She Rises, page 24
He doesn’t break his gaze from Allister as he speaks, "Commander Demarco tasked me with finding out what happened to you and Ned. Some scouts said the two of you left with a Fae. "It's Allister, isn't it?" His gaze locks on me. "I knew you wanted to find him." By now his voice is a shriek. "Why Attina?"
"And you're James, the coward who hit Attina," Allister snarls out.
I stand and move past Allister. I reach my hand out and try to push down both of their swords. Allister is the only one who yields, but I hear his voice in my head, I’ll drop my sword for you. But also, because he could never actually take me on. And by the tone of his voice, I know he’s sneering next to me without even having to look.
“James, drop your sword. No one here is your enemy unless you wish them to be.”
His gaze breaks contact with Allister for a split second to glance at me, but then it’s right back on Allister. “No, you don’t understand what kind of danger you’re in.”
I shake my head. “No, James, you don’t understand what kind of danger you’re in.” He cocks his head toward me. A questioning gaze on his face. I turn behind me and point at Raven.“I never told you this, but Raven is a Fae horse with her own powers. She can talk and is so much faster than a normal horse.”
“I don't believe you. She’s only a horse,” he scoffs, and I hear Raven behind me huff.
"Fuck you, boy," Raven snaps.
James's eyes turn to saucers but I keep going. I turn and point to Ned. “Ned is a skilled warrior.”
“An old man past his prime,” he quips.
“Boy.” I hear Ned admonish beside me.
My hand goes next to me, and I put my hand on Allister’s back. “And Allister is the Fae king’s top slayer.”
James’s eyes widen as his eyes focus on where I have my hand on Allister’s back. I didn’t realize the familiarity it must show. I glance up at Allister and see the triumphant smile on his face as he stares down James. Not helpful is all I have time to think before James grabs my arm and pulls.
I shouldn't have taken my eyes off of him.
He pulls with such strength that a shooting pain flashes straight through my arm. I grit my teeth and pull back with all my strength, and surprisingly I pull him off his feet as he slams hard into the ground in front of me.
Allister chuckles. “I guess you got some of that Fae strength while I was gone.”
I ignore him and lock eyes with James, who is now kneeling in the dirt with his shocked eyes glaring up at me. “And I am the most powerful being here. Do not forget that.”
He slowly makes his way back vertical, he puts his hands out and lifts them up and down like he’s trying to calm a wild animal.
I guess he is.
“Attina, what happened to you? Where's the girl I fell in love with?” His voice is almost pleading.
“She’s dead. The last of her died the moment your hand hit my face,” I spit, venom and wrath coating every syllable.
He finds something particularly interesting on the ground in front of him as he pulls back away from me. “Attina I… I didn’t mean to. It was an accident.” Before I know it he’s right in front of me, his features tight and pleading. “Please... please let me prove to you I will never do that again.” Tears fill his eyes, and as his voice cracks, my heart cracks along with it.
“James…” I say softly. “It’s too late…” I want to say more, but he grabs me hard again, surprising me, as I slide forward into him, he slams his lips on mine. I hear Allister growl next to me as his fist makes contact with James’s face, a hair's breadth from mine.
I hear as bones smash.
Allister’s arm is around my midsection, supporting me as I push James away from me. James stumbles back, lifting his hand to his nose, red liquid already gushing between his fingers.
Now Ned decides to enter into the conversation. He walks up from beside me and walks toward James, his hands up, trying to appear unthreatening.
Raven pops up behind me and pushes me with her head. “You okay?” I nod, but she doesn’t leave, she steps up closer, and Allister lets go of me so I can lean on her. He takes a step forward so he's behind Ned but in front of me and Raven.
“James, we won’t let you take her. You don’t understand how important she is,” Ned pleads for James to understand.
“I know exactly how important she is to me,” he says, blood spitting out between his hands with every word.
“She’s going to end this; the Solis, humans having to hide from the Fae, everything.” His arm goes up in a sweeping motion as he talks.
James moves sideways so he can lock eyes with me behind Ned and Allister. “What are you?” I don’t even bother answering, I let Ned talk for me. I tried reasoning with him and it got us nowhere.
“She’s the heir to the Fae throne.”
James’s eyes become saucers, his mouth drops open, and his hand drops from where it was putting pressure on his nose.
Blood streams down his face. “What?”
“She’s the heir to the Fae throne. Her mother was the Fae king’s daughter. We're going to take down the Fae king.”
James’s hand goes back up to his nose, his eyes narrow. “I thought you were searching for supplies.”
“We are, but then we are going to kill Henrik.”
James seems to mull this over. “What about that one?” He dips his head toward Allister. “What is he doing here?”
I notice Ned swallow hard. “Um, well, that's hard to explain.”
Allister stands up straighter. “I’m her...” he starts, but I put my hand on his forearm to cut him off. James should hear this from me.
“Allister is my mate,” I shout to James.
He cocks his head. “What does mate mean? Like a companion?”
“It means she’s mine,” Allister answers.
