Fates Divided: Halven Rising

The brilliant rainbow of flashing lights stung Elena’s eyes. Her back bowed, arching through atomic matter until the pull of gravity signaled the end of the portal. She tucked and bent her knees, bracing for impact the way Keen had taught her, only instead of a smooth landing she came to a sudden, jarring crash.

Elena tumbled forward until she smashed into a solid surface, buckling up against it like a fly on a windshield, the air whooshing from her lungs.

Deirdre had entered the portal before her. She lay on the ground, collecting herself a few feet away. A second later, Camille swept through. She stumbled mildly, but caught her balance without crashing into furniture.

Deirdre stood and dusted off her clothes. “Camille’s portals are a bit bumpy.”

Slight understatement. But they’d made it into the lab, thank God.

Elena peeled herself from the laboratory’s blackened cabinets and wobbled to her feet. “Do you think they heard us?”

Deirdre walked to the door and carefully peered out. “No one approaches. They are most likely forming search parties at the borders.” She scrunched her nose. “I see Osulf still refuses to update the castle plumbing.”

“It does smell awful in this place,” Elena said. “No wonder people migrated to New Kingdom.”

“Elena,” Camille said patiently. “The politics of Tirnan are more complicated than that.” She shook her head at Deirdre. “Now that the king’s sanitation system has been dismissed, may we proceed with the plan?”

Deirdre pulled out a machete she’d strapped to her back beneath her tunic. “I suggest we confiscate arms from the next guard that passes.”

Elena eyed the frightening blade. “Confiscate?”

“Render him unconscious and grab his weapons,” Deirdre said, as if the meaning wasn’t clear.

Camille pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Excellent idea. Oldlanders may be outdated in lifestyle, but they possess advanced weaponry, perhaps the best.”

Memories of Elena’s last physical encounter with Old Kingdom guards made her heart race. She had no issue with attacking an Oldlander, she was simply less optimistic about the outcome. And if they used null guns… Her stomach did a nauseating twist. Hit by a null and without her magic, she’d be defenseless.

“I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a null gun or two,” she said, “but are you sure we can take one of these guys down?”

Camille pulled out a club and smacked it in her palm a couple of times. Where the hell had she been hiding that? “Of course we can.”

Deirdre—with her machete between her teeth—flexed her arms and cracked her knuckles. She peered out the door again and held up one finger behind her back.

“Guard coming,” Camille mouthed.

Elena gasped. Were they really doing this?

A moment later, Deirdre tightened her hold on the handle of her blade. Faster than Elena thought possible, she swung the door open and plucked the guard from the hallway, slamming the butt of her machete into his temple. While he stumbled inside the room, she silently closed the door, then turned and kneed him in the groin. The guard collapsed, hands gripping his man parts.

These women are ruthless.

Camille touched Elena’s shoulder, and Elena jumped. “Rope, cloth,” she whispered.

Elena transmuted cloth and rope, but had to redo the rope twice because she’d made it too thick to tie the first two times. Even with the delay, they had the Fae bound to a chair and gagged before he could recover.

Deirdre set down her weapon, and she and Camille divested the guard of his knives, strapping them on their belts and inside the hidden pockets of their clothes. Deirdre handed a couple of knives to Elena, and she attached them to her belt as well.

With the guard tied up and incapacitated, Elena stepped forward gingerly and searched him for a null gun.

An idea was working its way into her mind about how to get Derek out of Old Kingdom, and she needed that damn gun.

Without warning, the guard yanked at the ropes and growled at her. She scuttled back and fell on her ass.

Deirdre stepped forward. She studied the guard for a second, then stabbed him in the chest with one of his own knives.

He swayed forward, gasping for breath—she must have punctured his lung.

Deirdre reversed the knife and knocked him out with the butt. “That should hold him for a while.”

Elena had no idea her sweet aunt was so bloodthirsty. She seemed so delicate…but Leo had said all Fae could fight. Elena had newfound respect for her aunt’s skills. She’d look into more defense training if she ever survived this.

She crawled to the unconscious Fae and continued feeling around for the null, fingers trembling. She found a holster at the back of his belt and unlatched it, pulling the gun inside it forward.

Thank God. The gun looked just like the null guns she and Derek had been shot with—squat, yet wide at the muzzle. All of the guards must be equipped with them.

