Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
The still night echoed our footsteps like a drum, no matter how quiet we were trying to be.
All of us were wounded, some badly and just trying to keep breathing, to file away the people we left behind.
Shock, grief, and fear tied off the wound like a tourniquet, keeping us from bleeding out from the agony.
Warwick’s tense physique moved us through the shadows and alleys, acting as the first line of defense. Ash and I were close behind him while Sloane was at the rear. Kitty, Killian, and Rosie were in the middle.
Nearing the Madách Tér, Warwick stopped us behind a stone pillar under the huge structural arch.
Hotels, cafes, and shops used to fill this square with life.
It was hard for me to imagine. As a young girl, I hadn’t even known what a hotel was until my father explained it to me after one of his journeys across the land.
Now they called them lodging houses. I had no understanding of life outside the walls of Léopold.
The strange eeriness of the night pounded my pulse against my throat.
“It’s not going to be easy to get us to ?rmez?,” Ash whispered to Warwick, glancing back at our injured group.
“No, but do we have another option?” The legend grumbled.
“Go back to mine, have a hot shower, drink by the fire, and have sex with a couple of river fairies?” Ash shrugged, making Warwick scoff with a low chuckle.
“Or maybe a snake shifter?” Ash added.
“And here I thought you were getting a taste for demon sex.” I nudged Ash. His body stilled, his cheeks flushing. “And blond half-breeds.” I winked.
“What?” Warwick’s brow rose in a high arch. “Don’t fucking tell me . . .”
“It was a stressful night . . . and morning. Energy needed to be worked out.” Ash’s voice went defensive. Too defensive. “And maybe more than once.”
Warwick huffed, his head shaking in amusement, his attention going fully back to the area. “Okay, looks clear, let’s go.”
We stepped out, starting to cross the square when a chill stroked over my soul, causing every hair to rise on my body.
It was so soft I could almost ignore it, death’s kiss brushing the back of my neck.
It was familiar—the line between life and death.
But what I sensed didn’t belong to either, as if nature was clashing against it, refusing.
Everything in me screamed, feeling wrong.
“Wait—” My mouth opened, my hand reaching for Warwick.
Hundreds of red laser beams vaulted around the darkness until they zeroed in on us.
The air filled with the reverberation of boots hitting the pavement and the swish of fabric.
Figures rushed from all sides, jolting me with terror.
Quiet and meticulous, hundreds of soldiers filed out of the alleys and the street like ants in an unnatural collective harmony.
Holy shit.
My head darted around, the nightmare coming from all different angles, herding our group.
With our backs together, we kept our weapons in hand, ready to fight.
Rosie was shoved into the middle of us, keeping her walled in and protected.
In my gut, I knew it was all for naught.
None of us could guard against this many, no matter how powerful the fae within our group were.
There were too many with tactical lasers trained on us.
Intuition told me none of these soldiers were ordinary humans. Not with the way they moved, looking the way they did. Dressed in black fatigues and beanies, they stared at us with bloodthirsty eyes, their guns clicking off the safety.
Ash was right. They were robotic in their movements, precise and empty, but their eyes were feral, as if at any moment, they could flip.
It was unnatural and terrifying.
“This was much easier than I thought it would be.” The voice cleaved through me like a hacksaw, gorging out huge chunks of my hope. Every muscle locked up, my mind fighting the urge to either throw up or stand at attention.
Air cut through my nose as my head turned to the silhouette strolling assertively through a gap between soldiers. Not one lifted an eye to their leader, their focus centered solely on us. Abnormally so. I recognized none of them, and I pretty much knew, by face at least, every soldier in HDF.
“Ah, Brexley.” The man clicked his tongue. “What a disappointment you turned out to be.” Cool blue eyes met mine, the man coming to stand right in front of his army.
“Istvan.” His name barely made it out. The insecurity I had always felt in this man’s presence quaked through me. An imprint. He looked the same, but I saw the cruelty in his eyes, a confidence that almost elevated him above all others.
Warwick lifted his gun with a growl.
“I wouldn’t do that.” Istvan clasped his hands behind his back, smirking.
