by Ali Winters
Yeva blinked. So he had noticed a change within after all.
“The chalice is missing. And I fear they have gotten to one of my Watchers and turned her against me. Against us.” Tears pricked her eyes. She had never expected something like that from Nivian. Not with Kain’s constant guidance. What would her dearest Watcher think if he learned of her actions?
Jack slipped his hand from hers and reached for the handle of the long dagger at his side. “Who is it?” he demanded with seething anger. “Who would dare steal it? Where is it now?” His voice started out so quiet and rose to a roar by the final word.
Yeva straightened. “I will tell you, in due time. For now: bring me one more Reaper.”
Jack looked at her for a long moment, face ruddy with anger and completely unmoving in the preternatural way her creations had. He wasn’t happy. That much was more than obvious as his dark brown eyes sparked with the fire of his temper. After several heartbeats, he lowered his gaze, then his chin, and said, “Yes, my lady.”
When he straightened, he looked only at Taliha and jerked his chin, a sign for her to follow. Taliha looked from him to Yeva, bowed quickly, and then raced out the door after him.
Yeva’s hands shook as she reined her powers in. Inching slowly, so very slowly, she gathered them back into herself. She didn’t dare breathe. Didn’t dare blink as she stared down at the unconscious female lying atop her table. She almost looked peaceful—almost—because the slight furrow of her brows pulling together gave away the changing of powers deep within.
With the smallest movements she could manage, Yeva let her hands lower to her sides. She gazed down, still unbelieving.
She had done it.
She had found the core inside the Reapers, found what made them tick, and she’d molded it like clay. Yeva finally released her breath. The movement of that exhale brushed across the sleeping form and as it touched the cloak, the material crumbled into dust just as her failed experiments had.
But the girl, the woman, stayed. All things that were remnants of a Reaper, disintegrated and vanished into nothing. She moaned uncomfortably once. Her thin, delicate fingers twitching as though she were trying to reach for something.
Legs weak, Yeva collapsed back into the chair. She stared at the woman’s dark hair in awe, hardly daring to believe it. All she had needed to do was to search their mind rather than the core of power that had captured her attention in the previous attempts.
Yeva pressed her palm to the woman’s forehead, withdrawing almost immediately, as if the touch had electrified her. Then gingerly, she put her hand back. Her knees nearly buckled with the realization of what that Reaper had become.
Human… she had become completely human.
When Yeva gathered her strength again, she stood and snatched up a spare winter blanket and threw it over the Reaper.
Except, she wasn’t a Reaper. Not anymore. She was human.
She would need to do something with her. Sending her to live among the humans would not do. The Reapers might go after her not realizing what had happened to her until they stared her in the face.
No, that would not do at all. She needed to keep her safe. With one of her Watchers then.
Yeva snapped her fingers, summoning a nearby Watcher.
This was an unexpected outcome. She knew she could change them, but had expected to change their alliances as Silas and his Reapers had changed Nivian’s.
Something flickered within the woman’s soul. A bright flicker.
Yeva’s jaw went slack as she stared, and stared, and stared. She had the power of rebirth. It wasn’t anything she had seen before, but, still, she knew it instantly. A gift of life that called to Yeva, identified itself. It was a knowledge she never dreamed existed, and she filed it away in her mind.
It wasn’t until a knock at the door pulled her back into the now. The woman, Aurelia she had said when Yeva had asked upon her arrival, was strong. Unlike that first one… Jewel was it? This one had held her head high, never fully trusting her but listening to her. Willingly. The idea of peace appealed to these dark things more than Yeva could have hoped for.
Aurelia stirred on the table but didn’t wake. Yeva crossed the dwelling and opened the door a small crack. She looked once over her shoulder, then back at the Watcher waiting patiently on the other side of the threshold. Taliha stood, eyes downcast but head held high.
Yeva stepped out and closed the door behind her. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”
“What can I do to serve you this evening, my lady?” Taliha asked.
Yeva thought for a second. She needed someone reliable. Someone safe. Dull. “Fetch me Holter.”
Confusion marred Taliha’s face. “Holter?” She practically snorted his name, a hint of annoyance in her tone.
Yeva raised both her eyebrows, giving her a flinty expression, but said nothing more. After a brief moment, Taliha nodded then turned and left. Yeva waited until she was out of sight before going back in and locking the door behind her.
She strode to the sleeping woman and placed her hands upon her head and sent her powers reeling back into her mind once more. She plucked and tugged at her memories, shredding and dissolving them. Any trace of her past would need to be destroyed. Permanently. Yeva didn’t want to think of what trouble it would cause her if she remembered being a Reaper.
At each memory crushed and destroyed, Aurelia flinched. Almost done. Only a little longer.
Forest green eyes stared up at her as Yeva grabbed hold to the last remaining shred of her identity and pulled. Aurelia’s pupils dilated, then her eyes closed.
Yeva stepped back. Holter would arrive soon. She went to her closet and pulled an old, simple dress she had once worn but hadn’t donned for a long, long time. It was pale pink, nearly white, with dark green stitching along the edges of the collar, the sleeves, and the flowing skirt, and a pocket on each hip. She shook it out, swatting at the thin material to clear it of dust.
