Preston finally gagged Nikolai to shut him up, and when that didn’t stop his never-ending tirade of curses against us, I spun around and kicked him in the head, knocking him unconscious.
Preston sneered as he let the dragon fall to the pavement.
“Feel better?” he asked.
I glowered at him. “Do I look like I feel better? You, both of you, are going to tell me the truth right now.”
“We have more important matters to discuss first.” He nodded behind me, and I turned to see Orella, Charlette, and Quinto waiting for me to join them. “Take care of clan leader business, and then you can yell at me all you want.”
“Oh, I will be,” I promised and stormed over to the others. “Believe us now?”
Quinto nodded absently, staring around at his few dead, and the many more dead Black Diamonds and Priests. “All this time, how did we not know?”
“You didn’t want to know,” I said. “No one did.”
“Now we do,” Orella stated. “And you have the Hollow Well’s support, whatever you need.”
“And the Emeralds, but you already knew that,” Charlette told me next.
Quinto licked his lips nervously, and I held my breath, waiting for him to announce he was taking his dragons and going right back home.
“It would appear that I was wrong,” he finally announced, and then held out his hand for mine. “I ask your apology. It would seem we all have been deceived and Orella is right. We’ve carried on a tradition of death far too long.”
I took his hand, gripping it hard. “You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that,” I said sincerely. “The Shadowguards only want peace and to end Radnak’s reign of terror.”
“And now you will have both.” Quinto’s words came out stronger, and he nodded. “Right then, so now, we need to establish a joint camp. What about this town? Can it be made safe against any more attacks?”
“We lowered the wards to allow you to create a portal here. Otherwise, this place has some of the best fortifications against Radnak.”
“Then I say we use it,” Orella agreed. “I shall bring our forces here immediately.”
“And we have one other matter to deal with,” Charlette said, holding up her hand. “The Council.”
Quinto huffed. “You want to ask their permission?”
“Oh no, I want to hold them accountable,” she said. “I want them to admit the truth and either accept it or be disbanded. I think it’s well past time for a change.”
This moment in time should’ve felt better, like we were making progress. That for once we’d wound up with the upper hand against Radnak. We’d captured Nikolai, and the other clans were well on their way to joining the fight. With their armies, we stood a fighting chance at beating Radnak for good and destroying the Priests. I should’ve been elated, celebrating.
Instead, all I could think of was how much Everest hid from me, as did Jenny and Preston. People I trusted. They felt the need to lie to me now all because of who I was.
“I’m going to send Aiden over to help get plans laid out for creating an encampment here,” I told the leaders. “Once it’s established, I’ll join you with what small fighting force I have.”
“And the Descendant?” Orella asked curiously. “What is she to you?”
“Right now, she’s a pain in my ass,” I growled, and turned away before she could ask anything else. “Preston, hand our prisoner over to a few trusted dragons and have him thrown in a cell back at the base.”
He whistled and called for two dragons. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, you and Jenny are going to come with me, right now, and tell me exactly what’s been going on behind my back and I mean everything.”
“We did it—”
“If you tell me again you neglected to tell me something for my own good one more time, you and I are going to find ourselves sparring. And I won’t be going easy on you,” I snapped.
His eyes narrowed, but he bowed his head and said he would go find Jenny.
This was the main reason I kept my identity to myself. I was a fighter, and I belonged on the front lines of the planning and the battles, but the second anyone learned who I was, their whole demeanor changed. I watched as Nikolai was dragged away toward the portal. I had a punching bag to take out some pent-up anger on at least.
I’d finally get a bit of revenge that was long overdue. That bastard had so much blood on his hands, he needed to be killed several times over before we’d even be close to making up for it.
“Slade?”
I blew out a breath, rubbing my forehead as I motioned for Jenny and Preston to follow me away from everyone else. When I faced them both, I crossed my arms and glared. “Explain.”
“Before we say anything,” Preston started, “it was my plan.”
“Don’t care who came up with it. Just tell me. Everything.”
They exchanged a worried look, and for the first time since meeting them, I felt like the older one scolding the young, careless fighter who kept going off into danger half-cocked. This was what it felt like to be them, annoyed that the people who were supposed to take orders didn’t listen as well as they should. Or neglected to share certain details.
“We knew,” Preston said slowly, “if we were to convince the clan leaders of anything, we would need proof. So… we went to the encampment and captured a Black Diamond.”
It sounded simple enough, but Jenny was fidgety. She was never fidgety.
