Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
SCORPION
Flames rose from already dilapidated and rundown buildings.
The poverty and hopelessness of Savage Lands tasted bitter on my tongue.
The encampments that overran the area were now mostly vacant.
People off the main street were hiding in fear from the army that just marched through, terrorizing and threatening.
Sonya and Andor had made sure everyone understood there was a new order in Budapest, setting fires and destroying camps along the way to Vajdahunyad Castle. Nothing about the march was subtle or quiet. It was deliberate. Wanting to cause fear.
“Why?” Hanna muttered next to me, a nerve in her cheek twitching. “Why would they do this? They were already suffering out here.”
“Because fear is the best way to control people. To have them surrender to what is happening and not fight back.”
When I got to HDF, I found Hanna almost immediately—intuition that took me right to her. Birdie, Caden, and Wesley were also with Hanna, watching a bigger army than I ever imagined behind the wall of Leopold.
Killian and Rosie had not been heard from since they lost their connection to them.
“Sonya has a troop coming. They will be here soon.” My lungs burned from running so fast, the troops nipping at my heels. “Then they are all heading to our base. They want to take us out and make sure Killian is no longer an issue.”
“I know.” Caden’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his jaw tensing.
My brows furrowed. “How do you know?”
Caden rubbed the back of his neck, a vein popping in his jaw.
“We can’t wait for Killian.” Birdie spoke instead, her tone full of distress. “We have to get back and warn everyone.”
“Ash, Zander, and Warwick are warning the base. I came here to inform you guys what was happening. They’ll be here soon.
” My gaze drifted to Hanna. She hadn’t spoken a word.
Her attention was on the fae-like troops, her hands flexing and unflexing as if she was fighting an eternal battle.
Struggling with the urge to join them . . . or slaughter them all.
“I’m not leaving.” Wesley shook his head. “They are still in there.” The ‘they’ meaning Rosie. I had seen him around her enough to know when my friend had a crush. Wesley was always infatuated with a girl, especially the ones that didn’t fall under his charms right away.
He loved the chase.
“We don’t leave anyone behind,” Caden clipped.
I didn’t know him well, but he seemed like a completely different person from the guy we held hostage not long ago.
If I didn’t know he was human, I’d think he was fae.
He had an energy coming off him that reminded me of another asshole.
A legendary rage filled that dickwad too.
“Plus, they’re already here.” Caden’s eyes went past me.
The thumps of marching feet iced up my neck, jerking me to see Sonya’s troops had already crossed the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, heading up the promenade, their weapons glinting in the moonlight.
“ó, hogy baszd meg egy talicska apró majom.” Oh, may a wheelbarrow of small monkeys fuck it. Birdie grumbled, yanking out another gun from her thigh holster.
When Killian and Rosie finally emerged from HDF with the bag full of documents, the regiment was at least twenty minutes in front of us, giving us no time to talk.
We raced through the city toward the base, seeing the aftermath the troops left in their wake.
The devastation her army was already causing in our city.
Would our group get out in time? Would we be too late to help?
Anxiety drove me faster, and I came to a skittering stop across the lake from Vajdahunyad.
“Fuck,” I whispered, horror seeping into my lungs.
Bullets and explosions howled through the night from the castle area, the man-made, algae-filled lake reflecting the fire igniting the roof.
Suddenly, my legs dipped underneath me, heat burning through my gut.
“Scorpion!” Hanna grabbed for me, keeping me upright. Something inside me tugged, feeling the pull, like part of me was trying to come back to life again, gasping for air and crawling its way through my soul.
I knew with every fiber what it was, who it was.
Brexley.
It was more a feeling. A wisp of her shadow brushing my skin. A sense of being centered for one fucking second before it was hacked off like a dead limb. I bent over, gasping for air, my body reacting to the sudden high and the low.
“What’s wrong?” Birdie was on my other side.
“Nothing.” I gulped, straightening. “I’m fine.” The flicker of connection was gone, but the emptiness didn’t pull me under this time. I could barely feel it, and maybe it was my imagination, but I held onto the tiny buzz I could feel of her.
Gunfire and cries snapped me away from whatever it was, returning to the horror before us. Thousands of silhouettes moved closer to the base, raining hell down on the castle. I hoped Warwick had gotten to them soon enough and was able to get most out to safety.
