Chapter 29
Petra
Screams. Panic. Swords. Chaos. Occulti.
Occulti.
He was here.
I fought against the current of people scrambling in every direction as the doors to the courtyard burst open. I couldn’t see over the crowd, couldn’t hear over the shouts and cries that vibrated through the air.
The crowd broke apart for a split second, just long enough to see the dozen Occulti tearing through guests like paper.
These were the Occulti we’d seen in Heaven, in their true, nightmarish forms. I surged forward, but my steps were restricted by this stupid fucking gown.
Why the hell did I have to choose a spiteful dress over a functional one ?
Adorex! I screamed down the line as I shuffled forward. Occulti! Now!
Guards had managed to slam the doors shut and wedge tables and chairs against them. They may have been able to keep more Occulti from getting in, but now the people in this room had no way out. The floor was slick with blood. Bodies fell into mangled heaps. People tripped over severed limbs.
I didn’t have to work hard to summon my fury.
Flames sparked to life as I set my sights on the Occulti closest to me.
One of its angular arms closed around a woman’s shoulders.
An agonized scream left the woman as the demon’s nail sliced through the skin on her arm like a knife through butter.
I aimed for its head, hitting it square in the face with an angry burst of flames.
The woman scrambled free as the demon whirled toward me, its milky-white skin charred and its slitted eyes narrowed.
A bone-chilling smile pulled at lips that were too thin.
But as it lunged for me, heat surged in the room, and its veiny skin shone red in the light of driva fire glowing from outside the windows.
Many , Adorex thought.
Fuck.
Malosym? I called back down the line.
No.
I couldn’t savor the relief that Malosym wasn’t here as another blast of fire flew from my palms, this one colliding with the demon’s chest. The monster hit the ground and writhed for a moment before it stilled. The other Occulti in the room screeched, their movements picking up speed.
A hand closed around my elbow for a split second before it pulled away, and there was Cal beside me.
“Apologies!” I yelled as he shook out the hand I’d just burned. “Malosym’s not here! Only Occulti!”
A driva’s roar shook the entire ballroom, the chandelier above rattling on its chain as the windows glowed again. Heat surged. More screams. Windows shattered. The people in this room thought the world was ending.
It was.
“On your right!” Cal shouted, and with a flick of my wrist, the Occulti’s neck snapped and the demon hit the ground.
My head whipped back and forth. Cal was behind me, Tyrak appeared to my left, but… “Where is Miles?”
“Don’t know,” Cal called back. “Tyrak! Find Miles!”
A rattling gasp sounded from the ground, and my heart seized when I looked down to see a woman clutching a gaping wound on her neck.
“What’s your name?” I asked as I tried to hike my skirts up to retrieve my dagger, but Saints fucking dammit , I couldn’t.
“Ahmi,” she croaked, her eyes wide with shock as her hand moved to the wound on her neck.
I reached for Cal’s sword, running it across my palm only to find unbroken skin in its wake, just like in Eserene. Aegrabane. It didn’t cut me because it was Aegrabane. Of course.
Thinking fast, I sliced through the fabric at the bottom of my dress and handed off Cal’s sword just in time for him to catch an Occulti in the chest and take the demon to the ground.
I grabbed the edges of the torn material of my gown and ripped until a slit opened just high enough to get my dagger. “Ahmi,” I repeated back to the woman, hoping she could hear me over the chaos as I sliced into my palm. “I’m Petra.”
“Behind you!” Cal bellowed, and I looked just in time to see an Occulti hurtling toward me as Cal’s sword pierced the neck of another.
I threw my uncut hand out, easily taking it to the ground with a painful crack of more than a few ribs before I turned back to Ahmi, placing my bleeding palm against her face. “It’ll be okay.”
I didn’t stick around to watch the wound close.
No, I was on my feet, moving stealthily through the people now that my legs had full range of motion.
I struck down Occulti with one hand and healed the injured with the other, fighting off the pangs of guilt when I saw motionless chests and unseeing eyes.
The ballroom shuddered as a driva landed on the roof, talons scraping against sandstone. I pulled on my line to Adorex, but all I felt in return was her own anger. Her roar was music to my fucking ears as unbearable heat surged again.
The last of the Occulti was still tearing mercilessly through the crowd, screams of terror ringing in my ears from all directions. The demon went down in a hissing mess of flailing limbs and snapping teeth, and then it was dead.
The heat dissipated. The crowd stilled. Fear hung heavy in the air. But me? I felt vindicated.
Occulti. Gone , Adorex sounded in my mind.
Never had I heard a quiet so beautiful as the one that fell over the ballroom.
The sound of slow, rhythmic wingbeats from outside was a metronome to the end of the world.
My footsteps echoed as I made my way through the ballroom, nodding to the guards and waiting as they pulled away the makeshift barricade.
And there they were, landing hard in the scorched remains of the expansive courtyard.
