Smoke and Ritual (Beautiful Dark Beasts Book 1)

by Melissa Sercia

  Still reeling from Chaos’ angry confession, my head spun. The harpies’ wails were deafening. They dove in and out, swooping down like a flock of crazed birds. I ran to Seven, leaping into his outstretched arms. He pulled me down, shielding me with his massive frame. Wind tickled my ears, stirring panic in my chest as the birdlike creatures whizzed past us. And then my adrenaline kicked in.

  I squirmed against his protective grip. “I want to fight.”

  Seven’s heartbeat thundered against my cheek. “There’s too many of them. You need to get below deck.”

  “I can’t just run and hide. Let me help you,” I cried out. Every instinct was telling me to run, to take cover, which was the exact reason why I needed to stay.

  Across the deck, Chaos’ wings spread out behind him, shielding him as he sidestepped multiple attacks. In one quick swoop, he grabbed one by the neck and squeezed, sending a cascade of blood and feathers into the dark sea. He threw up his hands as another two climbed on his back, knocking them both onto the deck of the ship. Like a lion, he whipped around, roaring as he picked each one up and dragged them overboard, shoving their heads into the cold water below.

  Seven dragged me toward the stairwell. I pushed against him with all my might, but it was no use, he was too strong. “Seven, please, let me go. Chaos needs me.”

  His shadow loomed over me while he kept a firm grip on my shoulder and a steady gaze on the fighting. “It’s too dangerous, Arya. Now get below deck so I can get out there and help him.”

  How dare either of them try to keep me from this fight? I would not be useless, sitting out battles while everyone else did my dirty work. That was not who I was.

  A loud crash erupted behind us. Seven jerked his head and it was just the opening I needed. I closed my eyes and called for the wind. Seven’s hair whipped across his face with the force of a hurricane as the four winds rocked against the ship. I wriggled free and sprinted away from him. He called out as I ran, but his voice was lost in the mayhem.

  The wind howled around me, through me. Became part of me. I gulped, embracing it, letting it fill me—filling every space inside of my lungs. A heat simmered between my shoulders as my wings pushed out and stretched, flapping slowly at first, then faster as I rose, lengthening the distance between my feet and the ship’s deck.

  Chaos flew up beside me and grabbed my wrist. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

  Magic pulsed through my veins like a rushing river. “Stop trying to control me. This is as much my fight as it is yours.” I yanked my arm away, hissing.

  A fury like I’d never seen flashed in his eyes. His nostrils flared. “Fine. You want to play. Let’s play.” He shot past me and soared up toward a cluster of harpies that hovered above us. My heart raced. With one forceful flap of my wings, I flew after him.

  A white-haired harpy lunged at me, shrieking as our wings collided. I ducked just as she reached for my throat. Swooping behind her, I grabbed a fist full of her hair and yanked. She flung backward, thrashing and flailing. A searing pain shot through my flesh as she sank her claws into my thigh. A metallic stench permeated the air around me, choking me. I gasped, unable to catch my breath. I looked down. So much blood. It spilled out of my legs like an open floodgate. Tiny sparks floated in front of me, blurring my vision.

  Wrenching out of my grasp, the harpy flew back around to face me. The corners of her mouth crinkled, her lips pursed into a menacing smile. She jerked back a clawed hand, aiming to take another swipe at me. I froze, my courage fading fast as warm sticky blood oozed out of the gaping wound on my thigh. I was losing my bearings, faltering, floating downward.

  A whooshing sound snapped in my ears, crackling the air as an arrow whizzed past me and stuck into the harpy’s head. Her eyes bulged, then shut, and her limp body tumbled down into the sea.

  I turned toward the ship to see Seven, a bow in his hands and a pile of arrows at his feet. With just a slight nod of his head, he shot me a look that seemed to say, don’t worry, I’ve got your back. I exhaled a sigh of relief and whisked back around to locate Chaos.

  My muscles ached, but I couldn’t turn back now. I couldn’t slink away like a wounded animal. Chaos slashed and ripped apart another two harpies. Bits of flesh and feathers sprayed out around him. But it was hard to tell who was besting who at this point as they pummeled him back.

