“You said that having sex with me wouldn’t affect your decision,” he said with a faint smile curving his lips. “I take you at your word. You won’t have to decide anything—because you’re about to be removed from contention.” Aira felt weakness overcoming her and sat up awkwardly, her head spinning as everything seemed to slow down.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, looking around ineffectively for her clothes. She had to get away from Alex. Aira found her jeans and shirt and stumbled off of the couch, grabbing for them awkwardly before looking at the other elemental.
“What I just gave you is a distilled potion of fern, comfrey, ivy, and vervain,” he said.
Aira’s eyes widened, her mind still quick enough—barely—to recognize the trait those plants had in common: they were all earth-aligned. “You won’t be able to use your abilities for days—maybe even weeks.” Alex’s smile grew slightly.
“You—you bastard!” Aira said, struggling to stand as lethargy overtook her limbs. She struggled into her clothes, not even bothering with her underwear, and held herself up even as she began to feel dizzy from the poison Alex had dosed her with. “You don’t know what decision I was going to make! But now I can goddamned guarantee you—I” Aira weaved, fighting to stay upright. The room was spinning as the potion took hold, nullifying her abilities. Aira shook her head, feeling as if it was full of cement, her thoughts slowing to a crawl.
She decided it was more important to get away from Alex than it was to talk to him. Aira sank down onto her knees, grabbing for a book to push the salt out of the way so she could make her exit. “Thanks for the energy boost, by the way,” Alex said behind her. Aira looked over her shoulder. “It gave me enough strength to actually get the potion into you.”
She scowled at him and pushed part of the rock salt cordon aside, turning to face Alex.
“I can guarantee you that not only are you going to die, but your entire family is going to be put to death with you. And I will do everything in my power to make sure you get to watch them all go first.” Aira gathered her fleeting strength, stepping through the gap in the cordon. She pushed it back into place and staggered to Dylan’s room, knocking at his door with a hand that felt as though it was encased in lead. She heard Dylan stirring and wished he would hurry. Aira leaned heavily against the door frame, trying to find her equilibrium.
He appeared, his hair disheveled, his dark eyes troubled. “What’s wrong?” he asked her.
Aira swayed, barely holding onto consciousness as the potion continued to work through her.
“Get Aiden. Surround Alex with as much iron as you can find. He poisoned me.” The world began to spin abruptly, the light around Aira dimmed, her field of vision narrowed. “I don’t know how much longer I can…” she licked her lips, trying to complete the sentence as the earth-bound ingredients pulled her down. Her whole body felt heavy, useless. Aira gripped the door frame as firmly as she could, trying to clear her head of the weight that seemed to be slowing it down.
“How did he poison you? Aira? Aira!” Everything quickly turned to black and Aira heard a distant crashing sound as she was overcome.
*
Aira was barely aware of the world around her. She floated in and out of consciousness, hearing the sound of Aiden’s voice, sounding irritated. “It would be killing her,” she heard Dylan say at one point. “This kind of potion wasn’t meant to just nullify her abilities.” There was a brief, flickering moment of clarity as Aira was being carried down a flight of stairs; she opened her eyes and saw her familiar stairwell, heard the rustling and clanking of chains.
“I don’t care if she is poisoned, and neither do the elders—they have to have her decision.”
Aira closed her eyes once more, annoyed at the sound of Saoirse’s voice. She didn’t care—she just wanted to sleep. Aira was vaguely aware of the fact that she was being deposited in a seat, a belt fastened around her to hold her in place.
“I’m riding with her—it was the elders’ stupid decision that put her in this position, and you can either have me in your car, or you can have her in my car—I’m not leaving her alone.” Aiden insisted.
Aira faded back into unconsciousness, everything around her going blank and deeply black.
She came back to herself once more and suddenly. She opened her eyes and found herself in the smaller court room she remembered from before—the one she had been inside of when the elders had given her the task of judging Alex’s fate.
