AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m still rolling my thoughts around in my head when he turns to address the gathered students who look confused as fuck in their seats surrounding the Gauntlet podium. Fear is visible on paler faces with every second that ticks by, while some flex their muscles, getting ready for battle.
“The time for war is now. The time for strengthening our community is here. The time to reveal the final steps in our plan has come,” Burton announces, arms flung wide as he tries to rally the students.
I’m pretty sure it’s not our plan, more his, but I manage to keep my mouth shut. Semantics aren’t what’s needed right now. It’s action, and I get the feeling that the beginning of the end is upon us.
A flash of gold catches my attention, trudging down the steps as he pulls along a man with chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles. The clunking of the golden warrior’s armor on the stone steps pulls everyone’s attention a moment later, sending a wave of murmurs around the space.
“Who is that?” Sebastian asks, standing to my left with our father at his side.
I squint for a moment, taking in the man, and despite his current state, I know exactly who it is.
“It’s Monarch Dutton. The man I revived,” I mutter, my teeth clenching as the memory of that day comes to the forefront of my mind. The day Creed was taken to attack the village, he instead had his memory tampered with by his father. It’s a relief to know he was kept safe now, but at the time, it was another layer of strain we really didn’t fucking need.
“He doesn’t look to be in the best shape,” Eldon states, and I can’t deny the truth in his words.
“May I present to you, Monarch Dutton, the head of the Elevin army,” Burton declares, swinging a hand in his direction. “It makes sense for us to use the realm’s own army against them, don’t you agree?” he adds, earning a cheer from the Shadowgrim students, but there are a few Silvercrest Academy pupils joining in too.
I survey the crowd, and it takes a few moments, but I find who I’m looking for. Four rows back, right at the end, beside the guy who has been on my radar, is Leila. I can see her eyebrows practically touching her hairline from here as she continues to skim her eyes over everyone. It’s not lost on me that her father isn’t here yet, but it’s more the smirk on Grave’s face that holds me captive.
I’m going to fucking kill him for whatever connection he has to this.
Shaking my head, I turn my attention back to Burton. “None of this makes sense. You know that, right? Not a single ounce of it,” I bite, fingers flexing at my side as he stares me down.
“That’s because you’re a dumb, foolish girl with only one use. It’s no surprise that things here don’t make sense to you.” His lip lifts with a sneer and I want to wipe it from his face with my fist, but it would take too long to cut the distance between us, so I opt to use words instead.
“What doesn’t make sense to me is why you’re still in that skin,” I holler, loud enough to garner everyone’s attention, but of course, no one understands what I mean.
His sneer turns into a deathly glare before he shakes his head and waves his hand dismissively at me. “You’re talking nonsense again, Miss Hendrix. Do I need to remind you what I’m capable of if you don’t fall in line?” he threatens, and I grin. This, I can handle. The sly shit is what fucks with my head, but threatening me in any way, shape, or form, including those I love, is something I know how to react to and handle.
“I think we’re beyond that now, don’t you?” I taunt back, taking a small step toward him, and I immediately feel my men shift around me. I know they’ll be wanting to protect me, shield me from this man and his fucked up shit, but it’s too late for all of that, and I think we all know it.
“I know your weak spots,” he pushes, and I laugh. A wholehearted chuckle straight from my stomach.
“I know you are Burton.” Gasps echo around the Gauntlet at my admission, but uncertainty around the truth of my words only thickens.
“How educated of you, but whatever you think you know, however you think you see this going, you’re wrong. I’m going to break down how it’s actually going to happen.” He takes two measured steps toward me, fingers splayed in the air as he points to each one. “You will fall in line. You will play the perfect puppet. You will stand at my side as we take down the realm. Or… I will start to kill off your men.”
The excitement at that thought flashes with wonder in his eyes, but I don’t falter under his intense stare.
“What then? Once you’ve done that, you’ll have lost all of your leverage,” I retort, still goading him, and I’m pretty pleased with myself when I watch his face turn red, along with his telltale sneer scrunching his face.
“Warrior,” he bellows, waving his hand for the golden warrior to approach him without actually turning to find where he is.
The warrior pauses for a moment, his gaze flicking to Creed’s before he releases his hold on Monarch Dutton and begins to approach. The second the man in the golden armor is on the platform with the rest of us, Burton turns to us with a twisted smile, and I know what his next words will be before he even says them.
“I want you to kill… him.”
I’m not shocked to find his finger aimed in Creed’s direction, but the finality of it still makes my heart skip a beat with panic.
Creed’s father looks torn, glancing from Burton to his son and back twice before he reluctantly nods and slowly heads our way. We knew this would happen. If anything, we half-banked on it, but that doesn’t make it any easier from this point. It just signifies the point of no return.
Golden metal-clad fingers reach for the hilt of the same colored sword at the warrior’s waist. His onyx eyes are fixated on matching ones as he gets closer and closer. I don’t move, keeping my feet rooted to the spot, as Creed shifts enough to be two steps ahead of me.
I instantly feel what it’s like to be in their position, anger and distress clouding my thoughts as I desperately hold myself back from reacting.
The sword is half unsheathed when the movement is halted, and he jerks when the weapon tumbles from his grasp, clattering to the floor with an overwhelming echo.
“Kill him!” Burton yells as the golden warrior stares down at the weapon before peering back at his son. I follow his line of sight, but the next time I glance down at the shimmering weapon, it’s nowhere to be seen. “Where is it?” Burton cries out, clearly searching for the missing blade, but the uncertainty doesn’t last long as the weapon appears a moment later in Zane’s grasp, at Creed’s side.
