Land of Monsters (Savage Lands #8)

Chapter 21

Ash

The stolen cars rolled up the potholed lane, the moon glinting down on the castle, which loomed over the land. Wisps of fog clung to the base in the cold, cloudless night, causing the small fortress to dominate the skyline and draw you to the castle. Even though Stoker never set foot in Romania, the castle’s magic trapped him in its lure, where myth and truth were so convoluted, there was no separating one from the other. His story was as much a part of magic as the fae, or the blood thirsty monsters who truly lay inside the walls.

I shifted in my seat, the Russian officer’s uniform I wore was tight around my muscular thighs, pinching my ass. Whomever wore these last was tall and stick thin. I might be lean compared to Warwick, but I was all muscle, with thicker thighs and ass.

I hated tight clothes, and these felt like a costume, not something I’d wear into battle.

Not something I might die in.

The genie said he would have Kozlov’s troops here in time, but heading toward the castle with the night quiet around us, a nerve in my stomach twitched.

What if he didn’t and this whole plan fell apart?

The last couple of days were a haze of planning after Dzsinn took off. Kozlov and Eve stayed mostly away after the first day when Raven almost gutted her ex-bodyguard. We thought it was wise to keep them separated unless heavily supervised.

Maestro Silk allowed us to use our room as headquarters and a bunker for gathering weapons and supplies. While others stole necessities, Warwick and I tracked down two working automobiles, those a leader of Russia would use. Not an easy feat when you’re in a poverty-stricken country with very few fae converted cars.

It was tense and stressful and during the time we weren’t stealing or scamming; the couples were slipping out to use empty rooms where they could fuck their aggressions out. The number of times we were doing it suggested we were all tense as shit. I took all the energy out on Raven—with the door open, in the bathroom, the hallway, against the window. Anywhere and with whomever was watching.

Though, when Brexley and Warwick fucked, the entire building felt it. Those two caused such a disturbance in the atmosphere they woke the dead. Literally. Ghosts had been haunting the building since they arrived. And then there were Birdie and Caden, who fucked so loud they outdid the party room, while Scorpion and Hanna seemed to be competing with them. Maestro Silk’s brothel had never been fuller or more popular. Especially the night before the attack.

Bellows came from the room over, spirits crashing into the room as I plunged my cock deeper into Raven, driving into her pussy. My teeth gritted, my hands gripping her hips so hard I knew I was bruising her.

“Ash!” A snarled howl came from her, the blades peeking out of her spine. I didn’t care that she cut me, that I bled over her. It was like another mark on her, another blood bond which tied us together. No matter how deep I went, I couldn’t get close enough. I wanted to crawl under her skin and own it all. “Fuck… Ash!” On all fours, her claws dug into the covers. I could feel a man watching us from the open doorway and I knew it was Wesley, his hand rubbing up and down his cock as he watched us.

It made me fuck her harder.

“Let me fuck the dweller, mroczny .” I bit the tendon in her neck. Her beast snapped and snarled, fire flashing in her eyes, claws carving into the mattress, her back hitching up. “I want to sink into the beast’s pussy,” I whispered in her ear, the hint of her dark fur tickling against my skin.

A shiver ran through Raven’s body, her cunt fluttering at my words. A deep growl came up her throat, her body turning red hot. She started to shift as much as she could, the dweller’s tightness enclosing around my cock, feeling different than being inside her other form. Not better or worse, just different. And I loved different.

Polish words I didn’t even practice anymore hissed from my lips, a groan so guttural I felt it from my soul, and I pulled her into me, going so hard she started to yowl, the bed squealing under the intensity.

“Own my cock, dweller. Claim it… knot around it.” I gritted between my teeth. Sweat dripped off my body, blood from the blades smearing over my skin. She bent further over, pushing her ass even higher into me. Her tail glided over my hip, coming around between my legs from behind until it curled firmly around my balls, tickling them.

Everything snapped.

I was no longer present in my body. I became my own beast, a fiend to her monster. Perverse and wicked, I relished the depravity. The sound of her wetness slapped the walls and dripped down our legs. We could hear Wesley moan loudly, stroking himself harder, turning us on more as he came.

