Shattered Souls (Guardians of the Maiden Book 3)

Dyna was towed away from the battle. Sowmya kept her covered, pressing her tightly against the cold sharpness of her armor, Janel and Zekiel following on their heels. The Royal Guard fought their way through the courtyard as they headed for the forest. Blasts of fire and spells provided extra coverage, taking down anyone who tried to go after them.

Her sword. She forgot her sword somewhere, but it was too late to get it.

Sowmya got her past the tree line and told her to run. They made it several feet in when the ground seemed to shake again. This time it was with the rumble of racing horses. Dyna spun, catching only a glimpse of Klyde leading the Skelling Mercenaries into the courtyard. A clash of swords rang out.

“Oh, thank the gods,” Dyna said. “He brought reinforcements. We can go back—”

Arrows rained from above, zipping past her face.

Janelle went down. She fell at Dyna’s feet, staring blankly at the sky with an arrow through her eye.

Dyna cried out. Sowmya dove at her, red wings snapping out like a shield. Her body spasmed as arrows pierced her through.

“Sowmya!” Dyna screamed.

The Valkyrie stumbled, blood dripping from her mouth. She gave her a bloodied grin and readied her glaive, blue flames spiraling around the blade.

“Go, my lady,” Sowmya grunted, turning to face the group of Skath Celestials coming. She stood tall, even with the many arrows protruding from her back and wings.

“What? No!”

Zekiel’s arm yanked Dyna back by the waist, hauling her away from her loyal guard. She quickly fell out of view behind the trees.

“Sowmya!”

“Leave her. More will come!” Zekiel urged. “I am charged with protecting you. Please come this way.”

Dyna reluctantly followed him as they ran into the darkening forest. The sounds of clashing steel and the veil of smoke and ash faded beneath the chill of snow. They ran and ran, the sound of her heart beating in her skull. The hem of her torn dress grew heavy as it was soaked through with melted snow.

Cassiel had closed the bond. She would give anything to feel him right now. What if by running, she had left him to die?

Dyna tripped on a tear at the hem. Her ankle buckled and she tumbled, leaving her crown to plop into the snow.

“You wore a crown,” Zekiel said. And she thought he might have sounded a little derisive.

“Well, I didn’t have time to put it away, did I?” Dyna scoffed to herself, pushing back on her hands and knees. That morning she’d contemplated what it would mean to wear it before an army came to make sure she didn’t. “Perhaps it fit the occasion.”

“Yes, I suppose it does.” Zekiel turned to go and something slipped out of his pocket.

Dyna picked it up, frowning. “Why do you have a mirror?”

“For my vanity.” Zekiel took it, not bothering to help her stand.

Putting any weight on her ankle made her hiss. She gripped a tree for support.

“We have to keep moving.” He rushed past her and the scent of lemons came to Dyna again. It was so startling after smelling only blood and smoke that it made her head ache.

“I need a moment.”

He kept going.

“Zekiel.”

“Hurry,” he tossed her way sharply. “There is no time for your needless complaints.”

The way he spoke to her was like a slap to the face. It was a silly thing to worry about now, but Noemi was right. She couldn’t allow this to continue.

“When I speak to you, I expect you to stop,” Dyna said in full authority.

He halted.

“Your lack of decorum isn’t appropriate. You will regard me accordingly when you speak. Do you understand?”

After a pause, Zekiel deeply bowed. “Of course, Your Majesty. Pardon me. I was concerned for your safety and I forgot myself. It will not happen again.”

Dyna nodded. “Please lead the way.”

She limped on her bad ankle as they hurried onward to the north. Where did he planned to hide her when there wasn’t much in this direction but the bluffs and the pond? Lucenna mentioned old dungeons were near here. They could hide in there.

The wind blew through her dress and she shivered, rubbing her bare arms. Again, she caught a citrus scent. Why was it familiar? She had smelled it before, now that she thought of it. Where…

Memories came to her in fragments. Malakel’s sneer in the hallway. Hilos guards in the shadows. The shallow cave on the side of the Hermon mountain. The night she’d been taken, only one male spoke but there had been two that night, along with that scent.

And now she knew what it was.

They left the forest and came to the pond. Zekiel searched the sky.

“You must have trouble sleeping,” Dyna said, opening the bond. She let her thoughts and voice project to Cassiel. “Verbena oil is used to treat insomnia, but it has a very distinct smell of lemons.”

Zekiel stilled.

“You were there that night in the cave. It was Amriel who took me, but you were there.”

In answer to the reveal, the dark flare of Cassiel’s mind met hers. Where are you? His voice was a savage growl.

The pond.

The battle is over. We’re coming. Keep him talking.

She gave herself a second to feel relief before steeling her resolve.

“Are you waiting for Amriel again?” Dyna backed away as he fully turned around. “He must be the one to do the dirty work. You’re merely the coward who breaks the wings of tied up females, the one who lurks in the dark hallways at night—and who hides on the roof to signal our enemies with a mirror.”

Cassiel’s curse blared in her mind.

“Then there is silent Amriel,” she continued, backing away further. “The guard who never speaks because he already spoke to me before and couldn’t risk me recognizing him. But he wasn’t the one who spoke the night of the festival. This plan came from above you.”

Zekiel narrowed his eyes, confirming her suspicion. However, he wasn’t a Skath Celestial.

I don’t think he serves Lord Hallel. She told her mate. Someone else sent him here.

Get him to admit who.

