Chapter 47 Callan
CHAPTER 47
CALLAN
“ S top! Stop!” Callan was bellowing over the sounds of Tava’s screams while Veda slowly dug one of her knives deeper in the gash she had sliced along Tava’s collarbone. “Stop! We can come to an agreement!”
Veda sneered at him. “The agreement has already been made. This is the payment.”
“Really, Veda? You could at least play with someone who likes the same games as you,” came an arrogant voice of shadows.
Veda froze, and Callan whirled.
Scarlett stood there, ?anked by her king and Ash Rider. Shadows coated her skin, and her eyes were bright silver.
“You always were quite the coward,” Scarlett tsked, moving forward with the grace of a feline. She was casual, as though she hadn’t just shown up to ?ght with a being from another world.
“What are you doing here?” Veda all but screeched.
Scarlett nodded in Callan’s direction with a wink at him. “Someone told me you weren’t playing nice.” Then her entire face went dark and cold. Her voice was that of death when she spoke again. “And you have come after what is mine.”
Words Tava had said to him weeks ago ?ltered back to him.
Once Scarlett claims you as one of her own, there is no going back.
He had never been more grateful that she was claiming Tava, that she had apparently claimed her long before this night.
“What is yours?” Veda sneered. “You cannot have everything, Scarlett. It is sel?sh of you.”
Scarlett tilted her head to the side. “Let Tava go.”
Veda’s response was to dig the knife deeper into Tava’s skin, another scream piercing the room.
Scarlett seemed to pause, as if listening to something. Their bond, Callan realized, glancing at Sorin. They could communicate through their bond.
“I heard screaming—” Drake stopped short where he burst into the room. “Tava,” he breathed. His gaze swiveled to Scarlett and Sorin.
“Hello, Drake,” Scarlett said with a sigh. “There is a … situation.”
“So use some ?re magic and fucking ?x it,” Drake snapped, his eyes going back to his sister in desperation that Callan was feeling in his soul.
“They cannot,” Veda said with a smirk. “The grounds are warded against Fae magic.”
Something sparked in Scarlett’s eyes at that, although what, Callan couldn’t even begin to fathom. He had called her here to help and things seemed to have gone from bad to worse. Sorin wordlessly passed her the two daggers he pulled from his belt while he leaned over and said something into Rayner’s ear. Rayner only nodded before crossing his arms and leaning casually against the wall.
“Release Tava,” Scarlett said again. “And if you even think of letting a blade touch her skin again, it will be one of the last things you do.”
“I have the upper hand here, Scarlett,” Veda sneered again. “You are in no position to make demands.”
A dagger was ?ying across the room before Callan could blink. Tava let out a small scream, but it left her unscathed, grazing Veda’s cheek before embedding in the wall behind her.
The Lady gasped, her ?ngers coming up to touch the cut. Her shock gave Tava the opportunity she needed to wrench herself away, stumbling as she went. Callan was already pulling her into his arms before Drake even had a chance to reach for her.
“I am so sorry, Tava,” Callan murmured, clutching her tightly to his chest.
“Do not apologize,” she whispered, her hands ?sting in his shirt. “Let’s just focus on getting out of here alive.”
“That is more like it,” Scarlett was saying, stretching her neck from side to side. “Now, Veda, if you want to play …” She brought her arm back, the second dagger poised to ?y.
“Wait!” Veda screeched again, her hand coming up.
Scarlett’s head cocked quizzically, her eyes studying at her own hand. “That’s … interesting.” Her eyes slid back to Veda. “Someone has a secret.” When Veda’s lips pursed, her hand still in the air before her, Scarlett said, “Tell me, Lady Veda, what are the gifts of a Maraan? Or should I say a seraph ?”
“How do you know that term?” Veda demanded, her face draining of color.
“I had a little chat with a Sorceress,” Scarlett said, wrenching her hand out of the air. It seemed as if it took effort to do so, and when she did, Veda almost appeared to shrink back.
“A Sorceress?” Veda asked meekly.
“That is what she calls herself here,” Scarlett said impatiently. “Not important. What is important is how I am going to kill you this night.”
