Eternal Sacrifice (Mortal Enchantment Book 4)

by Stacey O'Neale

  “What? Why?” As he strode toward the castle, I shook my head. What had just happened? I got that this was an emergency, but he’d been gone all day. Now he was here with no real explanation, drenched in blood. Was it his or had he done this to someone else? Had there been a battle? Were many elementals killed? He offered no details. Only that he wanted the shield. Needing to know more, I caught up to him and grabbed his arm. “Slow down and tell me everything that happened.”

  He let out an exaggerated breath. “We don’t have enough time. Valac could already be on his way. I need to get the shield out of here. Away from you.”

  Had he decided that I couldn’t protect the shield? Maybe that was true when I first arrived at Avalon, but I was a different person now. A stronger person. “I’m the akasha,” I reminded him. “I think I can handle myself.”

  “I know how powerful you are.” He smirked. “I also know that Valac can kill you with a paper cut from that sword. I won’t take a chance like that. Not with you.”

  His protective words were a sweet gesture, but I wasn’t swayed. I still had questions that had to be answered before I went any further. “What are you planning to do with the shield?”

  He grimaced.

  I crossed my arms, and raised an eyebrow.

  When he figured out I wasn’t going anywhere until he filled in the blanks, he replied, “I’m taking the shield to my court.” I still didn’t move. A muscle in his jaw twitched. “The shield is one of the few pieces of armor that can withstand a blow from Excalibur. He’ll come for it.”

  So he wanted to take the shield to the fire court so Valac would follow him? What was the advantage of that? Valac knew his court just as well as Rowan. Maybe better. “And when he does?”

  “I’ll challenge him,” he replied sternly. “If I’m quick enough, I’ll be able to get the sword away from him. The hounds will be there to finish him off.”

  What if he couldn’t get the sword away from him? He would die. My chest tightened at the thought. “No, Rowan. I can’t let you do that. I’m not going to risk your life.”

  His expression hardened. “But it’s okay for you?”

  Yes, it was. I might not have fully understood all of my powers, but I knew my core purpose. My duty was to balance the elements. I had to keep the mortal world safe. “I’m the akasha. It’s what I was meant to do.”

  “No, it’s not.” The corners of his mouth turned up as he cupped my face. “You’re meant to rule the air court. You’re meant to live a long and happy life. But since you’ve been here, you’ve had pieces of that life chipped away bit by bit. And after everything you’ve been through, I refuse to stand back and allow you to sacrifice your life too.”

  “I’m not giving up.” I put my hands over top of his, slowly lowering them. “But if we can’t stop him. If there’s no another way—”

  “There has to be.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe we’re missing something. In the akasha journals, did they mention anything about the creation of the mist?”

  When I received my powers, all of the information from the journals was imported into my mind. Thousands of pages of information all at once. It was impossible to remember every last detail. But maybe if I focused on just the creator of the mist. Maybe I could pull it up like a file on a computer. I closed my eyes, concentrating on the mist. In my vision, the mist shimmered with a riot of colors. For a moment, its immense power flowed through me. My skin hummed. As the mental pages flipped, I tried to center all my energy on the creator. Every second I held on drained me. Trying to search my mind used up a lot of my strength. My knees wobbled. As I was about to collapse, muscular arms wrapped around me. I was lowered to the ground into a sitting position. I opened my eyes, and discovered Rowan bent down in front of me.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, as his expression softened.

  This wasn’t going anywhere. I couldn’t access the information without exhausting myself. With Valac gaining momentum, I had to conserve my strength. “I think it would be better if I searched through the actual journals. Using my power like this weakens me.”

  “Where are the journals?”

  I’d kept them in my room for weeks while I was trying to read them. But once I gained my powers, I decided it was best to store them with the rest of the sacred texts and artifacts. It seemed like the safest place. Very few were aware they existed. Only the kings and queens of the courts knew where they were kept and how to get there. “In the caverns below the castle.”

