Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
WARWICK
The claw weapon on my back hit my spine with each strike of my boot pounding across the pavement, my chest heaving with icy air.
Every minute counted, and it felt like the clock was moving faster than I was.
My legs stretched, trying to gobble up the path as we ran for our base to warn them what was coming.
Ash kept up with me, Zander a little ahead in his horse form, galloping toward the entrance.
The guards around the base leaped out, causing him to rear up as the three of us came barreling for them, their guns drawn until they saw it was us.
“What’s going on?” Lukas lowered his rifle, his shoulders locking back, going into defense mode as if he could sense something was wrong.
Zander prodded the ground with his hoof.
“Go.” I snapped at him. “Go find my sister.”
He neighed, galloping off.
“Your mother.” Ash turned back to Lukas, heaving for air. “She’s coming.”
“Coming?” Lukas’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”
“We don’t have time for explanations,” I growled. “Just know she has teamed up with Lieutenant Andor at HDF, and they’re all advanced this way. They found us.”
“Andor?” Lukas’s mouth parted. “I don’t understand. He’s human, right? Why is he with my mother?”
“Doesn’t seem to matter anymore.” I glanced over at Ash. He gave me a nod, neither of us having to talk. He would get them updated while I headed for Mykel.
The soles of my boots hit the tile, leaping up the stairs and heading for the command center where he would be waiting for us all to return.
Bursting through the door, I found him pacing in front of the hearth, Rebeka sitting in a chair by the fire, sipping some tea. Both jerked to me when I entered.
“We were found.”
“What?” Rebeka’s cup hit the table, tipping over as she stood.
“Sonya. She and Andor are in some alliance. They’re headed here. She has tripled her army. They’re all on the pills.”
“How long?” Mykel’s voice was low.
“No more than an hour.”
“Wait . . . no, this is wrong. Andor?” Rebeka’s eyes widened in shock. “He has joined Sonya? That is not possible. He was my husband’s second.” Rebeka, out of anyone here besides Caden, would know him the best. “I mean, I knew he and Istvan didn’t always see eye to eye, but to side with the fae?”
“She offered him more than your husband did,” Mykel said matter-of-factly.
“What about Caden? Do you know if he’s okay?” Rebeka bit down on her lip.
“I don’t. Scorpion went to warn them, though.”
Mykel nodded. “We can’t do anything about that now.
We have to get everyone here to safety.” He leaped past shock and went straight into action.
“Rebeka, go down to the clinic, get everyone up. We need to evacuate those who can’t fight now,” he ordered her.
To her credit, she nodded, instantly moving for the door.
“I assume the guards outside know?” Mykel’s eyes lingered on her until she left, then turned back to me.
“Yes. Ash is catching them up on the latest, and Zander went to my sister’s bunker, letting them know.”
Mykel nodded. The only emotion I saw was his throat bobbing as he swallowed, and I could see his mind racing with plans and actions.
“We don’t have the numbers. They will slaughter everyone here,” I stated bluntly. “I don’t know how many HDF has, but Sonya has hundreds, maybe close to a thousand. We are far outgunned. Plus, on the pills, they are stronger and harder to kill. Putting up a fight would be pointless.”
Mykel’s head dropped, his mouth pinching. “Okay. Then we run.”
No one wanted to abandon this place, but we had no choice.
“Get the word out to everyone you pass. They take only what they can carry and meet in the square. I will be down there to give them more information as soon as I can.” He reached over to the papers and maps on the table and, by the handful, started chucking them into the fire to burn.
Getting rid of any information or documents. “Go.”
I turned around, jogging out of the room. By the time I made it downstairs, chaos had erupted. Notice of the attack had already spread like wildfire. Hundreds of people moved around, heading for their loved ones, or getting back to their rooms to grab their belongings.
Rebeka ran up the stairs to the main floor with a child in her arms, more people from the clinic behind her.
“Rebeka.” I grabbed her arm. “Where’s Kitty?”
Rebeka’s face creased into sorrow, her head shaking. “I tried . . . I tried to get her, but she wouldn’t come.”
Boooom!
A blast went off in the far distance, rattling the chandeliers above our heads, causing screams and panic from the children.
Rebeka’s horror-filled gaze met mine, and she tucked the kid in closer to her chest, the orphan crying into her shoulder.
From the pitch in my ear, it sounded like the explosion was maybe a mile off. Sonya wasn’t even trying to hide their approach, conveying to the city who was in charge.
