Chapter 42
FORTY-TWO
BASH
W ell, this was certainly not how I expected to die.
I’d considered it a few times over the years, and I’d always assumed I would expire in a blaze of glory—death by orgasm. My cock sheathed in Z’s tight pussy. Completely irrational? Maybe, but it was a dream I held on to.
But ohhh nooo. Lupe had to go be a hero and attempt to save hundreds of human lives. And of course, being the fantastic brother and prince that I was, I offered to help.
Now I was being led to what would no doubt be my execution, my hands contained behind my back.
Then Lupe roared.
Shifted.
Pounced.
And everything went from “shit” to “heaping pile of bloody diarrhea.”
Motherfucker.
I watched my brother claw at the nearest guard and then bite the head off of another. It took him less than five seconds.
Cries of fear erupted from the assembled guards, and a few began to race forward—no doubt in an attempt to neutralize Lupe.
But fuck that.
If I were going to die, then I certainly wouldn’t go out like alittle bitch. I might not have had my magic, but that didn’t make me defenseless. Lilith’s trial taught me that.
“ATTACK!” I bellowed, not giving a shit who would listen.
If even a quarter of our troops fought back, then that could be enough to distract the guards, at least for a bit. Maybe the humans would take the opportunity to escape.
I threw my head back, hitting the nose of the guard guiding me, then kicked out at the man directly in front of me. It was immensely hard without the use of my hands…but not impossible.
All around me, our soldiers fought back, attacking the shifters with feet and fists. I had no idea if we were winning. A part of me didn't want to know.
Ignoring the pain reverberating through my skull, I slammed my forehead against a charging shifter, watching with satisfaction as he staggered back a few steps, blood gushing from his nose.
“Bash!”
I recognized that voice.
I turned to see Killian racing towards me, his gag discarded.
He leaped over the body of a fallen shifter and then stumbled to a stop in front of me. Without needing to be told, I spun around, giving him access to the rope tying my hands together.
His nimble fingers made quick work, and I immediately shook out my aching limbs, rubbing at the chafes on my wrists.
“Thanks, brother,” I said.
Killian nodded once, his intense gaze already elsewhere.
I didn’t know where to look. It was fucking chaos. Nightmare fighting nightmare. Human fighting nightmare. Cries, screams, and shouts resonated through the air.
Magic rippled through me, and I lifted my hands, each one holding pure, unencumbered energy.
“Let’s fuck shit up,” I told Killian with a smirk, tossing one of the orbs at the nearest shifter with a deafening blast.
“That’s what you choose as your badass catch phrase?” He blinked up at me incredulously.
“What the hell is wrong with it?” I threw another ball, and the guard’s high-pitched scream sliced through the air like the crack of a whip.
“It’s just a little…cliché, if I’m being honest.”
I was going to strangle my brother.
“Go seduce people. Get the fuck out of my way.” I flicked my wrist in the universal “shoo” motion.
Killian rolled his eyes but remained beside me. I blasted shifters with my magic, and when they came too close, Killian used his powers to slow them down then knocked them unconscious with the butt of a gun he stole. I didn’t think he wanted to actually kill anyone, despite their horrendous crimes.
I, on the other hand, didn’t have anything holding me back.
These men and women deserved to die for the crimes they committed. They were beyond redemption, beyond atonement.
From somewhere in the distance, Lupe growled, the noise rife with menace, and I felt some of my muscles loosen at the assurance he was still alive.
“Bash, look!” Killian tugged at my arm, pulling me to a stop. He pointed towards where four humans were fighting against a burly shifter. All four were covered in dirt and wore raggedy clothes that seemed too big for their tiny frames. “The humans are helping.”
My jaw slackened.
Hundreds and hundreds of humans spilled out of the cafeteria and joined the fight. They were small and weak and no doubt in pain, but that didn’t stop them. They fought just as vigorously as our best trained soldiers.
With the newest additions, the tide of the battle quickly changed, and it wasn’t long until the ground was littered with dead bodies. Some were ours; most belonged to the shifters.
Lupe lumbered towards us, still in his bear form. Blood coated the fur around his mouth, but I knew it wasn’t his own. The only injury I could see was a slash running down his side, almost as if someone had caught him with the tip of a sword.
On the ground, dead, was the warden of the camp, his head detached from his body. Next to him lay a bloody sword.
Magic fizzled over Lupe’s skin. His fur receded, and his body shrank. In only a few seconds, a human Lupe stood there, his bare chest heaving, blood painting his face.
The three of us all looked at each other for a long moment, and I knew why.
We were cataloging each other for injuries.
Ensuring we were all okay.
“We did it,” Killian whispered, his tail swishing behind him.
A giddy, slightly hysterical laugh erupted from me. “WE FUCKING DID IT!”
I grabbed my brothers in a three-way hug, slinging my arms around their shoulders and pulling them towards me.
This might be only one camp of a couple dozen, but it was by far the biggest. The others would be easy in comparison.
We fought for the humans.
We fought for each other.
And most importantly, we fought for Z.
We might not have won the war yet, but the tides were turning. It was only a matter of time until we claimed the thrones that none of us wanted to sit on but needed to for the good of our people.
All we needed to do was remove a bitch-sized thorn in our side.
Aaliyah, we’re coming for you. This time with an army.
And you won’t make it out alive.