“Of course. The same goes for you… Trent?” I squeeze the words out.
“Yes, sis?”
“You need to let go. I. can’t. breathe.” My words come out muffled from where he holds me to him, and he laughs, giving me one more firm squeeze and releasing me. My breath rushes back into my lungs, and I swat him.
“Have you seen this place? Maki has it locked up tighter than Dax’s asshole.” He says the jab at Dax, laughing and poking me in the ribs. Dax just scoffs as he makes his way back to me, but he surprises everyone when he grips his brother by the back of the neck, pulling him in and hooking his arm around his neck.
“Be good, brother.” He says, with Trent fully in a headlock as he taps his cheek with playful slaps.
“Oohhhhkay. Well, on that note, let’s get out of here.” Warmth spreads through me as I see Dax interact with Trent in the way a brother should. Especially leaving onthis mission. The love is clear between them right now. Just as it should be.
We spend another five minutes saying our goodbyes. Dax telling Trent to behave multiple times and going over plans if things go to shit with Cano in our absence. I really hope that nothing of the sort happens, but there is always a chance.
I let my wings unfurl the itch between my shoulder blades, immediately relieved, and I notice that Alaric has too. Kait struts up to him, placing her hand on his shoulder, and he smirks.
“Don’t be a dick.” I hear her retort just as he reaches down and steals her legs from the ground, and I can’t help the smile that tugs to my lips. Dax joins me, lacing his fingers with mine.
“Are you ready?” He asks simply. Like asking if I’m ready for dinner. Am I ready? I’ve been telling myself I am, but when it comes down to answering this simple question, I know the answer.
I’m not ready.
I’m not ready for all that we have to face. I'm not ready for the possibilities of what could happen or the ramifications of any of the decisions that I've had to make to get us here. I could be leading us in the wrong direction. Dax strikes his thumb across the back of my hand, pulling me from my own head, and I give him the same answer I gave Ambriel.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I say as I check the weapons that are strapped to my body. Dax takes both of my hands in his.
“Your weapons are fine. Look at me.” I chew my lip. My nerves are frayed. He pulls my lip from my teeth and traps it with his thumb. “You are compassionate and caring, with the edge of awarrior. You are a queen whose heart is strong, and there is no reason for you to doubt your decisions. Everyone here is going willingly, and you are saving a lot of lives by keeping the armies at bay.” He tilts my chin up, bringing my eyes to meet his. “You are strong, Raelle; it’s one of the reasons I’ve fallen so fucking hard for you. It's why everyone has been so willing to accept you. Even before we knew that you were the queen or my mate. Do as you tell me to; trust yourself, Raelle.” When I give him a quick nod, he closes the distance between our lips in a gentle kiss before he releases my chin and launches into the sky, leaving me breathless to follow after him. My nerves aren't for the reasons he thinks, though, and while I know that secrets are dangerous, I think that telling him the truth would be more.
Moving south, we leave the rest of our family and friends behind us and head in the direction of the unknown. In the direction of where we know, at least one thing awaits us. Chaos.
Chapter forty-one
The light-hearted teasing isgone as we leave our friends and family behind. Everyone of us is quiet as we move through the sky. Being this far above the clouds, there is an almost eerie silence without any of the sounds of nature surrounding us. I keep my eyes peeled, though. While the clouds give us cover from those who are on the ground, they also make it so we can't see what's below. We need to stay vigilant so we are ready if someone were to breach them.
It’s much quicker than I thought it would be getting to the bordering town of Castenelle. Having flown over the Creale Sea most of the way, the frigid wind was the worst closest to Loema,chilling us to the bone. However, I think Kait got the real brunt of it. At least using our wings created body heat for those of us shifted.
The only good thing about coming to Castenelle is that the farther south we fly and the closer to the border of the territory we get, the warmer it’s become. Looking over my shoulder at Dax, he gives me a supportive nod before his gaze moves past me and he zeros in on our surroundings as we break cloud cover.
The day is bleak beneath the clouds. The sun stays behind as we fly lower, and my wings seem to carry me on their own accord. As though we are dropping into another dimension, the darkness that is cast out over the ground is nothing compared to what we are greeted with. The sight that my eyes land on as the clouds dissipate has my heart free-falling into my stomach. The scent assaults me first, as smoke billows from the small bordering town. The homes that once stood proud have been ravaged by flames. Now, only ashes remain. Emotion clogs my throat as I see the bodies of those who lived here strewn about in an array of horror. My hand comes up to my mouth to cover the choked gasp that comes out.
