54. Chapter 54
Chapter 54
Erik
J anelle said something to Erik as he left the room, though he wasn't sure what. He could no longer hear her over the roaring of blood in his ears. Kicking open the front door, he raised a hand in front of him and plastered a smile on his face.
It was the most difficult thing he had ever done, pretending that he wasn’t ready to rip each of their hearts out and force them to watch as they stopped pumping, but he took a deep breath. His fury was still there, simmering and ready, but he needed the men to put their guards down, and to do that, he had to at least appear calm.
"Weapons down. We're no threat to you," he said, hoping that they couldn’t hear the fury in his voice.
The men narrowed their eyes, scanning the area as if searching for the rest of the rebel army hidden within the ten tiny buildings.
"Hey, I know you," one of the men said. "You’re the commander’s second."
Erik tilted his head, assessing. "And you are..." he trailed off.
"So glad to see you," the man said, lowering his sword. "We wanna join the rebels. The army Evander is leading."
Erik crossed his arms and tilted his head as if confused, but he knew exactly why the man was so happy to see him. It was because they were cowards. Men without enough conviction to stay in the fight when the tides began to change. Not really men at all. Still, he didn’t answer, waiting for the man to say more.
"The rebellion?" he finally said. "Alaric is crazy."
Erik lifted his chin. "Ah. I see. So, you’re ready to pledge yourselves to your new king? You’ll bravely fight at our side?"
"Of course." The soldier nodded his head emphatically.
"You believe in a better kingdom where Fae and humans can live together?"
"Oh, for sure. Absolutely."
"I’d like to hear it from all of you, if you don’t mind."
Three of them quickly agreed, and Erik roved over the men, meeting each of their eyes and staring at them until they looked away. None lasted more than a few seconds, exactly as he had anticipated. They were weak.
"You," Erik said to the fourth man from the left whose face had bent in a scowl when he’d mentioned Fae and humans living in peace. "What's your name?"
"Stefan, sir," he replied, bowing his head slightly. Erik's gut rolled in disgust, and his blood warmed to near boiling.
"Stefan," Erik said, fighting against every fiber of his being that begged him to incinerate the man on the spot. "It appears you all found my horse." He tilted his head toward the terracotta mare straining against her lead to get back to him. "She got spooked in the earthquake. Would you bring her to me?"
"Of course." Stefan slid off his own horse, grabbed Cinnamon's reins, and walked her over to Erik.
"Thank you," he muttered, the words tasting bitter as they left his mouth. "The rest of you," Erik said. "What are your names?"
Stefan turned to walk back toward his friends, but Erik shot a line of fire in front of him .
"Stay where you are," Erik commanded.
"I'm not sure what's going on here, but—" Stefan stammered.
"Shut up,” Erik spat. “Better yet, name your friends for me. Jakob, perhaps?" his eyes narrowed on one of the men, and he stiffened, his face going pale. He assessed the boy—thin and tall, with wide shoulders and a strong jaw. Still, he was no match for Erik.
"There's no Jakob here," Stefan protested. "I don't know what you're talking about, or who you think you are—"
Erik encircled Stefan with fire, and he froze.
"Don't. You. Dare. Lie to me," Erik seethed. “I already think you're a coward. Try to find a shred of dignity, you worthless sack of filth."
Stefan's mouth gaped open as his eyes flicked from the fire to Erik, up and down like a bouncing ball.
"What do you want from us?" the man Erik had identified as Jakob finally asked.
Erik lowered his chin and stared him down. "The rest of your names. As I have already requested."
Jakob swallowed, looking around at his comrades. He rattled off the names, Parker, Trey, Shawn… Each man’s eyes narrowed as he called them out. "Now, if you don't mind, I think you should go."
Erik laughed, but there was nothing jolly in the sound. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Hey man,” the man Jakob had outed as Trey said. “I don’t know what's going on here or what you have against these two, but I just met them like a week ago. So whatever your vendetta is, I'd like to be left out of it."
The others chimed in, agreeing—all except for two men who shared a nervous look, Oliver and Liam; Stefan’s friends. Erik was as certain of it as he was his own name, as certain as he was that his heart beat for Janelle, and that finding the men who had hurt her was his purpose in life.
"Fine," Erik said. "Everyone can go except Stefan and Jakob."
