by K.N. Lee
When Adam became aware, he found himself in nothingness. In the darkness, he was alone with one person.
“You failed.” Xia said.
Adam bowed before her. In the quiet of the dark place, she stood above him.
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry? I went and took his soul myself. I hand delivered it. What do you mean you’re sorry?”
“I appreciate what you did. The softening up that you did to prepare him for me.”
Adam hated Xia. She was a young thing, a female, a mere minion. How she had risen to such power, to have more respect amongst those of his kind than he did, was beyond Adam’s understanding.
“Softening?” Xia yelled. She trembled with anger. “I’m tired of cleaning up your messes.”
“Respectfully,” he hissed. “Rafael was my charge to begin with. Perhaps if I were the one to harvest the soul….”
“Well it’s too late for that,” she snapped.
“What do you mean?”
She sighed. “Must I explain everything to you? Rafael is not the problem. His soul is of no use to me. We have Granthem and Ryder to think about. This problem of bloodlines. You’d do better to concentrate on eliminating them the next time.”
“That was what I was attempting to do!” Adam cried in frustration.
She gnashed her teeth, and Adam cringed at the pure animal anger in her face.
“You may be older,” she said, “but I have taken many more souls than you have. To me, you are nothing. You’re going to go away into the Darkness, for a while. And I want you to think about it, how you can approach this problem in a new way. When I feel you’ve had enough time alone to devise a plan that will please me,” she said. “You can come back again.”
“No!” Adam screamed, at Xia as she left, sealing him into the void. “NO!”
When Justin came through the door of his house, Marradith was lying unconscious on the floor.
“Mari!”
He shook her. She opened her eyes. Justin was kneeling over her.
“What happened just now?” he asked. Are you okay?”
She sat up. “I am alright. I don’t know what happened.” She looked around and saw the room was normal. Nothing indicated the swirling mass of energy that had filled the space only minutes before.
“Did you see it?” Justin asked. “The lights? It sounded like there was an explosion.”
“I saw…something.”
“WasRafi here?” Justin demanded.
“He was,” she said. “We… we talked. About Fiona. He said he was going home.”
She looked towards the mantel piece and noticed the antique clock continued to move, keeping perfect time.
The doctor had recommended that someone stay near Rafael’s hospital bed.
It had been four days since he’d lapsed into the coma. They believed that he was able to hear what was going on around him, and that maybe the presence or voices of friends and loved ones would help jolt him back into consciousness. Fiona was beyond the point of exhaustion. She’d went the first two days with barely any sleep at all, and finally accepted a prescription to help her rest. She awakened a few hours later, complaining of a vivid nightmare in which she died by gunshot. The doctor prescribed a different drug the following night, and to better effect.
The family was taking turns sitting vigil, each for a few hours. Marradith hugged her Father when he emerged from his shift, looking worn and angry. “He won’t wake up for spite, the bastard,” he whispered in his daughter’s ear.
“Dad!” she said in exasperation, trying to hide her smile.
The fourth night was Marradith’s turn.
She was only supposed to stay two hours, but she brought her laptop and sank comfortably into her chair. She checked her friend’s updates on Facebook. When she was through with that she scanned through her emails, and stumbled upon one of the lessons that Rafael had sent her weeks before. There were so many treatises on different subjects that sometimes she forgot them. But she opened this one and started to read.
“I’ll read this to you, Rafael,” she said. “You won’t be able to say I don’t do my homework. This is a selection from The Book of Others. This is called the fifth prophecy.”
She cleared her throat, minding her tone.
“The fifth prophecy is this: Man believes that the World will end in catastrophe, either by an exploding star or the creation of a man made weapon. We believe, that the final war will begin when Man learns of and accepts the existence of Others. Man will become locked in combat with the Others, and that war will signal the beginning of apocalypse. Vampires and Wolves will destroy the humans first, and when none are left, they will turn against each other…”
Marradith stopped.
She saw, from the corner of her eye, the slightest movement. A twitch of his eyelids.
“Rafael?” she said.
Marradith got to her feet, and came to stand beside his bed. She reached for his hand, and he squeezed it.
He moved his head, ever so slightly.
“You’re awake,” she said, and reached over to press the button for the nurse. “Rafael!”
He looked up at her, unsure for a moment. She beamed at him. He was holding her left hand, and realized he felt the stone on her wedding ring against his palm.
“Where’s your husband?” he asked. He had to be sure of who she was.
“Justin’s sleeping by now, probably,” she said. “Why is the nurse taking so long?” she said, looking around. “I’m going to have to light somebody up around here.”
That made him laugh, a weak grumble that hurt his chest.
“Let me go get Fi for you. She’s in the other room.”
“Yes, please. I want to see Fiona.”
~The End~
About the Author
Bestselling Author Lori Titus is a Californian with an affinity for speculative fiction. Her work explores mysticism and reality, treading the blurred line between man and monster. She thrives on coffee and daydreams when she isn't writing or plotting out her next story.
Catch up with her through her blog, The Darkest of Lore at https://loribeth215.wordpress.com/ or follow her on Twitter @Loribeth215.
