Zian Austruc

My legs shook with every kick. I could hardly stand as I took all my pent up anger out on the sack of styrofoam.

I wanted this to be over. I wanted her dead. Truly dead. Yet, somehow, I knew she was alive, but her magic was making my mind go more insane by the second. That dragon should've burned her alive.

At least the root of the problem was gone, albeit temporarily. Where Valarya was going now would be worse than here. And Nicholyn... Well, she'd take care of him when the time came.

Cadice was right: she would kill him. She had to.

Even as I was bombarded with thoughts, memories of Adonia made my chest tighten more. She was gone. Really gone. Somehow I let her go, and knowing Thresan, he'd be coming back for her, and I'd be the fool that had to watch.

She was too good for someone like me. The countless amount of times I wanted to tell her, show her, be allowed to love her—it was enough to kill a man. It killed me, no doubt.

This was the first time I realized it. I loved Adonia so much it was killing me. Driving me insane. From the moment I saw her. Yes, I was insane, but it wasn't me.

Please... she had to know.

*~⚜️~*

"You let her get away?" Peris groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"She kicked my fucking face," I retorted. "You know what, the fact I got her downed in the first place should be honorable. That little gremlin is vicious." I held my wrist up, showing off my nasty bite mark. "Sorry if I couldn't fight off this leech."

"And this is why he shouldn't have came." Princess Manea threw herself on the couch next to her precious girl and my sister Peris.

Nicholyn sighed, throwing a file that he spent ages rifling through. "Don't blame the man. That woman is borderline insane."

"Yeah, because she fucking bit me," I reminded them. "And anyways, where were you all? Aren't you trained in beating the shit out of insane people? I think Dial qualifies."

Peris and Manea scoffed in synchrony.

Nicholyn gestured to the back window of the small hut. "Well, she's not that strong on her own without her men."

I nearly fell off my chair. "So she's in a street gang? You had me chase a thug? I could've died—"

"But you didn't," Nicholyn kindly pointed out.

I had an itch to slap him.

"You were planning to chase after her and hope for the best? How ridiculous—"

I leapt off my chair when glass shattered behind me. Spinning back, I caught sight of a hooded man, his back covered with small knives. A part of me began questioning if I was only interested in women after meeting Nicholyn and now—him.

He flung his hood off, kicking away pieces of the window he broke in. "She's hiding in Pladow. The way I almost fell of every roof was ridiculous." He quickly glanced my way, narrowed his eyes, and pointed. "Is he the new man?"

"My brother," Peris mumbled.

Rysdan snorted and handed a map to Nicholyn. "Have you enjoyed tagging along?" Was he asking me?

Grasping for control, I said, "I got kicked in the face and bitten, so not really."

"That's why I work up high where no one sees. I would never risk someone hurting my gorgeous face." The man withdrew his knives and shoved them into the drawer. The one underneath had cloth sticking out, and it took some serious willpower to not start organizing the place. I mean, shouldn't these royals want a clean space? How did anyone do anything here?

"The last time you came down, you almost killed yourself," Peris noted, crossing her leg over.

"Not true. Nick completely left me to fend for myself."

Nick? They were on a first name basis? That meant I would eventually be on a first name basis—I was going to be friends with the Nicholyn Holland. Should I start combing my hair back like him?

Then reality punched me in the face harder than Dial. That man followed Dial?

"Wait, did you see her bite me?" I hesitantly asked.

He shifted and looked toward the window. "Maybe."

I was officially mortified.

He stretched his hand out and shook mine. "Rysdan. You seem cool."

"You, too," I accidentally said, immediately wanted to punch myself.

Peris muttered something and grabbed the broom from the corner. Manea knelt by the glass and held out the dustpan for her. Imagine if I pushed her in the glass. Kind of funny.

"You know how to build some weapons?" Rysdan asked, disrupting my scenario.

Nodding, I leaned back in my chair. "Not your typical weapons. More exciting ones."

"Bombs?" Nicholyn interjected.

I couldn't help but smile. Getting up from the chair, I went to the drawer with fabric sticking out and pulled out my handy bottle of bourbon from the inside of my jacket. Shoving the cloth through the narrow barrel of the bottle, I waited for the cloth to get soaked.

"We should go outside if you want to see this baby in action." I harmlessly tossed the bottle between my hands, noting how they all flinched. "Relax—it won't blow up yet."

That didn't seem to reassure them much. Holding back a laugh, I strolled outside, lit the bottle with a lantern, and hurled it as far as I could. The grass was incinerated and fire spewed up like it was the sun.

"It's called a molotov cocktail."

"It's all right," Rysdan said nonchalantly, placing his hands on his hips and examined the view.

Nicholyn and Peris started yelling; something about the fire possibly spreading. Manea was the only one in awe which somehow made me tolerate her a bit more.

"We are definitely working together to make better things, though."

"Well, I don't have the best equipment."

"Don't worry"—he patted my back, knocking the air out of me—"I have a friend."

"I'm too tired for this bullshit. Good night." Peris and Manea walked back inside, each of them squeezing through the doorframe. Nicholyn stood there, watching the flames go up, shook his head, and followed them suit.

"So I guess we need to sleep?" I hated the idea of sleeping in a hut in the middle of open plains, but there wasn't any other option. Unless I took the first ship back to Kandose and prayed Mother didn't come back from work early.

