40. Magnar

Islammed through the door to the stairwell, ripping the door off of its hinges as I went and throwing it down behind me to block the stairs and slow Erik further.

Nothing was going to stop me from killing these enemies first. Each of them stood against me and my love, and I would present their heads to her rather than allow them to live another moment with foul intentions towards her.

“Asshole!” Erik snarled as he clambered over the door behind me and I laughed as I took the stairs two at a time, leaping higher and higher.

Valentina would be so pleased when I did this. I hoped she knew I’d do anything for her. Everything. I just wanted to prove my love. I needed her to understand the depths of my devotion.

I made it to the top of the wooden staircase and slammed into a heavy door which barred my way forward. It shuddered on its hinges but didn’t give. I rammed into it again and again, cursing as the delay allowed Erik to catch up to me.

“Let’s do it together, brother,” he said. “We can’t let her down.”

“No, we can’t,” I agreed.

I may have wished to beat him to this, but it was more important that Valentina was satisfied. I couldn’t bear the idea of disappointing her. It was unthinkable.

We ran at the door together and it finally gave way as we slammed into it, a cold wind whipping around us as we stumbled out onto the roof of the castle.

A huge metal contraption was rising from the roof, two massive blades rotating above it and lifting it into the sky. It was impossible and yet I was looking straight at it. I simply stared at it for several long seconds, my mind struggling to comprehend such a thing.

“We need to stop that helicopter!” Erik bellowed as he raced forward, forcing my thoughts to focus back on our goal.

Callie stared out at me from within the belly of the metal beast and a snarl left my lips as I started sprinting towards her. My love wanted her head and I would do whatever it took to get it for her.

The strange contraption rose higher, lifting away from the roof at an accelerating speed. Everyone aboard that vessel needed to die. Valentina desired it. And my life held no meaning if I couldn’t fulfil her wishes.

Adrenaline pounded through my muscles as I charged towards it, but it rose too high for me to reach. I snarled angrily as it climbed above my head, ascending rapidly and leaving us behind.

“Throw me!” Erik shouted as he shot towards me and I turned to him just as he leapt into the air.

I caught him and used his momentum to wrench him around and fling him up after the helicopter.

The people inside it screamed as he caught one of the metal beams which ran beneath it and the whole thing lurched sideways.

I backed up to get a better view and smiled darkly as I spotted Callie dangling from the open door while Montana fought to drag her back in. With a bit of luck, the two of them would fall back down to the roof and I could finish them for my love.

The helicopter was causing a raging vortex to swirl around me and my hair slashed about violently in the wind. The sound the thing made was a thunderous whooshing unlike anything I’d ever heard before, making it hard for me to pick out the screams of the people aboard it.

Erik was hanging from the metal beam by one hand and yanking on Callie’s leg with the other. Once he threw her down to the roof, I’d finish her with my bare hands. A wicked smile lit my face at the thought and my fingers curled in anticipation.

The helicopter spun in a tilting spiral around the rooftop as I stared on, rage simmering in my veins as I ached to join the fight.

Fabian was trying to drag Callie back inside too and my lip pulled back with rage. She needed to die. Valentina needed her to die and he was working against her. I’d have his fucking head for it if they’d only drop lower.

Clarice was screaming at Erik to let them go but he held on, fighting to bring down the girl who had wronged our love.

Julius leaned out of the door with his sword raised and swiped it straight through Erik’s arm, severing the hand which held Callie. Fabian and Montana swiftly dragged her back inside and I swore at the missed opportunity.

Erik’s severed hand hit the roof beside me and Julius swung the sword straight for his head next. Erik was forced to release the helicopter or face his death and he crashed down on the roof with a sickening crunch.

“Julius!” I roared, running to the edge of the roof as the helicopter swerved away. “I’ll fucking kill you for this! We’re coming for all of you. You won’t get away with wronging Valentina. Your heads will be ours!”

The helicopter sped across the sky, withdrawing too rapidly for us to pursue and I glared at it as Erik groaned beside me. His body was already healing the damage from the fall and I moved towards him, kicking his severed hand closer so he could reattach it eventually.

It took a few moments for him to realign his spine and get back to his feet. As soon as he was upright, I punched him hard enough to break his jaw.

“How could you let them get away?” I roared. “Valentina needs them dead and now they’re gone.”

“I know,” he breathed, cracking his jaw back into place as it healed and I could tell it pained him to admit to our failure as much as it did me. “I don’t know how to express how sorry I am.”

“We have to tell her,” I said as I started heading back towards the stairwell.

I hated to go to her knowing she’d be upset by our failures, but we had no choice. She needed to know and I would take whatever punishment she deemed necessary.

“I’ve never felt such shame,” Erik muttered, hanging his head as he followed me inside.

“Where did you last see her?” I asked as we made our way back down the stairwell.

“She was overseeing the fight but I think she’s moved further into the castle now. I can smell her, come on.”

“Truly?” I asked, jealousy pulling at me. I wished I could smell her from here, she smelled like honey, lavender, sunshine and miracles. It wasn’t fair that he could smell that while I couldn’t.

