Home > Two Kingdoms (The Dark Side #3)(14)

Two Kingdoms (The Dark Side #3)(14)
Author: Kristy Cunning

Gage spins again, and as he does, his shirtless body is covered with something leather and armored, just before his boxers turn into some sort of black leather warrior thingy I know better than to call a fringe skirt. Something tells me that would be a bad thing to say aloud.

Gladiator flashes through my mind.

A sword appears in his hand, glistening under the fires that are shooting out just above his head. When he comes down, something dark and oh-so alluring drills out of him, almost conducted through that sword.

I practically gravitate toward the power like it’s intoxicating.

The horde of beasts charging us shrivel and collapse before turning to mummified carcasses. He lands on his feet, his eyes staring at the sword in his hand like he’s as stunned as I am.

He looks down at his new apparel with the same quizzical brow, and when our eyes meet, we actually have one of those silent conversations that I found impossible a few minutes ago.

What the fucking hell just happened? Why is there a thickly fringed leather skirt hitting just under the knees on that fine male body and showing peeks of those muscular upper legs? Will that pierced dick fall out of that leather thingy underneath, since it looks like it’s barely holding all the goods in?

Okay, maybe it’s not the exact same conversation. But it has to be close.

Blinking out of the trance, he spins, using that sword to slice through men.

Jude dives, grabbing someone’s abandoned bo staff, coming up just in front of me before a giant beastly woman almost catches me off guard.

The same thing happens. Sort of. His clothes change to be an exact replica of Gage’s, and the bo staff turns onyx. It glistens as he brings it across her middle, sending her thundering down to the ground as he yells with the effort it takes.

As he brings that bo staff back down, a curved blade forms at the end of it, turning it into a scythe as the blade connects with her neck. Just as she turns to dust, he stands and slings the scythe outward, obliterating everything in its immediate path, ashing the line of rebels who are charging at us with their mangled faces and barbaric weapons.

These are just the soldiers, not the ones we should be wasting effort on killing. We need to find the source and cut off its head.

Whirling around, I spot Kai as he drops to the ground with a sai in his hand, ramming it into something’s neck.

Right as he’s about to be charged from behind by a horned snake beast, my hand flies out, sending the beast soaring into the side of the monstrous black castle behind us.

Oh, thank you for you working, fickle power of mine.

Idly, I notice the stones on the crumbling side of the castle is glowing with the same onyx twinkle as Jude’s new scythe.

“Kai!” I shout just as a barrier breaks and rebels spill into the area he’s in, rushing him from all four corners.

I go phantom and zap myself there, but before we can fight, he takes on his own transformation, and the sai extends into a triton, coming down in front of me like he’s the one protecting me instead of the other way around.

I feel the pulse of power like it’s coming from me instead of him, but I know it’s really his. So dark, so mesmerizing, so…lethal.

Eyes start bleeding as the infected drop to the ground, screaming and writhing in agony. The next line attempting to break the rest of the barricade stumbles back.

A sense of pride washes over me, and a calmness joins it, weirdly enough. My hand runs up his arm as he strains to reach the next line without their invasion, trying to kill them all before they can escape to regroup and try again.

A warm feeling passes through me, and my chest brims with something almost intoxicating.

My eyes flick to Gage as I start walking through the crowd, feeling something whipping behind me. Glancing down, I see red fabric blowing in the wind with its gold trim, and feel the long slits that show off my legs, leaving only scraps of long fabric to drag the ground in premediated placements.

I didn’t create this one.

The air tingles over my midriff and exposed sections of my back, and gold jewels start forming at my neck, cuffing a portion of the dress into place as the rest amazingly forms all on its own.

Ezekiel makes his change with me, side-by side, as a staff of some sort forms in place of the sword he was wielding. A small blade pops out on the end of it as if punctuating the entire scene.

That blade is sparkling too much to be anything other than diamonds.

I love diamonds.

When he spins it, the rebels turn on each other, as if he just controlled them all now that the flock has been properly thinned.

I walk higher, looking down on the souls who need to be recycled. Rebels who need to be reminded of their place.

It’s hell for a reason, after all. It’s supposed to be oppressive down here.

And they’ve just disrupted the balance by breaching walls never meant for their attendance. Balance is far too critical right now.

I have no idea how I know, but I know what needs to be done to restore it.

My eyes scan the crowd below me from the perch I’ve picked. As they move to help with the attack on the lower castle doors, something just sort of naturally happens all around me.

Something dark and heavy runs out of me, almost feeling tangible as it slithers from my heart and starts down my legs, moving into the ground beneath me.

The ground cracks open as the small, visible, worm-like movements under the ground grow in size, doubling with each passing second on their rapid descent.

