Nobledark Academy 3: Chosen Hearts

by Laney Powell

  “Okay,” I said. I took a breath.

  And I told her everything. About this summer, about the Mother’s cave, about meeting with all the guys’ families, about Caspian. I told her of the way the agents had shown up at our place, demanding to see Iliana, and how Iliana had been so concerned, I hadn’t seen her since. “She left a message with Silas and Caspian, but I haven’t talked to her or seen her since early summer.”

  Then I told her about Violet, about what Iliana had discovered. I told her about the lake, and the buildings concealed behind a cloaking spell.

  At that, her eyebrows came down as she frowned. “I know the place you’re talking about. There isn’t supposed to be anyone there. It’s a training facility, where newer agents can practice spell work and not have to worry about any destruction they might cause. Since it’s isolated, it cuts down on the injuries as well,” she said.

  “Well, someone’s there now, and they’re hiding it. Although, is that what they do normally?”

  Madame Karathos shook her head. “No. It’s supposed to look like a vacation cabin, something that wouldn’t attract any real attention. Let me look into it.”

  “I’d rather you didn’t,” I said. “If the Concilium has Violet, you need to not know anything about it.”

  “That’s not your decision to make,” Madame Karathos said.

  “But if you go asking questions, they’ll just move her. It took Iliana all summer to find her, and that was with the lists of Concilium holdings that I found for her. We might never find her if she’s moved.”

  “You aren’t even sure she’s there,” Madame Karathos objected.

  “Something’s there. Something someone wants to keep hidden. Please, Madame, please let me see if I can figure out if Violet’s there.” Normally, I wouldn’t argue with her, but I knew that I was right. I also knew how crazy I sounded, and I hoped that she’d go along with me, at least for a while.

  She stared off out her window, thinking. Finally, she turned to me. “I will allow you some time. But you need to be quick about it. This is my school, and I’m responsible for all the students here. If there is something hidden on our grounds, and those are part of our grounds, and I notice and don’t do anything about it, I’m remiss in my duties. And that I cannot do, Olivia. You have one week.”

  My heart sank. But I knew that I was lucky to get that from her. “Thanks,” I said, getting up.

  “No, thank you for trusting me. I’m sorry I can’t give you more time, but that’s all I can allow, and still live with my conscience,” Madame Karathos said.

  I left and went straight to the guys’ pod. We needed to make some changes to our plans.

  Over the next two days, the minute we were done with class, we were hiking to the lake. We found a spot by the buildings, once we breached the cloaking spell, to watch. But for three days, no one came in or out.

  On the fourth day, I was getting antsy. We only had three days left after this, before Madame Karathos got involved. Time was running out.

  To make matters worse, today it was only me, Silas, and Matty. Jake and Caspian had a ton of homework. I’d been getting up early and working through lunch to get mine done. I understood, even as I wanted to scream in frustration.

  “Are we even sure anyone is here?” Matty rubbed his hand against his face. “I mean, we haven’t even seen any movement.

  “The lights are still on in that one cabin,” I said. “I wish we could get closer.”

  “Wait here,” Silas said. He stood up, and stripped down and then disappeared into bushes. A moment later, I saw him in his wolf form creeping toward the cabin.

  I took Matty’s hand in mine, nervous for Silas. As we watched, barely breathing, Silas disappeared around the corner of the cabin.

  I heard a bang, like wood hitting wood, and then a scream, and then silence. I started, ready to run, but Matty’s hand clamped around my arm like a steel trap. “No,” he hissed. “Wait.”

  “But what if—”

  “Silas can handle himself,” Matty said firmly.

  My heart pounded in my skull as I waited to see Silas come around the corner. After an eternity, his wolf slunk around the building, moving fast. The wolf disappeared into the bushes, and then Silas, completely naked, appeared next to us.

  “There’s a girl in there. She’s chained to the bed,” he said, his anger showing. “She looks like shit, and she’s scared to death. Her fear is overwhelming.