Shadows rippled around Scarlett, shifting and writhing, but before they could form into anything, Callan gasped as wings erupted from Veda’s back. They were feathered and gold, and he could not even begin to comprehend what he was seeing.
Scarlett, however, had apparently seen such a thing before.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Scarlett cursed, sounding more annoyed than anything. “Here?”
Then the window behind them was shattering. Callan was shielding Tava with his body. They had all thrown themselves to the ?oor, covering their heads.
All but Veda.
Who was leaping from the window and into the sky.
“Where the fuck does she think she’s going?” Scarlett muttered, instantly on her feet and prowling to the window.
“We will ?nd her, Scarlett,” Sorin said, trying to calm the queen.
“I will not lose her,” she snarled, before leaping onto the window ledge, glass crunching under her boots. “If they won’t make the ?rst move, then I will.” Then she stepped off the edge, falling straight down.
“Scarlett!” Tava cried, lurching for the window. Her hands landed on the ledge, blood instantly welling from shards of broken glass cutting into her skin. Callan moved to pull her back, but suddenly she was stumbling back into him.
As a huge dragon made entirely of shadows shot towards the sky. A queen of darkness and shadows and ashes on its back, illuminated only by the light of the full moon.
He could just make out Veda ?apping away from the house, climbing higher into the night sky.
“Godsdammit,” Sorin muttered, pushing past them all and running for the stairs. They all ran after him, sounding like a herd of horses as they all raced down the stairs. Tava’s hand was gripped in his when they cleared the narrow spiral staircase and started down the main steps.
“Finn and Sloan,” Tava gasped, her eyes frantically searching while they ran.
“We’re here,” Finn said when they made it to the main ?oor.
“What the hell is going on?” Sloan demanded, a sword already drawn. His eyes widened when he spotted Sorin and Rayner. “What are they doing here?”
The Fae said nothing. They just raced through the main doors, everyone on their heels.
“There,” Rayner said, pointing to the sky.
The moon was so bright they could see everything. No one said a word. No one could.
Well, none of the mortals anyway.
“She is going to be the death of me,” Sorin muttered. “We cannot even fucking help her. The wards are sti?ing our magic.” He cursed again, looking like he wanted to punch something.
Or burn something to the ground, Callan supposed.
“Her shadows will keep her safe,” Rayner said passively, his eyes ?xed on the sky.
Sorin didn’t say anything in response.
They all watched as the shadow dragon ?nally caught up to Veda.
They all watched as Scarlett appeared to be repositioning, as Veda looked back over her shoulder and screamed.
Because that was Scarlett leaping from her shadows and onto Veda’s back. That was moonlight glinting off a sword as it came down. That was a golden wing sliced clean off, falling to the ground. That was blood, appearing black in the night, raining down from the female in the sky, sprinkling onto their skin as they began to fall, Veda unable to keep them aloft with only one wing.
“She is utterly insane,” Drake murmured in shock and disbelief.
The blade was glinting again, slicing off the other wing, and then they were both plummeting to the ground. Veda’s screams were piercing the night.
The closer they free fell, the more they could make out Veda’s cries. “You will kill us both, you crazy bitch!”
The drops of blood landing on the faces of those watching were getting bigger, no longer sprinkles of red, but none of them could look away.
The shadow dragon appeared below them, catching Scarlett, but Scarlett shoved Veda away from her.
The Maraan Lady screamed again, only to have bands of white ?ames appear around her torso, halting her sharply a few feet above the ground. The Lady jerked, another cry falling from her lips. Scarlett leapt gracefully to the ground a moment later, the shadow dragon dissipating into the night. The ?ames disappeared then, Veda thumping to ground directly onto her back, another scream of agony coming from the female.
Scarlett reached over her shoulder, slowly pulling the sword from her back where she had somehow managed to sheath it during that free fall. Her face was splattered with blood, more red than the ivory color of her skin. None of them had moved, not even the Fae.
“Oh, Veda,” Scarlett tsked, lifting one leg to the other side of the prone female, straddling her so she now stood directly over her. “Haven’t you learned yet?”
