赤裸裸的滑稽故事

"Where's Ashleigh?" Myka asked Alice quietly.

"Having a therapy session," she replied, keeping her eyes on the Dark Queen. "Anger management."

Myka furrowed his brow and glanced out through the opening in the tent. A slight distance away, he saw several monsters running in one direction, and then they were suddenly thrown back. Standing in their place was a sight to behold.

He could see that it was her, but she was different. Covered in some sort of spectral armor, complete with wings. She charged forward and took on the small army herself.

"Damn…" Myka whispered.

The Dark Queen felt the power coming from outside the tent. She clenched her jaw in anger but put a smile on her face once more.

'Come with me, Myka,' she whispered in his mind. 'Stay at my side, and I will protect you and your mate from the battle. Our family will flourish in the new world.'

Myka turned and looked at the Dark Queen. Her smile grew, and then he looked at Alice, who kept her eyes trained on the danger ahead. Putting herself between him and it, as she always had.

He looked back at the monster.

"My family is already flourishing, and you're not part of it," he stated.

The Queen's mouth twitched, but her smile did not falter. Instead, she tilted her head to face Alice.

"How aggravating this little experiment has turned out to be…" she whispered. "You know, Holden did care for your mother…."

Alice swallowed.

"That's what I hear," she replied.

"He really did…." The Queen said sweetly. "But that didn't stop him from agreeing to Gorn's experiments immediately. Or to his conditions."

"You're not telling me anything I don't already know," Alice replied. "Holden loved my mother just as much as he hated me."

The opening to the tent was pulled back. Myka turned to see Ashleigh walking in as Alice spoke.

"Gorn told him to turn her, so he tried and failed. He watched as the wolf inside of her tore her to shreds. Then he picked me up and carried me through the gates of Spring. He stood beside me as I was tortured day after day, most often by him."

The Dark Queen smiled as Alice recounted her life story.

"Then he turned me, and I still remember the smile on his face as he watched me fight the wolf and the look of disappointment when I won. My father hated me. He was a piece of shit and probably, in his own way, a worse monster than you. Old news, lady, what else you got?"

A low rumble came from the Queen. Myka looked around and noticed that the roots were extended beyond the tent.

"You arrogant little bug…" the Queen growled. "So self-righteous, so confidant. Why? Because you are a good guy now?"

She laughed, and the floor beneath them shook.

"You are not a 'good guy.' You are the same as you always have been. A monstrosity. A creature that never should have been allowed to draw breath! Without you, all those children would never have been born and raised as the pathetic little lab rats they were! They might have had good lives, human lives. Playing with friends and family. Running through parks and eating until their fat little bodies exploded."

"I think you're just mad that those lab rats and I are why your infection didn't take," Alice smiled.

The Queen snarled.

"I promise you one thing!" she shouted. "I will keep you breathing, just barely alive. I will ensure that even if I break every bone in your body, your mind survives. And then I will leave you as a gift for Roman…."

Alice clenched her jaw.

"I'll take my inspiration from Irina before I ever let you or anyone else hand me over to him," she growled.

Ashleigh wasn't sure what it was that had honestly pissed her off. Still, something about this entire conversation filled her with anger and disgust.

"Are we done with the chit-chat?" Ashleigh asked through gritted teeth. "Because I'd really like to rip this weed out by the roots."

At the sound of Ashleigh's voice, Myka felt a subtle change in the Dark Queen. Something off in the tone of her sound.

The Dark Queen focused her gaze on Ashleigh.

"Winter Princess, how lovely to meet you," she smiled and narrowed her eyes. "And, of course, hello to the Fallen Princess as well."

Alice looked through the corner of her eye at Ashleigh, making sure she didn't react without thinking.

Myka moved beside Alice as The Dark Queen and Ashleigh spoke.

"Alive and dead for millennia… I know the feeling…" the Dark Queen continued. "Though, I have found my own body… while you ride as a parasite inside that one. Your mother would be so proud… if I hadn't killed her."

Ashleigh's eyes turned the bright white of the moon, and she snarled, barely holding herself from attacking.

"Liar!" Ashleigh shouted, though her voice took on a layered tone. "You were dead first!"

The Dark Queen laughed, and the ground shook. Myka clenched his jaw and bawled his hands into tight fists.

"Myka?" Alice called to him gently. He shook his head, telling her not to say anything else to draw attention to him.

"But I left a little something in your mother's blood…." The Dark Queen smiled. "A parting gift… to ensure she suffered the same fate."

Ashleigh snarled.

"Though, I couldn't have done it without you…" she whispered. "If you hadn't fallen for Loki's tricks and died by his hand, her heart would never have broken. She likely would have survived my poison."

Lily screamed and then pulled back, leaving Ashleigh in control of her body again.

"Keep her attention…." Myka whispered softly behind Alice. She nodded and moved herself to block the view of him moving away from the rest of the group.

"Oh, she's gone," The Queen whispered, leaning forward toward Ashleigh. "Was it something I said?"

Ashleigh took short breaths and gripped the weapons in her hands tightly. She was sick of this monster. Sick of her insults and commentary. Sick of the death and destruction.

She needed to die. She needed to suffer.

"We need to keep her focus," Alice said quietly.

Ashleigh nodded.

"You draw Lily out the first chance you get, and you steal my brother's blood… what about me?" Ashleigh called out. "You keep avoiding dealing with me. Why? Scared?"

The Dark Queen threw her head back in a hearty laugh. Then, again, the earth below them shook. Both Alice and Ashleigh were thrown slightly off balance.

"You?" The Queen asked. "You're a child. A spoiled princess that just happens to have the correct genetic patterns to hold a powerful entity inside her. You, yourself… are worthless."

"I am not worthless," Ashleigh growled. "I am the Luna of Summer. I am a Cold Warrior."

"So, you married up, congratulations. And a Cold Warrior? Aren't all of you snow bunnies trained? Are you really that special if you're just one of the many?"

"Ashleigh, she is just riling you up, don't let her," Alice commented.

"Hush, little doll, the real people are talking," The Dark Queen smiled at Alice.

"I'm not sure I would consider a malevolent spirit haunting an old ugly tree as a 'real person'…." Alice replied with a smile of her own.

"You always have something to say, don't you!" The Queen snarled. "How about a little quiet time for you!"

A long root sprung up from the ground just below Alice. It swept her ankles immediately, sending her to the ground.

A second root sprung up, wrapping itself around Alice's throat.

Ashleigh's eyes widened in horror as the root got tighter around Alice's throat. She moved forward, but another root popped directly in front of her, blocking her path.

Ashleigh looked around. With all the roots spread out around the room, there was no telling where an attack would come from. Ashleigh needed to get in and out quickly. She needed to be able to use a fast takedown.

She needed to use her skills as a berserker.

Ashleigh took a slow deep breath, focusing on the coldness inside of her. The dark place that held the rage of Winter.

'Ashleigh!' Lily shouted. 'Don't let her trick you, do not call on that power!"

'I need to save Alice!' Ashleigh shouted back.

'Then use me!' Lily shouted. 'You made a bond with the dark alphas… the angry spirits of the past. They are attached to your berserker's rage. If you use it, they can take control of you. And they are exactly the kind of spirits attracted to someone like her. It's what happened to Loki.'