Which wasn’t a reassuring thought.

Camille gazed at the ceiling. “Your friend is on the second floor. He paces the room above us.” She raised her hands and closed her eyes, pointing to the far corner of the laboratory. “There.”

Derek. They were so close.

They could do this—save Fae with the virucide and escape the realm together.

She followed Deirdre and Camille out of the laboratory, pulling the door shut behind her. They jogged to the back of the castle, using Camille’s ability to detect if any Fae neared. After winding their way up a narrow flight of stairs to the second floor, they slowly edged down a long hallway. They traveled to the end and stopped in front of the last door.

Camille looked over at Elena and nodded.

Elena eagerly twisted the knob and stepped inside. Deep relief filled her.

Derek was standing with his back to her, gazing out a window. He looked poised and powerful, and incredibly handsome in the clothes the king had given him—embroidered at the wrists like Niall’s, and tapered at the waist, highlighting the new breadth of his shoulders. He didn’t appear to have been mistreated, but she couldn’t be sure until she saw his face.

His head shifted slightly in her direction. She muffled a cry and ran to him, throwing her arms around his wide back.

Derek stiffened and slowly turned to gaze down at her, an odd, blank look on his face. “They told me you would come. I said you were smarter than that. I misjudged you.”

She understood why he’d made her leave at the creek. They never would have found a cure if she hadn’t left Old Kingdom. But now, he had no reason to push her away.

Elena swatted his chest. “Derek, we’re getting you out—”

His hand snapped to her neck, squeezing and blocking off air.

She clawed at his fingers. “Wha—why?” she mouthed.

He glanced at Deirdre and Camille, who had drawn their weapons and were rapidly crossing the room. “Move another inch and I kill her.”

Derek gazed down at Elena. A muscle twitched above his eye, his face momentarily softening. He shook his head, and the fierce, impenetrable mask returned. “You shouldn’t have come. I am my father’s man now. You will be too. You will work for Old Kingdom as an alchemist slave to his majesty’s will.”

What had they done to him? This wasn’t Derek. His body, yes, but not his mind.

Elena kicked him in the shin and clawed at his fingers, but his clasp tightened.

“Don’t fight this, Elena. You will not win.”

She slid her hand to her belt, searching for something to defend herself with, her head growing woozy from the lack of oxygen.

A shot rang out and a glossy bubble encompassed Derek and the front of her.

Derek blinked several times. He glanced at his hand around her throat and dropped it as if her skin had scorched him. He stumbled back, looking startled. “Elena?”

She dropped the null gun she’d pulled from her belt, and bent over, coughing and gasping for air.

When she could breathe again, she straightened to find Derek’s eyes wide, his body shaking. He was gripping the wrist that had choked her, his face contorted with anguish.

“It’s okay,” she said, her voice broken and scratchy. “It’s not your fault.”

Elena would never doubt Derek’s loyalty again. She’d done that once after the Beatrice incident, when the evidence had been stacked against him. She’d forgotten for a split second what her heart knew: Derek would never harm her willingly. Was always, in fact, protecting her.

Elena had planned all along to zap Derek with the null, which was why she’d taken it from the captured Fae to begin with. She’d hoped to remove whatever charm Niall had placed on him to keep him from leaving Old Kingdom. But when she realized Niall had turned Derek against her, she didn’t wait.

Derek stepped forward and collapsed to his knees, sliding to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’m so sorry,” he breathed into her belly.

She stroked his hair. “I’m okay. Everything’s okay.”

After several deep breaths, his body tensed and he stood, still holding her close.

“Goddamn Fae,” he growled. “I’m not a pawn!”

He stepped away and paced the room.

Elena picked up the null gun and reattached it to her belt, then touched his arm. “We have to go.”

“Yes,” Camille said, gazing off as if listening to something the rest of them couldn’t hear. “They are coming. The gunshot was very loud. As was Derek’s outburst.”

Elena turned to Camille. “Can you make a portal to the river? We can’t escape these walls by Blending right now. Derek’s abilities won’t work for a while because of the null gun.” She reached for the jar at her waist and set it on a nearby table. “If you can get us to the river, we can pour the virucide in the water, but we’ll need a portal out.”

