The next day was awful and the day after that. I hadn’t seen Kieran or Ronan since Benedict had left me, and that was strange. I wondered if it had anything to do with what I told Benedict. Hopefully, they were just busy with Benedict, planning and figuring out a solution.
D’Arcy was taking advantage of the absence of my mates, enjoying the power he held over me by catching me in the hallways and groping my body in dark corners. I became afraid to leave my rooms alone, but he simply followed me there, knowing somehow that the others were busy and couldn’t be bothered with me. Not even Georg was coming around.
“How the mighty have fallen,” he said as I sat dully in front of my fireplace, restless as the marks on my neck twinged in pain when I moved. Benedict was such an ass.
D’Arcy’s hands dug into my shoulder blades, but it was anything but soothing as his fingers probed too close to Benedict’s wound, reveling in my pain as he jabbed and poked at it.
“My, my . . . someone is very displeased with you.”
I ignored him, my strategy of choice. His hands continued to caress my face, my neck, and reached lower. My skin crawled in revulsion, but I forced my body to be limp. I needed him to come through on this last task so that I could prove myself to Benedict and all the other drakens. It was stupid and infantile, but it was the only bit of hope I could latch onto. I couldn’t bear the gleam of hate in Benedict’s eyes when he looked at me.
D’Arcy yanked my head back, his hands running up and down my throat as he lowered his lips to mine. I went stiff, unable to relax even if I had decided to let him do what he wanted. I was secretly afraid he would force the issue the entire way, but every time he’d come close, he’d merely sniff at the wounds on my neck, his nose wrinkling in disgust. Perhaps it was a good thing Benedict had hurt me. If I was honest, I wanted to hurt. Everything was such a mess.
“You’re hardly any fun when you don’t fight back.” D’Arcy sulked, his hands dropping to the sides of the chair.
“Just leave me alone,” I whispered.
He made a sound of disdain in the back of his throat, but blessedly let me be. I wasn’t sure how much longer I sat there, staring at the fire. At some point, I became aware of another presence. The turquoise coloring made me flinch, but it wasn’t D’Arcy.
“Hey.” Sabien pulled up a chair next to me, folding in his wings and melding seamlessly into his human form. He didn’t sit, not yet.
“Did you come to get a swing in at me, too, since I murdered your cousin?” I didn’t bother lifting my eyes from the dancing flames in the grate before me.
“I find it hard to believe a little thing like you nearly decapitated him and with his own sword.”
I didn’t answer, and he crossed his arms.
“Did you seduce him? That would be the only thing that would have worked against a warrior like him. We’re all warriors, yet you’ve come out on top again and again, so far. Why is that?”
Silence.
“What would you have me do, die?” I asked softly, my fingertips rapping on the edge of my chair. My eyes were heated. “Don’t begrudge me using what meager weapons I have, soft skin and a heated gaze against scales and claws, teeth and blades.”
Sabien narrowed his eyes but sat down across from me. “Benedict said Bair betrayed us, that he told Severn where we were hiding. Is that true?”
It would be no more than they deserved if I toyed with him, letting him wonder what information was true, and what wasn’t. I couldn’t do it, however, not to my friends, and not to Benedict. Not even if they hated me.
I sat up straighter in my chair, daring to sneak a glance at him. “Benedict believes me?”
Sabien shifted. “Well, he didn’t at first, but then he recruited me to go on a scouting mission with him and Kieran and Ronan.” His eyes were wide with wonder. “I went outside of the mountain and spread my wings in the open air for the first time in centuries. I couldn’t leave the mountain physically, but it was still something. Benedict said he needed my help for a task, but he didn’t trust my father.”
Well, would you look at that? Perhaps he did believe me. Sabien gazed past me, his eyes far away.
“He told us to stay where we were and wait for him to return. If he didn’t come back by morning, he said I was to tell everyone that I was king. I was petrified.”
I snorted, not blaming him. “I’m assuming since you’re here and not making grand announcements in the hall that he came back?”
My heart thudded with worry as I waited for his answer.
“Yes, of course. He came back after hours and hours, but he did return. The expression on his face . . . I don’t think I’ll forget it.”
