“So, we cross paths again,” King Chalir mused. “I’m told you’re here on a mission of peace. You must have something incredibly valuable to offer for you to even consider you can come to my war camp and return to your kind alive, let alone with an agreement of peace.”
“The value of an offering is determined by the needs of the one receiving the gift,” I returned with a steady smile, all too aware of Raine and the others around me. One mistake. That’s all it would take, and this situation was going to go very badly for all of us.
“True words,” King Chalir agreed. “And what is it you think I need, other than to rid us of the threat of your kind?”
I indicated to the tomb. “We offer you the one who started the war between the fae and the humans of Katakin all those years ago. The one who killed your father, King Jazrec, and dishonored our Queen Izla, your sister. The king who failed his people. It was his actions alone that led to the curse being placed on us, and everything that has happened since.”
King Chalir’s eyes widened with shock before an intense hatred gleamed in his eyes. “I’ll admit it would give me great pleasure to finally see my family avenged. Still, it wasn’t only King Adrien who slaughtered the fae soldiers who came here to fight two-hundred years ago. And he wasn’t the one who attacked my son in mere days past.”
I maintained my strong stance. “We were following the orders of our king and defending ourselves when your soldiers arrived that first time. The entire situation was regrettable and would have been avoidable under different leadership.”
There were curses and scoffs of disbelief from the fae soldiers, but none dared speak up more than that.
“As for the assassination, we have already explained it wasn’t us who attacked the prince.” I gestured my head to Asher, and he swung Warrick from his shoulder, letting the vampire fall to the dirt with a thud. “But Warrick here, was the one who captured and tortured your son when the prince visited our realm.”
King Chalir glared at Warrick on the ground. The vampire was still unconscious, and his skin was deathly pale.
“So,” King Chalir began. “You expect me to simply take these two as a gesture of your goodwill and lead my army back through the portals to our realm?” He scowled. “As if the execution of these males could make me forget all that has happened between our kind. No, my sister finally saw you for what you are, and I will not turn away now that I have made my decision.”
“No,” Raine protested, her eyes burning as she stood tall. “We don’t think it’ll make you forget. We hopeit’ll make you remember.”
King Chalir cocked his head, surprised by her words.
“There was a time when Queen Izla was a kind ruler of this land,” Raine went on. “She fostered a connection between the humans and the fae and was loved by many. It was King Adrien who betrayed her love and, in turn, his own people. We shouldn’t all be judged because of his mistake. Now it’s Warrick who wishes to control the realms just like King Adrien.” Raine peered around at the king and the fae soldiers who watched her intently. “We want you to remember the time when there was peace. When the humans and fae were able to learn and grow together. You think we’re monsters, but we’re nothing compared to the tortured creatures Warrick has created. If we engage in all-out war, we’ll all die. That’s why we’ve tried so hard to bring him to you before it comes to that.”
Everyone was silent for a long moment, and my heart swelled for my mate. She spoke as if she’d always been one of us. As if she personally knew the queen, her ancestor. Would the fae care if she revealed her heritage?
Opening his mouth, King Chalir went to speak, but before he could utter a word the world exploded into chaos. A clink sounded, and Warrick, who had been lying still at our feet, was no longer there. The vampire ripped the stone lid of the tomb away, sending a cloud of dust into the air.
I grabbed Raine, instinctively pulling her away as my brothers moved into action. Before they could reach Warrick, the vampire hissed, taking a syringe and squeezing a black substance into the open, screaming mouth of the motionless stone king.
Locke moved like a blur, snarling as he grabbed Warrick’s shoulder and sent the vampire flying.
Warrick landed in a crouch, his lips curling into a cruel smile as his gaze went from Locke to King Adrien.
Before Locke could go after the vampire, a fae cried out, “I-It’s alive!”
Locke turned his head in time to see the stone king open his eyes. His gray pupils flickered black before turning to a glowing, blood red, and he burst from the tomb, tearing apart the stone and sending chunks flying in all directions. A large piece smashed into Locke’s chest sending him careening backward.
When I turned back to Warrick, the vampire was gone.
“Contain him!” King Chalir shouted, pointing to King Adrien, but the fae’s spears couldn’t penetrate the king’s stone body. We watched in horror as the monster grew five times his size, his lips bulging and spikes covering his body. A stone crown sat atop his head, as if when the curse was created, his crown had become a part of him. We stepped back as we stared at the monstrous king, the fae soldier’s arrows and blades bouncing off his stony exterior and falling to the ground.
“How long has Warrick been awake for?” I muttered in disbelief. I eyed King Adrien who appeared to be some perversion of an outlier.Warrick has discovered how to turn monsters into outliers.The realization was chilling.
Smoke trailed from Raine’s nose, but I pulled her further back. “Don’t, lovely. If you turn, the fae will see you as the monster that King Adrien is.”
King Adrien stepped forward, his red eyes blazing as he moved his giant arms, swiping through the lines of fae and sending them flying.
The other monsters fought to bring King Adrien down, but they were flung in all directions. Some of the fae outstretched their hands, finally coming to their senses and reaching for their magic, and the wind picked up, howling around us as magic sizzled in the air.
King Adrien swayed on his feet, but he remained standing as he fought against the buffeting wind.
“We need to go,” Kade shouted.
Jade let out a cry as she ran at King Adrien, swinging her mace into the giant monster’s foot. King Adrien cackled, his thunderous laughter making the ground vibrate.
“We can’t go,” Raine hissed, her eyes wild. “We need to help them! Dar, you can entrance him!”
