by Megan Duncan
My heart began to pound in my chest, thrusting against my ribcage and shaking me to the core. Everything we’d done had been for nothing.
“Claire!” Arrick rushed to my side, curling his arms around me. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure something out.”
“How?”
Ana’s laugh tore me from Arrick’s arms. I stepped forward, staring her down and she stared right back at me until her eyes flicked to my pocket where the stone was tucked away. Why did she still want it? If Luka’s soul wasn’t trapped inside then why did she care if I had it? I could see the envy in her gaze; the greed. She wanted the stone, she wanted it bad.
Realization hit me like a lightning bolt. Maybe his soul really was inside, or maybe it wasn’t, but it didn’t matter because it was her getaway. It had been all along. She had triggered the chaos she came here to cause, and now she knew it was time for her to make her escape. Time for her to return to her master.
“That’s it!” I exclaimed to Ana, smiling at her as if she were on our side. She sneered at me, disgusted with my smile and folded her arms across her chest.
“What’s it?” Arrick asked.
“The stone! I can’t believe I didn’t think of it.”
“Think of what child?” my father asked, intrigued by my elation.
I pulled the stone out of my pocket and held it before me, turning around to face them. “These stones can do more than cause pain. They can transport you to other places. That’s how I got to Noire!”
“Dark magic,” my father whispered, both fearful and hopeful at the same time.
“You cannot use dark magic in Titan. My father will not permit it!” Ronon chimed in.
“Well, I’m not asking for his permission,” I spit back at him. “If this is our only way of getting back to Naos in time, then we’re going!” Ronon growled at me, but he didn’t say anything. He knew he couldn’t stop me.
“If you’re going back to Naos to fight Baal, then you’re going to need help,” Titan said. His voice was calm, almost excited, and that scared the hell out of me. He marched into the room with three fierce vampire hybrids following behind him. By their armor clad bodies, rippling muscles and grim expressions I needed only one guess who they were. Titan’s army.
“You’ll help us?” Glee bubbled up inside me as Titan nodded.
“What about our people? We can’t leave them here alone?” Ronon pushed past me to confront his father.
“It is time we bring the fight to Baal son.” Titan smiled toward Ana, but it wasn’t a friendly grin, it was one of those smiles that you give when you have evil plans in store for someone. “His minion opened my eyes. We’ve spent far too long hiding in the desert. That is what he expects us to do, is it not?” He directed the question toward Ana, but she avoided his gaze.
“Thank you old friend,” my father stepped forward, embracing forearms with Titan and bowing his head.
“All right, Claire, we’re listening. How do we get this stone to work?” my father asked, sounding hopeful for the first time. I shifted nervously realizing I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I’d never used the stone to actually open a portal before. I had only jumped through one… one that Ana had opened.
“I don’t know,” I answered, rubbing the stone with my finger. “But she does.”
Every face in the room directed their gaze to the agitated vampire who was grumbling in the corner of the room. I expected her to sneer at us, or even to begin laughing that evil cackle of hers, but she just stared, wide-eyed.
“Ana,” I said her name completely void of emotion. My feet carried me toward her, and the air in the room seemed to disappear as the rest of the group followed my lead and stepped closer.
“You’re going to open a portal for us,” I told her, making it very clear that it wasn’t a request.
“And if I don’t?” Her voice held the same emotionless void as mine.
“Then they’ll kill you,” I replied simply, almost casually. The King’s Snake Guard and the soldiers from Titan’s army stepped forward in unison, making even the stone floor shudder under them.
She hadn’t made a sound, but the sight of her gulping down the lump in her throat gave me my answer. Getting this portal open would be our only hope at getting to Naos in time to save everyone. Although hope was starting to rebuild in my heart, I still felt uneasy about resting our destiny in the hands of Ana.
“Ronon, gather the army and have them meet us at the arena,” Titan ordered. Ronon nodded his head and soared out of the room like a gust of wind. Titan’s three guards remained, towering over Ana.
