Chapter 1 #2
There was a rumble at the far end of camp.
They’re about to begin the distractions, said Luna.
“Get ready,” Ava whispered to Raine.
A nearby group of daemon soldiers turned toward the commotion as the volume increased and shouts echoed in the distance. Loud snarls reverberated in the night. Sabriel and Bastien.
“We’re under attack at the north end of camp!” someone called. “And the west side!” another shouted.
The daemons rose from their seats around the fire, snatching their weapons as they hurried away, dozens more joining them.
“Let’s go.” Raine gestured for her to lead.
Ava led him behind a tent at the border, pausing to assess their surroundings. It was eerily quiet, but she could still hear the commotion as the rest of their group enacted the plan. Daemons shouted and the clanging of weapons floated on the breeze as she and Raine crept forward.
They reached the back of the prisoner’s tent and Ava closed her eyes again, pushing away the memories. Now wasn’t the time for another flashback or panic. Casimir was in there and they had to save him. Now.
Raine unsheathed his dagger and sliced through the canvas, pulled it apart, and entered. Ava followed, heart racing as she prepared herself for whatever state Casimir was in.
The moment she entered the tent, she froze.
“He’s not here,” Raine whispered.
Her eyes darted throughout the space. Casimir wasn’t here. He wasn’t here.
But someone else was. Vivienne, one of the advisors from their kingdom. And she was chained to a pole, bruised and beaten. Her black hair was matted with blood and dirt, her lip split open and her head hung low.
Ava knelt before her, brushing the hair from the woman’s face. “Vivienne? Can you hear me?”
Vivienne stirred, eyes fluttering open. “Your Highness?”
“Yes. It’s me. Let’s get you—”
“I’m sorry,” Vivienne interrupted, her deep blue eyes filled with guilt.
“Sorry for what?” Ava held Vivienne’s hand. “What happened?”
“I didn’t want to do it…But they threatened my family. My sister…” Her voice came out in a raspy whisper.
“What are you talking about?” Raine asked, stepping closer.
Realization dawned on Ava, her gut sinking. “It was you…You let the assassin in at the ball.”
Vivienne let out a sob, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t…I couldn’t…I had to try and save my family…
They were so angry it didn’t work. That you survived.
I—” She took a shuddering breath. “They killed my sister. My nieces and nephews. As punishment for my failure. But they were going to kill more if I didn’t give them something else.
” Vivienne hiccuped. “I had to give them something else. Please, forgive me…”
“Something else?” Raine’s voice had gone lethal. “What did you do?”
“I told them the general was coming. I knew it would lure you here. I’m so sorry.” She repeated the words, whimpering and begging for forgiveness.
Ava let go of her hand and stood, her heart cracking in two. Though she hadn’t known Vivienne well, she thought of her as kind and motherly, and she’d been an advisor for decades.
“My brother trusted you,” Ava said, shaking her head in disbelief, her own voice cracking. “How could you do this to us? To your kingdom?”
Vivienne sobbed. “I know. Please…Please…kill me.”
Ava tensed.
“I’ll be executed anyway back home…And the daemons will do worse,” Vivienne whispered. “I have nothing left. Make it quick. I beg of you.”
“I can’t.” Ava shook her head.
“I’ll do it,” said Raine, voice laced with anger and sadness. “But first, where is Casimir?”
“I don’t know.”
“He hasn’t been in here with you?” Ava asked.
“No. I’ve been the only one here.”
Ava took a deep breath, pushing away the tears of anger and betrayal burning her eyes.
Her soulbond was trapped here somewhere, likely being tortured, and she had no idea where he was.
Her hands trembled as her magic writhed, aching to be free.
It was a living, breathing thing inside of her, hovering below the surface.
She didn’t know how much longer she could control it.
Raine asked, “Is there anywhere else in the camp you think he could be?”
Ava shook her head. “I—I don’t know…I was taken to another tent once. But I don’t remember where it was.”
Vines grew around her feet.
“Ava, look at me.”
She met Raine’s eyes.
“You’re on the verge of losing control. I can feel it. Try to stay calm and remember everything I taught you. Go back to the woods and wait. I’ll be right there after I take care of this.”
Ignoring the lump in her throat, she turned to Vivienne.
“You’re the reason I almost died the night of the ball.
And you’re the reason Casimir is now on the verge of his own death.
” Ava knelt again and touched Vivienne’s face.
“But I know what it’s like to lose your family…
and…I forgive you.” Vivienne whimpered, now crying harder. “Please be at peace.”
With one last squeeze of the advisor’s hand, Ava left the tent, hustling back into the cover of the forest.
“Luna,” Ava said. “Do you have any idea where Casimir is?”
He’s not in the tent?
“No.”
Raine arrived as Ava was listening to another message from Luna.
“Shit,” Ava said.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Luna found Aro, but he can’t communicate with Cas. They gave him something.” She paused. “Vivienne?”
“Taken care of.”
“Are you okay?”
“No.” He didn’t even try to hide the haunted look on his face but he cleared his throat and gave her a half smile. “But I will be.”
Maeryn’s coming your way to help free Aro, Luna said.
Ava relayed the information to Raine.
