From Slave To Queen (Athena and Michael) novel Chapter 129

Chapter 129

Cassian

Just like the silence that precedes a natural disaster, silence spreads through the cell. Neither of us breathes or looks away. The first to do so, loses. I hear the vibration of the ground, as if a cavalry were approaching the castle gates at full speed, then the growls, and finally the dull thud of the main doors swinging wide open. I would recognize that sound anywhere–it was the same one that started the night my soul was infected.

“You lost. Draven”

1 still refuse to be the first to break our staring duel, so I reply with a clenched jaw and eyes stabbing into Ragna like daggers.

“All you’ve done is bring your people to their deaths.

I signal with my fingers above my head, calling one of the guards. Ragna smiles, showing me her sharp lower canines. Her lack of energy prevents her from completing her transformation: she tries more than once, but only manages to make her eyes glow unnaturally. She blinks, as if trying to shake off the rage surging through her body.

Turning my gaze from her. I back away without turning my back and glance at the guard standing by the door awaiting my orders,

“Keep watch over her. Don’t leave her side no matter what happens”

He nods, and driven by the sounds of battle. I rush out and appear in the main foyer in seconds. As I imagined, the doors are wide open, letting in cold gusts of air. At the foot of the stairs, vampires and shapeshifters are 6ghting Drystan runs toward me as soon as he sees me.

“They came out of nowhere,” he explains. “I think they used some kind of spell that cloaked them until it was too late

1 scan the outside with an analytical eye. I see corpses on both sides, though the shapeshifters are more numerous. Seeing those bloodied beasts decorating the stairs doesn’t leave me indifferent.

“What’s the situation!”

“They don’t outnumber us, and although they’re strong, they don’t seem trained. The odds are in our favor.”

I glance once more at our men. They move with agility now that they’ve shed their sun–protection suits. I lift my eyes to the sky, dark as a bottomless pit. Everything is in our favor–we are creatures of the night. This is our element. The moon stains no part of the sky, absent. abandoning her children who seem to feel stronger in her presence.

One of them throws one of my men at me, and his body crashes just inches from my feet. The nearly torn soldier stains the floor with his blood. Slowly. I lift my eyes to return my enemy’s gaze, accepting his challenge. I launch myself at him, trying to reach him before he crosses the castle doors. We meet with the burst of a lightning bolt splitting the sky with fury. He clings to my throat, and I to his shoulders. He tries to sink his sharp nails into my flesh, aiming to rip out my throat; that’s when I reveal my true strength and twist his arms into an unnatural position, tearing them away from my neck. He falls to the ground with a bowl of pain, tries to transform to heal his wounds, but I won’t allow it. I straddle his body and shove my hands into his mouth, gripping his jaws tightly. His eyes fill with panic, trying to escape. I know the smile that curls my lips as I soak in his terror is chilling Slowly, the skin, muscles, and tendons of his face give way–under my strength. The sound of tearing flesh is music to my ears. With a savage and swift yank, I end his agony and tear his head in two.

I hurl what’s left of his head at the feet of another of my enemies, and one of the guards takes advantage of the distraction to finish him off. I turn just in time to see one of them leaping at Drystan. He seems to be handling it well, but I join him anyway. Anyone would think this was a stroll through the park, judging by our appearance. We’re barely winded, and our clothes are immaculate–slightly rumpled, maybe.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, and you?” He blows a strand of hair from his forehead. “You’re a bit pale.”

“Tim better than I should be under the circumstances.

I haven’t fed well this past month. I think I can count on my fingers the numberofumes I’ve done it–and each time it was because he forced me

Amid the frenzy of the fight, it should have gone unnoticed, but something inside me forces me to look into the distance, where a familiar masculine figure stands authoritatively. I feel more than see his arrogant smile.

“You’re in command,” I say

⠀⠀ “Mail Cassian! You can’t go alone!”

Too late. I dash toward my new target, closing the distance between us in less than the blink of an eye. He doesn’t Bunch, his smile grows wider. Though he cannot ser, he knows exactly where I am.

“Long time noire, Draven.“

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12:27 PM ct c

Chapter 129

1 clench my fits and scan our surroundings, looking for more of his bande behind me, listening for the heartbeat of another lying in wait.

There’s nothing.

that might pose a threat, I sharpen my hearing and ignore the sounds of

“Surrender, Rhory. You’re few–you’ll all die here. Ragna won’t set foot outside these walls. I won’t allow it

A deep, grave laugh escapes him, making my blood boil. My mind screams at me to attack now and end it all

“You speak with too much certainly for a man who hasn’t been able to protect the people he loves, don’t you

think?

Shut up.

He tilts his head, looking at me

me with those milky eyes.

“Do you know how I died! I suppose not,” he says without losing that smile that shows his fangs, longer and sturdier than mine. “It wasn’t an honorable death. I didn’t fall in a great batile or sacrificing myself for another. No, I died in an alley, among cardboard boxes and dog piss. I died of hunger the kind that makes your stomach hurt so much you think all start eating itself just to be filled with something. The years before Ragna’s grandfather died were filled with pain, hunger, and disease. No one was going in replace the leader until he took his last breath, and he wasn’t strong enough to keep us afloat. I died not long after my parents. I didn’t see the Lands Beyond or the Pits of the Underworld I only saw darknes and heard icy whispers in my ear. When I came back, it felt like I had been dreaming, but I returned with the darkness still in my eyes and a gift. death gave me without asking.”

I flash a smug smile while keeping a relaxed pose

“A touching story.

“Not as much as yours, from what I hear

A sensation I’ve never experienced awakens inside me I’ve heard my gift feels like fingers plucking the strings of an instrument inside your mind- a silent threat. But right now, inside my bead, I feel a knife trying to make me lileed from within.

Do you see her?” Do you

וי

At first, I don’t understand what he means, until the scenery around us vanishes, and I’m once again inside the caule–but not as I remember it. No, this seems to be from centuries ago. A scream echoes through the halls, pulling me completely out of my scrutiny. The voice is Elara’s; however, everything reminds me of a night in the past, one when I lost a large part of my soul I run, heart in my throat, and upon entering the grand hall, I see shattered chairs strewn across the room, broken dishes on the floor, and the floor stained with blood.

“Cassian!”

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