Chapter 53 #2
“Lexus, be quick, we don’t want Macy to hear us,” I hear Ari in my head. I wanted to enjoy this, but I also know that I need to hurry; my mate isn’t doing too well right now.
I turn to them. “You are lucky, this is quick now.” I pull out the other dagger and throw them both into the air and watch as they weave between each daemon, slicing through their throats, blood spraying out of them, cutting off their screams before cutting off their lives.
I tilt my head to the side, taking in the view of all the dead bodies, heads hanging to the side at odd angles, their limbs limp but being held up, still wrapped in gold. It almost looks like art.
Smiling, I step back a bit to the side, letting Ari come forward, but I am still here, standing next to her. Both of us just stand for a moment, looking at the dead daemon before it all turns to dust.
A howl in the distance cuts into the air before Rex comes running back toward us, his mouth full of hands. Lexus giggles, and I shake my head. “There must have been more daemons than these,” I say as I look over the grounds in front of us. Rex wouldn’t leave anyone alive. But I am still checking.
Lexus walks over to him and pats his head; Rex nuzzles her hand, then swallows down the rest of the hands in one gulp.
“Do you think she heard you?” I turn my head to Lexus, and she shakes her head. “Nope,” she pops the “p” and then turns, starting to skip toward the palace door. I can’t help the laugh that bubbles up my throat.
My other self comes across as innocent and young, but she is far from it, and it sometimes scares me.
My hands lift, and the daggers come flying back through the air. I grab them, wipe the blood off on my pants, place them back in the holder, and follow Lexus.
The vast black front door is closed. I lift my hands and push them forward, my magic comes out, hitting the door with invisible force and pushing it open.
Lexus turns and grins at me before she enters and disappears to look around.
She will be unseen and able to check out the place to make sure it is safe for us.
I can feel her; her eyes are like my own. Everything she sees flashes through my head like flickers of photos. Her intrigue for this new place makes her check everywhere possible.
We both have the same feelings for this place. We want to burn it to the ground.
Rex stays by my side, ready to fight if he needs to.
“He is gone,” I hear Lexus in my head, and it makes me frown. I shimmer to where she is, but the cell that I left Gaelan in when Leah shimmered me out is empty.
Lexus is crouched down looking at a puddle of blood.
She knows it belongs to our mate, and we both growl low.
“We have only been gone a few hours, where could she have taken him?” As soon as those words leave my lips, dread fills my stomach.
The last time she had him, she forced herself on him.
“Bedroom,” Lexus and I say at the same time.
“Go find him,” I say to her, and she fades from my sight, leaving me in this dark cell.
Glowing red eyes appear in the dark followed by a whine, Rex appears after following me, he can smell Gaelan and like any loyal pup, he wants to protect his owner, I walk over and rub his head, “We will get him, don’t worry,” I reassure him, or at least I try to, part of me knows that my words were more for me than him.
I walk around, looking at the state of the cell.
How can they just throw people down here?
If they are bad, I guess I would understand.
However, having people who have done nothing blows my mind.
I walk over to the far wall, where writing has been scraped into it; I must move closer to read what it says.
It’s faint and appears to have been here for a long time.
Drake.
Seeing his name on the wall, carved there, sends a wave of uncertainty crashing over me. Was Drake locked in here?
I reach out and run my hand over the bumpy letters.
Did he escape?
I start to wonder what he would have done to be in a cell like this.
Everyone who comes here, from the look of things, is tortured and killed most horribly.
I shiver, then move toward the door and look down the corridor.
My eyes lock on the Blood Bringer’s cell again.
I want to walk down the hall and pull the door open, but I know I must wait. I need to get Gaelan out of here first.
“Ari, I found him,” I turn, hearing Lexus.
She has tears running down her cheeks, and it’s at that moment that I can feel her hurt and fear for our mate.
“Where is he?” I ask her, and she points upwards.
“A bedroom up there,” her face full of dread, as I rush past her and move down the hall.
“He wouldn’t wake up Ari.” Her words struck me, causing me to pause for a moment.