Rysdan and I went inside and sat on the ground. There was a long, awkward silence. I had an urge to start a conversation—because, come on, he was the coolest man here—but maybe he wanted silence.

"Want some drinks?" Rysdan came off the ground and walked to the kitchen.

It was ironic that I carried bourbon but never drank. Not that I was opposed, but I was terrified of how I would act drunk. But when Rysdan held up an intriguing looking bottle...

"Sure. Is that bourbon?"

"Hell no. Cognac is much better. Or do you prefer rum?"

I was flattered he thought I was rich enough to know what the hell he was talking about. Honestly, all I knew were the three: beer, bourbon, and whiskey. "I'll have cognac."

"Good man." While he began pouring it, I felt my existential crisis slowly subsiding. I was drinking with a friend of Nicholyn. Holy shit. I made it in life. Thank you, Peris, for getting with Manea. Best. Night. Ever.

Taking it from him, I carefully chugged it, wiping the remnants off my chin. Rysdan quickly did the same, relaxing on the couch.

"So you enjoy hoping on roofs?" My attempt at small-talk was pitiful.

"Sometimes. Dial pisses me off, though. Her men are everywhere."

No kidding. Dial pissed me off, too. I grabbed the cognac bottle and began pouring another glass. "What's so special about that necklace?"

"It's apparently Cadice's old thing. I'm not exactly sure—you'd need to ask Nick. He's the professional on history lessons. I just kick ass and get the girls."

The idea of being with a someone was unappealing. "Relationships?" I asked, remembering the amount of times in school I laughed whenever a girl confessed her feelings toward me.

"Kind of. It's complicated."

The side eye I gave him said everything. "You sleep around, then?"

He shrugged, taking the bottle out of my hand and filled his glass. "Not lately. I mean, don't tell Nick, but I actually finished following Dial ages ago. I met up with an old... friend of sorts."

"My ass she's a friend."

He shrugged and drank half his cognac. "Yes, well, if you knew who she was you'd probably die of a stroke. It'll be a secret between me and God. And this amazing cognac."

I could try prying. He was already drinking a lot, but that felt wrong. Somehow my morals decided to activate now. Unfortunate for me, but fortunate for him.

"Are you in a relationship?"

The idea of it was laughable. "Absolutely not."

"So you sleep around—"

"No. I don't care about people," I said rather bluntly. It was partially true. I wasn't heartless, there was nothing appealing about it. I was too focused on other things to give a shit.

The psychotic part of me knew Dial was fairly attractive. Now that was an amusing thought. She wasn't my typical type—I didn't go for girls who bit and kicked, but that was just me.

Rysdan nodded, crossing his leg over a knee. As if he could read my mind, he said, "This whole situation with Dial is giving me an idea."

I didn't know how seriously I should take his idea since he was nearly drunk. "Which is?"

"We go to my friend supplier and get bomb-making equipment. Then we blow Dial's joint to the sun. Sound like a plan?"

Nicholyn would surely kill us—

Rysdan tossed me a cloak, mask, and boots, almost hitting my head. These people were crazy. I loved it.

I hurriedly slipped on my boots and stuck my mask on. Rysdan was already out the front door, waving for me to follow. Running after him, we started our lovely stroll on our way to make several explosives of mass destruction.

Rysdan told me that the supplier wasn't too far since they needed to go to him often—by "they", he meant only himself. He was the only one other than Manea to have seen this elusive supplier.

Which only made me feel more excited. I was special. So special that I was in on a secret like this. Well, technically not a secret, but I considered this a half-secret situation. Nicholyn would forgive us easily. The worst that could happen was our own death, but it wasn't like he was dying. Just me and Rysdan, and that didn't seem too bad.

I was drunk, wasn't I? Think, Zian. Was this something I wanted on college applications? They would probably be impressed if I survived. Hell, I was impressive in general.

All my thinking lasted awhile because we were now inside a weird bungalow looking shack in the middle of nowhere. A wooden sign hung—I only noticed it because it smacked my forehead.

Black Corner

That wasn't creepy at all.

Another tall man stood at the front desk, though he barely looked awake. Dark hair and an insanely strong build.

He could probably take a few of Dial's bites.

As I got closer to the desk, the view behind his desk cleared. A man was sound asleep in his chair.

Rysdan rang the bell like a madman. The man glared at him and slapped his hand away. "That's one way to wake someone up," he bit out. "What do you want, Rys?"

"My man and I want a few supplies that make things explode. Like, I don't know, ethanol? What do you suggest, Mal boy?"

"I suggest you let me know who's with you. You know this is confidential business," Mal boy whispered, gesturing my way.

"I'm Zian Austruc—"

"Don't care. Rysdan, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Don't worry, man. He's with Nick and Peris. Peris's half brother," Rysdan clarified, sending a firm pound at my back. "Right, Zeze?"

"Right," I rasped.

The man asleep in the back jolted awake at the sound of the slap. When he glanced up, I nearly choked on air.

"He's just here for a bit, so don't mind him."

That was another prince. Not just any prince. Holy shit I was the luckiest man in the entire world. "Prince Thresan is your friend?" I breathed out.

"Mallor, what the hell," Thresan mumbled, shoving a blanket over his head. "Give them the stupid explosives. I'm trying to fucking sleep."

"Cool down." He glanced back at us and opened a cabinet filled with jars and trinkets. "What kind of destruction are you wanting?"