Chapter 46
Vasquez
The city stank of rebellion.
Smoke clung to the ruins like mould, curling through the broken streets, swallowing alleys and doorways in a haze of ash and blood. Civilians scattered as we marched—exactly as they should. Fear was a better deterrent than mercy. Always had been.
Behind me, my Sentinels moved like teeth in a jaw—silent, sharp, and ready to close.
The King gave his command: restore order to the city. Whatever had occurred at the Southside slums had torn apart most of the streets. Reports of lightning and explosions had poured into the castle.
I knew what to do. Hunt the traitors. Deliver the Shades—dead if necessary.
I would not fail.
I dismounted as we reached the edge of the collapse, boots striking stone with deliberate weight. I raised one hand. The line halted as one body. No questions. No hesitation. Good.
Then—I heard them.
Steel scraping stone. Low voices. Familiar rhythm to their footsteps. Not soldiers. Not civilians.
I stepped forward through the haze and spotted them as the smoke thinned.
Leo.
And Slade.
Bloodied. Breathing. Armed.
My lips curled.
“Found you.”
Leo turned first. He stood over a girl I recognised from Shade Tower. Maddie, I think her name was. He stepped in front of her still form to guard her from me.
His blade lifted instinctively. Always the scrapper. The lion who didn’t know when to die.
“Oh, fuck,” he muttered, staring at my veritable army beside me.
Slade stepped beside him, slower, heavier. His stance was off. Hurt. But not broken. I’d seen him fight half-dead before. It wouldn’t slow him much.
“Shade Leo. Shade Slade.” I said their names like sentences, not greetings. “You were given orders. Remain at the Tower. Serve the Crown. Obey the Balance.”
I let the silence stretch.
And then: “Instead, I find you here. Playing hero. Covered in blood that’s not yours.”
Leo smirked, jaw tight. “Didn’t realize you were still sniffing around, Vasquez.”
I took one step forward. “You disobeyed direct command. You burned your brands. You abandoned your posts. You are, by every definition, traitors.”
Leo tilted his head. “You gonna cry about it?”
I didn’t answer. Words were wasted on dogs who didn’t know they were leashed.
I raised my hand again—slow, deliberate. The Sentinels readied weapons behind me.
“By order of the Crown,” I said, voice calm, “you will surrender your weapons. Or we will take them from your corpses.”
Slade cracked his neck.
Leo grinned. He stretched out his muscles.
“Go large or go home, right?” he murmured to Slade.
Slade grunted in response. I heard the hum of the metal around me being activated. Swords and shields began to shudder with power.
Leo winked at me. Then the change took hold. One heartbeat he was a man—bloodied, tense, eyes burning.
The next, he was a lion. Massive. Golden fur streaked with ash. His roar cracked the air and sent two Sentinels stumbling back before he lunged.
Claws tore through one man’s chest plate in a single swipe.
I didn’t flinch.
“Contain him!” I barked.
Slade moved next—always the tactician. I caught the flicker of metal at his fingertips, the pull of his power reaching for discarded blades and splintered armour. He stole it, twisted it, reshaped it.
Steel rose from the dirt like claws of the earth—sharpened, twisting—launching straight into my soldiers. One man was impaled before he could scream.
And still, we pushed forward.
“Kill them!” I roared. “Kill them both—no mercy!”
More Sentinels surged in. Twenty now. Maybe more. Boots pounded stone, cuffs crackled with ignition runes. Leo threw them off like they were made of paper. Slade raised his arms and sent a wave of forged metal—razor-sharp and hungry—through the crowd. It sliced through armour like silk.
I lunged. My blade caught Leo in the side—he yelped, staggered.
Then he was on me.
He tackled me hard, pinning me to the ground with a snarl. His blade came down, close enough to taste the iron.
I just laughed.
“There are too many of us. You can’t win, shifter.”
I drove my knee into his gut and shoved him off.
Leo lunged again—a blur of fur and fury—but this time, his flank was exposed.
A guard slipped behind him to gather the girl. Leo saw the danger and made the choice.
He shifted back mid-run, grimacing through the pain, scooped her up, and bolted.
“Get her out of here!” Slade yelled, covering him. Twin blades of melted iron arced from his hands, catching two Sentinels mid-swing.
Leo didn’t hesitate.
He ran.
Smart.
But not smart enough.
“Intercept,” I ordered. “Stop them!”
I turned to deal with Slade myself. The man moved like a soldier who’d bled in every war—and he fought like he had nothing left to lose.
Blades clashed, metal shrieked.
He caught me in the ribs with a glancing strike—but I didn’t stop. I answered with a backhanded blow that sent him sprawling into a column.
And then—something shifted.
The air… tugged. A ripple. Like a thread being pulled behind my eyes.
I blinked. So did two Sentinels near me.
Then the world went black.
I was blinded.
My hands flew to my face, scrambling to clear what wasn’t there—no blood, no injury—just darkness like ink behind my eyes.
I could smell his magical signature like it was blood.
Thorne.
“You traitorous son of a—” I snarled.
But when I moved—too slow, too late—they were gone.
Leo and the girl. Gone.
Slade. Gone.
Only the echo of Thorne’s magic remained—bitter and cold, clinging to the air like a memory trying to erase itself.