Chapter 169 In the Shadows pt 2
King Mikhail
I knew she had plans for the Circle, but she had been relatively tight-lipped about them. I wondered idly if she had changed her mind, but then dismissed the thought. If I knew anything about Meredith, it was that she didn’t let go of a grudge.
She led the group, coming to stand beside me while they fanned out in a circle around the army, an equal distance between them like spokes on a wheel. The stronger hybrids—the ones that were fighting the change and my control—were getting increasingly agitated as we waited for her to start. She confirmed everyone was in place, then checked her watch. With less than two minutes until midnight, she started chanting.
At first, her words were soft, a whisper of sound flowing outward. As her volume increased, the group standing in front of me began to thrash around. Some of them dropped to their knees, hands covering their ears, while others tried to drown her out with their own shouts. One of them stepped forward, staring me down as he gritted his teeth. I couldn’t decide if he was brave or merely foolish.
“You can’t do this to us!” he spat out. “I won’t follow you. You can’t force me to fight against my family, my friends!” His eyes were going bloodshot, and blood started to leak from his nose.
It was that little bit of blood that reminded me who the man in front of me was. My smile was sinister as I stepped toward him. “Did you not feel enough pain while you were strung up in my dungeon, Phineas?” I asked him. My voice was low, insidious, as I injected a hint of power into it. “Did the transition not burn the good out of you?”
He hissed as blood continued to flow. “I will not fight for you.” He fell to his knees as he said it, hands going to his head, squeezing as if he could stop Meredith’s words from taking root. “You cannot force me to turn against my pack, my people.” His voice broke on the last word.
I stood over him, Meredith’s chanting now a shout picked up by her Circle, the sound echoing eerily in the fog-covered forest. She stepped forward, a silver knife in her hand. “Leander, join me.”
He stepped forward, dark robes signifying his place in the Circle swirling at his feet, and awaited her next command.
“My king, please hold out your hand.”
I turned from the warrior in front of me, knowing his fight was futile, and gave Meredith my hand. She sliced a long line into my forearm, blood welling up and dripping onto the ground. She waited until there was a visible puddle before she released me, and I stepped back, licking the blood from my arm and sealing the wound closed.
She faced Leander. “Stand here,” she pointed to a spot just in front of the puddle of my blood on the ground. He moved into place. As soon as he stopped, she whipped her arm out, the knife slashing through his throat. The chanting faltered—a heartbeat of hesitation—as her Circle realized what she’d done. His eyes widened in shock, hands moving to the wound, trying desperately to stop the flow of blood.
“Keep going!” she demanded, and the voices rose again. She pulled Leander’s hands from his neck and held him forward so his blood joined mine, letting him fall when he could no longer hold himself up.
“I call upon the ancients tonight, a sacrifice of blood giving wings to my plight. Achlys, hear me.” When she invoked his name, the fog thickened, shadows moving within it. “Give us control so we can shape our destiny. Bind those who carry Mikhail’s blood to him, so that they must complete his every whim. Let them be mindless tools of power, forcing our enemies to cower. With these words, I submit my plea. As I will, so mote it be.”
The pool of blood on the ground bubbled and turned black. Thin lines of it snaked out along the ground, splitting and multiplying as they sought out each of the hybrids in the army surrounding us. One thin line crept up my boot, swirling and tightening around my leg as it traveled upward. Tendrils of black did the same to every body they touched. It rose, sliding over my clothes, circling my torso, traveling higher and higher until it wrapped around my neck. My head tipped back of its own accord, my mouth opening, and the black ichor poured itself down my throat.
My body jerked once, twice, then the pressure was gone. An awareness sharpened into command as tethers snapped into place, binding each of the hybrids to me. Phineas, who not long ago was fighting with everything he had, stood up silently. His face was blank, black veins spreading from his eyes down his throat. No trace of defiance remained as he got into formation with the rest of the army.
Meredith smiled, a wicked tilt of her lips, as she turned to me. “Your army, my king.”
I flexed my fingers. Thousands of heartbeats answered.