Chapter 43

Chapter

Forty-Three

Magnus

"Isaac!" Kitra admonished, almost giggling. "We came to help, not revel in death."

"Speak for yourself."

I ignored Isaac and directed my question to Kitra. "Was that noise outside the two of you? Or is there another attack I have to worry about?"

She shook her head. "Just Isaac.” She pointed to the corpse. "He was about to unleash an entire army on this castle, but Isaac stopped them from storming their way inside."

I regarded my brother for a minute, who looked like he wanted to beat his chest and preen. Fucking weirdo.

It didn't matter that I wanted to do the same. The end of the reign of terror by our uncle had been a long time coming. Isaac understood through his mate, and my mate understood through me. But me and Kitra, we had endured more than most at his hands.

As I stood there, thinking about all we'd been through to get here today, my vision blurred, and I wavered on my feet.

"Are you okay?" Kitra asked.

"No, he's not!" Rose said, struggling to her feet before rushing forward. "He needs a doctor."

She reared up a few feet in front of me and pointed at my hand. "Can you please let that go? I do not want to get near that thing."

I looked down at my uncle's head firmly in my grasp. I'd picked it up without thinking, and the bloody thing was making a mess. I didn't want to touch him any more than she did, but the guards still looking pole-axed needed this. I raised it in front of me. "The man you served is gone. Whatever fealty you still have is to the crown, not the man. If you have a problem with that or me, now is the time to state your challenge. Otherwise, get the hell out."

No one made a move. Hands remained on swords and the only sounds heard were the heavy breaths still left from fighting.

"You heard your king. Move!" Kitra yelled, marching into the middle of everyone with her arrow still at the ready.

"Kitra," Isaac roared.

Everyone stared at my brother and then turned back to face me. It seemed two dragons in the room was at least one too many.

"Don't, Isaac," Kitra warned. "These men need to listen. The old King is dead. Like it or not, that makes Magnus the new king, and I don't care if they don't like it. So many have suffered at the hands of that bastard, including me and him. He is the rightful heir, and I dare anyone now to challenge that."

Rose whirled to Kitra before I could stop her, and at the same time one of the guards moved forward with defiance shining in his eyes. I recognized him as someone who'd had trouble with orders during his training and I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought he could make some kind of move.

"Don't you dare." Rose raised her finger and shoved it in the guard's face. "Just because you know he's been poisoned doesn't mean your challenge would be remotely successful. Magnus will do the honorable thing because that's who he is, but—" She bent and pulled one of her many daggers from her boot. "You will have to get through me."

"Us," Kitra said, taking up her place next to Rose.

Both Isaac and I were about to lose our minds. If that guard so much as flinched, he was dead.

"Since when is he honorable?" the guard snorted in my direction.

"Since the spell the old king had on him was broken three months ago." Kitra raised her arrow and aimed it directly at the guard's heart, daring him to move.

It was sweet they thought I needed their protection, and that they would go to such dangerous lengths to ensure my safety.

But enough was enough.

As if on cue, the burning in my side intensified. Maybe this was worse than I thought. I dropped the King's head and grabbed for something instead to steady myself.

I heard Rose curse under her breath, and I would have laughed, if I didn't suddenly feel like I was on fire from the inside out.

I staggered sideways but couldn't make my way around the debris of bones and ash, and ended up stumbling and slamming down onto my knees. There was a commotion behind me. Or maybe it was outside. It was hard to determine. All I could feel was heat and it wasn't normal. I had a high tolerance for a lot of things, but this was something else.

"Magnus," Rose whispered as she dropped down next to me. "How bad is it?"

I blinked up and her unable to form the words I needed to say. The apology I owed. I tried anyways and managed nothing more than a grunt.

"Goddamnit," she swore, trying to move my shirt so she could see the wound better. "I need some scissors."

"No, you don't." One second, I was looking through the haze of pain at a beautiful woman, and the next Isaac and his grumpy frown filled my vision. I recoiled, hoping he would go away.

"Yeah yeah. You're not happy to see me. What's new? Even though we helped save your ass."

