Minx

Minx

Minx knelt by Naru and tried to reach out to him, but the way his body was shaking with his sobs made her pause. Her heart broke for him while he shattered into a thousand pieces in front of them.

She forced herself to look at the body as he collapsed. She’d never met Clara, but she’d heard enough about her from Sage and Naru that she was confident they would have been friends. The charred, smoldering body that lay by Naru’s knees couldn’t be the same person. She just couldn’t.

She was grasping at straws, trying to think of something to do. Anything to help, but her body just wouldn’t move and her brain felt like it was frozen, her thoughts slow and half-baked.

“Minx,” Alec whispered next to her. Slowly, she turned to him, completely unaware he’d been there. How long had he been standing there? “Just give him a moment. There’s nothing we can do but be here for him.”

Be there for him. While he fell apart in front of them. While his entire world was shattered into tiny pieces and left to float away in the wind.

“We’ve put out all the fire,” Rhea sniffed behind them.

“The whole town is gone,” Wraza said.

Elinar appeared next to them, her usually bright eyes dull. “Tracks lead out of town. It looks like they all fled in the night, my liege.”

“Should we go after them? To make sure they’re safe?” Rhea asked, her sapphire eyes rimmed in red.

“No,” Kade emerged from the smoke sans Sage. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wanted to ask where she was, but her brain was so slow, so sluggish that the thought got clogged up with other thoughts as Kade said, “They’re in no danger now. Vinciei and Zaniel made their point.”

A jolt of electric heat raced through the room, the shock bringing her brain back online. Of course, it had been them - she knew that - deep down she knew it had to have been them. But hearing it confirmed out loud while they stood in the devastating destruction left behind had a visceral effect on them all.

Fire laced up Wraza’s arms, blue flames that licked and kissed her skin while she clenched her hands into fists. Rhea didn’t move to put it out. Her red-rimmed eyes widened with shock and horror, but something else glittered there just beneath the surface - a calm kind of rage.

The entire room felt it. It was like a cool wave of white-hot anger that did not cloud their minds, but instead made everything feel crystal clear.

They had all seen their fair share of horrors in this world, but most of it was the Hands doing. This, though, was one of their own. A Maiden, whose bloodline had been blessed and gifted a piece of the Goddess’s soul. Entrusted with the safekeeping of the people their Goddess loved so much, she threw her life down to save them.

This was blasphemy to the very rotten core.

Maybe the Hands had had it right when they dethroned the Maidens. Maybe they shouldn’t have the gifts, the power to do what they willed - because it was their will that caused this horror. The Goddess did not sanction this ruination of Naru’s life or the lives of the Hunters he loved.

And for what? To prove she could? They already had two hostages to barter with, which made this extra cruel.

“They did it to rattle us,” Alec said softly.

“It’s what Zaniel does best,” Kade confirmed, his eyes blazing red. “He wants us shaken and angry. It makes it easier for him to exploit our weak spots.”

“How would they even know about this place?” Rhea asked.

“We told Vinciei everything,” Minx said, her voice hollow. “How we came here, who we met. We trusted her because she was one of us.”

“She’s not,” Wraza shot back, the flames brightening around her arms.

Minx shook her head. “No, she isn’t.”

Kade looked from her to the others, then moved by them. Minx turned, watching him walk over to Naru who still knelt by his sister’s body. Kade sat on his knees next to the Hunter, then placed a hand on his back. She couldn’t hear what they said, but Naru’s shoulders eventually stopped shaking.

Alec gave her a tight smile before joining Kade on the other side of Naru.

“Should we give them some space?” Rhea asked.

Minx almost agreed when all three stood up. Kade still had a hand on Naru’s back, but Alec turned around and came back to them.

“We need to go,” he said quietly. “We have to get to them before they do something to Gabriela or Omi.”

Minx nodded. They were unhinged, clearly, and she wouldn’t put it past them to harm their hostages.

“The plan doesn’t change,” Wraza said to everyone’s surprise. “We can still do it. We cause the distraction, and Sage uses the Tear to get them out.”

Minx looked at everyone else, and they all had the same mask of determination. They were going to get Gabriela and Omi back, no matter what.

“No risks,” Minx said quietly. “We get in and we get out. We aren’t going to give Zaniel what he wants by running in there in a fit of rage, looking for vengeance. It hurts to hear that, I know, but we cannot lose anyone else.”

“We won’t,” Naru’s deep voice growled behind her.

Minx spun on her heel, shocked. “Naru, I-”

He pinned her with his molten eyes, stained blood red and puffy still. She felt ashamed he had heard her, even though it was the truth. He didn’t need to hear it right now, not while the pain of his loss was so fresh.

“You’re right. I want my vengeance. I want their heads on pikes for this. But I cannot and will not lose myself to revenge. Not now. If I did and failed, their deaths would be forever unanswered.” He tightened his sword over his shoulder, then brushed the ash from his cheeks. “I, for one, look forward to the day we make them answer for this.”

Minx looked at Alec, who nodded. She still wasn’t certain Naru was in the best place mentally for this, but she also knew there was no way in hell he’d let them go without him.

Alec would keep him safe, and she would ask the same of Elinar once she had a chance to speak with the Elf away from Naru.

“Let us handle Vinciei,” Minx said, eyeing the others. “Four Maidens against one - even with Kami’s gift, she will be pressed. You three focus on Zaniel and getting him as far away from Vinciei as possible. Together, they’re going to be a problem.”

Everyone nodded solemnly.

“Alright, where is Sage?” She asked.

Kade motioned for them to follow him.

“Outside.” He said simply. No one asked why - they didn’t need an explanation.

They all stepped out into the front yard, but Sage was nowhere in sight.

“No,” Kade breathed. His tone frightened her, sending a sense of dread creeping up her spine.

He searched his pockets, then cursed, “Fucking Blackwood!”

Minx felt her knees shake and she would have collapsed if Alec hadn’t been holding her up. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Sage was brash and acted on impulse a lot, but there was no way she would do that right now. Not now.

“Please tell me she didn’t-” Rhea’s voice cracked, breaking as tears welled in her eyes. Wraza’s flames died instantly as she reached out and held her.

“Of course she did,” Wraza said, a hint of admiration in her voice as she shook her head. “She’s a Blackwood.”

Kade’s human skin melted away as he shook with unbridled anger.

“She promised.” He cried, “She promised me she would stay right here.”

“She’s giving us the distraction we need,” Naru said, his face deadpan. “We cannot squander it.”

The others looked at him in mild confusion.

“She’s going to do what she does best. Cause destruction while royally pissing them off. She’s going to get them rattled,” a hint of a cruel smirk played on his lips, “And while they struggle to keep their composure, we will go in and retrieve Gabriela and Omi.”

Naru stalked towards the barn where, thankfully, all the horses still stood safely. As quickly as they could, they saddled them. Minx rode with Alec, following closely behind Naru as his massive black stallion barreled down the road.

She hoped Naru was right and Sage only meant to distract Vinciei and Zaniel. But mostly she hoped this hadn’t been a part of their plan - to rattle them, but mostly Sage, the one who could be rattled and played like a fiddle if they knew how.

She hoped against all hopes that her best friend hadn’t just been played right into their eagerly awaiting hands.