The soldiers flooded both sides, and I knew we all felt helpless, especially Killian.
Caden hissed under his breath, fury dancing off him like sparks. “No fucking way.”
“What?” Birdie swung to him.
“That asshole thinks he can distract them long enough,” he growled. “Four of them against thousands.” Caden shook his head, his eyes going back to the burning building across the lake as if he could see right through it. “Fucking idiot.”
“What are you talking about?” Killian asked.
Something told me I already knew the answer to this.
“Warwick.” Caden flicked his chin to the base. “Him, Ash, Lukas, and Kek.”
“What? How do you know?” Rosie blurted out.
“I just do.” Caden’s response made my hair stand on end.
Rosie wagged her head in disbelief. “So they’re trying to fight against this?” She waved her arm at the over-whelming numbers marching in on the base. “There is no way they can defeat that many. They’ll be killed.”
“They’re not trying to defeat them.” Killian’s head lifted in understanding. “They are trying to give our people time to escape. But you’re right. They will probably be killed.”
“Then I say we go assist them.” Birdie, already holding two guns, switched out her smaller one for a faster automatic, handing the other one to Rosie. “This girl is good with newbies.”
“No.” Killian shook his head, reaching to take the gun Birdie was handing Rosie. “There is no way you are going to be part of this.”
“Funny.” Rosie’s fingers curled around the gun. “I don’t remember asking for your permission.”
Killian opened his mouth again.
“And before you shove that bullshit that you’re a fae lord and I have to do as you say . . .” She cocked back the weapon. “Remember, I never voted for you.”
“You don’t vote for leaders,” Killian exclaimed. “We inherit them through lineage or challenge.”
“Then I challenge you to fuck off.”
I snorted out a laugh. I was really beginning to like her. I could see why Wesley was keen on her, but I had a suspicion he wasn’t alone.
“What’s the plan?” Wesley asked me, stepping in next to Rosie, trying to take her attention from Killian. “There are too many to sneak up on. We’d be killed in minutes, not doing a bit of good.” He motioned to the tanks and the mass of soldiers.
Inhaling deeply, I peered across the lagoon.
“We head straight.” I nodded to the castle.
“What?” Rosie’s head swung to me while Birdie and Wesley peered at me with mischievous smiles.
“Like that time in Kosovo?” Birdie’s eyebrow popped up.
“Something like that.” I grinned, flashes of memory coming back to me. One of my tattoos covered the deep scar running across my torso from that conflict.
“Fuck, yeah.” Wesley’s head bounced.
Killian let out a long sigh, understanding immediately.
“Then let’s go.” He nodded toward the disgusting, freezing swamp.
A foul musk prevalent even during the colder months could be picked up.
The boats and tourist stuff were long gone, so we would be swimming across.
Birdie, Wesley, and I had fought in some harsh environments, so I knew they would be okay.
I was shocked how easily Rosie and Hanna went in.
Hanna at least had training and was probably put through extreme circumstances, but Rosie was proving herself beyond measure.
“What?” Rosie glanced at Wesley, catching him looking at her with awe as well.
“You’re a badass.” Wesley grinned at her as the frigid water hit our stomachs with a punch.
“You think this is the grossest thing I’ve been covered in?” She lifted her eyebrow, stepping farther in with a smirk. “Luv, this is nothing.” She went in, keeping the gun and backpack above her head as she progressed across the small lake.
Killian’s nose flared, and I noticed the glare he shot Wesley before he realized it and forced his expression to go blank, trudging into the water behind her.
Flames flickered off the water, the cries of death and battle and gunfire ringing in the air.
The seven of us traveled quickly across, but Caden was the first to reach the shore, rushing out without hesitation.
His clothes clung to his solid frame. He was built from years of training, but the guy seemed bigger than I recall, his back heaving with rage as he moved through a passage between buildings.
“Caden?” Birdie hissed his name, but he didn’t respond, his legs picking up his pace.
“Shit!” I scrambled after him, Birdie and I getting to the end of the passage at the same time.
We both stopped.
In the middle of hundreds of hundreds of faux soldiers was exactly who Caden had said. Kek, Ash, Lukas, and Warwick battled the tsunami of endless men coming at them, their chances dwindling by the second.
Warwick was battling at least ten, while I noticed a guard push in closer, his rifle pointed at the legend’s head. My mouth opened to yell, to warn him.