Chapter 52
FIFTY-TWO
RYLAND
T he capitol building had descended into chaos in a span of minutes.
After Lupe and I found Atta, Mali, and my father, we headed in the direction of the dungeons, planning to reconvene with the others.
Only to discover the entire world had gone to hell.
The hallways were overrun by creatures I’d never seen before—and some that I’d seen and killed.
Fairies, with their pearlescent wings, razor-sharp fangs, and bodies the size of my pinkie.
Zombies, with milky eyeballs, torn flesh, and rotted teeth.
Banshees, in their pale white dresses, with their black hair cascading in every direction.
Skeletons.
Gorgons.
Gargoyles.
Our forces fought them back, but we had only brought a limited number with us. The rest, according to Bash, were still en route.
A dragon the size of a small dog slammed through the window, grabbed one of our human soldiers in its talons, and dragged him outside.
Fuck.
I exchanged a glance with my father, and steady resolve thrummed through me. Right now, I had to trust that Z and the others had things handled. Our forces were falling, and we needed to fight.
Without a word, I allowed the shadows to envelop me and then reached for one of the many blades I always kept on hand. I rematerialized behind the body of a gorgon who fought hand-to-hand with a mage.
I slid the blade easily through the monster’s neck, and her head rolled, the snakes turning gray and then dissipating into dust.
A part of me felt guilt for my actions. After all, these monsters were under the influence of Aaliyah and might not have actually wanted to fight us. But at the end of the day, it was either us or them.
I chose us.
The fighting spilled through the patio doors and into the sprawling garden outside. I heard a roar that sounded like Lupe’s and quickened my pace, diving out of the pathway of a screeching banshee. Mali jumped on the creature from behind, clinging to her back like a spider monkey, and sank her teeth into the monster’s neck.
I hurried outside, belatedly aware that my father was only a few steps behind me. He might not have all of the dark magic inside of him anymore, but he was still a shadow, still a formidable opponent in his own right.
I took a moment—only a moment—to analyze the scene before me.
Three of our men fought against a gargoyle. One of them flung spell after spell at the stone creature, though it seemed to only piss it off.
Two vampires attacked a herd of pixies from both directions, stealthily evading their attacks. Pixies might have been small, but they were fierce. A herd of them alone could eat a human alive.
A genie and a human teamed up to decimate a group of skeletons approaching from the forest, their bones jangling ominously.
A dragon roared and dove low, directly over the lake that served as home to the mermaids. I watched with bated breath as its jaw split open, fire building in the back of his mouth?—
When a huge gray tentacle the size of a house erupted from the pond, grabbed the dragon, and tugged the monster into its dark depths.
“What the fuck?” I asked.
A second later, a single eye—half the size of a car—poked through the water and flicked to me.
“Slippy?”
What the fuck had happened to Z’s pet kraken? When had it gotten so…big?
But I couldn’t complain, not when it was wrapping its tentacles around our enemies and pulling them into the lake.
“How long until reinforcements arrive?” My father reached for the sword on his back.
He preferred to use guns in combat, but in situations like this, a blade worked significantly better. Most of these creatures required a beheading in order to be killed, and we couldn’t risk shooting one of our own.
“Bash said an hour. Maybe two.”
Dad’s lips pursed before he nodded once. “I’ll take the left; you take the right. Let’s keep these ugly fuckers back, okay?”
I opened my mouth to protest, not wanting to be separated from my father longer than I had to, but he grabbed me abruptly and placed his forehead against my own.
“I love you, son, and I’m so damn proud of you. Now let’s protect our kingdom, okay?”
Without another word, my dad shoved me to the side and then took off in the opposite direction, swinging his sword with an expertise that hinted at his years of field experience.
I centered myself, the way I’d learned to do before any battle, and then charged at the gargoyle from behind.
We would win this battle.
We had to.