I leaned forward in my chair, shaken out of my apathy by his tale. “Where did he go, Sabien?”
Those breathtaking, turquoise eyes met mine. “Lyoness.”
I blew air through my lips, sitting back in my chair. He believed me. He had to if he risked a trip to the draken homeland.
“What did he find?” I asked, my voice hushed with anticipation.
Sabien shook his head. “He didn’t say. He came back covered in dirt and ashes, but otherwise not a scratch on him. The look in his eyes . . . it was just . . . ”
“What?”
“Haunted.”
I rubbed my face with my hands. “Benedict does believe me then?”
Sabien clasped his hands, playing with the leather straps around his waist. “I’ve known Bair since we were infants. We grew up together.”
I closed my eyes. “I’m sorry, Sabien.”
He rested his head in his hands, glancing at me through a slit in his fingers. “Just . . . if Bair truly betrayed us and offered you your freedom with anything you could possibly want at the Overlord’s side. Why would you refuse that?”
That was the last question I expected. “Is that why Benedict doesn’t believe me? He thinks it was a deal I couldn’t refuse?”
Sabien threw his hands up and mussed his blonde hair. It was wild how physically alike two people could appear, and yet be wildly different. “Benedict doesn’t understand your motivations. It’s no secret you don’t get along, despite his claim on you.”
My hands drifted to the back of my neck, which was still sore. The wounds refused to heal.
Sabien went very still when he saw them. “Did Benedict do that to you?”
I nodded as I carefully rubbed the tender skin around the wound.
“It looks painful.”
I shot him a murderous glare, and he put his hands up. “You should go to Benedict. I doubt he’d leave it after finding out you’re not the murderous, lying wench he thought you were.”
“You have such a way with words,” I grunted, the wheels in my head spinning. If Benedict believed me, maybe the task tomorrow wasn’t needed, was it?
He said, “Something is going on with you and my father. You shouldn’t trust him.”
I swung my eyes back to Sabien’s, honest worry flickering across his face. “I don’t trust him. Unfortunately, I need him to bring in a specific task for tomorrow. After that, my . . . time with him hopefully ends.”
Sabien stood and bowed. “For your sake, make sure it does.”
This task was big and no one knew it yet except for me. I had no idea what D’Arcy had planned, but I was going to prove once and for all to Benedict, he could trust me.
I donned another set of men’s clothing, making sure my daggers and short sword were secured and within reach. Next, I grabbed my black traveling cloak, throwing it around my shoulders and donning the hood so my face was hidden. I ignored the lavish breakfast laid in the sitting room, plucking only an apple as I headed to the arena. Instead of taking the hallway that would lead me to the balcony, I kept walking until I found an opening into the bleacher area. I took a deep breath and walked into the light.
I needed to make a quick choice. I could sit by myself, keeping my distance from the others, or I could try to blend in with the crowd. It was tricky to decide what made me more vulnerable—being noticeably alone or being physically close to the other drakens, who might pick up on my scent.
Just decide!
A draken entered behind me and flared his wings, cuffing me in the back and sending me sprawling forward. The other drakens snickered. So much for not drawing attention to myself.
“Are you planning on competing for the loyalty test? D’Arcy said an even bigger prize awaits the winner than usual!” The draken was large, his bright, lime green scales an odd contrast to the darkness of the mountain.
I clutched my hood and nodded.
He flashed me a wicked grin. “Then let me assist you down.”
His legs shot out and kicked, the momentum too much as it sent me flying over the railing of the bleachers, and then I was falling and falling.
I kept enough of my mind to tuck like Kieran had taught me, rolling once I hit the ground and popped up on my feet. My shoulder hurt like hell, but nothing was broken. I twirled my twin knives from their sheaths, spinning them into my waiting hands as my cloak billowed behind me. I was as prepared as I could be. Luckily, I wasn’t the only ‘draken’ leaping into the pit eager to begin, so no one noticed my fall. D’Arcy strutted to the center of the pit and I crouched down, ready for whatever he had in store.
“Welcome! We are continuing the games at the behest of our gracious human guest today . . . even if she has yet to join us.”
