Page 38

CHAPTER 38

brIAR

I gasp from the impact as I land hard on my back on the cold stone floor. Looking up, I see one of the Knights on top of me. His legs pin my arms in place as he looks to the side and fires. A scream builds in my throat when I see that he’s firing at Bastian, once again in wolf form. He’s grappling with three other Knights.

Before I can even shout a warning, a red shield briefly pops up in front of Bastian to catch the bullet before it winks out of existence.

I blow out a relieved breath before remembering that I currently have a dude I don’t know straddling me. I try to send a blast of magic at him, but with my hands pinned, I can’t aim my power.

When my magic doesn’t work, Dido takes over my body. She plants my feet on the ground and bucks my hips, which throws the Knight over me. He falls forward at the sudden movement, not having enough time to reach out his hands before he face-plants.

Dido wiggles me from under him, and I hop up before he recovers. She aims a vicious roundhouse kick to the back of his head, which has him sprawling out on the ground unconscious.

Looking around, I see utter pandemonium. The Knights are swarming my mates and charging at me, the councilman is firing spells at the five of us, and Ryker is watching the whole thing with grim satisfaction.

I try to run over to my mates, but Dido’s control of my body stops me. “Destroying the curse is how you can help your mates the most. They’re handling everything for now, but who knows what reinforcements Ryker will call in. Focus on the curse so you can leave before that happens.”

As much as it kills me to leave my mates to fend for themselves, Dido’s right. They’re handling the twenty-five Knights well enough for now. I throw blasts of magic at the Knights running at me, which knocks them out of the way. It doesn’t kill them, but it sure seems to hurt by the groans coming from them.

I grin at the small victory as I reach the tomb again. My brief pleasure fades as a portal opens and Knights start pouring through. There have to be at least a hundred Knights in here now, which doesn’t bode well for us.

My mates see the additional reinforcements and fight their way over to me. When the four of them reach me, they form a wall protecting me and the tomb. As much as I want to hop up and fight with them, I need to focus on the curse.

Pulling out the quartz, I shove the tip into the indent I found earlier. I want to cry when the top shatters on impact. Only I could manage to get this far and freaking break the only key we have. Hanging my head, I try to think of something, anything else I could use to open the tomb.

I snap my gaze up when I hear a soft whirring sound. The lid of the tomb starts slowly rising. Glancing down at the broken crystal in my hand, I’m surprised to see a whole, undamaged quartz pyramid in my hand. Stuffing it back in my pocket because that’s a mystery for another time, I shove to my feet and anxiously wait for the lid to lift off all the way.

When it does, I’m surprised to see a lone sword sitting inside with nothing else. The sword is old, chipped, and covered in blood. It doesn’t look particularly special, but this has to be the source of the curse because it’s the only thing in here.

“That was the sword that killed me,” Dido tells me. “It’s steeped in blood and death, which can be a potent combination to fuel a dark spell designed to hurt others. At least, that’s what Anna told me.”

I nod at her because I’ll just have to trust Anna’s word on this. I don’t know enough about spells to really have an opinion.

Bending over the tomb, I reach inside to grab the sword when someone grabs me by my hair hard enough to make my eyes water.

What is it with the Knights and pulling my hair?

My neck is wrenched back as I’m thrown away from the tomb. I land with a thump on the stone, and I groan in pain before struggling to my knees. I see my mates scattered around and surrounded by Knights, the protective wall they tried to form a distant memory. Ryker is standing over me, holding the sword in one hand and a dagger in the other.

Well, that’s not good.

Ryker is in possession of the curse and a weapon to kill me. He’s set up to accomplish everything he ever wanted, unfortunately for me.

Pushing to my feet, I try to go to Ryker, but strong arms band around my throat and my middle, effectively keeping me in place. When I thrash around, trying to get out of the hold, it only puts more pressure on my airway and makes me feel lightheaded.

Dido takes control of my body and also tries to get free of the arms holding us in place, but her kicks, elbows, and headbutts don’t seem to do anything. After fighting against the Knight restraining us, she eventually tires us out, and my body goes limp.

With hand-to-hand combat apparently not working, I try to aim my magic at the man behind me, but two more Knights come up and restrain my hands, rendering me frustratingly helpless. Sure, I can shoot magic to the side of me, but that does little to help me out of this situation.

“Briar!” Saint screams from somewhere behind me. I hear a struggle and pained grunts from my mates, but I can’t see any of them. The battle continues to rage on at my back, so I have to assume they’re still up and fighting—not that I can do much to help them when I can’t even free myself.

A sharp pain in my abdomen draws my focus back to me. I look down and am both surprised and unsurprised to see Ryker’s knife protruding from my stomach. He roughly yanks it up to my sternum and out, tearing skin and muscle as he does so. I let out a whimper of pain as dark red blood pours down my front.

What is it with this man and stabbing me in the stomach?

Jesus Christ, dude, pick an original place to shank me for once.

Instinctively, I yank one arm free of the Knights to bring it up to cover the gaping hole in my abdomen. He doesn’t try to recapture my hand, probably figuring that I’m in too much pain to focus on casting. Unfortunately for me, he’s right, despite my efforts to center my thoughts and pull my magic to me.