  He smiled. “Lead the way, Jelly Bean.”

  I shook my head. “Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”

  “Nope.”

  The vaults could only be accessed using a portal. Each court had their own. The fire court entrance was located somewhere in their castle. I doubted Rowan knew where it was. Dad told me no one outside of the air court could use ours. I had one other option. The journals said an akasha had the ability to create portals. Once inside the pathway, I could control where I wanted to go. It wasn’t something I’d ever tried before. Now seemed like a good time to give it a go. I closed my eyes. With my palms out, I motioned my hands around in a circle.

  “What are you doing?” Rowan asked, cautiously.

  “You’ll see.” Slowly, I increased the size of the circle until it was large enough for us to walk through. When I opened my eyes, a shimmering golden tunnel swirled a few feet in front of us.

  “Holy shit,” he said, staring at my creation with wide eyes. “Did you just create a portal?”

  “An akasha portal.” I corrected, feeling pretty impressed with myself.

  He approached the pathway, touching the rim with the tips of his fingers. “My girlfriend is a total badass.”

  “Come on.” I laughed as I grabbed his hand and tugging him inside.

  When we reached the end of the tunnel, we stood in total darkness. Before I could say anything, Rowan snapped his fingers. A baseball-sized orb of blue fire swirled inches above his open palm. He smirked, naturally. No matter what happened, he never seemed to lose his sense of humor. Or his cockiness. I reached for a torch I saw on the ground, and he lit it. The area around us illuminated enough to see that the limestone caverns were miles wide. Stalactites hung down like icicles while thick columns supported the vast ceilings.

  “This place is incredible,” Rowan said, taking in the scenery.

  It was obvious by his reaction that he’d never been here. I wasn’t surprised. His mother shared very little with him. Pain and torture had been her only gifts. As we walked through the arena-sized caverns, wind stirred all around us. It was the first wind—the remains of all of the air elementals who eventually found their way down here. Their presence gave me a surge of power. The last time I was here, I remembered it felt chilly. Now it was warm and seemed to wrap around me like an embrace. For a second, I held on and imagined it was my father. I sensed he was with me.

  After a few minutes of walking, we reached the silver vault-like door with the air court symbol embedded into it. I ran my hand over the seal. A rumbling filled the silence, and then the door slowly creaked open. Rowan motioned his hand for me to lead the way. I watched him as he took in the rows of dark wood shelves that lined the walls with hundreds of leather-bound books.

  “What is this place?” he asked, as he studied the space.

  “It’s where all the sacred texts are stored. The complete history of the elementals are down here. Anything and everything you’ve ever wanted to know.” I waved my hand. “All in one secret place.”

  He stared at one of the bookshelves that had the fire court symbol embedded into the top. “Who knows about this place?”

  Dad said only the kings and queens knew, and they couldn’t share the information until they passed on the throne to the next ruler. “Dad, Orion, Marlena, Britta, and probably your mom and aunt.”

  The akasha journals were stacked on the small marble table in the middle of the massive room. I sat down in one of the four chairs while
Rowan continued to tour the rest of the library. Once he reached the far end, he stopped at the glass octagon-shaped display that housed the Shield of Lancelot. He opened the encasement. When he held it, the shield flashed a bright white light.

  “I can feel its power,” he said, rubbing his hand over the smooth surface. He traced his finger over the three diagonal red bands. “It’s radiating into me, making me stronger.”

  As fierce as he already was, the weapon made Rowan absolutely lethal. “Dad told me it will make you three times stronger than you are right now.”

  “Incredible.”

  While Rowan focused on the shield, I skimmed through the journals. When I first tried to read them, they were in a language even Dad didn’t recognize. Since I gained my power, I understood every word. I sat for hours reading page after page. Their journals weren’t kept in chronological order. Each akasha wrote about their own experiences. Some detailed the history of the elementals, but most were concerning the everyday tales of the ones that came before me.