“All right, we’ll meet you there in thirty minutes?” Titan nodded in response and turned his back to me to converse with his guards.
“Mikel and I shall coordinate the King’s Snake and head to the arena immediately. We will need to inform Titan and his army of all the secret passages in the Château, as well as the layout of the surrounding area.”
“I’ll coordinate a small team to seek out the remaining King’s Snake in Naos, and make our primary target Ione. We will get her to safety your majesty,” Arrick replied, sounding confident.
“Thank you,” my father said, signaling to Mikel before flying out of the room. All that were left was Ana, myself and Arrick.
“What are we going to do with her?” Arrick asked.
“We are going to have to take her with us. We can’t leave her here,” I said.
“No, I guess we can’t.” He looked disappointed and pulled his eyes toward me. “You should get yourself ready.”
I looked down at myself and groaned. There was no way I could fight Baal and his dark vampires wearing shorts and a peasant top with sandals.
“I’ll take Ana with me to the arena,” he said.
“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He nodded, a sad expression tugging at his features before he grabbed onto Ana and yanked her out of the room. I stared after them for a long moment before the eerie sensation of being alone was more than I could bear.
From the beginning I’d thought that the Titan region were a bunch of party crazed vampires and humans, but if I had arrived on a night like tonight I would have thought differently. There wasn’t even the memory of a smile on any face I passed by as I hurried to my room. Despite the grimness of the situation, I was comforted to see that Titan had ordered every citizen of the region to be made aware of our current circumstances. I stopped midstride and glanced out a window that looked down into the city. People were closing up their shops and boarding up windows. Others were collecting animal skin canteens filled with wine laced blood. Every able bodied man was arming themselves. The elderly, women and young children were being ushered into their homes and I breathed a sigh of relief knowing every precaution was being taken. There was no way to know how the night’s events would end, but at least Titan’s region would be prepared if the worst were to happen.
I didn’t even bother packing up my belongings. Instead, I dug through my bag of clothes until I found a pair of black workout pants, and a plain black t-shirt. A smile twitched at the edges of my lips as I remembered why I had brought them. I swore to Eli that I would continue my training while I was gone, but I hadn’t so much as broken a sweat since I’d been here. Well… that’s not entirely true, it was definitely hot enough for perspiration to wet the back of my neck, but I hadn’t done anything physically exhausting. Yet.
I dressed quicker than I’d ever dressed before and glanced in the mirror, appreciating that my clothes were skin tight. I didn’t want anything dangling around for a dark vampire to grab. Tonight I needed to be fast and stealthy.
As I jogged down the corridor, I pulled my hair up into a tight ponytail braid; it hung like a thick rope down my back. I knew it would likely get yanked on at some point during the night but I didn’t exactly have time to do much else.
Reaching the end of the corridor I breezed through a set of double doors that led to the catwalk around the outer edge of the citadel. I was so
preoccupied with getting to the arena that the dizzying heights didn’t even bother me. One foot flew in front of the other and before I knew it I was on the other side, leaping down the descending seats of the arena. They were steep stone benches that encased the entirety of the arena. I was so concentrated on not falling that I hadn’t even noticed the gathering below me. There were at least one hundred vampire hybrids in formation. They were lined in neat parallel rows, all facing the same direction. Giant torches sprouted from the sand like flaming trees around them, casting eerie shadows in every direction.
My fingers closed around the railing at the end of the seats and I launched myself over it; sailing to the ground just ten feet below me. A tiny glint of panic pricked my senses as I was mid-air, but when my feet landed solidly on earth, a small smile lightened my otherwise sever countenance. It really was ridiculous that I was afraid of heights.
