Chapter 28
Xavier
The moment I saw Daka sprinting past the tavern door in the village, I knew something was wrong. Dedra had rushed to find Zara, but by the time I stormed outside, I had seen her chestnut hair on the back of one of the Daka.
My power, reacting to my panic, surged—but it was no longer there. Only pain and a wisp of shadow answered me, twisting in the pit of my chest. Fear, unlike any I had ever known, clutched at my heart as I mounted my horse, the Daka already disappearing into the trees ahead. They left an obvious path, each broken branch and disturbed patch of earth taunting me—this was a trap laid out for me to follow. I knew it, but I didn’t care. All I could think about was Zara. Getting her back. Whatever the cost.
The path led me to this clearing, where he waited, the male with the sapphire eyes who had eyed my mate in the tavern. The male who had made Zara blush. It had been infuriating enough at that, but this? It sent me into a blind rage.
I charged at the male, and my sword met his blade with a sharp chime. His sapphire eyes were alight with smug triumph, and I tightened my grip, the vibration from the clash traveling up my arm. I swung my sword, unleashing strike after strike upon him. He seemed to take pleasure in my rage, taking each blow of my blade with a cruel smile.
Dedra was engaged in a fight with another witch and its Daka as I fought the male. The witch shot her magic wildly around her, trying to strike at me as I battled, but Dedra countered her attacks with a ferocity bordering on reckless. Her magic crashed against the witch's defenses with explosive force, and the air crackled with electricity as Dedra’s power spread in the air around us.
The witch’s Daka launched at Dedra, its jaws snapping viciously as it sprang toward her in the air. Dedra met its charge head-on, sword singing through the air as she struck at its underbelly. She tore through its armored skin with her blade, driving the creature back with a snarl of pain.
The male launched toward me again, seeming tired of our sparring. He formed a blade of ice in his palm before sending it hurtling toward me. The blade skimmed my shoulder as I dove out of the way, and he began to cast more as I shadowed out of their path. I appeared in front of him, tackling him to the ground. My fists connected with his face, the crunch of bone beneath my knuckles barely satisfying the rage burning inside me.
He blasted me off him with a gust of wind, sending me hurtling across the clearing.
“Now,” I yelled, and Dedra snapped her head toward me, watching as I crashed into the surrounding trees. She seemed to erupt with light as lightning shot down in a deathly explosion. The surrounding trees and grass burst into flames, and smoke began to spread around us.
I rolled, narrowly missing a strike, as I peered through the smoke. Dedra, the witch, and the Daka seemed to be unconscious on the ground twenty paces away, and I sprinted toward Dedra.
Before I could reach her, something heavy slammed into me. The force knocked the breath from my lungs, and we tumbled together in the dirt, throwing punches as we rolled.
We broke apart, standing immediately and facing one another. He was covered in black soot, and blood ran down his face from a laceration on his head. His hand crackled with power, ice forming on his palm.
He smiled cruelly at me. “Such a pretty thing she is. A prize I’m sure my queen will allow me to keep.” He flashed his teeth at me, and I shot toward him. His magic tore toward me, ice spearing toward my heart. I shifted, allowing it to pierce through my shoulder as I ignored the tearing pain and continued to run toward him.
His smug expression faltered as my hand wrapped around his throat. I didn’t hesitate as a roar escaped my lips, “Mine.”
My other hand came to the base of his skull, twisting with a bone-crushing snap.
I ripped his head from his body, tossing it aside as his lifeless body crumpled next to it. Panting heavily, I stood over him. I stared at his corpse, relishing in his death, my hands dripping with his blood.
A choked gasp rang out behind me, and I spun around to see Dedra gasping on the ground, covered in blood. I rushed to her side, my heart jumping into my throat.
Dammit. A black spike protruded from her abdomen, the green liquid seeping from the wound.
“You’re going to be alright. We just have to make it back to the village,” I soothed, but Dedra’s eyes started to roll back as she lost consciousness.No. Her healing was working too slowly,and her injuries were too severe. She was drained from using her magic and losing too much blood.
I pulled the spike from her stomach and threw it aside, tearing strips from my shirt. I wrapped them around her wound, pulling tight to slow the bleeding. The poison was what would kill her if we didn’t get her the antidote—and soon.
“Such a shame,” a silky voice called out, and I swung around to find a short, dark-haired woman behind me. Her almost white-yellow eyes met mine with a familiar glint. Scars covered her skin, and she watched me with a curled lip.
“You’re supposed to be in my dungeon,” I remarked, recognizing the witch that had been trapped under the oak the night of my dinner. I had shadowed her to the dungeons for interrogation. I had forgotten about her after the chaos with Zara and my brother, and…my eyes widened slightly. She hadn’t been in the dungeons when I visited my brother. He had been the only one down there.
“How did you escape?”
Her smile grew as she stared at me. “Morgana grants many gifts. Some are knowledge, and some are loopholes to certain magic.” She grinned again.
“And what loophole would this be?” I gritted out, glancing at Dedra to ensure she was still breathing. Her chest rose weakly, and I growled; I had to get her to a healer.
“I think I’ll hold on to that secret in case you try to whisk me off to the dungeons again.” She let out a bitter laugh. “Although Morgana may already be making herself at home.”
“I know for a fact she cannot access her magic, and it would be impossible for her to have reached my castle,” I said, rising to my feet. I grabbed Dedra’s blade from the ground next to her.
“Perhaps,” the witch said, her smirk making me uneasy.
