Page 35

CHAPTER 35

brIAR

E verything is quiet when we walk out into the hidden city. Our footsteps on the old cobble stones are loud in the silence of the night as we cautiously venture further in. We portaled to the outer eastern edge that’s closest to Dido’s castle. Even though it’s closer, we still have a decently long walk because it’s right next to the green space I saw Ryker in.

The peace doesn’t last as shouts ring out from all around us. I assume that’s the other teams coming across Knights. We have a short distance to go before our group meets up with the other two that will be acting as additional protection. I still don’t think we need it, but I’ll defer to Rhys because he’s done this type of thing much more often than I have.

We don’t run into anyone as we step off the cobblestone path to wind our way through the orchard. No one jumps out from the trees at us, even though the mages have their giant guns at the ready.

I’m honestly a little weirded out when we make it to the abandoned warehouse that’s our meeting point without encountering a single Knight. The other two teams are already waiting there when we arrive, so I guess they had a pretty uneventful trip as well.

It’s not until we’re a few streets away from the center of the city that we see our first enemy. He runs out from around a corner, watching over his shoulder and not looking where he’s going. Two shots from one of the mages has the soldier dropping to the ground lifeless before he even knew we were there.

I’m starting to think we have a real shot at this if that’s how easy it is to take out the Knights. That is, until we walk through a barrier I hadn’t even noticed, and I’m assaulted by the sound of screams, gunfire, and heavy artillery. The booms from the big guns rattle the buildings around us, sending dust and loose stones raining down on us.

One of the mages puts up a defensive spell to protect us from debris. It’s not a moment too soon because a contingent of Knights burst out from behind a building, rapidly firing in our direction. The bullets bounce off the shield, but I see cracks starting to form from the impacts.

I let my magic trickle out to reinforce the dome. Some of the other mages also do the same thing. Rhys turns around to level me with a serious look. “Don’t waste your magic on stuff like this. I’m betting you’ll need everything you have to break the curse.”

Saint nods in agreement. “He’s right. Your magic isn’t infinite. The rest of us can take care of the defense and fighting right now.” His red magic snakes out to wrap around one of the Knights’ throat. The guy drops his gun and claws at his neck as he’s strangled by a force he can’t see. Eventually, the dude’s eyes roll back in his head, and he falls limply to the ground.

I hate that they’re right, because I feel so useless sitting here while the mages protect us and shoot at the Knights. Sighing, I withdraw my magic and stand in the middle of the group, doing nothing.

Some of the shifters break off from the group with a mage to sneak around the back of the Knights. They manage to take out quite a few of our attackers before the Knights even know what’s happening.

With the mages and shifters working together, our teams make quick work of the attackers. We encounter several more splinter groups of Knights that try to stop us from reaching the green space. While they slow our progress significantly, they’re nothing we can’t handle.

At least until one guy pulls out a freaking shoulder missile launcher. When I see him whip out that, I hastily throw up a shield behind the existing one. It’s a good thing too because the rocket smashes straight through the shields. The four mages that were holding up the shield collapse, knocked out cold.

I wince at the impact, feeling like someone slugged me in the breastbone, but my shield holds. One of the alphas steps behind the rocket launcher Knight and twists his head violently to the side. When he goes limp, the Porter alpha carelessly drops him.

“You okay, baby girl?” Malachi asks in concern from in front of me.

“I’m fine,” I grit out as I breathe through the crushing sensation in my chest.

Rhys surveys his downed mages with a practiced calm. He doesn’t freak out or start yelling. Instead, he nods to the redheaded mage to his left. “Conan, portal them back to the clearing.”

Conan dips his chin in response. He opens a portal and fireman carries each of the four mages through.

“Get up another shield,” Cian barks. His deep blue eyes narrow in concentration as his green magic flares from him. Three mages near him rush to reinforce his shield.

“Did you stop the missile?” Bastian asks with wide eyes. When I give him a small nod, he grins at me. “That’s so fucking cool. Great work, pretty girl.”

I can’t help the smile that briefly crosses my lips at his praise. It drops when I see Vale is one of the ones fighting with the Knights. My heart is in my throat as I watch him get punched and shot at. I have to resist the urge to run out there and help him, but I know I’ll only tear his focus away from the danger surrounding him. That’s infinitely riskier than what he’s doing now.

After a few minutes, Vale returns to the safety of our main shield, and I can finally take in a full breath. It’s so much easier when I’m the only one in danger. Watching the people I love put themselves in harm’s way is one of the hardest things for me to sit back and do.

It’s another ten minutes of walking, stopping to fight, and repeating before we reach the green. We have to cross the whole thing to get to the castle. I realize how massive a problem that’s going to be when I see the utter chaos happening.