His eyes flicked to the empty balcony as the drakens erupted in murmurs across the arena. Where was Benedict? What was the point of winning a loyalty test if he wasn’t going to be here to see it?
“She has offered a generous prize, which will only be revealed once the winner is victorious. Gentlemen! Let’s get to it!”
He clapped his hands, and a thunderous rumble vibrated throughout the entire mountain. It grew louder as the ground trembled beneath our feet, and I clutched my head in pain from the sound. The middle of the arena split with a mighty crack, and I scrambled back with the other drakens to keep from falling in. Large fissures cleaved the ground apart, and demons and vampyres streamed forth from the openings, roaring with challenge as a small army of demons attacked.
I grabbed the nearest draken by the wings though he snarled as me. “Where is Benedict? We need him here!”
The draken fled in terror, and I cursed. D’Arcy stood on a raised island created by the cracked stone, laughing hysterically as fire and blood rained around him. “Here is your test of loyalty, Wren!”
I shivered.
D’Arcy’s eyes hurriedly scanned the arena. “Sabien! Come to me!”
I found him first and knew immediately what D’Arcy planned to do. I threw my knife before my brain could worry and disrupt the steadiness of my hand. The blade sang through the air, slicing into Sabien’s leg and sending him sprawling to the ground, lost to D’Arcy’s gaze as drakens trampled around him. I scrambled to his side, picking up the knife.
“What the fuck,” he screeched, trying to get away from me.
I grabbed his wings and pulled, keeping us both on the ground. I knew from Ronan they were a weak point for most drakens.
“Shut up and just listen! Your father let a demon horde in here, and you’re just going to come when called? He’s going to kill you, then Benedict, then crown himself king! So, stay fucking down.”
Dawning horror flickered in his eyes as a demon pounced at us, the demon’s horrid mouth spread wide. His skin was charred and black, his eyes a sickening yellow. Sabien’s claws slashed down, raking the horrible creature from neck to chest, and the beast crumpled and disintegrated.
I helped Sabien up, and he gratefully accepted my cloak to hide his unique, bright turquoise coloring. “We need to rally the drakens! We need to fight!”
“You’re our self-styled queen! You do it!” he said. I blanched, fighting down the panic that threatened to overwhelm me.
“Where the fuck is Benedict?” I turned in a circle, frustration threatening to overwhelm me. If I cried out to him, he would likely ignore me. How could I get him here?
“Wren!”
I nearly cried in relief as Kieran and Ronan landed on either side of me, their wings flared high. They were already covered in blood and ashes, their eyes alight with the sheen of battle.
Kieran sniffed the air around me, his eyes going wide, and lifting my hair away from the base of my neck. “What is that?”
I should have known that either Kieran or Ronan would find the large fang marks sooner or later.
“We have bigger issues at the moment,” I warned, pulling away from him.
He snarled. “Unhealed fang marks could kill you, and because he’s the first mate, he’s the only one who can heal them.”
Lovely.
“It’s fine, Kieran. I’m a big girl.”
All of us ducked as a vampyre flew overhead, a draken struggling in his grip.
“Come on!”
We fought our way through the horde, the demons easy to kill but difficult to fight when there were so many. The vampyres were more difficult, faster, and stronger than a draken, and thirsty for blood.
I charged straight for D’Arcy. “Wren, wait!”
I wouldn’t. I cut my way through the demons like a woman possessed, hacking, and screaming. A vampyre dropped in front of me, his red eyes hungry as his veins glowed with draken blood. I stabbed him in the heart, watching in satisfaction as he disintegrated on the spot.
His friend was not so slow and caught me on the shoulder as I whirled with the small dagger. I spun and struck out at him, not expecting to garner much damage. He clutched the small wound on his arm in pain, howling like I had amputated him. In astonishment, I watched as he burned away from his arm up until he was nothing left but a pile of ashes. Kieran and the others caught up to me while Ronan grinned like a lunatic.
“Demon bone blade; told you it would come in handy!” he said.
I rolled my eyes and continued towards the middle, my eyes never leaving the head of blonde hair that spun neatly, looking for Sabien in the crowd. It gave me an idea.
