Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
A barrage of bullets came for us, pinging off the stone walls. Commotion exploded, figures moving and darting for safety, firing back.
“Brexley!” Arms came around me, hurtling me behind a wall, as several bullets zipped by my head. Our bodies hit the ground with a thud, Killian scrambling into a squat position, already firing at the attackers.
Ire coated over the fear raging inside as I moved up beside him. I was slower to react to them. I hated feeling like the weak link, which was why I worked so hard in training. At HDF, being a girl was already considered a weakness by so many, and I trained my ass off to counter it.
Peeking over the wall, I watched Tad tug away from Sloane, stepping back in the fray, his mouth moving with a spell, his shaky hand lifting his staff. White light started to come from him, but not fast enough.
“Tad!” I screamed as a bullet sunk into the Druid’s shoulder, blood surging over his light-colored robe. I lunged toward him, the need to protect him overriding everything.
“Brex, no!” Killian grabbed onto me, holding me back.
Another bullet hit him, stumbling him back. Then another. The entire time, his mouth kept moving, still trying to protect us, but the bullets were faster. His head turned, his eyes finding mine. They said so much, filling my chest with emotion.
“No!” Panic wound through my muscles, seeing the old man being gunned down in front of me. Shoving off Killian, I lifted my weapon, ready to shoot my way to him.
A shell hit his chest, blood spurting out, the force flaying his back onto the ground.
I lurched out from behind the barrier, headed for him. My legs came to a halt when red light, the color of blood, shot out, slamming into the HDF soldiers, tossing them back, and walling around us like a protective shield.
What the hell?
My head jerked to the side. Six of my mother’s clan grouped together, speaking in unison, something I didn’t understand, their expression locked down. Focused. Casting a barrier around us.
I darted to Tad, my knees hitting the ground. Blood soaked the linen, his chest barely moving.
“Tad? No . . . please . . . no.” I gripped his hand, looking up. “Please, someone help him.”
“Brexley, you need to go.” My mother ran up to me, holding the box.
“I won’t leave him. He’s dying.”
“You must!” She shoved the box in my hand. “We will hold them off. But you have to escape now.”
“But . . .” I peered down at the box, the nectar inside.
“I said it stayed with us until it was no longer safe.” She curled my fingers around the edges. “It is no longer safe here. You must protect it at all costs.”
My gaze went back to Tad, not seeing his chest move.
“We will take care of him if we can, I promise.” She touched my face briefly, making me look into her eyes. “Please, my girl. You need to go!”
“Come on!” Killian grabbed my arm, yanking me to my feet. Sloane and Killian pulled me to the exit behind us. My gaze, not taking in anything, still latched onto my mother’s eyes. There was love in them. For the first time, I saw it.
Then she rose and faced our attackers.
Sloane took the lead, Killian not letting me go, my feet stumbling over the uneven steps and crumbling trail. My fingers dug into the box, holding it tight against my chest as we descended quickly.
I was highly aware of the treasure I held, but it felt distant from me now, just an empty vase. Like sitting with someone you loved, but no one was inside them anymore.
When we hit the embankment, Killian picked me up and tossed me into the boat. They swiftly got us turned around and pointed back to the city.
The container pressed to my ribcage. I looked up at the castle on the hill as we sailed away. Gunfire and metal echoed down to me, the sparks of light and screams of death.
Did I leave my family to die? Was Tad dead?
Tad sacrificed himself to protect us.
To protect me.
I saw it in his eyes. He did it for me.
Taking a breath, I opened the lid, nerves dancing up my esophagus.
The substance lay at the bottom. My eyes burned with emotion, seeing it so dull and lifeless.
I had hoped I would be wrong, that it would be glowing and vivid with power.
Telling me my magic wasn’t gone forever, and I hadn’t destroyed it.
But it looked the same as when I left it last time.
Slamming the lid, I stared up at the sky, blinking away the grief I felt in my soul.
The trip back was tense. Sloane was on such high alert, every time I moved, he twitched like he might shoot me. Killian appeared calm, but I could see the muscles riding high around his neck.
When the boat glided into the city, I saw Killian stare up at the bombed and burned-out fae palace. His eyes tracked the ruins of his home. The site of his power. A sign that fae were at their weakest.
And Killian had to lie low until the person who wanted to fill the vacuum of the lord’s sudden death showed himself. I had to give it to Killian. Most would not be so patient, but Killian played the long game. He wasn’t just thinking of his power today, but his legacy for centuries.
