Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

GRAYSON

I think about the beautiful mate I left in bed this morning, because saying goodbye to her isn't ever happening again. I never want to say goodbye to her. How do you say goodbye to someone who completely and utterly owns every inch of your body? I step through the portal, straight back to my court, and the earth beneath my feet feels like home. The earthy smell of the air, the dirt under my boots, and the tall trees blocking out the sunlight from the rising sun over the tips of the mountains. Home is an odd feeling for me, it was a place I once hated, and then it was a place I loved when I grew older, when I learnt that the land didn't hurt me and it was a good place. The earth is calm and peaceful—exactly what I have always needed to calm myself down when all I can see is darkness.

Aphrodite is waiting by a cavern entrance, not far from the mountain city my mate loved. The first time I fucked her was above that city, and maybe it's a sign of good luck Aphrodite chose this place. No Emrys with her this time, to my disappointment. He is in there; I fucking know it, and I keep seeing my mate's face every time she looks at Emrys. It is killing her that she can't save him yet. It's killing all of us, and these fucking tests are the only way for us to figure out a way to fix this all.

The orange sunlight flickers into my eyes as I approach the intruder not only to my court but to this world. I can still taste death in the breeze, carried from the Air Court and the slaughter she led. The bitch still has my sister locked away. My innocent sister. Her eyes drift down me, and I want to throw up all over her tight red dress. "King Grayson. In my boredom, I looked at the royal paintings, and you are by far the most handsome earth king ever to reign."

"I'll send your congratulations on to my mate, who enjoys my face very much," I coldly drawl. "Get on with it."

Her eyes tighten in annoyance, and she brushes her long hair over her shoulder. "It begins for you here. I know you care about your people deeply, as deep as this earth goes in this region. This test is simple, easy even. Earth was always my favourite element. Go in and get ten people out alive." The way she smiles tells me it's not that simple.

"Just ten people?" I cautiously ask.

She swirls her hair around her middle finger. "Yes. They're in this section of the city. It's easy."

I wish she would stop talking. "Fine."

One step. I only take one step before her laugh makes me pause. "Well, I should say more, or it's mean. I don't like being mean to men who will be mine." I'd rather cut my dick off. "See, you have to touch and hug the ten people, and if you let go of them before they're outside the city, then they die."

I don't know what is worse. The idea of being anything to her or letting ten strangers near me. The thought of touching ten people sends a sickness rising up my throat and a cold shiver down my spine. It's different with Elle and it's different with the kings because they are family to me, but it took years for me to let them even pat my shoulder. Elle…she breezed into my life and made herself a rock, one I couldn't live without touching. The fear faded with Elle. She made it that bit easier to get over the feeling that locks my body up and makes me weak. Aphrodite has been in my head, and she fucking knows this. She knows what happens to me, how a touch from a stranger can throw me back to the boy being hurt by his mother. I clamp my teeth down hard enough that I feel like my jaw's going to snap in two. "Fine."

She points at the opening. "Oh, and you don't have long. I'll give you an hour. I'm being generous after my win in the last test. We both know that you'll maybe not win this, but if you do get to the end, I'll reward you by not slaughtering the people you save."

"Why?" I question.

She assumes I mean why is she being "generous." I meant why is she a psychotic bitch. "Earth was always my favourite element. I had parents once. I wasn't created out of nothing. They were called Druids, and they worshipped elements, which in turn gave them certain powers. They were connected to the earth around them. I grew up in a place like this, where everything the earth created was a blessing, except for their love. They loved each other deeply, viciously, and it tore them apart. I was caught in the crossfire of that. You know what having parents like that is like, don't you?"

"Stay out of my head," I growl, my dragon roaring in my mind to let him out and let everything burn. I'm tempted. "If your parents could see you now, would they be proud of you for destroying an element they loved? Taking a world that you're trying to destroy? Aphrodite, goddess of love. Maybe love destroyed you after all. Maybe their love did, or maybe you were just born evil."

Her eyes sharpen. "I'm going to very much enjoy breaking you. Have fun."

I don't give her the reaction or attention she wants; I just walk through the portal, straight down the steps towards the city. The longer I spend here is just more chance for her to piss me off and make me go after her, when I know deep down that would risk my sister and Emrys.

The wetness in the air should really have given away what I was walking into, but still, it's a shock to see. My city is in a mudslide. Mud is cascading through the buildings at the bottom, spreading right down around the city in a fast current. It looks deserted, but apparently there are ten people here. All the cities were evacuated a while back, and my people are in hiding. There weren't many I trusted to stay and guard the castle and protect my sister.

