Page 18 of Fates of Monsters

“It’s not your fault,” Nathiel gently tells her as she weeps.

Posy hands me the girl. “I have to go after him. Now.”

“We have to go—” I pause. “Posy…”

Her eyes harden. “Don’t ask me to go with you and leave him there. Please don’t.”

If it were my mate, I’d do anything in her shoes. My shoulders drop. “I won’t. I’ll go alone and figure it out.”

“Where are you going?” Zurine questions. “If you need Posy, I’m going to Lorenzo either way. I will get him out.”

“I can come too,” Nathiel adds in. “Emerson tasked me with keeping you safe. All of you.”

Posy and I look at each other. I clear my throat. “Let’s get to the mirrors, get Nerry and the kids safe, and find the old king. When that’s done, we make a plan.” I search Posy’s eyes. She tensely nods. I know she wants to make a portal and go, but it will be a trap. Lorenzo is bait for us, to pull us apart. I quickly tell Emerson everything through our link as we head to the mirrors, and his fear for Lorenzo copies my own.

“How do you turn these damn things on and make sure they go to the right place?” Posy questions as we step into the room of mirrors, the portals shining brightly. The second we step in, each of the mirrors ripple. The water inside them turns black right before cloaked witches step out of each one, and the mirrors behind them crack softly. Their magic fills the room as I hold the girl tight to my chest.

Lastly, the queen steps out of the middle one. She looks right at me as I take a step in front of my friends. Blood that smells like Lorenzo is painted like war marks across her cheeks. Fury burns through my veins as my own powers begin to emerge at my feet, flames and ice licking the ground. “Where is my brother-in-law?”

Posy steps to my side. “You will pay for every drop of his blood you spilled, Witch Queen.”

“The air demigoddess,” she coos. “Your mate’s blood tastes as delicious as yours once did.” The Witch Queen looks around her. “And now there are two of you, just like my dark Rift King promised me.” She raises her arms. “The rest of you aren’t needed. It turns out the prince’s blood, blood of the royal Wyerns, is all you need to control the magic of the mirrors.”

Water blasts out of the mirrors, monsters within the waters, and slams into all of us. I can barely scream before I’m thrown into the corridor wall, and the water swallows me whole as I cling to the child in my arms. EMERSON!

ChapterTwelve

KING EMERSON

Istand on the edge of the mountains, looking down at the seemingly endless army, and I’m no fool. We are outnumbered by at least five to one. The only difference is we are alive, breathing, and we are not monsters with no clue how to really fight. I’ve trained my people, along with my brother, and I know they will not let me down. If we fall, it will be defending the last bit of good left in this world.

My parents wanted me to be good, to bring light into this world and link all of us. The war pulled everyone together, but I’m proud that they all stand with me now. We’re about to face destruction and death, and the tense feeling humming around in the area is thick with fear. Only a stupid person wouldn’t be frightened right now. My people stand behind me, and it’s not just my Wyerns. The fae are here in their thousands, ready for war, ready to fight for the Wyerns they once cursed.

The irony isn’t lost on me that they are fighting for me, their new king. All kinds of supernaturals make up the ranks, spread out around the mountain range at the front, ready to draw the bulk of the army into the middle of the mountains. The fortified mountains will act as a trap, and our fliers will easily be able to pick them off, one by one, and crush them. I raise my voice. “For once, we stand against a common enemy.” Everyone looks at me. “For once, we will fight together. For the world we want to build. The freedom that we want for our family and children. Fight with everything you have, remember who you are fighting for, and never stop. We will not fall to these monsters. We will blast them back to the hell they came from.”

Cheers echo like drums in the air, backed by the roars of the monsters. Solandis looks up at me from my side. “When this war is over, perhaps we can learn to be closer as a brother and sister. I know you resented me for locking you away in the Wyern cities and not allowing you to travel the world, and I was wrong to do so. I wanted to protect you and took it too far. I locked myself away too.”

Solandis touches my arm. “Brother… when I thought you were dead, all I could think about is how I never thanked you for protecting me. I had a good childhood, and so many happy memories. I admire you, Emerson. When this war is over, we will enjoy the freedom together. I want to sit on a beach and sunbathe, what about you?”

I smile at her. “I want to build my mate a flower garden with her favorite flowers.”

She laughs, not mockingly, but in surprise. “I hope when I find a mate, they are as sweet as you.”

“They will be or I’ll teach them. The hard way,” I grumble, disliking the idea of my sister having a mate. I believe I will forever see her as the little girl who followed us all around and loudly voiced her opinion on everything. I turn back to the army, knowing I can’t waste any more time. This has to begin now. “Keep safe, sister.”

“Don’t die, brother,” she whispers, but the wind carries every word she says. “None of us can break like that again. We love you too much.”

I jump off the ledge, letting the wind catch my wings in the draft. Effortlessly, I glide down to the army, my Wyern generals flying with me like a black shadow. I keep my power locked at the surface, ready to protect from any attacks. They stay tight at my side in formations that we’ve done a hundred times over the years for planned battles against fae that we never needed. Arrows leave the mountains in floods from hidden spaces, spearing dead monsters and Rift soldiers on the front lines. I fly above as my Wyerns dive to the second line, demolishing them as I search for him. Just one more time, I let myself find my mate bond and check in on her. Calliophe Eveningstar, my mate and queen. I would fight a million wars, with no magic and just my bare hands, to keep her safe.

This world can burn, but she must survive. Just for a second, as I search the army from above, I sense she’s okay. She’s alive and she’ll be at my side soon when she has gotten the castle sorted. I spot Louie in the middle of the army, an empty space around him. He isn’t alone. He is with several of the Rift Kings and Queens, and a cloaked male standing not far behind them. The old god. I land near them all, my feet crunching into the frost-covered mud.

He smirks as at least a thousand monsters and Rift soldiers run straight at me from around him. I hold my hand out, letting my power rip out of the earth, out of the shadows and darkness, and turn all of them to black dust within seconds. Louie barely blinks as I walk through the dust, letting it settle around me, pulling shadows and darkness, pure chaos towards me with every step. It feeds my power.

Louie tilts his head. “Where is she?”

“Don’t speak about my mate,” I growl at him, straightening my back. “Calliophe belongs to me, and your hold on her is over. It’s a sick game you’ve been playing. You are not Louie anymore.”

I look to the left for a moment, sensing the water. There is a tidal wave, high enough to break over the top of the mountains, rushing towards us. “NO!” My roar does nothing to stop the tidal wave crashing into the mountain, flooding the inside of it, and I can’t see it, but everyone in there will be drowned.

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