Page 33

Annalise

I t’s interesting, the things you never notice because of how chaotic your life is. But as I sit near the furthest edge of Elias’s camp, waiting for Joan and the twins to bring him to me, I notice the flowers in bloom. They remind me of Ciel. He’s always loved flowers. I don’t know what it is about them that brings him peace.

I hate everything that he’s been through so young in his life. Even my behavior upon my return affected him. Joan was right about me regretting the things I said about him. I could never hate him. The second I decided to keep him, it wasn’t a question. He had nothing to do with Cyrus. He was mine to love and raise as my own. And once I end this—once I get rid of this deep hatred festering in my heart, making it impossible to focus on anything else, I plan to spend my every moment becoming a mother and queen who can do that.

“How much longer?” I murmur.

Neve stands near me, her hand at her waist, resting on her weapon as she stands guard.

“It will more than likely take a long time, Your Majesty. Be patient. We are moving at a time when everyone is alert and awake, without the cover of night to help conceal our movement. Do not forget Elias is a King. He is a powerful beast, even if he is different from our kind,” she says.

I know Neve is right. I almost died one on one with him. If not for the rush of the waterfall and the rapids that accompanied it below, he would have ended me for sure that night. I know I cannot beat him alone. But I also know Calista wouldn’t have sent these beasts with me if she didn’t think they could.

Neve suddenly tenses, shifting her attention opposite of us.

“Stay here,” she whispers before her sharp nails dig into the tree as she climbs it. I watch her in confusion until she disappears within the thick leaves, and I can no longer see her. Sometimes, I wonder how the hunters expected to fight against creatures who can still hear and sense things beyond our ability. Even when I am using the seal, I couldn’t dream of seeing let alone hearing if something was off miles ahead.

Silence once again fills the air, only the sounds that mingle with nature offering a small bit of comfort. I know Neve said it was going to take a while, but the more seconds that pass, the more anxious I feel. What if the twins and Joan aren’t strong enough?

I think back to Joan’s fight against Elias when he captured me initially. She was only able to hold her own against him, and that was for a limited time. Will she be able to pull it off with help?

I tense as Neve suddenly drops in front of me, biting back my scream from the suddenness of her appearance.

“Elias’s camp is under attack,” she says, pulling me toward the horses.

My heart leaps into my chest, and I try to pull my grip from hers, but she’s too strong.

“We must get you out of here,” she says.

“What? Is it Cyrus?” I ask, hoisting myself up on my horse.

Neve looks at me, her expression stoic. “It is them—the foreigners. I don’t know how I didn’t detect them. It’s a different party,” she says.

I don’t hide my panic as I pull at my horse’s reins.

“But Joan and the twins—”

“No, my job is to protect you . They can handle themselves,“ Neve says, moving to her own horse.

I narrow my gaze, ignoring her words. “Hyah!”

My horse jolts forward in the direction of Elias’s camp. I hear Neve shouting after me, but I ignore her as I speed for the battle. I won’t leave Joan to face Elias and whoever this new enemy is. To call her a friend after everything she’s done for me would be an insult. She was the only one to be honest with me, willing to defy Cyrus for my wellbeing when my memory was lost.

I won’t leave her alone.

I don’t know if this is the right decision, but it is a decision I will stand by as we have now been forced into a situation we weren’t expecting.

It doesn’t take long for me to reach Elias’s encampment. And as I top the hill that overlooks his camp, I can see the bloody battle mingled with the dust coating the air. I narrow my gaze, trying to better see these enemies, but I can’t pick them out. The movement is too fast, and for some odd reason, it doesn’t seem like there are a lot. But they are attacking Elias’s army, which is a good thing for now.

“Your Majesty! Get away from there!” I hear Neve approaching on her horse, but my attention remains on the camp as a familiar beast pulls my attention.

“It’s him,” I murmur to myself just as Elias breaks through the edge of the camp on horseback. My heart flutters in excitement in my chest as I notice Joan following close behind on her horse with the twins in tow.

“He’s escaping!” I say, turning my horse away from the bloodbath. I rush to Neve and she’s watching me with anger in her eyes.

“Can you track him? We need to intercept them,” I say.

She looks at me disapprovingly, obviously wanting me as far away from this set of events as possible. But moves her horse past me.