I put my hands out and crack my neck before reaching for the earth, for my powers, and letting my magic soar. I let my senses explode around me, connecting me to the very earth under my feet. A vivid green light bursts before my eyes as I stop the mud, stop the very direction it's flowing, and I turn it to rock. It's a temporary fix. The force of the mud coming down will push the rock out of the way in time, but I will have more than an hour. I glance at my neat clothes and sigh. I like this shirt, but fuck it. The mud is tough as I walk down a few steps and right into it, but puddles of mud soon splash over me as I carry on.

This is going to be a bitch to fix this mess when I get my court back. I might need Lysander, even if asking that bastard to help with anything is a bad idea. "Hello!" I shout loudly. "Call out for help!" Nothing echoes back, nothing comes back except the sound of my shout, and the only sound I can hear is the rock cracking deep below my feet. I walk further in, up to the first building, or what is left of it. I don't have time to do anything but check as much as I can. The bottom two layers are completely gone. The once beautiful room is now nothing but mud and broken shit. I focus on a statue half buried in the mud at the back of the room, a llama in gold that glows brightly, even caked in mud. My mother used to make statues, and this is one of the few remaining. I remember her brilliantly designing them and being covered in dust and clay stuck to her clothes. She always created animals, always ones that she remembered from when she was a child or ones she had come to love in the court.

I'm not a believer in fate, but for this to be here, when this entire test is about the fear I got from her…it's hard to look away. That's when I see it. A red light shining from the vent. It's glowing dimly, but the statue catches the reflection of the light to make it more obvious. I climb in through one of the broken windows, following the light, straight through one of the rooms where the mud has gone so high that I practically need to crawl when I get towards the back of the room. I use my magic to make a pathway, careful and slow, in case someone is trapped.

The more mud I move, the brighter the light glows until I spot it—a magical sphere floating in the air—and inside it is a little boy. He's not so little, maybe eight or nine, but still a kid with dark brown hair that matches the mud, and darker skin. His clothes are clean and have the court symbol on his chest. He must have parents that work in the castle. When I get closer, the sphere vanishes around him, and the boy starts screaming in pain. I remember what the bitch said about needing touch, and even when it feels like spiders are crawling across my skin, when it feels like too much, I go over, and I pick the boy up. His screaming instantly stops.

"It felt like burning!" he sobs. "Please don't let that happen. It hurt. Did you do it? It stopped when you picked me up." The boy is like a monkey, wrapping his arms around my neck and never stopping his chatter so I can talk. He is shaking from head to toe, though, and it gives away that he is scared out of his right mind. "Where's my mum? I want my mum. I want my dad."

"Who's your mum and dad?" I question.

"Armel Derocles and River Derocles. They are royal guards, and I was with them and…" He leans back and he really looks at me, his eyes widening and colour draining from his face. "You're the king! I've seen a painting of you, and my mum told me you're in trouble. That's why you had to go fight for us."

"I'd never abandon my court and my people." I smile at him as he leans back to look at me. I still want to drop him immediately and scrub my skin raw from his touch, but I won't do that. I won't let my fear hurt this kid. I'd rather feel sick to my stomach and continue to keep him safe. "Unfortunately, we are in a test where our lives are in danger. You need to be grown up for me, and I'll get you back to your mum and dad, okay?"

"Okay." He's still crying, though. I remember being his age, just a scared little boy once. I remember what Elle told me, what she told me over and over. Every time she held my hand, every time she pushed past the barriers that I've had put in place for so long. She told me I'm brave, and fuck, I want to be for her. I know my fear is irrational—this youth wouldn't even be able to hurt me—but the irrational fears in my mind can be more powerful than any weapon I've held in my hands. "I'm Derrick, by the way."

I keep the boy in my arms and carry him to the main room, only putting him down by the statue. "Well, Derrick, call me Grayson. I'm worried if I let go of your hand, that pain's going to happen again. You need to hold my hand, okay? The pain will start if I let go of you. If I have to use my powers, I want you to go to my back and put your hand on my back. Do not let go as I defend you. Do you understand?"

He nods. "But why, King Grayson?"

I gulp and look into his blue eyes. "I don't like to be touched by strangers, and so the goddess who took you, and the others we need to find, thinks I'd be too scared to hold you, so she'd win this test, and I'd fail. What she doesn't understand is the woman who is my mate. She doesn't understand that my mate is who I'm doing this for, and my love for her overturns any fear."

