Page 4 of Wrath of the Fae

I look at him with a hitch in my brow.

‘What am I thinking? You stay here out of danger? Like you ever would.’

He glances over my shoulder, at the strange wings tucked in at my back, before readjusting my hood, ensuring my face is concealed from any enemies who may care to look.

But I know there is no one left here.

The First Kingdom soldiers came to take what they wanted. Now that’s done, they have no interest in returning or remaining in a graveyard of their making.

‘I do wish you would put those away. They make you stand out like crazy.’

‘It takes a lot of effort to get them to fade, Lucca. Especially when I’m in danger which seems to be all the time at the moment.’

He looks at them again and lets out a breath. ‘What did you see?’ he asks quietly as if lowering his voice will change the answer. He returns his gaze to me.

‘Reid was here,’ I tell him. ‘I heard his voice just before they…’ I barely nod towards the spot where the heads are being gathered. ‘They have to pay for this. All of them.’

His hand rests on my back as he guides me towards the village.

‘They will,’ he promises. ‘They all will.’

I tell him what I saw. It’s the same thing we’ve seen many times over.

The villages on the outskirts of the Kingdoms are raided. Children are taken. Women are stolen. Men’s powers are triggered and taken with the devices Ivan sent here. Each raid leaves this trail of endless violence and carnage behind.

We can only guess what they're doing. We hear whispers and rumours through the forced confessions we pry from the screaming lips of the captured First Kingdom soldiers.

I know a little of what Reid and Cyrus are doing for the King. They're rarely seen beyond the palace my mother once called home.

But the whereabouts of my sister and El is a mystery. Rumours say they are in the palace, living as royalty should. But no one we have caught has seen them. I sense lies and truth. I know if our prisoners are telling me a load of bullshit or not. And even better, I see it through their own eyes. I look into their memories for myself. I haven’t seen my sister yet, and only three glances of Reid. And one of Cyrus.

They say they are loyal to the King.

Truth.

They say Cyrus senses powers, and Reid collects.

Truth.

That is, according to those unfortunate enough to be caught by us.

This is the second village we visited today. We were too late both times.

We try to stay ahead of the First Kingdom raids. Sometimes we do. We save the innocent and maybe manage a night without nightmares or washing off the stench of death from our skin. Sometimes, like today, we don’t. And I die a little more inside every time we’re too late.

They come. They take the children. They take the women. And they kill any who refuse to follow or enforce the King’s vile new laws.

We walk over the ash and destruction. Bones crunch underfoot, and I whimper as I accidentally stand on a freshly severed limb. Bile rises in my throat as I look down at it.

‘Sorry,’ I whisper, stepping carefully around it. 'I'm so sorry.'

There is no one here left to save.

But they deserve to be laid to rest. So that’s what we do. Lucca and I, along with ten others who joined us on our scouting mission.

We bury the good. We bury the true. We bury families.

And with each grave, I bury deeper inside me the love I have for the bastards responsible.

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