De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 28

Haylee gave Ash one final kiss when they arrived at his room before he closed the door. She was tempted to share his bed for the night, but she knew if she did, Ash wouldn’t get much rest. He had a long day of traveling ahead of him tomorrow.

She smiled to herself as she made her way to her room within the castle. It was late by the time they returned from the stream, but there were still a few beastkin guards and servants moving around. She had received more than a few jealous looks due to Ash’s scent being all over her.

Hopefully, the fact that she was now Ash’s mate would cool the heels of some of the beastkin girls. She had a responsibility to Faylen, after all, to keep those without her blessing away from their man.

Their man.

She was almost giddy at the thought. She opened the door to her room quietly, trying not to wake Selena. Only to freeze as she saw the room filled with light. Selena sat there, a ball of light hovering by her as she read a book.

“You’re up late,” Haylee said as she moved to the bed.

Selena lowered her book.

“You left to check on Ash hours ago. That seems like an unusually long bath,” she said.

Haylee froze, her heart racing.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice quivering.

Selena nodded.

“You should be. I was worried something had happened to you. After all, the castle was attacked today!” Selena said with a heavy sigh. “I take it you made your move on Ash?”

Haylee’s ears went flat as she nodded.

Selena set the book down on the table, stood, and made her way to the chest by the foot of her bed.

“I guess I should have taken the old wolf up on her offer on the ramparts,” Selena said under her breath.

She opened the chest and pulled out a bottle of wine with two cups. She smiled as she placed the bottle on the table with the cups, right by her book.

“This is my favorite variety of elven wine. I’ve been saving it for when one of us finally made our move,” Selena said, smiling as she poured the wine into the cups.

Haylee blinked.

“Wait, you’re not mad?” she asked.

Selena arched an eyebrow at her.

“At you for not telling me what you were doing? Yes, I was,” Selena said. “That you’re sleeping with Ash? Of course not.”

She held out one of the cups of wine, and Haylee took it.

“You’re seriously not mad?” she asked.

Selena shook her head, then tilted it and pinched her fingers together.

“I’ll admit, I’m a little jealous it wasn’t me, but that just means I get to ask you questions,” she said with a smirk, then arched her eyebrow. “Would you have been mad if I had slept with Ash first?”

Haylee turned bright red and Selena laughed.

“You’re way too competitive,” Selena said, gesturing to the other seat at the table.

Still blushing, Haylee took the seat.

“It comes with having two sisters,” she stated.

Selena’s smile shifted to a sympathetic look. They both had people back in De’Vas they missed.

“We both have Faylen’s blessing, and Ash has made it clear he’s interested in us,” Selena said as she sipped her wine. “You just gathered the nerves to take the plunge… or cock, first.”

The unicorn’s face turned red as she bit her lip.

“So, what was it like?” Selena asked.

Haylee smirked.

“Well…”

Ash

Ash checked the supplies in his pack as the forces accompanying him to the Exiled Princes’ castle gathered in the courtyard. The journey would be just three days if they moved quickly, according to Eva. He looked over at his herald, watching as she checked the edge of her battle axe. Not far from her, Blake was working on his own pack, and Grace was examining the arrows in her quiver. Movement from the keep caught his eye, and he stood.

“Well, you two look ominous,” he said with a chuckle.

Haylee and Selena cautiously walked out of the keep, both supporting each other. When they got close enough, Haylee let go of Selena and wrapped Ash in a hug, burying her face in his chest. Selena, meanwhile, put her arm around him as she rested the side of her head against his shoulder.

“The sun’s too bright,” Haylee mumbled into his chest.

He heard a groan from Selena.

“Agreed,” she added.

Ash rubbed the backs of both girls. He had seen this enough times with Naomi and Lilly after their slumber parties to know that the girls had hangovers.

“Okay, how much did you two drink?” he asked.

Selena groaned again before rubbing her temple.

“Math is painful,” she said.

Ash chuckled.

“Don’t laugh at us,” both girls whined.

He saw Blake and Grace finish their tasks and knew they would be leaving soon. He squeezed both girls and kissed the tops of their heads. He would miss them for the few days they were on the road.

“Go have the cooks make you some greasy breakfast and drink plenty of water,” he instructed. “I’ll see you both when we get back.”

Reluctantly, Haylee and Selena released him, both kissing him before they leaned on each other for support.

“Be safe, Ash,” Selena said as she kept Haylee upright.

“Kick ass,” Haylee added.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Grace and Eva walking over. The wolfkin’s gaze was following the girls as they made their way back to the keep. Ash saw Grace’s nose twitch before she looked at him.

