Page 52 of The Magic of Eternity
Bram straightened to his full height, looking every bit as devastatingly handsome as he had when I’d first met him within a dream. It felt like so long ago, when in reality, it had only been months. We’d found each other in a fantasy of our own making. A dreamscape that was, and always would be, ours.
Turning away from Asrael, Bram faced the crowd. “The only thing I would want to say today,” he started, his loud voice carrying through the air, reaching everybody’s ears, “is that, given the chance, I would’ve loved to be your king. It was what I was raised for, and I always knew that one day it would be my role. I’m here to tell you today that even if we weren’t gathered together for such an exciting event...” He paused and chuckled, the crowd joining in with him. “I couldn’t be your king.”
The silence that descended in the courtyard was engulfing. All over, there were sharp intakes of breath, blinking eyes of disbelief, and looks of confusion as his words were processed.
“I was raised to be your king. I always thought I had no other choice, but then something changed. I met the love of my existence. My true fated mate. I know that each and every one of you understands how rare and precious that is.”
My heart was seriously going to explode. I saw so many in the crowd nodding in agreement at his words. If there was something demons could agree on, it was certainly the dynamics of a mate relationship.
“Over the past month, I’ve given a lot of consideration to my life. If I wasn’t a king, what would I be? I have no siblings, no family to speak of—aside from an uncle who’s here today to murder me for no reason.” One of the guards took a step forward, his hand on the hilt of his weapon. To my surprise, Asrael waved him down, motioning for him to back off. “So what would I do if I wasn’t dying today? I still feel a responsibility and a love for all the demons within Besmet, and it’s because of that it’s become clear to me that a monarchy is no longer in the best interest of the realm.”
Well, that got the people going, including some of the guards. Everybody just exploded. Yelling, cheering, crying. It was all of the things all at once, and the noise was deafening.
Asrael looked completely murderous, his jaw clenched in his face red. “That’s enough!” he barked to the guards, signaling for them to grab Bram and get him in position.
“It’s time for change! Fight for what you believe in!” Bram bellowed, and I felt like I was choking on my fucking heart. I thought it was just going to break right through my ribs. My power was at a full-fledged boil now. Little bubbles of heat popping, splattering. I was at the point that if something didn’t happen to break this tension, I was going to overflow.
There were no signs of the dragons yet, and I could feel my stomach sinking as Bram fought the guards. There were five of them attempting to restrain him, and when one of them kicked him hard in the back of the knee, forcing him to hit the ground, the others didn’t hesitate to pull him forward, grinding his cheek into the wood.
I started moving before I even realized what I was doing. I could hear Sloane and Kai yelling at me, but it was distant, like I was underwater. I couldn’t be touched. I slipped through demon after demon, moving for the platform, surprised that nobody had grabbed me to stop me. It was then that I looked down, and noticed the faint green light that was surrounding me like an aura. It pulsed with each step I took.
There was so much going on though, that either I hadn’t been noticed yet, or people just didn’t seem to care. They couldn’t take their eyes off of what was happening on the platform. I couldn’t fault them, because neither could I. Bram was locked in place, his face turned toward the crowd. His eyes lifted briefly, and that was all it took. Our gazes crashed together, like the ocean meeting the sand during a hurricane. It was violent and all-consuming. I saw his mouth. I knew he was screaming“No,”but I couldn’t hear him, and I didn’t know why he would be saying no. There was no way that I was going to let this happen.
Suddenly, a sound that I could only describe as hundreds of freight trains boomed around us, completely freezing everybody in their place as we looked around, searching for the source. Even Asrael looked momentarily distracted. A wicked smile bloomed on my face as Bram’s eyes locked on mine.
The dragons were here. This was the moment we’d been waiting for.
Most of the crowd was still looking up at the sky when I saw Asrael lift the axe above his head.
Oh gods. NO.
Bram saw it as well, and his frantic, panicked eyes pinned me, spearing me right through my heart. All I saw was red, and just like that, I bubbled over. No lid could contain the force that was now swirling through me like a tornado. My hands shot out in front of me as I screamed; my wings snapped out at the same time, as did my horns and my tail. Thick vines flew from my body, finding their way to Asrael’s axe. They stopped it an inch from my mate’s neck. I could feel that fighting had broken out around us, but I ignored it, yanking hard on the vines and pulling the axe from Asrael’s hands.
I knew I’d never forget the confusion on his face as I used my vines to snap the axe back and crash it against his forehead. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the sharp end, but it was hard enough that he stumbled backward, meaning Bram was able to scramble free, the nearby guards currently distracted by the fighting.
I had never felt this much magic in my life. Maybe it was because this was life or death, or maybe the vaccine was causing it, maybe the pregnancy... Either way, I was nowhere close to being done. I had a gods damn vendetta and I was going to ensure that justice was carried out.
I sent my vines out next to Khol and Faris, who were both staring at me wide-eyed, like they were hallucinating. My vines wrapped around their binds, quickly working to untie them. The moment their ropes fell free, Faris leaped off the platform, jumping into the battle, while Khol stayed on the platform. He and Bram began to circle Asrael, their eyes promising murder.
There was so much fighting. It was chaos. Demons were falling left and right. Still and lifeless, if they were lucky. The screams of the ones who weren’t would haunt me for the rest of my life. My vines became a living thing, an extension of my body. They knew what to do without being told. I was in danger, and they knew exactly how to protect me, and still, there was so much power.
Sloane stumbled beside me, and three demon guards surrounded him. My dragon was giving them one hell of a fight. The amount of blood sprayed across his outfit told me that he’d already had his fair share of kills. One of the demons managed to get a cheap shot in, as the other approached Sloane from behind with his knife raised.
A thought popped into my mind—if I was able to bring Fischer back from the dead, would I also be able to send somebody there to the other side? My magic had always been about life and growth, but that wasn’t what I needed from it today. All I knew was that I couldn’t lose any of my mates. Anybody who was a threat needed to be eliminated.
I flung my hand out in front of me, aiming for the man with the knife as magic surged through my fingertips. The demon froze, the knife dropping to the ground with a clatter as Sloane regained his bearings and quickly killed the other two guards. I watched in horror as the demon turned into a wilted version of himself. He was exactly like a plant, one who’d been left out in ninety-degree weather for days on end with no water. Sloane looked from the guard to me, speechless.
Now that I knew what I was capable of, I completely let loose. They were all going to regret the day that they ever thought they could take what was mine.
Gods, I was going to need a fresh pair of underwear after this shitshow was over with. When Saige had decided to walk toward the stage, leaving Sloane and I looking at each other like a couple of idiots, we had to let her go. I mean, to follow her would have only drawn more attention, and that would have been potentially devastating for our entire plan. Then when she started glowing like a frickin’ firefly, all I could do was stand there and watch, because I had no idea what was happening.
I could feel through our bond that she was furious. She was feeling protective; the need to make sure that her mates were safe was overriding all logical thinking. All hell broke loose on the platform, and I nearly pissed myself when I saw Asrael heaving that massive axe above his head.
So many things were happening at once. It was hard to know where to look, but my eyes stayed glued to that flash of steel as Asrael brought his weapon down toward Bram’s neck. I wondered if this was what having a heart attack felt like, because I was pretty sure at least ten years of my life had just been shaved off.
“Good thing she took that vaccine,” I heard Sloane hiss under his breath, as we watched the vines sneak out from her, wrapping around the axe before smashing it back into Asrael’s head.
“Fucking hell,” I gasped, amazed at the sheer power that she was possessing. Not only that, but my Sprout was not normally a violent woman. Seeing her go to these lengths to defend one of her mates was hands down the number one hottest thing I’d ever seen.