“Aira,” the elder spokesperson said sharply. “What is your judgment?” Aira, feeling tactless and unconcerned at the status of the elders in the grip of the poison, rolled her eyes.
“Oh, no, it’s not important that I’m sitting here poisoned. That’s small potatoes to the process of deciding whether or not I should become the ruler of my element.” She stood unsteadily, gripping the back of her chair. “Alex Brecken is irredeemably unstable, and a dangerous risk to elementals everywhere.” Aira looked around the room slowly. “I judge that he should be executed, and his family members judged to determine whether or not they should also be eliminated from the community. It’s likely that many of them—if not all of them—share his dangerous instability.” She spotted Alex, weighed down by iron chains.
“Very well,” the elder said, nodding slowly. “If you deem that he should be eliminated from the community, then we agree.” He looked at the other elders, who nodded. “You will execute him yourself in one week’s time.”
Aira staggered. “You’ve never required an elemental ruler—much less a candidate for ruler—to execute another elemental,” she said.
The elder raised an eyebrow.
“We want to be certain that you’re able to follow through on your decisions. You have a week to recover from your poisoning. If you are unable to execute Alex Brecken at that time, we will decide that you are no longer in contention to be the ruler of your element.” He looked around the room. “Put Alex back into his holding cell. Aiden, Dylan, you can take Aira with you.” The elders filed out of the room, and Aira looked at her two friends, feeling the poison taking hold of her once more. She had never even tried to kill another person in her entire life. It seemed to her, as darkness swam up to cover her vision that the elders were determined to force her to fail.
*
DID YOU ENJOY THIS STORY? If so, I’d really love it if you could leave a review for me.
Don’t miss the exciting conclusion of Aria’s story in INFERNO: Book 5
Get Your Copy Here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QN4Z71O
As Aira hovers between life and death, victim to Alex’s poison, Aiden realizes what he feels for her is more than desire. Infuriating she may be, but she was also charming and generous, insinuating herself into his heart just as easily as she inhabits the wind. But he knows that Aira isn’t for him and he must complete the job her grandmother has given him and Dylan. He must protect Aira and help her become the ruler of the Air Elemental so she can choose a husband and finally be safe. Despite his determination to do his job then get out of her life, Aiden can’t keep his hands off Aira and the passion that erupts between them like white hot lava makes him crazy thinking of her with another man. But, it’s Dylan’s keen eye for detail that holds the key to saving Aira and Aiden while snaking out the evil power behind Alex--the nameless, faceless entity willing to destroy anyone in their path to kill Aira. In a race against time, Dylan and Aiden must do the impossible—protect Aira from a ruthless killer…and himself!
OTHER BOOKS BY LARISSA
ALPHA HYBRID – CAVERN OF LIGHT SERIES
The Becoming: Novella 1
The Magistrate: Novella 2
The Captured: Novella 3
The Pentagram: Novella 4
THE WITCH’S LOVE SPELL SERIES
The Witch’s Love Spell: Novella 1
The Witch’s Love Spell: Novella 2
The Witch’s Love Spell: Novella 3
ABDUCTION – A PSYCHIC ROMANCE SERI
ES
Abduction: Novella 1
Abduction 2: Novella 2
EYE OF THE COVEN SERIES
Eye of the Coven: Novella 1
Divulged Secrets: Novella 2
The Sacrament: Novella 3
STAND ALONE NOVELLAS
Cambion
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LARISSA LADD IS A DREAMER with insights fresh as the frost newly formed on the twig whose snap echoes through the moonlit forest. Since as a child she discovered the storybook world of ghouls and goblins, she's been a devotee of the eerie, the supernatural, and all that raises the hairs on the back of the neck. Her spine still shivers with delight when she huddles fearfully in a darkling corner, enthralled in suspenseful tales from her favorite authors Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and John Saul. Feast your eyes on the scintillating flashes of garish color dabbed forth from her pen.
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