Forged in Fire (The Forged Chronicles Book 3) (8 page)

G
regor wanted
me to kill him. I saw it in his eyes when he provoked me. He wanted nothing more than for me to take his life. But it was not a death wish. He was expecting a different outcome, and I needed to know what that outcome was. I already had a sinking suspicion, but I needed to know for sure.

I walked off into the woods. The soldiers were around, but I had no fear of them. They were bound to follow my command.

I closed my eyes and slipped into another unfamiliar memory.

As my vision cleared I watched Alexander jump off a horse in the middle of a clearing in the woods. “What dispute is here?”

My father appeared from in the trees. “I suppose it was taken care of without your help.”

“That is a bold faced lie.” Alexander frowned. “Why did you lead me on this wild goose chase?”

“Because it is time you tell me the truth,” Blake replied calmly.

“What truth?” Alexander’s eyes gleamed. “I have no idea what you could be referring to.”

“The truth about how you became Gerard.”

“The Source selected me.” Alexander grinned, but there was something sinister in his grin. Something off.

“You said yourself it was more than the Source.” My father seemed to notice what I did. Alexander’s smile and eyes said far more than his words did.

“I was meant to rule. I did what I had to in order to ensure it. Unlike you who wasted your time playing games.” Alexander pointed to my father.

“I was never playing games.” Blake’s hands twisted into fists at his sides.

“All your stolen time with Emma. You think I do not know about them?” Alexander laughed dryly. “We all knew what you were doing, and now even you realize it was a waste of time.”

“I have loved her since before I could remember.” My father’s words sounded raw.

“And that was your downfall. Letting love cloud your judgement and understanding.” Alexander looked off into the distance. “Love is your greatest weakness.”

“Do you deny loving her?”

“I feel something for her now. I have to. I am her Gerard, but I am not weak enough to pretend it is love. I would die for my Essence, but I will never have to. We will rule together for years and years. And you, my once friend, get to watch.” Alexander sneered.

“You like that. You enjoy watching me suffer.” Blake’s eyes widened. “What happened to you?’

“Everything we want in life comes at a cost. No cost was too high.” Alexander pulled out his sword and turned it so the sun reflected off the blue blade.

“What did you do? Tell me!” My father demanded.

“Why should I?” Alexander smirked. “You are my inferior now.”

“Because I need to know. I am on the Guard. I need to know what I will have to protect Emma from.”

“If you want I can take care of that for you.” He turned his sword around in a circle.

“Take care of what?”

“Having to watch.”

Blake’s eyes reflected a sudden understanding. “You cannot mean to kill me? A member of your Essence’s Guard?”

“She has plenty of Guardians already. She can do without you. You upset her. She does not want you around.”

“She does. She loves me.” My father’s body stiffend.

“And that causes her pain. I can take away that pain.”

“You cannot kill me.” My father took a step back.

“I can.”

“You would not.”

“I can because I am strong. Whereas you are weak. You would have been unable to kill me.”

“What darkness possesses you?” My father glanced around as if looking for someone.

Alexander pointed his blade at my father’s chest. “Take out your sword.”

“Why? If I am so weak, why bother?”

“Because I want to enjoy this.” Alexander’s eyes darkened.

“Who gave you the black magic?” My father demanded. “Tell me.”

“It is not a simple tale to tell.”

“Simple or not, I want to know.” He stepped back, but Alexander followed with his sword.

“Why should a dying man care?”

“What are you going to tell her?” My father asked.

“I will tell her you died taking care of the dispute. You are the one who created that story.”

“And what of Monty? He will never believe you.”

“I will kill him as well.” Alexander’s lips twisted into a smile.

Blake pulled out his sword.

“So you have decided to play along.” Alexander’s eyes twinkled.

“I am not playing. You threatened Emma and her family.”

Alexander slashed his sword only to be easily parried by Blake. “What is her family to you? You are not the Gerard. You are nothing.”

My father’s eyes darkened. He struck back with a series of fierce attacks that forced Alexander to back step as he blocked each strike.

“Still having trouble swallowing that are you?” Alexander grinned. He stepped toward my father as he pointed the sword at his chest.

“Do not do this. You have already caused enough trouble.”

Alexander laughed. “You have not seen trouble yet.” In a swift motion he struck at the hilt of Blake’s sword to dislodge it from his grip and then swung his foot around knocking my father to the ground. He quickly moved to pin him down with his boot. “She said your name once, you know?”

“What?” Blake struggled for breath as Alexander loomed over him.

“When she was in my bed. Only once though. I made sure she would never forget who her Gerard was again. She will never disrespect me again.”

Rage was clear on my father’s face as he flung Alexander off. As he regained his footing, Blake charged at Alexander, lifting him nearly off the ground as he made contact, slamming him against the ground. He held him down with his knees on Alexander’s chest. “You hurt her. You hurt Emma.” His body shook.

“What I do to my Essence is of no concern to you.” Alexander laughed.

My father repeatedly punched Alexander’s body for several seconds before slamming his head into the dirt ground. A look of actual fear crossed Alexander’s face. “Stop. We can come to an agreement.” All color drained from his face, and he held up his hand to shield from further attacks. “I surrender. Let us settle this like gentlemen.”

I watched with confusion.

“I swear you will never hurt her again.” My father did not seem to hear Alexander’s words. He rose, grabbed his sword from on the ground, and stabbed his sword through Alexander’s chest. “You are no longer the man you once were. You do not deserve to breathe the same air as the Essence. You deserve nothing but death.”

Alexander’s eyes widened with surprise. “Your heart is not as pure,” He coughed as blood spilled out of his mouth. “As I thought.”

“My heart was destroyed the moment you touched the woman I loved.” My father shivered and shook. His eyes turned black.

“Blake?” Monty called from the edge of the clearing.

