“Then what are you doing right now?”
“Reading those around me. The threads are wild with danger and death,” he whispered. The only sound was that of the charcoal scratching on the thick paper in front of him. I looked at Deanna and she stared back at me.
“I don’t want Will to die,” she said, her voice pitched low. “He can bring our people back from the brink at home. He has the charisma to do it.”
“I can’t promise anyone their life in this, Deanna, you know that. Hell, I can’t even promise my own life.”
She closed her eyes. “I have seen his death, Rylee. I will do what I can to stop it, and if you can . . . please, if you can and I am already taken down, will you try?”
Fucking promises and all tied to me. For the first time, I knew I couldn’t even pretend.
“No. I won’t. I have one job here, Deanna. You know that. How can you even ask me to set his life above mine right now?” Gods above, I sounded like a bitch, and I was from time to time, but right then I knew I was right.
Jonathan leaned toward me. “She isn’t feeling herself, I think.”
“What the fuck do you mean?” I stared at him, when I should have been looking at her.
Deanna launched herself at me, a copper blade in her hands and her eyes a distinct shade of red. The blade slammed into my stomach hard and she jerked it out for a second strike as I rolled her under me.
“Fuck you, Orion,” I screamed as I wrapped one hand around her throat and the other around her hand with the knife. I didn’t even have to say the word “go,” the demon was thrown out of her with a mere thought from me. For a second, Deanna was back in her body.
“I’m sorry, Rylee. So sorry. Tell my brother . . . .” her body went limp and her eyes flickered closed.
“I will,” I pushed her off and tried to sit up. The pain through my stomach slammed into me as I clenched my muscles.
“Rylee, get over here, let me take a look at you,” Liam called to me from the darkness. Berget added her pleas to his.
“Rylee, it’s bad. I can smell the blood.”
“How long until sundown?” I didn’t look at them.
“A few hours,” Berget said. “You can’t mean to go into the battle wounded? Oh my god, that’s exactly what you’re planning to do. Why would you do that?” She was crying, and the sound gutted me as surely as Deanna’s knife had.
I twisted to glare at them both and had to bite back the groan that rose to my lips. “And who would heal me? There is no one here. And nothing either of you could do.”
Berget held her hands out. “That’s not true, the shamans—”
The door banged open and Doran strode in followed by Louisa and Crystal. They were the last two female shamans, the rest had all been killed by their own Guardians as they’d been possessed by demons.
“The shamans have to hold down the protective circle, and if they heal Rylee then they will not have the strength. It is up to you, Tracker.” Doran was being particularly formal and I knew why.
This was it. The final battle was hours away and the tension rose around us like an electrical storm on the horizon.
“Do the circle, I will wait for Pamela.” I bit the words out and scooted closer to Jonathan. Doran held the door open and in trotted the remaining unicorns, Mer the ogre, Charlie and a few brownies, and a couple other supernaturals I hadn’t met, but I was guessing were members of Will’s Destruction. Will, of course, was already in the barn. But what shocked the shit out of me was that India was there, walking alongside Calliope.
“No, India, you’re too damn young!” She wasn’t even ten years old. She could not be in this battle against the demons.
Her hazel eyes met mine. “This is my world too, Rylee.” Her hand clutched Calliope’s thin mane and I realized another bond had been formed. For better or worse, we were going into battle with children.
That was it . . . that was my entire army to battle Orion and the demons. A weird sense of relief flowed over me. There was no way I was going to make it out of this alive and the finality of that understanding brought with it a strange sense of peace.
Liam let out a snort and began to pace. “Rylee, don’t. You aren’t going to die and you sure as hell don’t need to speed the process up.”
I turned my back on him, though it hurt both my body and heart to do it. “I know what I’m doing and this is the last time I’m asking you to trust me.”
Jonathan reached for my hand and I gave it to him, dripping in blood from gripping my stomach. “Pull back your Immunity, Rylee of the Blood, and I will show you the two paths that will be your choice.”
I did as he asked, peeling my Immunity away from my hand first, then up my arm and over my shoulders and head. Like pulling off a long sleeved shirt, I mentally tugged at it until my entire upper body was without protection. Through gritted teeth I spoke. “Is that far enough?”
“Further would be better.”
Fucking hell. Sweating, my head aching and my guts on fire from the knife I pushed my Immunity further down until it pooled at my feet. With a soft pop it slid off me and I gasped. “What the fuck happened?”
Jonathan looked straight at me. “You can’t have your Immunity going into this battle, Rylee of the Blood. You must give up all your weapons to face Orion. Even those that are an innate part of you.”
Holy fucking hell. I couldn’t stop the shivering that took over my body; part fear, and part shock. Doran let out a low growl and from the shadows Liam echoed the sound. I knew without a doubt that if the sun hadn’t been high, Liam would have tackled Jonathan to the floor and strangled him.
Jonathan reached out and took my right hand, covered in my own blood and pressed it into the book on a blank page.
He began to write around my fingers, and outside the barn, a single howl erupted through the air.
Doran looked at me, his green eyes determined before he turned away. “They’re here. Do what you must, Rylee. We will protect you.”
