Chapter 184
CAMILLA’S P.O.V
I watched in pure horror as more skeletal hands began to pop up through the ground. Some even climbed up the edge of the cliff. There were too many of them to number and I watched them walk in a single file into the forest. They were headed for whatever backup that Ryker had planned. I fought against my bindings but it was no use, she had tightened it so much that I couldn’t move an inch. I could feel hope slowly start to deflate as the reality of the situation seemed to dawn on me. I was going to die here and Ryker was going to witness it.
“That should keep your friends busy for a while, don’t you think?” she hummed before turning to me. “I hate to ay it, Camilla, but I expected more from you. You are after all the most powerful person on the planet right now and here you are stumped by a simple spell. It is disappointing to say the least but it works for me. Now, where are our guests?”
She seemed impatient and I couldn’t help but wonder who or what she was waiting for. She paced for a bit before focusing her attention on the altar that she had set up. She wouldn’t tell me much but I knew she planned to sacrifice me and take away my powers. I looked over at Ryker who seemed lost in thought. He was biting the inner corner of his cheek and refusing to look at me. I wasn’t sure if it was because he couldn’t or because he wouldn’t.
I knew Ryker would be no help from where he was so I improvised. I found a sharp edged stone and started to cut through the bindings. It was torturous and slow and I felt like I was doing more damage to my hands than to the vines but I couldn’t stop. I needed to get out of here and I needed a plan before whoever she was waiting for arrived. I was halfway through my bindings when I heard footsteps and a familiar scent filtered into my nose. I saw Ryker stiffen meaning he had noticed it too.
I turned to Reina. “This is some kind of sick joke, right?”
She just smiled cruelly at me. “I thought it would be good to have a family reunion, don’t you think? I would never leave children as orphans. I am fair to all.”
I watched as Kevin breached the clearing with both my children and a growl erupted from my throat. Ryker looked hurt and betrayed and I realized that he hadn’t known that Kevin was behind it. He must have lied his way into the palace and of course Ryker believed him- he trusted him.
“If you hurt my kids,” I warned but she simply waved me off. I watched her carefully as she sashayed over to my daughters. She stopped in front of Audrey who was staring at her with hatred in her eyes. “Hello, little girls.”
Chapter 184
“I know you, I saw you,” Audrey said and my brows furrowed in confusion. Even Reina looked intrigued by her
words. “I don’t like you.”
+5
That seemed to please Reina. “Good, because this would have been a lot harder if you did.” She reached out to touch her but Audrey was faster, she kicked Reina in the shin and ran to Ryker who was closer.
Reina was pissed to say the least, her face burned a bright red and for a second, I feared she was going to do something. I was poised and ready to strike if she did but after a second, she exhaled deeply and smiled.
“Run if you must girl, I will find you, I suppose giving you some time with your father is no harm. Kevin, put the baby on the altar and get me the things I need. We barely have fifteen minutes to get this right. Time is of the essence.” I watched Kevin hesitate. “What is it?”
“You said you would heal me,” he said slowly and I saw a flash of something in her eyes, something akin to anger but it was gone within a second.
She made her way over to Kevin and took Aurora from his hands. I worked on my bindings faster wanting her blackened hands off my child. She placed both hands on Kevin’s cheeks and smiled. I didn’t know what was happening at first, but suddenly, he screamed. I watched as more life bled out of his cheeks. He fought against her hold but there was nothing that he could do about it. I watched the very essence of him bleed out until he was nothing but a lifeless shell that crumbled to the ground.
For someone who had just taken a life, Reina looked unfazed. She simply wiped her hands clean and walked over to the altar where she gently placed Aurora. I waited until she had taken a few steps away from my daughter before I broke free of the bindings on my wrists and worked on the others. She had her back turned to me so I had the opportunity to work a lot faster. By the time I was done, I took a protective stance in front of my daughter.
“This is how it is going to work,” I began slowly. “You and I are going to talk like adults and my family is going free.”
She raised a brow in amusement. “It is amusing that you think you can beat me but I will humor you this once. I’ll give you a minute head start. I have a few to spare before I kill you. Do your worst sweetheart but I’m not dropping the spell.”
She kicked Ryker’s fallen knife towards me. I could see that Ryker wasn’t pleased with my idea but he knew what he had to do. There were too many people who could get hurt here. I knew the exact moment he got free. Audrey had been helping him undo his knots and Reina was too proud to notice it.
“Run,” I whispered to my mate and he grabbed our daughter. Reina noticed as soon as Ryker stood to his feet and she cursed. She raised a hand towards him and I knew she was going to use her powers on him.
In that moment, I felt a panic stronger than I had ever felt in my life. I didn’t even realize when the scream erupted from my lungs punctuated by a ringing in my ears. There was complete silence at first and then the roaring of water as it exploded from beneath her feet. She was thrown into the air and even Ryker stopped to look back at me. I couldn’t believe that I was responsible for that, I refused to believe it.
Ryker turned with our daughter and took off. There was a cave nearby that he could drop her before coming back for Aurora.
My hands shook with the force of the water I was holding up but I only needed it for a second. Once Ryker was out of sight, I let it drop and Reina fell to the ground with a loud thud. She coughed out water and turned to me with eyes burning with rage and hatred. She slowly stood to her feet and I knew that I wasn’t going to get it easy from her.
“I see you managed to break free of the bonds. Why don’t we make this even, hm?” she asked before swirling her hands and revealing two balls of black fire. “Why don’t we have a little fun?”
Before I could process what was happening, she threw them both not at me but at Aurora. I barely had enough time to erect a wall of water that broke on impact. She was terrifying at best with her eyes as black as coal. She threw ball after ball in quick succession and it didn’t take me long to realize that she was just trying to wear me out.
“Where is your precious mate, Camilla?” she teased. “He left you here by yourself. How does that feel knowing that he doesn’t give a rats ass about you?”
I pulled up water from beneath her feet making her fall on her ass. There was a river beneath us that I could easily pull from. I just needed to get her close enough to the edge to push her into it. she was a strong fighter and an even greater witch, it wasn’t going to be easy to get her there especially not as I was trying to defend both myself and my child. I looked around wondering where Ryker was. It shouldn’t take him this long to get back.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Reina,” I offered up as she slowly stood to her feet. “We don’t have to do this. We can end this peacefully.”
“That’s so bad because I want to hurt you. I want to watch you plead for death and not get it. Most of all, I want to hurt your pretty little goddess, I want her to know that I took out her favorite soldier and there is nothing she can do about it. I am going to make it hurt and I am going to love every second of it.”
She opened her mouth and black smoke started to rush from it. I knew what it was immediately- it was death. There was nothing my water could do against it. Just as I had decided I was completely helpless, I felt something begin to buzz beneath my skin. My hands shook and the more I looked at them, the brighter they got until what looked and felt like warm heat burst out from my finger tips and hit her directly in the chest.
She was thrown back by the force and I saw the black smoke dissipate into thin air. That singular hit seemed to have done so much damage to her because she struggled to get back to her feet. There was shock and slight worry in her eyes. She never expected me to be able to do that.
“I-” she began but was cut off by the glint of a knife by her throat.
“I would be careful how you finished that sentence,” Ryker warned and I let out a sigh of relief when I recognized the dagger in his hands.