“What else?” I demanded, wondering how long I’d manage to hold onto my temper.
“We may have left a trail for them to follow us,” he went on.
I growled without even thinking about it.
He continued, “hoping we could draw out one of Radnak’s top commanders. Nikolai. We figured he would learn that all the leaders were gathered here, and he wouldn’t be able to resist showing up.”
I swore I hadn’t heard him right, but neither of them said anything else.
“You… you purposely drew the enemy here to attack?”
They nodded.
I clenched my jaw as I stalked away from them, then back again. “And Everest, she knew about this? The whole time?”
“Don’t take it out on her,” Jenny snapped. “We told her to keep it quiet.”
“Do you have any idea how wrong this could’ve gone? What if Radnak showed up instead. What if Quinto and Orella had never come? We would’ve been outnumbered and lost everyone. You understand that, right?”
“Don’t you dare stand there and yell at us about understanding,” Jenny shouted, looking ready to deck me. “We’re losing this war, Slade, we’ve been losing since the beginning, and if we’re ever going to stand a chance at finally pushing back, these are the extreme risks I’m willing to take.”
“That is not your call to make.”
“The hell it isn’t. I’m a Shadowguard who’s been fighting in this war since I could hold a sword,” she bellowed, even as Preston reached out to try and reign her back. She pulled out of his grasp and shoved me hard. “You might be the damned clan leader, but you are not a true leader, not yet. We did what we thought was best.”
The words were like a slap in the face, and I backed away from her before I did something I’d regret.
She blinked furiously, and then her face fell as she hung her head. “Slade, I… I’m sorry.”
“No, no you’re right,” I muttered bitterly. “I’m not a leader. How can I be when all I’ve ever done is run and hide? You know, maybe you two should be in charge of the clan.”
“What? No, we have no right to be,” Jenny said quickly, but I walked away. “Slade!”
I let her yelling fall on deaf ears, making my way to the portal. There was someone else I needed to find and ask why she felt the need to lie to me, too. I’d convinced myself that I had what it took to do this, to lead and be what the people needed me to be.
After what happened at the Fell Gates, I gave in and showed who I really was, and I’d saved people, swore up and down I’d done the right thing for the right reasons. Now… now my confidence started to slip all over again. I never wanted to be treated differently, but Jenny’s words told me one thing; they doubted my abilities just like I always had.
Furious, I marched through the portal and glared at anyone I made eye contact with on the other side.
When I couldn’t find Everest on the main level, I stared up above to the balcony I liked to disappear to, and thought I saw a pair of feet right at the edge of the metal grate.
“Slade? Everything okay?” Amelie asked as I growled when I passed her.
“Just peachy,” I snapped, bolting through the base to confront Everest for her part in all this deception.
I rounded the corner and stepped out onto the balcony, seething, just as Everest turned. Her eyes widened, and she climbed unsteadily to her feet.
“Slade, just wait a second.”
“What were you thinking?” I snarled. “You went along with their plan? With the kidnapping and the ambush? Why? Why wouldn’t you have told me what was happening, huh? What possible reason could you have to lie to me?”
“Would you have gone along with it?” she challenged.
“No. Because you all are insane, you’ve completely lost your minds.”
“We haven’t.”
I flinched. “You’re saying what, that I have? I feel like I’m the only one here that hasn’t changed since I announced who I am.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shook her head, moving so she was just a foot from me. “You have been completely different since we got back from the Fell Gates. You walk around here like you’re carrying this entire weight alone and that you’re the only one who can win this war, alone. Do you have any idea what that does to the rest of us, to the Shadowguards like Jenny and Preston?”
“It’s my weight to deal with.”
“Not alone, it’s not, and it never will be. Everyone here is affected by this war, Slade.”
I paced away from her, hands on my hips, but she followed and grabbed my shoulder trying to turn me around to face her. “You just don’t get it, do you, but that’s fine whatever. You can act like I’m the only one that’s changed here, but we both know it’s a damned lie.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bullshit. You’ve become an entirely different person. You’re lying and acting like you have to protect me with your own life. And out there just now? You could’ve seriously hurt yourself projecting that much power, but you did it anyway. Why? Because I’m the damned clan leader.”
I tried to walk away again, but she rushed around me, shoving me back until I stopped trying to go around her.
