Rise From the Embers (Lightness Saga #4)

by Stacey Marie Brown

  Piper lifted her head. “Mummy, where is Mr. Darz?”

  The speck of pain turned to full-blown agony on Fionna’s face, and her hand automatically pressed to her stomach.

  “Remember, sweetie, he went away?”

  “Yes.” She nodded. “He hasn’t come back to us yet?”

  Fionna sucked in, covered her mouth with a hand, and tears flooded her eyes. “Not yet. But he really, really wants to, sweetie.” She rubbed her abdomen. “I can tell you that for sure. He really wants to.”

  I tipped one eyebrow at her.

  “The arsehole won’t stop talking.” Fionna tried to look annoyed but smiled instead. She patted her stomach and stood up.

  “Piper?” I rose with her. “How did you escape? Did anyone help you? A big blonde guy and a girl with two different-color eyes?”

  “Auntie Em and Viker?” She nodded, wiggling off Nic’s hip to the ground.

  “Auntie Em?” Fionna echoed, sounding surprised Piper already called Ember auntie.

  “It’s what I call her. I saw.” She marched right up to me, raising her hands. “It’s what they’ll call her too.” She placed her hands on my stomach, tapping on it lightly.

  I stared down at Piper in bewilderment.

  “Honey, what are you talking about?” Fionna stepped closer, watching her daughter curiously.

  “The twins.” She patted at my belly. “Me, Wyatt, and the twins become the best of friends. Always.”

  “What. In. The. F—hell.” Lorcan swiftly changed his wording, moving to my side. “Are you talking about?”

  Piper rolled her eyes. “The babies.”

  “What babies?” I swallowed, feeling my throat close in.

  “Yours.” She kissed my stomach, whispering into my shirt. “So excited to play with you guys. Though sometimes we fight… Wyatt always makes me feel better. And we always forgive each other.” Her blue eyes looked at me. “Can’t you feel them, their energy and power, Aunt Ken? They’re already so ram-bun-ctious.” She tsked, the huge word stumbling over her tongue.

  I froze, the blood running through my body clotted into ice, while lava poured over my skin. “That-that’s impossible.” I shook my head, glancing at Lorcan for confirmation. His eyes were as wide as mine, his muscles locked in place.

  “Actually, it’s not,” Nic spoke up. “As an incubus, believe me, I know everything there is on birth control. It’s rare, but because you’re a Druid, it might be possible. You guys have the power to break the fairy spell.”

  “What? Why didn’t anyone tell me? That should have come on the warning label! No. It’s not true.” I shook my head. Kids were the furthest thing from my mind, especially today. We were going into war. I had a kingdom to save, and the chances of us living were thin at best. To be pregnant on top of that? With freaking twins? No—just no.

  I pressed my hand to my stomach, concentrating on it, recalling that last night when Lorcan and I had sex, the Latin bubbling out of my mouth I didn’t recognize, the intensity I had never felt before. The sensation of him claiming me inside and out. Dots of life and warmth pulsed under my hand. I didn’t need to take a test; I knew what Piper said was true.

  Holy nut-cracking nerf-herder!

  “Damn,” Lorcan whispered, like he had come to the same conclusion. His eyes darted to my stomach, where he pushed aside my hand and laid his own upon it. “Seriously? Damn… I have super-sperm.”

  I groaned, palming my face.

  “Come on.” Lorcan grinned at me, joy dancing in his eyes, the shock already seeming to dissipate from him. “I have a right to brag about my superior sperm. Both of us on tree-fairy protection and I can still knock you up with twins?”

  “I’m going to kill you in your sleep.”

  His mouth parted in a bigger smile, pulling me into him. “With pleasure.” He kissed me. I gave in for one moment, letting a drop of excitement overshadow the daunting fear. But there was still a war on our doorstep, and I was still Queen.

  “Okay, wow. Well, I can’t deal with this right now.” I stepped back. “Nic, get the kids inside.” He couldn’t fight on the field, but I knew he would fight if anyone got into the castle, threatening those children. Marguerite would probably bash them with a rolling pin.

  “But I’m supposed to help,” Piper responded, shaking her head at Nic’s call. “You need me.”

  “No!” Fionna insisted. “You have been put in danger too much already. I need you to stay with Nic and Marguerite.”

