To Seduce An Assassin (The Omaja Series Book 2) Read online

  The door opened, and Yajna and Jiandra slipped inside.

  Yavi indicated the sword on his back. “You’ll have to give me your bow so you can carry Jiandra.”

  Yajna handed his bow and arrows to Yavi, then helped Jiandra onto his back.

  Yavi secured his grappling hook on the window’s ledge, then grinned at his brother. “Ladies first.”

  “Horse’s arses last,” Yajna retorted, lowering himself over the sill with Jiandra clinging to his back.

  Once they were out of sight, the tower door swung open, and a small group of angry Vyrkune glared at Yavi.

  He reached over his back for the sword, but the hilt caught in the strap of his brother’s bow. One of the Vyrkune lunged for him, clawing at his arm. Yavi saw sharp, disgusting teeth coming toward his face. He crouched and spun, drawing his scimitar from his hip to slice at the monster’s belly. It fell back, screeching.

  Yavi rose and reached over his back to try to grab the greatsword, but another Vyrkune lunged at him before he could free the hilt. He head-butted the creature, hard, and it staggered back against its companions. Yavi quickly pulled Yajna’s bow off his back and dropped it out the open window along with the quiver of arrows. When he turned back, the remaining three Vyrkune lunged at him as one.

  Yavi pulled the greatsword off his back and whirled around, swinging the blade in a wide arc just before their wide-open jaws reached his face, and the creatures tumbled to the ground at his feet.

  Yavi paused, breathing labored, staring down at them. He knew more would be arriving any second, so he couldn’t wait around to see if they got up or not. He replaced the sword onto his back and jumped out of the window, turning to grasp at the rope on the way down. He caught it and slid down rapidly.

  At the foot of the wall, his brother helped catch him to break his fall a bit. Yavi steadied himself on his feet, looked up, and freed the grappling hook just before a Vyrkune stuck his head out to look down. It let out a hoarse cry to alert the others, and Yavi turned to see the Vyrkune guards that had been feasting at the campfire running to surround them.

  Yavi brandished the sword of the Zulfikars with both hands while Yajna stepped back and strung an arrow.

  The Vyrkune surged forward, and Yavi swung at them. He slashed diagonally in each direction, felling several of them at once. Another group rushed forward, but arrows knocked two of them onto their backs. Yavi swung at the other three, slicing through their chests, arms, and necks. They fell in a heap among the others, and Yavi stepped forward to drive the sword through the hearts of the two Yajna had struck with arrows, hoping they wouldn’t rise again.

  “Let’s go!” he whispered to Yajna and Jiandra, and they ran for the shelter of the prison building’s shadows. Once there, Yavi threw the hook up and caught the inner edge of the wall surrounding the palace. Yajna gave Yavi his bow and arrows, took Jiandra onto his back, and climbed the rope quickly.

  Yavi followed, secured the hook on the other side, and waited for his brother to climb down with Jiandra first. He tossed his brother his bow and arrows, slid down the rope, and then the three of them ran for the trees where their horses were hidden.

  Yavi paused before mounting his horse. “We can’t leave yet. We need to know if the sword really kills the Vyrkune.”

  Jiandra shook her head, out of breath. “We can’t face down that entire palace full of Vyrkune, Yavi. They’re too fast.”

  “I’m not suggesting we confront the entire horde. I’m thinking if we can catch one alone and kill him with the sword, we can drag him out here and wait.”

  “They are sure to pick up our scent soon, brother,” Yajna warned. “If we stay in the area, they’ll likely come to us, but in greater numbers than the three of us can handle.”

  “Let’s circle back to the southern gate, slip through the secret passage there,” Yavi suggested. “Hide until we see one who’s separated from the others.”

  Jiandra frowned. “But what if they track us there? We’ll have trouble escaping again.”

  “This might throw them off a bit.” Yavi drew his dagger, grabbed the blade, and sliced open his palm. He stepped back and dripped the blood over the snow and rocks at their feet, letting it trickle until there was a good amount of blood on the ground. Then he sheathed the dagger and held out his injured hand to Jiandra. “Would you fix this, sister-in-law?”

