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Throwing open the shade, she stares out across the lands, seeing that not only Orcs, but Trolls are attacking the castle. The forest that surrounds the castle is on fire. The blackened smoke from the burning cedar trees clogs the air, obscuring our view of the town below. Hundreds of howls resonate and echo through the valley, summoning all for help. Moving quickly, Bella moves from the window and into her walk-in closet and it barely takes several moments before she’s back out again as the rest of us shift and get dressed.
“Egon, Hollis, I need your men to set up a perimeter to protect the innocent at all costs.” Egon and Hollis take off without a second thought, not even looking back after they kiss Bella on the way out the door.
“Kaedyn, get your people. I need them to blow the smoke away from the village.” Having my marching orders, I step forward quickly and kiss Bella.
It’s then she turns her gaze on Sebastian. “I need your help most of all.” She grips his hand and marches him out onto the balcony. “We’re gonna try something.” I hear her words faintly as I head out the door.
I race through the castle, gathering my people as I move along. We form a perimeter around the castle summoning our air element, pushing the smoke as far away from the castle first. The rest of the pack is below at the edge of the town, also pushing the smoke as far away as fast as possible.
It’s then I notice what Bella and Sebastian are doing. I can see the blood of the largest Trolls weep from their nostrils and ears. Just like I’ve seen Bella manipulate water and make it move as she desires, I see the blood move toward Bella and Sebastian. I guess our enemies forgot that blood is made of water. Bella is boosting Sebastian, something fierce making his power a little stronger and reach a little further. His eyes are closed as Bella’s glow brightly. She is focusing and tempering his rage, directing his power where she sees fit and needs it most.
Egon’s people are divided, trying to contain the fire while the other half set fire to the Trolls and Orcs to drive them back and away from the castle and the village. Something’s not right. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I look around, still unsure of what’s actually going on. Part of me believes that this is a distraction for something far worse.
My people I have surrounding the castle are within earshot of each other and we can visualize the person next to them. We keep ourselves close so that way if something is to happen; we will know long before it becomes worse than it needs to be.
Screams erupt inside the castle as smoke bellows from the upper chambers. “Bella! Sebastian! Look up!” I point above their heads to the one floor that’s above the royal suite.
Bella’s head whips up just in time to see one of the old wooden beams falling straight toward her and Sebastian. She grabs ahold of him, yanking him back almost violently, trying to get him out of the trajectory of the falling four-by-four. They disappear and I’m getting nervous.
Egon and Hollis appeared to be having the time of their life. Hollis is driving stone spikes from the ground up into his enemies. While Egon is setting everything on fire. I would almost believe him to be a phoenix and not a wolf with how his own body seems to burn, covered in flames as he wreaks destruction and mayhem upon our enemies. Archers have appeared up on the ridge above the castle, taking aim at us down below. Hollis’s men have caught sight of the archers and the ridge that they stand on disappears from beneath their feet.
Hundreds of Fae archers tumble to their death along the jagged rocks of the mountainside that stand tall behind the castle. There’s part of what I was sensing. But my gut still tells me that’s not all. It doesn’t take long for Egon to get the fire in the forest contained. He returns to the castle alongside me as I fan his flames, making them burn brighter and hotter as we attack our sworn enemies.
It’s now that Bella and Sebastian finally emerge unscathed from within the castle. She goes to move quickly, but then halts. Sebastian has a blade against his neck and a small rivulet of blood runs down the striation of muscle.
“Thought you would get away with this so easily, huh?” Mateo steps out from the shadows, his blade still pinned against Sebastian’s throat.
“You should have taken my son is your mate. This never would have been necessary.” He flicks his wrist slightly and the cut in Sebastian’s neck deepens. Simmering rage can be felt through the bond. It’s not just mine, it’s also Egon’s, Hollis’s and, more specifically, Bella’s.
She laughs softly as she moves forward, closing the distance between herself and Sebastian. “It takes a brave man to do what you’re doing.” Bella’s sarcasm is on point. A deep rumbling growl escapes Mateo’s lips as his two sons come out and flank him. Sizing up the competition, Bella steps back slightly.
