Ruins of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #3) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,185

not to believe they would be capable of the atrocities that Ilsa left in her wake. Yet, your sister is standing beside her, Aria. You kept me distracted as they surrounded us, and now you’ll watch them die. Give me your hands,” he snapped, and when I didn’t move fast enough, Knox grabbed me, yanking me out of the stupor his words had caused. I watched him placing a second pair of cuffs onto my wrists, clanging against the spelled ones I already wore. “You almost fooled me, wife. Too bad they fucked up and made you too good to be true.”

Knox yanked me with him, dragging me down the hallway, past the guards who glared at me in loathing. He marched me through the empty great hall and into the chilled night air as he forced me up the stairs, onto the battlements. Once I was standing in the middle of the stone walkway, he secured the cuffs to a large chain attached to the stone wall.

“I hope you enjoy the show, wife,” he snorted, turning to leave me standing there, alone.

My eyes slid out over the large force that covered the cliffside and spread deeper into the forest around the fortress. Upon a great warhorse sat Luna, and beside her on another warhorse was a black-haired witch who stared out over the troops surrounding the castle, preparing to defend it with their lives. Nausea swirled through me as Luna lifted her eyes, smirking coldly, when she found me watching her. Her dark head tilted, and she slowly lifted her fingers to her lips, blowing me a kiss before her attention returned to the army with her.

I swallowed past bile that pushed at my throat, my body trembling with fear. Ilsa was here, and so was Luna. Worse than that, mixed into the high queen’s forces were unwanted beasts, which meant Gerald’s army had a new leader, Garrett.

I searched the sea of monsters, finding Garrett’s larger form standing back, hidden in the shadows, staring up at me as if he’d known where I would be. Ice rushed through me, and I shivered violently as unwelcomed memories ran through me. I closed the emotions off, dismissing them, shoving them back into the box where the bad things I didn’t have time to deal with went.

Why was Luna with Ilsa? Didn’t she see the black teeth or the poisonous magic Ilsa used? Not that it mattered. Knox was about to destroy them, and I would be forced to watch it all unfold from my perch on the battlements. On the outer wall, below me, sat archers, dipping arrows into liquid hemlock, which they angled toward the sky before lowering them, aiming for the army of witches.

I slid my eyes to the warriors in the courtyard, finding Knox looking up at me through cold eyes that sent a tremor of unease rushing down my spine. I pulled on my wrists, but the chains only tightened. The humming sensation of magic slithered over me, forcing my attention to the east side of the keep.

Beside the castle, far enough out of sight from the ground, sat a power grid compiled of dead bodies covered in dirt. I frowned, noting that most of the deceased were missing their skulls and had stomach wounds. Then I noticed scores of unwanted beasts pulling wagons containing massive crystal formations around the stronghold’s perimeter.

I could feel the vibrations radiating from the quartz, realizing they were using the crystals to ensure that witches would be the only ones able to cast magic. My attention whipped back to Ilsa, who smiled at me coldly. She was going to kill us all because she was using the grids to fuel her dark power, amplifying the magic beyond what any witch should be capable of wielding. And with the crystals, Knox wouldn’t be able to use his magic to fight her.

Ilsa was going to kill Knox, and I was helpless but to watch it unfold. I looked down at my hands, frowning as the realization hit me. Closing my eyes, I whispered to the monster within, knowing the only way to end this was to inflict pain by removing the head of the snake before she removed the head of my mate.

“Ember, I need you right now. I need you to help me save Knox from himself,” I whispered, feeling her stretching within me. “Ilsa will kill them all. We can’t allow that. I need him to live. If he dies, our plan