Page 75 of Sharpen Your Claws

“He has no control over you.”William sounded so sure. He wanted to be that certain, too. “He wants what you have, but this power is yours entirely and he knows, as we all do, that you are better than him in every way.”

Nicholas understood that. Laurent was no different from the others. They looked at him in fear or greed. Laurent saw a tool and he would use that tool, bend it to his will like he did all things. He let it happen for years out of his own fear, but William was right. Laurent wanted what he had and, no matter what, he wouldn’t be that tool anymore.

He took a breath, standing there motionless, hands listless at his side and eyes closed. Nicholas always let his anger speak for him, spilling from his fingertips like a raging storm. That time, he needed to control the storm as Laurent controlled everything around them. He wouldn’t beat his father in a raging fit. He had to be as calculated and careful as him, so he focused on that energy within, letting the sensation of unrivaled power ripple through his veins.

Around him, the walls closed in, sensing his stillness as an opening to attack. Thorns pierced his skin, closing in more and more until he tasted the soil. All the while, he listened to the thrum of Hill Castle’s heart, the point of its energy; Laurent. He felt his father moving through the maze, and could somehow see his energy passing below.

He fell through the floor like water. The roots opened for him without hesitation, all controlled by his unbending will. Then his eyes opened as he crashed into Laurent. It was the first he ever seen fear in his father’s eyes. Laurent couldn’t fathom him being there, one hand caught in Laurent’s antlers and the other upon his throat. The miasma pouring from him created a shield that Hill Castle couldn’t break through even as he snapped that antler from Laurent’s scalp to drive into his chest.

Blood splattered against Nicholas’ cheeks, his father’s blood. Laurent gawked, his breath coming in through a choked breath. The antler had certainly pierced a lung, and his body struggled to heal with the bone lodged in his chest. Nicholas held it there, pressed his full weight against Laurent as he brought his fist down over and over until he wasn’t sure whose blood coated his knuckles. Laurent tore helplessly at Nicholas’ arms. His claws ripped through skin. Nicholas felt the blood, but nothing could stop him from hitting Laurent.

A hand fell on his wrist. Nicholas growled until he met emerald eyes. William eased onto his knees, his face cut and clothes torn. Behind him, the maze opened up, withered into a poor excuse of a room. Charmaine and Evera stood together, close enough that their hands brushed, and Henry had his hands up as if he were once speaking. Arden wasn’t with them.

“Wait,” Henry said, approaching hesitantly.

Nicholas hadn’t heard them or realized that Hill Castle relented, or rather, Laurent couldn’t force it any further. He laid beneath Nicholas, bloodied and wheezing. He had pressed the antler so deeply that it lodged in the dirt behind his father.

“Why should I wait?” Nicholas whispered, pressing harder and savoring the weakened whimper Laurent released. He was unrecognizable, beaten to a pulp and eyes swollen.

“We need to question him,” William replied, keeping a firm hold on Nicholas.

“About what?” he snarled.

“It is peculiar that he didn’t want us involved. I believe it is because a fae lord has something to play in all this.” Henry eased closer, gazing down at Laurent’s limp form. “The disappearances are shadow disciple work, but if Laurent knew we were here, then surely a lord would know if shadowed disciples are on theirs. Someone knows, and that someone is another lord.”

“Or the shadowed disciples have their claws dug into a fae lord, forcing them to do their will, and that would look even worse. We can deal with this trouble for you, Laurent,” William said with a smug smile.

The meager cuts along Laurent’s face healed and his eyes opened as the swelling lessened. “Why would I need you?”

William glared at Laurent. “A lord making moves on another doesn’t look good. If anyone learns that the shadowed disciples are working in fae lands, that would spell trouble with Terra, but if you deal with this yourself, it won’t go unnoticed.”

The corner of Laurent’s lip twitched toward a frown. “You wouldn’t help without requesting compensation.”

“No, we wouldn’t. Once we defeat these shadowed disciples for you, quietly, then you will release Nicholas from his deal. He doesn’t have to sire children with Evera.”

Laurent laughed. Nicholas had never heard a sound so bitter. Hill Castle wavered beneath the sound, as if its lord’s laughter empowered it, or frightened it.

“You believe too highly in yourself.” He groaned when Nicholas twisted the bone in his chest.

“Damn the deal, let’s kill him now,” he said, ready to stab that antler through his father’s heart.

The ground shook. In Nicholas’ distraction, Laurent fell into the soil. He snarled and tore up the dirt until Laurent’s voice carried around them. “I suppose there isn’t much of a loss in this for me. If you fail, you die, and if you succeed, the disciples are dead. Then all I have to do is wait for Nicholas to make a mistake. He always does. Consider this deal accepted, however, this deal was made between two. Alvina may still call upon you, and know that there will be no help from Darkmoon. You do this on your own.”

The ground fell out from under them. Nicholas plummeted into darkness. He panicked for all of a moment before he was propelled into sunlight. He fell among the grass, groaning and looking upon a clear blue sky. More grunts followed. Nicholas sat up. All of them had been spat out of Hill Castle like a nasty spoon full of medicine. The structure reformed, a castle once more, albeit it weeping like flowers after the first frost.

William laid beside him, rubbing the bruise around his neck.

“Gah!” Arden flew above them, spat out last. He rolled safely to his feet, two stakes made of bark in either hand. Percival’s blood stained them, though he doubted Arden did much more than irritate him.

“Well,” William wheezed. “We better head off to Bloodbane.”

“I don’t like this one bit.” Evera shambled to her feet and shook her head. “I get the feeling he’s going to sabotage us.”

“Unlikely. He wants this dealt with otherwise, he’d have tried to kill all of you,” he said.

Arden dropped his daggers and dusted off his pants that didn’t remove any of the blood. “Did you forget he strangled us with roots?”

“That’s nothing to him.”

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