Breaker (Ondine Quartet Book 4) (63 page)

Another hand arose from the waters of the Summoning Pool. Julian took down two demons, leaving an opening to the left of the pool.

I leaped and dashed across the floor. Blood pounded in my ears, noise hammered my skull.

Everything narrowed to that opening.

Two Aquidae noticed me. They charged, one on each side of me.

Shit. Timing was everything.

I held my dagger in my right hand.
 

Wait
.

I yanked out a
kouperet
with my left.

Wait
.

Both blades flashed golden.
 

Now.

I dropped to my knees and slid across the slippery floor. Pain spiraled up my left thigh. I crossed my arms in front of me, then slashed.
 

The blades sliced through the femoral arteries of both Aquidae. Blood spattered my cheeks.

They dropped hard and fast.

I jumped up, leaped for the wall, and slammed down the lever. A screech cleaved through the air as the heavy stones on the floor shifted.

One more demon slipped through. Another Aquidae gripped the edge of the pool and tried to make it out.

But the stone moved too quickly. It smashed into his hand, tearing the fingers off, and closed shut with a decisive thud. The demon’s scream reverberated through the floor.
 

I joined Julian and Tristan at the center of the chamber.
 
The other chevaliers were down, either dead or severely injured.

We were the last ones standing. A dozen Aquidae circled, their eyes savage.
 

Ours were, too.

Wordlessly, we shifted into position, our backs to each other.

I smiled.

The demons attacked.

We exploded forward.

Our blades whistled, crying out in joy as they cleaved through skin, muscle, and bone. Our movements worked as one, precise and merciless.

My dagger glided through the first demon’s flesh like a knife through water. The second charged, lunging for my ribs. I leaned back, arms circling, carving out its chest and ripping through its heart. The third dove and I jammed the blade into its neck, severing its spinal cord.

The fourth Aquidae swung, its massive, meaty fist coming toward my face. I bent my knees and sprang up, thrusting my dagger straight through its jaw into its mouth.

Blood seeped from its lips. I tore my blade free and finished it off.

A movement caught my eye. A dark figure rose behind Nexa.

I yanked out my last throwing star, aimed, and flung. It landed with a crisp thunk directly into the forehead of the Aquidae.
 

With an almost bored expression, Nexa casually pulled a
kouperet
from beneath her voluminous blouse, turned around, and killed it.

Well, then.

A crash reverberated through the chamber. Chairs toppled over as Tristan and an Aquidae wrestled on the Council table.
 

Behind them, Julian battled two more, his
kouperet
whirling through the air in a blaze of magic.

The Aquidae flipped Tristan onto his back. It snarled, its hands straining to reach his amber
pedaillon
. Tristan clamped his hands around its head. He twisted and pulled in a smooth, sudden motion.
 

The demon’s head came off with a distinct pop, black blood spurting across Tristan’s face and the pristine marble table.

He hurled the corpse aside and stood, his back to us.

One of the demons Julian fought broke free and darted forward.

Time slowed.
 

No
.

I squeezed every ounce of energy from my legs, willing them to move faster than I’ve ever moved in my life.

Julian got there first. He plunged his
kouperet
into the demon’s back. It reared, a guttural bellow escaping its mouth.

Tristan whipped around and finished him off.

Julian turned and smiled. “You owe me, sweet iris.”

A shadow loomed behind him.
 

Nexa screamed.
 

Julian’s eyes widened. For one endless moment, he stared at me.
 

“Kendra…”

He dropped.

I ran and caught him before he hit the ground.

Tristan swung his machete, slicing off the demonic hand now stained red.

Blood, sticky and thick, flowed from the wound in Julian’s back, spilling through my fingers on to the floor.
 

I touched my earpiece. My voice was dead calm. “Aubrey. Send Healers to the Council Chamber. Now.”

“Do I get bonus points for saving your prince?” he rasped.

“You idiot,” I managed. “Why do I always have to save your ass?”

