Reluctant Prince (31 page)

Ophidian stretched his body taut, streamlining it, allowing him to descend at an incredible speed.

They dove straight toward Daygan.

Jackson kept his gaze riveted on Ryleigh.

She stood with her hands over her head, her back straight, her chin lifted in defiance.

Images of his mother slammed into him, tore through him, tormented him in that endless instant.

Daygan moved toward her. He was almost on her. He lunged.

“Nooooo!” The child and the man screamed together.

The sky tore open before him. Shock replaced the fear. He pulled Ophidian up hard to avoid shooting through the portal.

Ophidian flipped backward, twisted in the air, and headed straight down.

Jackson jumped from Ophidian’s back before the dragon landed. He ran.

Ryleigh dove through the gateway.

Daygan stepped around the side and plunged through on her heels.

The portal started to close, but Jackson reached it just in time to grip the edges and fling it back open.

Footfalls pounded behind him.

Jackson drew his sword and started through.

As he did, Ryleigh jumped up from the shadows beneath the portal, her raised hand clutching the small dagger. She plunged it straight into Daygan’s back.

Daygan screamed. His back arched.

She released her hold on the dagger.

He turned on her, fury obscuring his view of Jackson.

Ryleigh held her ground, braced for the attack.

Jackson shoved her aside. The first slash of his sword took Daygan across the throat, the second plunged deep into his heart.

Daygan fell.

“What’s going on?” Darius was at his side, helping Ryleigh to her feet. “Are you all right?”

Jackson sheathed his sword and took her from him, pulled her tight for just a moment. Then grabbed both her arms, pushed her back, and shook her. “What were you thinking? Are you crazy?”

Her teeth clattered together. She clamped them shut.

Jackson released her. What was he doing? His heart thundered erratically. He had to gain control of himself. He heaved in a breath, struggled to harness the fear and rage coursing through him. “All right. I’m sorry.” He gripped Ryleigh’s face between his hands, pressed his forehead against hers. “There’s no excuse for that, Ryleigh. I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me.”

“Of course I do.” She slid her arms around his waist and leaned into his embrace. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“It’s not your fault.” He pulled her close, desperate for the feel of her body against his, needing to know she was all right. He smoothed her hair then set her back away from him. He looked her over carefully. She didn’t seem to be injured. “What happened?”

“I was in your chamber looking out, when I saw Daygan creeping through the field. I was going to run for help, but I was afraid to take my eyes off him. I didn’t want to lose him and have him hurt someone.” She looked down at her hands, twisted her fingers together. “So, I followed him.”

Jackson blew out a breath.

She followed him.

He hung his head.

Ryleigh was going to be the death of him.

He massaged his temples then lifted his gaze toward his men. “Okay, let’s—”

A scream tore through the portal Ranger still held open.

Great. What now? He turned back to Daygan, squatted down beside him, and felt for a pulse. Nothing.

Jackson had inflicted a mortal wound, straight through the heart.

There was no way Daygan could recover from that, but better to be sure.

Jackson rolled him to the side, pulled the dagger from his back, and wiped the blood off on Daygan’s shirt. He gestured toward two of his Death Dealers. “Take care of this.”

They moved forward, lifting Daygan between them.

Jackson turned away. “Ranger.”

“Sir?” Ranger stepped from the back of the group.

“Would you please send for Elijah and escort Ryleigh to him? Have him stay with her until I return.” He hated the idea of sending Ryleigh with anyone else, but he couldn’t stay with her. He trusted Ranger and Elijah. Of course, he’d trusted Kai, too.

He leaned close enough to speak quietly to Ryleigh and handed her the dagger. “Keep this in your boot. I trust Ranger and Elijah more than anyone else, but…well…you never know.”

She caressed his cheek, her hand trembling. “I’ll be fine, Jackson. Where are you going?”

“I have to see if we can find Kai and eliminate him. I don’t know what will happen now, with Daygan gone. I don’t believe he had a successor, but Kai may decide to take his place. He was so eager to rule a Kingdom, maybe any one will do.” Bitterness filled him, but he couldn’t help it. Too much anger remained for him to curb it. “Go.” He guided her toward Ranger and moved through the gateway.

