I shook my head at him.
“
My betrothed, the Prince of Delentia.
”
“
That
’
s right,
”
Noah added.
“
And I
’
m here to claim what
’
s rightfully mine.
”
The guards clo
sed in and they grabbed for Ayden
. He tried to push them away, but when they wouldn
’
t let go, he punched one of them in the face and they fell to the floor.
“
Let him go!
”
I cried. I pushed through the mass of men tackling Ayden to the floor and continued to yell for him.
No
, this couldn
’
t be happening. Not now. Not when things had been going so well.
Two guards held Ayden in a hold with his hands behind his neck and he
groaned
in pain.
“
Let him go!
As Princess of Thediby, I command you to release him!
”
I yelled at the guards. I shoved at one of their chests and they laughed. If only I had a sword.
“
We know all about your secret, Echo. We know you
’
re not the King
’
s daughter.
”
Noah smiled
and a guard
stepped up behind me and held my hands behind my back.
My eyes went
to
Ayden and I finally gave in and began to cry.
“
Ayden, do something! You promised.
”
“
Echo, I—
”
A guard cut him off with a blow to his face and I shuddered.
“
Don
’
t hurt him,
please
!
”
“
You are pathetic, Echo.
”
Noah came face to face with me
,
and from the corner of my eye I saw the guards take Ayden away. I started to hyperventilate and the barrier between reality and dream
s
grew dim. This couldn
’
t be happening.
“
I will admit that I contemplated keeping you for my own enjoyment, but I would grow tired of you too soon. So, I
’
ve decided to hand you over to the King. Not that I need the money, of course, but I
’
d love to see you and your indolent lover battle it out in the arena.
”
I shook my head violently and sneered,
“
You bastard! I hate you. You
’
re worthless and conniving. You don
’
t even deserve to be breathing right now.
”
Noah watched me and laughed.
“
I believe it is you who is the bastard, Echo.
”
Growing weary of his games, I said,
“
You will die by my hands, Noah. I rue the day I ever me
t you. Y-you
sick, arrogant son of a—
”
Noah slapped me across the face and I tasted the familiar flavor of blood. No man had ever hit me or even dared to. It sparked my ire and set it ablaze.
“
Look what you made me do, Echo,
”
Noah chided.
I smiled and, gathering the saliva in my mouth, spat out the blood in his face. I elbowed the guard holding me in the gut and he shied away. Not missing a beat, I grabbed Noah and kneed him in the groin.
“
Rot in hell
,
”
I told him.
I ran in the direction of the woods, screaming at the top of my lungs for Ayden. I tripped over logs and thorns snagged at my dress.
“
You can
’
t keep running, Echo!
”
Noah called.
“
You
’
re already dead!
”
I ran further into the forest and thanked my lucky stars when I espied the guards dragging Ayden through the evergreens. He was putting up a fight, but there were too many of them.
I jumped through the underbrush and screamed,
“
Let him go or die!
”
The guards turned to face me as I trudged
forward and Ayde
n watched in horror
. They
’
d hurt him, and that had made me angrier than ever. Revenge was sweet, but blood was sweeter.
“
Echo!
”
Ayden suddenly screamed out. My eyes went to him the same moment an edge of a sword shot out and nearly took my head. Its cold steel nicked my jugular and I smelled my blood in the air around me. I looked up the sword at Noah.
“
You are not fit to be a Princess, Echo. If that is even your name. You are an abomination, a lie,
a monstrosity
. According to the King, you shouldn
’
t even exist.
And that you won
’
t.
”
Noah removed the sword from my neck and I watched as he licked my blood from the blade. He motioned towards the guards holding Ayden and they began to back him out of the woods.
I screamed until my voice grew hoarse and cried until I couldn
’
t anymore. My eyes had
averted
to the ground
after long moments of crying
, but when I looked up again, Ayden was gone.
“
Why are you doing this?
”
I whispered. My voice echoed through the trees and I realized Noah was gone, too. The guard pushed me in the opposite direction of Ayden and his nails bit into my wrists.
“
This means war,
”
I said to him. The guard laughed, but said nothing.
This is love. This is your life, Echo. Own it. Start over. Fight.
PRESENT DAY
T W E N T Y
–
E I G H T
Ayden
SIPHON
’
S CITY, NEW HAVEN
I
’
d never felt so fearless like I did now.