I pull in a shaky breath and draw her back into my body, then shimmer to where she had been.
The room is dark; the windows have the curtains drawn. I can hear chains and smell blood thick in the air; I can feel my anger starting to build alongside the fear I can feel coming from my mate.
“Gaelan?” I whisper as I lift my hand, “Lux Est,” and the light illuminates. Gold balls lift from my hand and float up into the air, lighting the room, my eyes frantically looking around the red and black bedroom.
There is a massive, unmade bed in the center; the sheets appear to have been slept in, and the person didn’t make the bed when they got up.
On one side, there is a vanity table covered in mirrors and makeup.
Above it is a massive painting of Macy naked, holding her sword.
If she were a good and friendly person, I would say she is sexy as hell, but knowing what she is like, it’s a disgusting portrait.
I hear the chains again and spin around, heading for the door they come from. I push it open and gasp, “Gaelan?” My hand goes to my mouth as I take in the view in front of me.
Gaelan is chained to some kind of wooden cross, naked. His arms and legs stretched out as he hangs. He has slashes across his stomach, chest, and arms, all of them so deep that his blood still drips onto the floor below him.
I rush over to him and take his cheeks in my hand and lift his head up to mine. “Baby, wake up.” I lean forward and kiss his lips lightly. He winces away from me, then starts to thrash his head from side to side.
“Fuck you, I don’t fucking care what you do to me.” his voice is strong; he has no idea it’s me. He’s still trying to fight her.
What the fuck did she do to him?
“Gaelan, it’s me, your Rose,” I whisper, trying to soothe him. He tries to pull out of my hold again, and tears start to run down my cheeks, my heart breaking for all the pain he has had to go through. For me.
“Gaelan, it’s okay, I got you.” I lower, trying to get into his view enough that his half-closed eyes can see me. “Rose?” his voice a plea and a wish.
“Yes, it’s me,” I say, my voice cracking with my emotions. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him close to me, trying not to hurt him anymore. “I got you.”
“I want her to fucking die,” he croaks out, “I want her fucking head,” he says, and then I feel his body slump into me as he passes out again.
Whatever Macy has done to him, I am going to make that bitch pay for this. I feel Lexus growl, both of us knowing we will hold her heart in our hands when we are finished with her.
I pull back and lightly tap Gaelan on the cheeks to wake him up.
He groans, then his eyes flutter open, and a look of pure disbelief shines in them.
He's looking at me as if he can’t believe he is seeing me.
“I’m going to get us out of here, hold on,” I say, kissing him on the lips.
Then I move to one of the cuffs and try to open it.
The lock on them is held in place, and I can feel the magic coming off of it.
Stepping back, I close my eyes. I can feel the book coming to life in Westrey.
The pages flicker as they search for what I need.
It lands on a page of power, and the spell lifts off the page, then fades into the air.
I can feel the burn as it appears on my stomach.
My eyes open and I whisper “Meo magia ligatum, quod erat illis, meum facit”
My magic binds what was theirs, makes it mine.
The locks on his chains and every single chain and lock in the palace click open.
Gaelan drops hard to the floor, as with everyone else who was being kept.
I pull Lexus forward, my body shifting to hers, giving her the power.
Ari needs me to lift Gaelan so we can shimmer safely.
I rush over to him. “Gaelan, we go now,” I say, placing my hand on him as footsteps come running toward the door.
I pause when the air starts to shift around us, and Macy, with two other daemons, shimmer into the room. Macy’s eyes narrow as she takes me in.
I smile at her.
“Who the fuck are you?” Her voice filled with venom, she will know I am a high-level daemon, the only female of its kind. That thought alone brings me so much joy into this dark and unhappy place.
I tilt my head to the side just as Rex shimmers into the room and snarls. He moves closer so I can give him Gaelan’s weight.
Turning to face her, I let Ari come forward, my skin darkening in color and my height shrinking back as I shift into my human form.
“I am the Book Reader,” I say with purpose.
Macy gasps, making me smile at her, and I place my hand on Rex. Then, I shimmer us all back to the castle.