Rage (Scarlet Dawson Book 3) Read online

  After we’ve eaten, Bastian and Phoenix excuse themselves, with nothing else to do I take the time to relax and stay seated at the table. I silently watch everyone as they go about their day until my eyes watch Vex enter a domicile in a darkened portion of the cavern.

  I watch him look around then shut the door before I stand and follow him. I look behind me to make sure the twins are following then quickly make sure no one on my own team is watching my movements.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  As I quickly walk over to the door, the light of our camp fades. The shadows cast from the torches stretch further the more I move away from them. When I reach the door, I glance behind me noting the twins are still following and are now in wolf form. The others luckily still haven’t noticed my absence.

  I reach out and open the door, my heart pounding erratically. I don’t know what I was expecting to find, but it wasn’t Vex, sitting in a chair in his own skin.

  “Feeling reckless today, Vex,” I say in greeting.

  “I’d say you were the one feeling reckless, after all, you’ve let two of those pathetic creatures follow you here,” he says with a smug grin. “In fact, I believe this means it’s time for one of your friends to die.”

  “Vex, Vex, Vex. Your threats no longer concern me,” I say to him, hoping he can’t hear the lie in my voice. “Let’s talk business instead. I think you’ll find our paths have finally aligned.”

  He remains seated with a sceptical look on his face, so I take a further step into the room. The twins flanking me sit on the floor.

  When he remains silent, I decide to continue, my only hope is that I’m not showing my hand too early. “I know you’re here for the star, you think it’ll raise your undead army. You should know it isn’t powerful enough.”

  He finally stands and in an aggressive flurry of movement steps forward, so our faces are inches from each other. I really want to flinch away from the vile man but stand my ground, the wolves at my side growl at his proximity.

  “You think to taunt me. You think you have it all figured out—

  “I don’t think I have it all figured out, I know I have,” I say, cutting off his bitter diatribe. “Our lovely grandmother bestowed a very special gift on me.” In my head, I continue saying, a gift that will inevitably kill you.

  His eyes widen as he watches me pull the death stone from my top and dangle it in front of his face.

  “I knew you had it,” he says, spitting as he vehemently says the words.

  He grabs a hold of it between his fingers and stares at the glossy charcoal stone. Letting it go he takes a step back and narrows his eyes at me.

  “Tell me what you feel when you touch it,” Vex says, once again smiling.

  I clasp my hand around the stone. “When I first touched the stone, I could feel the icy darkness swirling inside waiting to be used. Now, I feel nothing,” I tell him truthfully.

  “Why do you no longer feel it? Have you used it already?” he says, not hiding the depth of his anger.

  “I haven’t used it. In fact, it turns out Tera’s magic was in me all along, merely blocked by what little Fae magic I had.”

  “Are you saying you’ve had her magic this whole time? That you never needed the stone?” His eyes light up, and I can see his excitement as he takes the bait that I dangle in front of him.

  “I don’t just have her magic; the stone gives me the final piece. I’ve decided to give you everything you want. In return, you can give me everything I’ve ever wanted, a family. Don’t look so dubious, I know that without you I wouldn’t have been conceived. You’ve stayed with me throughout my whole life, guiding me from afar so I can finally join you.” I mentally gag as the words leave my lips. “In return, I’ll make sure you have everything you’ve ever desired.”

  Vex paces around me in a circle as I watch him with feigned indifference.

  “I’ll admit at first I saw the stone as an opportunity to be rid of you once and for all, but as I hold the power in my hand it resonates with me deep inside and I know that I’m destined for more. Just as you are descended from the Goddess of Death, I know I’m destined for greatness.” When in reality, all I want is to survive this and go home. I’ll even move in with Bastian if it means I can spend my life pissing him off. If it means I’ll have a life after this.

  “If I’m going to believe this sudden change of attitude, I wish to see a demonstration of Tera’s power,” he says, stepping in front of me again.

  “I find offence in your words, Vex.” He frowns at me as if he knows that I’m about to protest. “It’s not Tera’s power, it’s mine,” I say as Trenton and Jackson swiftly change from wolf to Human.

