Ruins of Chaos Read online

  Knox withdrew an hourglass from his pack and turned it over, causing my eyes to narrow on the sand falling into the bottom. His fingers drummed on the table, unnerving me, and apprehension slithered through me while heat filled my cheeks. I frowned, swallowing past the excessive saliva building in my mouth. My hands tightened on the blanket, and his gaze dropped to them, slowly lifting to lock with mine.

  He slid his eyes to the hourglass before turning to Killian, who observed us silently. Brander entered the tent, looking at me before turning his attention to Knox, dismissing me.

  “Lore has stabilized, and Greer is up but still in a great deal of pain,” Brander announced, and the men exhaled. “They’ll survive, but it will take a few days before they’re ready to be moved.”

  “They lived?” I asked, feeling immense relief that they were alive. No one answered me, and I frowned before exhaling a shuddered breath of relief. Brander took a seat beside Killian, letting his sapphire stare slide over my mutilated shoulder.

  “Is your name Aria Primrose Hecate?” Knox asked, and I slid my gaze to his.

  “Yes,” I answered, wondering if he thought I was Kristal after all.

  “Did Freya Hecate give the name to you?”

  “No,” I said, frowning at the line of questions. “My mother left me on an altar to die. She didn’t name me or even care if I had a name before I left the world.”

  His eyes held mine prisoner as if he wanted to say something about it but chose not to. “Do you enjoy riding my cock?”

  I swallowed and tilted my head, opening my mouth to give him a solid hell no, but it wouldn’t come out. “A truth serum, really? Interesting choice for torture, King Karnavious,” I grunted, shaking my head. “I don’t think you’re going to like my answers, though.”

  “Do you enjoy riding my cock, Aria?”

  “Yes, which is probably a good thing since I’m only worth the scent it makes, right?” I frowned, picking at the invisible lint on the blanket I tucked around me. I chewed my lip, ignoring Knox’s condescending stare.

  “Do you know what you are?” he asked carefully.

  “No, nor do I even care anymore.”

  “How you can be so strong at some things while weak at others?”

  “I’m young, and I never allowed myself to use much magic in the human realm. I couldn’t test my limits there, and here they work exceedingly well unless they don’t. In those cases, I’m rather weak as fuck. Like when I’m wearing your jewelry, it leaves me weakened, yet I can feel the magic itching to get free. Care to take them off and have a real go at me, Knox?”

  His eyes burned into me like he was considering it, or worse, craving the chance to kill me. I wasn’t stupid. I knew Knox was more powerful than I was, but then he’d had much longer to learn how to control and harness the magic and power he held. Hand to hand, he’d probably take my head before I’d even moved to stand from the chair. His lips curled into a smirk as if he were imagining doing just that.

  “The creature in the cave, Eva, you’re like her. Aren’t you?”

  “No. I’m much stronger and more advanced than Eva. I felt her when she rattled, and she felt me. She tested me, and I prevailed. She was proud of me, which is a little unsettling if I’m honest, and since you’re forcing that issue, I’d say it is.”

  “Was it Hecate?” he countered.

  “No.”

  “Do you know who the men in the cavern were?” he asked, his eyes narrowing to angry slits while I swallowed hard.

  “No, I don’t. I know Aden wants me and that he and the other silver-haired men are like us. His rattle made me ache, and I think I should explore that option once I escape you.”

  Knox’s eyes slid to black bottomless pits with fiery embers floating within them before he snorted and sat forward. His tongue slid over his lip, revealing elongated teeth. It created an ache in my shoulder that burned, and my hands itched to rip it to shreds.

  “Did you order the death of Lord Andres’s army and turn him dark to use against me?” I snorted until I realized he was serious.

  “No.”

  “Did you set up the ambush against my brothers, Aria? Did you slaughter my men and arrange your kidnapping to make me buy your lies about my wife?”

  “No.”

  “Did you plan for someone to kidnap you, knowing I would save you?” His fingers tapped against the table.

