Rise From the Embers (Lightness Saga #4)

by Stacey Marie Brown

  “It. Can. Offer. You. Nothing.” I heard Lars’s last words come to me. He had been determined for me to understand a deeper significance. But what did he mean? How was that supposed to help me?

  A loud boom pulled my focus to the lake. The barrier over the sky at the gate to the open sea crackled, spreading out like veins across the surface, tearing at the protective shield.

  The declaration of war.

  “Time has run out, Queen.” Stone motioned to the magic gnawing to be let in, a smugness twitching his mouth.

  “Ken.” Fionna reached for her sister, again her eyes trying to convey a message, but Kennedy never got to respond.

  Another wave of blasts hit the barrier from multiple angles, showing the enemy had surrounded the castle in a crescent shape, attacking on as many sides as it could and shredding the shields like paper. Wails and ear-piercing screeches from monsters in the forest exploded into the air with their battle cry.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Cannons and cries of attack from the water and land below stamped a chilling trail through my soul. The battle was here. This was the moment when everything would change. Stone was giddy with excitement, similar to a kid on Christmas morning.

  I would be on the winning side, but I certainly would not be on the right side. My time was up; the stone had been easy on me. Today I would pay for what I did to it. It would revel in ripping my soul apart.

  “It. Can. Offer. You. Nothing.”

  Lars’s words hummed in my chest, but I had no time to think about them. A blast hit the gate, the force tearing everyone off their feet. I flew back, slamming into the ground, my bones crunching under the impact. Unfortunately, Stone might be in control, but I could still feel pain. Dust and debris fell like rain, clogging my throat, the lash of magic dissolving as the last bit of the protection spell fell away.

  Strighoul rushed in, pointing weapons at us, Stavros strolling in, wearing a ceremonial fur cape like a king in a kid’s play. As with the rest of him, it was covered in dirt and blood, looking as if he’d already been through battle. Stavros grinned, dirt also smeared over healed wounds. I couldn’t help but notice the unsettling similarity between him and Lars.

  “So…this is where all the cool kids hang out.” He peered down at Kennedy, then his head jerked to Lars, lying on the ground. “Well, nephew, it’s about time you showed your cowardly face.” He shoved his foot into Lars’s face, lifting his chin with the tip of his boot.

  Oh hell. Did Stavros really think he was talking to Lars? All I could do was watch, as if it were a horror movie you couldn’t look away from.

  Adrenaline and hunger pumped through Stone, who loved the turn of events. He stayed on the ground, allowing Stavros to believe he was in control. I had a feeling he was already licking his lips with the thoughts of what he would do to him later. Right now he was enjoying this game.

  “Before you get all puffy and righteous…” Stavros rolled his eyes. “It’s so overdone anyway. You really need to change it up. Improvise. Be spontaneous.” He pulled his boot off Lars’s neck and turned to look behind him. “Know that whatever threat you toss at me, I will do tenfold to our lovely niece.” He held out his arm, curling his fingers in a beaconing motion. Strighoul tugged something forward, pulling the figure from the thick of the throng, a girl, rope cuffing her wrists.

  Ember.

  Like an urchin from a Dickens novel, she was covered in dirt and bruises, looking tired and unsteady on her feet.

  Figures rose around me, the menacing growls from the dwellers, their bodies curving forward, revealing they wanted to shift into beasts. Stavros had one of their own, and each one would die to protect and defend her.

  “Back off, kitties.” Stavros stepped up to Ember, running his hand over her face. “Look at her. She looks so similar to you…” He smirked at Lars. “Are you sure she’s not your daughter?”

  Stone stood up, my body following his like a marionette. Stavros was expecting a response from Lars, but Stone just watched him, taking a thrill from the diversion.

  “She does also look like Devlin, so I guess you will never know…” Stavros sighed dramatically, his fingers grazing Ember’s cheek. She shuddered and glared at him with loathing. “Or will we? I might know something you don’t.” Stavros strutted around the same way as a peacock does, thinking he was in full control. Sounds of battle wafted from below. “I found journals in a back room. It looked as though you shoved his stuff there and never opened it. Did you know Devlin wrote in a diary like a ten-year-old girl?”

