The Crown of Shattered Souls (Weapon of Fire and Ash Book 4), page 36
A Weapon of Fire and Ash Novel
By Brittany Matsen
The Crown of Shattered Souls
A Weapon of Fire and Ash Novel
© Copyright 2021 Brittany Matsen.
Editor - Mariz C
Cover by Dean Packwood
All Rights Reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the written permission of the author.
ASIN: B094F95QKH
For anyone who needs a little magic in their life.
Adrianna
She awoke with a gasp, back bowing off the bed as each and every ounce of pain swirling through her body registered all at once. The scream she tried to release caught in her throat and tears pooled in her eyes.
Athena!
Athena was gone.
When she caught her breath, she rolled onto her front, burying her face into the pillow and finally the scream erupted from her. She didn’t care where she was.
Absolutely nothing mattered now.
The severed bond felt like it was cleaving her chest open with a crowbar. Everything hurt and she didn’t care if she never left his bed.
Vaguely, she felt the air shift. The Shediem general had entered, stopping near the bed. Slowly her sobs began to recede, but she didn’t look at him. He wasn’t the type to handle emotion well, but what Adrianna needed was time. Time to process the loss.
“I can’t fathom your pain, Witch, but your best friend still needs you. Do not grieve too long, or you risk losing the opportunity to ever get her back.”
Recalling the towering funnel of fire that her best friend had emerged from—changed into the new ruler of Sheol—might have broken Adrianna if Athena’s death hadn’t. According to the prophecy, she’d been the only Spellcaster alive that could bind Emma and all Shediem back to Sheol.
Doing so had nearly wiped her out completely.
But Emma was alive. That was more than Adrianna could say for her familiar.
She peered up at him, vision still blurred with tears. Her voice was croaky when she said, “Athena needed me to protect her, and I couldn’t. She was innocent, and perfect, and now she’s dead. How am I supposed to live with that?”
Tlahaz’s face was stony as he watched her, towering near the bed. Then he said, “You go on living. Her sacrifice was not for you to slowly kill yourself in this bed.”
The smell of him on the pillows and the sheets told her she was in his chambers back in Sheol. Their story had come full circle. She was stuck in hell with Tlahaz.
Though now, things were different between them. He’d softened to her, and in turn she’d fallen hard. It was stupid to fall in love with a demon, she knew that.
Too late now, she thought grimly.
“You should eat,” Tlahaz said, interrupting her morose musings.
Adrianna shook her head. “Maybe later.” Curling against the pillow, her gaze drifted over his shoulder and he sighed heavily.
Her eyes just started to close when she thought she saw drips of black goo trailing down the wall from the ceiling behind the Shediem General. But she dismissed it as just her exhaustion playing tricks on her mind. Even as she faded back into unconsciousness, she felt like something was wrong within the realm of monsters.
Blaze
The sky was a splotchy red, and purple swirled about with black streaks like some sort of infection. It had been that way for the week or so that Emma had been back in Sheol…as their Queen.
A snarl curled his lip just thinking about it. Though, he’d had time to process her kiss with the Shediem General, he still couldn’t fathom how she had defeated Nakosh so quickly. Now there was no denying who and what she was—no longer part Shediem.
She’d taken on the power of six princes and the King of all Shediem. There had never before in history been one being to contain so much evil. It was part of why Nakosh had divided his kingdom among his brothers.
He’d expected to hear something from Sheol, but other than light tremors and the ominous sky, all was silent.
Every single Shediem was gone from the world, leaving one question: who would they hunt? Who were they protecting the humans from? As of now, he and the rest of the Giborim were tasked with helping their kind restore order. Reestablish a ruling government and rebuild their homes and businesses. All of Seattle toppled when the war erupted. Even the manor had nearly fallen to pieces. If not for the hundred or so Spellcasters helping to repair it, things would be far more dire.
Without his consent, his gaze slid to the coven leader he’d been forced to work with on the other side of the building site. Her hair was jet black, framing her slender face with blue tips. She barked orders out to the other Spellcasters, and flares of vibrant magic danced through the space, lifting whole sheets of plywood effortlessly.
As if sensing his wandering attention, the witch glanced over her shoulder at him and smirked before sauntering toward him. Blaze swiftly looked away to hoist the two-by-four over his head while his brother nailed it to the supporting beam.
“You know, I’m all for the manual labor going on over here,” she drawled while her dark-brown eyes lowered to the sweat soaking the white t-shirt Blaze wore. “But without magic, they’ll just crumble every time there’s an earthquake.”
Blaze rolled his eyes. “Well we’re not going to just stand around and do nothing. So either use your magic to keep it standing or take your brilliant advice back to your section.”
Taryn folded her arms across her chest, highlighting the black lace beneath her sheer magenta top. Blaze’s jaw tightened as he forced himself to focus on the grin she now wore instead. “Will do, boss.” She wiggled her fingers at the bare skeletal structure he and the other guys worked on. A tiny burst of navy light arced past him and wound around the joints like coiled rope.