People are running around, bullets are flying, explosives are detonating, and spells are flung all over the place. I swallow hard when I see the fallen from both sides covering the formerly green grass now stained a dark crimson with blood. While there are more Knights lying lifeless, there are still far too many shifters and mages among them.

Seeing the men and women who have sacrificed themselves for this makes everything feel more real. It hardens my resolve to make their deaths mean something by destroying the curse.

With rage burning through my veins at the senseless loss of life, I start firing spells along with the mages. Each Knight I strike down fills me with a grim satisfaction. I’m sure later I’ll play over and over each of the lives I took, but right now, all I can see are people who want to hurt everyone I care about.

Our group sticks together as we ever so slowly wade through the green. While the defensive spell keeps bullets and other projectiles out, it doesn’t keep people from going through. Knights charge at us from all sides. They clash with the mages and shifters on the outer ring as I watch.

The shifters mostly deal with the Knights at this close a range. There’s too big a risk of hitting one of us for the mages to use their guns, and even their spells could accidentally go awry. The shifters’ teeth and claws prove much more useful as they savagely rip out throats, tear off limbs, and sever spinal cords.

I know my eyes are wide as I watch the death and destruction surrounding me in between my attacks on Knights further away. While my life has been steeped in violence since my mom died, I’ve never seen this much blood and guts and gore.

Even though I’m not the one physically fighting, my clothing and skin are still soaked with blood. I can feel it dripping down my fingertips as I stand here and flying from my arms as I cast spells. The smell of death permeates the field and feels like it’s choking me as we seem to stand still. With how the Knights crowd us on all sides, we can hardly move an inch.

I can tell our group is beginning to tire out and get sloppy. “We need a new plan!” I shout at my mates to be heard over the roar of the battle.

Xander nods in agreement as he slices through the throat of a Knight who got too close. His tanned skin is speckled with blood, making him look almost like he has freckles. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know.” I shake my head as I look around at the overwhelming number of Knights surrounding us. It seems like more and more are pouring into the clearing. For every one we take out, two more appear. “We just need to get them off us, or we’re never going to make it to the curse.”

Bastian punches a Knight in the nose before grinning at me, clearly enjoying all the fighting. “Is there any way you can target a spell at just the Knights? Sort of throw them back? I assume that would require less magic than just killing them.”

I look at Saint because I’m honestly not sure. He rubs his chin before shrugging. “I don’t know of any spell that can do that, but your magic isn’t confined by the traditional spells, little shadow. I don’t think it hurts to try. While you’re doing that, we can think of other solutions, too.”

Nodding, I close my eyes to locate my magic. Unlike my wolf, it’s just a flame, so I don’t think I can ask it any questions. Instead, I just picture the Knights flying back and slamming into the buildings that ring the green while our shifters and mages stay where they are.

The blue flame flows toward me and winds around me. Once it’s circled me a few times, my magic explodes out in a flash of blue so bright I have to close my eyes. When I open them, I see Knights sailing through the air and slamming into the empty shops around the green space. They land with audible thuds that are hard enough to knock some of them out.

I gape at the destruction for a moment, still not believing that my magic actually worked. I see the mages and shifters surrounding us doing the same. Some of the Knights start climbing to their feet, which snaps me out of my shock. “We should probably move while we can.” My voice is slightly frantic as I watch more and more Knights shake off my magic.

Rhys struggles to tear his gaze away from all the Knights lying on the ground like bowling pins after a strike. When he does, he glances at me before seeming to process what I said. “You’re right. Everyone move!”

We start sprinting toward the looming fortress. Its two front sandstone towers stand out starkly against the inky night sky. I don’t see any movement from the tall, skinny windows around the middle and top of the castle, which would be the perfect perch for snipers. The mages keep a shield up just in case, though.

I’ve just cleared the green when Knights pour out of the front of the fortress. While some hang back and fire their rifles, most of them charge right into our group. These ones seem more skilled than those in the giant open space. Instead of being able to take them down with quick slashes and bites, the shifters have to grapple with these Knights and are racking up more injuries.

Within a few minutes, the Knights separate our large group of nearly a hundred mages and shifters into smaller groups of only five to ten people. The Knights seem to specifically go after my mates and me. After a few minutes, we’re completely cut off and surrounded.

As the Knights attack the five of us, Bastian and Xander shift, their clothes shredding as they do so. They leap at the closets Knights and incapacitate them with relative ease. Malachi stays in his human form and pulls out a knife. None of the Knights are using their guns, so he’s pretty evenly matched with them.

Saint relies on mostly hand-to-hand combat but will throw the occasional spell when he needs. Dido hasn’t tried to take control of my body yet, so I’m letting my magic flow out of me to handle the constant stream of assailants.

We’re making some progress toward the fortress when I’m suddenly yanked back. A scream gets lodged in my throat as I’m pulled away from my mates by a rough hand in my hair. My hands fly back to hold the dude’s beefy wrist to stop him, but it doesn’t do much.