“See, I knew you could be reasonable. I will bite this commoner and kill him, then you must take one of my sons as yours.” His tone is still venomous regardless of the sickening smile that’s playing on his lips.
Bella makes a motion with her hand, and I know that move. It’s the same one that we did to be in time with each other during our trials. I have a very good idea what my mate is about to do, and it will not be pretty.
Chapter57
Belladonna
After stepping back,I stare deep into Mateo’s eyes over Sebastian’s shoulder. The man has become unhinged, and I see that same half-crazed look in the eyes of both of his sons. Glancing briefly over at Kaedyn, I signaled to him I’m about to unleash my full fury upon them. It’s easy for me to tap deep into the dark recesses of my being. Pestilence is second nature to me.
Focusing on Mateo’s bloodline, I use the water gift that Sebastian had given me and see the blood in their bodies. I pull on every platelet that flows through their veins. I feel the building pressure within them until they start to rupture. Mateo’s youngest son is the first to fall to his knees, gasping from a lack of oxygen. As I focus not only on the water in their blood of the air in their lungs.
Systemically, my attack will leave no outer marks, but they will die all the same. When I rob them of their air, Mateo and his oldest son both fall back and away from Sebastian. The minute they do, Egon comes up alongside me and grips my hand tightly in his. His dark gift of cremate goes right along with mine of pestilence. Moving as one, we turn the royal heirs of the Water Kingdom to ash. Frightened gasps fill the surrounding air. No one is sure which of us had just decimated them. But we know it was a combined effort between the two of us. Joining our hands made it easier to coordinate the attack. At the flexing of our grip, we knew the exact moment to focus our darkest gift on our targets simultaneously.
Kaedyn lifts a hand and uses his air element to blow the ash away. Dropping Egon’s hand; I rush over and wrap my arms around Sebastian, running my hands over the hard plains of his body, checking for any unseen wounds. The death and destruction that’s behind him isn’t of concern to me. The only thing that I’m worried about is if my mate is okay. As my fingers glide over every bump and ridge of muscle, I slowly calm down knowing that he’s alright.
“Bella, I told you I’m fine,” Sebastian says again as his lips press against my temple. Closing my eyes slowly, I relax knowing deep in my heart that he is truly okay and safe now.
I look back toward the others, and that hard mask slowly slips down, taking over. “I want Mateo’s queen brought to me, by any means necessary,” I say, addressing all those that were within hearing distance of me. Several wolves take off running as another dozen launch from where they’re standing, shifting midair on the hunt for the missing queen.
I move through the castle with purpose. My bare feet gliding silently over the tile floor, allowing me to move through the hallways without a sound. My mates are on my heels and my gut is telling me exactly where I need to go to find the queen. We move down into the bowels of the castle toward the royal vault. I stand before the door and realize that someone has already gotten through the intricate locks. It’s now that I realize that this is exactly where Mateo’s queen is hiding. I start the size up the hallway behind me and the door before me. Stepping back, I move my mates with me, getting them out of the way.
“Hollis, kill the lights!” He stares at me questioningly for a few moments and then realizes what I’m about to do.
Once the hallway is submerged in darkness, a grin slowly creeps across my lips as my eyes take on their eerie emerald glow. I illuminate the hallway with just the light of my eyes. It looks like something that the guards would use for night vision. Moving the shadows has always come easy for me, but now, with my mates, it’s so much easier. I raise my hands and the shadows move forward like specters and grip at the edges of the door, ripping it off its hinges. The pings, clicks and clanks of the metal straining against the shadows are music to my ears.
I rip the last pins out of the door frame, and I smile even broader. I watch them roll across the floor as the door rips free and I throw it in a twisted heap far beyond my mates behind us. The queen of the Water Kingdom stands there, bottles of water surrounding her as if she is preparing to go to war. She does not consider that I have also mastered that element.
