I was used to having someone in my mind and I held my own, shoving him away from my psyche to trap his soul in a small sphere. His connection to me severed, and I gently stuck the sphere to the rock wall. I could feel him trying to get out, but my small prison was enough. I turned to the next shade reaching for me—it was going to be a long fight if I didn’t burn out before it was over.
I side-stepped her and began creating the next cage when a big hand grabbed my shoulder. Lakvas had moved while I was distracted with the soul, and his brute strength shoved me down to my knees. I hit the floor hard, gravel digging through my jeans and into my skin. Lakvas followed, pressing a knee into my chest as he shoved me onto my back.
“Get off!” I shouted, hitting him with a blast of power he’d anticipated, and my connection to the balance suddenly snapped. He pushed my face to the side with his hand, something soft twined around his fingers.
With horror, I recognized the dark auburn hair that Joy had cut off to help me get away from him. The connection was still strong enough for him to use it against me. With my access to my power severed, I swung my left arm and managed to smack him in the face. I curled my fingers to clawed his skin, his blood splashing onto my wrist.
The audible snap of my bones breaking made me cry out in pain as Lakvas, cursing, caught my wrist and twisted it. I’d never broken a bone before and had no defense against the pain. I tried to stop the scream that tore from my throat as he twisted the broken bone. Red spots appeared in my vision and it was a struggle to stay conscious.
“I told you that you would be mine,” Lakvas hissed, his sour breath on my face. He leaned in close, blood spattering onto my neck from the five distinct red lines that marred his cheek. Spittle flew violently from his mouth, and I tried to twist my hips, hoping to dislodge him.
He was too heavy, and all I managed to do was dig his knee deeper into my chest., making it harder to breathe. If I couldn’t break free, I was going to pass out.
“I’m going to enjoy breaking you slowly. It will be fun. When Drekvic comes for you, he’s not even going to recognize your brilliant spirit.”
“I doubt that.” Drekvic’s voice cut in from somewhere I couldn’t see. I’d never been so glad to hear it.
A white boot smacked into Lavkas’ nose as he turned towards the voice. It hit him with enough force to throw him off of me and into the wall. Rakshina didn’t hesitate, lunging after him with murder in her eyes. I barely had time to pull my injured arm to my chest before Chester hovered over me, pulling me into his arms and away from the two siekewa.
“Hi,” I muttered, falling limply into him.
He didn’t answer, focused on drawing a circle in the dirt floor with his foot. His shield flared to life, so strong that I could barely see through it as he sat me down and studied my face.
“What hurts?”
It was stupid, but hearing his voice made my eyes fill with tears, blurring my vision.
“Everything,” I laughed, hiccuping.
“You’re safe now,” Chester soothed, wiping the tears trickling down my cheeks.
I smiled at his optimism. “My arm is broken,” I said, gesturing with my good hand.
He frowned and gently picked up my limp wrist. I gasped and tried to fight off the darkness at the edges of my vision. Chester’s hands glowed green for a moment as he used his magic to examine the wound.
“I think Rakshina should set this,” he said, his voice hesitant. “I might mess something up.”
“He’s so strong,” I muttered, trying to see through the shield. I could hear the siekewa fighting, but I couldn’t tell what was happening. Pulling my injured arm to my side I tried to get my feet underneath me.
“Don’t,” Chester protested.
“We have to stop him. If that girl comes back, we’re in trouble.”
Frowning, he nodded and helped me to my feet, his hand around my waist to keep me from falling. As I steadied myself and gestured toward Chester to drop his shield, the muffled fighting was broken by Rakshina’s scream.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I lunged toward Chester’s shield, pressing against it to break it down. He dropped it before I could and moved to step in front of me with his sword drawn. Rakshina knelt with her head jerked backwards, flanked by two ghosts. I could see her dark energy being drawn into them as they tore her soul apart. Drekvic was fighting Lakvas, their movements almost too fast for me to follow. Both men looked determined, and I didn’t think I could get between them anyway.
