Chapter 201
Every visible inch of the Elder’s skin turned cherry red, as he stood unharmed on the sidelines. There there was barely a nick on his wrinkled skin apart from the cut in his hand. The news of my pregnancy was not celebrated by anyone, let alone myself as we stood in the middle of a war field, our numbers were down and the Guards were tired. The Elder had Demons and immortal humans, not to mention the trained werewolves and feral rogues. My only speck of gratitude was for the fact that they didn’t have the Dark Guards on their side. They would never make an unsanctioned appearance, especially not against their King. Part of me feared that I would see them here- that their loyalty to the Elder would be stronger than their loyalty to Darian. I wondered if they were aware of what was happening here- if anyone in Valeria was aware.
“You’re with child,” the Elder snarled viciously. My eyes cast to his hand as he coiled his fingers but the other one, the one with the wound was wide open and trembling.
I hadn’t dared to look at Darian since I announced it, afraid of what I might see. What if he was as unenthused about this as I was? What if, after everything, this was the final bridge burnt and we wouldn’t come back from it? Some say that children are a gift, but I’m having a hard time rejoicing over this particular gift…
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“Well then,” I held my hand over my stomach in reflex when the Elder spoke, “we’ll just have to rectify that.” He turned to Zade and lifted his scrawny shoulders. “Kill them.” The order was given and terror filled me unlike any time before. Zade turned to me, his eyes filled with a shaking defiance and he looked back at the Elder. His voice was low and grave and the words peeled from his lips in a plead. It was a begging, he had never begged before.
“No,” he rasped, “no, please don’t-”
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The Elder lifted his hand and with the wound pointed at Zade.
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“You will do as I command!” He screeched and Zade’s head fell.
He looked at me through dark, hooded eyes and forced his feet one at a time.
“Hazel,” he begged. “Solve it. Solve it and you win the game, please,” he whispered as he got closer.
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It happened in the blink of an eye, so quietly and deafening as everyone ran up to guard the future King or Queen of Valeria but to me they weren’t that, they weren’t heirs or leaders, they were lives entrusted to me to keep safe. They were mine to cherish and to love, and to promise a safe future. A future of their choosing, one not determined by me or Darian, or anyone else.
They were the ones I had to do right by. They were mine, my babies, and nobody would ever hurt them.
Just as Zade’s steps forced him closer, and closer, a shifted Guard jumped between and rolled on the dirt when Zade vanished.
He looked up and growled and lunged at the other Demons but they all vanished in smoke and reappeared somewhere else. It was impossible.
The others came toward us, everyone was fighting their way to me and as I watched the blood splurt from arteries and heads decapitated- limbs that lay like thrown-out trash, I knew that my one job was to protect what I had created.
A loud howl rippled from me as Trixy stepped up and fought off the humans, even though they would rise just as quickly.
As I held a rogue’s heart in my hands I heard the Elder conversing with Nora.
“We had a deal!” He screamed and yanked her arm.
“The deal was that you keep my pack safe, is this you holding up your end?” She seethed.
“They volunteered, they were not forced, all I did was make them an offer,”
“The next time you strike a deal with someone, make sure they don’t fucking love the person you’re sending them to hurt,” Nora’s claws extracted and slashed through the air, digging into the Elder’s throat and she ripped through him.
