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Chapter Fifty-six

Calix

I shifted at the same time as Asteria, grabbing her human parents in my claws and bringing them up into the air before anyone could stop me. I was forced to dodge the projectiles aimed my way, moving over the city lines to the forces we had waiting in reserve.

Lowering over the camp, I let her parents down slowly, before shifting so I landed beside them. And unfortunately, swaying slightly as I did.

Damned iron.

We knew the battle would be unpredictable with all the elements involved, but I couldn’t help but think we’d underestimated the effect of the iron. I still felt weakened, and my full strength was needed for this. I had to get back and ensure Asteria was all right.

Feeling her wasn’t enough. I needed my own eyes on her. The mixture of rage, fear, regret, and pain was enough for me to be mirroring her feelings by accident. They slid through the bond so hotly, it was hard not to give into them.

But I’d trained for years to control my emotions. Asteria had mere months. I was trying to force that control over to her now in a vain effort to pull her back in. But the rage was too hot in her blood.

I needed to get back to help her.

But she’d kill me if I failed to secure her parents. Despite her fear of their reaction keeping her away from them, she loved them deeply. It was why she cared so much about their reaction to the truth of her.

It seemed the cat was out of the bag now, however.

“Havard!” I called over one of the warriors leading the reserve forces. The fair-haired soldier once lost his sister to the machinations of Dusk’s court. He’d since made it his mission in life to protect people from them.

He bound over to me, a curious look in his burgundy eyes as he noticed the human couple beside me.

“These are your Queen’s parents,” I told him, the gravity in my voice unmistakable. He straightened, face long and grave. “I need you to protect them and ensure Cyrus doesn’t get his hands on them again.”

“Of course, my King.” He bowed his head with a nod. “By Nox, I will protect our Queen’s family with my life.” He pounded his fist over his heart as he made the vow, then bowed to Asteria’s parents as well.

“Asteria is a queen?” the woman asked slowly, her voice thready with confusion, clearly hesitant to speak up. She clung to her husband, her curly hair hiding part of her bruise-covered face.

I cursed myself for not getting them protection. I didn’t think Cyrus knew who they were, much less cared about them. That was a failure on my part. I shouldn’t have underestimated Cyrus, but it seemed we had on too many levels.

“She is.” I nodded in confirmation. “She’s queen of Day by right of blood and the gods, and she will be queen of Night as my mate.”

“Mate?” Her father nearly growled, impressive for a human. His eyes narrowed at me in suspicion, his jaw set in a way that told me he was considering punching me. I had to fight to keep my lips from tilting up into a smile.

“I promise, we will explain everything to you both, but I must get back to Asteria,” I told them, my eyes seeking her form in the sky, where she was chasing after the fleeing coward.

A loud boom sounded, and I looked sharply to the left. Iron rained down once more, but this time, over the entire city. Apparently, Cyrus no longer cared if he hit our men or his own. I growled, wanting to ring the fucker’s neck with my bare hands, to feed the pain of Tartarus into him as my shadows infected his bloodstream, to tear my claws through his chest to rip out his blackened and rotten heart.

Screams came from inside the city; surely the Fae suffering burns from the iron. Lightning bolts flew through the sky, Cyrus’s blood magic reaching down and scorching people where they stood, even as he continued to flee from Asteria. He switched back and forth from his Pegasus form to his Fae form.

A weakness.

He couldn’t wield lightning in his Pegasus form, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the lack of a defensive trait was a direct result of the loss of magic. Dusk being more corrupt meant they were the first to feel the effects of chaos. And the Pegasus in the Otherworld had horns on their heads. One had pointed theirs directly at us, readying to defend itself.

My wings tore out and lifted me into the air. I shifted into my dragon form, letting my fire breathe out and fan the flames of battle. I scorched one of the catapults, landing beside it as I shifted back. My sword immediately found its way through the chest of the warrior manning it.

Cyrus left nearly fifty men to protect it, but I smirked as a giant loomed up behind them, blocking them in between us.

Titan met my eyes with a nod, and together we attacked. They didn’t notice Titan until his blades took down two of their number. They split their focus between us, and we worked our way through with smiles on our faces.

Even weakened, I gloried in battle. The feel of my sword in my hand, dancing through slash after slash, blocking and parrying. It brought joy to my dark heart that nothing else matched. Not in this particular way.

Asteria was a different, greater , kind of joy. Even if she, too, fed the bloodlust that ran through my veins.

Six Fae men circled me, striking at me from all angles. I moved swiftly, avoiding hits and summoning shadows to block and attack in tandem with my sword. I panted slightly from the exertion, the effects of the iron dragging me down. My body was working hard to fight against it and heal me, but it was slow work.

By the time I’d taken them down, Titan was watching me in concern. I waved him off, eager to continue. When I nearly failed to block an attack to my back, Titan growled angrily, decapitating the man before I could even turn.

One of the soldiers met my eyes, looking me over critically before running off. I wanted to say we scared him off, but my heart sank. Something wasn’t right.