  “But, Mummy…”

  “No, Piper.” She crouched down to Piper’s eyeline. “Please, I need you to be safe. Darz would want that too. Please do this for me.”

  Piper scrunched up her mouth, not replying. Fionna took that as a yes and walked her to Nic, giving her a kiss and hug before wiping her eyes and turning back to me.

  “It’s time. Let’s end this.” Her expression hardened—reminding me she’d once been the DNR leader who took no prisoners.

  I nodded and turned for the field, spotting the ships on the water captained by Croygen and Jack. Lexie and Rez stood on the decks, ready to fight with the rest of the crew. The field was filled with Light and Dark fae, as well as humans, all armed and ready for battle. Fighting for me.

  So much blood would soak the grass.

  Grimmel flew overhead squawking, something on his back flapping in the wind.

  “Wheeeeee!” Sprig yelped. He wore what looked like a pair of black underwear around his neck, gripping the bird’s feathers. “You’re right, my wee bits feel even freer. Honey droppings, this is amazing. Super-Sprig to the rescue!”

  “See, monkey man!” Cal whizzed by, winging in closer to the raven, stark naked.

  “Cal, my lady would be so mad at you. You left very little for us to sprinkle over everyone.” Simmons trailed behind.

  “It was an emergency. It had to be done,” Cal replied back.

  “No, it’s just because Sir Eli left and there was no one to stop you.”

  “Come on, Simmons…or should I say Mr. No Fun?”

  “Flying honey biscuits dipped in honey, fried, and soaked in honey! Wheeeeee! Though I think I would vomit if I wasn’t drunk. Ahhhhhh!” Sprig yelled out before Grimmel swooped closer to me.

  “Idiots. Surrounded by imbeciles,” Grimmel grumbled, circling around to me.

  “What do you mean Eli left?” Lorcan asked Simmons.

  Simmons’s face went red, and he pressed his hand to his mouth, as his mechanical wings brought him down to us.

  “Ohhh, Simmons, you’re so in trouble. Mr. Asswipe told you not to tell.” Cal sniggered.

  “Tell. Me. Simmons,” Lorcan demanded.

  “Well…um…he told me he’d take away my wings if I told.”

  “I will take them away and stuff them up your ass if you don’t.”

  “Actually, he pretty much said that too.”

  “Simmons,” I spoke softly. “Will you tell me, your Queen?”

  His face twisted as though I was torturing him.

  “Don’t do it, Simmons,” Cal warned.

  “I have to.” He pointed at me. “She’s the Queen!”

  “Simmons.” Lorcan growled. Time ticked by. Any moment we could be attacked.

  “Sir Eli, Cole, Ms. Olivia, Lady Lily, and that Garrett guy went to get my lady and the Wanderer.”

  “What?” I gaped. I could understand Eli, Cole, and Lily, but Olivia and Garrett? What trouble were they getting into?

  “I’m sorry, is this a bad time?” a familiar voice robotically rumbled from the entrance. Fear slid down my bones, whipping me around, a gasp coming from my lips.

  Fionna went rigid next to me.

  “Darz!” Piper leaped forward, but Nic grabbed her, holding her back.

  Lars and Zoey stood before us, but their bodies were mere costumes, their eyes vacant of life.

  “I think our invitation got lost in the mail.” The stone tried to appear relaxed but was stiff and awkward. “I hope we’re not too late.”

/>   None of us moved or spoke.

  “And I brought my own guests.” He motioned behind him where figures moved in behind the pair.

  “Holy. Nerf. Herder.” I jerked back, watching the creatures move protectively around Lars and Zoey. Oh my god. What are those things? The huge one next to Zoey had the face of a human with green eyes, but his mouth was all strighoul, actually a strighoul on steroids.

  “Noooo,” Annabeth cried out, her eyes wide, her head shaking. “No…it can’t be. They died…we killed them!” Annabeth shrieked, tripping backward, holding Wyatt tighter to her, terror contorting her features.

  The stone stared at Annabeth. “Zoey’s children are a lot stronger than you give them credit for. And I hated to see such wonderful work go to waste.”

  Zoey’s children? I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew we were in much more trouble than we thought.

  These things weren’t only monsters, they could be our end.

