Page 98 of Glass Hearts
I have to kill her.
“Arabella, let me do this for you. Let me take the burden from you. You are better than her; you are not a murderer. Go to your prince,” Max says as he comes up beside me, nuzzling my abdomen. I lower the sword, dropping it to the stone floor. It clanks loudly as I fall to my knees and run my hands through Max’s fur.
Bernice continues to cackle as if she has won.
“She killed Grayer. She killed my father. She-” I sob into his fur.
“I know, sweet soul. Go to your prince and look away.”
I crawl to Grayer, releasing the snakes, as I hear Bernice plead and scream. I feel Kip and Bert curling next to me, sending thoughts of love. Lying next to Grayer, I wrap my arms around him, crying next to my love as the screams from Bernice begin to fade.
Archer
The smoke quickly dissipates just as fast as it arrived. The first thing I looked for was Arabella, who was nowhere to be seen.
“Grayer is gone too. He is with her. Let’s deal with these fuckers so we can find them,” Sylas says through the bond.
“On it,” Koi says as I hear the other two council people, Mendez and Stalkton, sputter and gurgle as if they are drowning. Leaving Sylas and me to deal with the powerful mage.
“You would really give up all your power for the damaged servant girl?! I knew I was right to take over as the supreme leader. Poor choices all around. It will be easy for your remaining parents to submit once I send them your heads,” Victor spews.
“I would like to see you try,” Sylas growls, sending his power towards Victor, attempting to secure him with the stone floors of the castle. They protrude from the ground, though as they reach the mage, they falter, back into place.
“My magic, it-it is not budging when it gets to him?!” Sylas screams and tries again. Victor laughs as I try to send a gust of wind his way. It deflects.
“What the fuck?!” I yell out loud.
“Again, you boys aren’t ready to lead if you can’t even touch me. You are not powerful enough to take down a mage with an almighty talisman that repels the likes of your powers. Once I get more created, my army will be unstoppable. Taking over all the isles as the king. As it should be. It has been impossible to makethis talisman until that little rat, Elora. Her hair is quite magical, the things it can do!” Victor says with glee.
Sylas is the first to run at him. He manages one good punch on Victor until an unseen force strikes him. I use my wind to right him, avoiding his collision with the wall.
Raising my sword, I run to attack Victor, but he murmurs a spell as a fire blade appears in mid-air into his hands. Swiftly, he catches it as it falls.
Our swords meet in a clash, my ears ringing from the sound. The impact rings through my bones as I grit my teeth. We under prepared for just how powerful Victor had become.
Victor laughs maniacally as Sylas joins. Using my air magic, I propel Sylas into the air as he motions himself to crash into Victor, blade down. Before his blade can meet its mark, Victor forms a protective barrier, causing Sylas to be expelled backwards on impact. I also get ejected from his two-meter barrier, tumbling onto the cold stone floor. The wind gets knocked out of me as I growl in frustration.
“It’s been too long since I have been able to fight like this!” His menacing smile increases as he gets into another fighting stance, dropping his barrier.
“Too scared to fight us like a real man, Victor? Putting up a barrier because you know you can’t properly take us on?” Sylas goads as he cracks his knuckles. His sword bent from the force and impact of the barrier. Fuck.
“Where are those damn mercenaries?! Those fuckers must have abandoned us!” Koi screams through the bond as he continues to fight Stalkton. The other, Mendez, lies lifeless on the floor. Koi will have a hard time with today, I am sure. Out of all of us, he has never had to kill anyone.
Victor wipes the blood from his nose, grinning like a madman even as it drips down his chin. “Before I kill you all,” he sneers, “let me enlighten you on just how badly you’ve failed.”
He paces slowly, savoring each word like a final meal. “Right now, my queen is subduing that pathetic girl. Sure, you never loved the Baudelaire sisters. But you could’ve kept playing, kept enjoying yourself. I wouldn’t have judged. Instead, you chose her. One insignificant girl. For what?”
A low growl rumbles from Sylas.
“You’re wrong,” he snarls, stepping forward. “Arabella isn’t insignificant. She’s the key to saving our people. And more than that—we love her. She’s ours. That will never change.”
Stone cracks beneath his feet as he charges, a hammer of rock forming in his hands. I’m right behind him, blade drawn and high.
Victor barely lifts a hand, just a flick of his fingers, and raw energy blasts us both back.
We slam into the wall. The stone bites into my back before I hit the ground hard, lungs emptying in a gasp. Debris rains around us. Dust clouds the air. I cough, eyes burning, trying to focus.
The room spins wildly. Four Victors blur into one as he advances, boots crunching over shattered glass and stone. Sylas is bleeding beside me, just as wrecked as I feel. We lock eyes for a breathless second.