He didn’t turn back, couldn’t risk it. The urge to claim her was too strong to ignore, too strong to fight. He had to remove the temptation.

He jumped onto Ophidian’s back and coaxed him into the sky. The others followed. With no idea where that scream had come from, no clue where Daygan’s Seer was—the man never usually left his side—and no way to locate Kai, he didn’t have too many choices. He would enter Argonas as they’d planned, although the attack would no longer be unexpected. The Cymmeran Guard would have already reached the battlefield and would now be locked in battle with the savages.

Another scream reached him, closer this time.

What the…?

A gut wrenching screech sounded.

Something was very wrong.

They rounded the side of a mountain and dove straight into hell.

Dragons filled the air. Two headed beasts, spewing flames in every imaginable direction. Savages straddled them, shooting arrows into the battle raging below.

Adrenaline surged through Jackson as he pulled his bow from his back.

Several savages spotted the Death Dealers charging toward them, and their screams filled the air as they attacked.

Jackson tried to evade, struggled to stay beside Darius. It was impossible. This wasn’t going to work. They were outnumbered by too wide a margin.

He thought of and dismissed option after option at lightning speed as he tried to take down as many savages as possible. There had to be a way.

An idea began to form, rooted deeper as he examined it.

He signaled to his men, pulled them back to the far side of the mountain and through a narrow gap between the peaks.

The savages let loose howls of victory as the Death Dealers retreated. Some tried to follow them, but gave up when a few of their comrades, unable to maneuver between the peaks, slammed into the mountainside and tumbled to the ground.

Jackson passed through another gap and found himself above and behind the worst of the fighting.

Ophidian sprayed flames.

Jackson sent his arrows flying through them.

His men followed.

He gestured for them to separate, sent four of them to the mountaintops.

They landed and took up positions.

With the snipers in place, Jackson skimmed the edges of the skirmish. He had to find Kai.

Without leadership, the savages could be disbanded. They’d go their separate ways. Until then, they’d continue to follow the order they’d been given. Fight.

The savages were vicious.

The Cymmeran soldiers held their own, but only barely.

Jackson landed on a small plateau.

Two of his men followed.

“I need you to go back.”

A dragon fell, screeching as it plummeted toward the ground.

The shriek of an injured savage drowned out his man’s response, but they understood his orders. He re-joined the battle.

Ophidian weaved between the peaks and summits. He climbed and dove in a series of calculated attacks.

Jackson fired a barrage of arrows into the worst of the melee then retreated to maneuver among the mountaintops.

The remainder of his team followed his direction.

The bulky dragons of the savages couldn’t match the speed or dexterity of the Death Dealer dragons. They couldn’t follow them as they flew between the peaks and valleys, and the tactic had begun to thin their numbers.

His men returned.

Jackson once again landed on the plateau.

One of the Death Dealers tossed a burlap sack over Ophidian’s back, and Jackson lifted back into the air. With all of the Death Dealers surrounding him, he flew into the exact center of the battle. Some of the savages paused to watch them, but most of them continued their barrage on the invading Cymmeran Guard.

This had to work. He offered up a quick prayer. Jackson tore open the sac and dumped Daygan’s body to the ground.

As the body tumbled downward, the savages took notice. One by one, they pulled away from the fight and began to disperse.

The ensuing onslaught by the invading Death Dealers and the Cymmeran Guard took down any remaining savages.

Jackson lowered Ophidian and jumped to the ground.

His team joined him as they moved through the remnants of the battlefield, collecting their injured soldiers.

He held his breath each time he turned over a body. “Have you seen Chayce? Where’s Chayce?” He had to find his brother. He worked his way methodically across the field. Nothing.

They worked until the sky began to darken, tending to their injured soldiers, returning them to the castle to be healed. Only those with immediately mortal wounds were beyond saving. Thankfully, their numbers were few.

They’d accounted for and recovered every one of their men. Except one. Chayce was still missing, and while most of the soldiers had already returned to the castle, Jackson and a few others remained, searching through the bodies of the savages and dragons that littered the field.