I suck in a deep breath but honestly, I’m not even mad. If anyone else in the world would have said that, I would have been furious but coming from Allister, the statement feels natural. I smile, not realizing James is watching me. I look at him; his mouth falls open and he shakes his head as devastation floods over him.
“She’s mine!” he howls as he picks his sword back up and races at Allister. Ned slyly slides out from the two opponents right before James’s sword arcs down and meets Allister's. Allister moves away from me, undoubtedly to keep me safe from the swords, but it opens up a crazed James to grab for me.
Ned kicks James’s hand away from me as Allister’s sword comes down between us. Raven wraps her body around mine protectively.
I can tell Allister is mad now. This was just a game to him before, but now he’s pissed. He's fighting half as fast as I’ve seen him fight before, but I know Allister is going to kill James.
“Allister!” I scream, and both men stop for a split second to scan my face.
I take the chance to make my move.
I call to the ground beneath me. The earth pushes James back away from Allister. James throws out his arms, trying to keep his balance, but I push a gust of wind at him, knocking him backward. He goes toppling ass over head, until his back slams into a tree.
Allister turns to face me. “Kitten does have claws,” he says, and I can hear the shock in his voice. I level a glare at him as I stalk over to where James is still reeling.
I stop a healthy distance away from him. I won’t make the mistake of being within arm's reach again. I stand tall as I gaze down on him. “Now you know. I will be queen. I will rule, stop the Solis, and create a world where human and Fae can be neighbors, instead of enemies.” I take in a deep breath and slowly release it. “Now, you have a choice. You can either come with us,” I throw my arm out behind me, indicating everyone, “and help us, or you can ride back to Sanctuary and act like this never happened.”
He doesn't even lift his gaze to mine. He just sits there and stares at the ground, unmoving. I wait for him to collect himself. His breathing ratchets up on the wind. “You will never be queen,” he spits out.
“What?” I cock my head like Allister does and hope it gives me the same predatory look it gives him.
He glares up at me; his face feral. “If you try to take on the Fae king, you will die, he will find the rest of the humans, and exterminate us all.” He stands up, obviously in pain, I feel bad for a split second and take a step forward, reaching my hand out to him, but he slaps it away. “I’m going straight back to Sanctuary. I'll tell Commander Demarco you are traitors and I will bring the army to stop you before you kill us all!” He turns and trudges away.
Instantly Allister is by my side with his arm wrapped protectively over my shoulders.
James stops and turns around, his eyes expectant until he sees Allister’s arm over me and his eyes hone to slits. “I will stop you, Attina, and then I will make you mine again.”
I don’t say anything. I just hold his cold, heartless stare until he turns and runs off into the trees and disappears.
39
Attina
Well, he's pleasant, I hear in my head as I melt into Allister, letting him support and comfort me. I breathe in his smell, the smell of a forest right after a rainstorm comforting me. He wraps his arms around me and puts his head on top of mine, placing a soft kiss there.
From behind, I hear Ned, “What should we do now?”
I squeeze Allister. I don’t want to deal with this, let's run away.
He squeezes me back, and I pull my head away to gaze into those perfect, swirling purple eyes of his. A tired smile cracks his face and he leans down and kisses my forehead. I know, and if the world wasn’t broken you wouldn’t have to. But it is. And we’re going to fix it.
Do we have to? We could just run away.
He chuckles. Yes, even though running away with you sounds like a dream come true, we have to save everyone, kitten.
He spins me around to face Ned's expectant eyes.
“Give me a second to think.”
I walk over to where Raven still stands and wrap my arms around her. “Can we go talk?”
She nods. “Always.” We both turn and walk away.
“What do you think?” I ask when we’re out of earshot of Ned and Allister.
“Of what? James or of what James is threatening?”
“Both.”
She shakes her head. “I never saw how obsessed he is with you. I don’t know how I missed it, but I did. I can’t believe he acted like that.”
I gaze down and kick the ground under my feet. “I can.”
Raven lowers her head, her ears drooping. “I know I’m sorry you had to deal with him.”
I glance behind me at Allister. “It’s all right, everything I've been through brought me here.”
Allister must have noticed, though, because in my head, I hear a sultry voice. Can’t keep from staring at me, eh? By the way, your ass looks amazing in those sweats.
My cheeks heat, and I hear Ned yell, “Seriously?”
Raven looks back and forth between me and Allister. “I’ll still kill him if he hurts you.”
“He won’t,” pops out before I have a chance to think about it. I wave a hand in front of my face like I’m trying to clear the air in front of me. “Anyway, James was dead serious. He’ll go back to Sanctuary, get an army, and try to stop us. I think the Commander will agree with him too."
“Why? James was a nobody, I thought.”
I think back to the lunch we had with the Commander all those days ago, how being around him made me feel oily with spiders crawling over my skin, and what Ned told me about his abuses of power. “I just have an inkling the Commander will use this to his advantage somehow.”
I turn and call to the boys, “Could you guys come over here? We need more heads to figure out our next move.”
We end up in a circle. I look across to Ned. “I was telling Raven the Commander will use whatever James says to his advantage.”
Ned says, “Most likely. I can't believe he sent James to check on us.”