The floor of the stadium felt like beach sand and I fought for balance as I ran to the front of the gathering. Compared to his army, Titan looked naked. The vampire hybrid army was clad in cloth pants and thick leather vests that looked to be molded to their bodies. Each of their forearms were strapped with more leather that held tiny throwing daggers. Diamond shaped silver shields covered their midsection, and I couldn’t help but notice they were nothing like regular shields. These shields were welded with serrated edges, perfect for decapitating any of Baal’s dark vampires.
Both Titan and Ronon were bare chested, their muscles flexing as they stood before the army. Titan held true to his name and towered above everyone around him. His meaty arms were folded across his expansive chest, and his fangs were bared violently. He was readying himself for the fight ahead.
Ronon’s chest gleamed with sweat between two crisscrossing straps of leather that carried two deadly looking blades on his back. His shaggy brown hair hung in sweaty ringlets against his brow, and his eyes were set in their usual harsh glare. He was scarily handsome, if you were into that is-he-going-to-kill-me-or-does-he-just-look-that-angry-all-the-time sort of thing. I wasn’t. I liked the ruggedly handsome, tough guy who was all warm and gooey on the inside.
My eyes landed on just the guy I was thinking about and my heart thudded in my chest. I wanted to leap into his arms, and kiss him without holding back. Tonight could be the last night we ever spent together. Sadly, in my next steps Ana came into view and the mood vanished, being replaced by the feeling of bile rising up in my throat.
Arrick’s hand was clasped around her tiny wrist like an iron shackle. She was tugging weakly on her stick-like limb, but Arrick’s arm didn’t so much as twitch. She wasn’t going anywhere. I tried not to look too happy about that fact as I approached the front of the group. We still needed her to do something for us after all, and pissing her off with a smug grin wouldn’t help.
I eyed Arrick hungrily as I stepped up to my father. He and the King’s Snake looked as they always did, ready to kick some ass.
“Is everything ready?” I asked, giving my father a quick hug.
“As ready as it can be. Tell us about this portal, Claire. What should we expect?” he questioned, not sounding nervous, but more concerned.
“Oh…” I hadn’t thought about that part. I was only focusing on the end results. “I’ve only been through a portal once,” I said, turning toward the crowd so everyone could hear me. “I had been wounded, and I jumped in after Ana.”
“What happened in the portal? Are there demons in the between?” one of the hybrids shouted from the back of the group.
“No, I don’t think so. It’s more like a void. You’re in absolute darkness with no way to tell which direction you’re going or whether or not you’re even moving. It feels like an eternity, yet only a heartbeat all at the same time.” I blinked hard, not enjoying the memory of the experience or the fact that I’d have to go through it again.
“How does it work?” Titan asked, and many of his army repeated his question.
“Well…” I looked away, turning to my father like he’d know the answer. I honestly wasn’t entirely sure. I only had a guess, so I went with it. “I think the portal takes you to where you want to go. If you think about a place hard enough, that is where the portal will open and spit you out. When I jumped in after Ana all I could think about was my Blood Mate, Arrick. How I thought I was dying and I wished I could be with him.” I turned to look in his direction, giving him a warm smile that he returned.
“And it worked?” Ronon questioned.
“It did. At the time though I had no idea where I was, or what had happened. But I did indeed travel to where Arrick was.”
“Claire,” my father said my name, stepping forward. “How can those who have never been to Naos think of it in order to get there?”
Now that, I had absolutely no idea. Portals weren’t exactly Point A to Point B. They were more like the ultimate game of chance with a million possible outcomes.
“You have to bind them,” Ana said in an irritated tone as if she were trying to educate children.
“Huh?”
“Two people can’t travel to one destination unless they’re tethered.”
“Bind them,” I repeated Ana’s words, turning to the crowd. But there were so many! I’d tethered myself to a small group of vampires during Baal’s first attack at the Château, but that had only been a handful. Maybe seven in total. How could I possibly do it for over one hundred?
“There’re too many of us,” I said in a whisper. My father picked up on my words and grasped my shoulder. I watched as his eyes picked through the crowd, as if trying to choose the strongest to go with us.