I took a breath to answer him, and the world was sucked away and I stood at the juncture of two paths, Jonathan beside me.
“We will walk them, and you will decide which one you want to follow.”
Right, like it was going to be that fucking easy.
Somehow, I doubted it.
CHAPTER 34
PAMELA
LARK TOOK US deep into the heart of the mountain, where the air was so hot it felt as though it burned the back of my throat. Keeping up to her long-legged stride was hard, and I was constantly jogging to keep up. Peta ran ahead of us, seeming to lead the way.
“Why is Peta in front?” I asked.
“Because she lived here a long time. It’s a labyrinth down here, Pamela. Don’t forget that if you ever come on your own.” Lark glanced at me, then back at Griffin. I followed her gaze. He strolled as though on an outing at a park. His hands touched the sides of the tunnel we hurried through, lingering here and there on a gem or jewel that was embedded.
Cactus was on the other side of Lark, but he was quiet and his eyes seemed troubled. Why did I think that didn’t bode well?
Torchlight lit our path, but still the place felt dark and dank to me. Even with the heat. I swiped my hand across my forehead, but the sweat had already dried. Like a sauna that was so hot, I couldn’t even get relief from my own sweat.
We burst out of the tunnel and a large ornate door stood closed in front of us. Made of solid gold, there was a glittering bejeweled dragon etched across the doors. With gems for eyes, the dragon looked lifelike enough that I wondered if it was a supernatural I hadn’t heard of before, but it was like no dragon I’d ever met.
“Firewyrm,” Griffin said softly in my ear, answering my question before I asked.
Lark firmed her back and placed her hands on the doors. “Stick close, the queen can be . . . prickly.”
Cactus let out a quiet snort. “That’s an understatement.”
Lark glared at him, then turned and shoved the doors open
. We went through, side by side. A woman sat lounging on an ornate dais raised a few feet above the ground at the far end of the room. Her hair was blood red and her eyes were as blue as mine. A thin circlet of gold wove through her hair and held the long strands back from her face. She was a beauty, of that much I was sure. But I somehow doubted that would make her any easier to deal with.
The queen was not dressed in a gown as I would have thought. No, she was dressed in black leathers from her head to her toes, like Magma, the fire elemental I’d faced when we were freeing Lark from the oubliette. The black leather matched the large jungle cat at her side.
A slow smile slid over her face. “Larkspur. It has been a long time, my friend.”
Perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Lark bowed from the waist and I mimicked her. “Queen Fiametta, I will not take much of your time.”
“Nonsense, we must eat and recall the stories when you were here last—”
“We cannot. The demons come for this world, and I am here to ask you to stand with us against them.” Lark spoke swiftly, and the fervor in her voice made me want to leap up and tell her that I stood with her again. Griffin put a hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear.
“Not yet, little witch.”
Fiametta let out a sigh. “Larkspur, there are always going to be threats to this world. Elementals ride the waves of fate like boats bobbing on the ocean.”
My whole frame shook and I couldn’t help myself. I shook Griffin off. “If the world falls, you will be next. Orion won’t stop with wiping out the supernaturals.”
The queen’s eyes slid to mine and I held her gaze. “What have you brought me, Larkspur?”
“A child whose blood is evidence that all families have blended.”
Fiametta stood and walked down the dais, stopping in front of me. Her hand cupped my face, turning it upward. “I see the fire in her. She is the one who killed Magma, isn’t she?”
My whole body clenched with a sudden spurt of fear. What would they do to me? I’d almost forgotten the battle for Lark’s freedom and the elementals I’d faced.
“Yes, I am,” I whispered. “And I would do it again if it meant freeing Lark.”
The world seemed to narrow around us and behind me Cactus groaned softly. Fiametta’s eyes never left mine.
“How is it that you inspire such loyalty, Larkspur?”
I straightened my back. “Because she fights for what she believes in; like any true leader should.”
Fiametta’s smile was slow, like a cat seeing something it wanted to pounce on. I crossed my arms over my chest and held her gaze.
The queen spoke to Lark, but her eyes never left mine. “I offered you my help, Larkspur. Not the world. Not the Tracker. And not even for this girl here would I step outside of the Pit.” Fiametta waved a hand at me, fire blooming over her fingertips.
Lark took a step toward the queen. “We saved you, Fiametta.”
The queen’s gaze sharpened along with her tongue. “And I would not throw that gift away for a battle that is not ours. You know that, Larkspur. You know this is not our battle.”
A change slipped over Lark, one so subtle I wasn’t sure at first what I was seeing. She turned and addressed the crowd that had gathered so quietly I hadn’t noticed them.
“The Terralings, my people, go to fight at the side of the supernaturals for the safety of this world. As elementals, do we not owe it to the world we sustain to protect it? Do you think the demons will stop with taking the humans down? How long before they turn their greedy eyes to us? How long before they decide to rape our women, and destroy our sanctuaries? To steal our magic and subvert the elements themselves to their whims?”
A low murmur rumbled through the crowd. A tall man stepped forward, his body encased in the same black leather as the queen’s. His hair was cut short, pale blond with hints of red slipping through it.