Adorex, Obitus, and Gehenna, nostrils steaming, throats vibrating with a low rumble, standing shoulder to shoulder in all of their terrifying glory.
Opalescent scales glowed beneath the moon as Adorex’s serpentine neck flexed forward.
Petra. Proud? Adorex’s mind echoed through mine.
“I’ve never been more proud of anything in my life,” I murmured, barely containing my smile as I moved to stand before Adorex, facing the opened doors of the ballroom.
Shocked gasps filtered from within the ballroom as people fought to peer out.
“They will not harm you,” I called.
“Dragons!” someone shrieked .
“ Drivas ,” Cal corrected, pushing through to lean against the doorway with a smirk on his face that sent my stomach into a freefall.
Adrenaline still coursed through me, my skin slick with sweat. A few blisters dotted my palms, but overall, they’d fared surprisingly well.
The same could not be said for Queen Irli’s gardens, and I winced as I looked around. They’d been all but reduced to the charred skeletons of bushes and trees. Piles of ash littered the grounds, the only thing that remained of the demons that had attempted to enter the ballroom.
Burned. Castle , Adorex thought. Oops. Then surprise filtered through into my head, a ripple of excitement following it. Noros.
Tyrak’s face was alight with a smile as he emerged from the crowd, descending the few steps as he beheld the drivas. His face grew impossibly brighter when his eyes landed on Adorex. “Hello, old girl,” he cooed, placing a hand against her nose for a moment before he backed away again.
Happy , Adorex thought.
Cal pushed off from the doorframe, coming to stand by my other side. The bravest of the guests followed him out the door, taking a few cautious steps into the night, their eyes bulging from their heads. Understandably, a healthy number stayed back.
As the smoke dissipated, I cleared my throat. Both Cal and Tyrak gave encouraging nods from where they stood off to the side. The plans had changed, but the speech I’d rehearsed remained the same.
“I am Petra, Queen of Astran and Daughter of Katia and Rhedros, Keepers of the Saints.” More gasps sounded and it took everything within me not to roll my eyes.
Everyone one of these motherfuckers had read as much in my missives.
But, gasp , it really is her! Keep it together, Petra, I reminded myself.
This is the plan. “I sent word to each and every one of you,” I continued, my voice booming through the silence.
“I told you what had happened in Eserene, and all I received in return were denials, and only from those who were kind enough to reply.” I took a deep breath, tamping down the anger and channeling it into something like authority.
Something like a Saint.
“Darkness is upon us. Katia and Rhedros have been captured and imprisoned. What you witnessed here tonight is a drop in the bucket compared to what happened in Eserene. The Occulti demon horde has somehow found its way here to the Human Realm, led by Malosym, a demon lord who has been masquerading as a human for years now, infiltrating society and leaving destruction in his wake.” Murmurs rippled through the crowd, hands flying to mouths and eyes widening.
“Yes, Malosym. The Malosym some of you may have read about in books of lore. Now, I’m calling upon you this evening to ask for your help.
The Occulti are going to get stronger as Malosym gets stronger.
This will not be the last time we see them, and it is going to be far, far worse.
Our only chance of saving the realm is going to come from our combined forces. ”
More whispers sounded. “Quiet,” Miles barked, suddenly appearing beside Cal. Nice of him to fucking join me.
“I’m going to ask that the leaders of each kingdom as well as their most trusted advisors meet me tomorrow at first light to discuss our next steps.
It is, ultimately, up to you whether you choose to join me or not,” I added, the words sour on my tongue.
“But I do ask that you hear what I have to say.”
Queen Irli stood to the side of the crowd, unperturbed by the decimated state of her garden.
King Laion, however, showed every bit of disdain I’d expected, though I suspected it had nothing to do with the ashes and soot.
I peered past them, to the ballroom that had been all but upended.
A handful of lifeless bodies remained, strewn between overturned tables and bits of glass .
“Funerals will be arranged for the fallen, and dinner will be delivered to your rooms,” Queen Irli suddenly announced, clapping her hands together and unofficially putting an end to the night. I let out a breath, thankful for the dismissal.
We’d made it over this monumental obstacle.
My pulse had returned to normal, but adrenaline still had me firmly in its grasp.
My movements felt jerky and unnatural. I was exhausted but restless.
Vindicated yet terrified. And once again, I found myself at the head of some sort of piecemeal military that I would be expected to lead.
I just hoped it would turn out to be large enough.
As the crowd dissipated — all craned necks and whispers — I made my way back into the ballroom.
Cal, Miles, and Tyrak spoke with a few of Nesan’s military leaders, no doubt working out the logistics of tomorrow’s meeting.
The musicians of the orchestra were packing up their instruments, many of them teary-eyed and shaky.
Eyes were on me, burning into my skin like a brand, murmurs sounding as I walked past.
But my breath caught in my lungs. My heart jumped into my throat before it stopped altogether as I took in the blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and tall, lithe figure of Larka.