He whipped around quickly like he’d forgotten I was there. “I can’t leave you.” Or maybe he was offended I’d even suggested such a thing. “You are the most important thing. You are going to heal this earth, heal your people.”
“I can’t do any of that if I don’t have people to heal. Those are my people down there.”
He was in front of me in a few short steps. His sword was gone and his hands were on my face in seconds. My dress had been discarded long ago, but he still wore half of his clothes. A blessing and a curse, I supposed. Everything was about to change right before my eyes. Everything I wanted, standing before me, was about to be different. I could feel it in the air around me and in the rock beneath me. He pressed his forehead to mine and I could feel the trembling in his body. He was at war with himself.
“The girls will be here soon,” My voice broke and we both knew I was lying. I knew they would be looking for me but would they ever make it here? “You have to go protect my people—our people.”
The man I was falling in love with pulled away and searched my eyes. “You and I both know that may not happen. They could be caught in the crossfire.”
Three more explosions had happened since he moved away from the balcony. Each boom sent us scurrying slightly. The smell of smoke was thick in the air and I knew we didn’t have much time left. “Get the people out, the girls or Alric will get to me and if they don’t…” I hated how afraid I sounded but there was no way around it. “I can defend myself. I can get out.”
He cupped my cheek and crushed his lips to mine. This kiss was nothing like the others. This one was full of remorse, pain, and regret. It was full of everything he wanted to say to me but there wasn’t enough time. When he pulled away tears rolled down my cheeks but I was quick to flick them from my skin. I couldn’t make this any harder than it needed to be. With both of my hands on his bare chest, I shoved him toward his room. He would need his battle leathers and who knew what else. I could hardly think. Between everything that we’d done and now this, my brain was scrambled.
When he returned from his chambers, he had a sword I’d never seen before between his hands. His other two were tucked on his back. His brown fighting leathers were worn but looked to be in good condition. His dark hair was pulled back away from his face. My dress was in tatters but somehow I’d managed to put it back on. There was dirt and rocks in my hair and I was sure I looked a mess, but his eyes still held so much devotion for me as he handed me the weapon.
“I trained you well. I pushed you too hard and I was an asshole to you but I know you can defend yourself if you need to.” Another boom shook the keep and knocked me off of my feet. I scurried to stand, thankful the sword was still in its sheath. My lips trembled as I fought more tears. I could feel the goodbye on the tip of his tongue and it was the last thing I wanted. I wanted to say see you later, but I also hadn’t seen what he had at the balcony. I couldn’t bring myself to do it yet.
The front door exploded open and my friends rushed inside. Grove was the first to breach the room and one look at our stance and a sly grin spread across her face. There was blood and mud caked on their faces. Reva let out a shuddering breath and fell to her knees next to the kitchen.
“We are under attack by the fraud empire.” Her wide brown eyes met mine, completely ignoring my rumbled clothing, half falling off of me. “They’re here for Juniper but they’re slaughtering anything and everything.”
The sly grin that had been on Grove’s face quickly fell off. “Whatever children were left, they’re hunting them. They want children killed off first.”
“Where’s Ash?” They never separated. This was unlike them.
“She was attacked on our way up here, Alric stayed behind to help her.”
I nodded my head, they were formidable warriors. They could handle it, right?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
RYVEN
As much as my people needed me and as much I needed to see to them, I couldn’t leave until I knew Juniper was safe. That meant making sure she had a weapon, she felt comfortable with it, and she’d covered herself. Her fighting leathers weren’t broken in and they would probably be uncomfortable for her to run or fight in but they would keep her safe. Reva was massaging some nasty dye into her hair to hopefully get her out of this without being targeted. I hated seeing her silver tresses covered but I knew it was only temporary. All of this was temporary and when it was over with, she would have a kingdom to run.
I pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead, avoiding the horrible smell of hair dye. She grabbed my hand before I could pull away. Her purple eyes welled with tears and I knew it was going to break me to walk away from her, but I had no choice. She was in good hands now. They would get her out of this crumbling city and to The Last Fortress. They would be safe there, the magic would protect them and then I would be on my way… If I didn’t make it out with them. That was the plan, get as many people out as I could, fight these monsters, and then get to the rendezvous point.
Having a plan made me feel better about all of this. It wasn’t a lot of relief but it was enough to pry me from Juniper’s side. With one last lingering look over my shoulder, I marched from my home and immediately into chaos. Flying creatures squawked overhead and there was a horrible roaring happening from somewhere deep in the keep. They’d let in true, actual monsters to do their dirty work before they came in and slaughtered the rest. How they’d managed to organize monsters in such a way was beyond me. It explained the lack of monsters around the fraud kingdom and the Floria Forest. They hadn’t been killing them, they’d been capturing them.
Another explosion rocked the keep and more fire erupted from the center of the town below me. I took the steps two at a time, my eyes searching for Alric and Ash as I went. I didn’t want to dive into all of this blind and having them with me would give me better chances. It would give all of us better chances. But there was no sign of them. There were no creatures on the stairs, the town below my home seemed too empty. Fires were raging, but no people to be found. Screams could be heard in the distance and I swallowed back bile coming up my throat. I was born and bred for this. I could do this. The blood lust that’d been in my veins earlier evaporated to nothing now. I knew I was about to see my people slaughtered and it ripped me up inside. I could kill monsters, I could slay my enemies, but innocents? Never. These people didn’t deserve this and they’d all been rounded up like cattle in the arena, waiting to be taken out. There’d been no one there to protect them.
Obviously, I wasn’t that stupid and I had some of my men stationed around the arena to keep the peace and to watch for trouble but I hadn’t thought of an attack, especially not one to this caliber. Most of the men and women in the army had gotten tonight off, like the rest of the keep. It was a night of celebration.
How did I not see this? I should have planned better, I should have been more on guard but all I could think about, all I could see was her… All I could think about was her and here we were. Could this have been avoided? Probably.
My boots crunched on the rocks and dirt as I raced through the streets. Every home and business looked to be empty but most of them were on fire. From what I could tell, the screams were coming from the arena and not anywhere near me. If there was anyone here, they were dead. The silence made it ominous enough.
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes? Where did you disappear to?” A familiar voice stalled me. Anya. The woman we’d been looking for for weeks, finally showed her face. How interesting it was on the same night there was an attack.
She emerged from the shadows as I held my swords up in a challenge. A sneer curled my lips as my eyes assessed her. Her cheeks were sunken in and her once golden skin was now pale and sickly. She hadn’t trained in a while based on how small her arms and legs were as her clothes no longer hugged her body but seemed to sag. If it wasn’t for her voice, I would have never recognized her. She was a shell of the woman she used to be, the woman I’d once admired and cared for. There were many times that I wondered if I could have loved her if things were different, but as I looked into her haunted gaunt eyes, I knew that it would have always ended the same— no matter what.
“You couldn’t help yourself,” she sighed. “Her beauty was just too much, wasn’t it?”
“What are you going on about?” I kept my eyes on her, but my focus was on the creatures flying above our heads. They would try to distract me so she could pick me off.
“Juniper,” she spat it like a curse. “That wretched thing.”
There wasn’t any point in arguing with her. That would go nowhere.
