Chapter Thirty-Three
Asher
T he first guard that found me was easy to take down. Poor thing impaled himself on a branch that just so happened to be in my hands.
The second one was not as silent or stupid.
“Hey, I found the princess!” he shouted, running like he might rescue me. That was, until he saw the body at my feet. The branch still stuck out of the space where I had jammed it into his exposed side.
“You know, it really was not my fault,” I insisted. The guard stared at me with horror in his gaze, and then he screamed.
“She is fighting against us! Tell the Quee—”
Taking the blade I had stolen from the first guard, I stabbed it through the face of the second. My already bloody dress grew damp once more, the gold and red merging. It reminded me of the anklet Bellamy had given me. How it had just made sense for the gold and the red to rest together, connected by silver and black. The story of our lives.
Four more guards shouted as they neared, all of them looking at me as if they might kill me. Let them try, more dangerous creatures have attempted and failed.
One of them commanded the trees around me, and I was forced to expose myself as I leapt out of the small forest. Unfortunately, I was too slow. A branch whipped down and caught my healed foot, yanking me off my feet and dragging me backwards. I dug my fingers into the ground, ripping up dirt and grass.
Think. Come on, think!
My skirt caught on a rock, ripping loudly. Laughter sounded from one of the guards, and I looked up in time to see one of the other three shove the laughing one.
“Do you want her to make your tiny brain bleed out of your ears?” he asked, enough fear in his voice to make the laughing one blanch.
Aggravated and short on time, I decided using a little magic would not hurt.
“Stay still,” I ordered them. All four stiffened, their eyes wide. The branch continued to assault me, the guard with the Earth power clearly still commanding the tree. “ Release me.”
Then I was free, the branch slithering away like a snake. Standing, I held up a finger in their direction.
“One more moment,” I muttered as I walked their way. I freed a dagger from one of them, using it to quickly hack off my skirts until everything from my knees down were free. Much better.
With that done, I looked up and frowned at the four males.
I could will them to sleep and move on, but that would require more magic than I was willing to spare.
Plus, I rather thought a bit more bloodshed would help further bury the emotions that attempted to claw their way free of the grave I had dug them.
“This will hurt. Badly.” Lifting the first male’s helmet, I took the dagger and jabbed it into his throat. He gurgled and twitched, then collapsed to the ground. Easy. I moved to the next, the one who had been laughing. He looked ready to sob as he attempted to twist his face in fear. “Do not worry, I will make it exceptionally hilarious for you.”
By the time all of them were dead on the ground, I had fully soaked the remainder of the dress. Not caring, I rushed forward, needing to find Mia. She was the one I wanted, and I only had so long before Bellamy or his Trusted stole me away.
I cut my way through the front lawn until I reached the enormous fountain surrounded by a modest garden that sat just before the manor. My breaths were coming in pants, my arms and legs bleeding heavily from soldiers that knew their way around blades or Shifters who knew when to be a beast.
It was then, as I leaned against the fountain and tried to rest, that I caught sight of her.
Mia’s hair was bright in the night, matching the flames that were catching all around us. She paid no attention to me as she fought off a male I had never seen before. He was large, at least as tall as Bellamy and somehow even more muscled. His hair was a reddish-brown, the curls wild and fierce. He had a beard that looked more like a shadow in the night, and he wore all black armor.
As strange as it was, he looked so very familiar to me.
Shouts escaped his lips as he dodged a rock that Mia sent his way, the brightest beam of light I had ever seen bursting free of his hands. The queen was quick to dart out of the way, not even her gown slowing her enough to make a difference. They looked rather evenly matched, though it seemed like the male was slightly slower than Mia.
Which was why I needed to get there and step in. It had to be me who ended her. I needed to be the one to free us all. She would not hesitate with anyone else.
Moving forward, I just barely caught sight of an arrow that was coming my way. It missed, zooming past me. If there was one thing I had learned, it was that there was always someone waiting for their turn to kill you. This time, the who surprised me more than it ever had.
Lian stood not far away, her bow in her hand. She stared at me like I was a ghost before nodding to something behind me. I turned, finding a dead Golden Guard mere feet away, the arrow embedded in their forehead.
Chuckling, I whipped my head back around, only to be met with the sight of more guards rushing me. I attacked like a rabid animal, slicing and clawing at them. Lian was there at my side before the first Golden Guard fell, and within moments of her arrival, the other five were dead too.
“It is so much more efficient with you at my side,” I enthused, smiling at her warmly. There was so much I wanted to tell her
“Asher, you need to get to Bellamy,” Lian insisted, not allowing me even a moment to bask in her presence.
