Page 47 of The Magic of Eternity
Saige took pity on the poor guy and held up her hand. “We’re pleased to meet you, Joris, and I want to thank you personally for your service to not only the kingdom, but to this realm.” The poor dude looked like he was about to faint.
“The queen is right,” I agreed. “However, we’re kind of here secretly, and we really need to make it to the courtyard without being detected. Do you think you might be able to help us with that?” I let my stare weigh heavily so he knew how serious I was.
“Of course, it would be my honor. We might need to, um… hide him a little bit though.” He pointed down at the other guard, who was still out like a light.
“Who is he loyal to?” I asked.
Joris shook his head. “Not to you.”
“Huh, that’s unfortunate. Why don’t you and the queen get started heading toward wherever you think would be safe? I’ll catch up.” I dropped a kiss to the top of Saige’s red hair. “I’m right behind you, kitten.”
Her big green eyes bored into me. I could tell that she wanted to argue, but now was not the time. We couldn’t risk leaving a guard who was under Asrael’s thumb alive, especially after he’d seen us enter. She knew this as well as I did. So begrudgingly, she clamped her mouth shut and stepped out of my hold, following Joris.
As I stalked toward the unconscious demon, I surveyed my surroundings, spotting a row of full bushes. Perfect. I hooked my forearms under the dude’s arms and dragged his limp and extremely heavy body to the hiding spot. Sweat was building on my forehead and I wiped it away, knowing I needed to keep going. I quickly retrieved the small, sharp blade that I had hidden in the waistband of my pants. I didn’t take pleasure in killing unarmed men, but I found today that I really didn’t give a shit. I didn’t hesitate, dropping to one knee and slicing his throat like it was a stick of butter.
He would be the first casualty of many today, and it was best that I prepared myself for that now. I knew things were only getting started from here and it was going to get a whole lot bloodier. Wiping the knife on the man’s shirt, I tucked away my blade and ran to catch up. Both Saige and the guard glanced at me from the corner of their eyes.
“Where to now?” I asked, not even acknowledging that I’d just murdered a man in cold blood.
A sound suddenly pierced the quiet. A deep, booming bass, forming a cadence.
“What the hell is that, Joris?” I barked.
The young guard’s face paled quickly. “We need to hurry. It’s beginning.”
Saige and I shared a look, our fears silently passing between us. “Take me to my men,” she demanded.
“Yes, my queen.” Joris spun on his heel and took off, moving much quicker now. We dipped and ducked and snuck through corridors, all of them completely vacant.
The sound of drums bled through the stone walls, casting a malevolent beat. I knew we were getting closer as the rhythm grew louder; it felt as though my heart had synced up with the drums. Saige was breathing heavily from the quick pace we were keeping, but she refused to slow. She wouldn’t stop now, knowing how close we were and what was on the line.
“Wait here,” Joris said, as we met a dead end in the hallway.
There were a couple windows that were a little higher up and allowed me to peek outside. The courtyard was right there. From our vantage point, we were behind everyone, but in the predawn light, I had a straight shot to see the platform. Khol, Faris, and Bram were lined up, shoulder to shoulder, their hands bound.
“Fuck,” I cursed, letting myself drop back down.
“What did you see? Tell me,” my mate demanded, and I knew I couldn’t lie.
“There’s a platform,” I started, running my hands through my hair. “Your father, Faris, and Bram are all standing up there, in the middle of a huge crowd. There are two huge demons in the back corner pounding on drums. I didn’t see Asrael yet.”
“So we’re not too late.” I wasn’t sure what I’d expected from her. Maybe tears. Maybe, I don’t know... screaming, raging, trying to get past me to run outside. What I hadn’t expected was the look of absolute fury that now morphed her normally pleasant features.
Her eyes narrowed to slits as her brows lowered. Her mouth fell open slightly as her jaw cocked over to one side, like she was processing what I’d just explained.
“Red,” I said gently, placing my arms on her shoulders. “Talk to me.” I could feel tremors rippling through her body as anger flooded her senses. “Saige,” I growled. “Talk to me.”
Suddenly, the tremors stopped completely, and her eyebrows raised, her mouth closed, and her eyes returned to their usual state. “I’m fine,” she replied calmly. “Perfectly fine. Where did Joris go?”
She was a lot of things, but fine was not one of them. Not in this moment, and certainly not after that transformation I’d just witnessed. Before I got a chance to question her further, or to really ensure that she was focused enough to go through with our plans, Joris reappeared.
“This way. Quickly,” he urged, disappearing through a door.
Saige didn’t wait, practically running after him, leaving me to chase after her. Fucking hell. I didn’t know what was about to go down. Though even if I had known, there was nothing any of us could have done any differently.
Cam, Kai, Balor, and myself spent what little time we had gathering the loyalists and going over our plan. The Exiled had left on their mission to free the dragons, and we were hopeful that we’d hear something from them soon.
Surprisingly, we had over a hundred demons, both male and female, show up to the large conference room, eager to join us and willing to do whatever we asked of them. We might just stand a chance with these larger numbers. Not all of them were the greatest fighters, but that didn’t matter because we had plenty who were. The ones who weren’t would be useful in helping the injured and keeping a lookout for incoming threats.
