“As if I would ever give myself over to the cunt you call queen. That slut threw herself all over Marcellus, panting after him like a bitch in heat. Then she stole him from me, corrupted everything good within him. She has you all fooled into believing in her. Just look at yourselves, marching out to attack someone far superior to you. Thinking you can win over me. You’re all pathetic, and deserve the death coming for you, thinking you can attack me and survive. The world is a better place without your weak kind.” The venom flowing from Silas’ mouth thickens in the air, a heaviness you can feel pressing against your skin.
His words cause every single person around me to stiffen in rage. “How dare you,” William begins, taking a step forward. I tighten my hold on his hand so he doesn’t try to attack his uncle. I just know something bad will happen if Silas gets him separated from us. The way his eyes lit up with the reaction, he was baiting my mates with just as much passion as he put into the believed truth of his words.
“Silas! You’re a traitor to your people. Step forward and surrender, or this will end badly. Either way, you will pay for your crimes.” My voice echoes across the open area, sounding as if it was said by a multitude instead of just me. I didn’t intend to put magic behind it, but our magic is a living force and wants its will to be heard as well. I’m getting bored with his back and forth and really don’t care to hear him spilling more of his vile poison.
“Ha! You haven’t brought enough subjects to force me into surrender,queen,” he mocks me. The previously silent supporters behind him finally chuckle along with him. They preen with confidence, telling me there’s something up their sleeve. Silas’ hands raise into the air and when he brings them down in a fast motion, crashing sounds from several spots surrounding us.
With the unexpected noise, there’s a pull on my magic. I glance around and watch the rippling effect of Queen’s Thistle popping up through the snow. Its maroon petals shine with its sharp edges, ready to cut anyone who means me harm. The points on the leaves are waiting to grab ahold and lock the individual in place. The plant appears to be in pristine condition, unaffected by the freezing temperature or the snow surrounding it. The vine flows all the way out to where Silas is still standing, and creates a border around my people, protecting them from whatever is coming after the loud crashing sound.
Stampeding footsteps reach me before we see the outpouring of shifters in wolf form, followed by those in human form. The wolves move straight for my soldiers and quickly realize they won’t make it through my vines. Instead, they circle around us, running laps and viciously growling, threatening violence the moment they’re able to reach someone. Their mouths are foaming, sharp teeth on full display.
Behind the wolves, those in human form fill in the space around us, seeming to multiply by the second.
Chapter 21
Cecily
It takes mere moments for us to be completely surrounded on all sides. I take a peek at Alex, remembering the advice he gave me this morning. It’s like his words summoned a similar scene to the Battle of the Bastards from Game of Thrones. Alex glances at me, his eyes betraying that his thoughts went in the same direction as mine.
I’m so in tune with keeping Silas in my peripheral that I notice the moment he moves to open his coat. While I can’t hear him, it’s clear by reading his lips that he’s cursing up a storm. He shouts at his followers to attack, and when they don’t, he becomes even more furious. The movement of the people around him shifts his coat open even more, and I spot all the vials of blood tucked into a belt around his waist.
Chaos reigns outside of our circle, while inside is the exact opposite. Everyone behind me is silent, aside from the occasional shifting of feet. My subjects wait for their orders, no one moving to disturb the barrier of protection around them. I pause and watch everything happening around me. I never would’ve imagined Silas having so much support, but the proof is staring me in the face.
My mates maneuver us into the center of our soldiers. As much as I want to enjoy staying at the forefront of the battle, we’re the strongest source of magic in this fight and will be more effective as casters. The witches stay behind us, knowing they’re at a huge disadvantage if they become injured.
Through all the distractions, I spot Silas reaching for a vial of blood. He rips the stopper out with his teeth and spits it on the ground beside him, before tipping the contents into his mouth. Upon further inspection of the vials at his waist, I find there’s some sort of color-coded system in place. From what I’ve learned about Silas’ bloodlust from William, he’s able to not only control the donor, but he gains a short burst of being able to harness magic again. The amount of magic he can wield depends on how strong the donor is at using their own magic.
I turn around to address the witches behind me. They gather around and I place a silencing bubble around us. While I highly doubt Silas will be able to catch my words drifting on the wind with so much chaos around us, I don’t want to take any chances either. “When the fighting begins, I want you to focus on firing spells at Silas to break the vials around his belt. Once those are gone, work on providing advantages to the soldiers who need it most.” They nod their heads in understanding, and I turn around in time to catch what Silas plans to do with his small burst of magic.
