TARNISHED (Book 5.5, The Caged Series (Novella)) Read Online Free

were of utmost importance to Ares, and I tucked them away for safekeeping per his orders. As tension mounted, it became apparent that the fey were getting ready to flee whatever power was causing their own kind to go missing.
    I had no intention of letting that happen.
    Though they may have been aware that an unenviable fate approached them, it changed nothing. One by one, they met it anyway. We plucked off the lesser fey easily at first, making a game of it, taunting the others. By the time full realization of their eradication befell them, it was too late. Not even their beloved king could save them—not that he bothered trying. He remained hidden while his people screamed his name as their lives faded.
    With every one of them that fell, my bloodlust grew. And death was no longer enough to quench it. Pain and suffering were both ripped from my enemies in an attempt to assuage the emptiness left behind when my soul finally—truly—abandoned me.
    When we were finished, their precious land was riddled with their already-rotting corpses. We worked quickly to collect the rest of what Ares demanded, gathering their essences to ensure that there could be no bringing them back. The fey weren't necessarily the most powerful of the supernaturals, but they were resilient and resourceful. Had even one escaped, that lone fey would have been enough to revive the entire race, if their essences could be retained. Ares wouldn't have tolerated an oversight of that magnitude. Neither would I.
    “Are we done here?” Jerzyr asked, wiping his blade across his blood-soaked pants.
    “Do you sense any more of them?” I countered, searching the area as he approached.
    “No. And you?”
    “I do not...”
    “But?” he asked, sensing my hesitation.
    “Something just feels off to me. Search the bodies again. Make sure we have everything we came for.”
    I looked on as the brothers meticulously but ruthlessly rummaged through the corpses to ensure we had completed our task. When Jerzyr finally gave the nod, I announced that we were leaving.
    The enemy was to remain as they lay.
    “Let the earth take them,” I growled in disgust. “Their cloying stench offends me.”
    Without a word, the others followed me, walking for days without rest until we arrived at the ship awaiting us on the shore. The journey home was long, and I was restless in my own skin, needing to fight. Needing to feed the void that hollowed me out slowly. It was all-consuming.
    To distract myself, I tried to make sense out of a leader too weak to come to the aid of his own. The thought disgusted me. The fey king was unworthy of his title and deserved to die a faceless nobody amid the ones he allegedly served. He died with no honor, no pride—no identity.
    Though the knowledge of his cowardice offended me greatly, I was glad he perished as he had. It was most fitting. We would have shown him no respect. No dignity. He deserved none after what he had done to our Healers.
    Word amongst the supernatural community spread quickly; the fey had fallen, casualties of their own stupidity. My confidence that we would not face another such attack on Sophie was great. The PC was no longer simply respected.
    We were feared.
     
    * * *
     
    By the time we landed on the glorious beaches of home, I was desperate for an outlet, and any one would do. Ares greeted us as we hopped over the side of the vessel, his face a mask of calm and stateliness. I could tell though that he was eager to get what he had commanded we return with. I, however, had a short fuse and needed to get to Sophie as quickly as possible to release the tension mounting within me.
    I needed an outlet.
    “Aniketos,” he said with a nod. “I hope you have done as I've asked.”
    “Easily,” I replied handing him the box containing what he sought, ready to make my way home.
    “Excellent.” He stroked the ornate carvings delicately before he thrust it deep within his robe. “A moment, Aniketos, if you can withstand the