The Names We Shed

Chapter 16- I don't hate you

Chapter Playlist- Wrecking Ball- Midnite String Quartet, Pretty Girl- Maggie Lindermann, Mother's Daughter- Miley Cyrus

It isn't until I reach the old and crumbling stables that I sense him and his foul stench.

"Duka." I hiss.

A wave of power hurdles toward me and I slam my shields up, sending bolts of my power to the source. A dragon sitting on top of the building, Helen and Albert loaded into a cart on his back.

"Gwyn. I'll take your lack of response as a sign that you don't want to work with me."

"You would be correct."

"What a shame. We really could have been great."

"I guess we'll never know."

I take a fighting stance, my weapons already drawn.

He shakes his head. "I guess you are what the humans call you. The whore murderer."

"Really, cause I think you're nothing more than a-"

"I am a Naga and one Valkyrie standing against me will do nothing to hurt me. Even if you manage to kill me, I will be reborn not of ash but of earth."

Kalan chooses that moment to drop behind me, quickly followed by Valerie and Makasha.

I drop my shields and trust that they'll put up their own shields to protect me as I stalk towards Duka.

"You can't hurt me."

He blows fire my way, but the shields are there, protecting me.

"Oh, but I can."

He leaps into the sky and I chase after him, hurling daggers as quick as I can summon them.

They bounce harmlessly off his shields.

"Oh little warrior is that all that you can do? Have the Valkyrie really gotten so weak?"

Power surges off at me, my temper besting me. I let the rage control me, let it consume me, let it lead me. Until I end up face to face with the giant dragon, one blade at his throat, the other in his eye.

"Am I still weak?"

"You're a woman, you're always weak." He growls, furiously trying to shake me.

I refuse. I refuse to let someone denounce what I am capable of. I will not be treated this way.

As my blade begins to slash across his throat, fear stabs through my chest. Kalan.

Before I can form a competent thought, I'm flying away from Duka and back to Kalan.

"What is it? Are you okay? You're not hurt are you? Please tell me you're okay.."

You fucking idiot. You left your mate unguarded. You aren't worthy of him or of your title. He could've been dying but how would you know? You left! What kind of person just does that?!

I land and quickly hurry to him, cupping his face in my hands I scan him for any injuries. Besides exhaustion, I don't sense anything.

I let out a long sigh of relief.

"I am so sorry. I shouldn't have left you here. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I am okay. And you didn't do anything wrong. I can protect myself. I'm sorry, I just- I saw you go up there and you disappeared for so long, I started to panic and then it felt like I couldn't breathe and all of the sudden all I could feel was fear."

"Don't worry, I'm safe, I'm okay."

I pull him close until his heart rate comes down enough to be considered normal.

Valerie and Makasha wander off to give us the idea of privacy.

After a few minutes, we pull apart and head back inside.

"Well what are we doing now?" Fenca askes.

"We're going with your plan. We need to kill Duka at all costs. Especially now that he probably knows that I have a mate."

"What do you mean?"

"Well there aren't many reasons why I'd stop myself from making a killing blow while I was pissed, just to fly to the ground. I'm pretty sure he's not that dumb."

"Okay. So we assume that Duka knows that Kalan is your mate, but on the off chance that he is that stupid, no one confirm his suspensions. I don't want you so much as thinking about it." Fenca states.

"What about Prince Mas and Princess Calliope?" Valerie asks.

"They're in or on their way to Quincey. Hopefully they can stay safe. We don't really have another choice unless we want to help Duka."

"I don't get it. What is he trying to do?"

"Create a crown that will destroy this world. Break the barriers of heaven and hell. What else does an immortal do when they are bored? We'll have to go to where they're buried, which is two spots, Collandra, and an island off the coast of Naytch."

They nod and look around at each other. Fenca asks the question they're all thinking "Who goes on the trip?"

"Well that depends on you. But I don't think I'm coming back and I can not guarantee that you will be safe here, especially now that Duka can break through the wards."

None of them look ready to make a decision until Makasha steps forward. "I'll go."

"Thank you Makasha."

"You can call me Ash."

She steps behind me as we look at the rest of them.

"I'll go." Valerie joins her sister.

With a single look between Fenca and I, she steps forward. Only Kalan remains, "I have something to confess before I join you."

What the hell is he doing?

"Just to Gwyn." He clarifies.

The others look around, clearly uneasy and confused at his request.

"Trust me, it's about us- like together. Not about anything that could- that could be important." Kalan states, reassuring them.

They leave us to talk, Fenca shooting me looks and trying to mouth things at me as they leave.

"I want to accept the bond with you. I have for a while, but Helen told me to wait. She said that if I accepted it in the heat of a battle it could give a power surge that could possibly save your life. To be completely honest, when she told me that I should wait, I was relieved."

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

"I was relieved because as much as I love and as strong as my emotions for you are, I don't know if I really know you. I know that we don't have time to do any of this the right way, we don't have years to get to know each other, but the trip that we have to take down there, I want us to get to know each other better. I don't want to feel like I'm accepting the bond just because it's there, I want to accept it completely because I know you and I love every single part of you, good or bad."

Relief course though my veins at his words. He wants to know me. Me. The monster, the person, all of me.

"I- I don't know what to say Kalan. I love you, and the second that I saw you there, chained to the floor, it took everything in me not to free you and claim you as mine that instant. If you want a hundred years or a thousand, I'll make it work, even if you don't end up being mine. It'd be worth it, just to be with you for a little while."

He steps forward.

And our journey began. Two vampire half-breed princesses. One former slave. One whore. And a girl who's been hiding in the shadows longer than she's been in the light.