“You will never hurt her again!” My father screamed at Alexander’s lifeless body. “Get out of my head!”

I understood what he was going through. I had experienced an unwanted voice. Is that how it happened? He got the darkness from Emma’s Gerard?

“Blake, what have you done?” Monty walked closer.

Blake turned to Monty. “I did it to save Emma.”

“No. You did it to have Emma.” Monty’s eyes were wide with terror and confusion. “She will never love you now.”

“She will be mine.” Blake looked down at his bloody hands. It was all worth it. Everything would be okay now. Emma would be his.

“Not when I tell her what you have done.”

Rage pumped through Blake. No one was going to get in his way again. He picked Monty up by the back of his neck. “If you tell, I will kill you, Emma, and Theodore. I killed once, and I would not mind doing it again.”

The image faded out, and I returned to the present.

Nothing I believed about my father and Emma was true. He killed her Gerard out of a protective rage. It had not been spite or greed. Was it possible?

There was only one other man who knew the truth, and Monty was dead now too. I had a growing suspicion he was even more important than I originally thought.

I thought over the memory, and focused on Alexander’s fear at the end. It had not been only concern over physical retaliation. His comment about my father’s heart was significant. His fear was tied to that. It was as if someone had shone a light on things. My father’s heart was inpure. That meant he could accept the darkness. Alexander was afraid of what would happen if he killed Blake. And then everything about Gregor’s actions fell into place. I had been right. He was dangerous, but killing him would risk everything. Killing someone who could accept the darkness might mean that they took the darkness and all the power that came with it. The darkness appeared to have the ability to pass both ways: whether the Cipher was the killer or the one being killed.

Ainsley was gone. Every inch of me ached to have her back. She belonged with me, and I had been an idiot to let her go. The darkness was growing, but it would not fully take-over. Ainsley would make it to Belgard and convince Charlotte to help. There was no other way.

She would forgive me for sending her away. She would never forgive me for giving into the darkness. I struggled against it as it continued to spread through me.

“Where is the girl?” Gregor found me where I waited in the woods.

“Gone.”

“Gone?” Gregor startled. “Yet you are speaking so calmly? What did you do?”

“I did nothing. She wanted to leave, and she left.” She had wanted the opposite, but admitting the truth to Gregor would only make things worse. He had to believe me. The one benefit of the darkness spreading was I no longer had to worry about my father hearing my thoughts and trying to stop me. I had amassed so much of his power now that I could easily block him out. He only existed through the darkness—once I controlled it completely he would be gone. I wondered if he had made that realization yet.

“You allowed it?” He watched me warily.

“You are the one who feared she might distract me. She cannot distract me when she is miles away.”

“But she will die without you. You told me that yourself.”

“Not immediately.” And I had to believe there was a way to break that connection. I had only been concerned with having her with me, but breaking the connection would be the only way to get rid of the poison in her system.

“You cannot be calm about that possibility.” He paced a circle around me.

“I am not calm about it. I will get her back once our work is done.” And once she had the reinforcements to stop me. My heart might have still been pure, but the rest of me wasn’t.

“What if she does not survive?”

“I already told you it will not be for too long.”

“I am not talking about her need for you. I am talking about the dangers that lurk.” He nodded deeper into the forest.

“She is going to Belgard. She will be safe there.”

“To Belgard?” He gasped. “You allowed that? You sent our weapon to our enemies?” His nostrils flared.

“It will be easy to reclaim her when we take over the city.” Speaking the words excited me even though I knew I had to be stopped before that happened. The darkness egged me on, and it called to me in a way that was terrifying.

“Take over the city?” He stopped pacing. “We are supposed to be focused on the lost world.”

“But Energo is more powerful. We have the Source.” My words were supposed to be hollow, but they were not. My anger had merged with my father’s, and despite wanting and needing to do the right thing, I knew there was a large part of me that only wanted the opposite.

“But our father? His plans? You cannot disobey the Cipher.”

“I am the Cipher.” My being had merged with the darkness. I was unsure how much longer I could tame the power on my own. “And all I want is power. There is more power to be had if we take control of the Source.” That was a lie. I also wanted Ainsley. I wanted her more than anything.

“Then what of the gate?”

“We still need it. The army will be bringing in more corpses, we will need thousands to take control.”

“Then I will take the lost world. If you wish to rule Energo, I will take the lost world for myself. I can find my own queen.”

“You can do as we wish once we take Belgard.” I had no intentions of sharing any power with Gregor, but he needed to be watched.

Gregor narrowed his eyes. “What makes you sure I will continue to listen to you? You are changing the plans.”

“I have the Cipher’s power. You have no choice but to listen.” I struggled to contain my anger. Gregor had no right to question me at all.

“I am not the enemy.” Gregor stepped back. “I am merely letting you know my intentions.”

“Let us build the army and storm Belgard. After that we can talk.” I closed my eyes. My body ached from the surge of darkness and my need for Ainsley. I opened my eyes again.

“But they may use Ainsley against you. Sending her into the place you plan to take over was dangerous.”

“Keeping her with me was more dangerous.” More dangerous than any of us could ever know.

He shook his head. “I could have watched her. Protected her.”

“And if I saw you lay a hand on her I would have killed you.”

“You would have.” Gregor wrapped his hand around his throat. “My throat still hurts from the last time I angered you.”

“It would be wise of you to learn from the experience.” I refused to let on that I understood now. He believed he was dark enough to accept the power. Just as the power could be transferred by killing the Cipher a part of it could be transferred by the Cipher killing someone else. That way the darkness never disappeared. Gregor’s need for power superseded his desire for life.

I was not sure where that realization came from but it was there. A warning that getting rid of the darkness would be far more difficult than anyone imagined. But I would never give it to him. There would be another way to stop him.