28. a symphony of surrender

28

a symphony of surrender

Rivian

Vexation. Rage. Violence.

It all pervades me. Seeping deep into the blood that slithers in my veins, causing all of my vision to see red.

I knew I had figured it out—I think I had a feeling after the discovery that Ameliana might actually be dead that the only other rational explanation was my Factotum. And while I know now that he is the one behind all of this, it aggravates me that I wasn't able to discover as much in time and causes even more stress not knowing what I did to him to surface all of this war.

"Rivian…" Troian's caution fades off. Or maybe I dismiss it.

I'm too blind with wrath but I know that I will have his surrender, and that I have to tread carefully to get it. His hand is holding the fate of my wife's life and I have to attempt to not make the wrong fucking move or he could rip it from her chest.

He looks down on the ground, Lucynda whimpering and choking on air. I see his eyes fall to a photo . . . the photo , and that's when it finally clicks together.

He's the one in the photo. Meaning that all along, he's the Royal who's been compelling Travois. But some things still seem unclear, it's only a matter of time before he reveals himself fully.

"I don't like to think that I really resemble him much," Zharus waves his free hand to the photograph with a delirious gleam in his eyes. "I like to think that I have my mother's features." The tone of his voice holds a hint of revile, as if I am to blame for the fact otherwise.

"You're lying," Troian stands from her knees, still trying to figure out the mess in front of us. When will Travois wake up? What the fuck is Ameliana doing here? What is Zharus' endgame and how can we save Lucynda?

"Guess I can't really prove it to ya," Zharus spits out a flippant remark as he pulls Lucynda away from the wall with his hand still digging into her chest.

She seizes and sputters, pain twisting on her face as he turns her so that her back is to me. She moans in discomfort as he wields her around like a fucking rag doll and my restraint is slipping by the fucking second.

"It's not like you can ask the bastard, can you? Seeing as he went and got himself decapitated," he pauses, as if he's remembering something. "Or did my hand slip while I was holding the weapon that killed him?" He shrugs which causes a slight twitch from the Cyn. "Oh, well," he adds without any remorse.

" You… " Troy steps forward. "You killed Renard?" Her question comes without discretion and Zharus expresses that he doesn't like her tone as he absentmindedly squeezes my wife's heart.

I can see Lucynda weakening at the hands of the maniacal man before me; bending at the knees as agony floods her. She needs air. Blood.

I look over to Troy and feed her a look that breeds her collected sigh. She has to heed, remain calm until we can act.

"Of course I killed that bastard," Zharus finds joy in answering her question. "He couldn't fathom letting his poor half-blood son be the heir of the crown. But we both know that first born sons are next in line." He squeezes again as he raises his voice, making a point to stare right at me. "His death only meant that time moved quicker in order for me to take you down succeeding him.”

My chest aches to snap his neck, torture him for what he's doing to Lucynda but I can't risk it.

"Why do all this?" I ask, trying to remain as composed as possible at this point while dragging out whatever script he intends to follow in his piteous head.

"Isn't it obvious? I needed to kickstart this series of events." He lets his eyes wander the room before settling them back on me. "Where you, my worthless coward of a brother, would become king, using your power to enact your immature revenge against your stepmother." He acknowledges Ameliana beside him, her eyes glued to Travois' body, unmoving and statue-still. "And your pathetic brother started the perfect storm by going off and killing those two Outsiders because he couldn't handle his own bloodlust. It was too easy to pin the rest of the murders on him."

Everything unfolds and pieces together like a puzzle. Of course he took thoughts from my head, and I was foolish to think I was safe with him because I had no knowledge of him being a Royal. He needed Renard dead so that I could start my reign, and he would be able to act against me while my mind was preoccupied, framing Travois which would rule him out of becoming the next king and I would have soon been dead. Leaving him to announce his birthright as Renard's secret son. But what did he need with Viktrum?

"Viktrum and I needed a reason to make you look weak. We needed the Faction to question you, make you sweat," he sneers with pride as he takes the question from my mind like candy from a baby. "We are going to rule this kingdom together. But more than that…" he starts, growing a smile too wide to fit his face as his eyes gleam with the potential of his dream. "We are going to combine Valor and Hollows as one and we will hold power over the strongest bloodline of Nocturnes this world has ever seen."

I can't hold it in. The comedy of his dream shattering at knowledge of something that he apparently doesn't even know. I know I probably should hold back, but we need to bide more time. I dip my head and silently apologize to my wife for the pain I am about to enable.

"Well done," I quip, bringing my head back up and clapping my hands in feigned admiration. "That sounds like a real fool-proof plan, brother ." Troian pulls confusion on her face as her brows furrow, looking up at me with tears and worry lacing the blues in her eyes, but I have to ignore her to further the trouble I'm about to embark upon, wanting to ruffle Zharus.