It was twisted, but it was us.

My thumb pushed into her ass, pressing down on the nerves. Her body jerked. A garbled howl bayed from her, the feel of her magic locking my dick inside her, the metal bedframe bowing under us as I railed her to the point of intense pain.

But my gods, it felt so fucking good.

Releasing inside her, my vision went, my muscles limp. I felt her shift back into her human form before my body landed on hers, instinctively keeping me from impaling on her daggers.

Still inside her, my chest heaved against her spine, skin sticky, muscles limp. We laid there together in shock. How did each time get better and more addicting than the last?

There was a reason I had so many lovers and usually multiple ones. I got bored easily. As much as I loved Kek and Lucas, and I imagined myself with them longer than anyone, it still would not have been forever. Not with our lifespans. With Raven, I didn’t think I could ever get bored.

And on a fundamental level, I understood I couldn’t walk away from her. Ever. Even if we lived apart, there’d be no one else.

“ Mroczny. ” Dark one, I rumbled into her ear, my lips brushing her temple. “You are going to be the death of me.”

“Don’t say that,” she whispered hoarsely. Neither one of us had addressed the topic of what was coming tomorrow, or what was after if we made it. “Promise me nothing will happen to you.”

“I can’t promise that.” Reluctantly, I moved my weight off her, rolling to my side next to her. Wesley had disappeared, leaving the hallway empty, which I was grateful for.

Her lids squeezed as I slid out of her, her teeth biting into her bottom lip, her nose flaring.

“Did I hurt you?” I knew I went rougher than normal, and we had never been gentle in bed… or out of it.

“I liked it.” She lifted her head, turning to me. “That’s the problem. I like it all. I don’t want it to stop.”

“And you think it will?” I tucked my arm under my head, my legs still hooked over hers.

“Won’t it?” She went up on her elbows, her hair trailing down her bare back where patches of my blood smeared over her skin. “Let’s say this all goes off according to plan. What then? Will you go back to Budapest? Come with me to the States?” She frowned. “I can’t see you living at court, surrounded by rules and traditions, going to events, wearing suits and ties, small talking with elites at boring parties.”

“You don’t think I can dress up and charm the elite?”

“Oh, you can charm anyone , usually out of their clothes. I know for a fact you’d have the most pretentious ladies dropping their knickers for you by the time hors d’oeuvres were served.”

“Not the pretentious men?” I lifted a brow.

She rolled her eyes. “They’d be no challenge. Their underwear would already be flung at you when you walked in.”

“Sounds about right.” I curled more into her, my hand running over her ass. “So, what’s the problem?”

“You wouldn’t be happy there.” Her emerald eyes pierced mine with truth.

“Yeah, so you’ll have to have sex with me more to balance it out.”

“Ash…” She nipped on her bottom lip, which was already bitten into, her tone desolate. “I’ve seen that exact situation between my mother and father daily. Your family is here, your life is here.”

“Yours could be too.” I ran my finger through the ends of her hair. “Are you happy at those events and parties?”

“No, but it was the life I was born into.” She exhaled, looking off. “I can’t walk away from it.”

“Because you are the next in line.” My throat suddenly went dry at the thought of our paths being too different. Even if we were mated, it still was out of reach. She was a real-life princess. I was a tree fairy who’d dabbled in crime and debauchery most of his life. “And they wouldn’t allow you to be with me?”

“That’s not it at all. My family would never tell me who to be with. My mother mated with a dark dweller, after all. He’s still looked down on in some parts of court.”

“And I would be too.”

“I don’t care.” She shook her head. “But I see my father and I wouldn’t want to do that to you. He hates it, every part. He’s there for my mother and I know it puts a lot of stress on both of them.” She touched my cheek. “And I don’t want you to settle. Not for me. I don’t have a choice. You do.”

Though being mated to her wasn’t a choice either. It simply was.

“Well.” I struggled to swallow back the lump forming in my throat. “After tomorrow, we might not have to worry about this dilemma at all.”

Liquid watered her eyes, and she curled into me, burrowing her head into my chest.

“Whatever happens tomorrow, just know,” she whispered. “I love you, Ash Hemlock Rowan.”