  “Was that her we heard scream?” I asked.

  Silas nodded. “I think she fainted or something.”

  “So we don’t know who it is,” I said, disappointed.

  “No, but I think we can tell who she might be,” Silas said, gazing back at the cabin.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “She smells like you.”

  “Oh, goddess. This has to be her,” I said. I stood up. “Was anyone else with her?”

  Silas shook his head. “She had food, but there wasn’t much. I’d say she’s been alone here for a while.”

  “We might be able to get her away before they know she’s gone, if they’re not checking on her every day,” I said, an idea forming.

  “What—” Matty began.

  I held up a finger, trying to sort it out. Both of them were silent, letting me think. “Okay, I think I’ve got it. Matty, you and me are going to go and get her. Silas, go back to the school and find Madame Karathos. Tell her everything. Maybe she can get someone to wait here, and see who it was that was keeping her captive. Matty and I are going to portal to Kythira.”

  “Are you sure you can do that?” Silas said.

  We weren’t supposed to portal on our own, but I’d been doing it all summer. “Yes,” I said. “I need to get her there, if this is Violet. Then ask Madame Karathos to send you and Caspian and Jake to Kythira as well. When you open the portal, call out for me,” I said, “and I’ll be there for you.”

  “I’ve never portaled like that before,” Silas said, his worry apparent.

  “This will work,” I said, a certainty coming over me. I knew it would. Our bond was strong enough. “Once we get to Kythira, Althaia can find Iliana, and we can get the other women and Raven there.”

  “You sure about this?” Matty asked.

  “No, but yes,” I said. “Silas, go. We don’t know if there’s an alarm there, and you need to let Madame know so that she get things moving.” I kissed him hard, trying not to stare at his nakedness. I couldn’t afford the distraction.

  Silas shifted, and then I saw a dark blur as he shot out from the bushes, running at full speed.

  “You ready?” I asked Matty.

  “Let’s go get the last member of your crazy family,” he said with a grin.

  Quietly, we walked toward the cabin. The door hung open, but as we paused outside of it, I couldn’t hear anything. Matty peered in, and then he nodded. “She’s out,” he said.

  When I walked in, I was shocked. There was a portable toilet on one side of the bed. A table sat on the other, with trash and debris piled on it. It looked like they’d been feeding her junk food, and nothing else.

  The girl on the bed was taller than me, and slender. Her face was angular, and she made me think of a cat. Her hair was a dark pink, and her face was dirty.

  I was pissed. Whoever this was, although I was sure it was Violet, didn’t deserve this.

  “Can you pick locks?” I asked Matty, looking at the chain that was secured to the girl’s ankle.

  “No, but I can blast them,” he grinned. “Stand back and be ready to stun her. This is loud, and she might wake up.” He knelt down by the chain where it was attached to her with a cuff.

  These bastards. I felt my anger growing.

  Matty whispered next to me. There was a bang, and a flash of light, and the cuff fell off her ankle.

  She stirred, her eyes fluttering. I hurried to her. “Matty, can you pick her up? I need to open the portal, and I want to try to speak to her.” A plan was forming
, but I didn’t have time to tell him.

  Without asking, he scooped her off the bed. I stood next to her head. “Hi,” I said. “Hello. Can you tell me who you are? Hello?” I waited.

  It took her a few seconds to respond, and I swear, it was the longest three or four seconds of my life. She opened her eyes, and then opened her mouth to scream.

  I put my hand over her mouth, and she tried to bite me. If I hadn’t been so pressed for time, I would have appreciated her refusal to be manhandled.

  “Are you Violet?” I asked. “I’m trying to get you the hell out of here, but I need to know if you’re Violet.”

  Her eyes went wide. She’d recognized the name, but she shook her head. I smiled. It was all right. I knew we had her.

  I moved my hand from her mouth, and opened the portal next to us. “Kythira,” I whispered, seeing the patio in the sunlight, with the sea behind it.

