Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #2) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,68

me heavily, and the echo of pain as well. I swallowed the sobs, uncertain if I were relieved that the spell had worked, or worried that I’d trespassed against him with magic. He hadn’t been receptive to the intrusion, that much was certain. Knox had responded poorly to me reaching him through the spell, and it had ended in violence.

“Who the fuck are you?” Esme demanded, glaring at me.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Esme held a dagger in her hand while standing in a defensive pose, ready to strike if the need arose. The tension rolling from her was thick and filled with mistrust. I didn’t blame her, since I could smell the magic thickening in the room, mingling with Knox’s scent that clung to me from the spell.

“I asked you who the fuck you really are,” Esme hissed coldly, narrowing her eyes while she studied me through angry slits.

“Aria,” I growled thickly.

I continued holding my hand against my throat, where Knox had been biting me. Phantom pain persisted, alerting me that while I was out of the dream on my end, he was probably ripping me apart on his. My core clenched, and my eyes widened, shaking it off. I considered what he was probably doing to my dream vagina. Couldn’t he have started the torture with that?

“Aria, what?” Esme snarled, stepping back, pulling magic around her. “Glamouring yourself into someone else’s reality isn’t a simple spell. You were attacked, were you not? Yet you couldn’t wake up. That means you used magic to project yourself to a different location. You cast a very powerful and dangerous spell that can be traced back to the source by any novice witch.”

“So it is,” I muttered.

“That type of spell is something only the most powerful witches can achieve in casting, and only after they’ve reached a certain age. You’re not old enough to have accomplished that spell, let alone understand the consequences of using it, idiot. I could smell him on your flesh, girl. I’m going to ask you one more time, and then I’m going to slit your fucking throat if you don’t tell me the truth.”

Pounding started, startling us both as Esme swung her attention toward the front door. I shot to my feet, mere seconds before a large man forcefully kicked it in, joining several others that barged into the hut.

I smirked at their stupidity, lifting my fingers. I whispered a spell that liquefied them and turned them into puddles on the floor. Esme’s violet eyes slid back to me, and I smiled coldly.

“I suggest you collect the children, and any other witches you deem are worth saving. I think the lord you owe money has grown impatient to fuck you and decided not to extend your deadline. It looks like he’s ready to collect on his payment.” My body arched with power, and the mark of Hecate glowed brightly upon my forehead as Esme took a step away from me. “Open a portal to the Kerrigan Keep, and seek shelter beneath it in the lower rooms, Esme.”

“A vicious witch who enjoys slaughtering her kind owns that castle!” she snapped without tearing her eyes from the mark on my forehead. “We would all die if we dared trespass against her.”

“That was true, but she’s no more than ashes now. I slaughtered her and her entire following when they tried to eat another witch’s children. You see, I am Aria Hecate, and I intend to protect and save those who are deserving of it. You’re going to help me, Esmerelda. You’re wrong about me, you know. I’ve met the King of Norvalla, and I don’t intend to bow to him, ever. I am here to save you and the others who have not turned to darkness.”

“I saved you though because you were weak!” Esme pointed out, slowly pushing her dagger into a leather holster on her thigh before yanking on her hair in frustration. “If you’re supposed to be our savior, we’re fucked! The universe is mental for making me save you! Now there’s goo all over my floor, and I am going to end up on my back for years in servitude to protect the urchins from working in that poisonous mine!” Esme’s face was red from anger as she inhaled, gearing up to say more.

“I was weakened. I had just attempted to take power from the Keeper of Lightning and failed, but I never intended to take it all.” I let her see the lightning as it lit within my eyes.