Also By Lori Titus
Hunting in Closed Spaces (The Marradith Ryder Series, Book 1)
The Art of Shadows (The Marradith Ryder Series, Book 2)
The Vampire Diaries (The Bennett Witch Chronicles)--Chrysalis Lights
Blood Relations
The Bell House
The Moon Goddess (A Marradith Ryder Series Novella)
Lazarus
Bravery
Seven Sisters of Silverleaf Book Two
L.C. Ireland
All that Avery Delaroe wants is adventure, like her parents had before they died. But her paranoid siblings won’t even let her leave the walls of Silverleaf. When the head-strong teenager takes matters into her own hands, she learns that the world outside of Silverleaf is more magical — and more deadly — than she ever imagined.
The Forsaken Woods
The Forsaken Woods sprawled over the border of Barune and their neighbor, the kingdom of Horr, enormous and rich with resources. But neither country would claim it.
Nothing good ever came from the Forsaken Woods. The birthplace of the dark arts, the forest was full of beasts who devoured human flesh. Those who dared enter the Woods were rarely seen again. The Forsaken Woods swallowed people like a ravenous beast.
If you somehow survived the forest, you would never be the same.
My name is Avery Delaroe, and I got lost in the Forsaken Woods.
1
Rain pattered against the window of the study hall, tugging at my attention. The rain was light, but persistent, leaving the people of Silverleaf an indistinguishable mob of cloaks, hoods, and bonnets.
Perfect.
This was exactly the kind of weather I had been hoping for.
I drummed my fingers on the table while the tutor droned on about
the history of Barune. Located in the southeastern corner of the country, Silverleaf was the first major city one would come by after crossing the Barune/Horr border. Silverleaf had once been a fortress meant to protect the roads leading to the capital. That explained the giant wall that encircled the city—
“Like a protective hug,” the tutor was saying.
I scoffed. A protective hug? More like a strangling vice grip.
When my parents were alive, they traveled the world together. Our mansion was full of relics of their travels. I had spent my childhood staring at those relics, begging my older siblings to tell me as many of their stories as they could remember. My favorite tale, of course, was the story of the fairy that my father rescued. In return, she blessed him with the assurance that he would have “seven precious daughters.” Her blessing came true. My parents had two sons and seven daughters. I was daughter number five.
There would be no new relics added, not by any of us. I was six years old when my parents died. I don’t really know what happened to them. We only learned of their deaths when a king’s messenger arrived, declaring my eldest brother the new governor. Maybe my older siblings knew more than they let on. But if they did, they weren’t privy to sharing any of it with the rest of us. Our parents’ passing had spooked them.
Overnight, the outside world became the enemy. Now, none of us were allowed to leave the city — except Elias, who was an ambassador, and my sister Delta, who was soon to be married. If I wanted permission to leave the city like Elias and Delta, I either had to become a trusted employee of the king or find some wealthy duke’s son to marry. My odds didn’t look so great.
My gaze shifted out the window. Through the rain, I could just barely make out the wall in the distance. My fondest memory was of the one time my mother let me travel with her. It was a short trip and, ultimately, not very exciting. But to me, it was the grandest adventure. I remember leaning out the carriage window so far that my mother had to hold onto my dress to keep me from tumbling to the ground. I held my eyes as wide open as I possibly could, trying to soak in every single detail of our surrounding. The world felt so big, so full of potential. I decided right then that I wanted to be an adventurer. I wanted to study every nook and cranny of this beautiful world, just like my parents had.
That was nine years ago.
It was the last time I ever left the city.
My oldest sister, Hannah, raised me after our parents died. And by “raised me” I mean that she sucked the fun out of everything. My mother always encouraged us to explore our curiosity about the world. But Hannah? No way. Everything was too dangerous. There were so many ways we could get hurt.
“Curiosity killed the cat,” Hannah often said.
I hated that stupid cat.
If Hannah had her way, none of us would ever leave our rooms. Leaving the city was out of the question. If one of us even suggested it, Hannah would probably have a stroke.
But I was going to leave anyway.
If I could just leave Silverleaf, just once, maybe I could prove to Hannah and Alistair that the world outside the gates wasn’t as bad as they feared. Maybe I could prove to them that I wasn’t a coward. I could handle what lay beyond the walls. I just had to prove it to them.
My younger sister Bailey tapped my arm, pulling me from my thoughts. The tutor stared at me expectantly. I had totally missed his question.
“Would you repeat yourself, please?”
The tutor sighed. “I asked if you would please list the governors of Silverleaf since the Proclamation of Peace.”
At least this was an easy question.
I held up my fingers as I ticked them off. “Balthazar Briggs, Artonian Heszler, Theodore Mast, Xavier Delaroe—” that was my father “—and lastly, Alistair Delaroe.” The last was my brother, my legal guardian, older than me by twelve years.
“Very good,” the tutor said, grinning with pride.
I rolled my eyes and looked back out the window, praying the rain would hold up just a little longer — just long enough for me to don a plain old cloak and slip out of the gates unnoticed.