“Do you know it’s rather easy to guess when you are communicating with that Nephilim? You always wear a stupid little smile.” Zekiel’s blue eyes became as brisk and lifeless as the ice at her feet as his once kind expression being peeled off like a mask, and she saw very clearly her mistake.

Amriel could have killed her in Cassiel’s room back in the castle. Instead, she’d been taken to Zekiel because he was the one she should have feared. All the other times she’d been hurt by Tarn and Malakel, it had been to merely get what they wanted.

But Zekiel was different. He would hurt her because he wanted to.

Dyna swallowed. “You were sent to kill me.”

“Yes.” He smiled, and there was no kindness in it. Only sheer elation at the thought of ending her life.

“Why? By who?”

Zekiel tsked, wagging a finger that he wouldn’t say. But Dyna had two guesses in mind. Two Lords close to the royal family who stood to gain from this coup and a throne for the taking.

“All you need to know is that your death will return peace to the Realms. Don’t resist and I promise it will be quick. Even painless.” He gave her a mocking bow. “Your Majesty.”

The last of her Essence powered inside of her and came to life at her fingertips. She filled her hands with green flame, deciding then and there only one of them was waking to see tomorrow. Because Cassiel wouldn’t reach her in time.

Losing what they had wasn’t an option. Even if she fell, she wouldn’t be beaten.

Dyna readied her trembling hands. “You think I fear death? I have faced it several times. By now, I would like to think we’re familiar acquaintances.”

Zekiel laughed as he prowled forward. “That’s the only thing about you I mildly liked. You face the direst of problems with courage, even if you don’t feel brave.”

Dyna tossed out a blast of magic, but he was so fast. One second he was five feet away, the next, Zekiel flew at her. She ducked past his knife and punched him with a blast of magic. He crashed into a tall boulder but immediately recovered as if he felt nothing at all. The burn in his chest healed in seconds. Gods.

Take his wings! Cassiel shouted.

She threw out spell after spell, aiming for his feathers, but Zekiel caught on. He sped past her next attack and slammed her face into a tree. Dyna’s crown ripped into her temple, pain bursting in her skull. Her vision swam as she lost all sense of direction. Her pulse pounded in her ringing ears, stealing the strength in her legs. She dropped like a sack. Liquid warmth leaked down her cheek, splattering bright red in the snow.

Dyna!

She whimpered, desperately calling on her Essence. A boot rammed into her stomach. The air shot out of her and she gasped a weak cry. Cassiel’s furious snarl roared in her head.

Get up! She internally shouted at herself, but her vision swam, failing to get her limbs to move. Her lungs fought to recover the breath he’d knocked out of her.

Zekiel grabbed her ankle, and her Essence vanished, leaving her cold and empty. He started dragging her limp body away. The soft cushion of snow was replaced by hard, cold ice.

“He wanted you tossed over the cliffs, but I prefer a more poetic death,” he said casually. “They say drowning is peaceful once you stop fighting. Well, for your sake, I hope it’s true.”

Dyna threw out a kick and it connected. Zekiel grunted, but instead of letting her go he twisted her leg and she heard bone snap. She screamed at the white hot pain ripping through her body. His fist slammed into her face and the blow left her stunned on the frozen lake. Her vision danced with sparks, ears ringing.

Tears sprang in her eyes. At the pain. At the loss of her quest. And the impending death that would steal her away from Cassiel.

His unbridled rage echoed the roar sounding in the distance.

Her death would break him, and in turn, break the Realms.

“He’s…going to kill you,” Dyna laughed weakly, the taste of copper coating her tongue. Her trembling fingers reached for her thigh. “He will kill you all.”

“Soon, he will no longer be a threat,” Zekiel said. She felt a sudden burst of heat by her face and white flame crackled. Zekiel raised his sword—and stabbed the ice. Cracks shot as it fractured, the flames cutting through it until she heard the slosh of water.

Zekiel lifted her battered body off the ground and carried her to the dark hole in the middle of the frozen pond. “My Lord bids you well.”

Dyna managed to turn her head to look at him. “I will be sure,” she muttered. “To send Lord Raziel my regards.”

Zekiel stiffened.

She had guessed right and it bought her a mere second.

Dyna slashed at him with her knife. Red spilled from the slit in Zekiel’s pale neck, trailing down to soak his collar. His legs swayed and arms slacked.

Then she fell.

Her body plunged into the freezing black depths. Needles speared her skin as it stole her warmth and the little air she had left. She gasped and the water forced itself into her throat. Dyna reached out toward the fading light urging her sinking body to swim, but the weight of the dress dragged her under.

Her lungs burned to breathe and her muscles locked up as the darkness caved in on her. She flailed uselessly. Soon the water claimed all the feeling in her limbs. The pain faded as she went numb. There was no fear here, only a lonely sadness. She continued to gently sink, mourning again everything she would lose. Her family. Her future with the one she loved.

Her lungs filled with frigid water. She didn’t want to die. Not like this. But the panic ebbed with the last burble of air leaving her lips. Every nerve lost feeling, leaving her to float away.

She heard a voice, so pure and ethereal. It encompassed her mind and reached deep in her soul. Commanding her attention. Dynalya!

A shadow plunged into the water, diving toward her. Bright blue light flared through the darkness. From it came Cassiel’s face, flawless features contorted in desperation.

Swim!

It’s all right, she tried to tell him, managing a faint smile. I’m right here.

His voice cried out her name in her mind. His hand reached out as he dove for her, but the water swallowed her into the darkness.