They had gotten here a lot faster than I expected.
“Go!” I waved her to the door, my feet already hitting the steps, rushing to the clinic.
A few healers were still there helping the ones who needed more care and help to move, but my gaze locked onto the bony figure in a bed a couple of rows back. Striding forward, I bared down on the cot, my teeth crushing together, my chest aching at what I was seeing.
Head shaved, with sunken cheeks, her already slim figure was nothing more than bones. She stared blankly into the distance. If I hadn’t seen her chest moving up and down, I would think she was dead.
“Kitty.” My fear burned with anger. “Get up. We need to go.”
She didn’t respond. Not even a flicker in her gaze.
“Dammit, Kitty. We are about to be attacked. Now get up.”
Nothing.
A strangled growl rose from my throat, my fist rolling into balls. “If I have to pick you up and throw you over my shoulder. I will.”
Her dark eyes finally darted to me, a look I knew so well, lowering her lids. It was her ‘if you do, I will kill you’ look.
“If that’s what I have to do.”
Her lips parted. “No.”
“You are not staying here.”
Another look.
“I’m not going to let you die.”
Her gaze went back to the wall, telling me that was exactly what she wanted. She had lost her will to live. Her desire to get up and fight another day had perished. Losing her business, home, and very identity had broken her, but Věrh?za stole her soul, demolishing what was left of her.
Another bomb shook the ground, sprinkling bits of the ceiling down on us. They were getting closer.
“Get. Up!” My teeth ground together, my feet shifting. I wasn’t good with emotions.
She didn’t respond.
I went to scoop her up with a growl, but a figure darted in front of me, blocking me and stopping me in my tracks.
Ash went down on his knees at her bedside, leaning closer to her.
“Kitty . . .” His voice was soft. “Listen to me.” He swallowed, reaching out and curling his hands around hers.
“I’ve been such a fool. And I am sorry.” His voice croaked.
“Took me a long time to acknowledge it . . . to see my ego and broken heart lashed out at you for something you couldn’t control any more than what I felt for you.
” He swallowed, his thumb sliding back and forth over her knuckles, like we had all the time in the world, while more bits of ceiling came raining down.
“I’m sorry it took me this long to say something.
But seeing you now . . . what happened to you in Věrh?za.
It put everything in perspective, and I realized I’d been holding onto a grudge—anger and hurt I no longer feel, but didn’t have the guts to admit to or let go of.
” He reached up, stroking her cheek. “I’m sorry I turned my back on you.
And I’m sorry I broke the promise to always be there for you.
You are my family. First and always. I love you so much. ”
Kitty’s eyes broke from the wall to Ash’s, something I hadn’t seen in her face for a long time hinted on her face.
Hope. Love.
Not romantic love, but the deep love we had that spanned centuries—lasted through the highs and lows, through death, starvation, torture, poverty. We had been there for each other through it all and always had each other’s backs.
“Warwick and I can’t exist without you.” Ash jerked his head toward me. “You know I can’t keep him in line alone. That takes an army.”
I swear I saw a hint of a smile on Kitty’s mouth.
My forehead scrunched together, and I grew antsier as time ticked on, but for some reason I knew to stay quiet.
This had been decades in the making. Their pain and hurt kept me in the middle, tearing apart the only family I had, besides my sister and nephew, but honestly, these two had been with me longer through much more shit.
“Please. Don’t give up on us. We need you.
” He squeezed her hand. “We need you to fight. Janos was tough, but Kitty is a badass. She doesn’t take shit, and she doesn’t fucking give up.
Ever. I need my sister. I need you to want to live, to not let those assholes in prison win.
They don’t deserve to have you. To take you from us.
” Ash kept her hand in his, rising to his feet as another boom echoed not far away.
“Fuck,” I muttered, about ready to grab them both and run.
“Now get the fuck up.” Ash’s voice was low and even, but powerful.
Her gaze drifted up to where he held her hand.
“I will help you every step of the way, but you have to get up. You have to want to.”
There was a moment I thought she might turn her face back to the wall. Give up. My body inched forward, ready to take her whether or not she wanted to go.
Ash’s arm went up, blocking me.
“Kitty.” He whispered her name. Her gaze went back to him. I saw it in that moment. The determination lining her forehead. Her chin dipped, and she started to sit up.
Air I didn’t even know I was holding whooshed from my lungs.