Chester’s long legs took him to Rakshina’s side, his sword already swinging. It went through one of the ghosts, forcing it back before it reformed. With only one ghost trying to take her magic, she was able to shove the other one away.
In one swift motion, she created a bubble that to mine and managed to trap the soul inside. She stuck it on the wall next to my sphere, the light and dark pattern of our magic contrasting beautifully. I noticed two other bubbles next to mine—she’d been busy before getting cornered.
Working together, Chester and Rakshina managed to trap another, and moved on to the next. I turned back to Lakvas and Drekvic, glad that the two collectors could work together to handle the shades. Collectors couldn’t touch conventional ghosts, but whatever Lakvas had done to them had changed all that.
Lakvas twisted away from one of Drekvic’s blows and brought his linked fists down onto Drekvic’s shoulders. I started to run forward, already gathering magic, but Drekvic vanished, only to reappear a couple feet away, unharmed. He threw some sort of spell at the larger man, and while it hit Lakvas in the chest, he brushed it off as though it hadn’t hurt at all.
A shadow caught my attention, and I turned to the entrance in time to see Lakvas’ partner slink into the room. She wore the same wispy black dress as the first time I saw her, and her bare feet were silent as she stalked along the edge of the space, dark hair floating around her shoulders. Drekvic and Lakvas were locked in her pale blue gaze, and I wasn’t sure she’d given Chester, Rakshina, and me a passing glance.
Dark knives appeared in her ands, and I crouched, waiting. Chester had told me the blades drained his magic, and if Drekvic was hit, Lakvas could kill him. I had no idea what I was going to do with a broken arm, but with my good hand, I picked up a loose rock, and threw it at her as hard as I could, using my magic to make my aim true.
She didn’t even try to dodge, and the loud crack of it hitting her jaw made my stomach hurt. Her knives vanished as she cried out and reached for her cheek. It sounded like the bone had broken, and I thought she was going to cry. Instead, her gaze turned to me, fury filling her eyes as I stood frozen.
“You,” she hissed, moving forward. I took a step back, my mind blank. I’d wanted her attention, but I had no idea what to do with it once she turned to me. “I am going to kill you and use your soul to power my toilet,” she snarled, baring her teeth.
“I’m tired of people saying I’m going to do anything for them,” I replied with a snarl of my own. “I’m not something you can just use.”
“All the bright ones say that before I take their shine,” she replied, a knife appearing in her hand so quickly I almost missed it. My shield caught the blade before it hit my face. The knife flashed red and swallowed my shield before disappearing.
The siekewa was already following up with another knife, and I twisted to catch it with the shoulder of my broken arm. The power scraped against my bone and blood gushed from the new wound. Instead of letting the girl take my power, I took hers. The knife was just a spell made solid, and if I could absorb a spell, I should be able to absorb a knife.
Her magic hurt, a thousand teeth digging into my core, but it wasn’t long before the small piece of her magic was mine. The wound was still there, and I wished I’d had more practice healing scrapes and bruises. I could heal myself, but it would take more time than I had.
The girl glared at me, her cheeks burning bright enough to light the room. “That was mine!”
She
lunged at me, forgetting all subtlety or weapons. I tried to move away and pull on my sapphire ring, but I was too slow. She caught my good arm and jerked me into the wall, her grip not nearly as painful as the vision of her past that tore through my mind. With her bare hands digging into my flesh, I was thrown into her past.
Her name was Lokina, and she was the newest siekewa, but the darkness in her was overwhelming nonetheless, fueled by regret and self-loathing so thick I couldn’t breathe through them. I gasped desperately for air.
Her fingers closed more firmly around my throat as she crushed me into the wall. I tried to pull myself back into my body, to fight, but I was drowning her nightmare. It was a hot day, hotter than normal, and Lokina felt frantic as she ran toward her car. It had been an accident, forgetting her child—her schedule had changed and there was a lot on her mind. When she found her baby unresponsive, I was slammed with guilt so powerful, it nearly eclipsed anything I’d ever felt myself.
