Ash (The Underground Series Book 2)

by Melody Robinette

  Suddenly he heard a high-pitched scream coming from the edge of the forest. He whipped around to see Crystal squirming to release herself from the iron hold of a vampire in the shadows. Luke loaded an arrow into his bow and aimed it at the vampire, who seemed to sense his presence because he looked up to make eye contact with Luke.

  The thick glasses that Luke had once made fun of were magnifying the vampire’s eyes to three times their size. But rather than looking comical, they just enhanced the madness and hunger in them. The vampire smiled at Luke, showing off his razor-like incisors.

  “You gonna shoot me, Oaken?” the vampire purred.

  “Let her go!” Luke shouted.

  “Or what? You know very well a simple arrow can do me no harm.”

  Luke’s eyes narrowed, his hand tightening on his bow. “A wooden one through the heart can.”

  The vampire’s eyes darkened and he maneuvered Crystal slightly to his left so that she was covering his non-beating heart.

  “Very well,” the vampire sneered. “Shoot me through the heart.”

  Luke’s hands shook violently and he was unsure of his ability to hit any target at this point, much less the vampire’s heart. Crystal continued to squirm and attempted to free herself from the vampire’s hold. She managed to free her left hand and immediately shot the vampire with a jet of ice, covering his face and thick glasses.

  The vampire let out a loud growl and he released a hand to wipe at his face. Crystal took this opportunity to move a few inches to her right, exposing the left side of the vampire’s chest. Luke saw his chance and quickly sent his arrow into the vampire’s heart.

  Crystal jumped out of the way as the vampire collapsed where he stood, his body turning to ash before it even hit the ground. His clothes landed in a dusty pile with his glasses resting on top. Crystal and Luke stared at the clothes with wide eyes. Pieces of ash floated lazily to the ground.

  Luke’s eyes locked with Crystal’s and suddenly she was there in front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips to his. He was so stunned that he just stood there with a thunderstruck expression on his face. Crystal seemed to sense his surprise and began to pull away, but Luke placed his hands on either side of her face and pulled her fervently back to him.

  Since he’d come to Arbor Falls he had kissed countless girls, too many for him to even remember each one individually. They all just sort of ran together. But not this one. He knew he would remember this kiss until the day he died. The way Crystal’s lips felt against his, the sweet taste of them, the feel of her breath tickling his cheek, her hands running through his hair, sending shivers up and down his spine. Kissing Crystal made all of those other kisses disappear forever. There was no comparison to this.

  A scream sounded out behind them and they broke apart, instantly jumping back into the battle, as if they hadn’t just shared the most amazing first kiss known to anyone ever. But even as he was slicing the head off of a nearby troll, Luke couldn’t keep the smile from spreading across his flushed face.

  Checkmate

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  The path to the waterfall was longer and steeper than Autumn remembered. She clutched a stitch at her side as she continued to pound her way over the dirt and rocks and leaves and acorns that littered the ground. Her heart thumped harder against her chest with each step. Please let him be alive. Please. Please let him be alive. She chanted this over and over in her head, as if saying it enough times would make it true.

  She wasn’t far now. The steep incline was starting to level out. Rushing around a corner, she slammed to a halt. Rion stood on the path about twenty feet ahead of her, peering around a tree into the clearing that held the waterfall boundary. Autumn squinted her eyes in confusion until realization hit her. Victor was his son. He must’ve seen the dark shapes like she had and came to the same conclusion. This war was basically all the Vaun siblings’ fault anyhow.

  They probably came to catch the show, Autumn thought in disgust.

  But they had Avery. And she needed to get to him now. She continued slowly down the path, stepping on a fragile tree branch that cracked under her weight. Rion spun around to look at her.

  “Autumn?” he said.

  “Shhh!”

  “They can’t hear us,” he assured her. “I cast a silencing spell.”

  Autumn breathed a sigh of relief. “What’re you doing up here?”

  He frowned, looking slightly miserable. “I—I had to see him.”

