‘Not even God himself.’

  And then I left the room and headed for the basement, to cry on my mother’s shoulder as I had every day for the past two years. Only this time, I was afraid that I would weep blood.

  -End-

  I hope you enjoyed book #4 in The Eden Chronicles, The Wildest Woods. Thank you SO MUCH for reading my 20th published novel!

  Book #5, The Fallen Forest, will be out later in 2017!

  If you’ve enjoyed reading the series please leave a review on either amazon.com or Goodreads!

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