A few moments later, Maeryn emerged from the dark of the woods. “Aro is in a metal cage,” she said in her lightly accented voice. “We saw him when we were fighting.”
“How much longer will the distractions last?” asked Ava.
“Maybe twenty minutes. One of you will come with me and I can melt Aro’s cage.”
“We’ll both come,” Raine said.
Ava shook her head. “I’m going to find Cas.”
Raine placed his hands on her shoulders. “We’re supposed to stick together. That was the plan.”
Irritation raced through her. “Well, we expected him to be in the tent. Plans change. I’m going to go find him. Please don’t try to stop me. I have an idea. You two go free Aro.”
Screams and shouts still echoed from the far end of camp as the fae continued to battle the daemons. They had to hurry.
“Ava…”
“There’s no time to argue. Go. Now.”
Raine hesitated.
“Please, Raine.”
“Let’s go, captain,” Maeryn said. “The princess is right. We must focus on something we are able to do right now. She is capable of finding her soulbond, yes? Don’t you agree?”
Raine ran a hand through his hair. “Yes. Alright, let’s go.”
Raine and Maeryn disappeared, heading back toward camp, leaving Ava alone in the woods. She opened her palm and traced the scar that lay there—the soulbond mark. The symbol left behind when two souls accepted their destiny. “I’m coming, Cas,” she whispered.
Clenching her fist, she addressed her companion. “Luna. Let Aro know that Raine and Maeryn are coming to free him. I’m going to find Cas.”
On it.
It was time to try her idea.
Ava knelt behind a tree and placed her hands on the dirt. She’d been able to call animals in the past for help and she pleaded this would work as she closed her eyes and spoke into her mind, reaching out for any creatures who might be able to hear her.
“I’m looking for the general. Brown hair and a beard. Aro, the bear, is his companion. He’s a prisoner somewhere here. Please help me find him. I don’t know where he is.”
She remained, urging the creatures of the forest to hear her pleas. It didn’t take long before she felt a disturbance. Something cold and scaly wound its way around her fingers and she opened her eyes. A little turquoise snake looked up at her with bright pink eyes and flicked its tongue.
“Do you know where he is?” she whispered.
The snake nodded, then slithered through her fingers into the grass, Ava following.
Deeper into the woods they went. Where was it taking her?
Surely, he wasn’t this far away. Moonlight illuminated the path through the dense canopy of trees, Ava’s sharp fae sight helping as she plunged on, quickening her pace.
It wouldn’t be long before the distraction was over or the daemons learned what they were up to.
The snake paused behind a large tree, gesturing with its head toward a rocky hillside covered in moss and vines. A dark entrance leading into the bluff stood a few yards ahead, flanked by half a dozen daemon soldiers.
Casimir was in a cave.
“Thank you,” she whispered as the animal disappeared.
“Luna, I think I found Casimir. He’s in a cave on the east side. Let everyone know.”
You must hurry. The rendezvous is in fifteen minutes.
Ava closed her eyes and felt for her magic.
It was angry. Vengeful. It had never felt this way before.
It roiled inside of her, waiting. Watching.
Kill. Kill. Kill, it seemed to say. An avenging beast living within her core, slithering beneath her flesh.
Kill them all. The trees around her trembled, the ground vibrated.
Her magic pushed toward the surface, trying to wrest control away from her.
But she fought against it, waiting for the right moment. Not yet, she urged. Not yet.
Flexing her hands open and closed, she stepped out from behind the tree and faced the daemons, striding toward them with purpose.
The guards spotted her, unsheathing their swords.
“The princess? They said you’d show,” one of them said, dark eyes raking over her with curiosity.
“Looks like they were right. I’m here.” She tilted her head with predatory grace as she continued walking forward. “Now get out of my way.”
A weak masculine groan echoed from the cave. Barely audible, though her sharp hearing picked it up.
Casimir.
That was all it took for the tether on her magic to break.
And it was outraged. All-consuming. Her hands trembled as flowers burst forth, smothering the earth.
Blooms of every size, bright, glowing and teeming with life.
Branches of the nearby trees extended toward her enemies, while vines erupted from the ground at their feet, twisting around their legs so quickly they didn’t have a chance to fight back before their bones were shattered, pulling them flush against the tree trunks.
The vines and branches wrapped around the soldiers, tying them to the rough bark, as if the earth was swallowing them whole. Devouring them. They tried to scream but roots plunged into their mouths, down their throats, cutting off their terrified cries.
You’re having your great tribulation, Ava. I can feel it, said Luna.
The event powerful fae went through that increased their well of magic. It was happening to her. Right now.
It was liberating the way her magic did exactly what she wanted with little effort. She didn’t even have to raise her hands. It was as if it could read her very thoughts as it twisted and writhed around the struggling daemons. And it was strong.
Ava stood before them and clenched her fists, willing the vines and roots to finish them off.
Her magic surged, pulling them deeper into the wood as if they were part of the forest, so covered in plants, you couldn’t see anything but horrified faces frozen in screams. Black blood seeped from their noses and eyes.
Flowers grew from their ears. Mushrooms sprouted from their skulls.
A gruesome sculpture of Ava’s wrath, forever memorialized in the woods.
Turning from the scene, Ava took a deep breath, seizing control of her magic yet again, and stepped into the cave.