  I raced over, ignoring the pain in my leg, and wedged myself between him and the frenzied creatures. He cried out, his lips moving, but I couldn’t hear anything he said over the wails and shrieks. Closing my eyes, I reached deep inside for my magic, letting it swirl and dance through every bone and every feather. I wrapped my wings around my body, pulling them in as close as I could get them. With one quick burst, I thrust out, releasing everything I had. All three harpies flew back as wave after wave of magic slammed into them. Their bodies jerked, twisting and contorting before dropping one by one into the ocean.

  The wind picked up speed, carrying me to Chaos. “I told you I could do this.”

  “Congratulations.” He clenched his fists as he hovered next to me, blood and sweat glistening off his bare chest.

  The world felt like it was closing in. Adrenaline still pumped through my veins, leaving me breathless. “I—I was just trying to help. To be useful. Why are you so angry?” We had just defeated a dozen or so harpies. Why wasn’t he thanking me?

  Chaos threw up his hands in frustration. “You could have been killed. You haven’t even awakened all of your powers. Can’t you see what’s at stake here?”

  I bit my lip, fighting back tears. “I’m sorry…I didn’t think about that.”

  He cursed. “That’s the problem. You never think. You act on every insufferable whim whenever it pleases you. You need to start thinking like a true leader.”

  He shook his head, flapping his wings as he dove back toward the ship. I watched him land with a hard thud and stomp off below deck. Hovering in the air, unsure of what to do, I locked eyes with Seven. His attempt at a sympathetic smile came across more as pity.

  Chaos’s words stung. He was angry with me. Maybe he was right to be. It was dangerous and impulsive to come up here. In my own selfish need to feel like I belonged, I may have just made things worse.

  Seven raised his hand and motioned for me to come down. I took a deep breath and started to descend, hoping I wouldn’t run into Chaos for the rest of the night. I couldn’t bear to see that look of disappointment again in his eyes.

  As I glided down, it dawned on me just how high up I had flown. It seemed to be taking forever to reach the ship. I flapped my wings harder and plunged down.

  Almost to the deck, Seven’s face paled, his eyes filling with horror. Confusion lasted only a second as I was yanked back like a rubber band and pulled upward again.

  My stomach dropped as the air left my lungs and a sharp pain shot up my back. Harpy talons, digging deep into my flesh. Where did she come from? The fresh taste of metal coated my tongue.

  I opened my mouth to scream, but only a whimper escaped as blood gurgled in my throat, gagging me. I jerked my head back toward the ship, searching for Seven. My heart sank as his towering figure got smaller, and smaller. The harpy dragged me away by the skin of my back, her claws piercing into the base of my wings.

  Seven called out, his voice charging over the wind, larger than I had ever heard it. “Arya, get down!” He leapt onto the stern like a dark beast, an arrow cocked and loaded toward us.

  With what little strength I had left, I hugged my knees to my chest and hunched forward, rolling myself into a ball. I cursed as the pain in my back deepened. A wave of nausea hit me as the fear of my spine detaching entered my already drifting mind.

  The harpy flung me around and closed her hand around my throat, cutting off every ounce of air to my lungs. I tugged at her wrists, but it was no use. I couldn’t move. I closed my eyes, letting the darkness take over just as Seven’s arrow shot past me with lightning speed. It plunged into the harpy, snapping her n
eck like a broken tree branch. I slipped out of her grasp and tumbled down toward the sea.

  Free falling at rapid speed, I still couldn’t catch my breath. The wind whipped through me like an angry ghost. It hummed in my ears, mocking me. My eyelids fluttered, too heavy to hold open. My lips, soaked in sea spray—no…blood—ached and swelled. The waves crashed like cymbals below me. It was as if time had stopped yet sped up at the same time. The icy water reached out to meet me like a slap on the face. And everything went black.

  Eleven

  The ship rocked from side to side, the rhythm gentle, but each subtle motion sent an excruciating pain up my spine.

  I was alive.

  The cabin was dark except for a tiny tea light candle on the table next to me. I tried to lift my neck, but was met with more pain. I flopped my head back down on the pillow, defeated. I tried to call out but my throat was dry and coated with that familiar taste of metal. How did I survive? I couldn’t remember.