My teeth clamped together, my eyes squeezed shut, and I pulled her into my body. Her words burned through my veins like venom, seizing my chest until my heart pounded in my ears and everything hurt.

I had told people I loved them before; I had even believed those words were true at various times in my life. But until I heard her utter them, the meaning slipping into my bones, I didn’t understand what they truly meant, and what the loss of that could be if taken away. And there was a good chance I’d lose her, whether it be by death or life paths. I couldn’t see how I could hold on to her.

She fell asleep in my arms.

“Rabul ejtetted a szívemet,” I whispered . You have imprisoned my heart . “It is completely yours, little beak.”

?

The car dipped, knocking Raven’s shoulder into mine, bringing me back to the present. The two cars moved closer to the looming castle, the fog thick across the grounds giving off an etherealness.

A shiver coursed down my spine.

The barrier of magic crackled, licking out and tasting the threat coming, whispering words of dissuasion in our ears. Turn around . It sang into every vein, the spell discouraging intruders. It was far stronger than last time, the pressure cracking my knuckles over the steering wheel, all of us in the car going silent.

Wesley drove the first car carrying Caden, Birdie, Scorpion, and Hanna. I drove the second. Raven and Brexley were up front with me and sandwiched in the back were Warwick, Eve, and Kozlov. And of course, a Brownie and an imp were smuggled away in Brexley’s bag someplace.

Raven’s hand slid over my thigh, our uniform caps blocking our eyes. Reaching for her hand, my fingers curled around hers, our eyes staring straight ahead. I didn’t need to see her to hear her heart, feel her anxiety, and taste her fear. And this time, I couldn’t do anything to really calm her emotions, as mine were just as turbulent.

The Trojan horse would only take us so far until Sonya recognized us. It wasn’t like Warwick was someone you could hide. We needed to get on the other side of the barrier before she did.

“Soldiers are coming up.” Raven’s vision pierced the darkness, her grip tightening on mine. “Six of them.”

Right as she spoke, the brake lights from the front car glowed red, Wesley slowing down.

“Here we go.” Brexley clicked off the safety of her gun under the dash, Warwick and Eve doing the same in the back.

I rolled the car to a stop, and the soldiers moved toward us, ready to shoot us at any moment.

“We ready for this?” Brexley breathed out, dipping her hat lower on her head.

“I fucking hope so,” Warwick mumbled from the back seat, flicking my attention to the rearview mirror. Our gazes caught for a moment, his bright aqua eyes telling me he would be beside me until the end.

He and Kitty were my first true family. My teachers, mentors, best friends, and sometimes my rivals, but always my brother and sister. And yes, there was a moment when I thought I had feelings for Kitty, but I realized later that not all soulmates are romantic. Some were your core beliefs, your backbone of strength, your essence of who you were as a person. A part of your soul no one else could touch.

A substance far thicker than blood or DNA.

“As my people like to say, ‘A man can die but once.’” Kozlov tugged at his suit cuffs, settling back in his seat, his demeanor unflappable. “Fortune favors the bold.”

“Or the one wearing the Cintamani stone,” I said under my breath. I gave Raven’s hand a final squeeze before letting it go and reached to roll down the window as the guards stepped up to our cars, their expressions stern.

My heart thumped in my ears. Everything came down to this moment, and it could all go wrong in a blink. We would not get this chance again.

“State your business,” a man barked in Romanian, his eye twitching, his muscles convulsing like worms under his skin.

Most of us in this car had seen this before, the deteriorating brain of someone who had been given the experimental pills. Istvan had implemented them on the lower-tier soldiers, the grunts. The ones who were trained to die to protect him, while he deployed full transfusions to the upper guards and elite.

Sonya seemed to have the same strategy.

“President Kozlov, the leader of Russia, is here to see Queen Sonya.” I struggled to get out the last two words, but I kept my voice steady as three more men moved around the car.

“We were given no notice of this visit,” the man snarled, his nose wrinkling, showing canine teeth. “Get out of the car.”

The strings that tied me to Raven vibrated with ire; a snarl no one but me could hear came from the dweller, the beast wanting to eliminate the threat.

“I assure you, the queen—”

“I said get out of the car!” the man rumbled, his hand jerking and twitching on his rifle.