“Learned what?” Veda coughed out, more blood spraying from her mouth.
“A Lady of Darkness cannot die,” Scarlett purred. Then her head cocked to the side. “Maraan Lords can though. I have killed one before. Can Maraan Ladies be killed the same way? I will admit, I am dying to ?nd out.”
“She is terrifying,” Tava whispered in a hushed voice, pressing into Callan’s side.
“You have no idea, little fox,” Callan murmured, his arm sliding around her waist.
“That sword is not shirastone,” Veda rasped. She appeared to be trying to push herself up with her hands, but they just slipped on the grass, slick with her own blood that was pouring from her back.
“Hmm,” Scarlett mused, seeming to study the blade. “That is true.” Then she lifted her head, her eyes meeting Veda’s once more. “But the seraphs I burned to death seemed pretty dead when I ?nished with them.” At her words, blinding white ?ames ignited down the blade of the sword, lighting up the entire yard. Callan had to look away, shielding his face while his eyes adjusted. Tava had buried her face in his chest, and when he turned back to see what was happening, his hand came up to keep her face there. He covered her ears, trying to drown out Veda’s screams.
“Do not look, Tava,” he said hoarsely, his throat thick as he watched Death’s Maiden plunge that sword into Veda’s thigh.
“That is for Cassius,” Scarlett said, her voice so lethal, Callan found himself dragging Tava away from her a few steps.
But as horrifying as this was to witness, he couldn’t say he was sorry. Not when they had tried to force his hand in a marriage to this thing writhing on the ground. Not when they had fucked with his life so godsdamn much, forcing him to ?ee for his life. And not with what came from Scarlett’s mouth next.
The sword sliced across Veda’s clavicle, dragging deep. “That is for Tava.”
A hand was cut clean off just above the wrist, ?ying a foot away, more blood spraying as she said, “That is for thinking you ever had any right to touch Callan.”
Veda’s cries and shrieks were incoherent now. Garbled words gasped in pain as the torture continued.
The sword was slicing through her stomach. “That is for thinking you could fuck with me.”
The last swipe came across the female’s throat. Scarlett dropped the sword to the ground beside her as she bent low, her face inches from Veda’s where blood seeped from her neck. Scarlett’s voice was eerily soft, but they all heard her. “And that is for thinking you could ever win.”
She stepped back then, and as she did, ?ames of bluest wild?re started at Veda’s feet, quickly crawling up her body. But no more screams came from her. Somehow Callan knew that Scarlett had stood over her, making sure the life faded from her eyes before she had moved away.
Sorin moved then, dragging a dagger down his own forearm as he approached his wife. He took her hand, slicing a gash across her palm before placing it atop the wound he’d cut into his ?esh. Scarlett scarcely seemed to notice, her eyes ?xed on Veda’s body while it became nothing but ash.
Tava shifted, and Callan lowered his hands from her ears as she peeked out, watching Sorin and Scarlett. Rayner had moved, picking up Scarlett’s sword and wiping the blade on his pants in an attempt to clean it somewhat.
Sorin’s other hand came to Scarlett’s chin, tilting her face up to his, and Scarlett’s eyes ?icked to him. The blood on her face seemed to glisten in the moonlight. “You are so fucking beautiful,” Sorin said. “But please stop riding the godsdamn shadow dragon.”
A smirk curled onto Scarlett’s lips. “Take me home and give me something else to ride then, Prince.”
A second later, Sorin was slamming his mouth onto hers, her hand still clasped to his forearm, and the other came up to grip the back of his neck.
“Oh my gods,” Tava gasped, her hand ?ying to her mouth as she averted her gaze. Callan glanced down and could see her blush in the glow of the body burning before them.
But before anyone could say anything else, a cool voice cut through the night.
“I am hurt, your Majesty. You did not invite me to the fun.” Everyone stiffened, turning to the trees where two ?gures emerged.
One cloaked and hooded. One on four paws with jade green eyes that glowed in the night.
Queen Talwyn’s wolves were here.