  Footsteps lumbered down the stairs, heavy and slow. I blinked a few times in an attempt to adjust my eyes to the dimly lit room. The footsteps grew louder, closer, before finally stopping at the foot of my bed. Apollo only knows how long I’d been lying here like this. A large shadow loomed over me, two amber lit eyes peering down.

  Seven reached down and brushed a strand of damp hair off my forehead. “We thought we lost you. Welcome back.”

  I pinched my eyes shut as the tears spilled out. I could only muster a hoarse whisper, “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all right. Just try to rest. All that matters now is that you’re alive.”

  I tried to sit up again, but he gently nudged be back down. My lower back felt like it was full of knives. “How angry is he?” A part of me wondered if Chaos was even still here.

  “No one is angry with you, Arya. We’ve been worried sick about you all night. You just need to sleep now. Don’t worry about anything else.”

  I strained for his hand, my muscles stiff and aching. “Will you stay with me?”

  “Of course.” Seven pulled up a chair and sat down next to me, his hand still covering mine.

  The wind was silent. Absent. There was only the crashing of the waves. There was nowhere to go. I couldn’t move. I could barely speak. So I let myself surrender to sleep.

  Bright yellow sunlight splashed through the portholes, stinging my eyes as I opened them. Seven’s and Chaos’s muffled voices echoed from the narrow stairwell that led up to the upper deck. I pushed up on my elbows to get a better listen, but my back locked up and that familiar pain returned, slicing through me like a sword.

  I cried out as a wave of nausea hit me. I was in worse shape than I’d thought. I lifted up and reached around carefully to feel the extent of the damage. The bandages were on tight, but they were warm and wet. I was bleeding through and my pulse was weak.

  I needed Sapphire. I wished she were here to tell me everything was going to be okay. To make the pain go away. My anger rose. I did this to myself. Without thinking, I reached for the glass of water next to my bed and flung it across the room. It hit the wall and shattered into a hundred shards on the cabin floor.

  Footsteps charged down the stairs. Both Seven and Chaos stormed into the cabin, their eyes wide and panic-stricken.

  I turned my head, cringing at the thought of Chaos seeing me in this state. “How long have I been like this?”

  Seven knelt down, picking up the broken glass with his bare hands. “Three days. How are you feeling?”

  “Like an idiot.” Maybe if I had a coven, I wouldn’t have acted so selfishly.

  “Good,” Chaos snapped. “I hope you learned your lesson.” He spun on his heel and charged back up the stairs.

  “He hates me, doesn’t he? I almost cost us everything…he should hate me.”

  Seven scooped up the remaining glass and tossed it into the metal trash bin. “He’s just scared…concerned. Sometimes anger is easier to show than fear. Fear makes us vulnerable. Anger keeps you moving.”

  I pulled the blanket up to my neck. “How bad is it?” Every word I tried to muster, every breath, sent stabs of pain through my back and chest.

  He hovered over the trash bin, fixated on the broken pieces of glass that littered it. “I’m not going to sugar coat it. You’re in bad shape. The wounds are…extensive. With the Keeper gone, and Sapphire’s whereabouts unknown, we have no one to heal you. We have no choice but to wait.”

  “Wait?” I retorted. “We don’t have time to wait. I need to finish awakening my magic. There has to be something—someone who can help us.”

  Chaos never quite made it all the way up the stairs. He cleared this throat as he lingered in the doorway. “I know of another way.”

  Seven leaned back against the cabin wall and wiped the sweat off his brow with a black handkerchief. “Go on then.”

  Chaos hesitated for a moment, then took a calculated step into the room. “The Hall of Secrets. There are ingredients there…potions, herbs, tinctures. Plants that can heal.”

  “But we don’t know how any of it works. Without the Keeper, it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack,” Seven said.

  “Then we’ll try everything until something works. We have nothing to lose, and it’s better than sitting around here doing nothing.” Chaos’s eyes were sunken in with dark circles underneath them. His usual radiant skin was dull and his hair disheveled. I wondered how long it had been since he’d slept.

