Page 1 of Imbalance
CHAPTER ONE
Drayven
"Ama!" My throat was hoarse, and my voice broke as I watched her small frame get thrown back and heard the sound of her head hitting the marble floor with a harsh crack. I immediately turned my back on my attackers, hoping like hell Adrien would cover me as I knelt down to the ground and pulled Ama's body against mine. A whimper slipped from her throat.
Damn it. We had to get the fuck out of here. I didn't trust that they would take the rest of us that were alive as prisoners. No, I had absolutely no doubt that, while they would take the heads of the houses as prisoners in order to create a transition of power, they would kill the heirs. The best way to ensure power was to kill anyone who thought they had a claim to it.
"Come on, Princess," I whispered, curling her frame against mine, "I need you to open your beautiful eyes."
Ama squeezed my arm and managed to open her eyes a sliver, "Fuck, that hurt like a bitch."
"Are you okay?" My voice was demanding and rough, but when she tried to nod, she winced, her eyes seeming to grow hazy for a minute like it was hard for her to focus.
Before I could get a response from her, a massive crash had me looking over to find Colt's father pinned against the wall by four Dark Elves and the King of Runes pressing a knife against his heart. Colt tried to surge forward, but Adrien's shadows slammed into him right as the dagger was driven into his father like a stake.
The roar from Colt's father shook the room, and I saw Colt's mother cry out in agony, having avoided the Queen of Runes until that moment. The moment of distraction, though, was enough to have Colt losing both of his parents in seconds as he tried to fight against Adrien, who looked like he was in pain watching the entire scene play out. He was doing the right thing, keeping us together and stopping the Fallen heir from a damned suicide mission, but I could see the agony on Colt's face as he watched his parents die before his very eyes.
Looking around, I realized that we were going to die next. Adrien's parents were gone and captured. Nico's and Colt's parents, despite one set being traitors, were dead. Damien's parents were currently being surrounded by twenty or more elves, and despite their shifter nature, there was no way they would survive unless they gave in. The other side had the ability to nullify their magic and those stupid fucking cuffs. The King and Queen of Runes were going to win, and they knew it.
"We have to surrender," I bit out the words, "They will kill us if we don't."
"They will kill Ama anyway," Finias hissed, his eyes filled with more emotion than I was comfortable examining. He was right, though, and I clutched Ama closer to me as I tried to figure some way out of this.
"Can you transport us?" I asked Adrien, knowing his shadows had whisked Ama and him away once before.
This time, because the light from the elves wasn’t around, his shadows formed. They quickly fizzled out, though, and he let out a low, sharp growl. “Damn it. I think it's a ward they have up around the building.”
Fuck.
Suddenly, the estate began to shake, causing everyone to come to a standstill. The wards, which had been an invisible presence before, shattered with a massive boom that had half the room covering their ears. A dangerous, cold magic filled the space as black smoke began to fill the room, and my eyes widened in realization of who had managed to break through the wards.
"What the hell is going on?" Colt demanded.
"My dad. He’s here," Ama whispered, letting out a small, strained laugh.
As if she'd spoken him into existence with her words, the king of the House of Death appeared in front of us. My gaze took in his black robes, which flew back and surrounded us, Dark Elves immediately shooting magic at him as his scythe came down onto the floor and vibrated the space around us.
“Run, Ama!” King Alaric commanded with wide eyes as he took in the scene around us, clearly shocked at what he saw.
“Dad!” Ama screamed hoarsely, wanting to fight her way to him, to be by his side, but her body was still limp in my arms.
Black smoke clouded my vision, stopping me in my place, and the last thing I saw was elves sprinting towards him in an effort to throw magic at him to nullify his abilities.
No, no, no. I couldn’t let him be hurt. Ama would never be able to carry on if something happened to him.Fuck. What could I do?
He managed to avoid the elves' magic before sending a sparkling black portal towards us that we had no time to dodge.
There was no other Reaper who could portal at will like King Alaric could. Normally, you would have to have a Reaper assignment to use that type of magic, and it would take you directly to the soul you’d be reaping, then directly home, but not Ama's father.
He could do it at will as the Supreme ruler, and I knew he had sacrificed his own ability to escape by giving us a portal before he was rushed by elves. It didn't surprise me, though. I knew how much he loved Ama, and the man was Supreme for a reason. He was a leader, first and foremost, which meant sacrificing himself.
The only thing I regretted was the guilt I knew Ama would feel.
It wasn't something I could focus on, though, because in that moment, Ama's body went completely lax in my arms as the portal pulled us through space. I placed my forehead against hers, breathing in her scent as my chest squeezed uncomfortably.Damnit. I needed this woman to be okay. I didn't care what else happened.
I needed her to open her eyes and tell me that she was alright. The few words she had yet to give me seemed to matter more than anything else right now.Damnit, Damnit.How had Ievergiven a fuck what the others in my house thought?
Not only had their bullshit clearly been a lie but...even if it hadn't been, I didn't care. I was finding that, outside of Ama, I didn't care about anything else. I needed my Princess to be okay because I knew, without a doubt, that what I'd been feeling for Ama from the start had been more than real. It was like a heartbeat pulsating under my skin, completely and undeniably my truth.