“Sabien! Give out a distress call! As a blood relation Benedict will hear you! He’ll come!”
Sabien nodded, but Ronan held an arm out. “D’Arcy will know where you are! He’ll have every demon here converge on the spot and kill you!”
I gripped my daggers, not knowing what to say. Ronan was right. I couldn’t ask anyone to willingly die for me or anyone else. Sabien’s face paled as draken blood seeped into the rocks, and then he lifted his gaze to us, afraid. He put an arm on Kieran’s shoulder, and something unspoken passed between them.
“Make it count,” Sabien ordered.
Kieran closed his eyes in sorrow, then opened them again with a determined glint. “Get ready to defend Sabien. He needs to stay alive until Benedict gets here.”
I didn’t have time to react, say goodbye, or even express how awed I was at how easily someone could just decide to sacrifice himself for someone else. Sabien exhaled, then let out the most terrifying, soul-wrenching scream I’d heard in my life. The enemy paused, then as one ignored the drakens they were battling and turned their eyes on us.
I put both daggers in my right hand and flipped my short sword to my left. We formed a tight circle around Sabien and braced ourselves. Kieran and Ronan both shot me looks that held more emotion than any kiss we’d ever shared. D’Arcy’s eyes found us and the pathetic protection we had set up. I closed my eyes and Benedict’s enraged growl rumbled in my consciousness. I opened them and licked my lips.
The demon hordes attacked.
It was chaos and pain as they fell upon us, claws and teeth scrabbling to get close to Sabien. The other drakens roared as they realized what was happening, and they turned as one to attack the fleeing hordes. My heart caught as they fought to get to us, roaring and slashing a path to me instead of fleeing and saving themselves.
“He’s close!” Sabien yelled, his eyes wide with terror.
The vampyres clustered together, putting the smaller demons first. They hissed and climbed over each other, forming a seething mass of claws and teeth that tried to consume us like a tidal wave. The vampyres followed behind, fangs flashing. I couldn’t feel my arms from the constant hacking, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. Kieran and Ronan whirled with the precise efficiency born of years fighting together. I prayed it would be enough.
Sabien shouted as a vampyre got a hold of his ankle and yanked him from our circle of protection. I threw myself towards him, grabbing his arms and pulling him back. The vampyre hissed and let go of him, grabbing me by the throat and pulling me to his face. His red eyes bored into mine. He licked a drop of blood that dripped from my forehead, and his face froze. He whipped back towards D’Arcy, a shocked expression on his face.
“She—’
His head disappeared, rolling off to the side as a sword sliced cleanly through it. I shoved his body off me, and Kieran gave me a nod and turned, stabbing two more vampyres as they crawled towards us. I tried to focus through the chaos.
The demons had superior numbers, and drakens didn’t fight well in close quarters. Magick sparked in the air, hot and heavy. All action stopped as D’Arcy simultaneously froze the closest ten vampyres around him, their bodies dropping in a heap. For a moment hope blazed within me—I was wrong! D’Arcy was on our side!
But no . . . something fouler was at play here. A dozen demon imps crawled to the bodies, their hands punching straight into their chest cavities and pulling out their undead, yet still beating hearts. Their faces were frozen in a rictus of tortured pain.
This was the white magick Benedict had told me about, magick that took from others and left the caster unharmed. At least physically.
Nausea boiled up inside me.
“He’s weaving a spell. We can’t wait for Benedict!” Kieran shouted in distress.
Sabien stood slowly, getting his feet under him. He held his hand out, and I slapped my dagger against his palm. Hopefully they’d serve him as well as they had me, gifted by the first two people to show me any kindness here. Sabien faced D’Arcy, whose skin glowed white as thick, chaotic magick surrounded the dead bodies. Screams split the air, and I couldn’t tell if it came from demons or drakens.
Sabien trembled, tears running down his face. Kieran leaned into his ear and whispered something. Sabien whipped around to face me, smiling as he began to make several shallow cuts along his body with a suddenly steady hand, one cut at each wrist, and two on his neck. He closed his eyes and started chanting as the cavern was plunged into darkness, the only light source coming from D’Arcy.