“I can shoot you before anyone of your men can even touch their trigger,” Warwick stated.
“You think so?” Istvan barely dipped his chin before a bullet cracked across the square straight into Warwick’s shoulder with sharp precision.
Fast.
Fae-fast.
A cry barely made it to my lips, watching Warwick’s body jolt from the force, his weapon falling from his hand.
The bullet hit the exact nerve, cutting clean through.
Warwick’s hand went to the wound, coming back bloody, his expression creasing with a snarl.
Even without our special link, he was still half-fae.
He’d heal from this. But not if the shot was fatal.
I understood in this moment—together, we had possessed the power to heal each other from fatal wounds.
We no longer could now.
Glowering at Istvan, I saw him smirk.
“Haven’t taught your fae-lover to be obedient yet?
” Istvan tsked me. “All the years I spent trying to mold and guide you into a leader.” Genuine emotion flashed in his eyes.
“You could have been on the right side, Brexley. The Queen of Romania, leading the people. Instead, you chose this.” He waved his hand at my group. “Whores, thieves, and half-breeds.”
I noted he did not seem to know the Lord of the Fae was behind me, hiding his face under the wounds and hood. I wanted to keep it that way.
“I’d pick them over that life any day.” I shifted closer to Warwick, making clear where I stood.
“And are you any different? You put on fancy clothes, but there is more corruption, thieves, and whores in Léopold. At least here, they’re honest about who they are.
You hide away in your gold-plated palace, pretending you are protecting and fighting for humans when they’re nothing but political chess pieces to you. ”
“This is all for them.” He gestured about.
“I’m in it for the long game. You can’t seem to see that.
The fight gets messy, there are casualties, but in the end, I will become the legend.
” He glanced at Warwick, telling me he knew exactly who he was.
“Because they will see I brought them freedom. Peace. Safety. Humans will rule again, and fae will go back into hiding. Our world is upside down, being ruled by a demon and a druid. I am here to restore the natural order to the world.”
He sounded like a mad person, though I realized Istvan didn’t want to just be the king of the eastern bloc. He wanted to take back the entire world from the fae.
He was the pebble that started the avalanche.
“Natural order? Freedom?” I choked, my gaze landing on all the wild-eyed people around me.
Various ages, men and women, and not one even twitched.
“Do they have freedom?” Disgust and anger gripped my hands.
These soldiers weren’t right. Slightly less feral than the ones I saw at Killian’s, but something still made my skin crawl.
It seemed they had improved the formula, but they were still unpredictable killing machines.
“Is this what you call freedom? Did they take those pills willingly, Istvan?”
“You are so na?ve and foolish.” Though Istvan’s eyes glowed almost with pride.
I put all the pieces together. He valued intelligence along with cunning and shrewdness.
He reasoned I had these things because of what he taught me, and maybe he was right.
But now, those lessons would be turned on him.
“I thought I taught you better. To see the forest, not the trees.” He dropped his hands to his sides, taking a step closer.
Under his breath, Warwick snarled, but I kept my focus on the general.
“People don’t have any clue what they really want.
They want to be controlled, even when they spout about liberties.
But yes, most of them came willingly. They understand what is at stake. What we gain if we can match the fae.”
“By stealing fae essence?” I countered. “By torturing children, killing them by ripping out their magic?”
“If I must,” Istvan stated. “How long have fae been stealing, raping, and consuming us for our life essence?”
It was true. They had, but it didn’t make what he was doing right, either.
As if he could read my expression, Istvan wagged his head. “Right and wrong only have value from which side you stand on. I’m merely balancing the playing field.”
I couldn’t deny Istvan had a point. Many fae fed off humans for their energy, through sex, sins, dreams, or actually eating them. They considered it fair game and survival, so was the other way wrong?
“I’ve seen your lab, your sick experiments,” I forced out.
“Yes, I heard of your little visit.” He strolled even closer. “You should have called; I would have given you a private tour.”
I huffed contemptuously, my eyes blazing. “You aren’t doing this for human freedoms or peace. You’re doing it to build an army. To appease your ego, your need for power.”