Page 95 of Crown of Chaos

“Oh, I really do right now.”

“Nope!” I laughed as screaming sounded above us. “Lie back and stop flailing. If you don’t, you’re about to get . . .” Soraya slammed into the water beside us, popping back up to stare at where I was treading water while holding Esme above the surface.

“You two making out or planning to get to the shore? Knox’s army is coming down the valley. Avyanna isn’t willing to jump.” Another scream sounded, and we all looked up. “Apparently, she’s been pushed off the edge by Siobhan. I did not see that one coming.”

“It’s raining witches.” Esme groaned while tightening her hold on me.

“Which means we should go before it starts raining men.” I laughed, waiting for someone to laugh at the joke. No one did. “No one? Tough crowd.”

We crawled onto the shore and found men from the castle already coming toward us. Frowning, I did a double-take at the castle, wondering how they’d gotten down so quickly.

Pausing, I peered up the cliff and then toward the deafening sound of the army moving into the wide valley. It was going to be a long night. I lifted my hands, forcing magic into my fingertips before I sent it sailing through the field. Men dropped to their knees as they screamed in agony. I smiled, moving closer to where they howled and rolled on the ground.

I made them feel exactly what the witches they were burning felt. The sounds of pain filled the air. It continued swelling around us while they felt every horrid sensation of being cooked alive. We leisurely moved over the field, and I pricked my fingertip with my teeth and let a drip of my blood fall. With that, I called the army of the dead to me, but only a small percentage of it. I didn’t want Knox or Aurora knowing just how many dead creatures I’d gathered to wage war with.

“There are dead things crawling up from the ground,” Avyanna whimpered as she danced away from a set of hands emerging by her feet.

“Don’t worry, they’re on our side, love.” I snorted, gathering the power and magic I needed to erect a barrier large enough to surround the beast of a castle. It slammed down, and I grinned as my hair lifted with the breeze it created. Power rushed to my fingertips generously, and I moaned as it slithered into my soul. I greedily yanked more from the world around me.

I could hear Knox shouting my name. My sisters were echoing his cry. I didn’t trust a damn one of them enough to let them through, not with how easily they’d turned against me. They’d had my trust and had rubbed my face into the muck while they betrayed me. The spineless bitches had destroyed our bond and discarded me like trash. Knox wasn’t any better since he’d replaced me so readily with Sabine. I didn’t need any of them. I didn’t want to feel what they’d forced me to feel anymore. The not knowing who to trust and then discovering everyone I should’ve been able to rely on had turned against me? I couldn’t do that anymore.

My hands lifted, strengthening the barrier behind me with an added layer of powerful magic. I spun around, smiling coldly as Knox dismounted and rushed toward where I stood. His eyes were narrow slits, and he slammed his hand against the invisible wall, rattling in warning. I grinned at him before turning to watch the drawbridge close and spikes push through the wooden doors. The idiocy of them closing and sealing everyone inside was immense.

“You’re not doing this, Aria,” Knox hissed, forcing me to turn toward him, but I ended up glaring at Sabine, who stood beside him.

“I am, and you and your fucking army can’t stop me. I hear congratulations are in order. Honestly, though, I wish you both the best. Now, if you and yourfiancéewill excuse me, I have a castle to render to rubble.” I dismissed them and walked to the front of the undead army. “At me,” I screamed, hearing the answer in the form of their battle cry. “March forward.”

“Don’t do this, Aria!” Sabine demanded.

“Do what, Sabine?”

“You can’t do this,” she whispered, but I leveled her with a withering look. The blood drained from Sabine’s face and was replaced with unfiltered horror. We both knew I’d only ever gazed upon one person with the look I now aimed at her.

“Oh, but I can,” I stated, laughing coldly as I turned back to the army of dead creatures I’d raised. “Hello, my pretties, I’ve missed you.”

Chapter Forty-Seven

They had removed the witchesfrom the battlement walkway to bring out large wooden catapults. The issue they were having was, Knox’s army was the only one within a striking distance of their missiles. At least they assumed that to be what would happen, since they couldn’t feel the barrier I’d placed. We were entirely too close to the wall for them to be used against us. Now that Knox had lifted banners, they knew they couldn’t attack without risking harming the high king.

As dusk settled in, fires were lit and torches were being placed evenly apart along the battlement. Tents had gone up behind us, and the din of people running around echoed through the wide, sprawling valley. All the while, I’d stood and watched, seemingly not doing much at all when really I’d been waiting for over an hour for my army to get into position.

Had I had more to do what I’d wanted, then people wouldn’t be standing around waiting for the sky to fall and the stronghold would’ve been razed to rubble already. The undead army wasn’t impressed, which might have more to do with them being dead and not impressed by anything anymore. Either way, I was mirroring their sentiment over the entire debacle.

Esme approached, bypassing the motionless army that waited for a command. In her hands were the bags we’d brought with us from the library. Unfortunately, it appeared to be dripping water. She handed mine off to me, and the others gathered around, silently sliding worried gazes to the dead as they closed around our group.

“They don’t sound as if they intend to stop soon,” Soraya said, referring to the shouts of Knox and my cousins’ still coming from the other side of the barrier.

“I’ll handle it in a moment,” I replied, withdrawing the low-waist leather pants and the tight top from the bag. “This would be a lot easier if everything wasn’t soaking wet.”

“Had we not jumped off a cliff, we wouldn’t be soaking wet,” Esme snapped back, pointedly glaring at me.

“If we hadn’t jumped off that cliff, we’d be prisoners of war,” I returned.

“Touché.” She sighed, rolling her eyes around the undead. “They’re fucking creepy.”

“I brought them here so they could get revenge,” I stated, feeling my cheek clenching with the memories of how I’d gained this particular group of undead.

“They’re creepy as hell,” Avyanna whispered while glancing uneasily at the dead surrounding us.

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