  “No, I did not. In fact, I was certain you’d find some way to pin it all on me and that when you caught me, you’d kill me. I wasn’t far off, now was I?”

  “Did you overhear them speaking about a woman I loved? One who they controlled with magic,” Knox asked as the tic in his jaw hammered.

  “This is where you let me be your bad guy, Knox. You don’t want to know this answer. You need to hate me, so just hate me. I’m okay with that, but you won’t like it if you make me answer this question. You’ll still probably blame me anyway, so take the easy way out of this and let me be your monster.”

  Knox’s eyes studied my face before he spoke through clenched teeth. “Answer the fucking question, witch.”

  “Yes. I heard Kristal state they gave a tonic to a woman at a young age to change her scent and that they controlled her to get to you. They magically enhanced her to be your perfect mate, which her scent would have confirmed. That was why they couldn’t use me to create a double because you already knew my scent and taste. That saved my life. Go figure,” I swallowed as his jaw clenched.

  “Sven?”

  I studied the hurt in his eyes, but worse, there was hatred burning in them as if he blamed me. “No one mentioned Sven, and they never spoke of the woman by name, only your love for her and what created her scent.”

  “Were you created to be the same as her? Were you created to appear as the perfect mate for me, Aria Hecate? Did they enhance you with magic to smell and appear as something you’re not?”

  I swallowed and shook my head slowly. “No, not to my knowledge, at least,” I whispered, sucking my lip between my teeth before releasing it. “I don’t think I’m your perfect mate, asshole.”

  Knox’s eyes held mine prisoner, causing a wave of heat to wash through me. “Are you plotting against me?”

  “Absolutely,” I said without pause while holding his stare.

  His eyes searched my face before he asked another question. “What are you plotting, Aria?”

  “I’m planning to bring this world to its knees, and I will do it while you watch, unable to prevent it from happening. I will protect the innocent witches from you and slaughter the others while you stand outside a barrier as you did before. I will kill the High Queen of Witches, and I will send you her skull to ease your need for revenge. Aurora will take the throne, and I will stand behind her to enforce her rule for a time until we’ve achieved peace. Once accomplished, I will vanish into the shadows and go somewhere that you, my family, or anyone else who sees me as nothing more than a weapon to wield against their enemies can use me. Maybe I’ll find a man who will treat me well, and fall in love with someone who will love me back. I won’t ever think of you again, King Karnavious.” I laughed at the look of anger in his eyes. “Keeping me here doesn’t change what happens outside your reach. The dominos are falling, and the witches are on the run, gathering together, making it much easier to destroy those I’ve marked for death.” I smiled as his mouth opened, then snapped closed.

  “Do you know who you are?” he asked, turning the minute glass over in his fingers.

  “I’m Aria Primrose Hecate, Princess to the Throne of Hecate witch line and the Kingdom of Vãkya, the youngest daughter of Freya Hecate,” I supplied softly without looking up at him.

  “What game are you playing, Aria?” he countered, his hands gripping the edge of the table.

  “None, as I told you, I’m done playing games.”

  Knox growled, lunging over the table to grab my arms. “Who the fuck are you, really? You’re not some twenty-five old year witch, woman. You’re entirely too powerful to be so young, and you play me so fucking well, Hecate.”

  I laughed coldly, holding his stare. “I am twenty-five years old. I was born in Haven Falls but conceived in the Nine Realms after my mother entertained kings inside her bedchamber for days in a drunken state of debauchery. I am not Hecate, asshole. I do not know who my father is, nor do I give a fuck to play your twisted games. I came here to clean my house and any others I find dirty. I am a witch, but I am also something else. I am not your mate, nor do I ever care to be yours again, King Karnavious. You have more fucking mood swings than anyone I have ever met.”

  “Why are the witches digging up my past and using you to make me question my wife and son now?”

  “How would I know that? It’s not like they’re friendly before I take their fucking heads. If I were to guess, I’d say they’re a little pissed off that you’re murdering witches and feeding their magic into Norvalla, which in turn, fuels you and your people along with the witches you deem savable.”