  Next to me, I heard Violet inhale sharply, like she was about to scream. But before she could, I grabbed Matty’s arm and practically ran through the portal.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Olivia

  I fell as I stepped through, and I felt Matty bump into me. Violet was screaming, and we ended up tumbled together on the ground.

  A moment later, Althaia appeared from inside the house. “Olivia! What are you doing here?” Her eyes took in Matty and Violet.

  “Can you use a silencing spell on her?” I said.

  Althaia waved a hand, and the screaming stopped.

  Matty reached for me, helping me up.

  Violet scrabbled backward on the ground, getting to her feet and stumbling a little as she backed away from us.

  I held out a hand. “Your name is Violet Connolly. Your parents are Kevin and Geraldine Connolly. You lost your mom in a car accident, and then you were kidnapped by at least one creepy guy. Am I right?”

  She stared at me, her eyes wide and wild, and then gave a sharp nod of her head. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

  “If my gran removes the spell, are you going to start screaming again? Because we need to do a lot more talking,” I said.

  Violet’s eyes narrowed, taking my measure. She might not know who she was, or what the hell was going on, but she wasn’t afraid to stand up to me. She shook her head.

  “Giagiá,” I said.

  Althaia waved her hand, and Violet clutched at her throat.

  “Who are you?” she asked, her voice lower than mine, a pleasant voice even with the anger in it.

  Well, we were sirens, cursed for our magical singing of death. It made sense she’d have a nice voice.

  “My name is Olivia Karidias. I’ve been looking for you for months.”

  “Why?” Violet whispered.

  “Are you ready to hear this?” I asked. “Because it’s going to change everything.”

  Her eyes grew even wider, and then she sat down on a small chair next to a table. “Nothing makes sense,” she said. “Ever since Mom died,” the tears formed in her eyes, one sliding down her face, “So many weird things are happening, and nothing makes sense.”

  “Sweet hell,” Matty said next to me.

  “Where do I even start?” I whispered. Then I straightened. “Violet, hang on a minute.” I turned to Althaia.

  “Giagia, I need you to contact Iliana, and have her get Kassandra, Aella, and Raven.”

  Althaia’s eyes widened. “It’s time,” she breathed.

  I nodded. “I think so. But I need some time to talk with Violet.”

  Althaia turned away, disappearing into the house. I walked over and sat down in the chair opposite Violet and took a breath. “Okay. Let’s start with the basics. Your name, the name you were born with, is Violet Mantilae.”

  It was many hours later before I finished talking with Violet. I told her everything. About me. About Raven. About the fact that she’d probably find herself with more than one boyfriend. About our mothers. About Marbys, and what I knew of what he’d done to Raven. What he’d done to me. I kept talking and talking. I thought my voice would give out, but it didn’t. There was too much to say, and I felt like the clock was running out.

  In that time, Silas, Jake and Caspian arrived. They were with Iliana, of all people.

  Then Raven and her mom, Aella, showed up.

  As each group of people came out to where I sat with Violet on the patio, I got up and hugged them, and there was a lot of kissing and some tears. I watched Violet, and she took it all in without saying much.

  After Aella had gone in with Iliana to get Kassandra—I wasn’t sure where she was—Raven dragged a lounge chair over. “I’m your sister,” she said to Violet.

  Violet’s eyes flew to me.

  I nodded. “We’re all sisters. We have different mothers, and the same Giant Asshole as a father. That’s the demon I told you about.”

  Violet blinked. “A demon.”

  “Yes. Listen,” I said.

  I noticed that the guys had all melted away, although I could feel that they were nearby.

  “Listen,” I said again. “I know I just dumped an entire truckload of crazy right into your lap. And it does sound crazy but it’s true. Here’s what needs to happen right now. Your birth mom is on her way, and when she gets here, we all need to walk into the water. Our moms pass over the responsibility of the stones, and then we all cast the spell that will close off the hellways. After that, we can talk until our faces fall off. But until then that’s what we have to focus on.”

