Made From Death (The Darkest Queens Series Book 1), page 19
Shelby nodded, his hazel eyes turning stormy. One minute they were standing outside the castle and the next they were trying to keep their steps light and splitting up at the nearest fork in the hall. They didn't say anything to each other as they separated. Didn't even give each other a second glance. Ace thought the space would ease the worried knot in her stomach but it only tightened as she moved farther away.
Keeping to the darkest corners, she constantly watched for any signs of the guards that should be roaming the halls. The castle remained still, nothing but the sound of her breathing echoing back to her. That only created more sweat in her palms and emphasized the thundering of her heart.
She'd studied the castle well enough to know that she could zig-zag her way to the right hall. As the halls rounded, giving way to more halls, and rooms with their doors firmly shut, her unease only grew as she'd yet to see a single soul. Not a servant. Nor a guard. Nor a warlock.
That's when the panic started to settle in. What if this was a trap? Or something far worse? She couldn't imagine what the ‘far worse’ could be exactly but she knew it was always a possibility.
The gods in her head were quiet. If she stretched her soul, she could still recognize their connection, even if for once it was distant. Something was happening. Something bad was brewing.
Ace knew it seconds before the first boom shook the castle. Her boots slid against the floor as she took a corner too fast and slid into the trembling walls.
There was a single shout. A call for help followed by a fear-stricken scream. And it came from the exact area Ace was heading straight for.
She clung to the wall, frozen to the spot as she listened. The knot in her stomach slid up to her chest, making each heartbeat feel as though it was her last.
The stone walls groaned as some sort of thunder pounded against them. Ace had to will herself to keep moving, force her feet to carry her forward. If the queen was distracted it would only make her job easier. The job she just wanted to get done so she could put this all behind her.
"Come on, Ace," she said to herself, "you can do this. Don't be a baby. In then out. Shelby's waiting for you." Oh, gods. Shelby.
He was in the middle of this too. Somewhere. Ace sent a little prayer up to the gods for his safety. Would they listen? Did they care?
Ace swallowed down her fear and made herself move. There was a clatter of metal on metal that began to grow louder as she neared the throne room where the queen was supposed to be choosing her king.
Slinking against the wall, Ace took a deep breath. The shouts were louder, the clashing metal becoming clearer, sounds of grinding armor and swords meeting swords. One turn and she'd be in the middle of it. She'd have to make it through the thick of the fighting to get into the throne room, if the queen was still there. Or maybe her job had been done for her.
A body slammed into the wall opposite of her, thrown from the action. A guard slid down into nothing but a heap of skin and bones, the light in his eyes already fading, and a gaping hole in his chest oozing blood. Had…had his heart been ripped out??
Oh gods. Oh gods. Ace couldn’t breathe. Air could hardly make it to Ace's lungs as fear finally took its hold. She couldn't swallow the lumps down her now constricting throat. Her feet wheeled her backward, eyes locked on the man who was already passing on. She only stopped when she hit something firm. Something that felt too recognizably human.
Arms seized her chest, pulling her against wet armor. A shout of surprise tore from Ace's raw throat. Her hands slipped off the vambrace that cut into her. Crimson coated her fingertips. Blood dripped from the person that held her.
"I thought all the servant girls had left the building." A rough voice growled before they spun her around.
Ace pushed off of them the moment their arms loosened and spun to face her attacker. Her hand was already reaching for the spell book in her pocket.
"This is quite a surprise." The man locked eyes with her, then slid his gaze down to her throat. "I know someone who is going to want to meet you."
Ace held the book in her trembling fingers, taking a step back with every movement he made toward her. He was pushing her into the fight.
The blood that covered him, streaked his face even, felt significantly less important with each passing second. This was no ordinary man. This wasn't a guardsman she was dealing with at all.
With sharp pointed ears, and a grin that reached all the way across his face, Ace knew who she faced now was not human at all.
"Fae," she gasped.
"That's right, princess," he snarled, launching himself at her.
Ace
Fae must be more dense than humans. Ace was certain of that as she turned to sprint down the hall, the corridor full of guards fighting off Fae, and toward the queen's throne room. The entrance was propped open with slumped bodies. She wouldn't even have to open the door.
She'd almost made it there, her boots sliding through a puddle of blood and the spell book opened in her hands when her attacker rammed into her back. The wind was knocked clear from her lungs as his body weight pressed down on her.
Gods, he was so heavy.
The unfinished grimoire slipped from her fingertips and skittered into the room. Her nails dug at the stone floor, scratching for any sort of purchase she could get as she tried to wiggle away.
Arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her back. Her scream burned up her throat. This was it. Either she would find herself being Impelled against her will or death had returned for her.
The Fae grabbed her shoulders and twisted her under him so she faced him once more. Sharpened fangs stuck out from his upper lips. Instantly she was a little girl again. She was a child watching as the Fae laughed before they fed on her parents and forced them to entertain them.
He tried to grab her wrists as she attempted to buck him off, throwing punch after punch at him. What little strength she had was nothing against the Fae. She was nothing against him. Not unless she got ahold of that damn spell book!