She was there. She was real.
“I need to take out Mia first. If we can kill her, then their rule will crumble. This is my chance!” If my passionate shouts registered in Lian’s mind, she did not show it. Her face remained stoic, her stare penetrating.
“Bellamy is waiting, Asher. Go to him,” she implored.
Dipping my head, I jumped towards her, offering a chaste embrace. Beneath the blood and sweat, her spring scent flourished. She wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my neck before shoving me away. I stumbled, catching sight of her thrusting her blade through the neck of a Golden Guard.
“Now, Ash!” she demanded.
My feet willed me forward, but my mind strayed to Mia. I ran, pumping my arms and letting my dirt-stained shoes fall off as I went. Lian had not said where Bellamy was, but I figured I would feel him. I had to. He was…part of me, somehow.
Yet, all I could feel was the queen in the distance. She screamed as she fought off the male, who was very clearly a demon based on the beams of light that he fought with. They were arguing as they fought by the sound of it. And though I knew I was meant to look for Bell, I could not stop myself from turning left and running farther from the manor. The closer I got to the two, the better I was able to hear. I darted behind a tree, trying to come up with a good strategy as I listened.
“—mine, as she will always be!” Mia shrieked as she lifted an entire tree out, roots and all. She sent it sailing towards the male, who split it in half with the light of the sun. They were both breathing heavily, desperate pants for air that momentarily silenced them.
“No, she is mine. Just as Bellamy is. They are my family! You do not deserve anything but death you disgusting, pathetic excuse for a female!” The male ripped his sword free of his sheath, pointing it her way. Mia only chuckled in response, smiling broadly at him.
“My mother told me stories of you. How arrogant you were. How little you cared for anything but your own wants. We were always better than that. We wanted to conquer, to rule and make the world better. To show just how valuable females are. The Mounbetton queens will mold and reshape this world!”
Their battle raged on in momentary silence, both of them charging and slashing at the other, but neither gaining much ground. Until Mia seemed to acquire the upper hand, pushing back with rock after rock and then drowning the male in the dirt he stood upon. He tried to shield himself with light, but her Earth power found its way in. When he portaled away, she met him each time, turning as if she knew where he would end up. When he appeared behind her, she conjured a spear-like branch and shoved it into his side, letting it dig into him. His scream of pain was paired with her nearly manic laughter.
“Asher Mounbetton will be the one to see your realm fall, King Adbeel Ayad. That, I can promise you.”
King Adbeel Ayad.
Bellamy’s father. Kind of.
Just like the first time, I portaled without intention or forethought. One minute I was watching Mia rip out the branch, the next I was between them, catching the spear as she brought it back down. She gasped, staring at me as if there was no world in which she thought I would defend the male beneath her. Dumbstruck was the only word that could describe that look.
“It is Asher Daniox, you stupid bitch.” And then I dug into her mind, shoving my magic her way. I tunneled and burrowed, trying to sink as deep into her consciousness as I could before she fought back.
Mia was quick to release the branch and use my momentum against me. She shoved my chest, sending me flying backwards. I hit the ground only to be scooped up by tree roots as they erupted from the dirt. They lifted me, smacking me back into the ground as Mia shouted from beyond.
“You selfish, ungrateful monster! Every day I love you, and every day you return that love with disgusting hatred! I have said it before and I will say it again, I will keep you bleeding and toeing death before I let you go!” I watched in horror as she pulled her arms back and threw them forward with a scream of vicious fury.
My body sailed through the air, twisting and flipping like I was nothing but a doll. When I hit the ground this time, dizziness attempted to keep me down. The world around me spun, and I thought that maybe I was somehow still in the air twirling. But no, the ground was hard beneath me.
Digging my fingers into the grass and dirt, I willed myself to stand, to do anything but remain the victim. I got up, unsteady on my feet but more than ready to fight. Two centuries worth of rage was inside of me, and it was all I needed to lock my gaze on Mia and ready myself.
She stood in her nearly clean golden gown, her hair barely out of place and crown still secure on her head. Fists clenched at her sides, she glared my way and seemed to make a decision. Yes, I could practically smell her resolve, taste its tangy flavor on my tongue.
“You will either kill me or I will kill you, those are your options tonight, Mia,” I hissed. My magic hummed in my skin, begging for full freedom. The Manipulator wanted blood—Mia’s blood—and I would give her that.
Charging forward, I tried to stay focused on the queen rather than the pain or lightheadedness. Mia matched my battle cry, running at me as well.