I put my hand on my chin and think. “If he tells the Commander I’m Fae, he could twist it and say the Fae infiltrated Sanctuary and use it as an excuse to go to war with the Fae.”
Raven’s eyes widen. “Would they have a chance?”
“Not a chance in hell,” Allister says with a finality in his voice.
“You were friends with him once. Does the Commander know they'd lose?” I ask Ned.
He crosses his arms. “Before Demarco took rule of Sanctuary, I would say he did but he’s been in that stronghold for decades. I’m not sure being underground for as long as he has been hasn’t messed with his mind. He might not see the Fae as a big threat anymore. You’re right, he might see this as an opportunity to take on the Fae and come back out of hiding. Make humans the apex predator again.”
I glance around the circle at everyone, searching their faces. “What are we going to do?”
Allister chimes in. “Well, I only really see one option.” We all stand quietly and listen. “You were friends with him, so you need to ride back and talk some sense into him or as much sense as possible.”
Ned puts his hand up to his chin. “Yes, I think you’re right.”
“What about us? You can't just leave us!” I don't know why but I feel like I’m being abandoned by someone who's sort of a father figure and it hurts.
Ned must see the hurt on my face because he takes a step forward and wraps his arms around me, pulling me into a deep hug. "You’ll be fine without me.”
Tears fill my eyes. “You said you’d never leave my side.” I feel Allister’s warm, broad hand on my back.
“This isn’t goodbye forever, this is just see you later. Okay?”
I rub my head into his shoulder, and he pulls back, staring me straight in the eye. “You have Allister to teach you magic better than I ever could, and he and Raven will protect you with their lives. I need you to do the same for them. You got that?”
“Of course!" He should know it goes without asking. "But you’re going back empty-handed, and besides, what are we gonna do?”
“I’ll be fine. What’s most important is I get back to mediate James and the Commander’s interactions. If I leave now, I can get there before James does and warn the Commander of his meltdown." His eyes gleam. "I know a shortcut I'm sure James doesn't know. Maybe I can even convince him I left you out here to keep searching for supplies.” He glances at Allister. “As far as what you should do after this, I’m sure Allister has some idea of what to do.” He lets go of me, and now I stand in the center of the circle everyone has formed around me.
Allister nods. “Yes, I do have a plan. Henrik thinks I'm using you to get into Sanctuary, which gives us some time to work on your powers. As long as we can stay out of eyeshot of that damn Fae hawk spy of his. As a kid I had a secret hideout I would go to whenever I needed to be alone. No one could ever find me there. Fae would walk right past this place and never notice it.” Then he says more to himself than anyone else, “Then it must be invisible by some means, but if that’s the truth, how did I find it?” He shrugs his shoulders and just that small movement sends his muscles rippling. “We’ll go there and work on your magic.”
“Okay.” I agree as I glance back to Ned. “What if we need you, though?”
“I’ll go get him or bring him a letter,” Raven pipes up behind me.
Ned replies, “Good idea. They’ll let you into Sanctuary and bring you straight to me since I take care of the livestock.”
“Hey now!” Raven pins her ears, and we all laugh. I smile at her through my puffy eyes. Here I am bawling like a big baby, and in two words, she’s able to cheer me up.
I scan everyone’s face around me. “I don’t know what I would do without you guys. Thank you!”
Raven pushes her head into my back. “Stop being so mushy.”
I lock eyes with Ned. “So the plan is you’re going to go back to Sanctuary while Allister takes me and Raven to train.”
He smiles sadly. “Sounds like it.”
I throw my arms around his neck. "I'll miss you!” He’s come to fill the void my father left when he died, I really don’t want him to leave.
He whispers into my ear, “You’ll be fine, and I’ll see you sooner than you realize.” I nod into his shoulder and back away, backing into Allister’s hard body. I grab and wrap his arms around my shoulders, crossing them across my chest.
Ned takes a step back and whistles.
Mylo comes running.
I walk over and help Ned roll up his bedroll and give him the rest of our supplies. He pushes half of them back at me. “You’ll need food and water too.”
I shake my head. “No, I’ll be fine, we’re in the forest now, I can hunt and there is plenty of water around. I'll take some Restore, though.”
As Ned hands me some, Allister adds, “I have Sacks anyway.” We both turn and stare quizzically at him. “It’s those circular things I’ve been eating. They are water pockets full of everything your body needs to sustain itself.”
Ned shakes his head. “There are people out there starving, and you have something so small that it could keep everyone healthy simply by popping it in their mouths?”
Allister’s eyes drift to the floor. “Well, we might have these, but our people starve too.”
“They do? Why? If you have something like that, what possible reason could Henrik have for letting his people go hungry?” I shout, shock clear in my voice.
Allister’s eyes lock with mine, and I can see the pain and anger in them. “He’s a horrible tyrant. Henrik cares about nothing but power. If you aren’t useful to him in some way he can comprehend, then you aren’t worth the air you breathe to him.” He kicks the dirt under his foot. “Humans aren’t the only ones being oppressed.”
Ned, who’s been packing away all the food and water we have left in Mylo's saddlebag, says, “Well, on that happy note, I’m leaving.”
