A Kingdom of Bloodshed

*¬*Chapter Thirty Two*¬*

Rage fills my bloodstream. This is not happening again, I will not lose her. One minute we're all standing before Thea, guarding her from my psycho of a brother then the next the house is shaking and groaning. I whirl at Thea's yelp and watch as the floor opens up beneath her feet, like quicksand swallowing you whole. Her body tumbling through it and I don't even think. I dive for her. Our fingers brush before she slips from my grasp and I'm raging.

Calling out to her as her magic flares towards me. But then in a blink she's gone. The room has stopped shaking, the world rightens itself once more.

One second. That's all it took to take her from me.

Wrath bleeds into my vision and before I can even try to create some semblance of thought; I'm hurtling towards my brother. Crashing into him and letting my fists fly.

"You sick piece of shit. Where did you send her?!" I roar. My knuckles hit his face over and over again. Blood spewing from a split in his lip.

He only laughs. Doesn't try to stop me.

I don't give a fuck.

Blow after blow, I swing at my brother. Landing hits that break bones and tear skin. Still he does nothing to stop me. Only laughs.

"Kaz you have to stop. You'll kill him."

"Good," I seethe. I go to swing again when a strong hand grabs my wrist, stoping me from it. Snarling over my shoulder I snap, "Let me go."
"No. I can't," Ryder kneels behind me meeting my eyes as he continues, "We won't be able to find her if you kill him now." He's right but my fury has no end right now. All I want to do is make him suffer. Make him pay for everything he's done to me and my family.

Augustus spits blood onto the floor, his laughs softening. When I look at his face, I see the bruised disaster I've created. But I don't care. It's the least he deserves.

"You are going to tell me where she is right now, or else I'll beat you to death." My brother laughs.

"You won't find her until everything is done. I sent her to the Void." My skin chills at the words.

The Void is a terrible place. A sister realm to Hell. It's dark and silent, void of any kind of sense or time. I've never been there but I've heard stories of those who have and made it back. It's like being stuck between life and death.

Like where we go when our souls are judged before deciding our afterlife fate. "Bring her back then," I growl. But Augustus simply laughs, "I cannot. She is in HIS realm now. Only he can decide when it's time to let her out. All I did was prepare her for HIM."

"Who is HIM?" Raven asks. When Augustus meets my eyes, the ice that slides over my skin is worse than before. "Curseclaw. She's at his mercy now. He will bind himself to her soul and emerge from his world into ours. He needs a body to use as a vessel and I figured hers would be strong enough to handle that change."

"And if she isn't?"

"Then she dies and I just try again with someone else until I've accomplished my goal."

I want to murder him.

But Ryder's hand around my wrist is keeping me from slaying my sibling. Lucky bastard. The red from my vision slowly recedes as I take in my sibling. At the words he said.

By the gods... "How can I get her back?" The question falls uselessly between us, Augustus's face shifting into laughter again as he spits blood at me.

"You can't. Only when he's merged with Thea can she be returned to this world. You have no say in it brother. All you can do is pray and hope she's strong enough to survive that merging."