Page 17 of Blood and War
The Horseman took a step away from her, drawingherblade as he did so. She watched as he dragged it across his palm in a horizontal line and beads of crimson blossomed along the cut, welling up to its surface. War clenched his fist, dripping it into the dirt at his feet.
“I summon you, council of five.” He growled.
Demitria waited for something to happen. For something to burst free from the ground and come for her, but nothing moved.
“I summon you, council of five.” He repeated, voice rising, deepening as the words rumbled through his chest. When still nothing happened, she felt her brow raise. War clenched his fist tighter, squeezing more of the crimson liquid from his palm before shoving it into the dirt. “I invoke you, council of five! Fucking answer me!” He bellowed, and she swore she felt it in the marrow of her bones as the sound reverberated through her chest. When they didn’t answer, the Horseman was on his feet.
“Move.”
She stood her ground and kept her feet planted. She wouldn’t follow just because he’d told her to. Like hell she would. With a harsh hand the Horseman shoved, her knees hitting the dirt.
“My patience wears thin.” Another loud sigh escaped through his lips as he took up before her. His hulking frame towering over her. War leaned in close, azure eyes pinning her as full lips curled in a sneer. Her own dagger pressed firm against the pale flesh of her throat.
“I’ll give you two choices.” He seethed. “Option one, you give up this fucking fight of yours and come with me. Or option two. You continue this little hero charade and I’ll force you to watch as I burn down that little place you call home.” He pointed toward her home. “One by one as I gut them then tear them apart limb from limb.”
Her lifeline.
His lips twisted in an expression of disgust. “If you have any sense of integrity and duty to your people you’d pick the latter.”
Demitria couldn’t move. Her body rooted to the spot as she stared at the monster in front of her. The murderous weapon that had been sent here to rob her of her life and all those around her. He claimed balance. It felt more like an annihilation than anything.
But Jace.
Stella, Evan, Cory, and the others. Their faces flashed before her eyes. She could almost see the carnage he threatened. See the community as it burned to the ground. Hear their screams. Jace kneeling in the middle of Solis as the Horseman stood over him. Helpless. She was always so fucking helpless.
It took everything in her not to empty the contents of her stomach into the dirt. It was more than enough to make up her mind. She couldn’t let that happen. Couldn’t let their deaths be on her. She’d do everything in her power to ensure they remained safe.
She glared at him, shoulders tensed. “If I go with you?—”
“You are hardly in a position to bargain with me.” He smirked. She wanted to slap the stupid look off his face.
“If I go with you,” Demitria repeated, louder this time. “My people remain safe. My community goes untouched. Only then will I go willingly.” Give her life for theirs. It seemed like a fair trade, her life for over twenty lives.
Jace wouldn’t know what had happened to her, and he probably never would. She couldn’t bear to think of the hurt that it would cause him. The pain when she wasn’t at those gates by the time the sun was up. It nearly broke her, but weakness was something she couldn’t do right now. Not when it was the difference between her people surviving or not.
“I will not harm your community.” Demitria’s features softened for a moment, and the tension in his body slackened slightly.
To her surprise, the Horseman bowed his head.Honorable. The gesture was something she didn’t think a being like him was capable of. At least not toward her kind, and it caught her off guard.
“Mount up, we leave now.” War unbound her wrists, guiding her toward Atlas. Demitria was grateful for his presence. One familiar face she could count on no matter what happened. He nudged into her shoulder, easily cracking through the barrier she’d erected. She mounted with her usual ease, but riding Atlas had a finality patrolling never did.
They didn’t speak. The Horseman rode slightly behind her and Atlas, to make sure she didn’t run again, she was sure. She wouldn’t. Not after the threat he’d made. She knew him capable, the tearing of the angel’s wings replaying in her mind
The sky grew light as dawn finally broke. Soon, the world was illuminated in its glow. Everything remained quiet. As if the world knew who was present, and would do anything to go unnoticed, or bow at his feet. Their mounts kicked up a whirlwind of dust as they rode away from the only place she’dfelt safe in the last decade. It took nearly all her strength to hold back the tears that had been threatening to fall.
Jace.
She reminded herself over and over again.
She did this for Jace.
Nine
DEMITRIA
Everything was dark. Black. The air inside musty yet cool as the breeze drifted in from the mouth of the cave. Underneath her, the rocks had been worn smooth—by what she wasn’t sure. Blinking rapidly, Demitria forced her eyes to adjust to her surroundings. Stalagmites formed in clusters along the ground. She’d tucked her body against a large column midway into the cave the moment they’d entered, wanting to put as much distance between them as possible.She must have fallen asleep. Demitria hadn’t remembered dozing off, let alone feeling the lull of sleep. But given the events that had led her here, it didn’t surprise her. They’d arrived at the cave by nightfall after hours of traveling. It had been dark then, but now? She could barely see her own hand in front of her face.
Further back, she could hear the soft breathing of their mounts. Content. Atlas hadn’t seemed worried, despite her own cautions. Her own fears. Maybe he really had known them in a previous life. She’d contemplated asking the Horseman, but knew it would get her nowhere. He didn’t seem like the type for idle chat, and if she was being technical, she was his prisoner. He didn’t owe her an explanation for a single thing.