  Chapter 24

  Ember

  My knees hit the floor with such force my teeth clattered together. I felt the bruise all the way to the bone. A strighoul dug its nails into my shoulder, holding me in place. Ryker’s form fell next to mine, his shoulders heaving with fury. Blood dripped from both of us, still trying to heal from our little scrimmage with the flesh-eaters. By the time they dragged us to Stavros and he found out the kids were missing, I hoped Piper had cleared the property. She still had a long way to go, and the strighoul would be hunting her. Her chance at escape was slim, but hope was all I had to hold on to.

  Stavros paced in front of us, his rage scarcely contained by the thin parchment of white skin. His demon scraped away at his façade. Like Lars when his demon was out, his eyes were black, skin sunken into his skull, but he somehow seemed larger, stuffing the room with his power. It raked over my skin with such intensity I curved forward beneath its biting rage. My lungs struggled to expand, his magic stealing the oxygen.

  “Emmy... you’ve been an exceptionally bad girl,” he seethed, his bony nose flaring. “Unlike Lars, I don’t put up with bad behavior. He should have taught you manners. I guess it’s up to me to make you obedient.”

  “Good luck with that,” I snarled back, trying to lift my head.

  Magic slammed into me so hard I slid a few feet back. In a blink, Stavros stood in front of me, an invisible hand gripping my throat, squeezing down, forcing choked gasps through my teeth.

  “I guarantee I will break you. Like a wild horse, you will be my pet in no time.” My image reflected off his black eyes. Stavros’s magic was powerful and old, twisting around my bones. Lars could be scary, but I had never truly been afraid of him. He could get angry to the point of losing control, but I was still his niece. His family.

  I felt no such allegiance from Stavros. Similar to my aunt Aneira, Stavros only wanted to use me. And if I did not oblige, I would join other resisters in an unmarked grave.

  A knock tapped on the door and Amara stepped in. Her chin-length black hairstyle was now a deep violet color. Two strighoul followed her into the room.

  “Yes?” Stavros jerked his head to her, his sharp fangs snapping.

  “We searched everywhere.” She stood strong, but her throat bobbed with nerves. “They were nowhere to be found.”

  “What?” Stavros’s chest bloomed. “You are telling me a five-year-old child carrying an infant outsmarted all of you?” Stavros could come across as theatrical and almost carefree most of the time. But this was not the man before us. The role of the crazy dictator King had been cast. And I did not envy Amara as deliverer of bad news. “Let’s try this again. Tell your King that you let two small children slip through your fingers.”

  “I have scouts out there following her trail. We will get her, Majesty.” One of the strighoul bowed, his speech slurred and babylike.

  Ice pricked over my back. Oh holy crap… I looked harder at the strighoul, my stomach dropping. Crap. His broken teeth left me with no doubt.

  Vek.

  He had no teeth because of me.

  He was a far cry from the last time I’d seen him. He once had led a strighoul pack, avenging the old leader Drauk, whom I also killed. But a strighoul without teeth was useless and could not provide for its pack. It would be shoved out, turned against. Ousted.

  Now he was barely skin and bones, one hand crippled and twisted, wearing paper-thin dirty rags. His broken teeth gaped from his mouth, creating a more frightening and pathetic image.

  Sensing my gaze, his head lifted slowly, his red eyes finding mine. It was a beat before full recognition set in. A guttural wail pitched in my ears as Vek leaped for me.

  “You ffffuuccing vitch!” he squealed, his dirty nails swiping for me. “Youuve veduced me to fishhhh! Kill yoouuu!” Vek lunged as if to jump on my back, but he collapsed to the ground squealing like a stuck pig, his form withering on the ground in agony.

  Stavros stepped up to him, peering down. “How dare you.” He spit on Vek, fury vibrating throughout the demon. “You do not come into my home. The. King’s. Home. And touch anything of mine. You are nothing. Imps have more worth to me than you do.” Stavros bent over the creature. “I was so kind to bring you in after you were abandoned and rejected by even your own mother. You don’t even have a right to even breathe in my presence. You attack my prisoners without my approval... and let a child best you. Tell me what good you are to me?”

  “Sorrrry, my veige. I vour servannnt,” Vek groveled, slobbering and bowing his head into Stavros’s feet.