Holter’s power touched the edges of her own, signaling his arrival. She walked to the door and opened it just as he reached her threshold. His smile faltered as his gaze dropped to the bundle in her arms.
HOLTER
“Meet me in the meadow in one hour’s time,” Yeva said, then closed the door before he could even think of how to respond.
He stood in place for several moments, wondering what had happened. She’d summoned him, then when he came she had sent him away almost immediately. He’d expected Yeva to have an assignment, but she hadn’t so much as mentioned one. Holter scratched his head, then shrugged it off and walked back the way he’d come, toward the crossroads.
Holter walked slowly, stopping to wave at everyone he crossed. Everyone. What did it matter? He had an hour to kill. Besides telling him to meet her at the meadow, she had not instructed him to do or gather anything to be ready for… well, for whatever it was she would bid him to do.
He paused at the edge of the village, a strange and cold sensation washing over him. It felt as though something played with the balance. Teased it, threatened to change it in a way that would doom them all. But nothing happened. It was as if that shift in power skirted the balance, testing it out, but did not attack.
Holter looked around. Whatever it was, whatever it had been, it was close. Though, as he scanned his surroundings, he could see and feel nothing. It had vanished.
He strolled through the grasses toward the hill where the ceremonial altar was located. Time passed slowly. After what felt like an unbearably long time, Holter squinted up toward the sky. He grunted. Judging by the sun’s movements, more than an hour had passed. Closer to two.
But it didn’t matter in the end how much time had passed, he would wait for her as long as he needed to.
The soft tendrils of Yeva’s power reached out to him and alerted him to her presence. He turned and glanced down the hill. She moved toward him through the long stocks of grass. They swayed and danced as though they were reaching for her, hoping for her to to
uch them as she passed by.
He caught a glimpse of someone walking behind, but the figure stayed hidden even as Yeva stopped before him.
“Thank you for your patience. I know I have kept you waiting,” Yeva said. She didn’t wait for a response as she continued. “I have a very important job for you.”
“When I was walking here, I felt something odd with the balance—” he started.
Yeva waved him off with a smile. He wanted to protest, but, if he felt it, than she must have as well.
“That is being taken care of as we speak. Worry no further. Now…” She all but clapped her hands in girlish glee. “Your impeccable record and dependability qualify you above all others for this assignment.”
Holter stopped trying to glimpse the person behind her and met her gaze. He was nothing special, so how could he qualify over others, especially when Kain was an option?
Yeva stepped to the side and revealed a woman in a simple, faded pink shift. Her hands were clasped in front of her and her face downcast. Her hair was pulled back in a braid and wound about her head. She wore no decoration, no cloak, nothing that would make her stand out in a crowd. But he knew if she were lost in a sea of a million others, he would be able to spot her in seconds. Something about her, the way she moved so elegantly, drew him to her like a moth to a flame.
Holter narrowed his eyes, taking in the silent woman. From this angle, he could swear he knew her somehow. She was no Watcher, that much he knew. He angled his head, trying to see her face a little better. “She looks familiar.”
“Mmm?” Yeva asked, her gaze, too, was locked on the woman. She looked down upon her with an expression of pride.
“I could swear I’ve seen her before, perhaps—”
“No,” Yeva snapped cooly. The hard edges of her face relaxed, then with her usual soft tone she said, “You can clearly see she is human. Which brings me to the request I have for you.” She placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder and whispered into her ear, then took his arm, guiding him a few yards away, out of hearing range.
As Yeva spoke, he couldn’t help but watch the mortal woman from the corner of his eyes. She lifted her head and… Gaia, she was beautiful.
“As I was saying, your dependability makes you the perfect guardian for this job.”
His head snapped toward her at the word he had learned to loathe over time. “What?”
“I am placing Aurelia in your care. You will be her guardian of sorts, not like the Reapers of course, think of it as more of a care taker roll. She will stay in your dwelling, as you have plenty of room, and you’ll make sure she is fed and clothed. Keep her safe.”
So her name was Aurelia. “She’s human. Why wouldn’t she stay in the human village with her kind?”
Yeva turned so she, too, could watch the woman waiting patiently. “Reapers are after her. She needs to be protected and I can trust no one to do a better job than you.”
Gaia, he wanted to say no, wanted to say that someone less vital should play house with her… and yet, the longer he was in her vicinity, the more he felt drawn to her. Aurelia looked so sad. So alone. The urge to gather her up in his arms and hold her close until she smiled was shockingly strong.
The meek woman she appeared to be was a shell, and underneath was someone strong and fierce and full of life. He wanted to block the world out so she could find the person within, without pressure.
Holter blinked at his unnerving concern for her.
A wind kicked up, rustling the dry grasses and creating a golden ocean with small waves dancing over the surface all around them.
“I will tell you this truth,” Yeva whispered. “She was supposed to be another Watcher, but something must have gone wrong because she is only human.” She pressed a hand to her neck, her cheek. “I think I’ve been using too much power lately to hold off the Reapers.”