The vision faded, and I didn’t have energy to raise my good hand. Lokina’s palms crushed harder against my windpipe and I wondered if I’d actually die, or if Fate’s magic—my magic—would save me.
Drekvic appeared behind Lokina, blood streaming down his face as he wrapped his arm around her neck. She didn’t let go of me right away, and I was pulled forward for an instant before she released me. My knees hit the ground and I grunted as I started to tip, falling onto my good shoulder instead of my face. Dirt kicked up into my open mouth and I coughed heavily. I heard footsteps around me, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to open my eyes. I just hoped no one stepped on me while I nursed my wounds.
I was a complete failure as a goddess. I was captured and used as a pawn by Lakvas to lure Rakshina and Drekvic to their deaths. For an instant I had control over the balance, had been strong enough to defeat him, and I’d lost it in a moment of inattentiveness. I was injured and broken, facing the very real possibility that my friends might die. Lakvas and Lokina were strong, and I was only half of what I should be—all because I didn’t love Drekic the way I was supposed to.
Anger pushed away the rest of my self-pity. I’d already lost Joy, and I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to find her again. I refused to lose anyone else.
I managed to get up on my knees to take in the room. Rakshina was on the ground, clutching her chest and panting. Chester stood over her, his arm outstretched as he threw a ball of power at Lakvas, drawing his attention away from Drekvic. The edges of the room were lined with little glowing bubbles, not a shade in sight. Lokina and Drekvic looked like they were dancing. She slashed at him with her knives and he lambasted her with bursts of energy, but they recovered quickly enough between assaults to continue their dance.
I stood up slowly, blood loss and the weight of the day taking their toll. I looked at Rakshina’s pale form, her grimace giving me all the motivation I needed to reach for the balance again.
The block Lavkas had placed on me sprang to life in my mind, looming like an impenetrable wall—the only way to go was through it. My body was already changing. I could feel it in the way my muscles bunched as I stood. Lakvas had said my hair was already completely silver. I closed my eyes, blocking out everything from the room and concentrated on the wall.
The braid he’d used against me didn’t belong to me anymore. I wasn’t the same person, nor the same creature. I was something more, and I wasn’t subject to his whims.
The wall crumbled as I accepted what Fate had done to me, and if Hope was to be believed, what I’d done to myself. In another life, my soul had accepted what it would become long before I came into the world as Ellie Alwood. Whether it was to be free from the pain of losing Chester or our son, I would never know, but I accepted it again for the strength to save my friends, and then the world.
I was tired of losing. I was tired of being beaten up and broken, tired of letting people down. I was strong enough, and I was about to prove it.
The power of the balance, bright and pure, rushed into me, filling my tired body with energy. There was a sharp pain in my left wrist and shoulder, and when I looked, I saw the wound from Lokina’s knife closing, my fingers twitching as the bone was knit together.
I raised my right hand, palm facing out as I drew on the balance. My skin glowed, and the light spread to illuminate those around the room. Lokina danced back from Drekvic, her eyes wide as my power distracted her. Drekvic managed to hit her with a spell and she dropped like a rag doll.
Lakvas ignored me, dancing around Chester’s sword as he tried to get at Rakshina.
I sent a tendril of power out and wrapped it around his chest, pulling him toward me. He resisted, but without his hold on me through my discarded braid, he had no choice but to obey.
Drekvic moved to my side as I dragged the siekewa closer, and he put his hand over mine. The dark side of the balance flared to life at his touch, and our magic mingled like puzzle pieces falling into place, solidifying my bond with the balance.
Lakvas struggled to break free, but with every strand of the chain he broke, we layered more to take its place. Drekvic’s hazel eyes were cold and steady as he watched the siekewa’s slow progress across the floor.
I made him and I will unmake him. His thought was strong through the connection, and I couldn’t stop myself from looking over at him.
Piece by piece, I saw Drekvic start to take Lakvas’s soul apart. The siekewa started screaming and writhing, his limbs jerking like a marionette. The noises coming out of his throat made me sick as Drekvic continued to scatter the pieces around us.