He nervously grins. "I heard she is pretty."

A laugh escapes me. "Any other older boy said that, I'd be mad at them, but yes. She is very pretty."

He laughs with me for a second, but he still looks terrified. I don't blame him. I'm glad I made him smile. I never really liked kids, now that I come to think about it. But a kid with my eyes and Elle's face, maybe a boy like him? Fuck yeah. I want that. I have to work on convincing her when I get back. I want years with her first, but the idea of putting a baby in her, yeah, I can definitely get on board with that.

We work our way through the towers, through the small little huts where you can only just about see the rooftops before we find people along the way. Two women, both elderly, who hold on to the boy's hand and make a line behind me. As long as I hold on to one of them, it's fine, but I have to touch them first, so I hug each one of them, just pushing back every time against the sickness in my throat.

We find three young men, guards that I don't know, but they are a bit thrown by me, hugging them out of the blue and demanding that they hold on and make the line, but they listen to their king. They are all scared of dying, and they know being stupid is exactly going to cause that. After two more people, we find the final one, a woman about in her thirties, who says she was a cook in the palace and is equally terrified. A clicking sound echoes loudly. We all go still before I lead them out of the room and towards the sound.

"What's that noise?" Derrick questions.

I'm not lying to him. "I don't know, but I will not let anything happen to you." I step out of what must have been a storage room, maybe a barn, before the mudslide. I look up just to see another wave of mud bursting out over the top of the mountain. The clicking sound was the rock breaking above. My eyes widen as I let go of the boy's hand, feeling the boy's hand landing straight onto my back instead. I call my power like I never have done before, and even then, I don't know if it will be enough. I spread my hands out in front of me, my arms wide. My dragon roars from within me, making the entire world hear as the mud slams into us and I barely hold it back. They all scream, and I want to scream with them. The force of it is so great I nearly stumble into Derrick, and I grit my teeth, pushing against it, knowing they're all dead if I fail. I will not let my people die. I will not lose this test. The muddy water doesn't stop, and it isn't my element to control. My body starts glowing green, brighter than any light, as I touch depths of my power I haven't before.

I dig my feet into the ground as everything goes dark and there is just us, just my body glowing with a forest green light. "I am your king!" I roar, thinking of Elle. Imagining her. "And you will bend for me."

I feel a warmness to the air, a sweet, familiar perfume smell as everything pauses. Time slows softly, the mud parting just in front of me. Through the darkness of the muddy water appears a woman and a man. Both of them are glowing in the same green light as me. My parents. I watch them quietly as they come closer. In my mother's hands, a crown forms. The crown is stunning and calls to me like no object ever has. I don't like seeing her again and I do, all at the same time. It's fucked up. My mother walks to me, and on instinct, I bow my head. She places it on me, her fingers running down my cheek, and I flinch. Power flows through my body from the moment the crown rests in my hair, and I look up, seeing my father bowing. I look at my mother, who is fading before my eyes. "Goodbye."

She smiles, like I remember her smiling before everything went wrong, and I tell myself to remember it. To never forget that smile and try to think of it instead of the rest of our past. I quickly use the mud under our feet, making something akin to a bridge and lifting it high into the air, using force to push through the muddy water. They all scream as I grab onto the boy's hand and the green light spreads around him and down each of the people that I found, people that are alive.

I guide us towards the rock wall. They scream even louder, thinking I'm going to crash them into it, but it just breaks away right in front of me under my power, from simply a look. I've never been this powerful, and fuck, did it come at the right time. Lysander has his crown, but Arden didn't get one, so I wasn't expecting it. We come out into the sunlight, the darkness left behind us, and I take us down to the ground. The bridge breaks into dirt under their feet as I land, and let go of the boy's hand and wink at him before one of the women takes his hand and leads him away.

Aphrodite is waiting, a portal open at her side and the spirit castle on the other end. She's furious and I'm glad. "Where the fuck did you get that crown from? Why do they keep appearing?"

I look behind me to see my people running away straight towards one of the other cavern entrances to another part of the city. She made a promise not to hurt them, but I'd rather they were out of sight before I leave. I wait until they're gone before I bother to answer Aphrodite. "Because you're facing kings, you're facing a power you don't even understand. We have a whole host of ancestors that all want us to win because this is our world. So, as I believe my brothers have told you, get the fuck out of my court."

I walk through the portal, and I don't bother looking back. I won that test, and I won it for my mate.