  “Do you want to be a queen?” Knox watched me closely, studying the way my eyes narrowed at his question.

  “No.”

  “Do you want to become my mate?” he asked, releasing my hands while I fixed the blankets.

  “Absolutely never would I wish to be yours again. I don’t want to be your mate or even in the same space with you anymore. I want someone who isn’t bipolar or haunted by ghosts. Being your mate would be the worst mistake any woman could ever make. You won’t let anyone love you because you’re too broken. You might as well have lain down and died with your wife and son, Knox, because you’re buried in their tomb, beneath the same dirt. That’s rather sad since it’s a waste of good dick.” He flinched at my words laid bare to him, filled with truth pushing them down his throat
. “Luckily, there’s more dick in the Nine Realms, and I’ll find it, eventually.” I leaned over, smiling while holding his stare. “I’d rather fuck Lord Andres’s dead cock than ever touch you again. How’s that for some truth for you?” My smile turned bitter as the deadness in my stare held his.

  “Where’s your family hiding, Aria?” Knox asked through clenched teeth, and I shook my head.

  “Don’t do that,” I warned, feeling the burning on the inside of my thigh. “Knox, don’t.”

  “Where are they hiding?” he asked again as pain shot through me, jolting my body.

  I cried out, grabbing my thigh. I looked at Knox with fear burning in my eyes. My teeth slid free, and I clamped them down on my tongue. I bit into it, but he moved with inhuman speed, prying my jaw open. Brander jumped forward, staring at the blood dripping from my mouth to dribble down my chin.

  “Bloody fucking hell, Knox,” Killian snapped, staring at the blood rushing from my mouth down my chin. “Too fucking far!” He removed his shirt, pushing it against my mouth as Knox continued preventing me from entirely removing my tongue.

  “Help me hold her mouth open before she bites her tongue off,” Knox ordered, continuing to hold my jaw open by force. “I release you from answering my question, woman,” he growled, staring into my eyes. I gagged on the blood pooling in my mouth, rushing down my throat while I glared at him, choking on it. “Gods damn it, Aria.”

  “You found her breaking point, and you knew it. You knew she hadn’t lied, and you pushed her further, Knox. She’s been kidnapped, assaulted, and molested by no fault of her own. You should have stopped once you had your truth. Even you knew Liliana’s scent was wrong when your beast refused to acknowledge her presence,” Brander growled.

  “I needed to know she spoke the truth! She could have been immune to the tonic,” Knox argued, running his thumbs over my cheeks. “Now, I know she believed what she said.”

  Pain consumed my mind while Knox held my mouth open. Blood pooled into my ears and soaked my hair as everything muted around me. My eyes slid closed, and my body jerked, fighting to succumb to the exhaustion that wrapped around me.

  “She wasn’t lying, obviously. She believed what she had heard. You can’t keep doing this, Knox. Look at her! She was willing to remove her fucking tongue to protect her family, and you knew she’d do something stupid to stop the words from coming out! She told you what she heard, and although none of us liked what she said, you should have accepted it,” Killian snarled, purring low in his throat while he watched my eyes roll back in my head.

  “Explain Sven’s existence then, assholes,” Knox hissed angrily. “We can only breed with our mate, and Liliana bore me a child. Sven was mine. Tell me he wasn’t, Brander.” His eyes filled with regret as I gagged, and he pulled me up, holding me against his chest.

  Blood dripped onto the white blanket, soaking it and Knox’s clothes. I fought to stay awake through the pain in my mouth and jaw as he continued holding it open. I could feel my tongue swelling, feel the blood sliding down my throat as he turned, staring down at me with a pained expression. My lashes fluttered against my cheeks as Knox held me against his warmth, releasing his scent to soothe me.

  “If what Aria says is true, my wife was a ruse, planted in my life, and yet she bore me a son? No. Someone is wrong here, and it isn’t me. Sven existed, and he was mine. He was my son, and I loved him more than I cared for anything else. He was my world.”