I hear Dax curse to my right and something being said to my left, but I don’t hear any of the words as my heart pounds furiously in my ears. “Why?” I don’t even hear my own voice over the blood rushing in my head. Tears sear lines down my cheeks as I take in what has been done to these poor Fae—Fae inmykingdom. I was too late… I didn’t even know that there was a threat to the Fae here. I didn’t know that Cano and Soren would do anything like this. Why would they do this? What purpose do they have to slaughter an entire town?
“Raelle!” I hear Dax yelling for me, but I can’t stop my advance. I’m landing in the middle of the carnage before I even realize it.My feet skid to a stop as my wings shift back into my body and I spin in a circle. My face contorts with complete bewilderment by what surrounds me. I don’t even notice the monster’s approach until it’s almost too late.
My body rips from the ground only a moment after landing. I’m sent catapulting through the air and land hard on my back. I don’t even have time to be sure what it is that hit me before the shadowed figure is lunging toward me where I lay. It's enough to cause fear to sink into my belly and sweat to build on my brow, but when I hear it... The rasping growl and snapping jaws and the stench, collide with my senses as my mind spins, trying to catch up. The flash of sharp teeth comes fast for me as I’m scrambling to get my blade unsheathed.
Gold plumbs around me as the beast lands on my chest and knocks the breath from my lungs. Everything happens so fast. When I open my eyes, Dax is standing over me, his chest rising and falling heavily with ragged breath and his black wings splay wide. Shadows emanate from his wings and curl around his wrists. Where in one hand, he holds a staff of shadows gripped firmly in his fist. The gold dust from the Raskin floats around him in a swirling vortex with the shadows that are seeping from him, and his intense molten eyes trail my body. He leers over me like a dark angel of death, deadly to anyone but those he loves, now that he's embraced his shadows.
He pulls me from the ground and launches into the sky as soon as he sees I’m ok and on my feet. Moving on to the next beast. At least six surround us from what I can see. More coming from the woodlands at the base of the mountains. Letting my feet carry me, I run as fast as I can to where I see Kait in a battle with one of the soulless creatures. Using my magic, I hurl my arms out and blastthe creature with a bolt of white light shattering through its skull, right before it lunges its powerful body at her. Covering her with a cloud of gold instead.
“Fuck, that was close. Too close. What the hell is going on here? This isn’t what Maki’s scouts said we would find. Do you think this was Cano?” She’s whipping her head all around as she stands again. Watching for the next treat. I shake my head as I take everything in. Alaric lands, and Dax follows, having finished off the rest of the Raskin’s.
“We need to get out of here… There is no one left to save.” Dax says with a dark edge to his voice. “The coordinates that Trent gave us send us further south. We should head that way before more Raskin appear.”
“You’re right, but we also need to figure out what happened here. This doesn't make any sense. Castenelle has been mutual ground since the fall of the kingdom. Why attack it now? And a bordering village too?” I ask, my mind still spinning at the sight before me. “This isn’t natural fire, Dax. As much as I know you’re right that we need to get to the caves, we owe it to these people to find answers.” There is a growling rumble in the distance, but it is too far off to be of immediate concern. More Raskin are sure to come, and I do agree we need to be gone before too many come and overwhelm us. Fuck.
“The caves?” Alaric asks, shaking his head in refusal. “I fucking knew it would come to those godsdamned caves.” We all look at him for further explanation. I don’t know what he could mean that he knew it would come to the caves. “Don’t you think it makes sense? This is the same place that you were cursed.” He gestures to Dax with his hands as he talks to no one specifically. “And the same place that your parents were killed…” His gaze moves to me. Myeyes flick to meet his at the mention of my parents. I don’t know how he would know that. I don’t recall ever mentioning it to him.
“How do you know all of that?” Dax asks; his shoulders have gone stiff and the way that his brows lower impossibly tells me that he is suspicious about what Alaric is saying. Alaric doesn’t get a chance to answer the question, though, because just as he opens his mouth, the ground we stand on begins to rumble. Thunder assaults the heavens and then blood sprays the three of us where we stand facing Dax. Deep crimson stains my vision as I look down and see an arrow protruding through his chest.