There was nothing wrong with Silverleaf. In fact, it was a beautiful city — beautiful enough to attract people from all across the country. The city of Silverleaf was best known for its silver aspens. They were tall, white-barked trees with heart-shaped, silver leaves that sparkled in the evening sunlight like priceless artifacts in the king’s treasury. Sure, the silver aspens were lovely, but when they were all you ever saw, well, even they could got kind of old.
I was out of my seat as soon as the tutor dismissed us. I gave him a quick bow of respect and hurried for the door.
“Avery, wait up!” Bailey yelled, half-running to keep up with me.
Not now, Bailey.
I knew I couldn’t trust her with my secret plan. Bailey was a people-pleasing do-gooder. She would tattle on me as soon as she knew I was up to something. Of all my sisters, she was notoriously the worst at keeping secrets.
I pulled my hood over my curly dark hair as we stepped out into the rain. “I’m going to help Chauncer train the falcons,” I lied. I happened to know that Bailey was terrified of falcons.
“In the rain?”
“Uh...yes. It’ll be an indoor thing. You would hate it.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Falcons? Gross.” Lucy sidled up on my other side, wrinkling her nose. Lucy was the youngest of my eight siblings, only an infant when our parents passed away. With her bright blue eyes and thick, straight blonde hair, she seemed to have absorbed a disproportionate amount of beauty. Though only ten years old, she was already turning heads, a fact that she used to her every advantage. Her good looks were matched in equal measure by an explosive personality. Lucy was sassy and short-tempered, possibly as a result of having been raised by far too many doting siblings instead of parents.
“Do you want to go with Avery to train the falcons?” Bailey asked with trepidation. Bailey and Lucy were thick as thieves. Bailey tended to do whatever Lucy told her to, as long as it wouldn’t get her in trouble. If Lucy chose to join me, Bailey would follow.
“No way.” Lucy pretended to gag. “Falcons smell weird.”
Bailey smiled, relieved. She skipped over a puddle, singing a cheery song.
Follow me into the Woods.
Leave your worries and cares behind.
Find your heart in the Woods and always be kind.
“You know those aren’t the real lyrics, right?” Lucy said, shifting the book she was holding to her other arm.
“That’s the way Hannah sings it,” I said.
Lucy rolled her eyes. “Of course that’s the way she sings it. The real lyrics are creepy. You know Hannah doesn’t do creepy.”
We all nodded. Lucy and Bailey were just as aware as I was of Hannah’s tyrannical rule of the family. They were as annoyed with all of her rules as I was. Maybe if Alistair wasn’t so busy running the city, he could intervene occasionally. But, alas, he was rarely around.
Lucy tossed her long, blonde hair out of her face, adjusted the hood of her cloak, and squared her shoulders with importance. “The real lyrics are about the monsters in the Forsaken Woods.”
I laughed. “There are no monsters in the Forsaken Woods.”
Lucy frowned at me. “How do you know that? You’ve never been there.”
She had a good point.
“Neither have you,” I shot back.
Lucy ignored me. “Do you want to know the real lyrics?” she asked Bailey.
Bailey nodded, intrigued. Lucy leaned closer as if we were conspirators.
Follow me into the Woods.
Leave your life and family behind.
Find the heart of the Woods and lose your mind.
Shivers ran down my spine. I hugged myself, smoothing the bumps on my arms.
“You’re right,” Bailey said. “That version is way creepier. I think I prefer Hannah’s lyrics.”
“You’re such a coward.”
> “No, I’m not!”
“Are, too!”
“I am not!”
“Lucy, be nice,” I scolded.
Lucy scowled at me. “Yes, Your Highness.” She curtsied while making a face. Bailey laughed. And just like that, they were best friends again. “Bronsley’s making pastries,” Lucy said. “Let’s see if he’ll show us how.”
“Yes!” Bailey hooked arms with Lucy as they veered toward the manor.
“Don’t get in Bronsley’s way!” I called after them.
Lucy turned around and, walking backwards, stuck her tongue out at me. She had made it clear to all of us that she hated being bossed around. But it was a habit I struggled to break.
With Bailey no longer on my tail, I could at last fulfill my plan. I waited until Lucy’s back was turned and then changed direction, heading for the stables. At this time of day, the stables were empty of horses. Only a few stable hands were present, mucking out the stalls and changing the bedding. They ignored me as I slipped by. In the back corner of an empty stall, I found what I had come for: an old traveling cloak that someone had abandoned. It was long enough to trail on the ground when I wore it, successfully concealing my clothing. I had been waiting for a rainy day to wear it; I would blend right into the marketplace crowds.
The cloak exuded a musty odor. Perhaps I should have washed it before carrying out my plan. But a clean cloak would make me stand out, just as I would with my usual brightly dyed dresses.
I left the stables out the back door and skirted around the building, attempting to make it look as if I had just come from inside. As casually as I could, I sauntered into the marketplace.
Despite the rain, the marketplace was lively with the usual bustling activity. Nearly everyone wore a cloak just like mine in varying shades of grays and browns. I was practically invisible.