“Just stop. I have changed, alright? I changed after the first night someone tried to kill me,” she yelled fiercely, and I stilled. “I changed when I found out I was a witch, and then again when I learned I was a Descendant. I changed each time my life was threatened, and yes, I changed when you came into my life. Everyone changes, especially with all this shit going on.”
I rubbed a hand down my face. “You all are treating me like I’m fragile now,” I said. Quieter, attempting to get control of my emotions.
“Because you are important, alright? You,” she said, gripping my arms hard. “You have to make it so when this is over, you’ll be around to do what you were born to do.”
“And you think I want to get to that point without you?”
Her gaze drifted down to her side, and a hint of regret crept into her eyes. “Slade, just please listen to me. Take a breath and think, please.”
“I am thinking,” I growled, backing away. “I’m thinking that Jenny and Preston, and everyone else thinks I can’t do this… and that I was right to think I couldn’t either. I should’ve just stayed Slade and let Alvaron die.”
I made it ten feet before she yelled back, “The only one here who seems to think he can’t do it is you.”
I paused, but then kept on walking, not wanting to get into it anymore with her. I had a new prisoner to interrogate, or pummel until I worked off some of my anger. After that, I had plans to make, or at least needed to speak with Jenny and Preston, and let them know what they could do before I handed over the reins to them again. Clearly, all I did in their eyes was mess everything up.
The cell holding Nikolai was deep within the mountain.
I refused to speak to anyone or stop for anything and made my way straight down the steel steps deeper into the heart of the mountain where four guards had been posted outside the room.
I peered through the small window in the door to find Nikolai chained to the wall, his hands still bound, looking calm as ever. I hated that dragon. Hated him with a passion, and I wanted nothing more than to kick the crap out of him. But as I reached for the door, one of the guards moved to stop me.
“Sorry, but Preston said no one was to see him,” the dragon told me apologetically.
I bared my teeth, and he backed down. “You can lay all the blame on me, but I’m going in that room. Stay and watch or don’t. I don’t care.”
The dragons all took a step back, and I unlocked the door then stepped inside.
Nikolai lifted his head and immediately leered as if he was the happiest man in the world to see me.
“Slade, or should I say Alvaron,” he said and dramatically bowed his head. “Such an honor to finally meet you. Truly. Too bad about your family, really. Slaughtering them was just too much fun, but you… you escaped.”
“And hid right under your master’s nose for years.” I crossed my arms, leaning back against the wall, content to hear him ramble for now. With any luck, he’d let something slip. I doubted it, but there was always a chance. “I hope this new room of yours suits you. You’ll be here for the rest of your days, rotting away slowly until there’s nothing left.”
He sank back against the wall. “That’s all?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean after everything I’ve done to you, this is all you’re going to do to me? Honestly? I thought I taught you better than that, boy.”
I growled, and he cackled.
“Don’t call me boy. And you taught me nothing.”
“Oh, no? You sure about that? I mean, after all, I’ve spent my entire life torturing and killing your kind. One after the other,” he said in a sing-song voice. “Lined them up, beat them down, and killed them. So much blood is on my hands, I’m surprised they're not stained.”
I’d come down here with the intention of taking out my anger on him, but now that I faced him, my conscience told me we needed him to cooperate, so we could get the information we needed to successfully attack Radnak and every dimension he controlled. After a few deep breaths in and out through my nose, I lifted my lip in disgust at him, but didn’t give into my temptations.
Yet.
“What defenses are at the encampment?” I asked.
Nikolai waved off my question.
“What are his defenses at his stronghold?” I tried a different question. “Or the Fell Gates?”
He picked at his nails, shrugging. “Why would he tell me anything?”
“You are his top commander. You know. And you are going to tell me.”
“Why would I do that? You are still nothing to me, Alvaron Shahan. Nothing at all, but another enemy to be crushed under my boot. I’ll get out of these eventually,” he whispered, shaking the chains holding his wrists together for emphasis. “You know I will.”
“If you give me the answers I want then there won’t be any pain.”
“Ha!” His laughter was sharp in my ears and echoed around the chamber. “You cause me pain? Please, if you haven’t done it yet then you never will.”
“I think you underestimate me,” I said, but he was still laughing quietly.
“No, no I never underestimated you. Not once.” He rose to his feet, standing a good few heads taller than me, and leaned closer. “You are weak, far too weak to be a clan leader. What leader sits in the shadows and lets others get killed, huh? What leader does nothing for years and years, hiding behind his clan instead of leading the charge?”
I snarled in warning, but he stepped as close as the chains holding him to the wall would allow.
