Chapter 22
Leon’s smile was just as gross as the first time I saw it, back on my boat.
The three of us said nothing, not even when the siren guards fanned out and started to surround us. Weapons drawn. Masks up. Audrey’s fingers started to flex, and Hush rested her hand on the hilt of one of her knives.
“How interesting,” Leon continued after lowering his mask to speak.
“That one of Ilia’s top generals is wandering the base of the Fjellenheim Mountains with a halfling and a human.
” I didn’t realize how high up in rank Hush was, but I couldn’t say I was surprised.
“The halfling specifically attempting to disrupt the peace our prophesied protector has fought so hard to maintain, no less.”
That was a very inaccurate and one-sided view of events, but I didn’t think it was in my best interest to try to educate him.
Hush and Audrey said nothing, so I copied their tactic.
I slid my gaze over to a siren guard to my right, staring at his lifted sword, as if he were worried that I would strike him first. Because my green hoodie, jeans, and sneakers gave me no ability to hide a weapon on my person, I determined this guard to be a complete dumbass.
I gave him a pitiful look, and he narrowed his eyes at me.
“It’s disappointing that my sister was right.
” Leon shook his head in mock disappointment.
“I didn’t think you would be stupid enough to conspire against our king,” he said to Hush.
The black-haired siren who sneered at me at Bandthral came to mind.
“When Amber suggested that someone from our guard was working against our own people, I brushed her off. My unit here can confirm that the only reason we’re even patrolling this area right now was to prove she was wrong—unfortunately,” Leon sighed.
“Now I must tell her she was right. Do you understand how frustrating that is for me?”
It wasn’t easy to focus on what he was saying while keeping a constant eye on his unit, with their weapons ready to strike.
Leon sighed dramatically as he strolled up to us, and I internally rolled my eyes at how much this man loved the sound of his own voice.
“I hate losing bets to Amber. She’s insufferable about it.
” But then Leon looked down at Hush, who didn’t back down from his approach, “However, I can’t lie and say I won’t enjoy dragging you to the Gravhune. ”
My heart sank in my gut, and right as Leon nodded toward his unit, hands were on me. I was thrust to the ground. I blinked, disoriented, and tried to stand up. But something cold and hard was pressed at my neck.
Freezing, I realized it was a blade.
“Van,” Audrey gasped from nearby. She was thrust completely to the ground, hands behind her back.
Three guards were on top of her, one of them holding her hands into fists, keeping her from using her gift.
The shrubbery twitched around us, struggling to listen to her command and help us, but they must have learned her weakness the night of the robbery.
Without the use of her hands to direct her powers, Audrey couldn’t strike.
Hush was also on the ground. A guard had his knee on her back as he gripped her hooded head upward and held a knife to her throat as well. I, however, was on my hands and knees with a knife to mine.
“You know where the missing females and children are, don’t you?” Leon asked all of us this with disgust, but again, we stayed silent. “This is what happens when females are given too much authority.”
“Oh my god,” I spoke up, making Hush and Audrey throw me panicked looks.
“Are you seriously making your inability to convince a woman to fuck you, everyone else’s problem?
” I realized as soon as the blade touched my skin that I was probably fucked.
Audrey and Hush were strong enough to fight their way out of this, but even though I’ve been training, I hadn’t been trained on how to get out of this specific position. I would most likely die.
If that was the case, the least I could do was buy my friends time.
Leon turned his glare on me, stepping away from Hush to drop to a crouch in front of me.
“You think I’m worried about a human’s opinion?” Leon murmured, low and threatening. “Unlike many in our realm, I don’t have the slightest interest in reproducing with the likes of you.”
“Oh no,” I deadpanned. “I’m devastated.” That earned me a threatening press of the knife against my throat, an attempt to remind me of the danger I was in. I was fully aware, but I’d be damned if I let these losers let my last breathing moments be moments of fear.
Leon opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted.
“So easily manipulated by a human, are you?” A deep, melodic voice echoed in our clearing. The hairs on my neck rose, a bass note in the melody that constantly filled the air in Hyvenmere, thrummed.
Leon and I both turned to the side to see Drustan standing there, in the same dark leather all the other sirens in the unit wore, hood and mask down, frowning at us with a lifted red eyebrow. Audrey cursed from her prone position on the ground.