Blaze frowned. “I’m not sure that’s going to—”
His words were interrupted by the ground rumbling, vibrating the soles of his shoes. He held onto the wooden frame while Axel, at the roof’s pitch, shouted in surprised. The entire work site seemed to hold its breath. Dominic swore in Russian beside him when the tremor didn’t immediately stop.
“Bree is going to be puking up her guts,” he groaned and the two of them hoisted another beam up between them.
Taryn spun on her heel, calling, “You’re welcome,” as she strode away.
“How is she doing?” Blaze asked his friend, ignoring the irksome Spellcaster.
“I will ask her to marry me just as soon as things go back to normal,” he answered.
Blaze quirked a brow. “Do you think she’ll say yes?”
Dom laughed. “I certainly hope so. The little woman puts me in my place, you know? She was so scared and timid when she first arrived, and after discovering what we are, she did not immediately run.”
“That might have had something to do with the whole supernatural war that was about to take place,” Axel quipped, earning a glare from Blaze. His brother’s smirk remained, though exhaustion had etched itself into the bags under his eyes.
“You two have only known each other for two months,” Blaze pointed out. “The best policy is to give these things a little time.”
Dominic met his friend’s gaze. “Or sometimes, it is best not to let time pass you by.”
His jaw flexed. “Emma’s decisions have nothing to do with me. They never have. I cared for her and still do, but she made her choice. Our problem wasn’t timing. It was that I was safe, and she didn’t want safe.” It was the first time he’d said those words aloud—putting the raw, aching emotions he’d felt since her betrayal into cohesive thoughts. In a way, it felt good to have someone listen; someone to hear him.
“Well at least your fiancé didn’t poison you with magic, forcing you to betray your entire race, right?” Axel joked, trying to distract Blaze, and it worked enough to make him recall the awful events that had unfolded right before the war.
Axel and Emerelda were engaged, but when his brother started acting strange and Shediem were able to penetrate the wards, Blaze followed Emerelda just outside the fence where she had met with Mammon, Prince of Envy. He’d accidentally overheard the two plot to kill Emma in her sleep, but before he could alert his guards, he’d been knocked unconscious. When he awoke, Taryn’s brother Derrik revealed that he’d joined forces with Emerelda and the Shediem.
Blaze glanced at Taryn again, noting how her slender shoulders rounded when she thought no one was looking.
Dominic winced, drawing his attention back to the conversation. “Yeah, that’s rough. Are you going to the trial?”
His brother’s grin faded, and he shook his head. “Though she deserves it, I’d rather not be there when she’s sentenced.”
He didn’t blame Axel, and from the sympathetic expression Dom wore, he knew their friend felt the same. Emerelda had been a part of his life for many years, which made her betrayal sting even more.
Blaze wasn’t sure which part was more disconcerting, the fact that she had enchanted him to weaken the wards for Shediem to pass through, then framed him for it, or the affair she’d carried on for many years. She would most certainly be put to death for her treason.
Silence descended on their trio, and they worked in companionable silence. Sergei bustled over to help ward off the blistering wind of winter that snarled and snapped at them like a feral beast.
A Jeep rolled down the snow-covered mountainside slow enough to rival walking, until it stopped just outside the perimeter. Blaze had spotted his sister and human ward long before they climbed out of the vehicle.
Breanna and Haddie each pulled a baby from their side of the car, strapping them into some sort of fabric carrier. Baskets in hand, they strode toward the men.
“Lunch time,” Hadessah called cheerfully. She looked healthier than he’d seen her since she was returned to him, if a little tired from her daughter’s late-night feedings. He had to admit, he’d spent most of the time watching the child for any demonic tendencies, but she was just a baby.
As Emma had been just a girl once.
Blaze and Axel started toward their sister, and she embraced them each in turn—carefully, so as not to jar the infant who was already sleeping soundly. She was beautiful. Serene.
It was hard to hate little Nadia’s parentage when she was so perfect. If the ordeal in Sheol haunted Haddie, she hid it well. But he imagined that what she endured would not be forgotten for as many days as there were stars in the sky.
Arcs of radiant purple lightening shot across the bruised canvas above, followed by rumbling groans of thunder.
Haddie went still, her gaze suddenly far away. Blaze exchanged a look with Axel.
Something was wrong, he just didn’t know what.
But he hoped that whatever it was would make itself known soon. Before the Earth destroyed itself and everyone on it.
Levaroth
Levaroth stood outside the cage made from bones, arms folded across his chest. The being inside was cloaked in shadows that writhed like ravenous beasts feasting on the flesh of their prey. Garbled murmurs and hissed words in every language to ever exist came from within the black mass.
Every so often, the frenzied shadows would part, and he would catch glimpses of iridescent blue eyes flecked with starlight—the emerald shade he’d grown so fond of, were gone. She rarely saw him in return, mostly fixing her gaze on the bones that domed over her.
