35

CHAPTER 35: The Battle Of Three

A legion of wolves against the winter kingdom stormed the ages of 1873. The battlefield both ground and water, soil and ice. The ruins of one massacre that aligned rare species and made others extinct. Lycanthrope are rare, and the ice king, even rarer. He was throwing off more power than the environment around us could bare, Alastair couldn’t get to me the moment Martin transformed into his lycanthrope. A beast that grew two sizes with the amount of anger that ran through his blood and it’s as if they returned to the day Alastair lost his younger brother, and the day Martin lost his humanity altogether.

“ENOUGH!” Athena roared when Martin swiped at Alastair like a troll tries to swipe down a mountain. Splinters of water serenaded in the air and flickered, transforming into ice before they shot through the air like silver bullets to the skin of a werewolf. Of some werewolves.

Martin spins, whacking Elias aside before he could sizzle up his own icicle. Alastair rips out two twin swords made of blue and black ice—poison. It’s what gave the dark colour and for a moment, I just stared, it’s all I could do as they move like old ancient warriors. Alastair slices at Martin’s hairy, muscular legs, bleeding out the lycanthrope until Martin shoves his wolf head into him and slams him against the brick wall. I stared at the two of them as Elias ripples forward to slam a fist into Martin’s back.

It lands.

The crack of a rib makes me wince and suddenly, before I could conjure enough power in my veins to do something, to blast a fireball between them...each one of them scream. Their minds, thoughts, bodies—taken over by the static screams of men, women and children. I felt it faintly. Athena’s abilities were vast. I could see her down three powerful men in seconds.

Almost made me drool at the sight of it.

Before the licking of envy kicks in and soldiers come storming in like teachers against a school playground with bad boys and screeching hot girls seeing which one would survive and calling them ‘survival of the fittest’. Which was probably a more simpler way of choosing a mate. Whichever one fought for the longest and survived for reproduction got the girl and bang-a-dang, babe’s on its way.

Yeah, never-mind, that sounds more vulgar than my fucked up, complicated situation.

Martin clicks his rib back into place, spinning before those eyes capture to me and he walks closer with each thump. Like he’d returned back to this time. He moves around me and sits, lowering tree trunk arms on either side of me, a stinky breath huffing above me. Alastair shoves one of his guards away and the remaining elders move closer. Elias and Alastair stare between me and the gigantic animal above me.

Athena steps forward, “Well, that was useless. You all fought like toddlers, and the brains of even more underdeveloped beings. Guards, escort them to the castle, the Queen and myself will deal with other matters, off you go.” She orders, moving toward me after eyeing her brother above me, he shifts and his naked form kneeled in front of me has me looking away.

He stands with a cloak draped over him and he reaches for me, “You knew he was here.”

I glance up into silver irises, “Does that matter? I’m not the one he hates.”

He dances a dirty fingers along my cheek, “He’s been amongst the elders all this time? You knew, but you didn’t know we had history. History he’s still holding a grudge on.” He murmurs, caressing the tender skin at the apple of my cheek. I tilt my head away while Athena narrows her eyes at us.

“We need to get to the room immediately, Celestine.” She orders, I furrow my eyebrows at her urgency but it forces Martin to let go of me, with a last, longing look sent my way that lingers in the heated air, he moves from sight and sound.

Athena grabs my arm, “You sure are magnetised for trouble, aren’t you? Besides, you’re wrong about the Ice King not trying to kill Martin, poison slow into the system and the case of nanobots can be deadly.” She whispers, moving inside.

I still, “What? What are you saying?”

She grits her teeth, “That you’re foolish and naïve to think the man has done nothing in his power to eradicate my brother from existence and you trusted that fool Kade to be on your side when no man is ever on a woman’s side. You’ll learn that once we get to Nocturne, but for heaven’s sake, use your brain, not your heart. Which clearly doesn’t want to see Martin dead, even after what he’s done to you.” She mutters, shaking her head like I’m the one who reeks and caused her shrivelled disappointment that laid waste in the distasteful air of the humid room to which she shoves me into.

I grunt, and spin on her, “How dare you?”

She looks at me incredulously, “Oh please, you smitten moron, do you think I’m blind? Martin isn’t soft, even if his dick wants you, he’s a brainless, spineless idiot who’s wanted a dead crown for years.” She rolls her eyes, lighting the candles around the temple that I’m forced to gather my skirts to move closer to.

“Are you thick? I don’t love him.”

She flicks her fingers at me, “No, but you can’t seem to kill him. Ice king has no problem making it slow and suppress symptoms similar to human cancer. Martin thinks it’s your nanobots killing him. He’s seen fifteen healers, all saying the same thing. Once the blood moon touches the horizon in exactly a fortnight, he’ll bleed with its landing. That’s why he’s trying to woo you, insolent girl. Fate has decided his time has run its course and you, too soft-hearted to bother accepting it. Ice king though, he reeks of a raw rarity when it comes to you. It’s not safe here—it will be far worse for the wear if you don’t set the scene of the death of the Queen.” She speaks in both riddles and nonsense.