  I learned that I had the ability to drain an elemental of their power. It could be used to weaken an elemental or remove it permanently. A fourteenth-century akasha wrote about a few water elementals that had misused their powers. The sirens sang to lure mortal men into the water, then they drowned them for their amusement. This particular akasha removed their powers and banished them from Avalon. They were unable to transform out of their fish form, and lived a very short lifespan.

  I discovered a passage referencing the creation of the mist. A short paragraph. Anticipation rippled through me as I read. I couldn’t help smiling when I saw the name. A name I recognized from my mortal mythology books. I was surprised I’d never guessed. “Merlin is the creator,” I announced with excitement.

  He sprung to his feet. “Where can we find him?”

  “I don’t know. There hasn’t been an akasha for one hundred years. There were no records over the last century. The journals are incomplete.”

  Rowan stared out into the distance, rubbing his hand over his knuckles. “I might know another way.”

  My eyebrows furrowed.

  “When I went to the eternal flame, I spoke to the original elders of my court.” He held out his hand, helping me to my feet. “They might be able to tell me where I can find Merlin.”

  The elders had given Rowan back his wings. Based on what he’d told me, they seemed aware of everything that had happened in Avalon over the centuries. I sensed they would know about the power of the mist and its creator. “Is it dangerous?”

  He shrugged. “No, I don’t think so.”

  “If you think they’ll help, you should go.” I wished I could’ve gone with him. But I couldn’t leave my court. “I’ll stay here and continue to search through the journals.”

  He pulled me against his chest. “I don’t want to leave you again.”

  “Me neither.” My heart ached. After everything, leaving him again was the last thing I wanted to do. “But it doesn’t seem like we have much of a choice.” As he tilted my chin upward, our eyes met. He pressed his lips gently against mine. It was odd at first. Rowan was so intense I almost expected a rough kiss. But this was sweet and full of emotion. The kind of kiss that made toes curl and butterflies dance all over your skin. I opened my mouth and his tongue slipped inside. He tasted like cinnamon. His arms tightened around my waist, removing any space left between us. The world around us washed away. There was only sensation. His touch. His embrace. I relaxed into him, letting all the problems of the day fade away as I prayed the moment would never end.

  A whimper escaped my throat as he pulled away.

  He smirked. “I have to stop or I’ll never leave.”

  “I know.” My cheeks warmed. “I feel the same way.”

  We both knew what was at stake. But, selfishly, I wanted to keep him with me. We’d spent so much time apart. Any time we managed to get together, something always separated us. I longed for those days we spent at the beach when we first met. All those hours we’d trained and talked. Well, I'd mostly asked questions he hadn't answered. The corners of my mouth curved into a smile. I’d fallen in love with him during that time. He’d risked so much by teaching me to control my powers. The night of the ball, I would’ve died if he hadn’t intervened. Every step I’d made, he’d been by my side. I owed him my life several times over.

  I made my way over to the shield, and held it out to him. “Take this and keep it with you at all times.” As he slid his arm through the handle, the gravity of our situation sunk in and I was overwhelmed with emotion. A single tear ran down my cheek. “Promise that you’ll come back to me.”

  He wiped the tear away with his thumb, and leaned down. His face was only inches from mine. “There’s nothing in this world that could keep me from you.”

  “Say the words,” I insisted.

  He rested his forehead against mine, closing his eyes. “You are my home, Kalin. I will always come back to you.”

  My eyes swam with tears. I pressed my lips into his with all the passion I could muster. I wasn’t sure how long we kissed. But however long, it wasn’t enough. Before I had time to catch my breath, we stood in front of a fire court portal. The ring of fire swirled wildly as we latched onto each other one last time. I held my breath as he strolled toward the pathway. He was already inside when he glanced over his shoulder at me.

  “I love you,” he said. “I always have.”

  I opened my mouth to respond but he was already gone.

