Chapter 188: The only way out is through
Lucius pressed a knife against Ayla’s throat. His sword was now secured at his hip.
He didn’t need it for now.
The cold edge of the blade grazed Ayla’s throat as he led her through the corridor with his other hand tightly wrapped around her arm.
Every few steps, his fingers dug deeper into her flesh. She could feel the tension in his body and in the way his grip kept tightening around her arm, his head swerving left and right.
They finally stepped through the doors leading into the courtyard.
The scene before Lucius was chaos with men running in every direction, some shouting orders and several just simply standing around, terrified.
He stared in disbelief, his eyes sweeping across the courtyard and landing on a guard standing close by.
"Hey... you there."
The man looked up, recognition flashing in his eyes.
"My lord." he bowed.
"Come here."
The guard immediately ran toward him.
As he approached, his eyes dropped briefly to the knife pressed against Ayla’s throat and Lucius could see the confusion flash across his face. He was no doubt trying to understand why his Alpha was holding his own Luna at knife point.
"I asked the men to ready themselves to defend the gates so what is the meaning of this?" Lucius gestured.
The guard shifted his weight, his gaze dropping to the ground. "Umm, my lord... some of the men have deserted."
The silence that followed his announcement was deafening.
"Care to repeat that?"
"The men, my lord," the guard stammered. "Some of them... they have deserted. They went home to be with their families in the lower villages. They... they are afraid, my lord." The man gestured vaguely toward the gates, where perhaps a hundred men stood in a ragged line, looking more like sheep waiting for the slaughter than a military force.
Lucius looked at the handful of soldiers and felt a tremor race up his spine at the implication of what was happening.
He could not hope to defeat the northern army with this. He couldn’t even push them back. A hundred terrified men against the combined fury of Cassian, Damon, and Ares was not a battle; it was a massacre.
Then another thought struck him.
He turned sharply toward the guard beside him.
"And the prisoner?"
The guard blinked.
"My lord?"
"The prisoner." Lucius’ voice became colder. "The man in the dungeon. Who is guarding him?"
"I... I do not know, my lord."
Lucius stared at him.
"You don’t know?"
The guard swallowed.
"I was ordered to the gates, my lord. I did not see who was assigned to the dungeon."
"Go and check...now!"
"Yes, my lord." The guard turned and ran.
Lucius watched him disappear through the courtyard.
Several tense minutes passed before the guard came running back, his face was pale.
Lucius knew with stark clarity that Ares was gone.
"What?" he asked anyway.
"There is no one there, my lord."
Lucius felt a sudden thump in his chest.
"And the prisoner?"
"Gone, my lord."
His fingers tightened around the knife pressed against Ayla’s throat.
"Fucking hell." The words came out through clenched teeth.
Ares was inside Emberfall somewhere and he could be anywhere, watching him right now... waiting to sneak up on him and collect his one chance at survival.
Lucius suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable. His eyes moved rapidly across the courtyard.
The guard shifted nervously.
"My lord...what do we do?" he asked, his voice small.
Lucius turned his head slowly.
The expression on his face made the guard take a step backward.
"What do you..." Lucius’s voice exploded into a shout. "You defend the bloody gates!"
The guard flinched, nearly falling over his own feet. "Yes, my lord!" He turned and bolted back toward the perimeter, joining the pathetic excuse for a defensive line.
Ayla could hear Lucius labored breathing now and she could imagine what he was thinking.
He was losing.
His own men had abandoned him and it was only a matter of time before the Northern army marches through those gates and crushed them.
This was her chance.
If Lucius was desperate, maybe he could still be reasoned with.
She turned her head slightly.
"You don’t need to do this." she said. "You can surrender. The princes... they are merciful. If you let me go, if you stop this now, they will likely spare you."
Lucius burst into laughter. He suddenly spun her around, the knife leaving her throat only for his hand to slam into her upper arm, crushing the muscle in a punishing, possessive grip.
"You are so stupid, aren’t you?" he hissed at her. "You really think that Ares is going to forgive and pardon me? That he will look at the man who kidnapped his mate, who imprisoned her and lied to her, and say, ’It’s all right, Lucius, come join us for tea’?" He tightened his grip. "They are going to kill me, Ayla. They are coming to tear my throat out."
Ayla did not flinch at his words instead she held his wild gaze with a flat stare of her own.
"But you already know that, don’t you?" Lucius’ voice dropped. "And you want it to happen."
Ayla took a step closer, looking him dead in the eye.
"They are not going to kill you, Lucius" she said. "Because I will."
Lucius froze, staring at her.
Lucius stared at her.
For the first time, he looked genuinely shocked and it was not because she had threatened him but because he believed her she would do what she had said without a second thought.
It was the coldness in her eyes... the way she had said it so plainly.
His lips slowly curved into a smirk.
"The Omega Dualis," he mocked. "Are you going to use your powers to murder me? Will I bleed from my eyes and ears until there is nothing left of me? Will you bring the sky down on my head?" He leaned in. "Tell me, Ayla... how does that make you any different from me, hmm?"
"I am nothing like you." Ayla spat in anger.
Lucius chuckled softly.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." he sneered. "Now keep walking. We do not want to keep your intendeds waiting. I suspect they are quite eager to see you."