He closed his eyes, a faint smile ghosting over his mouth.

I pulled him close and rested my forehead on his. Every cell in my body screamed in agony. Empath felt his life essence, that dynamic Virtue vibrating in tune to my own, slowly drip away.

He couldn’t die. He couldn’t.

What would I tell Jeeves? Who could I count on to annoy the hell out of me? Who would bring me coffee and teach me about art and poetry and laugh at my stupid jokes?
 

“Kendra.” Aub’s voice was so quiet. “I found him.”

Another presence by my side. Nexa rested a wrinkled hand on her great-grandson’s arm.

Fierce periwinkle eyes met mine. “You must finish this.”

No. Fuck this. Fuck all of this.

My arms tightened.
 

A gentle hand on my shoulder. “Kendra.”

“He’s at the bluffs.” Aubrey’s voice shook. “He’s just standing there. Waiting.”

Too much pain. It was all too much.

I had to go. I had to go and I couldn’t let go.

Why did he do that? I wanted to kick his ass but he was just lying here, pale and still, his blood staining my hands.

Two Healers rushed in, the color draining from their faces as they took in the room.

His mouth moved. I leaned in.

The words were a mere whisper. “You’re the only one who can end it…”

A hoarse rattle.

“
Sondaleur
.”

Something broke and my insides emptied. Ice dripped into my stomach.

Nexa grabbed my wrist. “Go!”

I forced my arms to let go.

“Fix him,” I told the Healers.

Dark magic boiled through the air, a thick, voracious energy searching for me.

The black king and I now faced each other across the board. It was time for the final play.

With Tristan by my side, I walked out of the chamber, through the courtyard’s sea of blood, into the pulsing heart of Haverleau.

THIRTY-EIGHT

Death perfumed my skin and blood caked it.
 

My insides had hollowed out, leaving behind nothing but rage, grief, and pain.

I limped past broken bodies and puddles of blood. Past the spill of familiar silky blonde hair, bright like the sun, and a torso wearing an ugly purple sweatshirt.
 

Past a nix’s head before stepping over the rest of him, scarred with burns, that lay several feet away.
 

Nothing remained. There was only him and the end.

Come
.

His voice whispered, a viper sinuously weaving through the air. His blood tugged on my Virtue, a voracious void hungry for my magic, for me.

My movements were jerky, automatic. Whatever came before me was struck down.

I cut. I carved. I killed.

Sticky blood glued the dagger hilt to my hand, transforming it into a natural extension of my body.

Tristan matched my kills, his movements silent, deadly, and driven by the same icy fury.
 

We continued our march through the Academy Quad, now ominously quiet. Up the dirt road I’d traversed countless times.

Nexa’s cottage sat dark and silent, its shuttered windows peering at us as we advanced.

He stood at the edge of the bluff. Behind him, the sky had transformed to an endless black and gray clouds swirled in restless patterns. A mass of black tentacles writhed around him, ribbons of immortal power undulating and nipping the air.

Magic boiled and churned. It challenged me, pushed me.

And like with Jourdain, I pushed back.

Inch by inch, I moved up the last rise of the hill to the top of the bluff. Pain scorched my skin, immortal energy slamming against my ribs and pounding nails into my elbows and knees.
 

Tristan pushed beside me, just as he did in the Council Chamber. I leaned into that knowledge, took strength in it.

One step. Another.
 

My eyes burned.
 

Pain scorched through me, every inch hurting so much I wanted to scream.

And then suddenly it was gone.

Like Jourdain, he effortlessly reigned in all that power.

No tentacles, no magic. The being standing there was simply the demillir I remembered from Club Axis and Cafe Riviere.

“Did you find the truth?”

As if he didn’t know. “Yes.”

“And this is who you choose to bring.” Bastien’s smooth voice crisply articulated each word. “I’m not surprised.”

“You will be.”
 