“We need to follow that one,” I told Titan, pointing my blade toward his path. He nodded, a grave look in his blue eyes. He spared a glance to the sky, following Asteria’s path, before we both ran after the man.

We had to fight our way through as soldiers jumped in our path to prevent us from moving forward. Whether they knew what we were doing or just saw one of their main targets, I couldn’t be sure.

One of the men who stepped in the way I was happy to see. Smug grin, short blonde hair, and bright green eyes that stared me down with a twisted pride he had in no way earned.

“Lord Kem,” I drawled, a smirk lighting my lips as I took in his attempt at intimidation. The hunched shoulders and glare did nothing but amuse me.

“King Calix,” he spat, looking disgusted as the word king left his lips. I couldn’t help the slight laugh in response.

“It truly bothers you, doesn’t it?” I asked him, shaking my head in amusement. His glare only heated, and I could practically feel the anger radiating off him.

“What?” he snapped. “That the gods gave you a kingdom to lead while my king’s heir is a pitiful woman?”

“Is it truly that she’s a woman that bothers you?” I challenged, twirling my sword casually. “I’m sure if Prince Arien had been heir, you would be just as angry—because it’s not you . You’ve done all you can to be a mini-Aelius, but it’s all for naught, isn’t it?”

He let out a bellow of rage, and just as I expected, he sloppily rushed at me as he let his emotions control him. A rookie mistake, but one the too-proud lords so commonly made.

I parried his brutish swing with ease and stepped to the side, laughing as he fell forward from the momentum. Sadly, Kem caught himself before he face-planted, turning to me with a grimace.

He began to step to the side, trying to circle me, and I matched his steps. Another loud boom sounded in the background before the sounds of agonized screams reached me. More iron had been deployed, and my people were suffering. I needed to end this, and Lord Kem was decidedly in my way.

I sent out a whip of shadow, lashing across his face. He stumbled, holding his face as he groaned in pain. I advanced, bringing my sword up, but he just managed to bring his own up to weakly block me. I willed my shadows to grab him, and they brought him down until he was on his back with his limbs restrained.

“Sorry, my Lord.” I bowed mockingly. “But I have a war to win.”

Kem let out a rough laugh, “You’ll never win, Calix. No weak woman will ever sit the throne of Day!”

I glared down at him, even as his laughter continued.

“A strong woman already does. Your precious king’s antics ensured the people of Day would side with her, willingly and gratefully,” I told him proudly.

“It’ll be hard to be queen when she’d laid dead at the foot of Aelius’s throne. No matter what happens to me, they’ll see to it.” He smiled happily, as if the thought was enough to bring him peace on his way to death.

My lips twitched into a snarl, and I summoned the pain of Tartarus, watching as that peace on his face turned to horror. His limbs shook in pain as he groaned, struggling to move against his shadow-binds.

“ This is what you have to look forward to after death, Kem. It won’t be peaceful for you; I promise you that.” A wicked smile took over my face as a violent glee filled me. “And up here? Well, Cyrus was betraying Aelius the whole time. He never intended to kill Asteria, but Aelius.”

The horror on Kem’s face deepened, even as he tried to shake his head in denial.

“Oh yes,” I purred, leaning down so my face hovered over his. I grabbed his cheek, my claws piercing the skin and making blood trickle down his face. “Your plans were always destined for failure. But don’t worry, we’ll rebuild this realm to be the best it’s ever been. And Asteria will lead that charge.”

I smiled wistfully, “Asteria is the light to lead us. A star who shines in day and night. She will bring us through this fight.”

I took a dagger off my belt, stabbing it through the center of his stupidly smug face, admiring the hole it left as I took it back out. His dead eyes looked back at me, terror etched into them forever.

“You just won’t be here to see it.” I smiled, wiping the bastard’s blood off my blade with my shadows before sheathing it.

I stood up, cursing, as I realized Titan was nowhere to be found. I ran, following the path we were on, before that idiot distracted me. I hissed, holding my side as I ran, that damned wound still sluggishly healing.

I swung my blade as I approached an unsuspecting soldier who was facing the opposite direction, slicing through him with one blow. The others nearby immediately reacted and moved to intercept, but they were easy to cut down in succession.

As I turned the corner, I found Titan, facing off against a line of men who were blocking another towering weapon. I didn’t know what this one did, but certainly nothing good. Eryx and Baach had joined Titan, and they were trying to get to another group of men who were hiding behind the line of soldiers protecting them. Those men were fiddling with the weapon, looking frantically to the sky.

I followed their line of sight, right to Asteria and Cyrus. I watched as his hoof shot out at her, and she roared back at him, taking a rough bite out of his thigh. I couldn’t help my smirk.

That’s my girl.

But Cyrus was also looking down, I realized, right at the men preparing the weapon. Waiting for something.

“Calix!” Eryx shouted frantically, and my head whipped over to him. “It’s an iron net! They’re going to take her down!”

Not on my gods-damned watch they weren’t.

No one was going to fucking touch my mate. But as the men working on the net shouted in glee, I knew whatever had been holding them up was fixed. They moved the weapon to aim it right at Asteria.

