Chapter Forty-Eight
Asher
S weat trickled down my temple, my head pounding as magic flooding my body and poured out of me like a raging waterfall. Lian’s bursts of air were fierce as they crashed upon me, Noe’s cool shadows slashing my legs at every chance. Cyprus was nearly impossible to get a hold of as he faded in and out of his misty darkness, Farai swapping between the forms of different animals to evade me. Meanwhile, Henry and Damon had seen fit to barrel into me with sheer force, the two of them striking me any chance they could. I was completely surrounded and continuously moving.
But I was still winning.
“Who was the twenty-second Ayad to rule over Eoforhild?” Adbeel asked in a shout from his place on the sidelines. He had his large arms crossed and his brow furrowed as he stared at my every movement.
“Deja Ayad!” I yelled in response, my leg swinging to take out Cyprus after I saw in his mind the moment he decided to take back his solid form. His body flew, flipping four times before crashing back onto the ground.
Noe’s shadows were slinking around my foot as it arched back down, Henry’s fist ready as it swung towards my exposed jaw. I breathed through my nose and followed the will of the magic in my veins, ducking the punch and tugging the line of shadows. I was quick, probably quicker than I had ever been. Neither was ready as Henry’s fist cracked into Noe’s face. But I did not stop there, choosing to use Damon’s fondness of Noe to my advantage.
For a few precious moments, the silver-haired demon was so blissfully distracted that it was practically nothing to will him into sleep, his body crumpling to the ground. Farai was quick to take Damon’s place, coming at me as different beasts.
“Portal!” Adbeel ordered. I did as I was told, continuously jumping to a new spot until I got behind Farai in the form of a vulture. I grabbed one of my daggers and threw it, watching as it flew through Farai’s right wing.
Lian was on me quicker than the rest, a dome of air encircling me just as Farai hit the ground—becoming a solid force in which I could not break. Despite that, I still ferociously kicked at it.
“What were the six territories named after?” Adbeel’s voice still boomed across the open training yard, the air shield not stopping the question from reaching me. Groaning, I turned to Lian.
“Careful, Lian, you have always had a weak mental shield,” I taunted her. Her face pinched, fury making blood rush to her cheeks and stain them red. I saw a shimmer around me, the shield glittering in the light of midday as Lian momentarily lost her focus. I smirked, not turning to Adbeel before answering him. “The greatest attributes of the six brothers and sisters that first ruled Eoforhild.”
“Correct. And what were those traits?” he asked, still circling the area. My eyes never left Lian’s.
Go on, Lian, tell him.
She ground her teeth at my voice in her head, the audible sound of bone scraping faint beyond the shield. The next time I spoke, it was in the deeper tenor of The Manipulator, my head tilting to the side just as Bellamy’s always did.
“Tell him, Lian.”
Then, inside her head, I said the answers, willing her to repeat them.
“Strength, courage, hope, love, power, and intelligence,” Lian said between clenched teeth. And, with no more than a smirk her way, I willed Lian to sleep as well. The air around me thinned, the shield disappearing from existence. I beamed Adbeel’s way, proud of my accomplishment, but the king only eyed me as if thinking up a new challenge.
Turns out, that was exactly what he was doing.
“Okay, now my turn. This time, no magic.” The king’s order was not only terrifying, but exciting as well.
“Let us find out who is more rusty,” I offered as I raised my fists in preparation. In that time, I also allowed Damon and Lian to wake up, their groggy forms swaying as the others helped them out of the way. Then it was just Adbeel and I.
We circled each other, neither moving so much as an inch closer. My magic itched to break free of the gates that I had locked it behind again, the chains rattling like the moans of the dead come back to life, charging at me for daring to cage them. But I held it back, digging my feet into the ground the second that Adbeel rushed me.
Ducking his blow, I spun, facing him again.
“I have been filled in about the gods, and properly terrified of it all. So I understand why Anastasia is training your magic, as she knows where our magic began before it trickled down to us,” he said, once more circling me. I maintained my distance, not wanting him to have the upperhand. Close combat was not my best, but I could beat him. Over the last year I had discovered that I could do anything. “While I might not understand your magic fully due to you being half fae—which is likely why your magic is so different to begin with—I do know where you come from.” The king struck, jumping forward and bringing his blade down upon me. I was quick to free my sword from its sheath, catching his blade with mine. “I know where you will go as well.”
