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“There’s only you,” Bash growled as he stood there, panting, clearly holding back his bear. “Who’s this rebellion of yours?”
The man’s mouth formed an O and he smiled. “Oh, that’s right. Let’s get the real party started.”
Janek held Micha against his body as he dug around in his pocket. He finally made eye contact with Arden as tears rushed down his cheeks. Arden’s stomach flip-flopped.
Why was it that all he wanted to do was run over and pull Micha into his arms? But the other part of him wanted to tear Micha apart. His head throbbed, his heart ached, and anger laced up his spine making him tense.
He was going to tear Janek to pieces.
There was nothing that could stop him from doing that. Janek spoke into his phone and a moment later fireworks filled the air. As soon as they started, Arden heard it; the sound of yelling and fighting. He was tossed right back into the wars he’d gotten away from.
And then realization blanketed him like a fog. He turned around and stared at the palace. Fire spat out of one of the windows and the distant sound of screams reached his ears. His mother, Ezra, Justice, and Mya; all of them were inside. And what about the rest of his men?
His heart pounded so hard it felt as if it would leap from his chest at any moment. Arden whirled around and Janek was smiling from ear to ear.
“Take your death with honor, young prince,” Janek said, disdain dripping from every syllable. “Or I take his head and your little shifter friend’s too.”
Arden panted. Give up? That was what Janek was asking him to do, but he was hardwired to fight. But as he watched people emerge from the shadows, his heart throbbed. Arden could lose his own life, hell maybe he even deserved it.
But he couldn’t let them die.
“Fine,” Arden said, standing up straighter as blood ran down his arm and dripped from his fingertips to the ground below. “I’m ready. Kill me.”
“Arden, no!” Micha yelled.
He twisted himself free of Janek’s arms and ran for Arden. But he didn't make it. Janek's fist collided with the back of Micha's head. His eyes rolled back as he crashed to the ground. His body went limp and the air went still. The beast in Arden roared at the sight of their mate down. He blinked at him and any semblance of giving up and over died.
“I’m going to rip your scales from your body one by fucking one,” Arden said as he looked up at Janek. “And the rest of you? You’re going to die right along with him. Run if you don’t want to share his fate.”
The people around him murmured and looked between each other, their eyes shifting and their feet shuffling. But only a few were smart enough to turn tail and run.
“Bash? Kill the cowards,” Arden said as his claws grew, his eyes slit, and his tail whipped free. “Nobody leaves this fucking garden alive.”
Pain ranup Gamble’s spine as he tried to suck in a breath. His ribs burned just as badly as his back. Blinking the spots out of his vision, the witch took in his surroundings. Fire licked up the walls and shit was crumbling.
Crying broke through the ringing in his ears and Gamble searched out the sound finding two little kids sitting near a pile of rubble. He forced his body to move even as everything screamed for him to stay down. More spots danced in his vision but Gamble ignored them all.
“Hey.” His voice cracked and Gamble bit the side of his tongue as he attempted to wet his throat. Wavering on his feet he reached the children. “It’s okay.”
Teary eyes looked up at him and Gamble smiled standing up straight. “Come on, we should get out of here.”
Crash!A tall vase fell to the floor, making them scream, and Gamble knew the only way he was going to get them out was to wrap them in an illusion.
Their eyes went wide and the tears slowed down as they got trapped in an illusion of fireflies and a moon lit sky. It took more magic as he wove a deeper connection through their minds covering the fire and screams.
Gamble scooped them both up and swallowed back the shout of pain that clawed at the back of his throat. Each step was like a blade in his spine while another was being jammed in between his rib cage. Steady shallow breaths were all he could muster.
Where was everyone and what the hell had happened? All Gamble could recall was trying to get to Micha only for Arden and Bash to come over and break the door down. It was all fuzzy; Eldon ran after them and Gamble was left confused.
Bam! Another bomb went off shaking the ground. Gamble twisted around and his back slammed into the wall pulling a cry of pain out of him. The spots took over and for a second he thought he was going to pass out.
“Fuck,” Gamble groaned as he shook his head. He glanced around and more fire took over the palace. The place was in shambles.No time to waste, there was no telling if there was another bomb or where it would go off.
Gamble pushed off the wall and stumbled with the children in his arms, determined to get them out of there safely. The witch moved in the direction he’d seen a few people run to. A small opening was all Gamble could make out. He pulled out the reserves of his energy and pushed himself harder, picking up a run to get out of the palace.
Clean air filled his burning lungs and Gamble slowed down. He couldn’t let his guard down just yet. Something was happening and there was no telling where the attack was coming from. The witch took in everything around him; the fleeing people who ran past him and those shifting as others came out of the shadows.
“It was an ambush,” Gamble said. His heart beat erratically as he glanced back to the burning palace. It wasn’t safe inside and it wasn’t safe out there. “Fuck.”
