The new location was exactly what I expected, a fact that made me a little proud. Eva trying to convince me the only reason I’d made it anywhere was because of her had really pissed me off.
In the plane we were on, there weren’t hundreds of trees surrounding the clearing. There was the single tree, with its leaves swaying gently in the breeze filling the clearing. It looked as benign as ever, but there was something a little different about it. I wasn’t sure what that was from where I stood, but it was a little off.
It could’ve been the fact that Malphas was leaning up against it. His black hair slicked back to help give him a somewhat menacing look, but the hair, and the matching black outfit with trench coat, didn’t match what I saw on his face.
The smile didn’t fit a man hell bent on destroying my life. It was a nice smile, with some hidden warmth that he was having trouble hiding. It made me think it was Christmas morning and he got the present he’d been waiting all year for.
I supposed me showing up to face him in battle could’ve been a Christmas miracle, but I was doing my best to project his death in my gaze. There wasn’t an ounce of rolling over on my side of things, so I didn’t know why he looked like things were going to be easy.
I didn’t waste time looking at his minions on the field. None of them felt particularly strong, so I had a feeling they were of the warlock variety of opponents. I’d expected the best of the best to be waiting for us.
“Queen Yara, you look as beautiful as ever. I’m sorry we didn’t get things spruced up before you showed up, but contrary to recent conversations you’ve had, I wasn’t quite ready for you. I thought our game would last at least two more days.”
His voice sounded like it did when he’d opened up the conversation in the cornfield. I wanted to hear him snarl at me like he had at my wedding, or deliver a message of him looking forward to bathing in my blood. The civility was out of place, and even more than not knowing where all his demons were hiding that scared me.
“What were you planning? A few gardens for us to destroy while we worked to kill each other? I can assure you I’m fine without the worry of pollen sending me into an allergy attack.”
“We both know the only allergies you have to flowers is when you receive them in a romantic gesture. I’m sure Malik has figured that out by now and has kept his presents to shiny metal objects that put dents in human flesh.”
Malphas bowed his head in reverence when he mentioned Nate. I wasn’t sure why he decided on using our original names, but that mattered little when he acted like we were his equals, or maybe even superiors.
Knowing that I preferred knives to flowers didn’t impress me much, because it was a well-known fact and he’d already admitted to watching years of my life. I got the feeling mentioning it was just his way of reiterating he thought he knew me.
“I don’t mean to butt in to your little chat, but it would seem we’ve come a long way, and I didn’t think the purpose of the trip was to sit around and chat. If you’re trying to prove to me you know something about my soulmate, she already shared your earlier conversation with me.”
Malphas nodded. “I know, Malik. That’s the funny thing about soulmates. When you use magic that works to make sure no one else can pick up certain things, soulmates can always find a way around it. You two make it impossible to keep things from each other unless you really want to.”
I got the feeling the warlocks on his side of the clearing were just as confused by what Malphas was saying as everyone on our side. We’d been fighting them long enough that I knew they expected the fight to begin the second we showed up.
I wanted to look around at the surprise on their faces, but my eyes remained glued on Malphas. All threats to our side came from him, so looking away was foolish.
“I believe what he was trying to get at is that we came here to fight and if you don’t object to it, we’d like to get things over with.”
“So your eyes tell me. I take it you haven’t reconsidered handing over the oracle? I have no intention of killing the baby, if that’s what’s kept you from agreeing to it in the past.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, which I was pretty sure was exactly what he expected. His words had to be a joke.
“Our opinion hasn’t changed. There’s no way I would hand over any child, let alone my own flesh and blood, to someone like you.”
“I know, and that’s okay. I’m sure you’ve got her well-protected from the likes of me. In a way it’s too bad you aren’t aware of the real threat in her life. Eventually you’ll understand. So how do you want to do this?”
It wasn’t a good thing when the bad guy implied there was a bigger threat than him. I knew I couldn’t trust anything he said, but I felt a chill run up my spine as my brain quickly scrambled to think of anything I’d missed.
“Stop,” Malphas commanded, louder and darker than his previous words. “I didn’t mean for you to start questioning what you’ve done to protect them. I just wanted you to know that I wasn’t the biggest threat against her in the grand scheme of things. Just because our battle will be over soon doesn’t mean there aren’t other people who will want to control your daughter.”
I noticed that he had said them and then her, so he knew about the triplets and Aisling. No one was supposed to know anything about them. Only Nate and I knew about Aisling being the true oracle. I assumed the Fates and maybe another oracle out there somewhere might, but Malphas shouldn’t have been able to speak with authority on the subject.
For once I had to hold Nate back as he made an aggressive move forward. The growls coming from his chest made me think he was part wolf.
“Calm down, Mali. He’s just saying things to get us to do something stupid.”
“Believe me, what I want to do wouldn’t be stupid. It’d end with him in a million pieces on the ground.”
“Be careful with your words. She gets turned on when you go into alpha male mode.”
I heard Kyle snicker behind me. No one else was stupid enough to react to the truthful claim.
“Okay, I’m done with this talking. I don’t know what you expected, but we’re only here to fulfill the prophecy so we can get back to our regularly scheduled lives.”
I let go of Nate and pulled out the demon-killing knife and a blade from another sheath. The regular blade was a touch cold in my left hand, but the one that could kill Malphas was warm and pulsed in the other hand.
“I see.” Malphas’ eyes, which had been glued to mine, dropped for a second to look at the knife that would lead to his death. It was only for a second, but there was something odd that ran through those eyes before he met my gaze again. “I don’t remember you saying how you’d like to get things started. There are so many options when it comes to engaging in battle.”