His gaze shifted to Tristan. “I will provide you one opportunity to leave. This is none of your concern, Prince. This is between me and the
sondaleur
. Do not be foolishly heroic or you shall regret it. This is your chance to leave unharmed.”

Tristan leaned in. Energy whipped around him. Dried blood covered his face and neck. His expression was completely calm and in control.
 

“No.”
 

Bastien sighed and flicked his hand. A violent burst of power shot out.
 

Tristan flew back several feet as if shoved by an invisible hand.

“Let him go.”

Tristan strained, his muscles bulging, feet digging into the ground.

But the magic was too strong.
 

“He’s out of our way, but nearby for when we need him.” Bastien tilted his head. “That is why you brought him isn’t it?”

I didn’t answer.

“The prophecy binds you to silence.” Cold curiosity lit up his pale eyes. “Did you keep him close to you all night, Kendra? What lies did you tell him to bring him here? Did you calculate and plan, the same way you did with Chevalier LeVe—”

“Enough.” I stepped forward. Rage rattled inside me, a rabid animal needing release. “I am here because you think I’m the
sondaleur
.”

“I know you are.”

“There’s only one way to find out.”

Bastien didn’t move.

“What the matter?” I smiled. “After all these years, after everything you’ve done, are you scared to finally fulfill the prophecy?”
 

He studied me, his gaze detached and clinical.

“Because you don’t know, do you? You think you know. But you don’t know what I wrote. You don’t know how the prophecy ends.”

That was where he’d fucked up. His ego couldn’t handle not knowing. For too long, he’d pulled the strings and now, he was left waiting for the result.

“Oh I know you better than anyone, Kendra.”

“Then prove it.”

Move, damn it.
 

“Let’s go. Come on!”

I raised my blade and charged. His hand twitched.

An ebony tentacle whipped forward, fast like a striking snake, and plunged into my gut.

I screamed.

Distantly, I heard Tristan’s roar.

And then I was aware of nothing else.
 

Only a power beyond anything I’d ever experienced.

I felt him.

Hunger. Thirst. Aggression. Violence.

It devoured me from within, gnawing every part of me away until it left only the basest desires, a seething mass that altered the world around me, reminding me of a filthy basement in an abandoned hotel, of self-inflicted scabs, and nightmares hidden in closets.

Suddenly a haze covered everything, a light that tempered those sharp pangs.

This is the truth
, he said gently.

The world wasn’t beautiful or bright, but a place of darkness, of muted colors and jagged dreams.
 

Everything narrowed to him.

His blood flowing into mine. Connecting, pulsing in time to each other.

We were one. The same.

He reached out and touched my face tenderly.

Did you really think you could end me?
 

Yes…no. I shook my head, confused.

He gave a generous, benevolent smile. His skin glowed as if lit from within, his eyes brighter than anything in this pitiful world.

How had I never noticed how beautiful he was?

There is no end, Kendra. There will only be more. It is the balance of life. For every one of me you destroy, another shall rise to take my place.

Violence was natural. Hunger and pain was what drove the world. Resisting was a useless waste of time, talent, and energy.

You are mine, Kendra. Blood of my blood. My child. My own.

Yes.

“Kendra!”
 

The voice came as if from a great distance. I slowly turned and looked at him.

He reached for me, his hands, those hands straining toward me.

Familiar. Something I was supposed to remember…

“I need to send you away,” I told him.

He glowed with pleasure.
Yes. You know what you must do.
 

I looked back at the other. He was the sacrifice.

“Kendra.” His hand reached for me.

So many people have hurt you, sondaleur. So many pains you have endured alone. But you no longer need to fear anything. You are mine, Kendra.
 

His voice resonated with a soothing power
.

Once you do this, once you send me away, you will continue what I began, because there is no end. There is only an infinite circle.

Yes.
 

What I needed was through him, this person with wild hair and dark eyes that seemed familiar.

I raised my dagger and stepped forward.

He stared at me. Realization slid over his eyes.