“Briar!” Malachi shouts as he tries to run to me. Knights block his path. He viciously stabs, punches, and kicks his way through the hoard, but he can’t seem to reach me. I dig my heels into the ground, hoping to slow him down before he can get me too far away.

At Malachi’s scream, the rest of my mates start struggling to get to me too, but it’s dividing their focus. They’re getting wounded from their unprotected backs, not that any of them seem to realize it. I need to get this guy off me stat before my mates get killed.

I try to struggle to get free, but I suddenly can’t move any of my muscles.

Before I can freak out, Dido tells me, “I’ll handle this, child.”

With Dido in control of my body, I twist back to face the man. My hand darts out to land a quick strike to his throat, which has him gasping in pain and loosening his hold. Dido reaches up to grab his wrist of the hand grasping my hair and twists it to the side. At the audible snap, the Knight howls in pain and clutches his hand to himself, releasing my hair.

Now that I’m free, Dido launches a hard kick at the guy’s exposed ribs, and I can feel them give underneath my foot. The Knight clutches his side and doubles over, giving her the opportunity to grab his head and knee him in the face. Blood sprays all over my pants as his nose is crunched from the hit.

When he drops to his knees in pain, Dido places her palms on either side of his head and spins it around fast, his spinal cord snapping with the movement. The Knight collapses, his muddy brown eyes frozen in wide-open surprise.

Marching back to my mates, Dido keeps all the other Knights who try to get too close away with well-placed kicks and punches. Within a minute, I’m back with my guys, and they surround me.

Once I’m safe, Bastian barks and gives me a doggy grin, seeming pleased with my performance. I mean, I am too because I don’t know an ounce of hand-to-hand combat. Having Dido hitching a ride in my body sure is handy.

Thanks, Dido.

She smiles at me and looks extremely satisfied with herself. “Anytime. I do always enjoy killing Knights. I’m more than happy to take out more if you would like.”

I huff a laugh at how eager she sounds. I think I’m okay for now, but thanks. I’ll let you know if I need any more help.

Now that I’m back with them, my mates attack the Knights with renewed vigor and determination to get us to the castle. Who knows what’s waiting for us beyond the iron gate. Whatever it is has to be better than the utter mayhem happening out here, though.

We successfully push our way to the large metal doors at the entrance to the castle. The mages and shifters who came with us keep most of the Knights from getting too close as we try to figure out how the thing opens.

Malachi pushes and pulls at the gate to no avail. Saint flings a few spells that don’t seem to do anything. Bastian and Xander both ram into it, but the iron refuses to budge.

My frustration is building when Dido says, “Feed it your magic. The castle is keyed to our family’s signature.”

I resist the urge to smack my forehead because I should’ve tried that first. This is Dido’s castle, after all. I’m sure there are tons of places that are accessible only with my power.

Shaking my head at myself, I let my magic trail out of me. When it hits the metal doors, it lights up all the intricate scroll work with an ice-blue glow. My power seems to seep into the iron, and the shine fades. When nothing happens after a long moment, I deflate, thinking my magic is defective.

Then an earsplitting screeching sound comes from the doors as they ever so slowly swing outward. We have to move back to avoid getting smooshed as the metal that needs a good oiling opens fully.

I grin at Saint and Malachi, who return my proud smile with ones of their own. Then I turn back to the battlefield, hoping to usher in the mages and shifters fighting behind us. Unfortunately, there are even more Knights clashing with them. I don’t think most of them will be able to get to us before the Knights break through again.

I guess this means we have to do this part on our own. It would’ve been nice to have backup, but it’s not necessary. I’m about to spin back around when I see Vale stumble forward and let out a pained breath. Dark red blooms on the center of his black tee shirt as he drops to his knees on the ground. He must’ve taken off his vest at some point because the bullet went right through him.

“Uncle Vale!” I scream as I start to run over to him. A Knight behind him raises his rifle to take another shot as I lunge forward.

Strong arms grab me around my waist and haul me back against a hard chest. I thrash around and desperately try to get out of the hold, but it’s no use as I’m dragged backward. “You can’t go to him, baby girl,” Malachi rasps in my ear, his voice pained as he helplessly watches what’s happening to his dad. “You’ll never make it in time. And we’ll lose the chance to get into the castle if you jump back into the fight.”

Malachi easily carries me past the iron gates, despite me struggling to free myself. As soon as we’re over the threshold, they start slowly closing.

“I have to help him!” I shout, my voice breaking on the last word as I watch the Knight fire twice more at Vale. His body jerks forward from each impact, and blood starts dripping out of his mouth.

At my scream, Vale looks up at me, his navy eyes hazy with pain. “I love you, boys. I love you, Bee,” he mouths to me. The last thing I see before the gates close completely is Vale’s eyes falling shut and him collapsing to the ground.