  She smiled and grasped the Omaja in her fist. Its bluish-purple light sprang to life. She covered his bloodied hand with her own, and soon he felt the pain dissipate, the skin seal back together, and strength re-enter his hand. He bent down and used some fresh snow to clean the blood off his skin, then turned to mount Sikar.

  They took a wide route around the small forest of trees, then angled back along the road leading to the southern gate of the palace. They dismounted and hid the horses behind the jutting façade of the large gatehouse, used the secret passage to slip inside the wall, then hurried along in the shadows to the back of the stables.

  There was movement in the open yard at the back of the palace, sounds of growling and angry shouting. They could hear Uman’s voice over the din, issuing orders.

  Yavi threw his grappling hook up to the roof of the stables and motioned Yajna to go up first with Jiandra. Yajna handed him his bow so he could take Jiandra on his back. Yavi slung the bow on his own back over the Zulfikar sword and followed them up. They ducked down behind a pitch in the roof just as the horde rushed toward the southern gate like a herd of vicious animals, chanting “Blood! Blood! Blood!”

  Yavi prayed they wouldn’t smell them or their horses on their way out, that the scent of the fresh blood he’d left in the copse of trees to the east would distract them.

  As the last of the Vyrkune rushed through the gate, Yajna strung an arrow and picked off one of them at the rear of the group. He fell, convulsing a moment, and the rest of the horde thankfully didn’t look back on their way out.

  Yavi leapt off the roof into a pile of hay, then scrambled to his feet and drew the greatsword. He plunged it into the Vyrkune’s chest and looked up just as Yajna tossed his bow down to him. Yajna and Jiandra slid down the rope to the ground, and Yajna retrieved the hook.

  “Let’s get him on my horse.” Yavi handed his brother his bow, and Yajna helped him lug the creature through the gate and around the gatehouse to where their horses were waiting. They draped the limp Vyrkune over Sikar’s hind quarters, quickly secured him to the saddle with a rope, then mounted their horses and fled west along Darpan’s outer wall. Yavi prayed the pool of blood he’d left on the ground would buy them enough time to get away from the city and back to the fort.

  When they were almost to Anvitha, Yavi noticed that his passenger had not stirred. He calculated that it had been at least twenty minutes since he’d pierced the creature’s chest with the sword, and he hoped that meant the sword had worked.

  Ahead of him, Yajna motioned to something behind him. “Brother, look!”

  Yavi turned in his saddle to see a sea of dark forms moving in the fields behind them. The horde of Vyrkune had picked up their scent, and were following them to Anvitha on foot.

  And gaining on them.

  Yavi kicked Sikar into a faster gallop, and Yajna and Jiandra did the same. They could see the torchlights of Anvitha a couple miles ahead, glowing above the gates in the distance. As Yavi closed in on the fort, he began shouting at the top of his lungs at the gate guards.

  “Open the gate! Vyrkune are coming right behind us!”

  The guards took a moment to hear and understand his shouting, but then Yavi saw the gates swinging open. He looked back. The pale white faces and black gaping mouths of the horde were visible in the moonlight now—they were only a couple hundred feet behind him, and gaining by the second.

  By the time Yavi, his brother, and sister-in-law rushed through the gate, there was barely enough time to close it. His soldiers shoved the gate doors shut, then tried to hold them as the horde smashed into them from the other side. The ga
tes were forced open just enough for three Vyrkune to push their way inside. Before Yavi could dismount, they had attacked some of his men, opening their wide jaws and biting into the soldiers’ faces with their sharpened teeth. The remaining soldiers struggled to shove the gate closed completely so they could lower the bar.

  Yavi jumped off Sikar, landed on his feet, and drew the greatsword off his back. The three Vyrkune were chewing into his men’s faces and necks, devouring them as if they were platters of meat. As Yavi raised the sword high above his head to kill the nearest one, arrows flew past him to incapacitate the other two. He drove the sword into their hearts as well.

  Yavi replaced the sword onto his back and he and Yajna added their muscle to the group of soldiers trying to hold the gate. Jiandra bent over the injured men, attempting to heal them with the Omaja. When Yavi and his soldiers at last were able to hold the gate closed long enough for the guards to lower the bar, he ran to check on the injured.