Reapers. She kept using that word that was common among the Watchers. Though she’d rarely used it in the past. Holter tried to read her, to see what had changed, but whatever it was, he couldn’t be sure. He supposed it didn’t matter. He would do as she asked. However strange and unusual the assignment was.
“I will do it for as long as you need me.”
Yeva smiled warmly. “Thank you. I knew I could count on you.”
Holter bowed once to Yeva and then went to Aurelia. With each step, his heart seemed to speed up, thumping in anticipation. If it weren’t for the cool breeze on his skin, he could have sworn his palms were damp from nerves.
Watching a human was not in their job description, not in the way Yeva had requested. But there he was, bound to do as much.
He cleared his throat and she looked up. Those forest green eyes nearly stopped his heart. It could have been his imagination, but he could swear she’d felt something as well.
“Shall we?” he asked, offering his arm.
Aurelia looked at his arm for a long time, then glanced at Yeva, then to him, as if she were debating on giving him her trust. In the end, she slipped her arm through his and let him lead her away from the meadow.
He walked with her toward the clan’s village, toward his—their—home, only looking back at Yeva once to find she’d already gone.
NIVIAN
NIVIAN STAYED AT the river’s edge, plucking up small bits of rock and tossing them into the water. Caspian had left hours ago, and while his presence had brought her some comfort, her stomach still roiled at the conflict she’d had with Yeva.
She hadn’t slept more than an hour the night before last, and not even a second since then. Nivian scrubbed her face with her hands. She should go home and try to get some sleep. Weariness sat heavy on her muscles, but her mind whirled with questions, replaying her encounter with Yeva over and over.
Plunk, plunk, plunk. She tossed a few more small stones into the water. The surface of the river flowed smooth and languid, but the swirling eddies beneath gave away the true swiftness with which it moved.
Perhaps under different circumstances, she wouldn’t have felt so upset if she’d been like the others. She’d always felt just slightly out of place, except for when she was with Kain. She was closer to him than anyone else, even the members of her own family.
He took extra care to include her when others would have been content to let her slip to the back and be all but invisible.
Nivian held out her hand and brought forth a small orb of her power. The light sparkled and snapped, dancing along her skin, then she released it. It was her powers that set her apart.
She was as powerful as the others, if not close to rivaling the strength of Kain. Yet, somehow, hers were never as bright, as if a shadow darkened the edges of it.
The sun had long since passed its zenith. The heat seemed lacking, stolen by the cool air and never quite reaching her bones. But she ignored the chill that clung to her.
Now, with Yeva furious with her, every little thing that made her odd became even more apparent. And she’d never felt as alone as she did in that moment.
Nivian shivered.
A cold blanket of air settled down over her and brought her out of her well of self-pity. Her head snapped up. A Dark Guardian watched her from the opposite bank of the river. She jumped to her feet, letting out a small squeak. His power radiated off him, cool and steady as the morning.
Nivian cursed herself for letting her guard down, she should have noticed his approach before he arrived.
“What do you want?” she demanded, her voice barely carrying over the water to the other side.
He was powerful. Caspian was one of the most powerful Guardians she’d ever encountered, but this one… this one was on a whole other level. Above anything… above any normal Guardian—
Gaia…
Her mouth went as dry as sand.
In one beat of her pulse, he was on her side of the river, so close he could have reached out and ripped her heart from her chest.
He lifted his hands and pulled back his hood. Honey gold hair spilled out, tied
back and draped over his shoulder. Deep gray eyes, holding an endless storm of stars, watched her with emotionless curiosity.
She had seen him before—but why would he be here now? Her gaze darted from side to side, hoping to find Caspian near by. But he was nowhere in sight.
She backed up as far as she could while staying within the most accurate striking distance. If it came down to it—and she prayed to Gaia that it didn’t—she could hold her own, at least for a while.
He made no move to stop her or to strike.
“You know who I am,” was all he said.
What she’d expected him to say, she couldn’t pinpoint, but that hadn’t been it.
Nivian blew an annoyed huff through her nostrils. His utter stillness, his calm, only annoyed her. It was good. She could hold on to that irritation and use it to steel her spine.
He was more than just another Guardian, more than the one who had helped reaped the humans in the Fountain of Nathka. The power of this Guardian seemed to surround her in a way that only one other person’s ever had. Yeva. Only it was the antithesis of her power.
Then Nivian realized with a start that he wasn’t just any Guardian, he was the Fate Keeper of the Dark Guardians.
Her legs shook, weak from exhaustion… and fear.
She needed to leave, to run from him.
Nivian’s eyes darted about. The last thing she needed, or wanted, was for anyone to see her in the presence of another Guardian. It was one thing to spend time with Caspian in the hours before dawn when she had the shadows of night to cloak them. But in broad daylight to be seen with Silas…
That would be it. Yeva wouldn’t hesitate to have her destroyed.
“Leave. Now,” she ordered. Her words came out strained as she fought to breathe. The fury on Yeva’s face and her promise pushed all other thoughts from Nivian’s mind. “You can’t be here.”
The corner of Silas’s mouth ticked up into a smirk. Her fear amused him. A sliver of that fear burned hot as molten iron, turning into anger. Hades, damn him! He was laughing at her.
