Chapter 48
Aryana
Aryana fought the nausea in her stomach. How could she have missed so much? How could she and Zarathos not have realized all that was going on? They’d been tricked. Betrayed. Neri and Pohan had every step planned out ahead of time.
Neri paced back and forth. “Where is she?”
As if on cue, a woman faded in from the trees. She was hunched and had gnarled and wrinkled hands.
“Ah, and here she is.” Neri’s smile grew even wider. “Welcome, fairy godmother.”
Aryana took in the woman’s face. “Enela?” What was her mother’s giver doing here? She’d just barely seen her at the castle.
The old woman looked Aryana over, something steely that she hadn’t noticed before within the woman’s gaze. She turned to Neri. “Do you have what we agreed on?”
“I was just in the process of retrieving it.” Neri walked up to a guard and held out a hand. He drew his sword and set it into her palm before she stepped up to Aryana.
Aryana pulled against her ropes, attempting to snap them, but they probably contained magic that resisted vampire strength as they didn’t budge.
Neri gripped Aryana by the hair and sneered at her as she sliced the blade downward, cutting off a chunk of Aryana’s hair. She walked over and offered it to Enela. “And my bean?”
“Yes, dear, as agreed upon,” Enela handed a white bean over in exchange for the lock of Aryana’s hair.
Neri studied the bean in her hand. “And this will get me wherever I please, instantly?”
“As promised. All you have to do is think about where you want to go and cast it from you. Although it won’t get you past any magical wards that are in place.”
“Enela,” Aryana gasped. “Please, tell my mother…” It was a last desperate plea, as it was clear Enela was working with Neri. But if she didn’t make it back, Zarathos was for sure going to die, either at the hands of Pohan, or those seeking to overthrow the demon alliance.
Neri gave a cruel smile. “Poor vampire. Did you not know that fairy godmothers aren’t for monsters? They’re for humans.”
Enela pressed her lips as she regarded Aryana.
“We both have what we want. We are done here.” And with that, she lifted a white bean, threw it at a tree.
The world split apart, and an opening appeared, showing a beach with crashing waves.
The woman walked through the opening and in an instant it disappeared into nothing.
The stories Enela had told about a fairy godmother that distributed magic beans to maidens while she searched for her lost love had been about herself. And now the woman—or whatever she actually was—had a lock of Aryana’s hair.
Neri watched with rapt attention, her own white bean held in her fist. “It works.” She spun to the other shapeshifters. “Pick her up. We are taking her with us.”
The demons guarding Aryana grabbed her by the ropes and yanked her to her feet. She stood awkwardly unable to walk due to her bound ankles. Enela was yet another human who had betrayed her. Not that the woman owed loyalty to Aryana or her mother, but she’d thought she’d had it all the same.
“But before we go, everyone, take your daily dues,” Neri said.
Each of the shapeshifters standing around took out a vial of clear liquid and downed its contents.
Neri looked at Aryana. “You didn’t fool us with that silly potion Zarathos takes to hide his scent.
It was evident that it wasn’t Neutrolisis. We recognized it on the spot.”
“You did?”
“We decided we’d play along. We figured you were going after the scepter for your precious Zarathos. You see? How would it be possible for shapeshifters to replace guards and kalators, unless we had a way to hide their scent?”
Somehow, they had gotten their hands on the same potion that Zarathos used. Aryana had seen “Tigon” take an empty vial from shapeshifter Neri. Aryana hadn’t understood what it meant at the time. And Pohan no doubt got his potion from whoever gave him the bread. “How—”
“I’m tired of your questions. Let’s be off.”
She threw the bean. A large opening split in the trunk of an old gnarled tree.
And through it, Aryana saw the sharp, jagged spears of Zarathos’s castle.
Her heart thudded in her chest. She didn’t know how it was possible.
And she was uncertain whether this was a blessing or a curse.
If they hadn’t arrived so soon, perhaps Aryana might have devised a plan for getting the scepter piece from Neri.
But that would assume Zarathos could make it through the last trial without her assistance.
Gods, maybe they were both moments away from death.
She had to find a way to stop everything that was approaching. I’m coming, Zarathos.
“Very nice.” Neri’s hand darted out, a sharp prick piercing the side of Aryana’s neck.
She snarled, twisting toward Neri, but then a cold, pain-filled numbness spread from her throat down through her limbs.
Panic flared. Holy water. She’d been drugged.
The realization hit as her legs buckled beneath her.
She couldn’t move.
She couldn’t move.
They dragged her through the portal, and it shut behind her. “Gag her and carry her in.” Neri held out her hands. “And take me as a prisoner too, though don’t let them get too good a look at my face.”
“Yes, my lady,” one shapeshifter said.
It took an embarrassing short amount of time to make it past the guards at the front gate. Aryana supposed that when trials were going on, thousands of demons made their way through the gates every day. And apparently, nobody cared if those entering the castle brought prisoners with them.
Aryana’s heart pounded in her chest. Shit. What was she going to do? The only good news was that she was still alive, which meant Zarathos must still be alive. For now. They carried her like a limp rag doll. And once they were in, they dumped her on the floor of a side hallway.
Neri squatted in front of her, pulling the gag from her mouth.
“I was once forced to be a giver.” Her lip curled.
“Once you’re dead, I intend to turn your lifeless body over to King Salen so he can pick your corpse clean and send your bones back to your dear mother.
” She patted Aryana’s cheek. “It will be our declaration of war.”