  “It’s what she heard, but it doesn’t make it correct, Knox. She told you what she thought was the truth. Aria told you that. You keep hurting her because you’re hurt. She’s right. It isn’t fair. You can’t want her and hold her at arm’s length to protect yourself from the pain you feel over the dead. There are four of you in this relationship; two want one another, but the shells that house them are fighting tooth and nail to escape what is happening. Who the fuck do you think is going to win that fight? Your beast, because he is absolute power in the purest form, and she’s a fucking newborn who doesn’t even realize what she is yet,” Killian growled as Knox loosened his hold, and I felt him staring down at me, burning my face with his ocean gaze.

  “If they planted my wife, then it means Hecate and her witches dictated my entire life. Who had the vendetta against me? Hecate. We know Hecate forced the witches to murder my son and my wife, which is why I intend to end her line as she has done to mine. Why plant my wife into my life, intending to take her away?”

  “You wouldn’t have loved Liliana if you didn’t feel she was your mate. Providing her scent ensured it would draw you to her. As for taking her away, Liliana left on her own, seeking death after losing Sven. If I had to guess, I don’t think the witches planned that part. We’re not made to love normal women, brother. We mate for eternity, so they have to be our perfect match in every way possible. We follow our mates into death, and you didn’t. Why? Was Liliana your perfect mate, Knox?” Brander asked, his tone carefully controlled as both Knox and Killian rattled in warning.

  “You ask me that now?” My attention focused on my pain, dismissing them, and their self-discovery session. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t listening, but my brain was shutting down. Exhaustion and pain was one hell of a combination. “Liliana gave me Sven,” Knox growled.

  “I didn’t ask about Sven, Knox. I’m not the right-hand man to the king right now. I’m your fucking brother who loves you. The same brother who would give his life to protect yours,” Brander explained, emotion causing his tone to grow thicker. “Did Liliana ever seem like your perfect mate, other than her scent? Did she do everything you needed as your mate? Or did you pull back and put distance between you and Liliana to protect her from your beast?”

  “You know the answer to that.”

  “I do know that answer, but do you? Your perfect mate would go toe-to-toe with your beast. She wouldn’t back down, and she would savage the fuck out of him in bed. She’d give you bare-bones and rip the heads off anyone who tried to hurt you. She’d be able to handle you in any form and be more than willing to take your beast when his need arose. Did Liliana do that?” Brander asked. Something smashed against the table, then Killian’s scent exited the tent, and Brander exhaled slowly.

  “She was my mate, end of fucking discussion. This is exactly what the witches want. They want us to question everything, to disorientate us and throw us off our course. Sew her damn tongue back on and put her into my bed when you’re finished. I need a drink and time to think. My guess is this, Brander. Someone created Aria, who just happened to check all my fucking boxes. Suddenly, Liliana’s name is brought up, and her image tainted amid me finding someone so utterly fucking perfect that I want her with everything within me. That’s not a coincidence. That’s a premeditated plan played against us flawlessly. Aria even carries my battle ravens on her flesh and couldn’t discern that mine had joined with hers. My tattoos adorned her skin, and neither beast nor host felt them. That’s impossible, and you know it. We’d have to be perfectly matched for her not to have felt them. She’s too fucking flawless and everything I’ve ever wanted, which means she isn’t real. She can’t be my mate because that would mean I got fucking played from the beginning.”

  “Or Aria’s your mate, and that is why she’s perfect to you because she’s flawed, Knox. The need to be around her isn’t primal to the rest of us, and you’re fighting that urge to claim her even now. The scent of her blood, the call of her womb, we felt it and have resisted it. You? You’re in a war to defy those impulses, which we all are feeling the closer she gets to her time. Only one of us is fighting our beast to remain in control, and that’s you, brother. Don’t make Aria into your enemy because she’s not wrong. She is very powerful. Whatever she is, they made her to rule this world.”