I was ready to win or die, but either way, I was dragging her down with me. Just as we were about to collide, my magic darting free of its confines and Mia’s power commanding every bit of nature around us, walls of fire erupted on either side of me, surging past Mia before wrapping around and aiming right for her.
Black fire.
Mia ducked, but I was too slow, too awestruck by what this fire meant. It sailed towards me, parting at the last second. I turned around, catching sight of the most stunning icy blue eyes.
He walked towards me slowly, his black armor coated in blood and his dark hair perfectly mussed. His palms faced me, arms out and fire erupting from his hands like a volcano spewing lava. There was not a smile on his face, but even with his full lips pressed into a line, I could see the love in his stare.
Skin burning from the nearness of the flames and ears ringing from the screams around us, I could do nothing but go to him—slowly at first, and then as fast as I possibly could. I ran, those inky flames making a straight path to him.
The world seemed to slow, everything around us nearly freezing in place as I closed the remaining distance. No sound, taste, touch, smell, or thought could be found. Nothing but the sight of him there, waiting for me.
Fifty feet.
Twenty.
Ten.
Five.
I jumped, knowing with every fiber of my being that he would catch me. And he did.
One second my feet were on the ground, the next my legs were wrapping around his waist and my hands were gripping his jaw and my lips were against his. His strong arms tucked me close, as if he might never let me go again. There was such passion in just the way his hands gripped my torn dress and loose curls. Tongues colliding and tears mingling, I tasted him like I might never know anything so perfect. Cinnamon and smoke and sweet, warm sunshine invaded my every sense, my very being.
And then the world came back into focus. A furious, piercing scream shattered our peace like glass.
“Get. Off. My. Daughter!” Mia had never sounded so shrill, so completely and utterly sociopathic.
A wall of rock grew between us, wrenching me from Bellamy’s grasp and knocking my leg so hard I shouted in pain. Through my tangled hair, I watched Mia approach me with a crazed expression on her face. On her heels was Malcolm, not once looking back at his father who bled upon the ground. He gazed intently at me instead, his face contorted like the mere sight brought so much pain he could no longer bear it.
“Kill that fucking beast,” Mia ordered, pointing at Bellamy who was freeing his arm of rock that had formed around it.
“No!” I pleaded, pushing myself up and crying out when the pain in my leg intensified. “If you want him dead, you will have to kill me first.”
Head swimming from whatever poison still lingered in my blood, I shoved my magic out once more. This time, it hit Mia’s mind and stuck, piercing through the shadowy wall that Malcolm had constructed. She gasped, grabbing her chest and ogling me like I was her worst nightmare come to life.
I should have feared that panic. Should have seen it for what it was. Her limit.
She screeched, and then shards of what must have been rock came sailing for me. I bent forward, trying to protect myself without any real chance of success. Bellamy’s scent once more coated me, and I felt the moment we portaled. He breathed heavily against the top of my head, grabbing at me like I would disappear if he did not claw his way into my skin.
But I could not focus on him. Not entirely. Not when Xavier now kneeled where I had once been, mere feet away. Dozens of rock shards littered his skin, having pierced through his golden clothes. Blood seeped from the wounds like rivers, and I caught sight of Malcolm’s vindictive smile just before he grabbed Mia’s incensed and frozen form, the two disappearing in a burst of smoke-like shadows.
Xavier groaned in pain, his head turning to face Bellamy and I. There was the barest hint of a smile on his face, as if he were happy with the outcome. “I love you, my Asher. My blessing.”
And then he fell forward, silent and still.
I gasped, daring to look at the male I once thought invincible as he lay dead upon the grass.
“Ranbir! Get him, we will take him to Pike!” Bellamy demanded, pointing at Xavier’s body. I had not noticed Ranbir before, but he caught my attention as he stood, offering a hand to the demon king he must have just healed. “Ash, I need you to stay focused and stay with me, okay?”
Bellamy’s hands gripped either side of my face, forcing me to look up at him. He was flustered, his eyes wide and freckles hidden beneath smatterings of blood. His lips were parted slightly, chest heaving.
My magic felt so terribly hollow, like maybe it was never there at all. Black spots began to litter my vision, my head drumming an excruciating beat. I was about to pass out, I could feel it coming. There was still so much to do, but there was only one being that needed me in that moment. One singular person who was waiting for me to come save him.
“Sterling is not who we thought,” I muttered, begging Bellamy to understand. His face contorted into momentary fury, but I reached up and smoothed the line between his brows with my shaky and numb fingers. “He is hiding in the trees just behind the manor and is without his memories of the last year. Please go get him. Please save him.”
And then I was fading into blissful darkness.
“Do not forget the heads.”