“Really? Cause I thought it tended to end up being two different parties rushing at each other and doing everything they could to kill each other.”
“If you’re in to barbaric methods, I suppose that’s what it comes down to. We could try to make a grand spectacle of it and partake in Olympic-style games.”
“Why would we want to waste time doing something stupid like that?” Rick asked. “If you’re putting up your flunkies against us, it’d be over in seconds.”
Malphas’ teeth showed as the corners of his mouth lifted. He didn’t bother looking over to Rick as he answered him.
“It was just a suggestion. I can see your point, but I think you’d still have fun playing.”
“Are you hiding either about a hundred more warlocks or some demons who may actually serve as a challenge?” Liam was asking more for the fight ahead. I didn’t think he cared about playing games.
“As I said, I thought I had a little longer to prepare, but rest assured there will be plenty of bodies to fight against. That’s why I suggested something to pass the time until they get here.”
I thought about launching my knife at him, but I was afraid to let it leave my hand. If he was able to control it, the fight would b
e over before either side got a chance to do anything.
“You expect us to believe you couldn’t make the rest of your minions appear with a wave of your hand? I don’t know what your scouts told you, but we’re not that stupid.”
“I know you’re not, Yara. As I’m sure you have a game plan when it comes to fighting, so do I. If you’re not willing to play, we can try things your way.”
He said the words, but no one moved. I felt that our numbers were close to double the warlocks, so I expected things to be over pretty quickly.
The air pressure changed slightly right before Malphas disappeared from sight. I took a defensive stance, with the demon-killing knife raised up in front of my face. I could see a black mist hang in the air. It didn’t move, but as it hung there I felt Malphas’ power leave the clearing.
“Where are you going, coward?” I yelled. “This fight is supposed to be against you and me.”
I didn’t expect an answer, but I got one. “And so it will be, but not today. Work out some of that aggression, and when we meet again we’ll play out the prophecy.”
The guys around me didn’t wait for permission to attack. They’d been waiting long enough to use their toys. I knew they were probably disappointed they had to settle with warlocks as the main course, but they were a blood thirsty bunch who didn’t really care who the opponent was.
I didn’t want to miss out, especially since there were limited opponents, so I hurried to find someone willing to fight me. The warlocks tried a sad group attack, sending different forms of energy flying towards our group. There was at least seventy of them, but they weren’t the strongest warlocks we’d run into.
That part was maybe the most depressing. We’d met some warlocks who were truly dangerous, but the ones in the clearing seemed to be babies. I was tempted to let one of their energy streams through just to see how weak the power behind it was.
Tempted, but I wasn’t stupid. I dodged a stream before generating a fireball and launching it towards the center of the group. They scattered and the fight really began.
In most cases, two uniques went up against a single warlock. The warlocks ended up being a little better at hand-to-hand combat than I expected, but that was something every one of our troops could do in our sleep, and it showed. Within twenty minutes we were left standing in the clearing without anyone to fight.
“There’s going to be more, right?” Liam was looking down at his hands as he asked. I was fairly certain he’d used his hands to rip a warlock’s head from his shoulders, and he was checking to see if he had any blood on his fingers.
Neither berserker had morphed into their bigger forms. His eyes were glowing a little, but I didn’t think it was enough to guide someone through a dense fog, whereas in full berserker mode he could land planes.
“Malphas indicated there’d be more. I don’t know how long we’ll have to wait for them, though.”
I mumbled my words as I looked around to verify no one had taken on any serious damage. It was just something to occupy my thoughts for a second. I only saw a few people even sweating.
“We haven’t torched them yet, should we let them put their heads back on so we can go another round while we wait?” Kyle had reached down and picked up the head closest to him.
“Put that head down. You don’t know where it’s been.”
Those were words I didn’t think I would ever have to say, at least not to a grown man. I could see one of my children needing to be reminded that playing with severed heads wasn’t a good idea.
I looked up to the mist that still hovered by the tree. Our little skirmish had taken place closer to where we’d appeared. I wanted to keep us away from the tree as much as possible because I wasn’t sure what the mist signified.
“Come on, Avery. We were having so much fun five seconds ago. Don’t you what to play some more?”
“Kyle, I’m not going to tell you to put that head down again. We don’t know what’s going to come our way next, but I’d prefer we didn’t have to deal with resurrecting warlocks while we’re in the middle of fighting.”
Kyle tossed the head to the side and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “We don’t know how many other people are coming. We might need the extras just to make sure everyone gets their own warlock.”
Before anyone could decide Kyle made sense, I sent fireballs out to make sure all the bodies were well and truly dead. I’d been around quite a bit of charring flesh, but the bodies burning around us was a record, and not a good smelling record.
“I’m starting to think we should’ve taken him up on the offer of some games. Maybe we could’ve played how far can you toss a warlock.”
“I bet I could’ve beat you,” Kyle replied to his brother’s suggestion.
Considering the berserkers grown men had been foolish on my part. I was fairly certain my barely created triplets were more mature than they were.
Thankfully, I saw Liam look up to the sky when I felt a large pulse of power in the clearing. It was stronger than what we’d just defeated, which put a smile on the berserker’s face.
“I suppose I forgive you for taking our fun away. I don’t think they’re anything more than warlocks, but there should be enough of them to go around.”
He rubbed his hands together and everyone waited for the next round of fighting to begin.
CHAPTER 16
Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes