Page 77 of Renegade Queen

“Strength builds alliances and power unlike anything you’ve ever felt will soon be mine.” Damon didn’t even sound like himself as he spat out some bullshit that sounded like something he’d never say.

Before anyone could say anything, a loud crack rent through the air, and the sound of shifting stone filled the room.

Was this place coming down?

Suddenly, vines exploded out of the walls, lashing out at the people around us as Alyssa stepped from my grasp.

“You murdered my parents,” she screamed as torrents of water poured into the cell, and waves formed around our feet. “You murdered my people!”

Arik stumbled back a step, his eyes widening in alarm as he took in the sheer force of power that Alyssa summoned.

The wind howled through the cell, whipping her hair around herself as it danced around her face. I could see the grim determination there. The hate that filled her eyes was nothing of the woman I knew she truly was.

“Kill her!” Arik screamed as he moved back into the corridor, letting his guards rush forward.

But Alyssa was too fixated on Arik to pay attention to the men running toward her with death in their eyes. And it was about to get her killed.

“Maddox,” I shouted, searching for my brother.

He stood there, his eyes wide in horror as he watched his brother back away from us, following Arik out of the room.

Damon had always been the one to protect us. He’d never stood at our side; he’d stood in front of us, always willing to put everything on the line. The man who stood before us now wasn’t the Damon we knew. The pain in my side was an angry reminder that the Damon I grew up with was dead. There was no other choice.

Maddox stepped toward Damon like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He couldn’t accept that Damon would ever be the one to let us down.

But we didn’t have time to think through what our next steps would be because the ring of steel flooded the room as all of the guards bearing down on us drew their weapons.

Alyssa’s vines took down two of them without even having to look their way. Her sights were set firmly on Arik. But there were just too many of them for her to take on alone, and staying would only mean certain death as more and more of them poured into the corridor.

“We have to leave,” I barked out, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back to me. “This isn’t a fight we can win.”

She shook her head, and at first, I thought it was in denial. But then her eyes quickly darted around the room and back to me.

“You’re hurt,” she realised, seeing my hand clutching the wound at my side to try and stop the bleeding.

“It’s nothing. But if we don’t get out of here, the next one will be much worse.”

Alyssa pulled her sword, nodding as my words sank in. “We need to pull back,” she said grimly, looking around.

The guards blocked the way down the corridor that headed further up into the palace, but for whatever reason, they didn’t seem to be guarding the route we’d used, perhaps assuming it would only lead us to be trapped deeper inside the castle. But we needed a way to stop them from coming after us. We needed to buy time to get into the passageway, so they wouldn’t be able to see the way we’d gone. If we could get enough of a head start, perhaps we could move back toward the river before they took up the pursuit.

As always, it was a plan filled with buts and maybes, and as usual, it was the only one we had.

Damon locked eyes with Maddox, pulling a sword from Arik’s side and returning his attention to Alyssa. As Maddox watched the way that Damon gritted his teeth, his muscles bunching as he prepared to make his move, Maddox screamed in outrage.

If Damon tried to hurt Alyssa, I had a terrible feeling that she wouldn’t fight back. She wouldn’t risk the brother we’d been so desperate to save, even if it meant him hurting her in return. She just wasn’t that sort of person.

And Maddox knew it too.

Except as the scream ripped out of him, it pulled with it something impossible. Something we had no way of knowing that Maddox could possibly contain.

The fire crackled through the air, coating the walls, the water, and the ceiling and creating a living wall of flame between us and those trying to harm us.

He staggered back in shock, staring at the product of his rage in awe. Silence blanketed the room, but I wouldn’t stand about waiting for them to figure out a way to get through.

“Now, Maddox!”

His head whipped around to look at me. At first, he didn’t move. His eyes moved over Alyssa and me, and I could tell he was trying to decide if he could reach Damon.

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