Page 94 of Tortured Royals

Still cackling the remaining walls start to fall, and Reselle sends an immense burst of power above her head. Her black magic rips a hole through the layers of dirt above us, tearing through the floors of the castle until we can see the sky high above us.

With a hideous shriek, Reselle smiles and shoots into the air, flying through the pathway she’s created.

“We need to go!” Mason shouts, shifting form in an instant. Alaric and Dante climb onto his back, and Prince Callan flares out his wings grabbing hold of Nate. I tuck the enchanted blade into my belt and lift Dad, stretching out my wings. As everything starts crashing down around us, I launch from the ground, bursting up past the layers of dirt and through the castle. My mates are close behind me, and as debris rains around us, we dodge and swerve, avoiding the crumbling stone until we burst from the top of the castle and exit out into open air.

Reselle hovers in the sky high above us, tendrils of her black magic reaching into the clouds above and stretching in all directions. The clouds darken, turning the color of black smoke,and the ground trembles, houses falling around Seral city. We land on the roof of the castle, the building shaking beneath our feet.

Chapter

Thirty-One

~ Princess Blake ~

“Blake! What the hell is going on?”Shade’s shrill squawk sounds in my ears as she flaps toward me.“The demons down there have gone crazy, the witches are chanting like their lives depend on it, and I’m almost too scared to ask about your new floating friend who just busted out of the castle, quite literally.”

“Shade?”I say.

“Yes,”she replies, flapping her wings and staring at me with beady eyes.“Please tell me this isn’t as bad as it looks.”

I stare at my friend, and Reselle’s words repeat in my head:That bird is no more a crow than you are an angel.Reselle claimed that she felt no ill intent from Shade, but my mind is a mess of questions. The biggest one being: if Shade isn’t a crow, then what—or who—is she? But I don’t have time to try and figure it out now.

“That’s my mother,”I explain quickly, pointing to Reselle.“It’s a long story, but basically, she’s been corrupted by somedark creature from the Shadow realm. Oh and I’m half witch, not angel, and if Mom dies, I might become the new and last remaining witch anchor.”

Shade is silent for a moment as she stares at me.“Yep, I knew I shouldn’t have asked.”

“If you can get me close to her, I can use the blade,” Dad croaks, climbing from my arms to stand on his own. His body is mending quickly, though the black marks are still visible along his skin.

“How are you healing so fast?” Demons are the quickest at healing out of the different species in the realms, but Dad has been so weak lately, and he went down hard.

“Now that she’s out of the vault, Reselle is growing stronger, and somehow, her magic is sustaining me through the bond,” he answers.

“Okay, I’m still lost. Who the hell is Reselle?”Shade asks.

“The dark entity that has taken control of my mom’s mind,”I reply.

“Okay, this situation is messed up, but Blake, if that is your mom, can’t you try and get through to her?”

“I don’t know.”The building shakes more violently, and Mason’s hand shoots out, steadying me. Around the castle gates, the witches have formed large circles, and they sway from side-to-side chanting at the top of their lungs. The demons are all chanting along as well.

“Are they all dead?”I ask Shade.

“No, when you went inside the castle, whatever magic reanimated the dead demon soldiers, it also possessed everyone else.”

“It’s Reselle,” Dad says. “She’s connected everyone to her. If we can stop her, it should sever the link she has with them.”

Light flickers in the corner of my eye, and I turn my head as a large portal with silver fire opens up a couple of streets away.There’s a war cry and archangel soldiers flow from the gateway. Prince Callan’s brother, King Andal, is with them, along with a few legions of beast shifters that had been fighting in Toralyn, and a sizeable number of waterfolk from Norso. The only realm without soldiers in attendance is Rostof, realm of the giants.

They must have defeated the witches in Toralyn and come here.

“No, brother!” Prince Callan shouts, but we’re too far away for King Andal to hear us.

The soldiers of the allied realms surge forward, attacking the outer circles of witches, and above us, Reselle lets out a high-pitched wail. Streams of black magic shoot through the air, striking the soldiers and we watch in horror as they all fall as one, climbing back to their feet with unnatural, jerky movements. Slowly, they form up, creating more circles and chanting with the others.

Bile rises up my throat, but I swallow it down.

Prince Callan’s eyes burn with fury as he stares at his brother.

“We’ll find a way to free them,” I tell him.

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