41. Chapter 41
41
Chapter 41
Violet
Violent shaking woke me up. When I opened my eyes, Yara was hovering over me with fear in her eyes.
“What? What is it?” I asked, confused by her presence.
She pointed at the empty spot next to me in the bed.
Bash had come back after retrieving Adar yesterday and proceeded to profusely apologize for leaving me with him. His apologies grew better the further into the night we went. Even when we spent most of the night up doing other things, Bash always seemed to be up and out of my room before me. I didn’t think he slept much at all, but I knew something was wrong this time.
“Where is he?” I asked as I sat up from the bed.
Danger.
The one word she signed had me on my feet throwing my clothes on that were scattered across the floor from where I had thrown them off yesterday.
Yara flew down the hall as I ran after her.
Bash . I said down the bond. Silence was all that returned. I could barely feel him. Something was very wrong. I knew he used a lot of his power to protect me, but he told me he was fine.
I had chosen to believe him because the truth would’ve been far scarier. Now I was living in that nightmare.
Yara stopped when we reached the front door and pointed for me to continue. I followed the little bit of pull that I could feel to find him.
I ran through the front gates and deep into the woods. I had never been outside of the castle walls alone before, but any creature I could possibly run into didn’t scare me right now.
I’d burn anything or anyone that stood between us.
I stopped at the edge of the woods to see hundreds of armed guards standing everywhere facing the center of a field. I pushed past a few rows to see what they were surrounding.
None of the soldiers batted an eye as I pushed past them. Their attention was fully focused on something.
When I got my eyes on Bash, I froze. He was on his knees, covered in blood, with a member of his Guard holding a knife to his neck. Adar was next to him held in the same position by another soldier.
Bash’s eyes rose towards me. I knew he sensed me there. His eyes widened when he met mine.
Leave , he said down the bond.
What’s happening?
The soldiers around me still seemed to not realize I was there standing within them. Or they didn’t care.
A small, weak female didn’t bother them.
Violet. Even down our bond, it was barely a whisper. Please find Bronwen and leave. You will be safe with her .
Before I could say anything back, the soldiers on the far end parted to let someone through. Lilian, Nathara, Celine, and Calum. My father followed him closely behind.
Calum was in his formal attire with his crown on his head, something that rarely made an appearance unless it was a very important event. Nathara wore a formal black gown that was almost identical to the white wedding dress she had tried on and a crown to match.
It wasn’t wedding day yet. No, this was something much worse.
I tucked myself behind a soldier to ensure they didn’t see me.
As they moved in closer, I realized the crown Nathara wore wasn’t a small crown that a consort wore to match their Sovereign.
It was Bash’s crown.
My stomach dropped as I realized what this was. Nathara was claiming her birthright the only way she could.
By taking down Bash.
They stopped when they were standing in front of him.
Calum stood behind but had the same look of hatred on his face that the three females had. The look on my father’s face told me he had no idea what they were walking into. He scanned the field, looking at the Guard who once swore an oath to Bash, holding their Sovereign captive.
“Sebastian Kieran,” Lilian said as she looked down at Bash. “The bastard of a Sovereign. No birthright to the throne. You murdered our Sovereign and took the throne. Nathara was in line for the throne, and after this, she will be the Sovereign of the Night Realm.”
They were the ones taking Bash’s powers to gain control of the Night Realm. No. They couldn’t hurt him. I had to stop this.
“You committed treason, and it is time that you are punished for your crimes.”
Treason.
It all came together. Celine said I committed treason. Nathara said I committed treason. And now Lilian was using the same word.
Celine had been a part of this the entire time.
I looked closer at Nathara to see she was wearing the necklace she had on during our carriage ride. She always had it on. Nathara said it was a gift Celine sent to her before Calum came to the Night Realm. It was here before anyone from the Mountain Realm arrived. That’s why Sebastian didn’t suspect them.
Bash, it’s the necklace , I said down the bond.
Violet, no. He knew what I was thinking. Getting that necklace and stopping them. It’s not worth the risk of something happening to you.
I’m nothing without you, I said as the fear of what they were about to do grew.
I need you to run. Run far away from here before the glamour on you drops. You need to get somewhere safe .
A knot formed in my stomach at those words. He would hold on to that glamour until his last breath. If he anticipated the glamour dropping, then that meant he had accepted that he would not make it out alive.
But I couldn’t accept that.
I concentrated on the bond I had with Bash and pushed myself into his mind to find the tether that connected him to his Commander. His walls had grown weak, just like his body had. I just had to find the invisible tether, wherever he held it in his mind.
Adar.
Adar’s eyes shot up to look at me across the field.
What the fuck? he said.