She watches me carefully as I continue my antics.

"Let's see," I start. "Kill the brother who took the crown. Prove Royal birthrights and demand to be the next ruler. Marry Viktrum and amalgamate the Societies. Along with all of the tedious tasks that fall in between. You really had your work cut out for you, Zharus. I must say…" I bore my eyes into his, demanding he see the treachery projected in them. "I'm impressed."

He looks at me with frustration, knowing that I'm playing trifling games with his mind, tempting to flood his reserve and shake his mentality.

I give him a sly smirk before I continue. "But the thing about fool-proof plans is that they really are meant for poor, feeble, and envious fools." I make it a point to jab each insult at him with an insolent tone.

"What are you trying to get at?" His expression falls short of his patronizingly cocky self, my intent to humble him is clearly settling in.

"Me?" I point to myself with an insincere tone. "Oh, hadn't you heard?"

Troian watches me closely as I play with the fire Zharus ignited, taking a few steps closer for a more dramatic effect.

"Viktrum is dead," I publicize with no regard to how casually I announce it, watching as his entire demeanor crumbles at the news.

He shakes his head frantically. "That's not true," he accuses and pins me with a disbelieving look.

"Sorry for your loss," I reply arrogantly.

I know I've only risked further harm on Lucynda by instigating him and confronting his ludicrous intentions, but I needed to knock him down a few levels in hopes he'll let down his guard. It's only a matter of time and we will have him bested.

I see his eyes blur with the realization that what I'm saying must be true. His panic starts to engulf him which only triggers his erratic behavior and the anger that clings to it.

"Rivian." Lucynda's frail voice chokes out my name as Zharus squeezes the organ in his palm, crushing the weight of it against her rib cage. She's almost had enough but I need her to hang on just a little longer.

"Just a few more minutes, baby," I whisper to her.

She's slumped over, gripping the arm that intrudes her body with both of her hands. Her eyes are red with the threat of death and heavy with tears and exhaustion. Even if he takes her heart though, there's still time to save her. Just a little longer, I try to relay to her with her eyes barely on mine.

"Rivian, we have to do something," Troian suggests hysterically. But there's nothing I can do. Not only do I risk him killing my wife, but whatever is being done to Trav is also a danger we have to consider.

I look back over to Lucynda, barely hanging on as her breaths come in sharp wheezes and blood spills from her chest. Zharus is spewing incoherent words like a mad man, berating himself. But then he finds my eyes.

"You won't win. You will fail!" He declares and I have no time to argue with him; I watch as Lucynda's eyes flutter closed. "I am supposed to be king!"

The traitor's words are an echo in the background as I zero in on the sound of Lucynda's heart. Slowly fading into the void.

Stay with me, Cyn.

Zharus reaches into his front pocket and pulls out a lighter. "Fine. Let's see how well you do without your precious queen." I yield at his words, watching him slide the zippo across the length of his pants before bringing it up to present a bright flame.

I can hear the panic exploding in Troian's veins—her own aching need to attack is getting harder to curb—while blood rushes between my ears.

Like slow-motion, he tosses the lighter to the makeshift fire pit and it ignites with a beautiful blooming flame.

He's going to toss her heart into the pit. I can't let that happen.

Bile rises up the back of my throat. I feel weak, like I'm failing my queen. But I can't let my pride get in my way or I will make things even worse. Zharus is vengeful, riddled with wrath because he feels he was exiled from his right as king.

I wait with worry tracing my veins. We had a plan, but why are they taking too damn long?

"I lo-" Lucynda sputters when she recognizes her fate. Blood falls from her lips as she tries to speak. "I love y-"

"Don't you dare fucking say it, Lucynda," I warn her through gritted teeth. This isn't final.

I take a few steps toward them when Zharus pulls his eyes away from me.

"I love yo-" she fades off and right as he presses one last time against her insides, gripping harshly with the intent to rip her heart out, Zharus suddenly falls to the floor and lets out a screeching shout of pain.

" Agghh !" He drops Lucynda, her body making a resounding thud as it hits the floor and I don't even blink before I'm at her side.

"Fuck, baby. Wake up." I pick up her enervated body and cradle her in my arms, looking out to see Zharus crumble in agony as he holds his head and sways back and forth to find relief for the pain that invades him.

That's when I see Kacian rush into the room and behind him is Nathairia.

I twitch with irritation; they were cutting it far too close for my liking. "It's about fucking time," I mumble as I watch the rest unfold.

The witch mumbles her conjurations; a hand twisting and directing as she points it to Zharus. Whatever she's doing is debilitating him.

