We Are Not Choosing

We Are Not Choosing
Kai

The dirt climbed into me, beneath my skin, and it showed right where I could find her. 

Beneath the ground, in a dark cell, tied with metal around her wrists.

My mate. 

A roar left my throat as the trees passed by me in nothing but blurred green. 

When I described the setting to the king, he whispered a single word. “Ashthorn.”

A Lord he had brought into his trusted circle housed the cells that held his daughter and my mate. 

Wind tore past my face, the world blurring into streaks of shadow and light as we moved at full speed through the forest. Branches snapped beneath our feet, the ground vibrating with every impact.

I barely registered any of it.

I only felt her absence.

It sat wrong inside my chest, something vital had been carved out and I had been left hollow. The bond was gone, but she was alive. The earth could tell me that much. 

Her state? That I did not know. 

I refused to let my mind wander and imagine the worst of what that depraved being could be doing to her. Pure, unadulterated rage filled my body, already knowing that his fangs had drank from her sweet veins. 

Blood that belonged to me. 

My jaw clenched as I pushed faster, the ground answering instinctively beneath my feet. It rose to meet me, steadied me, propelled me forward. 

I still had so many questions about what this connection to the earth meant, of what my magic meant. I didn’t yet fully understand it, not that I ever would. 

I didn’t question anything anymore.

We stopped at the treeline, right outside the gates that led toward Ashthorn Manor. 

Sebastian paced, eyeing the place with narrowed eyes and clenched fists. “We need to wait for my men.”

I kneeled, digging my fingers into the dirt, waiting for any information the earth had to give me. My mind immediately pictured the underground tunnels lined with cells. Humans were crowded in there, and all I could feel was their pain. 

Their blood had seeped into the ground, feeding the earth.

And she felt their pain greatly. 

But something was wrong. 

Sebastian stood in front of me, and when I opened my eyes, all I could make out were his boots. 

“She’s not here,” he grumbled, clearly agitated. 

I stood, rubbing the dirt off my fingers. “She’s not.”

There was no trace of her scent, only a lingering aftereffect. Only a faint echo of her lived in the air. The earth couldn’t find her heartbeat and bring it back to me. 

The realization hollowed me out from the inside. Like a fire, it moved slowly. 

I stood there for half a heartbeat, unmoved by Sebastian’s agitation or Draven’s confusion. 

My hands curled into fists at my sides, the earth beneath me stirring. It was begging me not to leave, to not chase after Layla. 

At least not until we finished our work here. 

“Where is she?” Sebastian growled. “Do your magic again. What does the Earth say?”

I closed my eyes, jaw clenched hard. 

We could leave. I could ask the earth where my mate was and it would help me, but I knew she wouldn’t want me to. 

If I let them suffer and die just to get to her faster, she would not forgive me. 

My chest burned. Varynth would not kill her. She was worth too much alive. These people, however, could be killed without a second thought. 

“We can’t leave them,” I said, voice low. 

Sebastian’s anger hit immediately, and I wasn’t shocked. “The fuck we can’t.”

Draven set a hand on his father’s shoulder, drawing his attention. “You know we have to. You’re their king. And Layla would want you to.”

Sebastian turned to face your son. “She would want us to save them instead of her?”

“We aren’t choosing between them,” I seethed. “We will destroy this manor, let your men save the humans, and then we will get Layla.”

Sebastian shook his head. “We cannot waste time.”

I walked away, looking over my shoulder at him. “This conversation has already lasted longer than it will take me to bring them down.”

He straightened at that. “Leave Lord Ashthorn to me.”

I inclined my head and made my way toward the gate. 

I lifted my hand, and the earth answered. The iron doors tore free from their hinges just as guards rushed forward. They shouted, but their voices were muffled as the ground swallowed them whole. 

I stepped through what remained, my focus shifting deeper, pulling at the foundation of the manor itself. The walls cracked and floors buckled. I could hear the vampire lords screaming, and their pain only fueled my power. 

They poured out of the rubble, some of them with the fangs bared as if prepared to face an enemy. But they never reached me. The ground swallowed them up as well, stones collapsing and crushing them into dust. 

I didn’t stop, I didn’t want to. 

But I had to single him out. I found him instantly, hearing his men calling for him. I clenched my fists, and he was ripped from the collapsing manor, dragged across broken stone. His body slammed violently into the ground and then landed at Sebastian’s feet. 

Every bone in his body was broken, and he felt every inch of pain. 

I turned away from him, making sure the earth still had a tunnel, a way out for the humans who were trapped beneath. I closed my eyes, focusing on the rich taste of iron and snapped their chains, letting them fall to the ground. 

I ran, Draven at my side, as we found our way through the tunnels to usher them out. 

“You’re safe,” Draven whispered as he helped them to their feet. 

“Quickly,” I hissed, my feet bouncing off the floor. “The earth will not hold. I went a little crazy.”

Draven eyed me for a moment and then shook his head, gathering humans and lifting then in his arms. I did the same, using stone and earth to move the weakest of them. 

We stood outside on the grass, tending to them when the ground trembled and the last of the manor gave way, collapsing into ruin.

By the time Sebastian’s army stormed through the gates, there was nothing left standing.

“Escort them to the castle. No delays.” Sebastian didn’t hesitate at all.

Though his words were for his men, his eyes were on one person. 

Lord Ashthorn.

He was still crumpled into himself from the force of his fall, but his body was working overtime. His bones were snapping back into place, his skin kneading back together. 

Sebastian gave him no room to understand what was happening. As soon as Ashthorn opened his eyes, the king had his hand wrapped around his throat. 

“You will tell me where Varynth has taken my daughter.”