“Alastair holds no feelings for me.”

“Such a stage of grief, denial—so pitiful, Celestine. He’s been unfolding the scenes since your arrival at Julius. A hooded man, no face, no name, his ancient presence supposedly forgotten. He feels guilt though. Your words got to him, but alas, too little too late.” Whether she was messing with me, I didn’t know. What I knew is that she was pushing me to use a power I still didn’t understand and she was rushing me like she was on the clock.

“I don’t fucking understand what you’re saying. Why are we even in here?” I growl out, moving closer.

She turns to me, “You need to formulate fire within a fortnight or the death of you will be true, not another illusion most councils use for sport. Sit here. I do not care, you do something, Celestine. Just fucking do something!” She snaps at me like the world was on fire and it was all my fault.

I felt the pain of it searing into my skin like the whipping of a lash against my back and it made me lower to my knees, sitting there, feeling that agony beneath my skin before it distorted into something else. Before it transformed and twisted and bent, flared and ploughed everything in my mind.

It burned. Like a slow sizzle, a tiny flare of it.

Before it boiled like hot water in a kettle.

It curled around me.

Slow. Like a dragon’s wings in the air. Midnight sky and it flew, curving around each cloud—No, not around the clouds, but it was ploughing through them with a power that rivalled the greatest flame.

I open my eyes and she stares wide-eyed, “Well, shit. Can’t tell if you’re Seelie or Unseelie.”

I felt it thrumming, like a ball of energy and two flames, two fires formed in the palm of my hands. Drawing on the fire already waning in the candles, I felt it lick tantalising warmth up every vein just from my fingertips. I clench the thirst for water, fearing the fire will die out from the sheer thought, until my muscles tense and I breathe heavy.

It lasted as long as a second before dying out. I drop on my hands in front of me, puffing out and reaching for air. My lungs felt as though smoke was inhaled in them and it felt too hard to think, to even breathe. She takes a seat in front of me, “This is normal when you use it the first time, you’re body isn’t use to it.” She whispers, wrapping gauze around my hand, until she stops at the fastness in which I was healing.

“The wolf in you...it heals quick.” She tells me, looking up to my eyes. The one thing I could get on board with. She steps back, “Keep trying.”

“Why?” I wouldn’t do a thing without knowing what her angle is. She held secrets and now, I was no longer intimidated. Everyone who’s ever made contact with me has hid something from me. Whether it was because of my obsession with public humiliation or my witty mouth, I didn’t know, but I was sick of not getting answers. Of pulling teeth when trying to get those answers.

She observes me closely. The narrowing of her eyes, like she’s reading me out in the open and so exposed, “You haven’t matured enough to leave each of those bastards out there to rot. I don’t understand why.”

“You have family, just what the hell do I have?” I ask her, roughly.

“Power. That’s what you have.” Her lips move but the words make me want to smack her right in the face.

I shove past her, “Power is nothing without having the ability to fall on someone else. To talk to someone else. You’ve been so alone, surrounded by family, unable to talk to them. Where I want to talk to someone, I want family and friends. I want a normal life and humans are about as close to it as any.” I whisper the last part, hands on my hips. The burn was gone, but that warmth was still lingering in my bloodstream. I wasn’t use to the feeling, something I was born with but never knew about. Until now.

“You’re wrong about me loving any one of those imbeciles out there. Is it seriously so wrong of me to want a goddamn father who’s job is to protect his little girl? Or a mother a daughter can confide in and trust wholeheartedly? To get advice, to share popcorn with and talk about favourite fucking books or what clothes look good? I mean, shit—if I had a sibling or a parent to talk to about every complicated situation I’ve been in. I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t have met your abusive brother, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere with him. I wouldn’t keep making bad choices, Athena. If I’m following you to this estranged academy that’s supposed to help me with abilities I didn’t even know about until recently, then you’re going to have to open up and stop treating me like I’m the childish dumbass with no idea what she’s doing.” I explain to her, looking over my shoulder like I’ve been doing for years.

She studies me, “I can’t relate to never having a mother to talk to or a father who would protect you with his life, or siblings. This academy was where I went to understand the abilities I couldn’t understand. It’s legit, it’s not a joke and it’s not me manipulating you like everyone else in your life has done. But you need to be able to build something on command, or you’re going to struggle there. You can’t have the baggage and complications that those three assholes outside bring. Nicolai’s abusive, Alastair wanted to send you off like a lamb to the slaughter and Elias has and will always be a coward trying to play Switzerland when in fact, the idiot is a follower, he’s not a leader, he doesn’t have a mind of his own and when men do have minds of their own, they’ll use anyone they can to get on a higher podium. Including women. When you get to Nocturne, your words won’t be enough. Your speeches about Nicolai being misogynistic, or Alastair holding a grudge and Elias being a universal coward, you need to bring physical action to the table and right now, Celestine, all you have are words. It’s good, it shows confidence, but what you need is skill and power. When you have that, we’ll make your death look real with no questions left unanswered, but until then, do something. Stop saying it, start fucking doing it.”