A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire(112)

I closed it down.

Shut it all down.

The horror. What my eyes wanted my brain and heart to recognize. The fear, especially the fear—of being injured, of stumbling, of missing my mark, of dying—of losing those I cared about. Vikter had once told me that when you fought, you had to do so as if each breath may be your last.

I stalked forward, the cloak billowing out from behind me, catching in the blood-rich wind. And all I saw when a soldier turned to me were the faces of their gifts.

The soldier raised his sword, his face a mask of violence. There were different kinds of bloodlust. What vampry and Ascended felt, and what mortals experienced when violence spilled into the air. I dipped under his arm, spinning back as I thrust the sword into his back. Yanking the blade free, I turned, shoving the dagger deep into the chest of another soldier. The bloodstone pierced leather and bone.

Whirling, I sliced through the neck of a soldier who went to drive their sword down on one who’d fallen. Wet warmth hit my cheeks as I turned, shoving my elbow into the throat of another. Bones crunched and air wheezed behind me as the pain of those around me scraped even harder at my senses.

Reaching up, I tore free the buttons at my neck. The hood slipped down, and I shrugged off the cloak. It fell to the ground behind me as I broke into a run, racing out of the Rise and into the battle we were sure to lose.

It was…madness.

Swords crashing against swords. Screams of pain and shouts of fury. Glimpses of fur and thick claws and flaming swords as the Guardians cut through mortal and vampry alike.

A man moaned as he clutched his bloodied stomach. He was a Descenter, and I started to stop, to either ease his pain or heal him—

An arrow whizzed past my head, striking a guard rushing toward me. Quentyn was very good with a bow.

I stepped back from the fallen man, knowing that now was not the time for that particular set of skills. As much as it hurt, as wrong as it felt, I turned away.

And then…I fell into the madness as I thrust my sword into the stomach of a soldier who couldn’t have been much older than I was. I let my thirst for vengeance seize me as my blade sliced through the neck of another. I didn’t hesitate or pull back when I saw recognition flare in the eyes the moment they saw the scars on my face. It took only moments out on the field to know that they’d been given orders not to harm me. It was clear they didn’t expect me to be down here, to be fighting, and it was an advantage for me, one I used. Because orders from an Ascended hadn’t sent me out here. I chose to be here. I kicked out, catching a knight at the knees before he could lift the spiked ball he wielded. He fell to his back, and I drove the sword down.

Bright, twin flames passed mere feet from my face as a Guardian kicked off the back of a falling soldier. The dark-haired Guardian spun in mid-air, catching two in the chest. The fiery blades sliced through leather and bone. Landing in a crouch, she rose with the fluid grace of a goddess, her eyes briefly meeting mine. She nodded before disappearing into the crush of soldiers.

A sudden yelp from a wolven spun me around. A fawn-colored one that reminded me of Kieran but smaller, limped backward away from a knight, blood coursing down the hind leg. Vonetta? I wasn’t sure as I shifted the sword to my left hand and withdrew the wolven dagger. The knight lifted the sword as the wolven bared her teeth, crouching on the wounded leg. Flipping the dagger so I held it by the blade, I cocked back my arm and threw it. The bloodstone struck the knight in the forehead, taking him down before he even knew what’d hit him as I shoved the sword into the gut of another soldier who reached for me. The wolven whipped toward me and suddenly launched into the air. My breath caught as she crashed into a soldier behind me. They went down, her jaws locked on his neck. She shook her head, flinging the soldier like he was nothing more than a rag doll. Bone cracked as I turned, scanning the mass of bodies standing and on the ground. There were wolven among the fallen. Faces I recognized. I retrieved my dagger from the dusty ground as a wolven the color of snow darted past me. Delano. I turned, catching sight of Casteel behind the catapults.

Blood streaked his face as he spun out his blades, catching two soldiers in the chest. Yanking the swords free, he stretched his neck, and my heart stuttered. There was a wound on his neck and shoulder, ragged and seeping blood. Surrounded, he roared, fangs bared as he caught a soldier by the throat, ripping into flesh as Delano took a knight down from his horse, his claws tearing through the metal armor like it was nothing more than loose soil. Another wolven shot across the field—an impossibly large, silver one. Jasper? He grabbed the knight’s arm as he swung the sword toward Delano and…good gods, he tore it straight off, sword and all.

