RISING (#2, of Crows and Thorns)

Chapter 42

An unearthly baying howl.

It surged forward.

One child clung to Byron's back like a monkey, the other was balanced on his hip. The children's shrieks of terror chased them across the lawn as Jurgana's beast ran them down.

I saw the moment Byron knew he couldn't outrun the beast. The moment of resignation registered in his expression—the pinched lips and flare of his nostrils, the way his attention turned to where Valarie stood across the lawn with her sword hanging limply in her hand. Her face was pale and her eyes wide. They locked gazes. His eyes shone with a final goodbye, yet were steely with determination to go down as the last line of defense for the children.

He skidded to a halt, untangling the children and setting them on the grass. He pivoted, drawing a blade from the inside of his muddied and torn suit jacket. He moved forward and stood in front of the children, lowering his stance.

And then I caught a glimpse of my sister—my brave, bold sister—a streak of rippling white and black hair and silver adamere alight with blue flames. She was a maelstrom of fierceness tearing across the battlefield.

"Petra!" I shouted. Petra spun my way, and a brief look of confusion swept across her face. I tossed the kid to her. She grabbed a hold of her, and I pushed off, fast, a blur of unnatural speed. Because there was something else rushing across the lawn, set on a collision course with Byron and my sister.

Spilling across the grass was a deluge of black glistening limbs, a cruel wave of malevolence, hungry for flesh—Jurgana's bedmates.

Shit, shit, shit—

The dog charged Byron.

He pivoted around, plunging his blade into the beast's throat.

Nothing.

He'd lost his dagger, the hilt buried in its neck as the dog spun and lunged with a snapping of fangs, a frenzy of otherworldly barking.

Byron barely managed to rear back, stumbling over his feet—

Lost his balance—

And went down.

The dog bunched its hind legs and pushed forward with lethal burred claws, deadly teeth dripping with black saliva—

Byron kicked out with a foot and smashed it right in the face.

But all it did was twist the dog's head away. The power and weight of the beast kept coming—

Its lupine head whipped back—

Teeth bared, going for Byron's throat.

My sister...

My sister was there with a savage battle cry I felt beneath my skin.

Valarie swept her sword, blazing with wildfyre, between them and then upward, severing right through the neck and beheading the beast. Its body crashed into Byron's chest, slamming him onto his back. Its head flew upward to then fall and roll along the grass.

Valarie swayed, panting ragged breaths. She let go of her sword's hilt with one hand and clasped it to her heaving chest.

Byron shoved the remains of the dead creature from him, scrambling to his feet as he looked upon its body, aflame with wildfyre, bubbling like tar before it dissolved into a mess of stickiness. He spun around, grabbed Valarie, and pulled her in for a quick, fierce kiss.

Holy fucking shit...

What the fuck are they playing at?

The kiss made Valarie disorientated and stupid, judging by the stunned expression on her slack face before her slight smile bloomed into the widest grin I'd ever seen. And neither of them were aware in that moment of what was descending rapidly upon them.

"Valarie!" I roared, running, my heart frantically pounding in my chest, blood rushing in my ears.

A swarm of darkness—Jurgana's bedmates—rolled across the lawn, moving fast, incredibly fast like a torrent of storm-swept water.

Too far, I was too far away...

The insects rose upward like a tidal wave spun by hurricane winds—higher, higher, higher—about to crash down upon them.

I slid to a halt. Snatching a grenade hooked into my bandoleer, I pulled the pin with my teeth, spitting it out. The small round metal was cold in my curved palm.

"Valarie!" I yelled.

Across the distance, Valarie's gaze snapped to mine, her black brows nudging together.

"Incoming!" I bellowed.

Byron looked over his shoulder, finally seeing the danger behind and above them. He shoved Valarie down onto the grass, covering her body with his.

I tossed the grenade up and swung at it with the flat of my sword, using it like a baseball bat.

Adamere hit metal with an almighty crack that resounded across the lawn.

The grenade flew through the air and struck the heart of the creeping critters—

And exploded—

Wildfyre ripped through the roiling mass of insects. It was crude oil floating on water, burning up with blue flames and smoke billowing upward. It rippled along the waves of Jurgana's swarming bedmates, incinerating them to black dust that swirled apart in the gusty night air.

I was running for my sister as soon as I'd hit the grenade.

Byron gingerly reared back, half-kneeling to allow Valarie to roll onto her back. Both of them stared wide-eyed at one other. Valarie lurched upward and pulled him into an embrace. Both of them were coated in grime and black dust.

But did it stop them from kissing?

Hells no.

My polished shoes slid along the wet grass halt as I skidded in front of them, waving my sword in the air like I was crazy. I was fucking crazy. "For fucks' sake!" I bellowed. "Stop sucking face!" Great House heir or not, that was my godsdamned sister and I wanted to punch him in the face. Not to mention there was a slew of fucking crazy beasts that wanted to rip us apart.

Despite the danger, when they pulled away from one another, neither of them could stop the wide-ass grins. Byron helped Valarie to her feet, then grabbed hold of both boys who were softly crying and trembling with shock. "Thank you," he said to me, his square jaw flexing.

"Whatever," I replied, rolling my eyes and unsheathing my second sword. Like I had a choice. He was heir to the Great House and we all bled for him.

Byron didn't falter at my pretty-much-in-your-face-rudeness—which under normal circumstances I'd be punished for—and I recognized the depth of gratitude in his blue eyes as his gaze darted to Valarie before returning back to me. I sighed. I jutted my chin to Valarie who was stooping down to pick up her fallen sword. "Thank you, too," I added, quietly. Because with those bedmates of Jurgana's about to fall upon them, Byron had shielded my twin with his own body.

However, I couldn't help myself. I leaned my upper body forward, bared my teeth, and hissed lowly, "But that's my sister. Next time you kiss her—I'm gonna kick your ass."

His mouth twitched with amusement. He inclined his head and then pushed forward, the conversation over.

"Val!" I shouted, starting to sidestep into motion. I jabbed my sword at the ball of servants being encircled and attacked by Jurgana's dogs. "Get them to the mansion, then we've got to go for the dogs!" Valarie hefted her blazing-blue sword and started to swing it in an arc. The color in her cheeks faded at the sight of all those dogs, the chaos, and the screams cut short as hunters went down in a flash of fangs and claws. "It's just slice and dice, move on," I reassured her.