  Chapter Five

  Marcus

  “What should I do with her?” the hound asked.

  We stood inside the fire court castle in front of Selene’s old bedroom. It wasn’t what I’d consider a bedroom. At one time, it was more like a small luxury apartment. But since she’d left with her brother, her quarters had been looted by hounds that were once forced to serve her. “Leave her with me,” I answered.

  “Are you sure?” he asked, watching her as she squirmed in her shackles. “She could be dangerous.”

  He wasn’t wrong. Selene was a banshee. If she were fully trained, she could destroy us all with one shrieking scream. But she was more princess than warrior. Prisma always doted on her, dressing her in lavish gowns and jewelry that had to be worth millions in the mortal world. Her beauty was legendary. Every fire elemental in the court would’ve given his entire fortune to win her hand. Suitor after suitor had come to the castle. All were rejected. No one ever knew why, but I knew.

  Selene was just another pawn in her mother’s game.

  I opened the door to her room. “Let the other hounds know we’ve arrived. Have the kitchen prepare a feast.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “We’re all going to need our strength for what’s to come.”

  Reluctantly, they released her. She pulled her arms away in a show of defiance. That made me chuckle. As the other hounds made their way down the dark hallway, they periodically peered over their shoulders to check on us. They were much more concerned than I was, but I’d known Selene for a long time. She was smart enough to know she needed protection after she betrayed her twin brother. There was zero chance she planned to run away. As much as I was sure she hated her circumstances, we were all she had left.

  I motioned for her to step inside her bedroom. “Ladies first.”

  Raising her chin, she did as I asked. I followed behind her. We both gasped. It was worse than I’d anticipated. Furniture lay in burned, scattered pieces. All the bed linens and curtains were gone. The deep wood canopy was still intact, but the mattresses had been sliced and diced. Wallpaper was ripped, hanging off the walls in clumps. The closet doors were missing, as were all her expensive clothing and jewelry. This was more than a burglary. It was clear that whoever had done this hadn’t liked her very much.

  “I suppose you’re enjoying this,” she said, turning away from me as she tried to hide her reaction. But she was too late. I saw the tears welling in her eyes.

  I took the iron key out of my pocket, and remo
ved the shackles on her arms and legs. “If you’re implying I find joy in others pain, you’re wrong.”

  “It’s what I deserve, right?” she said, rubbing her bruised wrists. “To suffer for what I did.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Is that what you think?”

  “Why are you releasing me?” she asked, avoiding my question.

  “I’m not a big fan of imprisonment.” I set a chair upright that had fallen on its side. “Plus, I know you’re not going anywhere.”

  “You’re sure about that?” she challenged, squinting her eyes. “Don’t forget about what Orion said. This could all be part of Valac’s trap.”

  I separated the distance between us, and she flinched as if she expected to be struck. Why had she done that? No one reacted that way … unless they’d been beaten. A lump swelled in my throat. Stepping back, I put my hands up in retreat so she knew that wasn’t my intention. “You don’t have to fear me, Selene. As long as I am here, no harm will come to you.”

  She remained silent as if she were deciding whether or not to believe me. After several long moments, she softly replied, “I understand.”

  It took me a minute to wrap my head around what had just happened. This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting from her. All the assumptions I’d made about her over the years faded away in an instant. As she stood in the center of the room, idly rubbing her hands up and down her thin pale arms, she looked so fragile. It was like I was watching a baby bird that had fallen from its nest.

  Alone.

  Helpless.

  Broken.

  I stared at her torn dress. “Let’s find you something to change into. I doubt it will be anything like what you’re used to, but it will be better than what you have on.”

  “Why are you being nice to me?” she asked, voice filled with confusion. “I was never friendly to your kind. I treated you like servants.”

  I shrugged. “You treated us like servants because we were your servants.”

  “I wasn’t considerate. I could’ve been.” She glared at the floor. “But I wasn’t.”