I didn’t think. Didn’t hesitate. I just quickly shifted, flying up faster than my wings had ever carried me before, just as the net released.

But it was more than a mere net. It was iron, certainly, but sharp spikes also protruded from it. Ensuring its intended victim was taken down and then kept down.

Considering the iron would bypass the magic in our scales, those spikes would slide right into flesh and cause unparalleled agony.

Panic was the only thing I felt as I flew as fast as I possibly could, hoping against hope I could outfly the speed of the projectile.

I would be damned before I let Cyrus or anyone else lay a single fucking finger on Asteria. She was mine, and I always protected what was mine.

I loved her too much to lose her. The thought of my life without her in it was a bleak one. A world without Asteria was a world with all hope and joy leached from it, leaving only the deep darkness inside me to fester.

The monster would take over the man without my star to light up the darkness.

I aimed my body straight in front of her, my size enough to mostly block her smaller form, and stretched my wings out wide to ensure she was fully shielded. Her head snapped toward me as I braced for the impact.

I couldn’t help the screech that left my maw as the net encircled me, the spikes stabbing through my flesh and hitting deep. I began to free fall, unable to hold my dragon form or my wings, as I rapidly lost hold of my magic. Asteria’s guttural roar sounded more like a scream as I hit the ground with an agonizing jolt.

Horrendous pain overwhelmed me, like my blood was lit by the fires of Tartarus. The irony wasn’t lost on me. Maybe this is what I deserved after taking such joy in torturing Kem. Asteria’s form landed beside me, now in her beautiful Fae form once more.

“Soren! Callisto! Any humans, please , I need you!” she yelled, her voice cracking and tears running down her face. “Now!”

She dropped beside me, reaching through the holes in the net to brush back my hair, avoiding the iron. I wanted to tell her to stop, to not risk herself, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak. I was fairly sure her gentle touch was the only thing grounding me, anyway, preventing me from giving in to the pain and passing out.

I may have actually blacked out for a moment or two, as the next thing I knew, the net was being lifted. I screamed in pain as the net took skin and flesh with it, before the spikes then slid out. The burns and holes left behind had to be a gruesome sight.

“I’m so sorry, my dorchadas,” Asteria whispered tearfully. “I’m so so sorry. Nox, why did you do that?”

“Couldn’t—let—” I groaned, struggling to speak through the pain. “You—hurt.”

Asteria sobbed, her dark hair falling over my face as she leaned over, kissing my cheeks and forehead before kissing my mouth lightly. The salty taste of her tears killed me. I hated seeing her cry, especially over me.

“Drink my blood,” Asteria said suddenly, and my eyebrows creased. “We’re stronger with sharing, right? You’ll heal quicker,” she insisted, brushing her hair to the side and exposing the creamy white skin of her neck.

I hesitated despite the tempting sight. The pulsing vein in her neck was like a siren song. But while the pain was gods-awful, I didn’t want to weaken her at all in the middle of battle.

“Nox damn you, Calix,” Asteria complained. “Just do it!”

I could tell by the look on her face that there was no arguing with her, and I truly didn’t have the energy to try at the moment. My fangs sunk into her neck, the magic in her blood tasting like the sweetest of sins. I felt it hit me as I drank, like her starlight was lighting up all the dark bits inside of me and cleansing them. It was absolute bliss, despite the pain ricocheting through me.

Asteria moaned, but her hands let go of my shoulder as quickly as they’d latched on, careful not to stab me with her claws. I slowly sat up, until we were both upright, and pulled my fangs out, licking the remnants of blood off her skin. Our eyes met, arousal simmering between us like a match about to light.

“You two about done?” Callisto snapped, and I looked up to find her glaring down at us, her hands on her hips. “We have a war to win here.”

“Thank you for your assistance, Callisto,” I told her dryly, and she rolled her eyes. But I could see the relief in her eyes as I stood up.

I could feel that despite the infusion of blood, I wasn’t fully healed yet. The lingering effects of the iron were slowly being worked out, but I buried the lingering pain as best I could. Asteria watched me with concern, and I knew she could feel it, too. Unfortunately, the circumstances meant I didn’t have the time to fully heal.

We no longer had eyes on Cyrus, but we seemed to have more people still standing than Dusk did, thank Nox.

A loud crash sounded behind us, and we turned to find Baach, Eryx, and Titan had taken down the contraption that released the net. That was a relief, at least. They wouldn’t be able to deploy it again.

“We need to regroup,” I told Asteria, looking around at our warriors fighting Dusk, Dawn, and Day kingdom soldiers. “We aren’t leaving until Cyrus is dead and gone.”

“Of course not.” Asteria smiled. The violent joy in her eyes sparking my arousal once more. My reactions around this woman had the tendency to make me feel like a youngling once more. But I shook it off for now, taking her hand.

“What about my parents?” she asked, biting her lip as she tried to hide her fear.

“Safe,” I promised her. “You’ll see them as soon as this is done.” She nodded gratefully, just as one bolt of lightning after another struck the sky.

We both stopped in our tracks, our eyes meeting before looking up…