Camille grabbed the virucide and tucked it in her pocket. “We could portal farther down the river, away from the bulk of the guards, but my powers will diminish. Fae abound at the castle, and their energy strengthens me. If we remain close, I may have enough power to portal to the river, then get you home.”

“Virucide?” Derek said. “You made the cure?” She nodded, and he pulled her close. “Of course you did. I never doubted it.”

Elena tipped her head back and peered up. “We’ll pour it in the river outside the castle for people to drink from, then escape from there. Camille makes portals, but they aren’t like the others. They only last a minute, and she has two left before she has to rest.”

The sound of several people running came from down the hall. Elena’s heart raced in her chest as she looked to Deirdre.

Camille lifted her head as if sniffing the air. “Seven to ten soldiers approach.” She spun around and ran her hands over the stone beside the door, tracing out the shape of a large rectangle. “I’ll have the portal take us to the north end of the castle beside the Fates River.”

Her palms rose from the surface, and the area within the rectangle she’d invisibly outlined wavered. Camille glanced back, nodded, then walked through the wall and disappeared.

Deirdre looked over. “We must hurry.” She rushed to the stone Camille had disappeared through, and entered behind her.

Before Elena and Derek could follow, the door to the room burst open.

And before Elena knew what was happening, Derek shoved her into the portal.

She went tumbling through space and lights, landing near the river on her right knee and elbow, pain shooting through her joints.

Camille and Deirdre stood in front of her, staring at something over her head with equal looks of horror on their faces.

Elena glanced back, and wished she hadn’t.

A steady stream of seventy—maybe a hundred—guards sprinted for them, weapons drawn. The pounding of their feet explained the low rumble and vibration coming from the ground.

Camille ran to the edge of the river and hastily poured the virucide into the water.

If they didn’t survive, at least they’d have accomplished what they came for. They’d gotten the cure to the people of Tirnan. But Elena wasn’t giving up hope yet. She wasn’t defenseless, not since her powers had been increased.

Derek burst through the portal and rolled on one shoulder, popping up into a crouch. He looked past Elena and his eyes widened. “Shit.”

“Make the portal,” he shouted to Camille, then disappeared.

Which meant his powers had returned. But where had he gone?

Elena frantically scanned the area and found no trace of him, until a fist came out of nowhere and struck one of the guards leading the herd of soldiers.

The guard stumbled and fell, taking two other Fae down with him.

Derek couldn’t fight everyone on his own. If she didn’t do something, the soldiers would be on them in seconds.

She held up her hands—

Deirdre grunted a few feet away.

“Deirdre!” Elena shouted.

“I’m fine.” Deirdre pressed her hand to a patch of blood blooming on her arm where an arrow had anchored.

Elena peeled her gaze from the bright red pouring from her aunt’s wound and focused on creating fine water droplets. She engulfed the Fae guards in a thick fog.

Judging by the sounds, they were stumbling into one another blindly. Their hands popped out wildly from the dense blanket surrounding them, as if searching for a stronghold—or a captive.

Deirdre ran forward and stabbed anyone who came close. The guards had stopped firing their bows. Even they weren’t stupid enough to shoot indiscriminately. They were as likely to shoot one another as they were to shoot Elena and the others.

Elena backed from the blinded Fae over to Camille, who was kneeling at the river. A wavy illusion appeared above the water.

Perspiration dotted Camille’s forehead as she peered over her shoulder, a panicked look on her face. “Where is Derek?”

“I don’t know.” Elena hadn’t seen him since he’d punched the Fae, and soon their mode of transportation would be gone.

“Elena, I cannot make another. This is the last of my powers until I have time to rest. If we wait, we will be captured or killed. You must come with me now.”

Camille stood and placed her hand on Elena’s shoulder. “Niall does not wish to kill the boy. Leave with us, and we will return for him later.”

She gave one last sad smile, then moved to the edge of the bank and into the portal.

“Camille is right,” Deirdre said from her side. “We must go. We will find him later.”

Elena nodded and approached the edge of the bank with Deirdre, which apparently gave her aunt the reassurance she needed.

Deirdre glanced to make sure Elena was right next to her, then stepped into the portal.

But Elena didn’t follow. She looked back, searching for Derek.