A battle of wills commenced. With every bit of ground one of us gained, the other eventually pushed back enough to level the playing field again. Strikes and blows and kicks. No clear winner was in sight. Adbeel soon began quizzing me again, asking me the names of the lords and ladies, the laws that existed in the realm, everything and anything he thought I needed to know for the upcoming ascension. I would be a great queen, of that I was certain.
I was born and raised to be, even if it was all done in the hopes of turning me into Mia. Learning often came at a price, but the knowledge was there forever. And so I would rule well.
Not to mention I would have a particularly well-versed partner. A male who had been raised for this throne in particular. The same male who suddenly appeared into existence behind me.
Bellamy.
I felt his presence like blood rushing through the body, threatening to distract me from my fight.
Just to increase the probability of my victory, I stopped myself from holding back. Bellamy had noticed it more than once, my seemingly ever-growing strength. Now, I hoped to speed up the fight with it. To give myself more time with him today. That, and I desperately wished to win in front of him. Grunting, I swung my sword faster and harder than before.
Adbeel heaved out a breath when my next blow struck his sword, rattling his arms. Again and again I came at him, his prompts fading out as the fight stole away his focus. We fought far longer than I had with any of the others, but it was good to be reminded that I was not notably exceptional without my magic. I used it so often that I forgot the importance of training without it.
That was why, when Adbeel finally got a hold of the cloth on my chest and used it to lift me before throwing me to the ground back first, I was not necessarily surprised by my loss.
Definitely disappointed though.
Breathing heavily and smiling wider than I had ever seen him, Adbeel chuckled. “Great fight. We will work on magicless training. I want you to beat me by week’s end.”
“Deal,” I said, smiling too. Adbeel’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he beamed. All I could do was bask in our shared joy. That and make a joke. “Grandpa.”
“Hey now!” he shouted, standing and offering me his hand. I took it, letting him lift me until we were both up and placing our crossed forearms on our heads to catch our breath. “I am not some decrepit old male!”
“I am not so sure, you were rather slow on some of those moves.” Bellamy’s deep and raspy voice was a balm to my system, slowing and soothing it. He was a bright light that made my cold darkness feel like half of a whole rather than an all-encompassing force. Strong arms wrapped around me from the back, something pointy digging into the top of my head. His chin probably. “I missed you.”
“Awe, and I missed you. How lovely to have a ward that so deeply cares for me,” Adbeel crooned, his voice coated in sarcasm. Bellamy groaned. What fun it was to watch him receive a taste of his own medicine. In fact, it was wonderful getting to see where Bellamy’s humor came from.
“Anyways, I call dibs on Ash’s next match.” While I knew he was being tame for Adbeel’s sake, Bellamy still got close to my ear, his breath hot on my skin, and whispered, “Unless you would rather we have a different sort of match up in our room, fiancé of mine.”
Blushing furiously, I took his arm and ripped it down just as I bent my knees and arched my back. He flew over me, landing even harder on his back than I had on mine earlier. A grunt escaped his lips, the wind completely knocked out of him. Bending low, I let my lips just graze his ear as I challenged him. “Beat me out here and you can have me up there in any way you want me.”
“Sounds like our cue to leave,” Farai said, Ranbir patting him on the shoulder with a blood-stained hand. The others nodded, all but Henry leaving quickly.
The orange-haired demon looked reluctant to go, but eventually he shrugged and said, “I guess I was bound to doom if I kept going anyways.”
“Time for me to go too, this old male needs a nap,” Adbeel added, kissing my forehead and kicking Bellamy in the side where he lay. Bellamy hissed at the pain. I watched with a snort as he grabbed Adbeel’s ankle and made him stumble.
“I must warn you,” Bellamy said as he stood, “when I win I am going to do absolutely horrible things to you in that bed.”
“Impossible, because when I win I am going to do heinous—potentially illegal—things to you.”
“Well, you better not hold back right now then. Give me all you have, beautiful creature.”
We squared off, readying to fight, and I could have sworn my fingertips heated as if being kissed by flames.
***
Nightmares had been plaguing me every night. Incessant, unyielding retellings of my time being physically and psychologically tortured by Mia and Xavier. This was not a nightmare though. No, this darkness—this unending emptiness—was far from the horrid things that normally tormented me.