Lucynda stirs in my arms, Troian rushes to Travois, while Nathairia focuses on Zhar.

I nod my head over to Ameliana, signaling Kacian to take her out. She's been standing eerily still unblinking; tunnel vision locked on Trav. The moment Kacian subdues her, Trav immediately awakens as if he was released from whatever hold he'd been in, coughing and seemingly confused as to what just happened.

"Rivian?" I look down to see Lucynda's eyes blinking open, her heart trying to make up for lost time as it beats vigorously in her chest.

"It's okay, you're gonna be okay." I smooth my hand over her hair as I assure her but nothing stings worse than knowing that I had to let her suffer while we waited out the arrival of Kacian and his grandest enemy.

Nathairia looks over to where Kacian holds Ameliana with her hands behind her back and seems to lose her focus for a minor split second. "What is she doing here?" she asks no one specific, but her curious question causes her spell to break.

Zharus takes that moment to rush toward the witch but Troian beats him to it and instead, slams him up against a wall.

I want to be in her position. I want to be the one to rip out his fucking heart and serve it to him on a fucking platter. But I won't leave Lucynda's side.

"It's been so long." I watch as my sister throws her fist into Zhar's heart and doesn't hesitate, not even a second, before she rips it from his chest and watches his limp body slump to the floor. Troian looks at the deflating heart, its final beats coming to a rest before she pulls it to her lips and takes a bite of it as if it were a ripe apple, then tosses it to the fire.

The flames roar with a hungry crackle, swallowing the bloody organ as it burns with new life.

Troian licks her fingers eagerly, enjoying the quench of her thirst. "But I really do like killing boys."

I turn my attention back on Lucynda for a moment. "It's over," I tell her as I sink my teeth into my wrist to open up a vein for her. I lower it to her lips and she drinks generously, replenishing what was taken from her.

"Just like that," I encourage her as she closes her eyes to the taste of my blood. I can feel her body come back to life as she swallows me down.

My trance is interrupted when I hear a scuffle start to break out. I look up to see that Ameliana is now fighting against the hold that Kacian has on her, grunting and trying to free her arms.

"Let me go!" She fights against him and that's when I see Nathairia's interest regenerate.

"Where did she come from?" She turns to face me and my siblings—Travois finally standing in the center of the room and Troy wiping her bloodied hand over her pants.

"That's a good question," I remark. Lucynda lets go of her feed from me and I help her up to stand.

She sways a bit but after a solid beat, she's steady. "I was under the impression that she was dead," I add while staring right into the former queen's eyes.

Nathairia looks between all of us, a look of bewilderment caressing her features.

Travois dusts himself off and blinks hard. "What do we do with her?" He looks at me as he nods his head her way.

"You're gonna do with me what you monsters do best." The tone of Amy's voice as she responds is unconcerned and . . . different. I reach for Lucynda to make sure she's near. Something doesn't feel right.

"We saw the death certificate. You died ten years ago." Troian steps up, facing Kacian and her mother, yielding to not get too close.

Amy stares, watching all of us as we try to unravel the truth behind what just happened and what is happening. The uncertainty of her involvement hangs in the air and I know that I can't allow her any more time to participate in whatever role she was playing.

She needs to be restrained until we can figure out how to proceed with her.

"Kacian, can you take Ameliana to the-"

"Ameliana?" Nathairia interrupts me.

I look to see a staggering expression form on her face before I respond to her confusion.

"She's the former queen," I state. Not sure what kind of answer she was requiring.

I see Amy start to get nervous, fidgeting once more against Kacian.

"I know who she is. But-" Nathairia's response is disrupted as Ameliana shakes herself from Kacian's hold and turns around. In the same breath she holds her hand out to him and forces him on the ground.

Kacian reacts with the same debilitating pain that Nathairia provided Zharus. Lucynda pleads from behind me, "Help him!"

Travois and I start to act but we're stopped.

"Stay back!" Nathairia shouts to us before raising her hands and combating whatever is being done to Kacian.

Ameliana freezes before her own agony awaits her, caressing her skull in a sharp ache as she cries, slithering to the floor.

diminuere et expellere

vim extermina

Nathairia chants her spell as she stalks slowly toward Ameliana who crumbles with anguish.

"What's going on?" Troian's confusion travels through all of us as we watch the witch diminish the woman before us.

Kacian stands back, his head clear of whatever had been done as we watch Nathairia take up more space, causing screams to barrel out of Amy and simultaneously unarming whatever abilities she seemed to possess while she grits out a shocking reveal.

" That's. "

Amy's cries start to turn to a screech as Nathairia twists her hand in the air.

" Not. "

Another scream, her pain reverberating off the cold walls.

