novelxo Broken Kingdom Chapter 23
Ford
A tremor shakes the ground hard enough to send Catherine and Ophelia both tumbling to the ground. I manage to stay on my feet, but when I see Juliet dart to the left just in time to miss a plume of fire as big as a city bus, my stomach bottoms out.
There's no way she’s going to be able to take that monster down.
Not alone. Likely, not with an army and a nuclear weapon or four, either, but especially not alone.
And I can't let her make her last stand without someone by her side.
“Get Ophelia to safety, I shout to Catherine as I strip off my bulletproof vest, preparing to shift. “And make sure the rest of Zion knows Bethany is a traitor. Whoever they decide should rule next, it shouldn't be her”
“No," Catherine says, her eyes blazing into mine. “You can't do this. You have to come with us. Juliet wouldn't want this Ford.
She wouldn't want her sacrifice to be in vain."
I don't waste time arguing. I just shuck my shoes and pants.
I know Catherine's right, but it's not just what Juliet wants that matters here. What I want matters, too, and I wouldn't be any good to the pack without her. I'm in too deep with her—with my former rival, my best friend, my wife of only one bittersweet unforgettable night.
I want so much more with her. I want a lifetime, an afterlife among the same stars, an eternity with her hand in mine. But we had one night as husband and wife, and now we're going out as a team.
Whatever happens after death, I'm following her to the other side.
Ishift and start to run, ignoring Catherine's shout to stop and the higher-pitched voice of Ophelia as she cries, “Wait, F-Ford, I can help!”
I charge toward where Juliet flies in circles around the enraged dragon's head, narrowly avoiding swipes of his massive claws and bursts of flame. She's steering clear for now, but it's only a matter of time before the dragon wins. She's too small to do enough damage to take it down.
Her only hope would be to make a run for it while it's distracted, but even as I charge for the dragon's foot, intending to do my worst with my teeth and claws, I know she won't.
She won't run. She'll stay and fight for me the same way I had to stay and fight for her. We're two sides of the same coin, two broken halves that together make a perfect whole. I'm tied so deeply to her now I couldn't fight my way free if I tried, and I don't want to try.
Ijust want her to know she isn't alone, now, or ever again.
Vm about to call out to her with my mind, to let her know I'm going for as big a hunk of scaly dragon skin as I can fit into my, mouth, when an inhuman wail keens through the air, sending agony rocking through my skull. Instantly, fluid begins to leak from my ears, and I'm hit with a wave of vertigo so intense I go down face first into the grass.
I roll over to see the dragon stagger and nearly fall, too, seconds before Juliet tumbles from the sky. She looks like an angel plummeting from heaven, glittering gold and pink all the way down.
The good news is that her wings slow her fall, and she doesn't hit the ground hard enough to do any real damage. The bad news is that there's something even more monstrous than a dragon striding across the field toward her.
At first glance, the thing seems human, aside from the fact that's it's about fifty feet tall. It has arms and legs and a head in the same place a human would, but that's where the similarities end.
Instead of a hair, the creature has writhing shadows that stream behind it like octopus ink through the water as it moves. Instead of skin, it has a coating of glittering black dust that barely conceals the giant white bones beneath, and where a face should be, it has a circle of pitch black pierced only by shining, dark brown eyes.
Ihave a beat to think that those eyes look vaguely familiar, and then the creature's hair transforms into dozens of wailing shadow faces, and the terrible screeching sound comes again.
This time, I manage to cover my ears halfway through, but it still makes my head feel like it's about to explode. My heart isn’ doing so good, either, especially when the creature bends and plucks Juliet, now in her human form, off the ground. Istruggle to get up, to help her, but instead of crushing her in its fist, or tossing her into its black hole mouth, the giant turns. When it spots me, it draws its arm back and tosses Juliet my way. My liquified insides scrambling to remember how to work together, I shift and surge to my feet in time to catch her before we both go tumbling back to the ground.
“What the hell is that?” she breathes, wincing as I land heavily on top of her.