Returning the boat to its slip, we disembarked on the Pest side, heading for the parked SUV Sloane had hidden near Elizabeth square.
I had no doubt Killian would want to take us back to his veiled cottage, but being so near my uncle and my friends, a big part of me was ready to run for it.
I had no hope of outrunning either fae man anymore, but I couldn’t stop my compulsion to take this box to Andris instead.
Before I could decide either way, my stomach coiled with nerves, the uneasy sensation of being watched hummed at the back of my neck.
Killian and Sloane must have felt the same, their heads jerking, their bodies stiffening, weapons ready.
Killian took in a deep breath, his lids shutting briefly. “Fuck.”
The clicking of dozens of guns scraped up my spine, flipping me around. Terror filled my throat, my brain already knowing who I’d see.
Smoke trailed up from his cigarette, his beady, dark eyes sparking with the joy of the hunt. He held his Glock casually, as if he had no reason to fear us.
“You are completely surrounded.” Kalaraja stepped out of the shadows, taking another hit. The soldiers moved in around us, weapons drawn on us, ready to shoot. “Drop your weapons.”
“I don’t think so.” Killian snarled, his gun still pointing at Kalaraja.
Suddenly, a gun muzzle pressed into the side of my head, a guard moving in next to me, taking my weapon.
Kalaraja’s smirk grew as he stomped out his cigarette.
Killian glared at me like he was about to shoot me in the head instead of the man holding the gun to me. Exhaling, he dropped his weapon to the ground. Sloane begrudgingly doing it too.
“Kick them over.”
Metal scraped the cement, sliding over to the enemy.
“You didn’t think I’d have men waiting for you here too?” Kalaraja’s smugness dripped from him, cold and calculated. “I have eyes everywhere in this city. Knew the moment you parked this shiny, fancy car here and which boat you stole.”
And had us followed up to High Castle. That was how they found us.
“You’ve been a slippery one, so I waited here for you too.” His cold, dead eyes met mine, and for a brief moment, his gaze dropped to the box. “What you got there? Bring me a going away present?”
Killian locked up next to me. Unnoticeable to anyone else, but I could feel his arm brush mine.
Kalaraja had no clue what I was holding. Not yet. The men at High Castle had come for me, possibly even to kill the fae ruler. Instead, they stumbled upon something far more valuable. But that had yet to be communicated, and no one knew if those men made it back at all.
“The dick of the last man who tried to capture me.” I slowly tucked the box under my arm, wanting his attention off it. “So, I guess you’re safe.” I tipped my head contemptuously.
“A eunuch?” Killian grinned at me.
“That’s suggesting he had one to begin with.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Kalaraja gripped his gun, aiming it at my head, glaring. “Take it.” He ordered the guard. My stomach sank when the guy pulled it out of my grip.
“You like a box of dicks, huh? I see your kink now.” I tried to act like I wasn’t about to panic.
Kalaraja gritted his teeth. “Think it’s wise to piss me off?”
“Think it’s wise to piss me off?” The deep growl vibrated from behind us.
My lungs halted, the voice dragging my body down into the depths of hell. I had to scrape and claw my way back up, every nerve shredded and torn until nothing was left. I was stripped and flayed alive by just the force of his wrath.
My head turned, air fighting to be released from my lungs, my gaze landing on a massive silhouette.
Aqua eyes illuminated the darkness like blue flames, ready to devour and kill.
Even without the magic I gave him, Warwick was the stuff of legends.
His physical body dwarfed the human soldiers, but it wasn’t enough for him; he took up every molecule of air, stretching far past his body. Taking territory with brutal force.
Warwick’s glare went to the guard holding a gun to my head. “I’d remove that hand now.” His voice iced through the air. It wasn’t a threat. It went way past that. The boy stiffened, his hand shaking with terror, but continued to follow his commander’s order.
Taking in the boy’s response, Warwick’s eyes slid to me. I sucked in. He was cruel, cold, feral. His fury told me to drop to my knees and beg to be consumed quickly, and not even the gun at my head stood a chance against him.
Every soldier swung their weapons to the new threat as Warwick stepped from the shadows. The cleaver I saw him use at my father’s cabin was strapped to his back.
His gaze slid from mine back to Kalaraja, his head tipping up.
“Don’t move, Wolf.” Kalaraja barked, his finger firm on the trigger. Far behind Kalaraja, I thought I saw something move in the dark, but when I looked again, it was gone. “This bullet is begging to drive deep into your skull.”