  “Why should I trust these two,” Vex says, looking at them in disgust.

  “They’re my pets, aren’t you, boys?” I say, reaching out and brushing my fingers against Trenton’s cheek. “I wonder how long it’ll take The Beast Master to realise I’ve stolen his subjects.”

  “Enough with the games, show me your loyalty,” Vex says. I can almost hear the confusion in his voice.

  “Jackson my pet, stand there for me please,” I ask Jackson while pointing to a spot a few steps away from me. I will my hands not to shake as I call for my sword. “Neria.”

  As soon as her hilt is in my hand a take a breath and on the exhale, I step forward and thrust the sword into Jackson's chest, right where he’d instructed earlier.

  The way the sword slices through his flesh and bone makes me sick in a way nothing has ever done before. Killing someone you didn’t know was easy in comparison to this. I fight back the vomit as Trenton grabs my hand. We both look on as Jackson slumps to the ground.

  Vex moves over to Jackson and feels his neck for a pulse. He frowns up at me and says, “I take it he’s not old enough to be immortal?”

  “No, he’s immortal, but a well-placed sword to the chest will kill any immortal as long as the damage to their heart is irreparable,” I say, wondering how he had stopped his heart when I knew the attack couldn’t kill him.

  I lift my arm and flourish my hand as I’d been instructed earlier. Vex watches on in fascination as the blood soaking Jackson shirt disappears and he sits up, taking a large inhale of breath as he opens his eyes.

  I almost breathe a sigh of relief, giving the game away but Jackson returns to my side and they both return to wolf form. My heart beats wildly in my chest as I try to remain indifferent.

  I smile at Vex as he studies me. “You’ve changed, become colder,” he says.

  “Tera came to me in a vision,” I say, ignoring him. “Once the final fight has been won, we must find the graveyard and begin our true journey.” I’m impressed at how mystical I sound. I was better at winging it than I thought.

  “Why do we need to wait,” Vex says.

  “Surely you’d rather stay a while and watch those pathetic fools as they scurry around trying to win you a prize that they think will save their lives. I’m finding it all rather amusing myself,” I say as I turn to the door.

  “If you’re fucking with me, Scarlet, you die,” Vex says to my back as I walk out of the room my head held high.

  I ignore his comment and head towards my room. My mind racing at a mile a minute at what’s to come. I don’t even realise someone has fallen into step beside me until the wolves growl.

  I stop and watch as Bronwyn’s eyes widen in alarm.

  “I don’t have time for this,” I say to her and set off walking back to my room.

  “Wait, Scarlet,” she says, grabbing my arm.

  I turn back and look at her, then look at her hand on my arm. She wasn’t stuttering, she didn’t seem afraid.

  “Thank you,” she says to me. “I’m finally free, you freed me.” Tears well in her eyes as she smiles at me.

  “What?” is all my dumbfounded mind can say? I’m completely confused as to what she’s saying. Thanking me for murdering her brother, the father of her child?

  “He’s controlled me my whole life. The
vile things I’ve done for him, with him,” she says, dropping her head. “But now I’m free, I can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone.”

  Well, at least she wasn’t vowing revenge. I couldn’t be more shocked.

  “I wish you well, Scarlet,” she says before moving away from me, leaving me watching her walk away.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  We all relax around the camp once our backpacks are ready for the night ahead and with nothing better to do with our time, we wait. After what feels like hours of waiting, but was probably only an hour, Zeke announces the start of the next fight.

  “Bastian and James from the Guild team, Dracon and Envy from the Unseelie, Dominic and Feather from the Seelie Team. You have ten minutes to prepare,” Zeke says as everyone rushes back to the team areas.

  As soon as we’re all assembled, I say, “Dracon can see the dead, no one on his team knows so I don’t know if he has secondary magic. Apparently seeing dead people isn’t exactly the best magical ability to have.”

  “Will seeing the dead help him here?” Aylesbury asks.

  “Oddly enough each camp we’ve stayed in has been dead free,” I reply brightly.

  “Feather can produce vines and control them,” Jared says.