"Orange eyes." He snarled. "What sort of magic lives inside of you? I bet you taste decadent."
He clutched both of her hands in one of his, his palms the size of her entire face. The muscles in her shoulders ached as he forced her hands above her head and tipped his head toward hers.
"Pretty little scar." His breath smelled like rotting flesh. Red stained his tongue. Ace wasn't his first taste of the night.
"Don't you dare touch me!" She just needed to distract him. Get his attention elsewhere and then she could…she could…
What?
Where was Ramdon? Where was Bedesh? Where were the fucking gods when she needed them?
"I can feel you trembling like a little mouse." He laughed.
Men ran around them into the throne room and then back out. Blurs of blue armor that matched that of the Fae that crushed her lungs now. They didn't pay him or her, or the pile of dead bodies in the corner of the room any mind. Didn't stop to question what he was doing as they tore through the room snapping their teeth before disappearing again.
"Tell me, how'd you get that scar?" He leaned down, breathing her in. Wet and slimy, his tongue traced over the white of her scar.
Oh yuck. Oh no.
Ace wanted to tell him to fuck off. She had prepared the words and they sat on the edge of her tongue. She opened her mouth and the pressure that weighed her down was gone. She blinked, feeling a full breath finally fill her lungs.
"Don't you know that's a private story?" Shelby's palms glowed vibrant blue from where he stood only a few feet away.
Ace hurried to her feet. The Fae who'd had her, who'd planned to bite her, his body was pinned against the wall with nothing more than Shelby's magic. He looked between the two.
"Do you know what she is, warlock? Do you know how dangerous she truly is?"
Shelby looked at Ace, the light in his palms flickering. The Fae fell back down to the floor, his boots hitting with a loud thud. Shelby snapped his face back to the Fae, stretched out his hand, and with one rotation of his palm, there was a wicked crack that twisted the man’s neck before he crumpled into a heap.
"Thank you. I was worried—"
Shelby groaned. Blood bloomed on his white shirt, growing larger across his chest. The edge of a blade protruded between his pecs as he stared down at it with wide eyes.
"Ace?" Shelby whispered.
The sword was pulled back out with a sickening slurp. The warlock’s knees cracked against the floor, his hands pressing against the hole that was oozing crimson. Red tinted his lips.
"Shelby!" Ace shouted.
Another Fae warrior stood behind Shelby. He stood there with his bloody sword and smiled. Fucking grinned.
Shelby's eyes landed on Ace. Her attention was torn between him and the Fae that cocked his head at her. The Fae took a deep breath as if he could scent her from there. She didn't care. He could sniff her all he wanted.
Her feet slipped under her, slick with blood, as she rushed to Shelby's side. She pressed her hands over his, more blood coming out around their fingertips. Those beautiful hazel eyes scanned her face.
"Hang on. Stay awake." She touched his cheek leaving behind her fingerprints. His eyelids fell half way.
Her skin tingled like a thousand small sparks were sizzling over her again and again. Panic burned through her. Blind panic. The kind she'd felt before. The kind she knew from the day she died.
"I see why he hadn't killed you," the Fae said slowly as he glanced at his now dead comrade.
Ace shook her head, adrenaline pumping through. The Fae took a step and she held up a hand as if she could stop him as she sprinted to the fallen grimoire. Shelby's breaths were few and far between, hefty and labored. She ran faster than she'd ever felt herself move, the room a blur in her peripheral.
She didn't care that she was staining the book as she trembled, flipping through the pages. He had to have given her something for healing. Something! Anything!
He's dying, Fareesh said.
"I know!" Ace shouted to the heavens. "I fucking know!" Her eyes were burning, her vision blurring as she tried to find a page to help her.
A hand grabbed the grimoire. It slipped from her grip as the Fae held it in his palm, crumpling the spine with his strength. "I'm going to need you to come with me," he said, quietly.
Ace straightened, her only hope to save Shelby, the warlock who had helped more than anyone had in her entire life. The fear, the panic, all of it gave way to something bigger.
Like a roaring tornado it swept over her. It started in her toes like static that bit into her skin. Like lightning, it crackled up her legs, filled her belly with a heat that built up her throat and traveled into her arms. It wanted to burst out of her. It was expanding, consuming her, and pouring out.
She let her palms fall open at her side and a shout that didn't quite sound like her erupted. The fire inside her stomach burned, and she screamed at the pain as she felt something forming in her hand.
The Fae took a step back, his face going slack with surprise.
Ace could feel nothing but pain, rage, and loss. She'd already mourned everyone else in her life; this was one too many. She wasn't willing to give Shelby up no matter how he pushed her.
Her hands met. The hilt of a white glowing sword materialized between them. She didn’t have to think as her body took control of her, swinging the weapon over her head and through the Fae's body.
He gasped as the blade passed through him. Like Shelby had tried to cup his wound, the Fae pressed his hand to his abdomen. Orange flames ate at his skin, turning pink as they consumed him from the middle out and his body turned gray as ash.
Ace didn't stay to watch him fall. The sword disappeared from her grip as she snatched the grimoire from where it had fallen. Ink was smeared into illegible spells across the pages.
