Torrent of Tears (Scourge Survivor Series Book 3)(79)

Pivoting back to me, Rheagan raised a delicate hand. “I tire of this game, Princess. You’re much stronger than your mother, but still no match for me. Realize that before more people you love get hurt.” Pointing a long, slim finger toward the back wall of the open theatre, she waited.

I glanced up, then back, ready for the distraction to be a trick. It was the tone of Rowan’s curse that had me taking another look. No. No. No!

A hundred feet above the level of the stage, at the highest part of the amphitheater wall Terran, Coal and Elani were dragged to their feet. They stood bound and helpless against the Strati soldiers guarding them.

The blood pounding through my mind plummeted from my head and I fought not to faint. She had them. How could she—then I saw him. Estes. Estes descended the stairs, a wicked grin on his traitorous face.

“Why?” I cried. “I thought—”

His laughter sent shards of fury through my betrayal. “For a trained soldier, you were too easy to fool. Your need for someone to trust made you gullible.”

“But you helped me with Tham and with Tasso.”

He hit the bottom tier of steps and joined us on the stage. “I needed to show your mother what you were capable of, Princess. A credit to your father’s raising. At first, I thought Bruin was the special one of you four. But that wife of his, more trouble than I anticipated. I learned a lot from them though. Mistakes that won’t be repeated.”

My muscles tightened. “What the hell are you talking about? Who are you?”

With cruel delight dancing in his dark eyes, Estes swept his hand down the length of his body and the mirage he wore wavered and disappeared. The acrid scent of dark magic singed my nostrils as his visage changed.

“Abaddon.”

My mind spun with the reality of what I’d stumbled into. The Scourge’s big play. They’d been searching for a way to resurrect Rheagan for millennia and Abaddon had done it. Here, isolated from the Realm of the Fair, taking over the lives of these people. Abaddon had somehow broken the banishment Castian had imposed on his sister and raised her to life again.

I glowered at the woman who should have been my mother. “You won’t get away with this. Your attempts to take over the realms didn’t work back then and won’t work now. Castian will never allow it.”

Intense hatred flooded the Queen’s beautiful face until she was almost unrecognizable. “You will help me, child, one way or another.” An evil chill hit me like a wall and I staggered back into Rowan. You just need to be reminded the price for denying me what I want.”

Rheagan raised her hand toward the top of the wall and two Strati nodded. In a frenzy of arms and fists and streaks of red capes Terran was flung up and over the back wall.

I lurched forward but before I could make it more than a few steps Coal and Elani were pulled into position.

Oh gods, no. Not them too.

The chaos in the amphitheatre raged on as the city’s sirens wailed. Eligibles, Nobles, and citizens stampeded toward the exits. Dozens of rebel Strati drew weapons as Ydorus barked out commands and a violent rush of palace guards, soldiers and citizens joined our fight.

With nothing in my sights but Coal struggling at the top rail of the theatre I launched for the steps. I pushed hard, dodging the scatter of people and leaping over marble benches when the stairs were blocked.

Heavy footfalls followed my every move. Rowan was right there with me, racing to help his sister, taking my back.

“Castian!” I screamed as a steady stream of frantic citizens pushed us back from our goal. “Your fucking Pantheon is influencing the shit out of these people. Get in this game. Please, Castian.”

“Is that you asking for help?” Rowan grunted behind me as we were blocked by Strati. He clocked his guy in the face with the hilt of a sword. Blood spattered across the shimmering gowns of the crowd. A lucky elbow to my cheek had me seeing stars. I blocked my foe’s follow up and shattered his kneecap with a well-placed boot.

My thighs burned, my face stung and those goddam sirens were ringing in my head. Only three tiers left to climb.

No. Zale had joined the Strati. Together, they lifted the sobbing children. It happened so fast. Before I could get to them, Coal and Elani were flipped over the back rail.

Gone. My boy . . . gone.

Zale turned back from the ledge and flashed me a triumphant smile.

I slammed into him. The hot singe of steel pierced my side, but didn’t touch my agony. I clubbed him behind the ear as my knee connected with his quad. The bastard was strong but more wife-beater than fighter. He snagged one wrist but I kept the other free. Palm thrusting his jaw was like slamming my hand into stone.

His knee jabbed my ribs. Over and over. My vision spotted out and a thundering whoosh filled my head.

Do. Not. Pass. Out.

Quick jerk and I flipped around his leg, grabbed his balls and twisted so hard I swear I almost ripped the suckers off. The hiss of his breath was so fricken satisfying. While he wheezed and curled like a shrimp, I locked my hands around his throat.

“Face your reckoning, motherfucker.”

His chest heaved and his throat flexed. A hard twist and his neck snapped in my clenched fingers. Cold eyes widened as his lips stretched off his teeth in a sneer that ensured I wouldn’t be sleeping for a week.

The crack to the back of my head knocked me stupid. I tried to shake my head clear. Fuck. Rowan was down, his face obscured by a bench.