She glanced every few seconds at the wavy portal to make sure it still existed, her heart fluttering with each moment that passed. Turning in a circle, she peered around frantically. Looking beyond the thick fog that held the disoriented soldiers, toward the castle and other guards approaching, she saw no sign of him. Where was he?

“Derek—” she began to shout, her voice cut off on a whimper.

A large hand had pinched her collarbone, somehow making it impossible for her to move.

“You think you can escape me?” Niall’s frigid voice doused the hot adrenaline coursing through her body. A mirage-like shimmering floated from the side and moved in front of her, Niall’s body coming fully into view.

Her muscles weakened in cold fear—would have rooted her to the spot even without the magical hold.

Niall’s soldier released the power that kept her motionless, and stepped in line with the others.

The guards fanned off Niall on either side of him like the wings of a dark angel.

Elena lifted her hand to the horde of new Fae approaching from the castle and encased them in fog, hoping that would help Derek return before the portal closed. She quickly went to immerse Niall and his men as well—but not fast enough.

A shot rang out and the clear, bubblelike liquid of a null dripped off her body in a cool, slippery glaze.

She had no more powers. No more hope of using the elements for escape.

Elena scrubbed the slime from her eyes with her sleeve. She had hesitated, but there was no way she could have left without Derek. Her heart wouldn’t allow it.

“I honored my promise to keep you safe within my castle, but we are no longer there.” Niall raised his hands as if to prove the change in venue.

Elena took the opportunity to glance around one last time, still searching for signs of Derek. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep her features in control, though her insides rioted in terror on all levels. For Derek. For herself.

As if reading her mind, Niall said, “You are nothing. Not worth the ground my son walks on.”

“Derek is Halven, like me.” She tried to sound strong, but her words came out weak and trembling.

He smiled. “Derek is more than Halven, and soon he will be much more, while you will cease to exist. He is my only son and heir. He will rule Tirnan with me.” Niall reached back and slid a sword from a sheath at his back. He touched the edge of the blade with his thumb and a bead of blood oozed down the silver metal.

Elena’s throat tightened, choking her. Her shoulders trembled and sweat dripped down her palms as Niall slowly raised the sword above her head. His guards spread out more, giving their leader a wide berth. She tried to say something—anything to stop what was about to happen—but the only sounds coming from her were strangled, gasping noises, as if she were drowning. That was what fear did to you—it locked you in place until you couldn’t think straight.

Elena had meant to protect the people she cared about when she stepped out of her sheltered world and into this one, but she never really believed it would result in her death. Even if she had believed it, it wouldn’t have changed her decision. She would rather die than allow harm to come to the people she loved. And if she saved innocent Fae too, her choice had been worth it.

Niall smiled, his teeth like pearls in the sun peeking through the dissipating fog. The muscles in his shoulders bunched as he arched his arms for the killing blow.

Elena closed her eyes.

A second passed. And another…

When nothing happened, she blinked her eyes open. Niall’s sword was still raised, but it had dropped a fraction and his smile had faded. He grunted and looked dazedly down at his chest, blood bubbling from the corner of his mouth.

The air rippled, sending the dissipating fog into a frenzied whirl. And then Derek appeared over Niall’s shoulder.

Niall’s body jerked back. Once. Twice.

His eyes glazed over and he slowly turned. “No,” he gurgled, and fell at Derek’s feet, a gaping hole in his back where his heart used to be.

Derek clenched the organ with a shaking hand, his eyes wide, jaw tensed.

Every one of Niall’s guards stared in what could only be disbelief. Slowly, one by one, they knelt and bowed at Derek’s feet.

“Fealty to King Derek,” one said.

The others chanted the words in return.

Holy crap.

Could Derek actually be…

Didn’t matter. Leave—they had to leave. Elena glanced back.

The portal flickered, as though it were about to close.

There was no time to shoot Derek with another null to ensure he could leave the land. And anyway, the magic the king had imposed to keep him here might have died with Niall. “Hurry, Derek!”

He jerked forward, grimacing as he stepped over Niall’s prone form, the former king’s heart still clenched in one hand. As if momentarily coming out of whatever shock he was in, he looked over his shoulder. “Spread the word to every corner of the kingdom to drink the water,” he commanded. “It holds the cure to the virus.”

Then Derek grabbed Elena around the waist, and dove into the portal.