  Autumn came to stand beside Rion and they both peered into the clearing. Victor hovered at the edge of the hill overlooking Arbor Falls with a strange expression on his flawless face. Vyra was nowhere to be seen. Then Autumn spotted Avery. He was lying in a heap on the moss at the base of the waterfall. He wasn’t bound by anything, but Autumn knew that he couldn’t move. Victor must’ve put some sort of spell on him. His eyes were open and he was watching Victor with a look of loathing. But he was alive.

  Autumn’s heart clenched at the sight of him, lying in the same spot where he had found his sister, after Victor murdered her. Suddenly the magnetic tie Avery and Autumn somehow shared pulled violently, as if it wanted her to go to him. She knew Avery could feel it too because his eyes moved suddenly to the spot where she stood.

  “Are we invisible right now?” she whispered, though she knew they couldn’t hear her.

  Rion nodded, his eyes still on his son. A mixture of emotions swirled in their emerald green—fear, pain, regret, even a miniscule amount of pride.

  “I have to help Avery,” Autumn said, stepping forward, but Rion held his arm out.

  “What’re you going to do?” he said in a strange tone.

  “I—I don’t know, but I have to help him—”

  Rion shook his head. “You can’t kill him.”

  Autumn looked into his emerald eyes, so much like Victor’s. “What?”

  “You can’t kill Victor.”

  “I can’t alone, but if you help me…” she said, trailing off at the look of horror and pain on his face. “Rion, Victor is evil. You can’t help him. Trust me, I’ve tried. We can’t let him hurt anyone else.”

  Rion just shook his head again and began walking towards the clearing. “Maybe if I talk to him. If I tell him how sorry I am for abandoning him—”

  “No, Rion,” Autumn said urgently. “He’ll kill you.”

  “It’s what I deserve,” he said. Then he began muttering something under his breath, waving his hand in slow circles. The air in front of them shimmered and moved in distorted waves and Autumn knew the silencing and invisibility spells had been lifted. She let out a small gasp of surprise and Victor turned to look at them.

  His green eyes widened fractionally when he looked from Autumn to Rion.

  “You shouldn’t have come here, Father,” Victor said in a low voice.

  Rion clutched at his chest as Victor said the word “father.” Autumn stood in partial shock, thoughts running restlessly through her mind. She should shoot him in the head with an arrow. She should push him off the steep cliff. She should. But she couldn’t seem to make herself do it. Her hand twitched, as if it knew it should be holding a bow and arrow right now.

  Victor saw this and snapped his fingers quickly. Autumn’s quiver of arrows and bow were ripped from her grasp and soared through the air to him. She tried to move forward, but was stopped by an invisible force field.

  “Sorry, Autumn,” Victor said, keeping his eyes trained on his father. “You and your boyfriend won’t be shooting me with any arrows today.”

  “Victor,” Rion said, his tone pleading. “This isn’t who you are. Your mother wouldn’t have wanted—”

  “How would you know what my mother would want?” Victor snapped. “You knew her long enough to impregnate her and leave her to raise me with my Atrum step-father who found pleasure in beating me every night.”

  “Son, I—”

  “Don’t call me your son,” Victor growled. “You are no father of min
e.”

  “Then why did you take his last name?” Autumn blurted out. At first she thought that Victor didn’t hear her through the invisible shield, but he slowly turned to her, though he never made eye contact.

  “I couldn’t very well use my actual surname, now could I,” he said in a low voice.

  “You could’ve chosen any other name, yet you chose his. Your true surname,” she said, surprised he hadn’t struck her dead yet. Maybe he was just toying with the three of them before he snapped his fingers and all their hearts would just stop beating.

  He was an Ellock. It would be that easy.

  Just the thought of Avery’s heart not beating made Autumn’s own skip a beat. No. If any of them got through this, it was going to be him. He had to. She didn’t think she could handle the alternative.

  “This is irrelevant,” Victor said, turning to gaze back out at the ongoing battle below.

  “It’s not, though,” Autumn continued, wondering if she was simply digging herself a hole. “You taking Rion’s last name means that you were claiming him as your father, whether you meant to or not.”