Rocks from the hidden entrances fly into the air, they form pathways on top of my vines, and his followers flood onto the protected trail. I connect with the vines and they grow up the sides of the stones but don’t cover the path quick enough. They run in and clash into my people, battle cries ripping through the air. Marcus and William shout instructions to our soldiers. Some shift and others fight in human form. The witches shoot off attacks, trying to crush the vials of blood.
Growls of both attack and anguish sound from the wolves. Sparks of fairy magic whiz across the battlefield, exploding in a burst on impact. Teeth flash in the light along with glints of metal. With most of his followers unable to use magic, they resort to using modern-day weapons.
I redirect the vines to focus on anyone whose intentions are to directly attack myself or one of my mates, and I get to work using magic to stop the use of their guns. We each have our tasks already planned out, having gone over every scenario of possibilities. Half of us have the right side of the valley, and the other half the left.
Derrick and I force the bullets to freeze within the chamber of the weapons. Alex and Klaus work at superheating the metal of the barrel. Once it’s hot enough, Marcus and William crush the barrel, effectively pinching off any way for the gun to shoot a bullet. Each team uses our mind link to coordinate our attacks, making sure we’re efficient and seamless.
With the guns out of play, it forces them to enter hand-to-hand combat instead. Hopefully, this will reduce the injuries to both sides. While a gunshot won’t take a shifter out of commission permanently, it will slow them down and it’s painful as fuck.
The witches are still focusing their powers on Silas, but he’s erected a shield around himself and his inner circle. I shouldn’t be surprised that Silas isn’t taking an active part in his own war, instead, he’s allowing others to fight it for him. His eyes alight while watching the destruction around him. Blood paints the snow pink, and it’s quickly becoming littered with body parts as the wolves rip their victims apart.
With the weapons out of play, we move on to aid our soldiers, pulling those back who are too injured to carry on and need help to heal. Blinding the enemy so their hits don’t land. Heating the hilts of swords and knives so they have to be dropped, then bury them into the ground so they can’t be picked up later.
As I scan the faces of those around me, I jolt with recognition of Silas’ followers. They’re the faces of those my mother and I went around helping in villages so long ago. People who I worked with side by side, teaching them spells. A woman, whose daughter shyly came up to give me a flower. A man who taught me how to find one of the rarest mushrooms. Another man who I swear was the child I taught to shift into an otter.
A horrid realization comes over me. What if these people aren’t really followers of his at all? What if they were tricked, manipulated? As they lost their magic with the fallout, Silas could have scooped them up, making them believe his lies. When everyone else was having the veil of truth returned to them, those in Silas’ compound were left without a way to communicate with the outside world. Then when he lifted the block to allow communication again, Silas sent everyone here into the mountain. What if these people are still blinded to who they really are? My stomach turns with yet another betrayal to my people. I should have thought of the possibility, yet I ended up failing at another opportunity to protect them.
I need to end this.
I reach down the bond and sense each of my five mates. The world around us fades, all sound dropping out aside from the steady thud of our six heartbeats. We sound as one, in sync, as if we share the same heart. The five men I care about most, the ones I can never live without, who hold my heart in their fists and determine my ultimate fate.
With the tug of my call through the bond, my mates send their will along the bonds at the same time, allowing us to combine our force of magic into one. Through our efforts in aiding the battle, we’ve become spread out. It doesn’t matter though, our combined magic happens through the bond, not with proximity. With our magic connected, I have access to an endless well of power.
Pressure builds within me. My skin buzzes with a force similar to the sensation of when all of my mates are touching me. Fury bubbles over and I shout with tendrils of magic infused in my voice. “Cease your fighting immediately!” My words flow through the air like static electricity. The moment my command reaches each individual, there’s no way for them to ignore it. I watch the ripple effect of my demand being followed just as clearly as watching a pebble drop into smooth waters.
There’s a few individuals who try to resist, but the magic behind my Alpha command doesn’t allow them the freedom. A sea of various expressions are pointed toward me, ranging from shock to rage. I gaze into the eyes of those fighting against us, and watch fear ignite with my attention placed upon them. I can’t waste a moment longer without ensuring the spell is lifted from them. “I am Her Royal Highness, Queen Cecily of the Shifters,” I announce, before pausing. From prior experience, I know it’s best to allow a moment for those regaining their memories.
I sigh in relief when I search through Silas’ followers and find them with slack faces, lost to the download of stolen memories. When their gazes no longer show a vacant hue to them, I carry on, “Our people are gravely under attack. The very basis of our existence is threatened. The consequences of one man’s actions have resulted in something being stolen from each and every one of us. I hope all of the negative results from his actions can be reversed, but it may not be possible.”
