“I don't have much of a choice,” I say. “If I wait any longer…” My words trail off and Tristan and Amara both nod in understanding. Nothing more needs to be said.
“Are you going to tell him the truth?” Amara asks.
“No.” I stop a few spans from the pub. “Just enough to get a read on how he’ll react. He's just now beginning to trust me. If I tell him what Brecca is planning, he’ll want to know everything else, and you know I can't reveal that.”
“Not yet, at least,” Amara replies, no judgment in her tone.
I smile at my wonderful friend. Always there. Always supportive. The first constant in my life. The first to choose me instead of feeling obligated to, like others have. Although, that's not fair to say. My family loves me and would sacrifice their lives for me, but they were forced into this life. Not like Amara, or even Tristan and Zander. They chose to stand by my side of their own free will. Even when I did everything in my power to push them away, they stayed. I’ll never forget that, and I’ll never take their friendships for granted. And there’s nothing, absolutely nothing in this world or the next that I wouldn't sacrifice for them. I’ll watch the realms burn, dancing on its ashes with a smile on my face if it means I can keep them safe.
“Did you find anything of note in the royals’ chambers?” Amara asks Tristan.
“Nothing,” he replies, his lips slashed in a frustrated line. “But I wasn't as thorough as I would've liked. Kiora and one of her many lovers came back earlier than I expected.”
“Ugh! The heir needs to rid himself of that viper,” Amara says, her single starlight jewel glowing with her rising anger. Amara dislikes just about everyone and everything, but the one thing she hates most of all is disloyalty. “Do they have divorce in these lands?”
I shake my head. “No, they’re only released upon dea–”
Pain suddenly lashes at the bar of my cage, the snap as sharp as a whip, rattling the bars in its terror. Familiar terror.
“Trip,” I whisper and bolt, my boots slapping against stone and splashing in puddles as I race down the darkened alley beside the tavern. Another spike of pain pierces me just as I near the end of the alley, where I find Trip pushed up against the wall of the tavern by a male with an aura as black as tar. The attacker kicks him in the gut and Trip cries out, falling to the ground. I widen the bars of the cage, allowing more of myself to seep through. My legs move quicker, faster, my feet barely touching the ground as I speed towards them.
The male swings back a leg, ready to deliver another blow just as I reach his side. I grab him by the back of the throat and fling him through the air to smack against the wall of the opposing shop.
Crouching before a curled over Trip, I stroke his back. “Are you alright?”
“Lena?” Trip winces, clutching his ribs. “You can't be here. He'll hurt you.”
A shuffling noise echoes off the stone wall and I give Trip a reassuring smile, turning away from him to stand before a wiry male with slicked back, blonde hair and what appears to be a blackened handprint on his throat.
“You stupid cunt! Do you –” The Air immortal’s words abruptly cut off and his eyes widen in awe. “Gorgeous.”
I crinkle my nose. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to people reacting that way to me.
Shaking himself out of his stupor, the Air immortal strides towards me, his face twisting into a cruel leer as his eyes run along my body with vicious intent. “I planned on killing you slowly, but now that I've seen you, I’m sure I can find much more enjoyable ways to punish you.”
I’ll bite your dick off before you ever touch me with it.
“Not interested.”
“Even better.” He groans and squeezes the bulge of his trousers. “I do love when you females scream.” Pausing mid-step, he narrows his eyes, scrutinizing me more closely. “You're not a female though, are you?” He startles. “You're a human!”
I roll my eyes. These beings are so naive to believe humans can’t cause them harm just because they don’t have magic. It's kind of embarrassing.
“How dare you put your hands on me!” he shouts. “Do you know who I am?”
I shrug. “A rapist.”
He sputters in fury and lunges for me. I kick him in the balls, dropping him like a sack of potatoes.
See? You don’t need magic to defeat a male. All you need is a good swift kick to the balls. Or if it’s a female, to the cunt. It may not be as painful for a female as it is for a male, but from someone who has received many cheap shots to the pussy, mostly from a pissed off Amara, I know firsthand how effective it is. It fucking hurts!
“Do you want me to kill him, or just break a few bones?” I ask Trip, gesturing to the Air immortal rolling around on the dirty street.
“Lena, don’t,” Trip says. Now standing, he presses his back against the pub’s wall, attempting to become one with it as his frightened eyes dart between me and his attacker. “He’s Princess Kiora’s brother.”
“How lovely,” I say on a smile that's all teeth, my amethyst eyes honing in on the Air immortal. “Is there anyone in your family who isn't an asshole?”
“I'm a powerful male,” the would-be rapist squeaks, clutching his balls. “You don't want to make me your enemy.”
“I believe I already have.”
“Lena,” Trip grasps my vambraced wrist and tugs me towards him. “Please let him go. He…” He shakes his head, speaking with a tremble in his voice as he watches the Air immortal struggle to his knees. “You'll just make it worse for me.”
Feeling Trip’s terror, seeing it etched on his face – a face that is the exact replica of the male sprawled at my feet – I open the door to my cage and allow the darkness to slip through. Those cold, obsidian shadows I was born with surge through my veins, injecting my heart with bloodlust, swiping away any mercy for the Air immortal kneeling before me.
Removing Trip’s hand from me, I push him behind me and crouch down before the male. “Tell me…” I ask, my voice low and cold, sinister. “Why would I allow someone who beats his own child to live?”
The monster’s gaze instantly snaps to mine, filled with a darkness that could rival my own. “You shouldn't have said that.”
“Lena,” Trip breathes. “Run!”
The Air immortal’s sapphire and starlight jewels suddenly flare and he whips two glittering palms up. I reach for him, grabbing him by the forearm and snapping it in half all in a single motion, quickly doing the same to the other arm before he can release a bloodcurdling scream.
“It's interesting,” I note, watching him scream and sob, his eyes rounded in horror at the sight of broken bones piercing through his skin. “You fae and immortal love to tell your silly stories of how the gods love you so much that they blessed you with their divine Gifts. But if your almighty gods truly favored you, one would think they wouldn't limit your ability to summon your Gifts through only your palms.” Leaning forward, I smack his flopping, useless hands and he shrieks. “So much magic right at your fingertips, but all I had to do was break your arms. Now look at you. No better than a dirty human.”
Snatching him up by the throat, I drag him towards me. “You believe yourself so powerful, but you're not. You're a coward. You prey on those you deem weaker than you, because in your twisted, cruel mind, you feel it makes you superior to them, but you're wrong. Too blind to see that some of us only appear weak.”
Grabbing one of his broken arms, I twist. More fragments of bone spear through his skin with a sickening crunch. A choked cry rips from his throat as blood spills from his wounds, blanketing us in its coppery warmth. “Some of us,” I hiss, “are wolves tethered within sheepskin, salivating for an excuse to bathe in your blood and wipe you and your filth from the face of the realms. Is that what you see when you look at me?” I ask, cocking my head to the side. “A sheep? Someone meant to be used and abused at your will? No.” I shake my head. “You won't make that mistake again with me. But you will with another, won't you?” My gaze snaps down to the blood soaking my vambraced hand, and I lift my fingers to my lips, groaning at the rich, iron taste of his lifesource soaking into me, coating my tongue and enlivening my nerves.
