Chapter 4
FOUR
LEAH
It was time. Leah always knew the day would come. When and how it would transpire were always thoughts better left for another time, but today was that day. No more wondering; all of the questions were answered. Before it could be done, however, loose ends had to be addressed.
Leah found herself in front of the door of her sister’s treasurer, Fenrick Trillion.
Fenrick’s true loyalties to first the Order under Doctor Livingston and then the New Order under Saber Hyde were well known to both Leah and her sister.
They had decided to keep him around until they no longer needed him, and as far as Leah Noble was concerned, his usefulness had finally run its course.
Soon events would unfold that would not hinge on any information he could give them. They’d had him followed for the last year, and now it was time for Fenrick to serve his last piece of worth to the crown.
Leah knocked softly on his door. The hour was late, and if she’d timed it right, she would be catching him just before bed. An excited shudder ran down Leah’s spine. All of her work had led up to this night.
The door opened a moment later and Fenrick’s weasel-like face poked out. His eyes widened as he took in Leah’s frame outside of his door.
“Leah, to what do I owe the pleasure at this late hour?” Fenrick tried to keep his face cordial, but Leah could see the fear etched along the edges of his eyes. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes and no.” Leah struck out with her right hand so quickly, Fenrick never saw it coming.
She channeled her purple magic into her fist, creating a six-inch magical dagger.
Every inch penetrated the soft part of Fenrick’s stomach.
“Yes, I’m doing wonderful, and no, the future does not look so … lively for you.”
Fenrick gasped. His gaze contorted into a mixture of horror and fear. He doubled over, both hands on Leah’s right fist still knuckle-deep in his midsection.
Leah walked forward, forcing Fenrick into his room. She shut the door behind her.
Fenrick opened his mouth about to scream for help, but Leah performed a quick spell that would render anything he said soundless. Fenrick’s mouth twisted in a string of screams, yet nothing came out.
Leah swiped hard to the left, with her right hand tearing open enough of Fenrick’s stomach she was sure he would bleed out within the next few minutes.
Fenrick fell hard onto his room’s carpeted floor. A red rush of blood seeped through his fingers as he tried in vain to hold in the vital fluid.
“Fenrick, Fenrick, Fenrick.” Leah sat on his bed, allowing the glow of purple magic around her right hand to dissipate.
She used his white sheets to clean her crimson knuckles.
“You were the perfect example of keep your allies close and your enemies closer. If it weren’t for you, we’d be in the dark of the goings-on in New Hope.
I just wanted you to know in your last moments of life that your work as a spy was meaningless, and now you will die alone.
Well, not alone. I’m here, but you might as well be alone for all I care. ”
Fenrick was mouthing something, and his attempt at holding in his blood and intestines were failing. His face was as pale as the white sheets Leah had cleaned her hands with.
“I’m going to allow you your last few words.” Leah waved a hand over Fenrick’s prone form. “If you scream at this point, I can’t imagine it would be very loud.”
“You will not succeed.” The whisper had come so faint, so barely audible, Leah had to move in. “There is another.”
“Oh, yes.” Leah rolled her eyes and stood up to go. “We are well aware of my sister, Croft, and her attempt to sway the inevitable. She won’t succeed, and you should feel no hope at her doing so.”
“Not … Croft.” Fenrick’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, his breathing so faint now, Leah had wondered if he had already died when the next words escaped his blue lips. “Your … brother.”
“What did you say?” Leah was already headed for the door, but stopped at the mention of her brother. She turned round and knelt next to Fenrick’s body, grabbing him by the throat. “What do you know about my brother?”
But Fenrick was dead. Leah would get no answers from him.
Leah hated Fenrick for what he had done.
He’d made her care. Even if it was a care that would die in the next few moments, for that time, she had relieved memories of a brother who had disappeared.
Not even with her powerful range of magical spells had she been able to track him down.
Whether Fenrick actually had useful information about him or had used his last dying breath to torment her would be a mystery.
Instead of fixating on the question that would have no answers, Leah focused on the next door that stood in front of her. This one, unlike Fenrick’s, had a pair of vampire soldiers standing guard.
They twitched to attention as she approached. As one, they saluted their creator.
Leah ignored the sign of respect and instead knocked on the door. Her blows were gentle like those before.
A few moments passed with no response from the other side.
Leah knocked again.
This time, the door swung open. Eleanor was dressed in a white silk nightgown. Her hair had been braided behind her head and fell down her right shoulder. Surprise showed on her face as she ushered her sister inside.
Leah nodded her thanks. It wasn’t completely out of the ordinary to visit her sister at this hour, but tonight wouldn’t be like any other night.
“What’s wrong?” Eleanor closed the door behind Leah before asking her question. “Is everything going as planned with the beasts?”
“Oh, yes.” Leah found a seat on a lush footrest. “Everything is going better than planned. I was able to trap Marcus in his beast state. He’s more raving animal than man right now.
The same goes for the soldier he turned.
We’ll unleash them on Azra, and they’ll tear to shreds Sloan and anyone else who stands in our way. ”
Eleanor gave Leah her trademark eyebrow lift Leah had begun to detest.
“Remember, Charlotte Sloan should be taken alive at all costs.” Eleanor went to the far side of her bedroom where a nightstand stood with a large, circular mirror.
She reached for a silver brush and began combing her long, grey hair.
“Our goal should be singular in uniting the Outland under one banner, but as soon as we do, we’ll need these same people to rally behind us as we push past our own borders and explore the world beyond. ”
Leah rolled her eyes. The rehashing of this conversation was only making her decision easier. She and her sister were similar enough; they had been aligned up until this point, but every day their opinions on how to handle things were becoming more and more unique.
“Unity will only see us so far.” Leah stood and walked over to her sister. She gently took the brush from Eleanor’s hand and began combing her sister’s hair for her. “It’s better to be feared than respected.”
“Well, I guess that is where we will have to disagree.” Eleanor looked up at her sister through the reflection of the mirror.
Leah’s hand began to shake. Her sister was looking at her with that same stupid, placating smile once again.
The smile that said, I’ll listen to whatever you want to say, but it doesn’t matter; it will never matter as long as I am the older sister and the queen of New Hope.
Leah could feel her anger swelling in her chest. All those many years she had been second to her sister, her ideas always coming in just shy of meaning anything.
“Leah”—Eleanor winced in the mirror—“easy on the hair. I only have so much of it left.”
Leah pressed the comb in harder, raking her sister’s skull with the grooming tool. “You could never let me win. Not even once when we were growing up, could you?
“What? You’re hurting me.” Eleanor winced again, trying to turn in her seat, but her sister held her firm. “Guar?—”
Before Eleanor could even get the word out of her mouth, Leah channeled the same purple blade in her right fist and drove it through her sister’s back.
The white hot magic blade went straight through the back of the queen’s heart and sprouted through her chest like a newly sprung flower ready to bloom.
Blood began to seep from the corners of Eleanor’s mouth. Her struggling hands fell limp by her side as her eyes clouded over, already heralding the end of her reign.
“New Hope deserves a queen that will rule with impunity,” Leah whispered into her sister’s ear. “And I will be that queen.”