Other times, when the madness was at its worst, she did see him, and only rage, bloodlust, and destruction poured from her tiny body. Despite her new strength, which could easily crumble cities to dust, the cage she now lived in was made specifically for the King of Sheol.
In this case, the Queen of Sheol.
Levaroth hadn’t anticipated the insanity when he’d imagined her ruling at his side. And though that desire had bloomed what felt like so long ago, he wished for her to see him again. To remember what she’d done for him…
What she’d saved him from.
“Now that you hold all the knowledge in the universe, you’re staring at the ceiling and solving mathematical equations,” he teased. “Surely you can find something more interesting to dedicate your time to. Reciting lost texts perhaps. There’s got to be some salacious love letters written by Pharaohs.” Levaroth chuckled at his own joke, knowing she wouldn’t reply.
Only a series of hisses and eerie screeching from Emma digging her claws into the stone answered.
No matter how much she scratched or threw her body into the cage, it held fast. Which was good because the woman he longed to touch could easily destroy him and Nakosh’s castle.
Stone pillars that normally stood proud through the length of the hall were cracking without her help. Vines of blackened ivy wound down the columns like serpents.
“I’m going to need you to come back to reality, Sunshine,” Levaroth said in a lower, almost pleading voice. “Your new home needs your help.” Just as he said it, tiny chunks of stone rained down around them, the entire castle shuddering.
Incoherent muttering followed.
Frustration mixed with desperation electrified his every nerve ending. He launched himself at the cage, and bellowed, “Damn you for always trying to be a hero!”
Emma’s murmurings increased in volume as though trying to drown him out, yet she remained seemingly unaware of his words.
Levaroth’s head came to rest against the smooth edge of bone, and he sighed. “Just when you think you’ve won the crown and the girl, the entire situation shapes itself into yet another nightmare. I’m not sure why I expected anything else.”
After a long moment, he began to softly sing in Russian, hoping against hope that the words would reach some part of her that remembered the human she’d once been.
“Bayyu Bayushki Bayyu
Ne lezhite u kraya krovati
Seryy volka pridet
I khvatay tebya svoyey kroshechnoy storonoy.
On skhvatit tebya za kroshechnuyu storonu
I potashchit’ tebya v les ...
Peretashchite vas v les ...
Vniz pod kustom ivy.
Ne prikhodite, volchitsa, ne razbudite nashu Emma.”
Emma paused her endless chatter. The coiling darkness stilled for a moment before sliding down like slick oil. Her head was bowed, auburn hair a striking, shiny mane of waves that cascaded around her face—a shimmery, fiery curtain.
The shadows spilled over her crimson wings that gave way to inky black, over her shoulders and down the curve of her spine. They pooled on the floor around her, lashing her thighs like tongues of dark flame.
A spark of excitement rushed through him, and he continued his song, this time in English. “Bayu Bayushki Bayu
Do not lie down near the edge of the bed
The grey wolfie will come
And grab you by your tiny side
He’ll grab you by your tiny side
And drag you to the forest...
Drag you to the forest...
Down under a willow shrub.
Don’t come round, wolfie, don’t wake up our Emma.”
Levaroth paused at the sound of her shuddering breath. And then she uttered one single word. “Emma.”
He pressed closer and found himself reaching for the door to her prison. The need to go to her, to touch her, was an ache that gnawed through his chest.
“Emma,” he breathed in equal parts surprise and relief.
Still she stared at the floor, breaths coming in sharp, jagged bursts. “It’s just a nightmare.” Her voice was silk, and the rustle of leaves combined. A sensual sound that sent desire flooding through his bones in a wave of heat.
There was no handle or knob that opened the door, only the measure of a person’s intent could open the cage.
And like a curious little bird he stepped inside, entranced by the girl whose eyes lifted to meet his.
The intensity of her stare made him want to fall to his knees and worship at her feet. Swaths of midnight dotted with the brightest, golden stars. They winked into existence and burned out all in the space of a breath. One that he held in his lungs for fear of startling her from this moment of clarity.
He strode closer. “Sunshine.” His rasp was barely audible. “Have you returned to me?”
Her head cocked to the side in an inhuman gesture. He froze.
“They want me to free them. So much noise.” She shivered, the movement racking her entire slender body.
Levaroth’s brows creased. “Who?”
She rocked back and forth, and the shadows began to climb her folded legs to her waist.
“Wait, who wants you to free them, Emma?” Panic wrapped its iron fingers around his throat.
She glanced at him again. Beads of blood trailed down her cheeks, spilling from her eyes. He stood rooted to the spot, unsure of whether to dive for her and take her face in his hands, or flee before she unleashed a deadly pulse of her powers.
A cry of anger spilled from her lips, and the hands that held her upright burst with flame; tongues of blue and gold slithered around her forearms.
“No!” she screamed to the floor.
Levaroth’s lids slid shut as pain lanced straight through his chest. She was gone again. He turned, starting back for the cage’s exit.
“I’d rather spend eternity locked in a cage while you drive me insane than let you monsters back out.” Her words were choked, ending with a hoarse laugh.