The men wasted no time turning their horses to leave, but Erik stopped Oliver and Liam with a blast of fire that made their horses rear so violently, they were almost thrown to the ground. "Oh, and you two. Stay. Let’s chat."
The other soldiers couldn’t leave fast enough, sprinting away on their horses without looking back, but Erik didn’t care where they went. He wouldn’t let them join the rebellion—they certainly couldn’t be trusted when they had fled from their comrades. But his quarrel wasn’t with them.
"What do you want from us?" Liam asked, his voice so nasally it made Erik want to punch him in the throat.
Erik looked over his shoulder to see if Janelle was still hiding within the house, and she was nowhere in sight. It didn’t bother Erik. If she didn’t want to make herself known, that was her decision, and he would respect it. But whether she wanted to watch or not, these men were going to die.
"You hurt someone very dear to me," Erik said, flicking a finger and sending trails of fire to surround the men.
"What are you talking about?" Stefan stuttered. “We’ve never met you before. We’ve never hurt anyone. Not anyone who didn’t deserve it.”
Absolute rage surged through Erik’s chest. "What about in Bearswillow? A girl named Janelle? Did she deserve it?"
Jakob stiffened, but Stefan threw his head back, cackling. "That bitch? We did the world a favor by—"
Erik couldn't control himself. He blasted a wall of flames at Stefan, so hot that he was only able to scream for a moment before his skin melted off, and he collapsed to the ground, nothing more than a bloody pile of muscle and bone.
Erik sighed. He’d wanted to drag an apology from each of their throats before killing them, make each one admit to what they had done. Stefan certainly couldn’t speak now. He was as dead as they come, but he supposed he still had a chance to get apologies from three of the four. It would have to do.
Erik turned back to the others, inching the fire closer to them. Taunting them. Jakob was shaking, his face pale as a ghost, his jaw open in shock. "What— Who are you?"
"He's my husband," Janelle said, her voice strong as she stepped out of the doorway. Erik smiled as she lifted her chin and met Jakob’s eyes. Beautiful. She was so damn beautiful and strong and brave. Pride swelled in Erik’s chest, unlike anything he'd ever felt before.
"Janelle," Jakob whispered. "Please," he begged.
But Janelle held up her hand, shaking her head. "I begged like that—for you to help me, for you to stop them from mutilating me. Do you remember that? My voice breaking as I screamed for your help? You left me to die." She swallowed, lifting her chin. “And I think it’s only fair that I do the same." Janelle turned to go back into the house, and Erik raised his hands.
"Maybe an apology would help?" he said. "I'll allow you to beg for your life."
The ground began to tremble again, a slow rumble that quickly escalated into a quake that rocked the earth. The house groaned, and Erik twisted as stones tumbled from the roof behind him so abruptly it caused him to lose hold on his trails of fire.
"Janelle!" he screamed, racing toward the doorway and yanking her backward as the house collapsed completely, dust and dirt billowing into the air in massive waves.
"I'm okay," she said, her hands shaking as they moved from her head to her chest. “I’m okay. I— Erik.” She pointed, and Erik followed her finger to where Jakob and his friends were disappearing into the forest.
“Dammit!” he hissed, pulling Janelle into the garden and away from the trees as the ground continued to buckle and rumble. His anger built, the smoke from his flames mixing with the dust from the house. He couldn’t follow them. Not now, when it seemed the earth was going to break into a million pieces beneath their feet. When a single wrong step could lead to another accident.
Not when it would put Janelle at risk.
As if confirming his thoughts, the other houses followed, collapsing as a wave of tremors rocked the ground. "We’ll find them," Erik whispered into Janelle’s hair, hoping the earthquake wouldn’t kill the bastards. He wanted to be the one to end their lives. Slowly. Agonizingly.
As the final horse disappeared from sight, Erik cast out his magic, wrapping a thread of power around the men and refusing to let it be severed. He didn’t know if it would work—he’d never tried such a thing before—but it was all he could do. The only thing he could think of to help him track them as they fled.
“I’ll see you soon,” Erik spat under his breath, hoping they believed they’d gotten away. Their deaths would be that much sweeter when he found them again, and he would savor the look of terror in their eyes when he pinned them down and forced that apology from their lips. They may have thought they’d escaped, but they didn’t understand that they could never escape what they had done—and what he now would do to them.