  Taking Lars’s silence for a no, he went on.

  “Interesting what you find, and what people say when they think no one will ever know. Especially when he was losing his mind. Strangely, he seemed to get even more prolific.”

  “Get to the goddamn point,” Ember gritted through her teeth.

  “So impatient. Are you already forgetting my ferocity from earlier?” He patted her cheek, then sighed heavily. “My dance card is so full today—there’s a battle to attend to, killing my nephew, bending the Queen to her knees, taking a bath, watching Netflix.”

  He tapped his lip, enjoying the theatrics. “But first, before I spoil the ending, I want to remind all of you it’s not just her. You might have taken the kids, but I don’t miss the slobbering, whiny, poopy things. We picked up a few along the way. Think some of these might belong to you?” He waved his hand back. More figures were shoved through the crowd.

  Eli. Cole. Lily. Olivia. Garrett.

  Amara, a sword in her hand, came forward, smugly smiling at me, tugging someone with her.

  Ryker.

  My body didn’t flinch, but a wail shook my soul, my hands pounding against the watching glass, wanting to break out of my prison. “Ryker!” My heart cried out to him. His white eyes found mine, penetrating through the layers the stone controlled until I felt him inside. “Yes. I’m still here.”

  How did Stavros get him? I had missed so much. Was he the reason Wyatt was safe?

  Fierce love poked at the enemy controlling my body. Slowly, Stone’s head turned to me, forcing my neck to twist to see him, his eyebrow curving up. Shit. I tugged the emotion back, trying to numb myself. The more ammunition I gave him, the more he would destroy me piece by piece. And love was the biggest weapon he had to use against me.

  “You honey-hating broomstick! Let him go!” Sprig bellowed from Annabeth’s shoulder. “He’s not yours, moldy toothpick. Get over it!”

  A hint of a smile flashed over Ryker’s face, but he quickly hid it behind his stoic mask.

  “We should really call it a day; go get massages.” Stavros rubbed a shoulder. “And by that, I mean you, Queen, will be giving me a massage while the rest of you slaves wait on me. Doesn’t it sound like fun?” he said, glancing over at Lars. “After I kill you, of course. You understand? No hard feelings?”

  “Of course,” Stone replied, his tone so cool and controlled. If Stavros paid any attention, he would have felt the power pulsing under each syllable.

  Boom. Boom

  Cannon fire echoed from the sea, metal clanked, and screams of death rose from the field. Still, the true war was held right here where we stood.

  “I’m surprised you don’t want to know the secret before you die. You really are no fun today, nephew.” Stavros went back over to Ember. “I thought you’d be dying to know.” He chuckled at his own joke. “Get it?”

  “Yes,” Stone responded. It still enjoyed this, but I sensed a thread of boredom. He was ready for the foreplay to end. “Please enlighten me.”

  For a beat Stavros squinted at Lars, as if he grasped something was strange about Lars, but he shrugged it off, relishing his one-man play too much.

  “Let me first say, the jealousy Devlin felt over you and Aisling…wow. He kept it quiet, but sometimes he vehemently hated you... and he especially loathed you when Aisling told him she was pregnant. You see, over a year before, he had privately gone to the tree fairies. He wasn’t ready for a child, sensin
g his sanity was faltering with the curse of our family’s weakness.” Stavros’s eyebrows rose. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Fionna grip her stomach, bending slightly over, beads of sweat trailing down her face. “So, you see, Ember couldn’t be his. And he knew that. Knew while Aisling was with him, she still couldn’t stay away from you. He kept quiet because he’d rather pretend and keep the only hold he felt like he had on Aisling. He’d have done anything to keep her from leaving him. Even claim the child was his, keeping her from you, the real father…”

  Ember’s mouth parted, her chest heaving, body swaying side to side.

  “Aren’t I nice telling you the truth? Your daddy isn’t dead, Emmy dear. Or he’s not yet. Enjoy these few seconds, because soon he’ll be joining your actual uncle. And your slut of a mother. And you’ll be a true orphan.”

  There was a beat when Ember’s gaze strangely darted to Fionna then to Lars before she landed on Stavros, fury raging behind her eyes, turning them black. Wind sliced through the town’s streets, a rumble of the storm brewing overhead, and whipped at her hair.