“Lark, I will stand with you against this threat. You saved our boy, and our family. I owe you my life.”
He dropped to one knee and Lark went to him, touching him on the shoulder. “Do not kneel to me, Brand. I am not your queen, nor do I want to be.”
Griffin leaned down beside me. “Show them what you can do with their element, little witch. Convince them you are one of their own.”
A few others stepped forward and spoke for Lark as I considered what I could possibly do to convince these elementals I was truly of their blood. I stepped forward, and at the same time, called the fire to my skin. It danced over me as I’d seen it dance over Fiametta until it lit me like a torch.
The weight of the queen’s eyes were the heaviest, but all of them were watching me. “I am of your blood, your queen has pronounced it. Yet I am the weakest of you, am I not?”
There was a low murmur of assent. The magic trembled over me. “And I will go into battle, and you will hide here and wait for the weakest of your own kind to keep you safe. You are cowards.”
I let the magic go and slumped to my knees. Griffin caught me before I could hit the ground. “Well done, yeah? How did you know that pride is their downfall?”
My body shook from the exertion it took to control that much fire. “I didn’t. I only said what I knew would push me to do something.”
He chuckled softly. “It’s not a guarantee, but I think you’ve given it the best you can, yeah?”
I smiled up at him, the edges of my mouth trembling with fatigue. “Yeah.”
CHAPTER 35
LARK
WE LEFT THE Pit, with only a few assurances of help. Brand and his family would be at the battle. At least that was something, I had to believe it.
That was it. Even the firewyrms were reluctant to commit, despite my cajoling. The fact was they’d barely stuck their noses out of the tunnel that would have taken us to their nests. Ungrateful bastards.
Frustration and fear nipped at me. I could feel the seconds ticking by, drawing us closer to the time I was to stand with Rylee and help her with the ceremony.
Unable to face another failure, I took us to the Deep. Queen Finley welcomed me with open arms. Her blue hair fell to her waist in long curling waves that brushed against her soft curves. She’d matured into a beautiful woman, with a confidence and grace that I knew she’d earned.
“Lark, I know what is coming,” she breathed into my ear as she hugged me. “My Seers have told me we must fight for our lives or risk living under the boots of the demons. We will be there. Even now, I have sent my best to gather at the place you have spoken of.”
I pulled back from her. “You always were wiser than your years, Finley.”
She waved a hand at me, bracelets tinkling against her ivory skin. “I have sent an emissary to the Eyrie.”
“What’s that?” Pamela asked.
“Not a what. A where. The Sylph’s reside in the Eyrie. And they don’t like me much,” I said softly. My last visit there had been catastrophic to say the least.
Finley nodded. “I remember. Which is why I sent a note to the queen, asking her to help on my behalf. She did promise to fight at my side if the time ever came.”
I swallowed hard. “Then we have done all we can. We must hurry.”
Pamela looked around us with more than a little awe. “I would like to come back here one day.”
Finley looked at her and then did a double take. “She carries our element.”
“She carries all five.”
The young queen gasped and took a step back. “Is she Requiem’s child?”
“No, no. She is a blend of the five elemental bloodlines. Though she is the strongest witch ever born to this world; not an elemental in truth.” Finley slowly relaxed and I understood all too well her fear.
Requiem was a monster from her past. I didn’t blame her for fearing his shade still. “Finley, I can take us all there in a matter of seconds.”
She looked at me, and my hand on the weapon at my side. “Been making things you aren’t supposed to again?”
“Something like that.”
Pulling the katana from its sheath at my hip, I slashed it through the air to the left of me, whispering the words, “Velata facie terroris. Take us to Rylee.”
The cut in the air shimmered and split open wide, but there was nothing on the other side. No world, no farm.
I let out a sharp breath. “Pamela.”
“What does this mean?”
“It means she isn’t on this plane of existence. Right now, she is somewhere within the seven Veils.”
Pamela grabbed my hand. “But what does it mean?”
“That right now we can’t use her as a pinpoint.”
‘Then use Alex. He’s on his way there with Eve and Marco,” she said.
“They are flying, Pamela. We can’t jump through to them.” But Belladonna should already be waiting for us at the designated waypoint. With a flick of my wrist, I brought the blade through the air again. “Velata facie terroris. Take us to Belladonna.”
This time, the cut opened up in the middle of a cornfield, the long waving stalks lolling back and forth in the breeze. Finley and the other Undines went through first. The young queen went right to my sister and embraced her as though they were long lost friends, even though I knew they hadn’t seen each other in many years.
I did a head count of the Undine’s who came through. A little over three hundred. Added to the two hundred of my family that gave us a tiny army.
But I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if Fiametta and the queen of the Sylph’s didn’t agree to fight at our sides, we were done for.
My heart clenched. To have come so far and to fail yet again . . . it was as though I heard the laughter of all those who’d told me I was not strong enough; that I was a useless half-breed with nothing to her name but a vague connection to royalty.
“Lark?” Bella called to me and I opened my mouth to answer her only I was unable to speak. The sight behind my sister stilled my tongue.
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