The red dirt flies and scatters into the air, and black liquid shoots out, spraying the entire line at the castle doors. Screams ignite in the air as something else rumbles free from me, quaking the ground around us as my eyes flutter shut.

Intuition demands I let go. It demands that I free whatever is trying to explode from me. Now’s as good a time as any to prove my intuition is an intricate part to all our self-discoveries.

As my fingers begin tingling, thrumming with a warning, I slowly lift my hands. White hot light explodes from them so abruptly that I stagger back, and it pulses into the air, creating a violent ripple.

“That’s new,” I say as it suddenly erupts into a massive ring of pulses that explode outwards.

People are launched in all directions, slamming the ground below as the ground around us quakes a few times until those pulses fade.

I realize it did more than that, when one by one, they all burst into ashes, the ground swallowing them up to take them to the throat.

I’m not sure how I know it, but again, I know it.

No more screams. The beasts I haven’t yet killed are fleeing as the disease Kai gave them starts becoming a flesh-eating problem on their retreat.

“Ungrateful lot, aren’t they? All they had to do was deal with their eternal punishment for their mortal sins, and they may not have been recycled to start the torment anew,” I chirp, feeling so much better now that I’ve gotten all that off my chest.

I turn to look at everyone we’ve managed to save—all the little bad guys who take care of the really, really big bad guys: My family and all.

Something suddenly starts forming on my head, and I reach up, feeling what is most definitely a jeweled crown of some sort.

I’m not sure why that makes me smirk, but it does. It feels like I’ve missed this crown, and I don’t even know what it looks like. However, I certainly never want to be parted with it now.

Did I just get a level-up?

My eyes scan over the death and pestilence left behind in our wake, seeing ashes flickering in the sky as the devastated multitude lay riddled in waste, slowly being eaten by the ground. Now I can say I’ve done something productive for the day.

And I’m not even tired…

It’s like a scene from…the apocalypse—the non-name version of it.

It should probably disturb me how much I needed this release. I guess I’m still a horrible person in all my lives.

“The balance is right again,” I say under my breath as if it finally makes sense.

When I turn back around, everyone is still staring at me, including the guys, who still seem a little befuddled by their ridiculous clothing and weapons.

However, Gage grins very fondly at his sword.

Jude glares at his scythe like it’s the most offensive weapon in all the world.

Jude’s eyes meet mine, and he darts a glance to the crown before saying, “Fucking figures.”

I snort.

“Says Death as he holds his scythe,” I fire back, an arched eyebrow accompanying my snark. “Who’s the real stereotype in this scenario?” I add with a fuck-you smile.

Ezekiel coughs to cover a laugh, as everyone else just sort of awkwardly stares and watches the five of us. These people were just attacked, so you think they’d have better things to do than gawk.

Like maybe show some gratitude? Doesn’t anyone do that anymore? Not one person has said so much as, “Thanks.”

“I’m cool with my new weapon,” Kai says, swinging around his trident.

At least fifty or more onlookers drop to their stomachs and cover their faces like they’re terrified he’s going to accidentally give them the same face-eating disease he gave those others.

My guys all stifle a grin, since that would be, you know, psychotic to grin about.

Too late do I realize I’ve forgotten to stifle my own grin, so I’m the only one who looks psychotic.

My life can be unfair at times.

“I assure you they’re far worse than me,” I tell some of the really pale and terrified people on the ground. “We’re not going to kill you unless you’re a rebel. Are any of you rebels who slipped through that we forgot to kill?” I ask, not really sure what a rebel looks like and idly wondering if I accidentally recycled some of the wrong people…

Clearly they all rapidly shake their heads. I’m certain, at this point, if they were rebels, they won’t be any more.

“Good,” I state happily, causing all of the guys to restrain smiles for a new reason.

“So when is it not too soon to point out that your ‘badass’ fight clothes are skirts?” I ask the guys, no longer interested in the gaping crowd around us who are still on their bellies.

Four dry looks are my response.

“Because that’s simply fascinating,” I go on, my grin only growing.

“Thought you didn’t want them thinking you’re the most psychotic,” Gage states flatly.

“I think it’s too late for that. Besides, I know you four are worse than me, even if they don’t. Can we go see if any rebels got away? That really made me feel better after seeing all four of you paw all over that girl. Who was she? She was a relationship girl, wasn’t she?” I prompt, feeling much more rational about the whole situation now that I’ve raged a bit and spread around some wrath.

“Can we not do this here?” Gage asks me, sighing heavily.

“Where would you like to do it? Is she the reason you didn’t join me in bed and stave off that horrible nightmare?” I prod.

“Of course not,” Jude answers, groaning like I’m impossible.

   
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