  “Oh shit,” I heard West mumble behind me, before an earsplitting howl flooded over her lips, ripping out from her gut, her arms yanked at the shackles, breaking them from her wrists, her skin paling even more than normal. A blast of magic billowed off her, slamming into each one of us, tossing us like dolls over the earth.

  For only a beat, Stone let go of me, stunned when his form slammed into the dirt as well. I gasped for air, my bones feeling so light without the chains.

  “Ryker!” I screamed, my need to touch him one last time moving me.

  “Zoey,” he cried back, his arms reaching for me. Chaos broke around us as the shock wore off and people regained themselves. All I saw was Ryker crawling toward me, his white eyes blazing with the need to reach me.

  I cried out, my fingers stretching, touching the tips of his. He grunted, shuffling forward until he laced his fingers through mine.

  “Ryker…” I choked, a tear spilling down my face.

  “Fight, Zoey. Remember what you have. What we have together. Our family. Us. Fight for that.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, when I felt Stone slip back in, its mental manacles coiling around me, pulling me back down. I shouted my rage but no sound came out.

  “I love you.” Ryker grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him. “Fight, human.”

  All I could do was nod before Stone recaptured me, tossing me back into my cage.

  Oh, Zoey. I’ve been so lenient on you. It’s time you were shown how merciless I can be. The punishment for ticking me off… Stone spoke, his voice swirling around inside me.

  My form rose over Ryker and all I could do was watch from the far corner of myself where the Stone had sent me. My soul was shoved so far into the dark, I could only look through a peephole into the world. Stone wanted me to watch, still be aware of what I did.

  My hand shot out, gripping Ryker’s neck. “You will be Zoey’s first demonstration.” My voice spoke, but the words were Stone’s. “I will relish hearing her screams inside while I kill you.”

  Ryker smiled with a menacing twist of his lips. “Do what you want, but my girl got the better of you, and that will never change.” Ryker winked, swallowing against the grip Stone had on his throat. “You can kill me, but the truth is already out there…you will always be a laughingstock.”

  Anger thumped down, twisting around me, loathing spilling into every pore, lacing it with the thirst for blood.

  No…Ryker! I banged around. Don’t provoke him.

  Stone was going to have me kill him right here; I could feel it. And I could do nothing but watch my own hands squeeze the life from the man I loved.

  “Remember what you have. What we have together. Our family. Us. Fight for that.” Ryker’s voice merged with Lars, whose voice was suddenly strong and loud, like he was there with me. “It. Can. Offer. You. Nothing.”

  No doubt Lars had been trying to tell me something, something my unconscious was latching to.

  I needed to figure it out before it was too late. Before I destroyed everything…because Stone wouldn’t stop at Ryker. He would use my hands to kill all those I loved, including my baby boy.

  Chapter 26

  Kennedy

  It was a pinch of time, a snap of a twig underfoot, a shatter from a dropped glass. Enough time to know it was happening, but no time to stop it. To grab the cup and save it from breaking.

  Everything we had prepared for was no longer relevant. There had been no official declaration from me to prepare my troops. No warning the battle had commenced.

  In a blink everything combusted. Chaos. Pandemonium. I never did well with being unprepared, but war didn’t give you the luxury to think. You had to act.

  Ember’s magic slammed through the air, tossing everyone within her immediate radius to the ground. My spine kissed the cobblestone with a bruising force. Her irises were black, the spark of lightning that sliced overhead reflecting in her eyes. She leveled her head at Stavros, pinning him to the ground.

  “It is you, Uncle, who only have a few moments left.” She walked with even steps, calm power crackling off her, causing another strike of lightning to zigzag across the sky. I had seen my friend like this a couple of times, but nothing diminished my awe at her power. A zing of fear piped down my veins at the magnificence of her demon and High Fairy powers mixing together, creating the ultimate weapon. Even if she wouldn’t personally hurt me, her powers had no understanding of friend or foe. If we were in their way, we could also be killed.

