The Beautiful Ashes (Broken Destiny 1)

“Don’t fall behind,” Adrian warned, and then exited the castle, running at a crouch in the opposite direction from where we’d come in.

I followed, keeping low like he did. As soon as I was outside, glacial air seemed to pummel my upper body, my thin sweater no protection against the realm’s frigid temperatures. At once, my teeth began to chatter, the wind making it worse as I ran as fast as I could to keep up with Adrian’s form-blurring sprint. Even as I shook, I comforted myself by thinking of how warm the boy would be in my parka. It was made to withstand subzero temperatures, and right now, that was what it felt like outside.

No guards chased us, which was a happy surprise. Maybe it was because we’d run right into the wall of darkness that bordered the rear of the castle. Nothing and no one seemed to be out this way, and as I abruptly fell on the hard, slick surface, I realized why. Adrian had led us out onto the island’s frozen coastline.

I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the jabs of pain from whatever I’d bruised. At least I hadn’t lost the gun or shot myself from the impact. I couldn’t see in front of me, but the glittering castle behind me was all the motivation I needed to keep running toward where I’d last spotted Adrian. Despite my best efforts, I fell again, cutting my elbows and forearms on the uneven ice. Grudgingly, I had to acknowledge that Adrian had been right. I wouldn’t have been able to run ten feet on this without boots. My feet would’ve been cut to ribbons.

Something large and dark rushed out of the blackness toward me. I lifted the gun, only to hear a familiar voice growl, “I told you not to fall behind!” before Adrian grasped my arm.

This time, I welcomed his grip as he propelled us farther onto the ice. If the town was close enough for me to use its light to see, then we were close enough for the guards to spot us. Adrian didn’t have my visual handicap, of course. He drew me next to him while he moved with his usual breakneck speed, keeping us well inside the blackness while we ran parallel to the coast. By the time he slowed to a stop, I was gasping so hard that I was almost hyperventilating, and icy trails had frozen on my cheeks from wind-induced tears.

“Be very quiet,” he ordered. “We have to go back on the island to reach the gateway.”

I tried to squelch my noisy breaths by sucking in air through my nose instead of my mouth. It only made me sound like a winded horse instead of a winded human. Adrian rolled his eyes, keeping low as he ran across the ice to the mainland. Deciding that meant speed was more important than silence, I followed him.

Light from nearby igloos meant I could see the figure that strode toward Adrian when he reached land, the guard holding out his hand in the universal gesture for “stop.”

“Hondal—” the minion began, but didn’t finish the word. Two short coughing sounds later, the guard dropped like a stone. When I caught up to him, I glimpsed a gaping hole in his forehead before his body dissolved into ashes. In an attempt to cover the evidence of what had happened, I kicked at the ashes, hoping they’d blow away before someone found them.

“Ivy!” Adrian hissed, waving his gun impatiently at me.

I dashed toward him, my thighs burning from running while trying to stay low. A few minutes later, Adrian stopped. I didn’t see anything, but I braced myself when he clasped me to him and then threw the three of us backward.

We tumbled through the gateway into our world, coming out at the base of the split tree trunk. My relief at the embrace of warm temperatures was cut short when I saw how dark it was.

“What?” I rasped. It still hurt to talk, damn him. “We’ve only been in the realm two hours, and we entered it at noon!”

Adrian pulled me to my feet after adjusting his grip on the boy. “Time moves differently there,” he said, leading me through the woods. “Sometimes faster, sometimes a lot slower. Costa told me he and Tomas waited two days in the desert for us in Mexico.”

Two days? That seemed impossible, but then again, so did everything associated with the realms—myself included. I’d shot someone in cold blood, and I didn’t feel the slightest bit bad about it. In fact, it was the only memory I wanted to keep about the glittering, icy realm.

“Something’s not right,” Adrian muttered, his pace quickening. “That was easy. Only one guard stopped us, and I expected to kill at least half a dozen minions on our way out.”

We were lucky, I almost said, and then I paused. We were never that lucky. I looked behind us, seeing nothing except trees and darkness, but that didn’t mean we were alone.

“What’s the plan?” I whispered.

“Get more guns,” he replied grimly. “Now.”

We ran past the now-closed Visitor’s Center to the parking lot. Adrian’s car was still in the back, and Costa stood next to it, an overhead streetlight revealing the automatic weapon he’d set on its roof. That wasn’t what made Adrian stop, yanking me to a halt with him. It was the woman next to Costa, her arm almost casually draped over his shoulder, head cocked in apparent curiosity as she looked us over.

I recognized her at once. Those long, ebony-copper locks were unforgettable, not to mention that dazzlingly perfect face and the pale skin she was showing off in her low-cut dress. Full red lips drew back into a chilling smile as topaz eyes flicked over me, Adrian and the boy he held.

“So,” the gorgeous demon from Mayhemium’s realm said, her voice as sensual as her appearance. “Which of you three is the Davidian in disguise?”

Chapter twenty-two

“I am,” Adrian stated.

My gaze swung to him in disbelief. Adrian flashed the demon a hard little grin as he let the boy slide from his grip, stepping away from him once he slumped on the ground.

“No, he’s not,” I snapped hoarsely. I was going to tear Adrian a new one later for choking me, but no way was he sacrificing himself now. “I’m the Davidian!”

The demon’s gaze gleamed as she looked between Adrian and me, seeing nothing except an old man and an unfamiliar young one due to our Archon glamour.

“Who’s a noble liar, and who’s the would-be savior?” she mused aloud.

“I’m not a liar,” Adrian ground out as if offended.

“You lie your ass off all the time!” I countered, words coming easier due to my anger. “Here’s a surefire ‘Who’s the girl?’ test—give him to the count of three to name a brand of tampons.”

Adrian shot me a furious, if disbelieving, look. The demon laughed throatily, her features softening into something that resembled affection when she looked at Adrian. Then they turned flinty as she looked at me.