I would have to vomit about that later.

Another knight leapt from his horse, landing like a mountain behind Casteel. He tossed a soldier aside to get to Casteel, flinging the mortal into the side of a catapult. The crunch of bones told me that the soldier wouldn’t be getting back up.

I picked up my pace, jumping over a body and closing the distance just as the knight went for Casteel. Grabbing a fistful of the knight’s hair, I yanked his head back as I thrust the wolven dagger into the weak space at the base of his skull, angling it upward. The knight shuddered as I let go, his body breaking apart.

Casteel spun then, fangs bared and mouth streaked with crimson. The sword he swung at me halted a mere inch from my neck. His breath came out in short, ragged bursts.

“You’re welcome,” I panted. “For saving your life.”

Breathing raggedly, he jerked the sword back. A wide, bloody smile broke out across his face. “Would this be an inappropriate time to let you know I’m incredibly turned on by you right now?”

“Yes.” My gaze shifted to the guard staggering to his feet behind him. “Highly inappropriate.”

“Well, too bad.” Casteel pivoted, and the guard’s head went in a different direction of his body. “I find you highly arousing.”

My lips curved up as I turned, seeing the carriage. “Is she in the carriage? The Duchess?”

“I believe so.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “You want to kill her?”

I nodded.

“You’re going to have to beat me to it.”

Jamming the dagger into a soldier’s throat, I said, “Doable.”

Casteel’s laugh was wild as he caught the arm of a knight, spinning him as he drew one of his swords around, cutting through the soldier’s neck. I started forward when fire sparked to life in the waiting darkness of the western road. I drew up short, breathing heavily as the spark repeated itself, over and over and over. The sparks flew into the air—

Arrows.

Casteel crashed into me, grabbing me around the waist as he shoved us under the catapult. His body flattened over mine, pressing me into the hard, blood-and-dirt-packed earth.

The arrows fell, striking Solis soldiers and those who fought on Atlantia’s side alike. I jerked back against Casteel at the sound of arrows piercing flesh, at the sudden intense flares of light all around us as the fire swept over bodies, igniting the catapult beside us. The world descended into chaos and death.





Chapter 40





Chills of dread were like icy fingers on the back of my neck and down the line of my spine as Casteel lifted his head, and his chest rose against my back with each heavy breath. Swallowing hard, I followed his gaze. The larger division had arrived, and we…we were engulfed.

An army of Solis soldiers ran forward, overcoming the carriage as they drew unmarred swords. They swarmed the road and fields outside the Rise, and then the Rise itself.

The chill of dread seeped into my skin and bones as I closed my eyes. There hadn’t been enough time for Kieran and Alastir.

Casteel shifted so he was beside me. His fingers touched my cheek, and I opened my eyes. Even with the blood covering him, he was still the most beautiful man I’d ever seen, and I suddenly wished we’d accepted our pasts and opened up to one another sooner than we had. There would’ve been time then to really get to know each other. Maybe just a few days or weeks, but I could’ve discovered if I’d read his favorite book and he could’ve learned that strawberries were just as much a weakness for me as cheese was. He could’ve told me about the conversations that drove him and Malik to the caverns, and I could’ve shared the dreams I’d had when I was a child, before I was veiled as the Maiden. We could’ve explored each other, and he could’ve proven just how sensitive all those other areas he’d mentioned were.

Because now, there was a good chance we were out of time before we even had it.

He smiled at me, but there were no dimples. The expression didn’t reach his eyes, and I felt tears stinging mine. “It’ll be okay.”

“I know,” I said, even though I knew it wouldn’t be.

“I’m getting you out of here.”

A knot formed in my throat. “I can stop this. They won’t harm me. I can go—”

“They cannot have you, Poppy. I know what they will do to you.” His bloody fingers splayed across my cheek. “I cannot breathe when I think about that. I’m getting you out of here.”

A knot formed in my throat. “What about the others? Naill? Delano? Von—”

“They will take care of themselves,” he swore. “I need to get you out of here. That is all that matters right now.”