Darkness slid over my chest like a cloud, the coldness of the obscurer somehow making the car even darker, her power sitting on my skin. Waiting.

“Let us pass, soldier! I am the leader of Russia! I will not be held here by the likes of you.” Kozlov barked from the back seat, his condescending authority dripping with disdain. “If you do not let us pass in the next thirty seconds, I will see to it that you are the Primul’s next meal… or maybe they can do other things to you.”

I held my breath. It was risky for Kozlov to bring up the Primul . Sonya had never told him anything about the monsters she kept, but would this guard know that?

The man sucked in, taking in Kozlov, recognizing his stature, yet I sensed his real fear was what the Primul could do. Most of those on the pills thought themselves invincible, held no concern, yet they still feared these beasts.

A year could have been lived in that single second, a moment suspended in the air like a balloon. My pulse ticked against my throat, my muscles spring-loaded to attack.

The guard’s lids narrowed on us, but he dipped his chin, waving his arm to the other sentries to move off the road.

The car in front rolled forward as they gestured us through. None of us reacted, our heads forward as we passed the troop, the tension in the car pounding like a drum.

The pressure driving through the spell stabbed into my head like a migraine, then washed away instantly, granting us passage to the castle grounds.

We made it in.

“Did it feel too easy?” Brexley uttered the same thought pecking at the back of my head.

Thick fog lapped at the car, an unsettled feeling locking up in my chest the further we moved. The lights from the castle above cast heavy shadows over the mist, playing tricks on my eyes. The sensation of stepping into a horror story clipped my breath.

“Of course they would let me through,” Dimitri arrogantly huffed in back, his ego shoving back what he had to feel as well. “ I am the ruler of Russia.”

None of us responded.

“There are a lot of dead through here,” Brexley spoke again, her eyes glazing over the land. “So much death here.”

“You would know,” I retorted, trying to keep things light, but my voice held no humor.

“Something’s wrong…” Raven’s chest pushed in and out, her body rigid, her eyes squinting into the thick mist.

“What?”

A squeal of tires in front of us yanked my head to the car in front. I slammed on the brakes, coming within a hair of the bumper of the other vehicle.

The fog, as if it was pure illusion, dissipated, revealing what was hidden within it.

“Holy fuck,” Brexley breathed out in alarm.

Terror constricted my esophagus. I gasped in a small intake of air, but it never reached my lungs.

Lines and lines of soldiers stood perfectly still, covering the grounds. The glow of hundreds of torches reflected off the window, shadowing their outlines in a diabolical scene. As if they were washed in blood and death.

My gaze drew up to the castle, taking in the silhouette of a woman and man perched on the high wall, looking down, their troops ready for an order.

Sonya and Iain.

Dressed in matching red outfits, like they were already mocking the blood that would spill across this ground, their blonde hair reflecting with the firelight.

“She knew,” Raven muttered. “She knew we were coming.”

“How did she know we were coming?” Brexley asked, her gaze moving around, seeing the guards move around the car, blocking us in. We were trapped.

It was clear. She was waiting for us. This was a setup.

“Are you too afraid to face me, Dimitri?” Sonya’s voice boomed over the gardens, full of condescension. “Fae or human, all male leaders are alike. All puffed-up chests and preening. But when it comes down to it, you’re insecure little boys who need a woman to do all the real work.” Sonya’s red lips peeled into a vindictive smile. “Like your wife. She seems to know more than you. A better ruler, I’d say as well.”

Kozlov’s muscles constricted, his expression turning to murderous rage. He was known to have an ego and a temper. Human or fae, unchecked power was corrupting. They could no longer take criticism, nor see beyond their own narcissism. But the mention of his wife made him scramble for the door handle.

“Stop.” I reached back to stop him. “She’s trying to provoke you. Don’t let her.”

Kozlov’s lips lifted in a snarl, but he let go of the handgrip.

“Is that a no, Dimitri? Rather save your own skin? See, you are proving my point.” Sonya tsked , her hand going to her belly. “But let me see if this works.” Sonya peered behind her as a guard drew up a tall, thin woman. The twist in her hair sagged to one side, her nice dress dirty and ruffled.