There was a mighty rumble and then suddenly the side of the arena blew open, exposing us to the elements. Benedict stood in the rumble, fury in his eyes as the storm outside raged around him. Rain pelted his body to mix with the blood that snaked down his chest, his sacrifice for blowing up the side of a mountain. I took my chance while everyone was staring at him in awe. I ran straight at D’Arcy, my sword held high.
“Sabien! No!”
The weight of Benedict’s command sent every draken to their knees, but Sabien was too far into starting the spell; too far gone to stop. The cuts he made bled freely, trailing on the ground to form intricate patterns that glowed. He opened his eyes to reveal they’d gone pitch black and then ritualistically positioned my dagger under his chin.
“This is my choice,” he intoned towards Benedict. Towards everyone. His voice was a flat monotone. “Respect it.”
He thrust the dagger up with all his strength as I struck, hurling my sword at D’Arcy’s neck with all the remaining energy I had. Several things happened at once.
Sabien’s black sacrifice roared through the mountain, striking down anything that wasn’t me or a draken. The demon hordes fell to the ground twitching, then disintegrated into ash. The mountain groaned and sealed the large cracks, and the vampyres were left writhing on the ground, easily dispatched by nearby drakens.
My sword sang through the air, but D’Arcy blocked it, cutting off his spell to defend himself. Benedict was at my side an instant later, and then the fight truly began. D’Arcy knew he wasn’t a match physically against Benedict, and I was a minor irritant at best. White, hot magick sparked at his fingertips, flying to hold off the raging draken king. Tears fell down Benedict’s face, his grief and rage a tangible force that whirled around him.
“Why D’Arcy?” Benedict grunted, striking over and over at the erected shield D’Arcy put over himself. Sparks flew from both our swords as it scraped against raw magick.
“I would have been king centuries ago if you had just gone on that raid with everyone else like you were supposed to!” D’Arcy roared. “The draken race would have joined forces with the Overlord, and there wouldn’t have been an eruption! We are an extinct race because of you!”
D’Arcy lashed out at me, but I ducked, dodging his claws. My body ached from the stress of fighting, and I wavered. The other drakens were almost here, almost within range of hearing D’Arcy’s traitorous acts from his own poisonous lips. Benedict stood shocked, frozen at the reality presented to him. Which would have been worse, where they were now, or D’Arcy as king but most of their race alive?
D’Arcy took the raw pain on Benedict’s face and ran with it. “You’re all so blind! To think a human could be a spy!” he cackled. “You idiots were too busy fighting each other to realize the truth!”
He leaned back to gloat a bit more, and I saw my chance to literally put him off balance. I took it. I leaped at him, surprising both of us when my weak human body easily passed through his shield, not even considered a threat. I wrapped my arms around his legs and squeezed hard, refusing to let go. It was all I had strength to do.
“Get off!” D’Arcy screamed, unable to balance or assume a fighting position with me clutched around him.
D’Arcy teetered, off-balance with me dragging him down. Benedict took the opening as the shield fell and slashed his uncle across the chest. D’Arcy roared in pain.
Somehow, I unsheathed my remaining dagger. With all my strength, I stabbed it down into his foot, pinning it. The tip of the blade speared through the bone and scraped the stone underneath.
D’Arcy spit in rage and pummeled my body with his claws and teeth. Instead of trying to get away, I latched on tighter. My body held him down. If he was fighting me, he couldn’t defend himself from others. Benedict hesitated to take the opening, so I decided for him. I wrenched my dagger free of D’Arcy’s foot and stabbed him again in the thigh. He fell to the ground screaming. Kieran was next to me a moment later. I scrambled away as he opened D’Arcy’s throat. His blood spilled all over the rocks. The white magick on D’Arcy’s fingertips fizzled and died. His body tried to heal itself, then stopped.
“Part of Sabien’s sacrifice,” Benedict choked out, “is no one who intends to do our people harm will survive.”
We stood as a sad group as we watched D’Arcy die, sneering and goading us even as he bled out.
