A Kingdom of Bloodshed (A Crimson Court Series)

*¬*Chapter Thirty Six*¬*

           Singing. That's all this gods damned thing does is sing. It whispers to me, cooing against my hip. It licks at my magic and whispers of the great and terrible things we could do, if only I were brave enough to look.

"Shut up." I snarl at the Blood Crown secured to my waist. The satchel it's in bounces off my right leg. But you are so delicious, High Lord of Night. King of Darkness.

I ignore it. The raging war before me, is far more prevalent than this stupid Crown. I need to find Thea.

After they left Purgatory, I spent countless hours trying to convince Flare to keep our alliance, that it wasn't Thea. That the Blood demon within her did it.

After hours of talking and begging, he finally conceded and it's all thanks to his mate, Star. She told him that Thea would never do that, and that once this war is over, she'll be riddled with guilt for the rest of her immortal life.

We knew it to be true. Althea is gentle and loves her people, so she'll hold this loss against her. Those innocents of the SunLight city will weigh her down forever. Securing my allegiance with Flare once more, I sought out the other High Lords and asked for aid. We needed to prepare for battle and we had to do it now.

Anil made it difficult as usual, but he prepared his soldiers and brought them to Nefaris. I even stopped by Althea's home to beg her parents' aid in this war. Her father refused. His eyes were full of hatred and disgust when looking upon me.

"If you care about your daughter at all, you'll send your soldiers. You'll send all of them, if not for me or the innocents of your lands and others, but for her. Because god damn it, Althea is worth everything. She is everything. You will send your soldiers for her." I snarled in his face before vanishing to Nefaris to meet with Ryder and the others.

King of Shadows, male of night. Your magic tastes of sweet delight.

It sings again. This stupid Crown will not shut up. Ryder is within my tent, pouring over every strategy or angle we can use to defeat my brother and his army.

"How he managed to get so many Fairies to abandon their people I will never understand. There's thousands of them. We're outnumbered Kaz." I shake my head, taking the map and surveying it. Ryder has drawn out the field and every possible advantage we could use during this long battle.

"We could use the cliffs of Mount Voiceless, take the high ground and fire below." He shakes his head, "It's too risky, the cliffs provide cover, but they do not keep us safe. We could go mad, being up there."

I grin, "Only if we reach the top. We won't go that far." Ryder huffs, "If only we had the Dawn Soldiers, then we'd stand a chance."

"We cannot rely on them. Darius cares for no one but himself." I spit. Ryder whispers softly, "Not even his own daughter?" I shrug, "I guess we'll find out."

I'm reaching for the map once more when the flaps to my tent tear open, Raven comes pouring in, blood coating her face and a large slice down her left arm. "Jesus." Ryder hisses, rushing for her. She holds a hand up and turns to me, "I found her."

Those words cause me to still. "I see her come bursting out of the prison at the base of the mountain but some male grabbed a hold of her. He's now dragging Thea towards one of the war tents on the other end of the field."

I do not wait for her to say anything else. I charge out of the tent and dive into the fray. I Fold between places, slicing rebellious fairies as I go. I do not stop to linger over their deaths, I do not stop to feel guilty. There will be plenty of time for that later.

Row after row, I cut through soldiers, men, women. I appear and then disappear until I see them. A male with short red hair is dragging my mate into a tent. His face is severe, filled with crumbling annoyance. It makes me see red.