Raven gasped in recognition, her hand going to her mouth as the barefoot woman was pushed onto the ledge.

“Polina!” Dimitri shoved out of the door, screaming his wife’s name. Eve followed him.

“Dimitri,” his wife whimpered, tears streaking her face.

“Do not hurt her!”

“You should have thought of that before you decided to betray me. You think I wouldn’t know?” Sonya clasped her hands, speaking down from her perch above us. “Though I should know better than to ever trust a man. You all are so predictable, especially when your power is dwindling before your eyes. You become desperate. Foolish.

“Next time you send cryptic messages to your wife about your movements concerning the troops coming through the border, you might want to make them harder to decipher.”

My gut bottomed out, understanding the predicament we were in.

We had no help coming, and it was only us against hundreds. Plus the monsters she kept hidden below.

“Do you know what I do to those who go against me?” I swear I could feel her eyes find mine in the car, knowing I was here. Her hand rubbed at her stomach again, a smirk like she knew something none of us did.

Iain’s sneer became more prominent, his arms locked behind the cape draping from his shoulders, so comfortable in their power.

“I take away what they love the most.” Her chin barely moved before the guard shoved Polina off the ledge. Polin’s screams pierced the night, her body flailing before hitting the rocky ground far below their perch. Only yards away from where we were parked.

“Oh my gods!” Raven screamed out.

“Noooo!” Dimitri bellowed, trying to run to her, the guards holding him back. “Polina!” He thrashed, trying to reach the mangled corpse of his wife behind the lines of soldiers at the base of the castle. Blood splashed over the rocks and snow like someone spilled red paint.

“I warned you not to deceive me.” Sonya tilted her head.

“I will kill you!” Dimitri screamed back, saliva spitting from his mouth. “I will fucking kill you! I will take everything from you! I will rip his heart out in front of you!” He gestured to Iain.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Both Sonya and Iain laughed. “You are nothing now, Dimitri. You have no family, no mafia working for you, your cabinet has turned against you, and soon you will be banished as leader of Russia. You have no power,” she sneered. “You are weak and pathetic.”

The insult surely hit his pride like a knife, his body tensing before he yanked away from the guards. Reaching over, he grabbed the gun from Eve’s hand, pointing it up at Sonya.

Bullets exploded into the night air.

Guards lunged for Dimitri while I saw Iain reach for something under his cape. In a second, he brandished a bow and released an arrow.

Dimitri moved, but the arrow still found a target, sinking into flesh and bone.

Eve’s scream sliced through my nerves, puncturing my eardrum. The blonde stumbled, falling to the ground, the arrow sticking out of her sternum.

“Eve!” Raven cried out. It was automatic, ingrained in her to respond to her friend since she was young, no matter what had happened between them.

Eve gasped and gaped, the arrow affecting her more than I expected, but she was no longer my concern. Neither was Kozlov.

I would protect my family.

A squawk chilled the already frozen air, a dark wingspan gliding over Sonya’s head.

“Kill them all,” Sonya ordered Nyx.

“That fucking bitch,” Brexley snarled as the hawk swooped down for us at the same time the troops took her order, marching for us.

“Fuck.” I clenched my teeth, making a hasty decision. Slamming on the gas, I yanked the wheel, spinning the car in reverse. The tires whirled in a circle over the icy ground, tearing through the grass as I punched the car forward. Wesley peeled away, flipping around and following us while hordes of men with fae-like strength leaped for the cars, shooting at our tires.

“Come on, come on!” I begged the car to move faster. We were vastly outnumbered, with no hope of assistance. We had to get the hell out of here.

Inches away from the barrier, magic flared and crackled up the invisible wall, the Druid barrier sparking with power. Spells like this were to keep people out, not in, yet I could feel us being sealed in. The spell sizzled with power, barricading us from going through it like a wall. Tugging the wheel to the left, the car squealed with effort, the right headlight and side smashing and scraping against the barrier, taking the brunt, while I flipped us around.

“What the fuck?” Raven physically jerked, sucking in sharply, black fur prickling her arms and face. I felt it through her, the signature of the spell maker.

Dubthach .