" Ameliana. "

A final twitch falls from the witch's hand as Amy is brought down to the ground in a slow collapse, silence now permeating as her voice is subdued and her body torpid.

We all watch with bated breath. I can feel Lucynda's hope evaporate, likely wanting to have another chance to know her mother. The twins don't move as they observe the person that lays on the floor, taking in the words Nathairia just spoke.

In a single gesture, the witch jerks her hand in a circular motion before pulling it back to her, triggering Ameliana's body to be yanked to her. Nathairia reaches out to a necklace that adorned her neck and pulls it from her, breaking the chain in two.

I blink and suddenly, the image changes.

Almost like a spirit being stripped from its soul, a ghost leaving its body. But the image of Ameliana dissipates and all that's left is…

"Birdania?" Troy's voice echoes as she blinks in skepticism.

Her blonde hair trickles down her back against the yellow dress that is now clear as day. Utter shock riddled on everyone's face. She stands before Nathairia and dusts off her dress before turning and facing my sister.

"Oh, don't be so fucking surprised." Her snarky tone causes my ears to nearly bleed. Frustration floods me once more.

"How did you…" I hear Lucynda question, letting her words slip into the air as she tries to imagine the different scenarios that could be in play.

Birdania scoffs a wicked sound. "How did I make you all believe you were talking to a dead girl?" she mocks, shifting on her feet to get a good look at all of us surrounding her.

"It was this," Nathairia announces as she holds up the broken chain she just acquired from Birdania. "This served as her anchor for the focus spell she cast as well as for the Delusor . The deceiving spell."

"Care to explain?" I demand, feeling the heat of Birdania's scorned glare burn over my skin.

"The focus spell allowed her to hold Travois in the paralysis he'd been in, and it also allowed for her to mask her own spirit so that she could take on the illusion of Ameliana whenever she wanted." Nathairia replies, and I can tell there's more to the story than just that.

"Okay, but how?" Troian steps forward. "She's a vampire. She can't do all that, can she?"

"Oh, honey." Impertinence drips from Birdania's tone as she crosses her arms while speaking to Troy. "I'm so much more than a vampire. I'm-"

A swoosh reaches my ears as wind swirls around me before I realize that my wife has pinned Birdania up against the wall with her fist plunged far into the wretched woman's chest.

"Dead," Lucynda growls in a heated whisper, not heeding the anguished groans coming from Birdie's throat as she pulls her organ free from its cage and drops it to the floor.

Her heart splatters against the concrete and Lucynda spits on Birdania's lifeless body. "You're dead."

Quiet.

Everything falls deafeningly quiet.

I watch the rise and fall of Cyn's chest; her show enraptured me and heat swells in my body as I appreciate her fierceness. She looks up at me with her silvery eyes, her face flushed from all she'd just endured, and I can't help but grin a prideful smile at my sweetest sin.

We all stand and examine the scene before us. The bodies. The fire. The betrayals and the further questions that form from the distressing answers we'd gotten.

Kacian is the first to make a move, leaving the room without a single word. A look passes between him and Nathairia before he exits and I can tell that she might still hold a candle for him.

Travois follows behind him.

"Where are you going?" I ask, not sure what I expect any of us to do from here.

He sighs, but doesn't turn to face me as he answers, "I need a drink. You can either join me or you can all sit around and breathe this . . . air." He steps over Zharus' body before he exits the room.

I look over to Troian who provides me with a small smile of her own; a look that seems lost in the results of everything that just unfolded and I can tell that part of her light is diminished.

"Wait for me." She holds my eyes for a moment more as she hollers after her brother, following behind him.

All that's left now is me, my wife, and the witch. The mess before us soiled on the ground; the smell of smoke and rotting blood fills the air along with sounds of the cackling fire which makes for a perfect symphony.

I turn to look at Nathairia who seems to be holding something in.

"She is what we call an Eccentriac . Derived from parents who are made up of one-half vampire and one-half witch. They're a rare breed but . . . I am honored to say I've now seen one in real life." A hint of fascination swims in the words spoken by the witch but neither I nor my wife responds to her.

Instead, I step over to Lucynda and offer her my hand, her eyes on the ground as blood drips from her fingertips.

"Little one?" I study her profile while I wait for her to join me.

She finds my eyes, the sparkle in them still snuffed from the exhaustion that banes her. She'll bounce back. I know she will. She'll be the queen this kingdom deserves and we will mend all that has been broken.

But I won't lie, I do worry about her hesitation.

"I'll be right there," she answers with concealment layering her face. I want to question what business she might have with the witch, seemingly requiring a few moments alone. But I decide to let my wife have a minute before I request for her to join me.

I nod my head in approval, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her temple before turning to make my exit.