“Your highness,” Leon smirked, then tipped his head in my direction. “Do you see what my unit and I have found?”
“I do.” Drustan strolled through the clearing, shoving his hands in the pockets of his tactical pants, studying the three of us pinned under several guards. “How disappointing.”
“Fuck you.” I spat at the prince, unable to control my anger.
The last time I saw him in person was on my boat, after he tried convincing me that he genuinely wanted me.
The next time was me watching him snoop throughout my room and steal my condoms. Now, here he was, looking like he genuinely didn’t give a shit that his supposed mate was being held at knifepoint.
“Unlike Leon here,” Drustan smirked as he addressed me.
“I’m more than willing to accept the invitation if you keep offering it.
” Leon’s brows jumped at his prince’s words, before he turned to study me more intensely.
He took the knife from the guard on top of me, using the flat side of the blade to tip my chin up, as if he was inspecting me.
“I guess she is a pretty little thing…” Leon hummed.
It was like this man had one single brain cell, and all it knew how to do was agree with whatever his authority figures said.
I pressed my lips together, staying as quiet as I could.
Leon’s gaze traveled down most of my body, and an appreciative expression coated his features as he took in my position on my knees.
“It might be beneficial to know what it’s like sharing a bed with a human.”
I couldn’t help it. I snorted. Leon flinched from the sound.
“Is something amusing?” He pressed the blade closer to my throat, emphasizing the threat he held over me. It wasn’t the smartest thing to say, but I was a petty woman. Without much thought, I let my lips pull back in a grin.
“The idea of ever spreading my legs for you is funny, yes.” Leon ground his teeth together and drew his hand back. The slap across my face knocked me to my side. A ringing echoed in my ears, and my skin stung from the sharp contact. Audrey shouted, and it quickly became muffled.
But then a low growl echoed in the clearing from above, followed by a pained, gargling sound.
I forced myself to sit up, my hand to my cheek, just in time to open my eyes and see Drustan yank Leon’s throat out with his bare hand.
I gasped, my eyes wide as I watched Leon drop to his knees after being released from the prince’s hold.
His hand cupped his neck as if he could put his throat back inside of it.
His eyes were wide, and blood gushed from his mouth and the hole in his neck as Drustan gripped a handful of Leon’s hair and sharply twisted.
Within one swift movement, Leon’s head was snapped off his body.
Hush was already pinning her soldier’s body to the ground with her boot and a sword when Drustan chuckled and shook some excess blood off his fingertips. Audrey was sitting on her ass, frozen in shock at the morbid image of Leon’s demise.
The other soldiers and I sat there silently. Their weapons raised.
“Well then,” Drustan grinned with his words.
“You—” another soldier stuttered. “You just killed one of the king’s generals.”
Drustan lifted an eyebrow at him, bored, “I did.”
“It’s treason,” another whispered. The soldier pinned underneath Hush groaned, trying to fight her off, but she held him firm.
“And?” Drustan flicked more blood off his fingertips while nudging Leon’s head off to the side with his foot.
Slowly, cautiously, the rest of the soldiers raised their weapons higher.
I was panting, unable to control my breathing at all, as I struggled to get to my feet.
The ringing in my ears was still present, and my cheek was throbbing, but I was determined to focus on getting out of this alive.
“I’d drop those if I were you,” Drustan warned the soldiers.
“Our loyalty is to the king,” one of them recited.
“And you still stand by that?” Drustan replied.
“Do you know where the females are?” One of the soldiers was getting heated, his voice was shaking as his brow morphed into anger. “You dare to hide our females from—”
“I’d carefully consider your next words if I were you,” Drustan’s voice lowered to a register that sent a flash of ice down my spine. My chest felt tight, and fear and adrenaline drenched my muscles.
“Why are you defending this human and the halfling?”
“We need to tell the king.”
“This is treason!”
Drustan groaned, throwing his head back in annoyance. Face tilted back toward the sky, he turned toward me enough to see his pupils expand again. Fully. Taking over the entirety of his eyes, before throwing a smirk in my direction and saying, “Close your eyes and cover your ears, Vanessa.”
“Huh?”
“Do it, Van!” Hush barked.