“Good, you finally took one as a mate,” she said with a smile. “Though, with how she is walking, you should be gentler with her.”

Ash shifted uncomfortably at the conversation. This was Faylen’s mother after all.

I’m going to have some strange in-laws…

“She and Selena just had a little too much wine last night,” Ash said.

Grace nodded.

“I know. I can smell the wine, but that’s not why her muscles are sore,” she said with a smirk.

Ash turned to Eva, whose face was slightly red.

“Are we ready to go?” he asked, hoping the orc woman would save him from this conversation.

“Yes, warchief,” Eva quickly answered, as if she also wanted to leave this topic.

Their party left the gates of the castle; in total, they were just over a dozen people. Blake, Grace, Eva, and himself, along with two scouts and six warriors. Not a sizable force, but one that could move quickly. Ash, after all, planned to do most of the fighting himself, with the others focusing on freeing those the Princes had enslaved.

Grace and the scouts led their party through the woods of Markal Forest. Unlike his trip with Augustus and the girls to Riverbend, this journey avoided the roads. Instead, they were cutting through the wilderness in a straight line to where the Princes’ lands were.

Blake moved to walk beside Ash as they made their way through the dense forest.

“I had expected the castle to be out of view before anything happened,” he said, his voice low.

Ash met the bearkin’s gaze and saw Blake tilt his head back to the group of warriors following them. Ash looked, but didn’t notice anything strange at first. The orcs, elves, and beastkin who made up their group were steadily moving along the rough terrain. Then he saw the straggler following several yards behind the last warrior. A strange-looking elven woman.

“So we’ve picked up a thirteenth,” Ash said.

Blake growled.

“Say the word and we will capture her,” he offered.

Ash shook his head.

“Keep going, Blake. I want to talk to her,” Ash said as he stopped.

Blake frowned, but didn’t argue. Instead, the bearkin kept moving, as did the warriors. Ash watched as the blue and green eyed elf approached him.

“We seem to keep running into each other,” he deadpanned.

The elf nodded.

“Because I’m following you,” she said.

“I’ve noticed,” Ash deadpanned. “Why?”

“Because you’re a human on Vas,” she answered. “As long as I bring things back, I can go where I want here, and I want to follow the strange human.”

He frowned. He still wasn’t sure what to make of the elf. Was she a threat? Or a victim? All he knew was that she was strange.

“Well, seems rude to be stalking me and not even introduce yourself,” he said.

She tilted her head.

“I’m RS-12.”

Ash waited for more, but the elf just stared at him.

“What kind of name is that?” he asked.

“It means Retrieval Subject Twelve,” she answered. “It’s what the humans who wear white call me.”

Ash felt his gut drop as his gaze shifted to the scar on the elf’s neck. He recalled their earlier conversation. The one where she said they put things inside her, things that brought her to the human world.

“Can I feel your scar?” he asked.

The elf gave him a confused look, but then tilted her head to the side.

“You’re going to feel a slight tingle,” he warned.

Gently, he placed his hand on her neck and sent out one of his Static Sonars. A weak pulse of electricity penetrated the elf’s skin, and Ash could sense everything in her neck. A map formed in his mind of where her blood vessels and bones lay, as did the foreign object in her neck. A small device about the size of a bottle cap.

Yeah, this isn’t the Coalition…

He should have guessed this would happen. WillCo had created the silver and brass spheres for the Coalition after all. There was no way the company wouldn’t take what they had learned, perfect it, and use it for their own ambitions. He now felt more uneasy about the device watching the dead zone of magic.

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked, fear in her voice. “You look mad.”

Ash’s hand fell away from her neck, and he forced a smile to hide his anger.

“No,” he said, before asking. “Do you have another name?”

She rubbed her neck.

“Rachel is what my parents named me,” she answered. “But none of the humans use it.”

He held out his hand toward her.

“Nice to finally meet you, Rachel. I’m Ash,” he said. “If you’re going to follow me, let’s at least talk while we walk. I’m curious to learn more about you and this place with the humans that wear white.”

He turned and started down the path again, seeing Eva had stopped to wait for him. He nodded to her to keep going as the orc woman’s gaze shifted between him and the elf. Rachel followed alongside him. As she did, she slowly began to tell him about herself and the humans in white.

The smile stayed on his face, but under it, he was furious at what she was telling him. Even Sparky was stirring within his elemental scar, and Ash could hear his voice echoing in his mind.

KILL. THEM.