“It’s a Druid spell!” Brexley also could feel the difference.

“What? She has a fucking Druid working for her?” Warwick barked from the backseat.

“Dubthach can’t be working for her.” Raven shook her head like she couldn’t fathom the concept. “She must be forcing him.”

That meant he was here, close by.

“The bitch locked us in.” Brexley’s fury was rising, the air crackling with energy. “She really wants to piss me off? Did she not see how Istvan fared against me?”

Warwick might have legend status, but it was really Brex who held the power of death. She wasn’t as lethal as she used to be without the nectar, but the girl was still half necromancer and half everything else she absorbed the night of the fae war.

And Raven was just as frightening.

But they could die like the rest of us, and we had too many against us.

Nyx’s screech rang out again, close this time, followed by the sound of her talons dragging over the roof, the metal splitting under her claws right over Brexley’s head.

“She really hates you.” I wrenched the wheel, plowing through a horde of guards, their frames tumbling over the hood.

“We have to suppress the Druid’s power to drop the barrier.” Brexley rolled down her window enough to shoot at the mindless guards coming after us, making me feel we were in some end-of-world dystopia. “Can you do that?” she asked Raven.

“No.” She shook her head. “It takes more than one to counter another Druid’s magic.”

“But you and your brother could?”

“Maybe.” She shrugged. “Like I said, I’m not a normal Druid.”

“It’s worth a try.” Brexley shot out one side while Warwick shot out the other from the back.

Raven peered over at me. “I can’t leave him here.”

“Looks like we’re going in.” I pointed the car towards the garden entrance of the castle, the one Dzsinn and I had entered. But too many would follow us. “We need a distraction.”

“Allow me,” Brexley spoke before Warwick did. In seconds Wesley’s car broke away from us, twisting in the opposite direction, tossing hand grenades out the windows and creating mayhem, steering most guards toward them.

“What are they doing?”

“I told Scorpion to go the opposite way,” Brexley stated. “Take attention off us.”

I sometimes forgot she and Scorpion had a spirit-like connection too. Saving his life that fateful night had linked them forever, as well as her and Warwick.

“Okay.” I gripped the steering wheel tight, pressing the gas, curving the car around a pond. “Get in the back seat!”

Brexley and Raven crawled over with Warwick, slipping down low and bracing themselves. I pushed the gas pedal to the floor, and the car barreled toward the wooden door of the entrance barricaded with a dozen soldiers, their bullets cracking into the windshield. “Hold on!” I squeezed my eyes shut, the car plowing into the men, chopping them down until the bonnet crashed into the door.

CRACK!

The force punched into me like a whip. The door splintered into pieces, breaking open, but the thickness jolted the automobile to an abrupt stop.

My forehead slammed into the steering wheel, spinning my mind, pooling bile in my throat.

“Raven?” I forced myself to move, turning to peer in the backseat. “Are you guys okay?”

“Yeah, I think.” She groaned. Blood trickled out of Warwick’s nose and forehead, his body curled over the two girls, taking the worst of the impact.

A hawk’s cry sounded from the sky, rushing urgency through me.

“We’ve got to move.” Kicking open the car door, the hinges balked, blood and guts covering the car like icing, dead bodies lying under the wheels.

Nyx soared above, more soldiers rushing our way.

Warwick grunted, drawing his clawed wolf’s blade from his back. “Go,” he growled at us, his attention on the enemy, his frame widening in attack stance, moving towards the men.

“There’s too many!” Raven countered.

“No such thing,” he rumbled, swinging his weapon.

“Here.” Brexley threw her small backpack at me. “We’ll hold them off.”

“Brex…” I caught it. My chest ached at the idea of losing either one of them.

“Can’t let my man have all the fun.” She lifted her gun with a wink. “Plus, I have backup.”

The hair on the back of my neck rose, the sensation of ghosts swirling around Brexley as she called them to her. Her invisible warriors rose from the blood-stained fields of the past.

The pair charged the enemy. They had made their decision, and standing here would only waste what they were doing for me.

“Come on.” I swung the pack over my shoulder, nodding for Raven to follow me.

We both slipped into the tunnel of the castle where Frankenstein’s sleeping monsters waited.