“How many can you handle?” he asked, counting in a low voice.
“What’s the problem?’ Ronon joined our huddle as the army began to murmur.
“I don’t think I can bind that many people at once,” I answered, hating to admit it. I was as stubborn as they come, and admitting that I wasn’t good at something just wasn’t something I liked to do.
“So, what… you need more power?”
“Well…” I thought about it for a moment, “yeah.” I hated making it sound like I was some kind of battery, but in a way I was.
“Then use me,” he said, puffing up his chest. “Just tell me what to do.” My mouth fell open in shock, and not because I wanted to drool over his bulging pec muscles. I totally forgot that Ronon was like me. We were both born from a vampire’s humanity and turned. If I could wield the power of the stones, and use their magic then maybe he could too!
“You’re brilliant!” I slapped him on the arm, a grin beaming from one ear to the other.
“Of course I am,” he eyes softened for only a moment before returning to his unsympathetic glare.
“All you need to do is focus. Close your eyes and envision your soul latching onto those around, like an invisible ribbon,” I closed my eyes trying to envision it myself so I could better describe it to him.
“A ribbon? Will a ribbon be strong enough for such a journey?” he blurted out, and I heard Arrick chuckle behind me.
“It’s not really a ribbon, Ronon.” He wrinkled his brow at me, looking utterly confused. “Okay, okay. Close your eyes and imagine a massive steel chain latching onto every member of your army.” I peeked at him and saw he was nodding as if he could see that very thing in his mind’s eye.
“Got it?” I asked.
He grunted.
“All right, now concentrate your energy like you did with me and send it out to everyone. Make that chain unbreakable, loan them your strength and your energy. Imagine you are leading them, guiding them to their destination,” I told him, opening my eyes again to watch him. His body began to sway and I placed a hand on his shoulder to settle him. Ronon took a deep breath, and suddenly nearly half the army gasped and stumbled a step or two back.
“It worked!” Ronon shouted, and the mass of bound hybrids regained their positions as the “unbreakable” chain, broke.
“Nice work. Now we just need to do that tog
ether, and for everyone at once as we travel through a seemingly endless void of darkness to face the worst enemy imaginable. No big deal,” I said, joking weakly.
“Sounds easy enough,” Ronon replied, sounding undaunted. “How do we open the portal?”
“That’s where she comes in.” I turned to face Ana. She peered out from behind a curtain of hair.
“I never said I’d help you,” she spat at me.
“I’m sorry. I don’t recall giving you a choice,” I spat back at her. Two could play this game. She tried to turn away from me, but Arrick pulled her forward.
“What’s in it for me?”
I smiled, knowing she’d ask for something. On my run out here I’d thought about how I was going to make her comply. I knew it was going to cost us, but that would be the only way to get the portal open. I would have to give Ana something she really wanted and I could think of only one thing. Freedom.
“We’ll let you go.”
The whites of her eyes expanded.
“Seriously?” Arrick asked his eyes as wide as Ana’s.
“Yeah,” I answered. “We have bigger fish to fry.” It was true, and if I really wanted to be honest, once Baal was gone Ana wasn’t really a threat. She’d return to being her spiteful, vain, bitchy self and the world would keep on spinning. Maybe I was wrong, but at the moment I was more worried about Baal then her. Ana I could handle, but an ancient, pissed off vampire with an army of minions, evil magic and dark vampires… not so much.
“Deal,” Ana replied quickly, obviously wanting to agree before I changed my mind.
“All right then, open it,” I ordered, nodding to Arrick to release her. He did so reluctantly, but didn’t take more than a step away. If she tried anything, he’d be ready.
“I’m going to need the stone,” she growled, rubbing her red wrist.
“I thought you’d say that,” I chuckled, pulling the stone out from under my shirt. I closed my fingers over the cool pendant around my neck, and offered her my free hand.