  Jiandra looked up from where she was crouched over two mutilated soldiers, her eyes pained. “I couldn’t heal either of them. It was too late.”

  Yavi swore under his breath, then stood and raised his voice to address all the Black Army soldiers in the area. “Alert the generals and rally the rest of the troops. The fort is under attack.”

  Nineteen

  Black Army assassins and warriors poured into the main courtyard as Yavi addressed his officers over the din of the growling creatures outside the gate. “Block the left gate with the catapult,” he shouted. “We’ll open the right gate just enough to funnel a few in at a time before they find another way in and surround us. If we get overwhelmed with numbers, we can try to shove the right gate closed again.”

  His officers nodded. “Aye, Mahaj.”

  Yavi drew the greatsword and helped Jiandra onto his back so she could heal him immediately as he got injured. Yajna used his grappling hook to climb up the side of the fort and take a position atop the bell tower with his bow while the soldiers below shoved the catapult against the left gate door. Outside the gate, the Vyrkune had begun hurling themselves against the wooden doors, causing the bar to start to crack.

  Yavi crouched, readying his greatsword. “Lift the bar!” he shouted.

  As the heavy bar swung upward, it freed the right gate door first. Black Army soldiers shoved their shoulders against it, trying to keep it from swinging all the way open, but the Vyrkune were in a frenzy, their unnatural strength heightened by lust for fresh meat. They forced the right door open and poured into the courtyard, knocking the catapult onto its side and shoving the left door partially open as well.

  Black Army soldiers attacked with swords and arrows, incapacitating several of the creatures, but many more poured in right behind them. They overran Yavi’s men, jaws opening wide to chomp off hands, arms, shoulders, faces.

  “Lord Zehu!” Jiandra whispered near Yavi’s ear, clinging to his neck.

  He attacked, swinging the heavy blade back and forth with all his might, felling a few. His brother’s arrows helped slow down some of the horde, as did those of the Assassin Army archers around the upper battlements, but when a mob of Vyrkune rushed him, Yavi was caught off guard by their sheer numbers. He leapt backwards, unable to flip himself completely out of their reach while holding the greatsword as well as carrying Jiandra on his back. One of the creatures caught his boot in its claws, causing him to stumble a bit. Two Vyrkune sank their teeth into his leg, the force of their jaws enabling them to bite through his leather armor. He cried out as searing hot pain tore through his flesh.

  “Let me down!” Jiandra shouted, holding the Omaja aloft. Yavi saw it glowing and complied, setting her down as gently as he could while trying to kick off the beasts and move away from them. Some of them rushed Jiandra, but immediately fell back as they hit against the invisible barrier of protection provided by the Omaja stone.

  Another Vyrkune smelled the blood on Yavi’s leg and dove down to bite into the raw flesh. Yavi raised the greatsword and brought its tip straight down into the creature’s back. It convulsed and fell to the side, and Yavi struck a second one, managing to slice off its head. The greatsword felt heavy in his hands as his body went into shock from the bloody bite-wounds.

  Jiandra stooped to heal his leg, laying her hand over the torn leather where the creatures had bitten through. Yavi felt soothing strength return, and the burning pain stopped.

  Unfortunately, he and Jiandra were now backed into a corner against the fortress’s outer wall and the steps to the bunkhouse. He watched as the horde of Vyrkune continued to pour in, and many more of his Black Army warriors fell beneath their hungry rampage. He raised the sword with a fierce cry and drove into the horde full-force, hacking and slashing. Jiandra followed, staying out of his way but close enough to rush in and heal him if need be. Yavi slew the creatures left and right, his muscles aching from exertion. He ignored the pain and drove on, fueled by rage and determination to overcome the enemy.

  Arrows flew over his head, striking many of the creatures as they finished off his Black Army soldiers and headed for Yavi unhindered. Yavi continued to spin and swing the greatsword at those who escaped the arrows, as well as others who were rising up off the ground with arrows lodged in their heads, necks, and chests. He spotted Uman standing near the gate, surveying the scene.

  Uman pointed up at the bell tower. “Get the other Zulfikar!” he roared, and some of the horde turned to look. They saw Yajna and rushed for the staircase en masse, running with lightning speed up the steps.