Violet, no, Bash was trying so hard to push me out. Even when he couldn’t protect himself, he was trying his damndest to protect me.
How are you in my head? Adar obviously didn’t like that I could get to him, but it really wasn’t the time for him to worry about that. There were far more important things.
Nathara’s necklace is taking his power , I said to him.
And how do you expect me to get it? She’s got an army to protect her and a knife on Sebastian’s neck. I make one move, and they will take his head off.
I will cause a distraction, and you get the necklace.
Violet. Sebastian was trying his best to get between us and to stop me.
Bash, let down the glamour.
No.
I knew he wouldn’t drop it without a fight. I closed my eyes and summoned the fire. He may be fighting to keep my powers hidden, but he was too weak to stop me right now. I thought of what they were doing to my mate. And what they planned to do.
I’d had everything taken from me. My parents. My power. My life. They were not taking him.
I burst into flames that expanded in every direction and burned everyone in their way. The few guards that were on either side of me were nothing but ashes now.
My power pushed through the glamour with ease, exposing my golden eyes and flaming hair. I heard their screams, but it fed into my power because I knew that every death meant one step closer to him. All that mattered was Bash in that moment. I would kill anyone that got in my way.
I summoned my wings and rose above the fire that had made its way deeper into the Guard that surrounded us, burning through dozens.
I slowly made my way towards him, letting the flames continue to come out of my hands and burn anyone that came near me. But most had backed away. They knew their swords were no match for me. I had to keep their eyes on me so Adar could get his hands on the necklace.
They were no match for whatever I had become—something they had never seen before. I was something that enjoyed killing those who were against me. Against my mate.
I watched as Adar snapped the neck of the soldier that held a knife to Sebastian’s neck and then tore through the guards that had surrounded Nathara, Calum, Lilian, and Celine with his bare hands. I had never seen Adar fight until that moment. He was quick with his kills and could sense when someone was coming from behind. He only stood back before because he knew they had the upper hand with the knife at Sebastian’s neck. But now, I think he could’ve torn through the entire Guard by himself.
Calum got between Adar and Nathara, but Adar said something to him that caused him to back away.
My father stood back not even realizing that Calum may have been in danger. He was too busy watching me. For the first time, I didn’t see fear for my safety in my father’s eyes. Instead, he was looking at me with awe. Like I had become something that reminded me of a different time in his life.
A time when he was in the Sun Realm.
Adar ripped the necklace off of Nathara’s neck while she stood there with fear on her face, worried what Adar would do next. But Adar wouldn’t hurt her. He was saving her for Sebastian.
“Violet!” Adar yelled as he threw the necklace in my direction. It had to be broken before it took everything from Bash.
As soon as it hit my flaming hand, it exploded and threw me and everyone in the field onto the ground. The explosion had taken my breath away, and as I lay there trying to catch my breath, the ground began to shake.
I got up as fast as I could to get my eyes back on Bash, to make sure he was okay. But as soon as I saw him, the fear disappeared.
He had begun to stand up and tilted his head to the sky. He raised his arms, and the Guard got up to get their eyes on him. They knew what was coming for them.
Some fell to their knees, surrendering and begging for mercy while others tried to run from the field.
Bash’s shadows began to flow from him as they covered the field and wrapped around the Guard that was once his. The betrayers. The shadows slithered towards its victims as if they were snakes going after their prey. Some made it to what they thought would be the safety of the woods, but I knew better.
The only reason they made it into the woods was because he allowed it to happen. And what was waiting for them in the woods was likely far worse than his touch of death.
Shadows formed a circle around me, but they didn’t wrap around my body like they did the Guard. They formed a circle of protection to ensure that nothing could get to me. I couldn’t see it, but I knew what he had done. He formed a force field around me through the touch of his shadows to keep me protected.
I stood there, keeping my eyes on him as the endless supply of shadows continued to flow. The sky turned black just as it did when we were at the pool, except this time he didn’t try to stop it; he welcomed it.
An evil smile grew on his face, and as he brought his head back down to look his enemies in the eyes, the soldiers began screaming, similar to the horrid scream that came out of the paramic’s mouth. It seemed however he brought death to his victims, it was full of excruciating pain. Then a second later, the shadows did what I always thought they would do. They consumed the Guard, and Bash was enjoying it.
Screeches, screams, and the whispers I had heard before came from the woods, but even as the sounds grew louder, nothing ever came out of the woods. The monsters under Bash’s control were doing exactly what he had summoned them to do.
As the shadows settled, there was nothing left of the Guard.
The touch of death that not only killed, but also didn’t leave a trace of what was once there.
This was the first time I had ever seen Bash fully use his power, and I had never been so turned on.
The shadow king was back.