Dracian Legacy (39 page)

Everything around me slowed to a less scary pace. Tendrils seemed to crawl through my body, like I drew energy from the earth. Like my magic reared its claws to protect me.

Was this how Legions felt? Was I finally learning to become a Dracian in the midst of crisis? Well, whatever this was, I didn’t have the time to dwell on it. My attacker drew out a bladed claw that hung like an extension of his arm and swung it high across my body. Still recovering from the horrid torture, I stepped back to find my balance. I drew my sword, making contact with deafening steel-against-steel vibrations. I used my full strength and pushed him back.

Another Goarder flung himself at me. As a kneejerk reaction, I raised my sword swiftly, meeting his suspended body with a quick stab to the gut. Then I swung around, turning to another behind me.

My body trembled and I took a few deep breaths. My strength waned. With the injuries I had, I had little time before it completely gave out on me.

I’m stronger than this. I have to be.

"Smoking hot.” I heard Trinity chuckle behind me.

"I knew you had a secret crush on me,” I said, blocking the claw that nearly knifed my face. "Stop distracting me." I grunted, trying to keep the claw from skinning me alive.

I heard her laughing as she went full-on assault black widow on her opponents.

My sword was stuck in his claw and he easily disarmed me. My opponent advanced with an impressive low cut, block, roundhouse kick, upper hand combination. Then he knocked me to the ground and landed on top of me, his knee over my chest, pinning me to the floor. My heartbeat accelerated as I stared death in the face.

And he is butt ugly.

He raised his clawed hand above my chest; then his eyes went blank. Red dust rained down around me.

"You could’ve at least waited till my mouth was closed,” I said, trying to cough up the nasty particles. I took Trinity’s extended hand to get on my feet.

"We’re even,” she said stoically, unaffected.

"Whatever.” I rolled my eyes.

And we’re back to being enemies. Great!

I turned around, ready for the next possible death encounter. That was when I saw the most gut-wrenching scene unfold.

Between the clashing sound of steel on steel and red and blue sparks flying between Telalians and Dracians, Cassie fought a Goarder, completely oblivious to the Proxy eyeing her with a smirk, his hands raised.

Rolium
.

I recognized him immediately from his previous encounter with Axel. Axel once told me it was by his hand my parents died. I wasn’t ready to let him kill another one of my family members. Not while I was still alive. That conviction and willpower alone was enough to make my body move forward without a second thought.

“Nellie,” Dean yelled, the fire surrounding his body deflating. He knew what I was about to do. “NO!”

Dean’s voice sounded distant and it didn’t matter. Before he could reach me, he was intercepted. I ran along the seam of bodies, weaving and ducking with one destination in mind. I was determined and ready to fight for my family.

Right before the burst of red sparks hit Cassie, I jumped between, blocking the attack, taking it full-force in my gut. I was frozen in time for a second and my body flew across the room in slow motion. I saw every detail of every struggle in those few precious seconds before I hit the ground with a thump.

Joshua’s eyes widened in horror as Cassie pivoted on her heels, doing the same. Axel. My handsome Alexander’s blue eyes found mine and I saw the blood leave his face, his mouth wide open almost in a silent scream. His effect on me was immediate and profound. He was the beacon that helped me hold it all together.

Before I knew it, two pairs of hands held me on either side of my body. I could hear the murmuring, but my ears were dull from the buzzing of my blood rushing to repair my body. Warmth poured out of my waist as icy coldness took over every nerve ending, bit by bit. I couldn’t move as tears ran down my face. My body quaked as I felt my blood spill. I struggled to contain my cries of pain, but I was no longer in control of myself.

“Why…?” It was Joshua.

I looked at him with blurred vision and smiled. “You…” I winced, closing my eyes. It hurt to speak, as I knew these were my final moments.

I felt beads of raindrops fall on my forehead. No, not rain. I looked up. Axel held me against his chest, his hand holding one of mine as he kissed my temple, tears falling easily. He didn’t speak; he didn’t need to speak.

“I have to do this, you understand?” Joshua asked, first looking at me, then to Axel. The look on his face was tortured. “I love you and I promised to protect you, whatever it takes.” He glanced at Axel and nodded. “What. Ever. It. Takes.”

He kissed my forehead as he placed his hand on my chest and started to murmur something I barely understood. A stream of energy tendrils penetrated my skin, my muscles, as they intertwined with my blood and organs. I became light as a feather as my body worked to repair itself at the molecular level.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Vibrations shook the ground beneath us. My eyes opened to find my brother struggling to keep his concentration. I looked to Axel, his focus on the image ahead of us. My eyes narrowed in on the dark, tall, gorgeous man that stood before us, commanding the attention of everyone in the room.

“Telal,” Axel whispered.

With a grunt, Joshua shot up to his feet, working hard to breathe. His chest heaved and his body trembled uncontrollably.

“I did as much as I could.” He gave me an apologetic look before turning around. “It’s been a while, my
friend
.” His voice was anything but friendly.

The cold, emotionless voice responded, “That it has,
friend
.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

My heart accelerated at the sound of Telal’s voice. It felt familiar, like I had known it all my life. But how was that possible?

“I have you,” Axel whispered in my ear, steadying me.

I tilted my head to the left and glanced at him, my vision slowly clearing. Axel’s face was haunted, darkness written all over it. Although he wore a weary smile, his eyes looked tired, puffy, and red, but determined. This time, he would protect me even with his last breath.

My heart pinched at the thought of the pain he endured wondering if I was alive or in pain or God knew what else.
How much time has passed since my capture?
He put his arms around my waist, helping me up. I was surprised to find the wound on his hand inflicted by the serpent hadn’t healed yet.