  “Yajna!” Jiandra screamed.

  Yajna slung his bow onto his back and leapt down to a thatched roof below, rolled to the edge, and flipped off the roof onto the landing of a side staircase. The Vyrkune shifted course, filing back down the stairs and running toward that landing from both sides of the walkway. Yajna saw them coming and leapt again, this time landing in the back of a cart full of burlap bags containing food supplies. By the time he struggled to his feet, the horde had started to come off the stairs and was already heading in his direction.

  Yavi turned to run toward his brother, Jiandra close behind. Yajna balanced atop the driver’s seat on the cart and brandished his daggers as the Vyrkune surrounded the cart, jaws gaping wide with horrific grins, black eyes soulless and menacing. Two tall Vyrkune reached up to grasp Yajna’s legs to drag him to the ground. He slashed at their hands and kicked, managing to free himself, but then three more climbed over the first two creatures’ backs and grabbed Yajna’s boots. They dragged him down into the midst of their mob, and he sank out of sight as the monsters pinned him to the ground to devour him.

  “Noooo!” Jiandra screamed, running into the mob, trying to fight her way toward the center.

  Yavi followed, swinging his sword to slash at the creatures, felling them one by one until he’d hacked his way into the clearing where Yajna lay on his back. His armor was torn and eaten through all along his bloodied arms, legs, and torso, but he was still fighting them with all his strength, kicking and punching as best he could. Yavi’s throat constricted painfully at seeing his twin fighting for dear life. He turned to slay the two Vyrkune nearest him with the sword, and Jiandra shoved through the opening to reach Yajna, gripping the glowing Omaja in her fist. Some of the Vyrkune tried to pounce on her and were knocked back by her barrier of protection. She ignored them and gathered Yajna’s partially mutilated body in her arms, clinging to his torn chest.

  Yavi felt several claws grasp his arms and haul him backwards, away from his brother and Jiandra. He doggedly held onto the sword of the Zulfikars, gripping the hilt in his fist to keep them from knocking it out of his hand. Teeth sank into his right shoulder, hard, and then more teeth into his left bicep. He swung around, trying to slice at them with the greatsword, but another creature bit into his right forearm, severing the tendons, and the sword fell heavily to the frozen earth at his feet.

  Yavi let out a hoarse cry as he wrenched free from the creatures and dove for the sword, but Uman
stepped forward and kicked it out of his reach. Several of the Vyrkune pounced on Yavi then, biting into his legs and flanks, ripping at his leather armor with their claws to pull it away from his stinging flesh so they could eat.

  Yavi looked up at the sky as they pulled him to the ground, and thought of Graciella.

  He thought of her beautiful, pleading face, begging him to take her with him, and of himself promising—swearing—he would return victorious.

  Those thoughts gave him the courage and strength to cry out to Tejeshwar, and he did, with a desperate plea in Nandalan.

  “Stop!” Uman’s voice barked from overhead.

  The Vyrkune paused, glancing back at their king.

  Uman said, “I want him alive for a moment.”

  Yavi could smell and taste his own blood. It was clogging his airway, and he could barely breathe, his torn chest wheezing painfully. He was going into shock, and his heart was pounding so hard he thought it would explode.

  The Vyrkune backed away from his twitching body a bit as Uman came closer to inspect. “Bring the brother over here,” he ordered.

  There was movement behind Yavi’s head. He heard Jiandra’s panicked sob as she and Yajna moved into the circle and saw him lying there, his torso and limbs a mangled mess. Several Vyrkune were holding onto Yajna, but Jiandra’s arms were also wound tightly around her husband’s waist. His wounds were gone, his armor hanging in tattered shreds. Yavi arched his back painfully and struggled to sit up, but to no avail.

  Yajna tried to peel Jiandra away from his torso. “Heal my brother!”

  “No!” she protested desperately. “If I let go of you, they will eat you instead!”

  Uman stooped beside Yavi’s head and dipped a finger in the blood that seeped from a bite wound in Yavi cheek, then licked it. He laughed, a gravelly, cruel sound. “Which twin will it be, Yajna? Will you watch me devour your brother alive, or sacrifice yourself so your wife can heal him?”