Chapter Twenty-Four
Audrey’s hand shook on the vial she was still holding. She hadn’t let it go all this time.
Her other hand went to the gun at her back, but then she changed her mind and reached for the orc dagger instead. She felt its magic seep into her fingers. She didn’t pull it out yet, just held her hand there to remind herself she wasn’t helpless.
“No,” she whispered. “Let them go.”
“They are orc hunters,” Morgath said through gritted teeth. “What you and your group are doing is against the law. They will be reported to the Orc Council and the human authorities.”
Audrey felt her anger mount.
“And what about what Jorrad the Brutal did to my family?”
Again, the orc captain remained silent. Very convenient. He only said something when it suited him. He had no intention of answering the hard questions, apparently.
She stepped forward, into his space, close enough that she had to tilt her head back to look at his masked face.
She thought it was better that she couldn’t see him.
Better that she couldn’t see the face of the man she’d slept with, the man who’d touched her so gently and held her in her arms. With the skull on, he was only a brute. Just another monster.
“How is this fair?” she said. “I thought orcs protected their mates. I might have pretended, but you’ve been pretending too. You don’t care about me. You didn’t even want me.”
She looked at the orcs around them, at the hundred and something faces watching the confrontation unfold.
“Your captain lied to you. He took me as his bride because you were about to rebel, maybe even throw him over. Am I right? I think I am. The day we met, he told me that he had no interest in a human bride and his plan was to ignore me. This was all fake.”
The orcs started talking amongst each other, their voices rising in a low rumble that spread through the crowd.
Morgath looked away.
Audrey made a split decision. The moment was perfect, with everyone distracted.
She jumped right on Jorrad’s back. She uncorked the vial as she landed, her fingers fumbling with the stopper for just a second before it came free, and poured the potion right onto his face. The midnight blue liquid splashed into his eyes and entered his mouth.
With a roar, Jorrad threw her off. She flew backwards and landed hard on the pavement.
“Don’t hurt her!” Morgath shouted.
Her friends started yelling and pulling at their restraints. The orcs in charge of them pulled them back harshly, preventing them from starting a fight.
“Do not hurt the humans!” Morgath raged. “If you disobey my order, you will be met with my blade.”
The two raiders pushed into the crowd and secured the humans to make sure they weren’t crushed in the commotion. Their large bodies formed a protective barrier around Tyler, Owen, Cole, Natalie, and Shauna.
Audrey pushed herself to her feet grunting.
She watched how Jorrad fell to his knees, his massive frame swaying as the potion took effect.
He was clawing at his throat with both hands, his fingers scrabbling at his skin.
His eyes looked wild, rolling in their sockets as he tried to understand what was happening to him.
He was trying to say something, but he couldn’t.
His face was stuck in a grimace. He fell onto his back with a heavy thud.
She could see that he was slowly becoming paralyzed, the effect spreading from his face down through his body.
His arms stopped moving first, then his legs went still, until only his chest rose and fell with shallow breaths.
The potion was an anesthetic for surgeries, designed to numb and immobilize.
But it didn’t matter if he’d feel it or not when she slit his throat.
Morgath moved toward Jorrad.
On instinct, Audrey pulled out her gun. She didn’t think, didn’t hesitate, just aimed and fired. Three rounds, fast, right in the chest. The sound cracked through the night, echoing off the buildings around them.
Morgath staggered back a few steps. Blood poured out of the wounds and soaked into his shirt, spreading dark and wet across the fabric.
He pressed a hand to his chest, his fingers coming away slick with blood.
He looked down at the wounds, then back up at Audrey.
His body was perfectly steady despite the bullets lodged deep into his flesh. Like he didn’t even feel them.
He didn’t fall, didn’t cry out, just stood there, stunned.
Everyone was stunned.
Brumis took out her sword, the metal singing as it cleared the sheath, and stepped forward.
“No,” Morgath said. “Don’t you dare. No one touch my bride.”
Brumis froze. No one moved. Not to help Jorrad, and not to seize Audrey, even though she’d just shot their captain.
Audrey burst out laughing.
“Your bride?” She couldn’t stop herself. “Your bride?”
She saw Brumis grind her teeth. The female orc looked like she wanted to bite her head off.
Audrey shook her head and pulled out the orc dagger. If no one was going to stop her, she might as well. The blade shimmered with magic, bright and alive in her hand.
She stepped toward Jorrad, crouched down, and placed a knee on his chest. He looked up at her, his eyes the only part of him that could still move. He jerked under her, trying to throw her off, but he was almost completely paralyzed.
Audrey held the knife to his throat.
She hesitated. Could she actually do it? Kill him in front of the entire horde? His family, basically.
Could. She. Do. It.
Wouldn’t it make her just like him?
The magic in the knife spread through her arm. She felt it more intensely than before, when it had just nipped at her skin. Her veins were starting to turn dark. She flexed her fingers around the hilt, trying to maintain her grip, but she was losing it, her hand going numb.
“What the hell?”
She looked at the ink-like threads that were quickly moving toward her elbow.
She didn’t see Morgath stepping closer, still holding a hand over one of the bullet wounds.
“Where did you get that dagger?” he asked. “Is that... Did you get it from the storage room?”
Audrey looked up at him, but her vision was suddenly blurry.
She furrowed her brows and blinked a few times.
It didn’t help. She fell over. She braced herself on the ground, her free hand pressing into the dirt as her body tilted sideways off Jorrad.
She felt weak and dizzy, her vision swimming in and out of focus.
She dropped the dagger, and it landed by her side. Her arm was fully black now, the dark veins spreading all the way to her shoulder.
Behind her, she heard Tyler shouting.
“Audrey! What’s happening to her?”
“Let us go! She needs help!” Owen’s voice, panicked.
“Don’t just stand there, do something!” Natalie screamed.
Morgath knelt next to Audrey and cupped the back of her head with his giant hand. The last thing she heard was…
“The magic isn’t settled... So reckless... Audrey...”