Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,165

Tears pricked my eyes, but I held them in, forcing myself not to react to the senseless murders of hundreds of innocent lives.

Swaying on my feet as my nails dug into my palms, I swung my gaze to where black-eyed witches had converged, waiting on the cliffside where we’d just left, watching us. Soldiers moved with Knox’s witches, placing crystals to prevent the dark witches from entering behind us. I inhaled slowly, breathing through the horror of what surrounded me. Someone touched my shoulder, and I yelped in horror, spinning as Lore frowned while he moved up beside me.

“Hold it in, Queen Karnavious. The worst is yet to come,” Lore grimaced. “Follow me, and no sudden movements. You’re being watched by two factors, which are both hoping you fuck up right now. Let’s disappoint them all, okay?”

“Okay,” I whispered through trembling lips.

I followed Lore closely, not meeting the stares of anyone else as Greer continued behind us. When we reached the center of town, I fought the bile that pushed against my throat. The trees were strung with heads and entrails across the limbs of giant oaks surrounding a fountain that sprayed crimson blood through the mouths of large cherub statues.

A statue of a mermaid sat in the middle of another fountain, no longer spraying water. Something didn’t look right, and the closer we got to the fountain, the more my mind attempted to grasp what I was seeing. It wasn’t a statue at all. Blue eyes turned toward me as my brain tried to put it together. The dark witches had staged a woman in the fountain to look like a mermaid, and from her lips, pinkish fluid dripped freely.

“Get Aria out of here, now,” Knox demanded, and I shook my head at the horror before me.

Large, round, and familiar eyes blinked at me. I gasped as a scream left my throat. Aine, Luna’s twin, sat in the fountain with hemlock running through her. I rushed forward, but Knox grabbed me, yanking me back as he shook his head. I sobbed, unable to get words past my lips as Aine watched me, her skin melting off as the hemlock ran down her body and into the water that shot into the air in an arch, just to refill the fountain. My stomach clenched, and everything within me released as the horror of what I saw bubbled up my throat into a bloodcurdling scream.

“No! No! Please, no!” I sobbed, fighting Knox to reach Aine.

Aine sighed, and the light extinguished in her eyes. I dropped to my knees at Knox’s feet, my entire body twitching as screams and sobs continued to rip from my lungs.

Arms grabbed me, lifting me as Lore rushed us toward the castle, but power erupted into the area. Lore paused, turning to look up at the dark witches. They opened their mouths, and large, black crows crawled out, shooting hundreds of them into the sky. My screaming stopped, and shock took hold while I stared at the evil playing out in front of me.

I watched through wide eyes as the dark witches’ screams echoed through the valley, their mouths wide for the crows to escape through. Their shrill cries were deafening and filled the courtyard as the birds shot toward us, attacking with claws as sharp as razor blades.

Lore dropped me to attack them, fighting the possessed birds off. The moment he freed me, I started crawling beneath the surrounding men’s feet, all struggling to get away from the crows. Reaching Aine’s body, I slid into the water, trying to remove the poles that held her in place. I ignored the burns of the hemlock, uncaring of the acidic water that sizzled against my flesh.

I yanked Aine forward, sobbing as more of her flesh fell free of her body. I could see bones in places where Aine’s beautiful golden skin had once been as I struggled feverously to pull her from the fountain. Arms grabbed and tightened around me, forcing me away from the poisonous water as I was rushed into the castle.

Someone hastily removed my dress as Siobhan and Knox’s other witches hurried forward with ointment to cover my sizzling flesh. I cried and screamed as pain and grief held me in their thrall, unwilling to release me as my world crashed down around me. Knox purred softly, but it didn’t touch the agony that continued holding me in its icy claws.

Knox studied me, his eyes filled with something I couldn’t discern. My attention shifted to