  “Do not attempt to psychoanalyze me, Autumn. You know very well that you are not very good at it.”

  “She’s right, Victor,” Rion jumped in. “I know I wasn’t there for you when you were growing up. I know I should’ve been there to save your mother from Vyra. I have regretted running away from the two of you longer and more deeply than you could ever know. I should never have listened to your mother when she told me to stay away.”

  “She told you to stay away?” Victor said suddenly, his eyes widening ever so slightly.

  Rion nodded. “She was trying to protect me, to protect you. The three of us were in grave danger. If Vex had suspected that you were not his—if anyone had discovered what you were—we all would’ve been murdered on the spot. She loved us too much to let that happen.”

  At the word “love” Victor flinched.

  Rion seemed to notice this because he hastily said, “And I love you too, Victor. You’re my son, and no matter what you’ve done, I will always love you. Always.”

  Victor was trembling, but he continued to look towards the battle.

  “If you loved me,” he whispered, “you wouldn’t have left me with them.”

  “I thought it was the right thing to do at the time. Your mother cared for you so much. I thought she would be able to protect you better than I ever could,” Rion said, his voice filled with anguish. Victor opened his mouth to speak, but Rion quickly continued. “I know. I was wrong. I should’ve taken you and your mom and left. We could’ve run away from there, we could’ve gone to the Outside and lived together forever. If I knew a spell that could turn back time, I swear to you, I would use it.”

  As he spoke he moved slowly closer to Victor so that now he was right behind him. He reached out a trembling hand and placed it lightly on Victor’s shoulder. Victor’s body stiffened, but he didn’t throw Rion’s hand off. He didn’t snap his fingers and kill him. He didn’t do anything.

  Autumn narrowed her eyes at this. What was he doing? Why wasn’t he getting upset and throwing him off of the cliff? Victor was a monster. He shouldn’t have been feeling anything.

  “Well, well, well,” a voice crackled out behind Autumn in the shadows of the clearing. “What a precious little family reunion.”

  If Autumn hadn’t been watching Victor’s fisted hands she wouldn’t have noticed him snap his fingers. The air around her shimmered slightly, but other than that nothing changed. She wondered if he had lifted the force field for some reason and attempted to step forward, but she was still met with an invisible wall.

  Rion stepped in front of Victor as if he were the vulnerable one there. Autumn almost shook her head in exasperation, but then realized that she would’ve done the same thing if it had been Avery or Luke. Vyra didn’t seem to see the sentiment in this gesture, but rather the humor, and burst out into cackling laughter.

  “I would be standing behind him if I were you, warlock,” Vyra sneered. “I believe he can handle himself. You should know. It is, after all, your fault he was ever created. You naughty little boy. Couldn’t keep it in your pants could you?”

  Autumn’s mouth dropped at this, but she didn’t have much time to react otherwise because Rion muttered an incantation under his breath and Vyra folded over double, holding her stomach. Rather than looking angry when she stood upright, she appeared delighted. “Oh, so you want to play, do you?” She pointed her index finger at him and Rion’s body collapsed, convulsing, to the ground. Vyra let out a bark of mad laughter as he tried to get up and she Electrocuted him again.

  “Stop,” Victor said under his breath, barely audible. Vyra clearly didn’t hear him and continued laughing and shooting Electricity through Rion’s body as he thrashed on the ground like a beheaded snake. “STOP,” Victor bellowed waving a hand over Rion, who immediately stopped writhing in agony.

  Vyra’s head turned abruptly to look at him. “What are you doing?”

  Victor shot her a repugnant look, but said nothing.

  Brushing her wild black hair out of her face, Vyra looked at her brother with a raised eyebrow. “You have more of him in you than I thought,” she derided. “You are an Atrum, dear brother. You don’t care about anyone but yourself, remember? It’s in your blood.”

  Victor’s chest heaved and he watched Vyra with a wary look in his eyes.

  “Now,” she said, “Kill him.”