“No idea, but we should run while the dragon's distracted,” I grunt as I roll off to one side.
¥'m so weak from shifting twice in such a short span of time that my legs tremble as I try to stand. My knees buckle and I almost hit the grass again, but then Juliet is there, under my arm, holding me up as she turns toward the river, where the res of Zion has already fled.
“A banshee maybe?” she asks as we limp across the field, moving faster as we find our rhythm together. “That scream is... horrible”
“I think it burst one of my eardrums,” I agree. “Everything on my right side sounds like it's underwater.”
“You have blood on your ear and down your neck on that side,” Juliet says. “So that tracks. Are you hurt anywhere else?” “No, you?" I ask, curling my fingers more tightly around her ribs.
“I'm fine, just tapped out. When I hit the ground, the impact forced my shift. I don’t think I have enough strength to shift back. If we have to fight again, I'm going to need a weapon.”
“Fighting is a losing game,” I say, my shoulders hunching closer to my ears as the banshee or whatever it is lets out another screech. Juliet and I both look back over our shoulders to see the dragon fall to the ground and the skeletal creature leap or top of it. We spin back around, moving faster. “We have to find a way out of here. Out of this dimension or..wherever the f+} we are!’
“Coralie said this was a dying world," Juliet says, slowing as we near the edge of the water, “one phoenix shifters and dragon shifters shared a long time ago. Apparently, the dragons hate us and are willing to give out magical treats to anyone who helps them destroy the phoenix bloodline.’
“Fun,” I say, scanning the riverbed. It's clear where the rest of the people crossed, through a shallow section just to our left, but the water is moving fast, and the riverbed is rocky.
As we step into the cold current, sharp edges dig into the bottom of my bare feet and Juliet flinches and curses beneath her breath.
“Yeah, fun. This entire thing is just...so much fun," Juliet says, grinding to a stop with a shiver. “Hold still,” she whispers. “I'm not sure if that thing is dangerous or not.”
I follow her gaze in time to see what looks like a centipede as big as a boa constrictor slither through the water just inches from our feet. Thankfully, it doesn't seem interested in us and moves along downstream.
Once it's gone, Juliet and I hurry through the rest of the water and step out onto the grass not far where the rest of the refugees from the ritual are gathered.
“There you are! Thank Goddess! Over here’ Catherine shouts, waving her hand from near the front of the group where she stands beside Coralie and an unusually tall stranger. “This woman says she can open a portal. She just needs a few promises from you two."
As Juliet and I draw closer, I get a better look at the solid, powerful-looking woman next to her. She's wearing a red Zion pac ceremonial sash tied at the waist of her simple white dress, but I don't recognize her.
But Coralie seems to. The glare she's shooting the much taller woman has history in it. You don't come to hate another person that much in just a few minutes.
It takes time and repeated offense, a fact Coralie proves as she snaps by way of introduction, “Ford, Juliet, this is Gillian, Hammer's wife and Ophelia’s mother”
“Former wife,” Juliet shoots back. “He's dead now. Sorry not sorry.”
The woman's features stiffen, but she doesn’t show any emotion in response to the news and her voice is steady when she says, “We might soon be dead, too, if we can't come to an agreement that makes me feel comfortable opening a portal. My daughter might be able to stop one dragon, but if the rest of them decide to fight, this is over. For all of us.’
“What do you want?” I ask, at the same moment Juliet murmurs, “That's Ophelia?”
“She doesn't always look like that,” Catherine whispers to Juliet. “She shifted to help save you. She's a wendigo shifter and seems like a great kid. Id like to get her out of here before she gets jumped by more than one of those things.”
Juliet fixes her gaze on Gillian's face. “What do you want?”
