“Shit,” Evie murmurs.
“Oh, and the reaper queen, a psychopath by the way, is in on this deal. She has thousands of my people locked away in her dungeons,” I tell her. “So as much as I am happy to help you here, which I still haven’t found out what Dagthoch did, I do need to get back to the Reaper Realm and finish this test for the throne.”
“I will forever be grateful for your help here, Daesyn and I will tell you the story of what Dagthoch did when it is not so raw to talk about. Losing my people…hasn’t been easy,” Evie tells me. “And do you want the throne?”
“No,” I tell her truthfully. “There are more qualified people in the test that would rule much better than I would. I am a nobody, and after this, I will go back to being that.”
“When we first met, you were ready to die rather than be killed,” she starts off. “I felt like that often, but I had someone to protect, so I fought for her. It took me a long time to realise that I deserve whatever I put my mind to. I don’t make friends easily, or like people in general, but I felt a relatable spark when I met you. If I hadn’t, I would have killed you.”
“I was surprised you didn’t,” I reply.
“I surprised myself. I usually like to kill first and ask questions later. Either way, I don’t think you are a no one. That’s my point,” she finishes. “You are special.”
“I’m cursed,” I reply. “That’s the truth of it.”
Her eyes meet mine for a brief second and then swiftly turn back. She shoots an arrow through the air, and I watch as it imbeds itself into a lower demon right about to jump out on Azi and Seth. Azi looks back and lifts his hand before facing the steel door. The brothers nod at each other, and then they lift their hands. Pure red fire blasts out of their hands, slamming into the door and burning it. The power radiates and shakes the ground as the door starts to melt down.
“Let’s go,” I tell Evie. She lowers her bow and nods, following after me across the sand. We run fast, jumping over stones and hearing the sound of roars in the distance, followed by fire shooting into the air. I know Seth will be okay, but my body still itches to run over and check. I keep my head down and follow in the direction of the back of the castle and see my window right above. Thankfully, there is no one about. Evie is at my back as I feel around the wall for the gaps and start to climb up. My arms ache as I get halfway up the wall, every step pulls on my entire body with a lot of effort to get up there. Eventually, I get to the window sill and pull myself up, sitting on the edge. Evie is halfway up the wall as I undo the glass panel lock and slide into my old room, too many memories hitting me like a brick. My room looks exactly the same as it did years ago, the same white-sheet bedding on a rock hard mattress, the same old chest of drawers with several bullet holes, and the same peeling flower wallpaper.
Hopefully, everything is still the same.
I kneel down and feel around the floorboards by my bed until I find the right one, and it gives way. I lift it up as Evie climbs into the room, her movements like mine, silent and well trained. Reaching into the gap, I grab two guns out and clip one into my holder before offering one to Evie. She shrugs and takes it, turning it over.
“Guns?”
“Magic guns I stole. The bullets kill anything supernatural or human with one shot, doesn’t matter where you hit. And they never run out of bullets,” I explain to her. “I suspect they don’t work on Dagthoch or higher-level beings, but worth a shot. Or a dozen.”
“You keep gifting me wicked weapons, we will be best friends,” she quietly warns me with a smile, and then she heads over to the door, pressing her ear against it. I follow her over, keeping my dagger in my hand and listening with her.
There is the distant noise of explosions, most likely caused by Seth and Azi, but no one is nearby. Evie nods at me before opening the door, and we both head out onto a wooden decking of the upper floor. There are three floors of this decking, and only one staircase to go down. But knowing Dagthoch, he will be in his room, watching the fight.
Coward that he is.
I turn off down the decking and around a stone corridor to a wooden door, which is slightly open. As suspected, Dagthoch is leaning against the window, watching the fight happening below. His large belly hangs over the frame of the window, his greasy long green hair matches his pale green slimy skin, and two fangs protrude from his mouth onto his chin. His human clothes don’t fit him, the shirt and tie almost look like they could strangle him at any second, but he doesn’t seem to care. He just laughs at the fight, not noticing me and Evie for a second until Evie kicks the door shut behind us, and his black eyes snap our way.
He looks at Evie for a brief second before settling on me. “The little bird returned to her cage.”
“Hello, Dagthoch,” I reply, crossing my arms. “Long time no see.”
His bushy eyebrows rise. “I miss you terribly. No one is as good as you are at killing, my bird. Where did you fly off to?”
“Home,” I flatly respond. “And now I’m here to clean up the mess I left behind. I.e., you.”
His laugh grates on my ears. “I am your home. I rescued you off the streets, a poor, nearly dying from starvation, little bird. I trained you, I fed you, and you betray me by siding with the queen I sent you to kill?”
“Who sent you after me?” Evie asks. “Or was it you that came up with that brilliant plan?”
Dagthoch finally looks her way, taking his eyes off me. “The dreaded Protector queen. What an honour it is to have you here.”
“Enough with the bullshit,” I snap.
“You might as well tell me. I’m here to kill you, and I will make it quick if you give me a name,” Evie replies, pulling out her bow. She loads an arrow and aims it. “Or I can make this very painful for you. After what you did to my people, I am pissed.”
Dagthoch no doubt sees the anger in Evie’s eyes, as for a second he looks worried, and then he narrows his eyes. He lifts his hands and slams his power into the room, into us, hard enough to knock us both into the wall. His power is like a hurricane, the pressure of it holding us flat against the wall as he walks through it like it’s not there. Closing my eyes, I focus on my shadow magic and pull bits of it to me, enough to make a shadow blade in my hand. The problem is, I can’t lift my hand from the pressure. Dagthoch stops right in front of me as Evie screams a mixture of curses and death threats.
“I’ve wanted to kill you a long time. I scented your soul the first day we met, how enchanting it was. The magic inside of you is old and powerful,” he tells me, his disgusting breath blowing all over me. “I’m going to taste your soul now, and no one is going to be able to stop me. Especially not you.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” I reply, and then I let go. Fae and shadow magic blast out of me in a wave, knocking Dagthoch’s magic away like it’s nothing, and it smothers me in a purple glow. I swing my hand, picking up Dagthoch in a swirl of my power and holding him the air as my own feet float off the ground.
I wish I could say I am in control, but the magic feels like it’s controlling me.
Consuming me.
“Evie, you need to finish this,” I tell her, knowing she is close by.