I tried to pull back, tried stop him, but Drekvic clamped his power down against mine.
I can’t do this without you, Ellie. I need you to put him back together when I’m done, Drekvic said, his intention becoming clear.
As he tore Lakvas apart, I gathered the broken shards of his soul, sweeping them into an ever-growing pile. Drekvic used the light as much as the dark and I watched in fascination as he worked. I wondered if he had access to both sides all along, or if he could only draw on the light because we were together.
“You could just ask me, you know,” he whispered out loud, and I felt myself blush through the glow.
“I didn’t realize you could hear me think,” I said, mortified.
He chuckled, “Just don’t envision some dude naked.”
I couldn’t stop the snort of laughter, even as I continued to gather the fragments of Lakvas’ soul from around the room. His body fell still without a soul inside.
Your turn, Drekvic said. The darkness swirled around my light, almost overwhelming. You’re not as strong as me, the balance is off-set, he explained, and I understood. If we were lovers, I could take his strength as my own and we would be equals. Without that connection between us, I would always be weaker as he continued to grow.
It was a problem for another day—I couldn’t think about it if I was going to remake Lakvas’ soul as he was supposed to be.
With Drekvic’s magic thrumming through me, painful and oily, I slowly put the pieces of Lakvas’ soul together again. He had been broken from his time as a siekewa, all jagged edges and sharp contrasts, and it was difficult to figure out what parts of him were true. I disregarded everything about him as a siekewa and just focused on the pieces themselves. Sometimes they didn’t fit, and sometimes there were holes where he’d lost bits of himself, but eventually I had a violet soul floating in my hands, free of the siekewa’s taint.
That wasn’t to say he was pure. All the deeds he’d done as both a siekewa and as a human were still his. Staring at what was left, I realized there was no way I could take his soul to the Beyond. He would be rejected, his magic too dark to exist there.
Drekvic pulled a small white stone out of his pocket. It was dim and empty, but I recognized the cairn immediately. I looked at him with a heavy feeling in my chest and shook my head.
“I can’t,” I said, pulling away from him. The soul was docile, as though he was asleep. I didn’t need the balance
to hold him.
“He’ll be too vulnerable as a ghost. At least this way he won’t be used,” Drekvic said, his voice heavy.
“All cairns must given a choice to serve,” I said more harshly than I intended. “I can’t just force him into it.”
“He made the choice the moment he took you away from me,” Drekvic snarled, stepping closer. “He was suffocating you when we got here, or don’t you remember?”
I froze, torn. “You didn’t have to become a cairn when Fate and Hope fixed you,” I stammered weakly.
“Because everything I did, I did out of love for my family. Even then, Ellie, I can’t stay in the Beyond. If I wasn’t who I am, I would have become a cairn, too.”
“So because he’s not a god, he’s going to be trapped?” I countered.
“Yes,” Drekvic replied simply, pulling my hands toward him. In a seamless motion, he dropped the cairn into Lakvas’ soul and pressed his hand over mine. Our power flared for a moment as he drew on the light, and the burly siekewa’s soul as trapped.
A strangled sob escaped my lips and I dropped down to hug my knees. Drekvic caught the new cairn before it fell from my weak grasp and placed the stone back into his pocket. He reached out, but didn’t touch me, as Chester beat him to it, crouching down to put an arm around my shoulders.
I dropped my connection to the balance, numb.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Jana’s room was blessedly quiet and heart-wrenchingly familiar. I was still afraid to move anything, as though that would be admitting she never existed. I knew it was a silly sentiment, but as I slowly lowered myself onto her blue bedspread, I was glad I hadn’t cleaned yet.
I felt closer to her, surrounded by all of her things. Jana had always been so happy and full of life. Her ideas had often helped me get through roadblocks in my research, a thoughtful question often leading me down a new path. She’d been flighty and vague, but she’d always known what to say to help me move forward. Without her, I was afraid of the future.
Wayward Hope Page 15