  So that’s who’d rescued Bryn from a fall to his death.

  “Anyone else?” Bastian asks while I’m lost in thought.

  The twin’s eyes bore into mine, I narrow my eyes at them wishing they’d stop making my secrets look so obvious. I wasn’t ready to tell anyone about Vex, I hadn’t even decided if I would yet. Plus, if I mentioned I knew what Dom’s magic was, it would make it obvious I’d been keeping things from everyone.

  “I really don’t want to hit those girls,” Aylesbury says with a sigh.

  “Why the hell not? You have no problem sparring with me,” I shout, getting mad at his audacity.

  Trenton grabs my hand as Aylesbury whines, “But they look so delicate and pretty.”

  “I hope they knock you on your ass,” I say spitefully before walking out of the room, the twins trailing behind me.

  Bastian stops me halfway to the arena and says, “Don’t I even get a good luck kiss?”

  I’m about to reply when he captures my mouth as it opens to speak, his hand firmly gripping my chin. He playfully teases my lips then releases me.

  “I was going to say you don’t need any luck. Please let Aylesbury fight at least one of them, otherwise, he’ll be a nightmare all night moaning that his victory was stolen by you,” I say to Bastian. “If you think I’m a sore loser, you’ve never seen Aylesbury lose.”

  Bastian grins as Aylesbury walks up to me on his way to the arena. “Red, if anything happens you get my car, but don’t you dare sell it. I want you to mourn my loss every time you sit in it.”

  “Not funny, Aylesbury,” I say to his retreating back.

  “And make sure the Pixie gets my apartment, she needs somewhere more permanent to live,” he says over his shoulder just as Adam walks past grunting.

  I move to the sofa that magically appears in front of the twins and wedge myself between them both.

  “Popcorn?” Jackson asks as a bowl appears in his hand.

  I shake my head and watch as the fighters mill about. I move to sit on the edge of my seat as Zeke walks out onto the arena to signal the start of the fight.

  “Let the games begin!” he shouts before stepping out of the way.

  Bastian and Aylesbury both share a look and move aggressively toward Dracon and Dom. Dom smiles as he faces off against Bastian, and he doesn’t reach for any magic which shocks me completely. Instead, he reaches behind his back for an axe that’s tucked into his waistband. His smile is cocky as he swings the axe at Bastian’s head. Bastian ducks under his swing, spins around until he’s behind Dom, then brings his fist down on Dom’s head.

  Dom instantly crumples as I swing my gaze to Aylesbury to watch his fist connect with Dracon’s jaw. Seconds later he’s on the floor, lying prone.

  Feather and Envy fight, although it’s not much of a battle. Envy is wrapped up in vines her face growing red as she struggles against them. As Bastian advances on Feather, Aylesbury advances on Envy. Aylesbury grimaces as he raises his fist above Envy’s head but before he can connect, she goes limp. I don’t see Bastian fight with Feather, I only see him walking away from her limp body to fist bump Aylesbury.

  The whole thing took only a couple of minutes. It was rather anticlimactic.

  Our team goes wild as Zeke hands the next clue to Bastian. I don’t instantly jump up and rush over to them, but instead I study the horizontal form of Dom. There was no way he was knocked out that easily and quickly. I stand to move closer as his team descends on him when I see him open one eye then squeeze it tight again as his team begins to check him over.

  I don’t know why I am surprised he is faking. All that power at his fingertips and he faked losing. Where did that get him? The spark of hope I felt the minute he crumpled to the floor is extinguished, brutally.

  Aylesbury walks up to me and throws an arm around my shoulders. “We won,” he states merrily.

  “I never doubted it for a second,” I reply, shaking his arm off and striding toward the team room.

  As I enter the room, I watch Bastian burn the parchment Zeke had handed to him, I arch a brow as he meets my gaze. Without engaging the Faraday cage, he simply says, “The light.”

  I glance over at Aylesbury who has a rather smug look on his face even though it was pretty obvious.

  “Don’t you think we should at least warn the other teams?” Silas says.