  “No!” Autumn screamed before realizing that this was probably a bad idea, but somehow Vyra didn’t look at her. She didn’t even act like she’d heard her.

  Then she understood… The shield. Victor must have made Autumn invisible like Rion had earlier. But why? Did he want her all to himself—to kill her without Vyra’s help? She couldn’t think of any other reason he would keep her presence hidden from his sister.

  “Kill him, Victor,” Vyra repeated, pulling out a dagger that glinted in the orange sunlight and holding it out for him to take. She was mere feet from Rion and Victor now.

  Victor’s eyes cut down to the dagger with a look of trepidation in their emerald green. “Take it,” Vyra said through gritted teeth.

  Rion pulled himself up enough to look into his son’s eyes, a mirror image of his own. And for the first time, Victor met his father’s gaze. His cold expression fell away and his eyes glistened over, as if the ice in his stare was melting.

  Vyra made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat and grasped the dagger firmly in her hand.

  “Watch out!” Autumn yelled, though she knew no one could hear her.

  Or maybe they could.

  Victor turned to look in Autumn’s direction just as Vyra plunged the silver dagger deep into Rion’s chest, straight through his heart. Autumn watched the light leave Rion’s green eyes as they rolled upward and he collapsed at Victor’s feet.

  Vyra scoffed at Victor and turned away. “I already got rid of one Oaken today. Now I’ve done away with your dear old warlock daddy. Honestly, Victor. Do I really have to do everything around here?”

  Victor was speechless, looking down at his father’s lifeless body.

  “Oh, speaking of Oaken,” Vyra continued. “I know you’re hiding the girl. It’s her turn, you know. You have to share with your sister. After we’re done with her, we have only one Oaken standing between us and the elf throne.”

  Autumn’s heart stopped. She couldn’t breathe. She repeated Vyra’s words again in her mind, sure she must have heard wrong. I already got rid of one Oaken today.

  Luke. No. Not Luke. She couldn’t be talking about Luke. But, deep down, she knew that was the only thing that made sense. Vyra was saving Olympus for last. Which meant…Luke was dead.

  Autumn let out a piercing cry, pouring all of her anger and hatred and anguish into that scream. If pain had a sound, this would have been it.

  As the scream broke off into a sob Autumn looked up to see Victor’s pupils dilate past his green irises
, and suddenly he was behind Vyra. She whirled around and looked up at him, blanching. She tried to speak, but Victor had now clamped his left hand over her windpipe and squeezed.

  Vyra’s already prominent eyes bugged out even further. Her body hung limply in the air. She put up no fight. No struggle. It was as if he’d paralyzed her, like a spider pumping venom into its prey. Victor maintained eye contact with his sister as he reached his right hand down to take the silver knife—dripping with his father’s blood—that was gripped loosely in Vyra’s hand.

  “Goodbye, Vyra,” Victor said in a dull, emotionless voice before thrusting the dagger through her heart, just as she had killed his father.

  He released his grip on her neck and stepped back as she crumpled to the ground. He stared at her for several seconds before turning and walking back to his father’s body where he dropped to his knees. The air around Autumn shimmered again and she knew he had lifted the spell. There was movement from the corner of Autumn’s eye and she turned to see Avery stirring.

  The quiet clearing was suddenly filled with a thunderous, sucking noise, like cloth caught in a vacuum. The air around Victor and his father’s body undulated in liquid-like waves.

  Then they were gone.

  Now Autumn and Avery were left standing alone on the ground that had thrice been stained by blood.

  Avabelle.

  Rion.

  ….and Vyra.

  Enough

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Autumn didn’t realize that she had collapsed to her knees until she felt Avery’s arms folding around her, pulling her upright. She felt dizzy and disoriented. Her breaths came in sharp, painful gasps, each one feeling like a stab to the chest. Why should she be allowed to breathe when Luke would never take another breath? Her brother. The only person she had known all of her life. The only person who knew exactly what she’d been through, because he’d been through it too. And now he was gone.

  “I have to see him,” she said suddenly, trying to climb out of Avery’s arms.