“The Overlord will come again with more, and he will hunt down every last one of you until our race is wiped from the planet. You should have—’ He choked on his own blood, but none of us moved a muscle. “ You should have just died. We’d be on Lyoness right now. My mate would be alive. You did this, Benedict.”
He gave a final cough and went still.
I turned to Benedict to tell him it wasn’t true. None of this could possibly be his fault. He heard D’Arcy’s confession himself, surely, he wouldn’t believe his poisonous lies!
Benedict was already gone and across the pit, kneeling over Sabien’s body. Every draken hunched down, as if his loss was their own. One by one the drakens encircled Benedict and Sabien, dropping to their knees to honor his sacrifice.
Silence settled over the cave, the howling of the wind outside the only noise reminding us of the outside world. Benedict gently lifted his nephew’s head into his lap, stroking his blond hair away from his face. Every draken left standing kneeled, their claws held up with palms facing out. I would have felt better if Benedict had cried or screamed, or did anything to outwardly express his grief. Instead, he sat there cradling Sabien, silent and unmoving as stone.
Gelf stood next to Benedict with Pirth and Wyrren, covered in blood but mostly uninjured. They looked shell-shocked. Stunned. All this death and blood, and Sabien’s sacrifice brought us all to our knees in awe. I was crying. Sobbing. No one noticed me.
“It should have us,” Gelf whispered, his voice wracked with guilt. “We have lived long enough.”
Benedict did cry then—a feral, keening sound that reached into my soul and pulled. I was overcome with the need to do something, anything to stay his agony, but my body refused to cooperate. I took a step forward and my legs swayed, the pain in my neck pounding through my veins as the adrenaline from battle faded, reminding me of the wound.
Kieran tore his gaze from his king to me, jerking when he saw me stagger. One hand reached out to steady me, and the other landed respectfully on Benedict’s arm. “My king, please—’
Benedict shook him off violently, at odds with the gentle way he laid Sabien’s body back down. He turned slowly and faced me, and I would have been terrified at the anger radiating from him if I hadn’t already been so consumed by pain and emotion.
Ronan dove between us, his wings flared high to shield me from view. “Benedict, no, she is not our enemy!” He yelled.
One swipe of his hand sent Ronan flying. Benedict tried to push past Kieran but the red draken held still, growling in obvious challenge to his king. For me. Benedict glowered at me, as if his people’s sudden insubordination was solely my fault.
“I order you to stand aside.”
Kieran licked his lips, and Ronan shakily stood, joining him.
“No. Respectfully.”
The other drakens began to speak up.
“She fought with us—’
“Bled for us—’
“Kept us together in time for you to come!”
“The black magick would have killed her if she were a traitor!”
“Sabien trusted her. You aren’t going to let his death mean nothing, are you?” Gelf was the last to speak, the three elder drakens the only other ones who dared to openly reproach their king.
Benedict crumpled to the ground, his head in his hands. My legs finally gave out and Kieran caught me, saving my head from meeting a large rock. He pulled his hand back, wincing at the amount of blood pouring from the back of my neck and passed me to Ronan. He bared down on his king. “Heal the fang marks, Benedict.”
No answer. He just knelt there, his body shaking with grief as the drakens held a collective breath. Gelf hauled Benedict up by his arms, his face so ferocious that Benedict blinked in confusion.
“Heal the fang marks, or I will challenge you,” Gelf bit out.
Benedict laughed, an ugly sound that echoed loudly off the stone walls.
“And if you defeat him, I will be next.” Wyrren’s large hand landed on Gelf’s shoulder.
“And then me,” Pirth added.
Benedict stopped laughing, his face ugly.
“And then us.” Kieran and Ronan both stepped in front of me, and then as one every draken rose to their feet, clasping shoulders.
“And me.”
“And us!”
“My whole family would be dead without her. Fight us if you have to.”
Benedict backed away, his pride warring with his sense of duty. I knew he wouldn’t do anything that hurt his people, and so did Gelf. I wondered if his grief was more powerful than his promise to protect me. I supposed I was about to find out.
Benedict backed down, returned, and roughly grabbed me. “I do this only for my people.”
He bit down again into the back of my neck, and I shrieked in agony.