  “If they aren’t already aware of the threat that the Formorians pose to them in the dark, in a place like this, then they deserve to be slaughtered,” Bastian replies.

  That was probably a bit on the harsh side but who was I to judge, I’d let most of the manipulative bastards burn. At the very least I’d like to think I’d watch.

  Bastian holds out the map in front of him and says, “The next camp has been marked on the map, we need to leave.”

  We all pick up our packs and head out the door. Phoenix and Silas once again have the map of the tunnels and are leading us to the far side of the underground dwellings. Once we reach the open tunnel at the far side, a sense of dread begins to settle over me as Bastian falls into step at my side.

  “Please tell me you can shift into a Formorian?” I ask him, my voice a whisper in the dark tunnel.

  “Yes,” he replies, shortly before moving in front of me.

  With too much on my mind already I don’t even begin to understand Bastian’s new attitude problem.

  It isn’t long before we suddenly come to a stop. Silas sends an awkward look to Bastian as he moves to the front of the group. Finding their interaction a little weird, I follow them, pushing past a frowning Adam.

  “Which way?” Silas asks her voice shaking slightly.

  Ignoring how odd she’s suddenly acting I look at the tunnel ahead and see it ends in a wall that’s bricked up by a series of skulls stacked together. To the right of the skulls is a tunnel that looks like it slopes down, to the left an identical tunnel that slopes upwards.

  Bastian grabs the map from Silas, studies it then with a quick smile, says, “We go right.”

  Everyone heads off in that direction, the torches we hold casting enough light to highlight the change in the tunnel’s composition. The stone of the walls changes from large blocks to small. A few more feet in and the torches begin to highlight little alcoves in the wall that showcase bones that have been carved and displayed in specific patterns.

  The dread I feel drops low into the pit of my stomach and makes my stomach roll. I clutch my stomach with my free hand as Trenton tightly clutches my other.

  “Something’s not right,” I say.

  Bastian looks over his shoulder at me and says, “It’s probably just the bones making you feel uneasy.”

  At first, I frown at his unusual lack of concern, then I must admit he’s r
ight. It more than likely is Tera’s power reacting to all the potential dead. I sigh and look back at Jared who’s trailing closely behind me. He smiles, and I can tell he has no concerns about the creepy tunnel we’re walking through.

  Every step we take down the tunnel makes my insides twist. It isn’t pain I’m feeling but I’m either becoming extremely paranoid or something isn’t right. I’ve lived my entire life trusting my instincts, but I now must trust that the people around me also have my back.

  The structure of the tunnel begins to change again as we descend further. The warmth with a hint of breeze soon dissipates and a more solid heat begins to swirl around the tunnel. Once the heat hits you it clings to your skin and makes you instantly sticky.

  “Guys,” I say. “Can we just stop for a minute and check the maps. It doesn’t feel right that we’re going further underground.”

  Bastian and Silas both make a show of looking at the maps but as I near them Bastian is folding them back up.

  “It’s definitely this way. If we go back the other way. We’d have to go back up through the tower to get to the surface again,” Bastian says.

  I’m still not convinced. Trenton suddenly steps up to me and firmly grips my hand, squeezing hard. I’m not remotely feeling anger of any sort right now, so his gesture is a little off.

  As we walk further, I smell a metallic scent that seems somehow familiar. I look around, unable to see anything other than the dusty walls of the tunnel. I look back at Jared and see he’s smiling at me again. I narrow my eyes at his behaviour when I notice the tunnel ahead begins to open.

  As the tunnel widens, we reach a large ornate door made from some form of dark coloured metal adorned with more skulls. As the door is open, showing nothing but darkness beyond, I take a step back and stand with Aylesbury.

  “What’s the matter, Scarlet, afraid,” Aylesbury says to me, pushing me forward slightly.

  I roll my eyes at him and step through the doors before I realise, he’s never called me Scarlet. I’ve always been Red to him, from the moment he first met me. I turn around as the doors slam closed behind me. Before I can make sense of what’s happening someone grasps my hands and pulls them tightly around my back. I can’t see who it is as the room is plunged into darkness every quantum torch extinguished.