“
You’re bleeding,”
I said in panic.

“Don’t worry. I’ll have it taken care of soon.”
Although he spoke to me, he concentrated on the threat before us.

I felt the tremors, like electricity surging through my body, forcing and inching through every cell and every nerve in my body.

Strong. Resolute. Powerful.

Another hand slid into my right palm and squeezed it lightly.
Dean.

“You will not have her,” Joshua said, and my eyes left Dean’s, making their way to my brother. He stood unyielding, as his hands clenched and relaxed like he tried to control himself.

Telal laughed. His eyes connected with mine.

My heart hitched.

Fear
.

His expression softened, determined.
Is that adoration?
His attention was focused on me. I felt my skin slither like tiny, slimy eels clutched onto my body. I quivered with unnerving terror.

Lyla’s voice entered my mind.
“When she mates with Telal, her magic will bind with his magic, making him immortal, invincible.”

“She’s as beautiful as I remember,” Telal said.

I stiffened. He remembered me? When did we ever meet? I tried to think back, trying to place his face with people I knew. Nothing. One thing was for certain—something inside me stirred at his voice. His lips curved up into a smile as though victory was his.

“I promise you. No harm will come to you.” Telal addressed me directly.

Axel stiffened next to me. I was surprised my body wasn’t seizing from fear. I took a step toward Telal, unknowingly, before Axel’s hand pulled me back to him. I struggled against myself to do what felt safe.

Telal’s pull on me was too strong. No, not on me, but something inside me. Something ancient. Something so old and powerful it was dying to be unleashed. I shook my head, forcing the feeling down, burying it.

It suddenly occurred to me that everything around us got eerily quiet after Telal’s arrival. The fighting ceased and each of us watched the tension between Joshua and Telal increase by the second. Joshua withdrew stars and chucked them at Telal. The stars flew every which way with force, like someone blew them out of the air, before they reached him.

“You have lost your touch,” Telal barked sarcastically.

I noticed Telal was on the defense. What was stopping him from attacking us? Joshua drew an object that looked like a heart intertwined within a triangle. His lips started to move as the object glowed bright white.

I felt part of my essence trying to reach out to the object. I looked around the room and saw every Dracian and Telalian stare wide-eyed as a white glow surrounded their bodies, including Axel. It was like they were frozen in time, unable to move. I nudged Axel, but he didn’t respond.

Panicked, I asked, “Joshua, what’s going on?”

Joshua didn’t respond but continued to mumble in a language I couldn’t understand. His eyes were set on Telal.

“Your brother believes he can stop me.” There wasn’t a trace of hatred in his voice.

Confidence? Yes.

Cocky? Very big yes.

But hatred? Absolutely none.

Then the white light from the object burst out like concentrated, sprinkling stardust directly at Telal. It pulsed in a rhythmic flow, targeting Telal’s heart over and over again. The impact boomed like a thunder-lightning show between the walls of the colossal room. The vibrations hummed against my body. My knees weakened, buckling under me. Then my hands cuffed my ears, attempting to muffle the overpowering sound. But my eyes stayed open.

Telal managed to deflect a few hits but fell to his knees under the power of the attacks. His voice roared in agony as he disappeared without sound or smoke. Joshua’s eyes scanned the room cautiously before he rushed to my side.

“Promise me, Ren. Promise me…”

I looked at him wide-eyed as Telal appeared behind him, still breathing deeply, his chest rising and falling in an erratic pattern.

“This is for us, love.”

Telal grabbed Joshua’s neck and tilted it back as he raised his hand holding a trident-shaped snake. I looked into Joshua’s eyes and for the first time I saw fear. His eyes widened and his lips parted. Right when I screamed, Joshua grabbed my hand. In the same moment, Telal plunged the trident below Joshua’s heart, missing it by mere inches.

I fell to the ground with Joshua, holding his hand.

“No, no, no, no, no, no!” Tears spilled easily over his failing body. “Joshua. No. This can’t be happening. Please.”

“It’s okay, killer. We’ll be okay. I promise.”

There was something in his eyes that gave me hope before I saw a shadow cast over Joshua’s limp body.

“You’ve always been so weak, son.”

The voice, deep and harsh, came from behind me. I turned back to find a well-groomed man with an abundance of bleached-white hair that needed to be tamed. He looked anything but old. His shirt fit perfectly against his muscular body.

“Armen is the name.” His lips curved up in a sinister smile as he looked at me. “If I want something done, why do I always have to do it myself?”

He kicked Joshua and a slew of blood spattered onto the white marble floor.

“No,” I cried. “Don’t hurt him, please.”

I threw myself over Joshua’s body, blocking it with my own. Armen grabbed my hair, tugging at it with furious force. I fought back a whimper. My hand went to his merciless hold. He swung me around and threw me into the hard edge of the table in the corner.

Humph…

“Father.” Telal growled. “You promised no harm would come to her.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Armen pull the trident from Joshua and plunge it into him again, this time directly into his heart.

“This is how it is done,” he said, his voice controlled and filled with hatred, venom. He twisted the blade counter-clockwise in Joshua’s chest, whispering in his ear.

“Noooo.” I got to my feet and ran toward Joshua, warm blood rolling down my face.

The ground beneath me shook. I skidded to a stop, sliding on my knees, reaching Joshua’s hand in time to hear him say, “Everything will be fine, Temperance. Trust in me.
Sarajeha Lavetri.
”

I knew the second I lost my brother. A single tear slid from Joshua’s eye and then they went blank. His grip went limp. And I was thrown across the room to the ceiling with a burst of blue and white sparks. My body fell to the ground with a thud, cracking bones in multiple places. I didn’t have enough time to register the pain as my body started to repair itself.