“You’re pathetic, weak. You’re not worthy of that title, and you never will be. You and your army, your allies’ armies? They’re all going to fall beneath Radnak’s might. All of them.”
“Enough,” I snapped.
“Oh I’m sorry, did I hurt your feelings?” he mocked.
“I said, enough.” I brought my fist back and decked him.
His head snapped to the right, but he kept on grinning at me.
So, I hit him, again and again, each punch numbing my hands as I drove him back against the wall.
His laughter between blows only egged me on more, and soon I was roaring in fury at everything we’d lost in this damned war.
All the lives he’d taken and the ones I’d been unable to save.
I hit him until he hit the floor, and then I kicked his face until his teeth cracked and his nose was broken. Until I heard his ribs crunch.
Even as the guards rushed in, trying to drag me off Nikolai’s shaking body, not from laughter anymore, but whining from the pain I caused him, I wrestled against their hands.
I needed to destroy this dragon. Tear him down and rip him to pieces for everything he’d done. It was about time he answered for his sins.
But then I was thrown out of the cell, and when I whirled around, ready to attack whoever I needed to, in order get back in that cell, I found myself staring at Tank, who was shaking his head.
“Move,” I growled, but he planted his feet. “Move aside.”
“Not happening. You can’t kill him, not yet. We need answers, and now, I doubt he’ll be willing to talk to us.”
“He wasn’t going to talk anyway. None of you know him as I do.”
I walked toward the cell again, but Tank grabbed me by the scruff and threw me back hard into the far wall. My hands curled into fists, and I made ready to throw myself at him.
“You really want to do this?” he asked, tense.
“Why not?”
“Why not?” he repeated, yelling. “You are doing exactly what he wants you to do. This is not how a clan leader acts. He doesn’t give in to his anger like this. He steps back, takes control of himself, and leads his people. That’s what we need you to do.”
“Jenny and Preston can do it just fine on their own.”
“No, they can’t, and they won’t. You are our leader, Slade, and it’s about damned time you started acting like one instead of some poor Shadowguard dragon who’s lost everything.”
“I have lost everything,” I bellowed.
He grabbed hold of my shoulders, shaking his head sadly. “Is that what you think? Look around, Slade, and you tell me what you see, huh? You have dragons here loyal to you. And witches and warlocks. You have your closest friends. And you have Everest, for the gods’ sakes. You have people who care about you and are willing to help you, but you have to be willing to let them. To take those risks no matter what the cost to their lives.”
I sagged in his grasp and wasn’t expecting him to give me a bear hug that nearly crushed me.
“Alright, Tank, I get it. Thanks,” I wheezed, until he set me back on my feet and loosened his grip.
“No one said this shit was going to be easy, but you can’t hold back. Not now, and you can’t fault anyone for wanting to step in and keep you alive. You’re our clan. No matter what happens to the rest of us, the Shadowguards will live on through you, always.”
“He’s right,” Jenny said, and I turned around to find her and Preston in the doorway to the cells. “You have to be willing to do what’s necessary, no matter what the cost.”
“And if the cost is someone else I care about… or love?” I asked quietly, thinking of Everest.
“That’s what leading is, what war is. We’re all in this together,” Preston said. “Until the very end, no matter what that end might be.”
He held out his hand, and I took it then dragged him into a hug. I did the same with Jenny, hoping they felt how much I appreciated them being here and that I couldn’t do any of this without them.
“Now, go get yourself cleaned up,” Jenny said, wiping at her eyes and not looking at me. “We have a lot of work ahead of us. We’ll be meeting with the other clan leaders first thing in the morning.”
I cringed as I glanced over my shoulder at the cell. “And Nikolai?”
“Oh don’t you worry about him,” Preston said with a dark look. “Tank and I have him well in hand.”
It was late, and most of the base was tucked in for the night, but not Everest. Her cot was empty, and I was not going to go to sleep without talking to her again. To apologize really for what I said earlier. She was right, we both had changed, and I was so worried about losing her or anyone else, fighting against the notion of others giving their lives for me again, it blinded me to what truly mattered. Like our clan and ensuring they lived through this war.
I checked the balcony where I’d found her earlier, but she wasn’t there, and so I wandered slowly through the base until I bumped into Mahlia and Aiden. They bowed their heads to me and then Mahlia whispered for me to go to the roof. Aiden patted me on the shoulder, and they went on their way as I turned and headed for the metal stairs that would take me to the very top of the mountain base. We had a landing platform of sorts for us to land on if we arrived while shifted. The door was propped open, and I stepped out into the chilly air, the breeze whipping around my body as I squinted, searching for Everest.