“Of course I can. But I won’t if you don’t follow my orders. You will stay back until we have caught him,” she says.

I glare at her, matching her anger. But I know that I can’t catch up with them without her. So, I reluctantly agree.

“Okay,” I say.

I always knew Elias was a coward. He followed me secretly, snuck into Cyrus’s kingdom only to stir up trouble, and when he drove a divide between us, captured me when Cyrus wasn’t around. He was never brave enough to face Cyrus on his own. He gambled with my life, and when he realized how powerful I was, he dropped me from a window to test fate. And in the end, he planned to use people like me to fight his war.

If he hadn’t lost his temper and attempted to kill me, he was going to use me to fight Cyrus. Because he knew he didn’t stand a chance ending Cyrus’s life himself. And he knew Cyrus would have difficulty ending mine.

Now, as we chase him down, I feel my rage pooling over. He ran from his own war camp without so much as a fight against the foreigners when he realized it was a loss. He left his men and the hybrids like me that he forced into his war to die.

And now, he continues to run from the small group of beasts willing to hunt him down.

I tense when I suddenly hear an inhuman screech, and it takes me a moment to realize it’s Neve as we come up on Joan and the twins. They don’t look back as they recognize the call, shifting into a formation they know to use. I watch in fascination as the twins’ horses drift to the edge. They easily hoist themselves on the backs of their horses, the black smoke covering their arms and legs as they launch themselves into the trees above, moving at a faster pace than us.

Neve and Joan close in on their horses, side by side. My fascination increases as they move in sync, reaching for their blades at the same time. But Elias is at least fifty feet ahead of us.

I shift my attention above, and sure enough, the twins are closing in on him fast from above.

Joan launches her blade first, and Neve launches hers seconds after, the loud whistle of the metal piercing the air surrounding us. As Joan’s blade closes in on Elias, he turns just in time to deflect it. But he doesn’t see Neve’s. And just as he deflects Joan’s, Neve’s finds its mark, hitting him right in the shoulder blade, the force knocking him from his horse.

Elias doesn’t have a moment to orient himself as the twins descend from above, catching him as he falls from his horse, their claws tearing the flesh of his arms open before he can hit the ground.

“Yes!” I scream along with Joan as we rapidly close the distance.

As we approach, I call on the seal, feeling my flesh almost burn as Joan hands me the blade we specially packed for this journey. It is one of the weapons the hunters used during their war.

Elias’s angry expression falls on me, shocked to see me coming toward him with my blade raised as I stab him in the chest, twisting it for good measure. His eyes widen as true, excruciating pain ripples over him from the effect of the blade, earning a groan.

He chuckles, eyeing me with the same cruel look he’s always given me. But I fight the chill of discomfort as Ausifah crushes his arm. Audra uses the moment to plunge a dagger into his side, twisting it. It is also a dagger created by the hunters that prevents beasts from healing quicker than normal, and I know Elias feels its effects even if he smiles through the panic.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon… and in one piece,” he chuckles.

I don’t respond as I lower myself to where he is on the ground, all of my turmoil coming to the surface. His smile widens as he studies me, pleased with the trauma he sees behind my eyes—the trauma he caused.

“I have taken all that I could from you and Cyrus. Sorry to disappoint you. But I do not fear death. The hopelessness I see on your face will comfort me as I exit this life—this life you will still have to live remembering every piece of me as part of it,” he says smugly.

I can’t help myself. I laugh. It starts as a small giggle until I laugh so hard that my stomach cramps and tears form in my eyes. And once I quiet myself down, the tears remain. And so does my smile.

Elias’s smug grin slowly disappears as he studies me and sees me for what I am. I am not here to kill him so that I can move on. No, there is no moving on from what I’ve become—what he’s created. There is only living with it. This version of me only exists because of him. This piece of me who doesn’t know happiness from sadness and relief from fear—only what I need to do to quiet these memories. Only what I desire at this moment.

I rip the blade from Elias’s chest, pressing the tip against his throat. And I suddenly understand Cyrus a little in this moment as Elias tries to hide his fear. He is defiant, glaring at me as if I am not something he should be terrified of. And I can’t wait to remedy that.

“You’ve got it all wrong, Your Majesty . I did not come all this way to kill you. Not anytime soon.”