  Stavros snarled at the strighoul, rising to his full height. “Do you take me for someone who forgives? That is a weakness. You have failed me.”

  Magic punched through the room. Vek howled, his hands going to his head, his spine snapping back and forth like a kite tail, flaying over the floor with ear-piercing screams.

  I hated Vek, death was too good for him, but I did not enjoy watching the brutal torture, hearing his screams.

  Amara watched as though it were the climax of her favorite show, while the other strighoul froze in place, probably hoping they weren’t next. Ryker was expressionless, but his Adam’s apple bobbed and his shoulders tightened along the ridge of his neck.

  I jerked back as blood spurted from Vek’s eyeballs, blood vessels bursting, leaking down his face. A banshee wail spiked from his throat, and vomit rose to the back of mine. His nails dug into his scalp, trying to rid himself of the pain. Then he stopped screaming, a pop like a paintball splattering against the wall sounded through the silent space. He went still. Pools of blood poured from his ears and eyes, his mouth and open eyes resembling a horror mask.

  “Finally, he shut up.” Stavros brushed an escaped string of blood from his face. “Ugh. Such a mess. His blood better come out of the rug or I’m going to be awfully upset.” Stavros rolled his eyes dramatically. “You.” He pointed at the other strighoul. “Get him out of here. And make sure when you come back in here you have better news or you join him.”

  The strighoul bowed his head, fear twisting his already ugly face. “Yes, Majesty.” He grabbed Vek’s limp arms, dragging him away as quickly as possible, smearing gore across the wooden floor of Lars’s office. If he were smart, he’d dump the body outside and run for his life.

  “I guess that’s what I get for taking in strays, right?” He held out his arms, his gaze darting between Ryker and me as though we would relate to the situation and laugh along with him. “Can’t potty-train them, and they leave their guts all over the floor.” He motioned to the red streak running to the door. The demon was no longer present, the crazy uncle was back in his place, like he had exorcised his demon by killing Vek.

  Crap on ash bark. He was certifiably nuts.

  He rubbed his neck, shaking out his arms, then refocused on Ryker and me.

  “I’m still enormously upset with you two, but I will try to see the positive in this. We’ll just have to roll with it. Those kids were my best threat, but I think a lot of people still care about you two. Cert
ainly they don’t want to see your brains leaking from eyes and ears. Right?” He chuckled, jogging in place, rolling his neck right and left, like he was warming up. “Mara, my love, can you go get my cloak? I want to make a grand entrance.”

  “Of course.” A sensual grin curved her plump lips. “But you are always grand.” She winked, walking through the door.

  “That’s why I keep her around.” He watched her swaying ass leave the room. “Exceptional in bed and the only one who’s truthful with me.” If by “truthful” he meant telling him what he wanted to hear and manipulating him, then sure, Amara was the pillar of truth. “I’m shocked you let that girl leave your bed, Ryker. She’s superb.”

  “I have far better,” Ryker replied without a hint of emotion, as if he were simply stating a fact, but it was enough to insult Stavros that the King’s taste was subpar.

  “Get up,” Stavros demanded, his lip hitching up. “It’s time to go. We don’t want to be late, especially when I’m bringing the appetizers.” He nodded at us. “You will discover today what a true leader is. The people will be so grateful I have finally ended the Druid reign. Their horror will be over... and those who have been disloyal will finally see what happens when you defy a true King.”

  Insight zoomed up my spine as we walked, feeling the tingle of awareness.

  Oh. Hell. No.

  He wouldn’t.

  Who was I kidding? Yes, he would.

  “You stubborn asshole.” I shook my head, my boots clicking over the country road as our large group moved to the Seelie castle. Stavros led, using one of Nic’s prized cars—a convertible Rolls-Royce Phantom, or so I was told. He sat in the back like a king on parade while the rest of us marched behind the car. Ryker and I were tied with goblin-metal rope, and under watch by at least six strighoul with knives and spears directed at the back of our necks. The goblin rope was balanced to keep us on our feet and we were too drained to use our magic.

  “What?” Ryker muttered, trying to move closer to me. I had a mad case of déjà vu. I swear, if Eli were here instead of the Viking, I would think I’d stepped back in time as another mad leader, with much better style, but otherwise no different, dragged me to the castle to use my powers against the ones I love. The mental health issues in my family were extremely alarming.