Jackson forced away thoughts of Chayce lying beneath one of the huge creatures, crushed beneath its immense mass. He tamped down the picture of Chayce captured and tortured by their enemy. He blanked his mind completely as he painstakingly searched every inch of the remnants of the earlier battle.

“Jackson.”

He stopped at the sound of Ranger’s voice. Stood. Dread weighed heavily on his slumped shoulders.

“Jackson. We found him.” Ranger approached him and grabbed his shoulder.

Jackson finally turned to face him.

Ranger’s grin made his heart skip a beat. “He’s alive. He’s at the castle.”

Jackson threw his arms around Ranger and planted a loud kiss on his cheek. Laughter erupted as relief flooded his system.

The two men laughed together as they ran for their dragons.

Jackson jumped onto Ophidian’s back and soared into an already darkened sky.

The multicolored stars painted images from Jackson’s childhood. Chayce as a young boy, his charming, but devious, smile keeping him out of trouble. A little older version of the boy, following Jackson around, emulating him as he and Dakota practiced with their swords.

When he reached the castle, rather than return Ophidian to the stable, he patted his friend’s side and set him free to return to the caves. He usually watched Ophidian fly away, entranced by the smooth undulations as the sleek animal moved through the sky, but not tonight. Instead, he turned and ran for the makeshift infirmary. He’d ordered it positioned in the central part of the castle and surrounded by guards at all hours.

He clenched his teeth and tried to ignore the anger that intruded every time he thought of Kai, struggled to hold onto the joy of finding his brother alive.

He entered the chamber, spotted Chayce bent over one of his men, and stopped in the open doorway to wait for him.

Chayce lifted his gaze, and it landed on Jackson.

Warmth flooded Jackson, bringing a smile.

They’d manage. They would heal their men, put their lives back together, and re-build their Kingdom. He hadn’t realized how important Chayce was to him until he’d thought he lost him.

Chayce weaved between the mattresses, stooping to reassure the men who needed it, and Jackson found a new respect for the man. He would ask Chayce to be his second in command, and together they would remove the threat Kai posed and return Cymmera to its former grandeur.

When Chayce finally approached, Jackson opened his arms to greet him with a bear hug, as he had when they were children. “Where were you? I looked everywhere.”

Chayce lifted a hand and splayed it on Jackson’s chest, halting his progress. The look in his brother’s eyes was cold, hard. Anger emanated from him.

Jackson was unsure how to proceed, confusion at his brother’s obvious resentment warring with his joy at finding him alive. He lowered his arms.

“Where was I? Where was I? You have the nerve to ask me where I was.” A vein bulged from the side of Chayce’s head, pounded as his face reddened. He shoved Jackson through the open doorway and into the corridor. “I’ve been here, tending to my injured men.” Foam sprayed from his mouth. “The question is, my dear big brother, My
King,
where were you?”

“Wh—what are you tal—”

Chayce shoved his hand against Jackson’s chest again, slamming his back against the stone wall.

He kept a fistful of Jackson’s shirt twisted in his hand.

Anger chased away some of Jackson’s confusion. A bead of sweat ran down the side of his face, and he struggled to control his temper. His hands curled tightly at his sides.

Chayce lifted a finger and pointed it at Jackson. “Where were you, Jackson?” He closed in, his finger almost against Jackson’s nose.

Jackson pressed his head against the wall. He couldn’t move any farther back. Chayce had to back up, or Jackson was going to lose it. He fought desperately to reign in his growing rage.

“Answer me!” Chayce pulled Jackson toward him then slammed him back against the stone. “Where were you while my men were being slaughtered? Playing with your girlfriend?”

Jackson grabbed Chayce’s finger, squeezed, and bent it back as he moved away from the wall. He kept the last of his patience tightly leashed. “Don’t you dare. While your men were fighting the savages, I was disposing of Daygan.”

Chayce’s eyes widened.

He didn’t know.

But how could he not know? Jackson had dropped Daygan’s body smack in the middle of the battlefield. How could Chayce have missed it?