“Yes,” he replied. “It’s magnificent.”

I refused to talk to him the rest of the way. It wasn’t right that he should have such a way to feel close to her when she wasn’t even present. I ached to see her face whenever I wasn’t looking upon it. I yearned to touch her skin and bring a smile to her full lips.

The fight between the biters and the remaining guards had come to an end with our victory and the hallways were lined with piles of clothes and heaps of ash. We moved along them quickly but it wasn’t fast enough. I thought of Valentina, her dark hair, full lips, perfect breasts... My pace quickened and Erik’s did too. I glanced at him, not wanting him to reach her first. We shared her because that was what she wanted and her happiness was all I cared about, but I ached to be her favourite.

I needed to see her. Now.

I started running and Erik growled as he sped along beside me. He was faster but I wasn’t going to be left behind easily. We raced down a spiralling staircase and Erik shoved his way through a set of heavy wooden doors and led the way into the throne room.

Some of the biters were carrying three of the thrones away and Valentina sat on the one which remained, right in the centre of a raised stage. The room was opulently decorated with rich golden wallpaper lining the walls and a deep red carpet on the floor. There were intricate works of art hanging from the walls and everything about the place screamed power. But all of it faded to irrelevancy beside the face of my love. My queen.

A glittering golden crown sat upon her head and her dark hair coiled over her shoulders beneath it, drawing my eyes down to drink in her perfect figure. She still wore the white dress and no mark of the battle had stained it. She was beauty personified. The one shining light in the dark abyss of this world. She was all that there was. Nothing else mattered. Everything paled into insignificance beside her.

We hurried closer as she turned her eyes to us, and we both dropped to our knees before her.

“I’m so sorry, my queen,” Erik breathed, his voice raw with emotion. “But the royals and the twins you so wished to see dead escaped on a helicopter.”

“We have failed you,” I murmured, a heaviness building in my chest.

“What?” she hissed, rage simmering in her tone.

“Punish me, my love,” I offered. “Take out your anger on my wretched flesh. Physical pain is nothing to me in comparison to the anguish I feel at knowing I failed you.”

“No, punish me,” Erik begged. “I had Callie in my grasp and I allowed her to escape me. I am the one most deserving of your hate.”

“Enough,” Valentina snarled and her eyes narrowed with displeasure as she surveyed us. “You will make this right for me.”

“Yes, my love,” I vowed.

“Anything for you, my world,” Erik added.

“You will hunt them down for me,” she said. “And you won’t stop until you kill them.”

“Of course,” I agreed and Erik nodded enthusiastically at my side.

“Good. But I will still have to punish you for this failure,” she added.

“Please do,” I said. “My body is yours.”

She beckoned for us to move nearer, and I crawled towards her, looking up at her beautiful face from my position on the floor. It was where I belonged. I’d failed her. I was worse than a worm. She deserved so much better than me. I would be better.

Valentina indicated for me to rise and I stood before her, my body trembling from her proximity. I wanted her so much. Desire coursed through my blood and I couldn’t help but stare at the pure beauty of her face as she surveyed me with a scowl.

A wicked smile lit her features and I knew she’d decided how to punish me. I ached for her to do it. I had to unburden my soul of the wrong I’d done her. Failure shouldn’t have been possible. It wouldn’t be an option in the future.

Valentina reached for my belt and lust filled me as she tugged it free.

“Take off your shirt,” she breathed and I instantly did as she asked.

She got to her feet, looking up at me as if she might kiss me and my heart thundered at the prospect. But I wasn’t worthy of such attention. I’d failed her. I should be punished. I needed to be punished.

I dropped to my knees before her, baring my flesh so that she could sate her rage on me.

“Punish me too,” Erik begged behind me and Valentina nodded, allowing him to kneel beside me and accept the consequences for his failures as well.

Valentina raised her fingers and brushed them along my jaw.

“You’re my dog, Magnar,” she sighed and I nodded with agreement. “And there’s only one way to train a dog.”

She raised her other arm, holding my belt ready as her eyes glimmered with excitement.

When the blow fell against my chest, I refused to so much as flinch. Pain sliced through my skin as the leather whipped my flesh raw and the buckle drew blood. I grunted but held myself still as she raised her arm again, her face lighting with a savage satisfaction. She needed to do this. I deserved it.

She hit Erik next and he sucked in a breath as the belt licked the flesh from his stomach, but he didn’t move an inch either. He knew like I did that this was what she needed from us and that was all that mattered. So long as she was satisfied, our own desires were met too.

Our blood splattered across her white dress, staining it as her eyes burned with a deep sense of satisfaction.

The belt struck me again and again, blood racing down my chest as she took out her fury on my body and I forced myself to remain still and take it.

I focused on the twins I had sworn to destroy for her. Their deaths were etched into my soul. I would come for them like a demon in the night. Their lives would be mine and my blades would run red with their blood. I would see Valentina happy again. Even if it was the last thing I did.