There were only
two guards
left after the other two ran off to call in help,
and Echo and I made a silent decision who would get who within the one glance
we shared
. She nodded her head at me and the same flicker of love I saw in her eyes weeks ago stared back at me. This was no longer a fight for
them
, but for us and for love. For
freedom and a lifetime with her
.
Every moment I
’
d spent with her flashed through my mind and I held onto them like a tangible thing.
“
It seems there
’
s been a disruption,
”
the Announcer proclaimed to the audience. People still continued to scream.
A guard went for Echo and she twirled a dagger
in one hand with a sword in the other
, eyeing him with distaste
. Sensing the fight in her, t
he guard
unsheathed his
sword and pointed the tip of the blade at her. Echo smiled and, moving as fast as I knew she could, pelted the dagger at the man and it stuck him
in
his chest. He cried out in pain and reached to pull it out the same moment Echo ran and k
icked the dagger in deeper. He fell to the ground and s
he looked over at me with a smile
.
“
Fight! Fight! Fight!
”
the crowd roared around us. I barely had time to register anything before a hand was clam
ping around my throat. The second
guard, beefy and
short compared to his partner, h
ad snuck up on me with intention to take me away
, but by the way he looked at me with insobriety told me he didn
’
t have it in him.
So
,
I let him off easy.
I struck him in the chest with two quick blows just to get him off and swept my foot behind his legs. He fell to the ground
, sand flying up around him, and I
twisted his wrist until he screamed
out and I heard the cracking of bones. Quickly dropping a kick in his side, I turned and looked for Echo.
Unmoving, s
he star
ed
up
at the balconies
and I
followed
her gaze
to the King
.
He looked at us as if he was considering something and nodded his head at the King of Delentia. Both Queens were missing.
“
Bring in more guards!
”
the Announcer bellowed. I gawked at him and never wanted to kill someone so much in my life. The gates on Echo
’
s side slid
open and five guards slipped through. My heart skipped a beat and my mind shifted back into focus. I had to get Echo to her mother and her cousin.
“
Echo!
”
Her eyes met mine and she seemed to snap out of it. She nodded as I pointed toward
s
the other gates
. A guard stood watch, but before he could unsheathe his sword, Echo punched him in the face with the hilt of her sword. He slumped against the wall, unconscious
, and
I took advantage of the time I could spare us and fished out the keys from his pocket.
“
What are you doing?
”
Echo asked, breathing heavily as she watched the oncoming guards.
“
Buying us time.
”
I jammed the keys into the lock of the gates and they clicked shut with a twist.
“
Okay. Let
’
s go.
”
I took Echo
’
s hand and we ran through the fortress and away from the guards. Voices grew louder above our heads as we went deeper into the arena
’
s sector.
“
This way,
”
Echo whispered, pulling me down a long corridor,
“
Mother wasn
’
t on the balcony so I
’
m assuming she is up in her sacred chambers here. If not, she will be at the palace. But that
’
s too far from here on foot.
”
I nodded at her and hoped her mother was in her chambers.
“
And Isobeli?
”
Echo
was quiet for a second.
“
I don
’
t kno
w. I haven
’
t seen her in weeks
. She could be anywhere.
”
“
Well, let
’
s
just pray she
’
s with your mother
,
then.
”
We broke into a large foyer and we spun in circles
with a desperate need orient
ourselves. It wasn
’
t as grand as the one in the Royal palace, but it was huge, nonetheless. Down the hallway we
’
d come, footsteps sounded up the corridor.
“
Upstairs is this way.
”
Echo
pointed to the staircase across the foyer.
Shaking my head, I said,
“
No. You go
, I
’
ll fight them off. Remember:
get them out, find Adamo, and head for the garden.
”
I could tell it took everything for her to comply.
“
And you
’
ll be there? Waiting for me?
”
“
I
’
ll try.
”
We jumped at the nearing footsteps. If it wasn
’
t for the wreck going on in the arena, people would have been inside and wandering, making our escape not so sweet.
“
No trying with me, Ayden. You
promised
,
”
she sneered. I would have taken the time to tell her how cute she was when she yelled at me, but the moment was too critical.
I grabbed her face and kissed her.
“
No trying, got it. Now go.
”
I watched her take the stairs and thought about going with her
as she ebbed into the darkness. It killed me to leave her on her own, but I knew Echo would manage; she was stronger than she thought. Though grief was all we had to hang on to, if I didn
’
t make it out, Echo would. Giovanni would make sure of it
I turned to meet my attackers
head-
on and froze at the sight of the man in front of me. Noah, Echo
’
s betrothed, and the man I wanted to kill.