  “I don’t understand what the rush is,” Violet said. “Why can’t I go home, and see my dad first?”

  “The rush is that when we kicked Marbys out of my school, it wasn’t permanent. He’s very strong, and I don’t know how long our spell can hold him.”

  “He’s also determined,” Raven spoke up. “He’s been playing the long game with this one. He’s close to getting what he wants. If you were him, is there anything you wouldn’t do to reach the goal you’d been after for years?”

  Slowly, Violet shook her head. A few more tears slid down her cheeks. “What do I have to do?” she asked.

  At that moment, I heard footsteps running, and a woman with wild, dark hair raced out onto the patio. She skidded to a halt in front of where we were sitting.

  “Kassandra,” Raven said next to me.

  I didn’t recognize her. She looked so much better than the unconscious woman I’d seen lying on the floor of that awful place in Hell.

  “Violet?” Kassandra whispered, her eyes wide.

  I could tell that she and Violet had the exact same shape of eyes. Their faces were mirrors of one another. And I saw the moment when Violet realized it too.

  “Who are you?” Violet whispered.

  “I’m your mother. Well, I was,” Kassandra said. The pain in her voice was palpable. “I would like to be again, but for the moment, I am just so happy that you are alive, and well.”

  “I don’t know about the well part,” Violet said. “But you’re really my mother?”

  Kassandra nodded. “If it wouldn’t be too much, may I hug you?”

  The patio was silent except for the lapping of the waves against the rocks around the house.

  Then Violet nodded and Kassandra took a step toward her. Then another, and opened her arms. Violet stepped into them.

  I could see Kassandra’s shoulders shaking, and I walked a few steps away, to give them a little privacy.

  Raven walked with me. “Wow. That made me all teary.”

  “Right?” I asked, linking arms with her. I liked Raven, even though we’d gotten off to a rocky start. I’d hated her at first, but gradually, I saw that I was being the asshole, and I made the effort to get to know her better. I found that I liked her very much. She’d always been kind to me, even when I’d been awful to her.

  That night, we were all crammed into the kitchen, talking and eating. We planned to do the ceremony to pass on the stones before sunrise tomorrow. Then we’d close the hellways, and that damn Marbys would never
be my problem again. At Aella’s suggestion, we also practiced a killing spell that we could use on Marbys, should he or any other demon put in an appearance. Everyone went to bed, and I could practically touch the hope and optimism that was all around us.

  It all seemed too easy.

  Before bed, the six of us practiced the spells needed. Althaia and Jeno stood off to the side, Althaia beaming. She hadn’t talked much, but she’d been kissing me, and Iliana, and Aella and Raven, and Kassandra and Violet every time she came near one of us.

  “She can’t believe we’re actually all here,” Iliana whispered to me. “I am so proud of you, Olivia. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”

  “Or you,” I whispered back, putting an arm around her shoulders and leaning my head against hers.

  When we all went to bed, me in the room I’d been in before, with the guys on cots all around me, I found that I couldn’t sleep. Restless, I went out to the patio and opened the gate to walk down to the water. My arms were wrapped around my waist. It felt like you felt when bad things had happened, and you were waiting for the other shoe to drop. There was something we weren’t seeing, something else behind the scenes.

  And I didn’t know what it was.

  But the fact that this hadn’t happened ever, not once in a thousand years, made me nervous. It all seemed too… easy.

  The waves in front of me began to churn and boil. I stepped back, not wanting to be in the water when I couldn’t tell what was making it behave this way. And there was something behind it. I didn’t know what, but I knew that for a fact.

  Something rose up above the surface; it was a churning column of water. Faster and faster it spun, taking shape as it moved. The water began to slow, and a man walked out of it, holding a staff that gleamed in the moonlight.

  “Holy shit,” I breathed.

  “Neither,” the man said. “I am Achelous, the river god.”

  “The father of the sirens,” I said.

  “The very one,” Achelous said. “You’re Olivia, correct? Olivia Karidias?”

  “How do you know me?”