It was worse.
“Padon, you son of a—”
“Oh, my love! I missed you!” he said, cutting me off. He was on me in seconds, his large arms wrapping around me so tight I thought he might accidentally kill me. Would I really die if he killed me in this odd dream world? What a thought.
Quickly, I jabbed him in the gut with my elbow, smiling with wicked glee as he grunted.
“You are like a child seeing ice cream. Trust me, I know, I snuck three children ice cream behind the back of their caretaker just today,” I said, dusting off my clothes to rid them of Padon’s wretched germs. Nasty.
“Apologies for having the gall to miss you,” he growled, standing straight once more. It was then that I realized it had been his voice whispering to me randomly during the day. I squared my shoulders, ready to fight if I had to. But I knew better now. This was my head, I was in charge if I wanted to be. “I think it’s time you come back to me.”
“I think it is time that I rip out your lousy heart and eat it for dinner!” I yelled, pointing at him like that might really emphasize my words. He frowned, his nearly translucent skin tinted blue from his blood and his slightly longer hair a mess from what seemed like sleep. He wore those same thick cotton pants he had months ago, his torso covered by a thin black top with short sleeves.
“Please, Asher?” he asked with wide eyes. When I did not respond, choosing to instead cross my arms and begin tapping my foot, Padon surprised me by falling to his knees. “I’ll give you anything you want. I will let your mortal boy live. I will never step foot on Alemthian again. I will let you rule. I will kill anyone who opposes you. Please, just come to me. Be mine.”
I almost felt bad for him as he crawled forward slightly to kiss the tops of my bare feet. Almost.
“I will never be yours. How do you not get it yet? I. Do. Not. Want. You.” I pronounced every word slowly, trying to will it into his thick skull. Why was it that he could not understand my desire to not be anywhere near him? I had made it so abundantly clear.
A soft and almost delicate sob escaped him, but as his hands dashed out to grip my ankles, I realized his hold was anything but frail. Bruises would have surely appeared if this had been real. But no, this was a dream. Sort of. Either way, he was not going to bruise me here. No longer would he control me either.
“I can’t lose another,” he mumbled, still facing down.
“Get off!” I shouted, kicking at him. He groaned as if in pain, though I was not sure if it were more mental or physical. “I will never, ever be with you, Padon.”
Something must have clicked that time, because his back stiffened and his hands smacked the darkness near my feet. Suddenly, his head flung up, face a mask of rage and death. Without realizing it, I began backing away from him, but Padon only continued to follow me. He slowly stood, his steps towards me measured and his eyes ablaze.
“Congratulations, Asher, you have officially pushed me to the edge.” My eyes went wide as his lips stretched into a sneer. Eternity above, he looked moments away from killing me. “If you deny me again then I will gladly—eagerly—destroy your pathetic world and everyone on it. I will steal everything you hold dear, and then I will steal you.”
Momentarily more furious than terrified, I stopped my retreat.
“I dare you to try,” I seethed. “If you or any of your little minions step foot on Alemthian, then I will rip you apart. I will leave nothing but your bloody entrails as proof that you even existed.”
“Please, you can’t kill me,” he said with a sardonic laugh. My answering smile felt as evil as I did. I was wrath, now. I was anger and retribution and all things vengeance. Around us, there was a sort of shimmery haze building. Padon was losing control. His foothold in my head was slipping.
“Oh yeah?” I asked mockingly, letting my lips rise in what I hoped was a horrific bearing of teeth. My finger rose, poking him hard in the chest. His eyes widened, as if he knew where I was going with what I was about to say. “What if I rip out that pretty, purple seed?”
Padon blanched, his already pale skin gaining a sickly hue. Blowing him a kiss, I flashed him my ring finger, letting the gem face him and willing it to sparkle.
“By the way, I am engaged, fucker.”
And then I thrust out my magic, shattering Padon’s hold on my mind. Suddenly I was jolting up in mine and Bellamy’s bed, no screams escaping me though sweat poured down my skin. Bellamy was already awake, his eyes trained on me from where his head rested on one of his pillows.
“What is wrong?” he asked, his brows pinched together in concern and his blue eyes inviting.
Raising the left half of my lips into a wicked smirk, I answered, “Nothing.”