The War of Two Queens (Blood and Ash 4)

“And if there are Revenants?” Kieran questioned.

“Then I’ll handle that,” Reaver answered as I pushed open the double doors.

A wide hallway greeted us, filled with the lingering scent of tonight’s supper. I turned to my left, relieved when I saw the darkness beyond the doors to the breezeways. The relief was short-lived. The heavy iron door had rocked into place, beginning to lower.

Kieran was right. Two-dozen or so knights packed the crimson-bannered hall. So did servants. They stood among the knights, clutching baskets and platters of empty dishes, their fear evident in their expressions and scratching against my shields. I wasn’t sure if it was the mist at the walls of the Rise, the knights, or…Reaver’s blood-drenched face. But there was no sign of any Revenants.

Where were they?

The knights knew immediately who we were, even with Kieran’s and my faces hidden. Any hope I had that they might step aside was quickly squashed as one of the knights lurched forward, grabbing a young servant boy. Dishes toppled from the tray, shattering on the floor as the knight jerked the boy back, folding a curved blade across the boy’s neck. Several other knights did the same, grabbing the no-longer-frozen servants. They hauled the panicked mortals forward, and it reminded me of yet another night—one that had taken place in New Haven.

My insides went cold.

“Take another step toward us—” a knight began, holding the trembling boy in place. Tears tracked the servant’s cheeks, but he made no sound. “And we’ll kill them. All of them. Then we’ll kill the wolven and whatever the hell that other thing is with you.”

“I’d be offended by that statement,” Reaver remarked, “if what was left of your souls wasn’t about to be ushered into the waiting Abyss.”

I inhaled deeply, and the essence of the Primal god joined with my will. The shadow-tinged, silver webbing attacked the weapons first, crushing the blades on daggers, knives, and swords.

Still no Revenants among them.

“The shadows are back,” Kieran noted under his breath.

“I know.” I went after the knights next, breaking them apart until nothing remained of them but crumpled heaps. Within a few heartbeats, only the servants stood before us. They did not move nor speak a word as we moved past them, but their fear…it had amplified and grown, crashing through my shields, and settling heavily in my chest.

The knowledge that I had frightened them, that they stared at me, believing me to be exactly what Isbeth had warned the people of—the Harbinger—weighed on me. That terror followed me out onto the mist-blanketed breezeways, into the heavily floral-scented air. The rose gardens were near. Heart thumping, I turned as an iron door rattled into place, sealing up those inside the castle. I stared at the doors. Many of the Ascended were in there. She was in there with all the death we had left behind.

“This way,” Kieran spoke, stepping out from the breezeway and into the thick mist.

My throat dried as the lights above went out, plunging the breezeway into darkness. I pulled my attention from Wayfair, and my thoughts from what I’d done inside.

Only Casteel mattered right now, and we still needed to get past the inner Rise and to one of the Temples.

We took off for the gate facing the city, running past the vine-covered walls of the garden—a place I’d spent many days in as a child. It beckoned like a nightmare now, but another haunt emerged before us. “I have no idea how long it will take for the mist to dissipate,” I warned them.

“It’s not windy, so I imagine it will linger for a bit,” Kieran said. “Hopefully, long enough for us to find Cas and get to the gates.”

“I don’t think we’ll get that lucky,” Reaver said. “We would’ve if you’d used the mist for anything other than confusing people.”

“I didn’t want to harm anyone,” I told him.

“And that is why we have to rely on luck,” he replied.

Royal Knights stood at the gates between Wayfair Castle and the homes occupied by the wealthiest of Carsodonia. We slowed, knowing the mist only cloaked us momentarily.

We were free of the castle, but it would take the Blood Crown no amount of time to realize that we were missing, and that there was nothing in the unnatural mist. Then, the entire city would be full of knights and more.

I stepped ahead, but Kieran caught my hand. “If you keep using the essence, you’re going to weaken,” he reminded me. “And Cas will need to feed soon. You need to conserve your energy.”

My muscles locked tight as I fought the urge to tap into the eather and make quick work of what lay ahead. “You’re right.”

“I know.” He squeezed my hand. “But I appreciate you actually admitting it.”

“Shut up,” I muttered, slipping my dagger free. “Doesn’t mean I can’t fight.”