  Was he concerned, or did he just want me to heal faster so we could get back to our original plan? The sooner I became the Aether, the sooner he could go home. He couldn’t even look me in the eye. But either way, I needed to get out of this bed. “Take me there. The pain in my back…it’s getting worse.”

  Seven tucked his handkerchief into his sleeve, but not before wiping his forehead once more. “It’s settled then.”

  Chaos started for the stairs, then stopped. As if suddenly remembering something, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a silver flask. “This should help with the pain.” He shoved it into Seven’s hand and left.

  Tilting my head back, Seven put the flask to my lips. My heart fluttered as the bittersweet liquid trickled down my throat. I gazed up at him in disbelief, licking the traces of licorice off my lips. Absinthe. “He remembered,” I whispered.

  He winked and set the flask down next to me before exiting the cabin, leaving me alone to wallow in my pain and self-loathing. What had I been trying to prove? That I could bleed like everyone else? All I’d managed to do was become a liability and make myself look like an ass in the process.

  As I drifted back to sleep, I pictured Chaos on the beach in the Fairy Pools. I saw his beautiful black wings unfolding around me. Felt the warmth and tingles rush over me as his feathers entwined with mine. Felt the shivers as his dark eyes filled with longing as they lingered over every inch of me. I dreamed we were back there. That we had never left. But the throbbing ache in my back reminded me that we had. More than wanting to be healed, or wanting to awaken my magic, more than anything…I wanted him to look at me the same way again. The way he looked at me on that beach.

  I could no longer hear the waves crashing or feel the swaying of the ship. The room was unfamiliar, bright and sturdy without any windows—white walls, rows of cots, and tables lined with beakers and potions—an infirmary. There was only one place we could be. The Hall of Secrets.

  Chaos sat in a chair by the door, his gaze fixated on me. “You’re lucky to be alive.”

  Did he not have a sensitive bone in his body? “Who made you like this? Like how you are? So cold and distant…” I shivered despite the sheet and two blankets that covered me.

  “Don’t presume to think you have me figured out. You don’t know me.” He folded his arms to his chest, protectively.

  I punched a fist into the mattress and instantly regretted it as a sharp pain shot up my arm. I cursed under my breath. “How could I know you? You pull away every time we get close. I’m sorry I
messed up. I’m sorry that I almost ruined everything. I will not be sorry for wanting to help. For proving you were wrong about me. I shouldn’t have gone up there with the harpies. But my intentions were good. Can you say the same?”

  Chaos flew from his chair and dashed to my bedside, his nostrils flared, hovering over me, our eyes locked in wild fury, our faces mere inches apart. “I care…too much,” he whispered.

  “You have a funny way of showing it,” I mumbled.

  “When you fell into the water…I thought you were dead. I thought I had lost you. That I had failed you. I’m not angry with you… I’m angry with myself.” He sank down onto the bed.

  Every ounce of anger melted away. “Chaos, it wasn’t your fault. You were right. I wasn’t ready. I should have stayed on the ship with Seven.”

  He smiled, his eyes glassy. “Arya Frost, you were born ready. Getting hurt is the risk we take in war. No one is immune to that. I shouldn’t have left you up there alone. Like I said, I’m angry with myself.” His smile faded as quickly as it appeared.

  I reached out, cupping his cheek in my unsteady hand. “Like I said, this isn’t your fault. I promise you, I won’t ever scare you like that again.”

  The thrill of his lips, quivering as he pressed them into my palm, sent sparks through my fingertips, delighting every nerve. His warm breath danced over my skin, awakening all of my senses. Forgetting my injuries, I forced myself up, inching toward him until we were nose to nose. An urgency to kiss him took over. An ache similar to hunger. I couldn’t think of anything else.

  Chaos jerked his head toward the door as it burst open. Seven rushed in, carrying handfuls of dirt and herbs as if he had pulled out their roots from deep within the earth. “I gathered what I could find from the garden, but who knows if any of it’s useful. I’ll look for recipes in here. Chaos, check the library for any notes or formulas. The Keeper must have written something down somewhere.” He seemed oblivious to how close Chaos and I were sitting, muttering to himself as he whipped around the infirmary like a mad man.