Ryker grins down at me as he smears my blood all over the sword. “While I collected your blood back at the facility, fresh blood is more potent and will power the spell better.” Once that’s done, he shoves the bloody dagger back in his waistband and pulls out a glowing vial. He notices my confused face and can’t resist the urge to gloat. “Wondering what this is? Thanks to you, we figured out what aspect of your power allowed you to shift past the curse. The councilman was kind enough to tweak the original for us to account for what’s letting male shifters get around it. Once I pour this on the blade, your wolf will be gone forever. Any last requests before I steal your animal and kill you and your mates?”

Ryker’s eyes are filled with a feverish gleam as he basks in his victory. I close my eyes because I don’t know how to stop him and don’t want to watch him destroy everything I’ve worked so hard to accomplish.

“Grab the sword with your magic!” Dido bellows in my mind, causing me to snap my eyes open.

Acting on pure instinct, I rush to follow Dido’s command without question.

Gritting my teeth as I push past the pain, I envision the sword flying into my outstretched hand. To my surprise, it leaps out of Ryker’s hand and hurtles toward me, hilt first, luckily. Dido seizes control of my body once more to grasp the sword and shove it back into the guy holding me. He cries out in pain, and his arms fall away from me.

I’m honestly surprised the ancient sword is capable of hurting anyone. It seems so old and rundown that I figured it would shatter on impact or be too dull to slice through anything. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong in my life.

Dido stabs the other Knight in the gut, which has him releasing my other arm. Once I’m free, she digs in my vest pocket and pulls out the potion.

What are you doing? I shout in alarm because I thought we weren’t going to use that. I promised my mates I’d find a way to get out of this alive.

Her face hardens in determination as she stares me down. “I’m getting rid of the curse, child. It requires a sacrifice, and you have two souls residing inside you. I will sacrifice myself to end this because I do not see another way. If you stay here much longer, you and your mates will die, and all this will be for nothing.”

Another Knight charges at us, and Dido stabs him in the throat, covering me in more blood. She then somehow wrangles control of my magic and uses it to keep the Knights and Ryker off us as they desperately try to get the sword back.

No! Dido! There has to be another way! I scream as she uncorks the vial. She raises it up and slowly pours the murky liquid onto the blade. It sizzles on contact but doesn’t seem to do anything for a long moment. I blow out a breath of relief that it doesn’t work.

Then I see Dido’s back arch in my mind, and her mouth opens in a silent scream.

At the same time, I feel excruciating pain rip through me, like a thousand knives are stabbing me and tearing me apart. I drop to the floor and curl up into a ball as wave after wave of pain sweeps over me and does its best to drown me. It feels like I’m being torn in half, and I would give anything to make the agony stop, but there’s nothing I can do.

Dido is writhing in the same pain in my mind. She’s able to open her brown eyes for a second to pin me with a serious look. “It has been an honor to watch you grow into the woman you are today. I am so very proud of you, Briar, and I know you’ll go on to do amazing things, even though I won’t be with you anymore. Do not mourn my death because I have lived far too long. While I do not know what will become of my soul, I am at peace with it. Goodbye, Briar Rose Ward-Wylder.”

Dido’s face smooths out and looks almost peaceful for a beat. Then a flash of purple light bursts in my mind. When it fades away, Dido is gone and the physical agony increases.

I scream in pain and loss and devastation.

The sound reverberates through the tomb room, and my magic explodes throughout the space. It glows so bright I have to squeeze my eyes shut. When I open them sometime later, I see the Knights, Ryker, and the mage councilmen lying in bloody heaps on the ground. They’re completely shredded apart like they took a hit of shrapnel directly to their torsos, so I’m pretty sure they won’t be getting back up again.

My eyes dart around for my mates, hoping my magic didn’t do the same thing to them. But the agony burning through me makes it impossible to turn my head to look for them.

I don’t have to worry for too long because the four of them rush in front of me. While they all look the worse for wear, I don’t see any life-threatening injuries.

The twins’ fur is matted with blood and slashed in a few places. Malachi is cradling one of his arms protectively against his chest, and his face is splattered with gore. And Saint is limping and seems to struggle to crouch down, but they’re all alive, which is what matters.

“What happened?” I croak, my throat feeling like I swallowed a box of sandpaper.

Malachi gives me a soft smile. “We were losing as more and more Knights swarmed us. Then your magic shot through the room, destroying everyone in its path aside from us. It even shattered the sword, so I’m fairly certain you broke the curse.”

I give him a small smile, which is all I can manage right now. The longer I lie here, the heavier my eyelids feel. The pain of Dido getting ripped out of me hasn’t let up, and it’s getting harder and harder to stay awake through it all.

Saint notices and grips one of my blood-covered hands in his. “We’re all safe now, so rest, little shadow. We have it from here.” His gentle voice and reassurance that my mates are fine is what finally makes me release my death grip on awareness.

My mates are the last thing I see before I fade into unconsciousness.