I tried to argue back, the words were on the tip of my tongue, until he ripped at my shirt and that slight touch against the wound sent what felt like a thousand tiny blades of heat racing through my veins.

"What the fuck?"

What? I couldn't see shit other than his face, but whatever he was looking at, he looked scared as hell.

"Goddess," he swore. "It's fucking bubbling and turning him black."

"What does that mean?" Rose asked.

I tried again to question what they were talking about, but coherent words refused to come.

"Shit. Shit. Shit," Isaac yelled. "Don't try to talk. You'll only make it move faster."

"What's happening? Is it bad? Is he going to die?" The frantic rapid-fire questions from Rose tore at my mind. I could taste her fear and it turned my stomach. This is not how this was supposed to end.

As my mind raced, my heart beat frantically in my ears. Louder and faster than I'd ever heard before. Which made no sense because the poison was slowing my heart, not making it race.

"You need to get him out of here," one of the guards harshly whispered. "He may be the king now, but everyone in this room is in a state of shock and not all of them are thinking clearly."

"Are you crazy? We can't move him until we get a doctor here. You either take charge and empty this goddamned room in peace or I'll have Isaac do it for you."

Rose. I couldn't speak clearly, but if I took breath, I would do whatever it took to keep her safe. I clawed at my brother's hand to get his attention and by the time he turned his worried gaze back to me I was ready to stab him through the heart for not getting the fucking message.

"What the fuck, Magnus? You need to stay still. Every move you make is going to push that poison deeper into your veins. You won't survive if it gets to your heart."

"Don't care," I pushed the mangled words through my lips. "Rose."

"What about her?"

"I'm here." She leaned over so her beautiful face filled my vision. She looked a little rough for wear, but we all did. "Just be still. We can talk this out later. I promise." She dropped back to my side and pressed more against the edges of my wound. I inwardly hissed, barely able to breathe through the pain.

I hated seeing her making a promise I knew she couldn't keep. The way this poison had already taken over, I had no doubt I was on nothing but borrowed time. So I had to use it to make it clear to Isaac that he had to keep her safe.

I turned back to my stupid brother and implored him to see what I wanted to say. If we were truly born of the same blood, then he would understand what I needed to communicate to him. I managed a growl that caught his dragon's attention as his eyes flared to yellow and then quickly back to green.

"What?" he asked.

I glanced back and forth between him and Rose several times until he finally lifted his gaze to my mate. "She's fine. Unhurt as far as I can see."

I growled again and raked my ragged nails against his wrist. His eyes flashed yellow again and this time they stayed focused on mine. I had no faith in telepathy between us at this point, but if his dragon took a moment to breathe, he'd know exactly what it was that had me panicked.

"I scent it now." His nostrils flared and his face morphed slightly more to the dragon and the man. I was supposed to be grateful that he'd finally picked up on what I was so worried about, but now the urge to stab him fought for space in my mind.

"Safe." I said on another croaked whisper. “You know what needs to be done, you asshole.” He frowned as if he'd either heard me or didn't understand. But I knew that was impossible. He had a mate and knew exactly how I would feel about mine being in danger without me.

"Done. I'll make sure she's safe. Now will you shut up and let us take care of this shit?"

"Who's safe," Rose asked.

Isaac could have answered her, but he chose to change the subject. "I think the guards are right. We need to get him out of here. Not only is this room not safe, but it's not exactly sanitary either if you know what I mean. I don't trust any of the lingering magic to help his cause."

I tried to groan, sliding my eyes shut. Clearly he'd spent far too much time with humans.

"He's not going anywhere. He killed our king."

"Your king was a piece of shit," Rose spat.

"You have no say here, you are nothing but a hu?—"

There was a lull in the mindless posturing of the guards, but I could see nothing. I was pretty sure my eyes were open, but there was nothing but darkness. Fuck. Not now. Not yet. I could feel the danger shimmering in the air and the scent hit me hard a moment before someone said the worst.

"What the fuck? She's dark fae!"