“Immunity for myself and Ophelia for assisting Hammer in his uprising,” she says, “continued royal status and all that goes with it, and a seat for Ophelia in the throne room. The three of you can rule together, as equal siblings and rightful heirs to the Zion pack”
“All right,” Juliet says, surprising me. “I'll negotiate immunity with Maxim, and you and Ophelia will retain your royal status. But Ophelia will only help rule as long as Ford and I are alive. If something happens to us, she forfeits her claim to an heir I' have named in my will"
“But her children will still be in line for the throne,” Gillian counters.
“No dice," Juliet shoots back. “Her branch of the family tree ends with her. If she has children, they won't be considered royals. That way you have no motivation to hurt me or mine. That's my final offer. Keep pushing, and I'll have you executed for refusing a direct order from your Alpha during battle.”
“Then you die here” Gillian says, but I can tell her resolve is starting to waver. Her daughter is still holding her own against the dragon, but just barely, and she clearly underestimated what a hardass Hammer's first-born daughter can be.
“But you die first,” Juliet says breezily. “Now open the portal. Quickly, before I change my mind."
Gillian clearly isn't thrilled with the outcome of her negotiations, but after a beat, she turns to Coralie with a nod. “Draw and hold the rune of remembrance. I'll do the rest. I'm not sure where we'll end up on the other side, but it should be somewher in Wyoming or close by. Once everyone is through, we'll have about a minute to follow them before the portal vanishes.’ She turns back to Juliet. “I'll need someone to warn Ophelia that it's time to run right before the last of us are through."
“On it,” Catherine says, backing away toward the river again. “I'll wait until Juliet and Ford are the only ones left. I'm assumin you'll be at the back of the line?”
“That's right,’ Juliet confirms. “But be careful. Don't get any closer than you have to. And watch out for weird shit in the water”
“Will do,” Catherine says, turning to creep back across the rocky part of the riverbed as Coralie and Gillian begin to chant words in a language I can't understand.
Surprising me again, Juliet reaches for my hand, twining her fingers through mine. She looks up, holding my gaze as she whispers, “Are you ready for this?”
Instinctively, I know she means more than getting out of here and the immediate aftermath of everything that's happened the past few days. She means am I ready to take control of our pack, change the course of history, and do our part to make the shifter world a better place. Am I ready to navigate the tricky world of pack politics by her side, never forgetting that our loyalty is to each other above all else.
She means am I ready for the future.
Together.
“As long as it's you and me; I whisper for her ears only, “I'm ready for anything."
Her eyes begin to shine. “Same. But if I'm ever in a situation like with that dragon again, don't come after me. I don't want you to go down with the ship.’
“Tough shit,” I say, smiling as her eyes narrow. “I'm with you, Jules. No matter what. Might as well save your breath because on this one, I'm doing what I damned well please.”
She rolls her eyes, but her lips curve as she says, “Fine. But I reserve the right to argue more about this somewhere down thy line” Turning back to the gathered crowd, she shouts, “I need five fit volunteers to head through the portal first. We're not sure where we'll end up, so we need strong, uninjured people to help facilitate a smooth transition on the other side.”
Juliet gets her volunteers and gives them quick directions on separating and triaging the wounded, then our three fit men and two women are running through the now open portal.
Women and children go next, followed by the injured, most of them propped up by friends or family members. In just a few minutes, we're down to the last group of twenty. By the time Ophelia emits another one of her ear-shredding shrieks and ths ground starts to shake with the force of her footsteps, it's just Juliet and me standing guard at the portal between Coralie and Gillian.
We watch Ophelia, with Catherine clasped gently in one of her giant bony hands, jump the river in her wendigo form. Once she touches down on the other side, she sets Catherine down and shifts back into her sleight, exhausted-looking human skin.
Catherine grabs her around the waist before she can fall and together, they limp through the portal with a breathless, “See you on the other side,” from Catherine.
“Go,” Coralie says, shouting to be heard over the sound of the raging dragon on the other side of the field. I'm not sure what happened to the thing, but it's clearly pissed. “We'll be right behind you."
Itake Juliet's hand and dash through the glowing circle of light, already sensing something is wrong, even before Juliet gasp: and cries out in pain.