  Stavros looked up at her from where he had landed, a smile curving his mouth. “You think even a dae can challenge the High Demon King?” He flipped his hand and Ember went rolling back, knocking into Eli. The dark dweller’s eyes went blood red, his bones already shifting.

  In a blink, turmoil broke out through the three groups blocking my view of Stavros and Ember. The Frankenstein creatures which belonged to the stone wailed a kind of battle cry and their half-human, half-fae bodies swarmed in, gnashing their teeth and waving their weapons. One creature with a spike-lined tail, whirled around, using one spike to impale an enemy strighoul’s stomach, slicing it into threads. The strighoul screamed, its guts pouring onto the ground.

  Crap times a billion.

  Bodies swinging weapons, using claws, teeth, and magic all collided together in an aching crunch. Most of the dark dwellers jumped into the attack, slicing into skin as if it were paper.

  Rain started to trickle down, Ember bringing in the angry sky.

  “Ken!” Lorcan grabbed me, pulling me back to my feet, his green eyes twirling with panic. He pressed his hand to my stomach. We shared a look full of knowledge; I wasn’t fighting for just my reign or my kingdom anymore.

  I have even more reason to fight, I said into his eyes.

  I know. He nodded understanding there would be no stopping me. Pregnant or not, I would fight beside my people. For our freedom. For our lives.

  I love you, li’l bird.

  I love you too.

  The kiss was fast, brutal, and passionate, and then he was gone, a large mass of sleek blackness, joining his brothers in combat.

  Cannon booms shrilled from the lake below, reminding me of the battle happening over the land and water. It all came on so fast. Had my people even been ready? I hadn’t been able to declare war or give a speech to let them know I was fighting with and for them.

  From the water, ships flamed with fire, a few already sinking as the enemy boarded. I could see Croygen, Lexie, and Jack on the closest vessel to me, already overtaken by the enemy. The echoes of “retreat” bounding from their lips as weapons clashed and people danced over the ship’s deck in a tango of death. And Rez, the lone siren, even as she took a few adversaries to their watery death, was doing little to even the numbers.

  Bodies and blood covered the field where the larger battle happened. The war had barely begun and already so many lives had been lost. Many of them, by the
colors they wore, were my people.

  Travil, Alki, Gabby, Torin, and Thara were in a group together, slicing and cutting down a group of strighoul as a large mass of trolls ran for them. Sturt, Georgia, Rowlands, and Vander worked together to limit the numbers. But there were so many coming from the forest and from boat. Too many.

  My heart clenched as I watched my friends and my loved ones being seized. Darkness swirled inside me.

  A pack of strighoul leaped for Gabby, tackling her to the ground, their teeth sinking into her black fur. A pained roar blasted its way up the hill, shredding my nerves. Gabby. Her voice calling me nerd thumped in my heart, a review of all the moments we’d laughed and talked flashing through my mind. I would want to protect anyone I saw getting hurt. It was natural for a Druid; we were healers. But Gabby had become family. Not because I was a mate to a dweller, but because of the bond we had formed. I loved her.

  More of her blood sprayed onto the ground as nails and teeth dug into her flesh. There were too many at once for her to fight all of them.

  A cry from nearby jerked my attention to the samurai warrior who whirled in like a tornado, swinging his blade with precision. Heads of strighoul tumbled to the ground, falling away from the dweller. Alki’s fierceness for Gabby seemed to pulsate through his sword as he cut them down with only a few fluid twists of his blade.

  He tossed the dead bodies off Gabby, stroking her fur, taking his eyes off the battle, only for a second. That was all it took. A strighoul sprang from the trees, running for the preoccupied warrior.

  “Alki!” The warning belted fruitlessly from me, my voice not carrying that far. He swung around, hearing the approaching foe, grabbing for his sword. But it was already too late. The strighoul was one step ahead, swinging his battle-axe. Horror froze in my throat as I watched the blade hit Alki’s neck. Blood sprayed like a faucet as Alki’s head flew away from his body, hitting the ground a few yards away, and his body crumpled to the ground.

  “Nooooo!” A cry ripped through my throat as an anguished roar shook the ground under my feet. Gabby’s pain sliced through wind and rain like claws through silk. More strighoul and trolls ran from the trees, heading for the group down there.