Page 10 of Fates of Monsters

He cups my cheek, searching my eyes. “It’s nothing. Tell me you’re okay. Tell me you’re real and you got that sword.”

“Real,” I whisper, leaning up and softly kissing him. “I have so much to tell you about the veil and the sword.”

Emerson kisses me once more before we both look at the crown on the floor. I lift it with the tip of my sword, and even through the sword, I gasp with the echo of power I feel. “It’s too dangerous to leave here. We should take it with us.”

“Perhaps no one should touch it.” My mother’s voice makes me turn back, as she is walking to us with my father at her side. The relief I see in their eyes matches mine for seeing her up. There is a nasty bump on the top of her head and blood on her cheek, but she looks okay. My father takes off his cloak, carefully wraps the crown up in it, and makes a tie for us to hold it. He offers it to Emerson.

Reaching for my powers, I watch ice spread out from my hand, covering the cloak in thick ice, everywhere but the top. Emerson smirks at me. “You have your powers back?”

“Yes, it was a gift. I’m stronger now,” I answer, flipping the sword in my hand. “Turns out the sword is far more powerful than just one crown. I think I can get us back. It can cut through worlds.” I look to my parents. “I have to get back, but I want to ask you to do something for me. For us.”

“Anything,” my father answers.

“I’ve told you Emerson is a king.” I touch Emerson’s arm. “A brilliant, kind, and amazing king. The king our world needs when this is all over.”

Emerson lifts my hand. “My queen far exceeds me.”

I roll my eyes at him, and he laughs, which I love to hear. I clear my throat and get back to my point. “There are people here who need to get out of this world. Gather them, tell them about Emerson and our world. Tell them to gather here, and we will come back once it is safe. The last thing I will do with this sword is set this world free.”

My mother has tears in her eyes as she steps forward. She cups my cheeks. “I’m so proud of you and the queen you have become. We will gather your people.”

“I can’t promise we will be back, not if Louie wins,” I admit. “But we are going to fight, and with the sword, we finally have a chance.”

Emerson links his fingers through mine. “My mate and I will be back. He will not win this war.”

We say our goodbyes, and it hurts to leave my parents here. I want to take them with me, but they wouldn’t be safe in our world any more than they would be here. We can’t stay longer, not with the old god breathing down our necks and Louie on his way to destroy Emerson’s people. My people. I’m their queen now and I’m going to have to get my head around that fact.

With the sword in a holder on my back, I pull it out and face the endless grey desert. I think of my world, picture Emerson’s castle in my mind. Just outside his throne room, where we kissed once and I felt myself falling for him over and over. I picture it until it’s all I can see as I lower the sword and make a giant cut. I can feel the magic flowing from my sword, from my heart, from my soul, and it feels as endless as the depth of the sea. Swaying on my feet, I open my eyes to see fire and ice are spinning around in a circle, spitting in every direction. On the other side, I can see the throne room doors, shut closed, but warm light coming from within them. Emerson, sensing how much that just took from me, wraps his arm around my waist before pulling me through the portal. It feels instant, like stepping through a doorway, right before we are in the castle, outside the doors. The sword drops from my hand, and the portal shuts as my legs give out.

“Calli!” Emerson shouts, picking me up before I can fall. I barely stay awake in time to see Lorenzo pull the door open, a shocked, broken-looking Posy just behind him, and Solandis in the distance with Zurine. Lorenzo falls to his knees, his hair a mess and dark circles under his eyes. “You’re both alive. Thank the gods. Goldway City has just fallen, and he is coming for us.”

ChapterEight

“You’re back.”

The cold, empty-of-emotion voice that I hear sends shivers down my spine. I lift my head as I turn and face Louie. He is in the sea, on a boat I’ve not seen before, and it is raining so heavily that I can barely see him. This time, I don’t see any land or anything but thick fog, and hurricanes are echoing in the distance as they bounce around the water. Louie waits at the end of a boat, a good distance from me, the crown bright even in the fog. “And you’re going to die, Louie. For what you did to Nerelyth, to the cities, to the millions who are dead. The next time we meet, I will end your life.”

Louie grins, revealing rows of black teeth that were not there before. “We both know you won’t be able to kill me. I’m still the boy you loved as a brother. I remember the time you came with me to watch me play ball with the other boys, and I—”

“Stop it!” I scream at him, tears prickling in my eyes. I remember that day. I remember hugging Louie so tightly when he scored a goal, and swinging him around. He was so happy… but he is gone. This is not the same boy. This is a monster who has stolen his body. “You might have his memories, but you are NOT him!”

Louie begins walking to me, but I step back, right off the boat and into the cold sea. Even as the sea swallows me into its depths, I hear Louie’s voice. “We are the same and you will not be able to kill me.”

“Yes,she’s my queen and my mate, Lorenzo. I have not lost my mind. I have not been enchanted.”

Emerson repeats similar responses to his brother, who is questioning his sanity at the same time as being very happy he is alive, as I try to remember to breathe. Louie isn’t here. It was a dream. Breathe, Calliophe. Breathe. Lorenzo and Emerson’s arguing is all I can hear as I slowly wake, answer millions of questions that have been filling my ears as I try to wake up, but it’s good to hear my friends voices. They are normal and safe and far better than Louie in my head.

I’m tired. Exhausted, even. I felt how much power it took to open the portal between the worlds, and it was too much for me so soon after coming out of the veil. I open my eyes to see the back of Emerson’s head as he sits on the edge of my bed, right next to me, Lorenzo standing over him. I can’t see Posy, but I sense her in the room. Lorenzo looks over his shoulder at me. “Ah! Our new Fae Queen is awake.” He looks back to Emerson. “I’m sure the entire Wyern Court are going to understand that you’ve taken a fae queen mate when you’ve known her for barely a few weeks. They just love the fae, brother.”

“You don’t remember, but we have known each other much longer than that,” Emerson coolly responds, turning to face me. He searches my eyes. “Another dream with Louie?”

He knows me too well. I can only nod. He pulls me to him, holding me against his chest and kissing the top of my head. I suck in a deep breath. “Where’s my sword?”

Posy steps out of the shadows, where she was waiting by my sword that is resting on a chair in the corner. “It’s here. The power in that sword is…”

“I know,” I whisper, pulling my eyes from it and to my friend. “It’s good to see you.”

Posy winks at me. “You made me cry, you bitch. I thought you were dead.”

---