There was nothing left to do.
She threw the book across the room and ran to Shelby's side. His eyes were half hooded as she'd left him. His chest was no longer moving.
Echoing steps moved down the hall outside the throne room. Let them try to take her. Ace dared them as rage filled her and pushed out every other emotion.
"Shelby, look at me!" She patted his cheek. "Wake up, you stupid oaf!" Her voice sounded strangled and distant. Was she even in her own body?
She pressed her hands into his chest. There was no heartbeat. His chest didn't rise or fall with any more breaths.
No.
No.
No.
She wouldn't allow it. She couldn't. This…this would destroy her. It was destroying her. The lightning was eating her up, burning from the inside out.
Fareesh! she called to the goddess of healing. Sylik! Greshta! Anyone!
Please. She rocked back and forth, her hands roaming from Shelby's chest to his face. Spots formed behind her eyelids as she squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could. Please.
The lightning was flowing through her body now, bouncing back and forth from her head to her toes. Her body felt foreign to her; she couldn't recognize the feeling of Shelby's skin or even the warmth of his spilt blood.
She opened her eyes, even his body was so far away. A shadow shifted in the doorway. Ace looked up, meeting a bright orange gaze. A man, with mousy brown hair and blood splattered across his shirt, nodded at her.
"It's done."
"What?" Ace rasped.
Energy flowed through her, thrumming as he turned and disappeared in the hall. This wasn't the end. Nothing was done.
No.
She gritted her teeth, pressing her palms to Shelby's chest. She'd come from death. The gods had made her new from the flames of their holy fire. They could do it for Shelby.
Even if she had to make them do it.
For once Ace didn't chase away the fire she felt in her. She welcomed the stinging sensation that lit up in her chest and created sparks through her limbs. She fell into it, let it guide her.
The black behind her eyes turned to white. The gods were there. Each of them. She could sense them though she couldn't see them. They were listening. Waiting.
"Bring him back." She growled.
No one answered.
"BRING HIM BACK!" Ace shrieked and her voice echoed back to her.
Nature is already unbalanced. What it gives it also takes, Fareesh warned.
"Take someone else then," she said to the gods. "Anyone else."
That's not a deal you want to make, Sylik chided.
"Bring him back." She didn't care who died in his place. Maybe that made her a little too much like the queens. Maybe she was being entirely selfish.
He'd saved her. Then he'd died.
He hadn't even come in from the entrance he was supposed to be at… he'd… he'd come in behind her. Had he turned back to find her when the attack had started? No. She couldn't think about that.
"What do you want from me?" Ace's voice cracked. "You took me from peace. You thrust me back into this world where I had to mourn myself, my old life. I finally had something. Someone." Even if Shelby ended up leaving her at least it would be on his own terms. That she could accept. But this… "You'll give me his soul." She demanded of the gods.
Silence.
Embers crackled inside of her.
He'll hate you, Mina whispered.
"Let him. As long as he lives."
You are not alone, Ace. No matter how much you think you are. If you bring him back nature will take more than she will give.
Ace thought of the man who'd stood in the doorway. She'd thought of his orange eyes that looked just like hers. "Are there others like me?"
The brilliant white started to fade. Ace's spirit tried to cling to the gods, cling to the fire within her, but it was burning out. White changed to gray which darkened to black.
The lightning was gone. Her body was numb. A hot tear escaped the hard press of her eyes, rolling down her cheek and off her face.
A ragged gasp filled Shelby's lungs. Ace's eyes flew open as she sat back on her heels. His hands held his chest as he sat up. Blood still coated his body and his fingers but the hole was gone.
Replaced by a marbled white scar.
His body shook as he peeled back the fabric and touched the mark. "What did you do?" His deep voice was weak. Those eyes of his…he looked at Ace. A streak of orange marred his left iris, the rest still his beautiful hazel.
"Ace," he demanded, his throat bobbing, "what did you do?"
Sylik—god of wealth and fortune
Greshta—goddess of power
Fareesh—god of healing and health
Tamar—goddess of beauty
Nathalian—god of nourishment
Ramdon—god of mischief
Latsov—god of perseverance
Bedesh—god of luck
Mina—goddess of love
Malek—god of safety
Judia—goddess of war
Nax—goddess of peace and harmony
Persemis—god of lost souls
Idris -god of changing seasons
Skadif—god of the sea
Eidur—goddess of wisdom
Ruined by Fae Saga
Ruined
Madness
Heartsick
The Cursed Kingdom Series
The Cruel Fae King
The Cursed Fae King
The Crowned Fae Queen
The Twisted Crown Series
The Shadow Fae
The Iron Fae
The Lost Fae
The Prince’s Games Duology
Vengeance
Vanquish
Brothers of the Otherworld Standalones:
Chasing Boston
Rebecca Grey leads a busy life. Somewhere between raising two kids and daydreaming about being a reality television star, she writes. As a reader she enjoys books filled with arrogant boys, who she would never waste her time on in real life, and large fantasy or paranormal novels. Much of her love for these things are reflected in her books.
