Faults

Chapter 48: Archie

"You can attack us all you want, but you will not compromise the welfare of my Kingdom," I growl at Taylor.

He staggers to his feet and turns around to face me. While I can't explain why the fire just stopped, I'm not about to complain. I watch as Taylor lights his hand, walking towards me. There's a book in his hand, which I assume to be some sort of spellbook. God damnit, we got so caught up in fighting Christian and Taylor that we never got Exitium back. We had a perfect chance when we were saving Aydin, but even in the whirlwind of that event, I saw no books in sight.

"I'm going to do whatever the fuck I want. And right now, I'm about to compromise your welfare," he sneers.

Just as he swipes his hand to burn me, the fire vanishes. "What the hell?" he blurts out.

My eyes grow wide in shock and I quickly back away from Taylor, lucky enough not to be harmed yet. I keep walking backwards, my focus remaining on Taylor. The fire in his hand reappears and he stares at it for a second, looking confused.

"What the fuck is going on?" he asks like he expects me to know the answer.

"You think I know? You trying to burn down the tree is probably affecting the magic, you idiot!" I yell. "Besides you being absolutely brainless, why–in the name of all that is holy–would you ever attempt to burn the one thing that keeps this kingdom alive. It practically protects you, Taylor!"

He scoffs. "Christian protected me. Now, I'm showing him that I don't need his protection."

"Christian is dead," I say, gritting my teeth.

"You killed him, you son of a bitch!" Taylor yells, lunging for me.

I thrust out my hand, but he doesn't stop running. I give it a second try, sending him flying back. "Look what you've done to the magic! You're hurting the entire Kingdom."

"Do you think I care about that? About how they all feel?" he grumbles as he stands up. "I'm doing this so that everyone can suffer with me, their future King. And once I finally take you out, I'll prove to everyone that I am their hero!"

"You're no one's hero," I say, rolling my eyes.

"But I sure will be," he seethes as he lights his hand once again, running towards me.

I back up and wave my hand to the left, pushing Taylor off course. "You'll never be more than a killer."

"I should be saying the same to you."

"At least I kill for justice. You kill for some sick satisfaction," I shoot back.

The second that sentence leaves my mouth, a white wolf charges at Taylor. "And I'm going to get some satisfaction from killing you," Taylor says with a laugh.

I realize it's Klaus running at Taylor and just as he reaches him, Klaus suddenly shifts back into a human, skidding across the forest floor. He morphs back into a wolf seconds later and then back to his human form.

Taylor, what have you done?