A shot of violet mist erupted in the air overhead and lit up her form at the other end of the platform. I walked slowly, content to watch her magic swirl around her. Her control had gotten so much better so quickly, it worried me. How she’d managed to create a shield for me while keeping Jenny and Preston safe at the same time took extraordinary strength and concentration.
Eventually, I expected great things with her magic, but this was too soon for it to be natural. Everything had to go back to that damned necklace. But I hadn’t come up here to argue with her about it, or what it might be doing to her. I needed to make things right between us.
When I was a few yards away, I paused, the cold making it hard to think. She had to be freezing, too, and I was going to ask if we could talk inside when she whirled around with a yell and violet tendrils of magic shot out at me.
I sidestepped them, but then she was there, throwing her fist toward my face.
I blocked it and the next punch she threw at me before I spun out of her reach.
“Everest,” I tried to say, but she kept coming.
I fell into the defensive and took everything she threw at me, blocking and stepping away as she vented her anger without words. Our fight turned into some intricate dance, landing a hit now and then, but for the most part, avoiding complete contact. The cold fell away as did the howling wind, until it was just the two of us catching our breaths, panting harder and harder the more we fought.
As her arm faltered, and I sensed her growing tired, caught her wrist in my hand, and then the other, holding her firmly against me.
“Stop,” I whispered, pleading as I stared into her eyes. “Please. I’m sorry, alright?”
Those yellow-green eyes narrowed as she struggled to break free, but I wasn’t about to let her go. Not now, not ever. She managed to get one hand free, but I moved faster and soon had her pinned beneath me on the platform.
“Everest,” I said softly. “I’m sorry.”
“No,” she replied, and all the fight went out of her. “I am, I should’ve told you the truth, I shouldn’t have kept anything from you. It wasn’t fair.”
“You did what you had to do. More than what I’ve been doing.”
“I don’t want you to hate me.”
I frowned down at her, shaking my head. “Why would I hate you? Everest, I don’t think that’s ever going to be possible. Ever, you hear me? I don’t hate you. I love you, damn it, and I can’t do this without you. I can’t.”
She lifted her head and kissed me. It took me a few seconds for me to realize, for it to click, then I kissed her back, rolling us over, so she was pinning me, just like the first time we kissed. I wrapped my arms securely around her, kissing her until I was dizzy from it and we both had to come up for air.
“Love you too,” she whispered against my lips.
Then she shivered, and I planted my lips on hers one final time before we got to our feet. “Come on, let’s get you inside before you freeze to death.”
“Because that would be tragic,” she teased.
“Yeah, think it would be.”
Once inside and the door secured behind us, I grabbed her in my arms again, and we were right back at it… until her face scrunched in worry and she took my hand.
“Did you do this fighting me?”
I glanced at my raw knuckles, shrugging sheepishly. “I might’ve taken my anger out on something… or someone in the cells,” I muttered. “Just got a few hits in you know. Broke some bones, knocked some teeth out.”
Her brow arched, and she laughed. “Do you feel better, at least?”
“Now I do.” I tucked her hair behind her ears, wanting to stay in this secluded spot for the entire night, but we both needed sleep. After one more lingering kiss that had my pulse racing and dreaming of a day when there wouldn’t be a battle to fight in the morning, I offered her my arm, and she tucked her hand in the crook of my elbow. “In the morning, I’m meeting with the clan leaders.”
“I’ll let you deal with that I guess, unless you want me there.”
“I do, if you’re up for it,” I said, noticing how pale she still looked, and how warm her hand was on my arm. “But I also want to pick up where we left off with your training.”
“I think I can handle myself.”
“You never stop training, Everest, never. That’s when your muscles get lazy, and you lose your edge. Trust me. We’ll do a bit every day when I can find the time.”
“Sounds wonderful,” she sighed, and I kissed the top of her head as we walked.
We were quiet the rest of the way through the base, all the way to our cots, but once she laid down, she never let go of my hand. She fell asleep still holding it between our cots.
I pushed mine a bit closer before settling back against the pillow and shut my eyes, apprehension stirring in my gut that though I’d found out about the ambush plan, Everest still had secrets.
Secrets that if she kept to herself much longer, were going to get her killed.