“Neri, please—”
“How appropriate. Just before Zarathos went into the trials, he was drugged, too. Though what we gave him was much more potent. Still, this should last long enough until the trials have concluded.”
“You can’t get into Zarathos’s room,” Aryana tried. “You need me.”
“Oh, little vampire princess.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a potion.
“Your demon king isn’t the only one who can get his hands on Neutrolisis.
” She lifted the gag and shoved it into Aryana’s mouth.
“Enjoy sitting here, so close and yet so far, knowing there is not a single thing you can do to save him.”
And with that, she turned and sauntered down the hall and out of sight, her shapeshifter followers trailing after her.
Oh gods. Oh gods. What had Neri done? Aryana couldn’t move, and Neri was about to reunite the scepter, ensuring her and Pohan’s rule. Zarathos would die, and the kingdoms would be thrown into violent chaos.
Aryana hadn’t saved Zarathos.
She hadn’t saved the humans.
She’d put the vampires in danger. Her mother. Her people.
She was going to lie on this floor and die knowing she’d destroyed everything that ever meant anything to her.
Zarathos was right. He should have chosen any kalator but her.
And all the bargains that would end. Marbas and the Misophaes and Terra Monstrum. Not to mention Kingdom Inferna’s bargain of protection, which included Mils and Ernon. They’d all be left with nothing…
Wait.
Wait.
She’d been able to give permission for demons to enter Zarathos’s bedchamber because she was his Bloodbound. What if she could call Mils and Ernon to her as well?
It was worth a try.
Mils, Ernon, come to me, she thought.
She hoped she didn’t need to say it out loud.
Mils and Ernon popped into existence in front of her. Thank the gods.
Ernon’s eyes grew round. He raced forward and removed the gag.
“Is Zarathos in the final trial?” Aryana asked.
Ernon and Mils exchanged a solemn glance. “Yes, he is, and it… it’s close,” Mils said.
“Time is short. Someone is on the way to Zarathos’s room to unite the scepter, and she has the magic she needs to get in and do it. Ernon, untie me.”
“On it.”
Mils folded her arms over her small chest and huffed. “What good is that going to do? You can’t move.”
“Mils, go to Zarathos’s bedchamber, get two vials of the Draught of Corruption. And a needle.”
The miniature imp’s eyes grew wide.
“See, I told you she was smart,” Ernon said, a grin on his face.
“Hurry.”
Mils nodded and disappeared.
“We can’t let her unite the scepter,” Ernon said, earnestly. “Even if Zarathos survives, it would only be another death sentence.”
“I’ll get it.” And then she’d save Zarathos. Having heard they’d drugged him before going into the trials made her stomach clench in fear. Gods, hopefully he’d manage to last a little longer.
Mils reappeared with two small vials of the Draught of Corruption clutched in her hands. “I got it. We must hurry. They were making their way into His Majesty’s bedchamber when I left.”
“Tell me to move, to regain feeling, to have enough energy to save Zarathos.”
With a quick nod, Mils unstoppered the vial and tipped it into Aryana’s mouth, repeating her words. “Remember,” she finished. “It will only work as long as the potion lasts.”
Aryana shut her eyes and felt the surge of adrenaline take over. She sprung to her feet and raced down the hall toward Zarathos’s room. While she ran, she unstopped the second vial of the suggestion potion and dipped the needle inside.
Now they would get a piece of their own medicine.
A bit of numbness tinged her limbs, reminding her this was only temporary, but she continued racing forward. She burst through the doorway into Zarathos’s chamber.
The shapeshifters spun, eyes wide. Neri had climbed onto the bed, the two parts of the scepter grasped in her hands.
Aryana lunged, coming up between the four shapeshifters before they could respond, and jabbed the needle into their skin. “You’re unconscious.”
And like that, the burly demons dropped to the floor.
She spun as the other shapeshifters tried to, but she dodged their blows and came up behind one, pricking his skin and then diving and slamming the needle into the last one’s calf. “You’re unconscious.”
The last two dropped to the ground.
Neri watched, fear slicing through her gaze as Aryana rose to her feet. “Hand over the scepter,” Aryana said.
“You’re too late,” Neri snarled and pointed the now fully connected scepter at Aryana’s chest.
Aryana tensed, waiting to be blasted across the room, or at least burned to ash.
Nothing happened.
After another moment of nothing occurring, Aryana stepped up onto the bed and grasped the scepter in her hand, jerking it from Neri’s grasp. “This is a demon scepter. I’m afraid it doesn’t respond to humans.” She ran a finger under the woman’s chin.
“Please,” Neri gasped.
“It’s too late for that.” Aryana leaned forward, sinking her teeth into the human’s skin and drawing blood into her mouth. Neri collapsed against her and Aryana stepped back, letting her fall onto the bed.
“Mils, Ernon.”
They appeared, coming closer with wide eyes. “You did it,” Mils said.
“Chain or tie them all up,” Aryana said.
“My Queen,” Ernon murmured.
Both Mils and Ernon fell to their knees.
That was odd. The metal rod in Aryana’s hands warmed. She looked down and her heart did a little leap of surprise.
The scepter was glowing.
Her fingers tightened around it, feeling the power flow through her. It was harsh and volatile, but also strong and beautiful.
She needed to get to Zarathos, but according to Neri, the guards down there probably had been replaced with shapeshifters. “Is there any other way into the arena than through the dungeons?”
Mils and Ernon exchanged a glance. “There is always the royal entrance.”