To Defend A Bride (Entangled with the Enduar #3)

Chapter 42

Chapter 42

MELISA

H e told me to stay hidden.

When Thea and Wren arrived at the cabin, I was relieved. But something tugs me outward, toward the fighting.

Maria comes to my side, drawing the girls away. Her mouth opens, but press my finger to my mouth.

Some of Ra’Sa’s men are at the back of the cabin, carrying the wounded out. Maria leaves me and watches as the girls huddle in the corner with Coco.

I’m tugged to the outside again.

Ra’Sa? I ask.

No response.

I cross from the door to Thea and Wren. I kiss them both and say, "Don't move from here. You understand? Stay with Maria.”

Maria starts to protest, but I hear another scream.

“I’ll be right back,” I promise and let go.

Please, I pray to any god who will listen. Keep them safe.

I return to the other side of the cabin. From the cracks in the crudely covered windows, I see the men surrounded in the center of the field in front of us. The giants hoist spears towards them while others pour vats of what looks like water over them.

The iridescent sheen glints in the light from torches.

Fuck. Not water, I realize. Oil.

My hands go cold. They're going to burn them alive.

"They're going to kill them!" I panic, my voice tinging on hysterical.

Some of the people in the room spare me a look, but most continue to move more bodies out the back door, away from the massacre.

"Do something," I beg, rushing to two men carrying a woman out.

“I am sorry,” one of them says. "We have to escape."

My heart races.

So what? I'm just supposed to be in this room, watching as they burn my mate to death?

It would... Gods, it would destroy me. It would destroy my body and soul.

"Melisa," Maria’s voice sounds behind me. She grabs my hand.

“Come sit.”

Shaking my head, I yank out of her grip, and then push to the door. A new warrior almost cuts my mate in half.

My gaze meets Ra’Sa’s, and he shouts, Get out of sight!

Ra’Sa, behind you! I cry.

He heeds me, but not fast enough, and I’m forced to watch as they bind him.

For the last three years, I’ve been humiliated, treated and used like a thing rather a person. Degraded so many fucking times.

Then, they pour the oil on Ra'Sa.

This stops here.

I want a future. This is my choice. My plan.

I grab the knife we've been using for cooking and step outside into the cold. The snow burns through my boots, and I trudge forward into the blood bath.

Ra’Sa sees me. He always does.

Run! he shouts.

I ignore him.

The waking nightmare starts slowly, with a tingling in my hands. If I could, I would run. But I can’t.

"Warriors!" I call out with the last bits of breath that fill my lungs, fixing a smile on my lips.

This is insane. You’re insane. What is wrong with you?

I’m saving the ones I love , I bark to the harsh voice in my head.

I take it all in: the light of the deadly flames they hold, ready to be dropped atop the oil split across the men, the humans, and my mate.

“Oh, mighty warriors!” I shout again while stepping into the light.

More than half the warriors lie dead but the remaining giants turn toward me, one by one.

Some recognize me. One even whistles.

Time slows, yet my heart thunders in my chest.

You are strong. You are fierce. You are capable.

Yes.

I fucking am.

Melisa, RUN! Ra’Sa’s voice shouts through the bond again, but my hand is already raised, dagger poised at the neckline of my dress.

“You fight so well. You all deserve a treat,” I call as I bring the blade down, slicing through cloth and thread. The bodice opens up, my breasts spilling out and the cold stinging every inch of my now exposed flesh.

Mi amor,? 1 you have two seconds to kill every last one, I say as they all stare at me, thoroughly engrossed in how the fabric flutters open.

I don’t shrink away or try to cover myself.

Ra’Sa doesn’t make me wait. Hardly a blink of an eye passes before he manages to stand. His hands snap out to either side of his body, breaking his bindings with his palms facing straight up.

The ground around us lurches, the top layer roiling into a wave. I lose my balance as it passes under me, rending the ground, and we all fall like dominoes, all, that is, save Ra’Sa.

He limps, and yet, his magic is stronger than ever. As he commands the stone beneath us, it bursts out of the ground, spraying snow and extinguishing the flames. Rock parts, splits, and cracks. Those jagged bits, broken as I once had been, form themselves into weapons that pierce and shred.

It all starts to rotate around him in a lethal tornado.

I watch in awe as the broken shards prove more effective than blades crafted by weapon masters.

The giants who still stand, a measly six in total, try to scatter. But every jagged piece of rock finds a home in the body of a warrior.

The giants drop like falling leaves in autumn.

Once the screams fade, I let out a long breath, finally covering my exposed chest.

Ra’Sa’s arms are around me in a second, scooping me off the ground, pulling his coat over my bare chest and pressing my face to his.

“I’m so sorry, Ruh’flor ,” he says into the side of my head. He doesn’t approach me tenderly in grief. He loves so fiercely, so thoroughly that it puts a blanket around my fragile heart.

All of my emotions continue to spiral and storm inside of me, but I don’t get swept out to sea; I remain right there in my mate’s arms.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he says. His words aren’t accusations; they are cracking with pain as if he could only seem to see the alternate universe where I am lying on the ground and not Maria.

“They were going to kill you,” I weep. “I couldn’t let that happen. Not for me, and not for the girls. We depend on you.”

He cries out, and I grab his face, pressing his lips to mine. Just to know what he tastes like once again. He kisses me deeply, ravaging my lips with his need to have me close.

I’m the first to pull back to look at the men around us.

“I love you,” I pant.

Ra’Sa brushes my back.

“I will not leave your side again,” I say firmly.

He sighs, then helps me stand. “Fine, stubborn woman.” His hand lingers on my back a second longer.

Humans have already started to search the makeshift battlefield, helping to carry the wounded and bury the dead.

Ra’Sa holds his hands out in front of him, using his magic to create an impression deep in the ground.

Afterwards, we make our way through the chaos. Ra'Sa is ever watchful, his gaze darting back and forth, his senses attuned to the slightest hint of danger.

Nicolás comes running a second later. “Rasa!”

My mate’s body tenses. “What’s happened?”

“We found this on one of the giants," he says, handing a ragged parchment to Ra'Sa.

Ra'Sa takes the note, his eyes scanning the words, his lips tightening into a grim line.

"The king has left Zlosa," Ra'Sa reads aloud, his voice low. “Fektir tried to kill him.”

I look at him, my heart pounding in my chest. “Really?”

“We must move quickly," Ra'Sa says, his gaze locked on the note. “Rholker’s departure is crucial for King Teo. I must send another message to let him know."

I nod, swallowing hard. "What should I do?"

Ra'Sa turns to me, his eyes filled with determination. "Help the others pack. We leave Zlosa as soon as possible. Without the king, this war is done. We won.”

Nicolás catches onto the words and lets out a whoop. He runs back through the crowd, thrusting his fist.

“ ?Por la libertad! ”? 2 he screams.

Humans stop their jobs while others come out of hiding. They all start to shout alongside us.

My mouth parts, scarcely believing it all. I’d come here with a plan… nothing had turned out how I’d imagined.

It was better.

And now we were going home. All of us.

My eyes scan the forests, the blood, the burning torches, and broken boulders.

Ra’Sa takes my hand and pulls me along.

We raise our hands together, screaming the phrase with the other humans.

“?Por la libertad! ?Por la libertad!”

For freedom.

My heart sings as I look back at the capital. It seems so far away from here. Barely visible.

Coco leads Thea and Wren to us before we can seek them out. They are shaken and pale, but I don’t fear when I hold them close. I know I’m exactly where I am meant to be.

It is time to leave this all behind for a fresh start.

Finally.