by Linsey Hall
She skirted the table and cautiously stepped through the archway. The breath was sucked from her lungs, and her vision blacked out as she was pulled through space.
CHAPTER THIRTY
When Esha could finally breathe again, she opened her eyes to see that she was standing in the middle of a beach party. No, make that a beach orgy. Scantily dressed mortals were dancing—writhing, more like it—to thumping music pumped out of speakers the size of her car.
Hot sun sparkled on cerulean blue water that lapped in small waves at a white sand beach, so different from the frozen land she’d left behind. She turned to see that she stood next to an expansive marble patio, and behind it, a huge white mansion with gleaming glass windows.
What the hell? This was so not what she had been expecting. She glanced around for the Chairman. He wasn’t there.
Holy shit. He’d been left behind. Her heart pounded faster. She was at half power without him. She readied herself for anything and pushed her way through the tanned, sun-oil slicked bodies of the partiers and stepped up onto the patio. The acre of white marble surrounded a huge pool, within which floated one woman on an enormous pool raft.
The woman leaned up and flicked her sunglasses up onto her head. “You’re here!” She hopped off the raft and climbed out of the water in seconds. “Clear out, bitches, the party is over!”
She waved her hand and the crowd disappeared. Another wave, and the music turned off. Silence crashed around them.
It all happened so fast that Esha’s head spun. The woman—who looked so familiar—strolled toward her. Esha gaped, remembering too late to snap her jaw shut. Aurora was as bright and golden as the sun. Golden skin, golden hair chopped short and tousled around her head, and most importantly, golden eyes that were far too familiar.
“Holy shit, we’re related,” Esha breathed.
“Of course.” Aurora spoke as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. But it wasn’t, not until you looked at their eyes. Their bodies shared no similarities. The other soulceress was shorter, with a more athletic build. Where Esha was a contrast of pale and dark, Aurora was golden.
Except for the black shadows that writhed around her, a mist that resonated with evil. They were the soul shadows of Warren and others. Esha didn’t have any of those.
But her eyes. One look at her eyes and it was clear as the sparkling water surrounding this island that they shared a parent.
“How?” Esha asked.
“We’re half sisters. Same mother.”
The breath whooshed out of Esha’s lungs, and she stepped back. No matter the broad smile that stretched across the face of the woman approaching her, she exuded danger and power.
Danger especially. As much as she wanted to believe the best of this woman—her sister, for gods’ sake—she wasn’t stupid.
“Where’s my familiar? And Warren?”
“Back in the temple. Safe, since it seems you would no’ come until I ended the magic. I thought it was quite clever.”
“Why’d you enchant the portal so it didn’t allow my familiar?”
“I figured you weren’t out to hurt me, but if you were, I dinna want you having the extra power. You aren’t out to get me, right?” Her sister arched a golden brow.
“Probably not, but I’m not sure yet.”
“Fair enough. Want a beer?” Aurora plucked one out of a cooler.
“Um, no, I’m good, thanks.”
“Come on.” Aurora stood in front of her with an infectious grin that threw Esha off balance. She popped the top off the beer and stuck it out so that Esha had to grab it. “Took you long enough to find me. Let’s go sit in those lounge chairs, get to know each other.”
Esha stood dumbly, the beer in her hand, as she watched her sister saunter off. They were going to chat, with beers on the beach? This was too strange—it couldn’t be right.
Esha’s muscles tensed, ready to flee or throw a fireball or do whatever it took to protect herself. But she couldn’t flee without the Chairman, there wasn’t really anywhere to hide, and unless Aurora made a move on her, it wasn’t smart to start something she wasn’t sure she could finish. She decided to play along. And maybe Aurora wasn’t as bad as her shadows might suggest.
She followed Aurora to the lounge chairs that overlooked the sea. It was hot as any of the hells, so Esha stripped off her jacket and sweater until she was left in only a tank top, then warily lowered herself to the lounge chair next to Aurora’s. She glanced around surreptitiously for Aurora’s familiar and finally caught sight of a sleek black cat lounging by the pool.
“Where the hell are we?” Esha asked.
“In the aether. I created this place.”
Wow. It took some serious power to do that. But she’d been locked up for hundreds of years. How’d she know to add all the modern amenities, like the pool? Her magic must be greater than Esha had realized, which freaked her the hell out. “Why’d you enchant a portal to bring me here? Why the whole runaround to find you?”
Aurora shrugged and raised her purple-umbrella drink to her lips. “I wanted to find you, no’ Warren. He’s trouble for another day. When I sensed your presence at that damn place they imprisoned me, I wanted to meet you. But I had to be certain that it was you who found me and no’ anyone else at the university—hence the howf, a place that only another soulceress could enter, and this city, a place that only another soulceress could find.”
“Why me? And why didn’t you just appear to me?”
“I wanted it to be on my terms, my turf. I won’t be caught by the university and thrown into that prison again. And I’ve never really met another soulceress before, except our mother, so of course I wanted to meet you. And I wanted to see you specifically because there’s a lot I need to know about the modern world, and you’re the only one I can trust… since you’re like me.”
The breath whooshed out of Esha’s lungs. Trust? The only one who really trusted her was Ana. Warren too, she was starting to believe. Now Aurora?
This was all coming too fast, too soon. She hadn’t known what to expect from meeting Aurora, but not this. There was supposed to be more time to plan, to think about it. She’d have the upper hand, or at least an even footing.
But now she was totally out of her element on some tropical island, with no familiar, less than half a power supply, and she was being thrown for a loop by her unexpectedly friendly half-sister. Was she lulling her with a false sense of security so she could snatch her power away? Esha eyed the black shadows that hovered around Aurora. No matter how friendly Aurora seemed, she had a dark side that was all too obvious.
“How did you know I’m your sister?” Her voice was squeaky, surprised, and she flinched at the sound. Badass. Esha, you are supposed to be a badass.
“I thought you might be when I sensed you, but now that I see you, you’re the spitting image of our mother.”
“You sensed me?”
“When I was in the aether and you came to the witches’ creepy little cabin to bind me there. Bitches and their awful prison.” Aurora shuddered.
Esha nodded in commiseration. A prison in the aether was the worst, and it explained why Aurora was hanging out at a beach party on a sunny island. It was the complete opposite of the aether, which was vital to their world but had sections that were dark, cold, and lonely if you were trapped within it. The space between here and nowhere was like air, but not. Some reincarnated souls were held over there until they were needed and were reborn for their fated task. But if you were trapped there with your soul and your consciousness, it would be hell.
“Anyway,” Aurora said, “when you dinna agree to their plan, I figured I could probably trust you. And you’re my sister and all.”
There was that T-word again. Esha tried not to let it warm her, but it was damned hard. She was here for Warren, not just for herself. As much as she wanted to grill Aurora for information about their mother, about their kind, about how she might possibly control her power collectio
n so that she could have a normal life, she had Warren’s soul to worry about too, and she didn’t want to let him down. There would be time to learn about her mother later.
“There’s something I wanted to ask you. Do you think you could give my friend back his soul?”
Aurora’s friendly eyes hardened and the black shadows around her writhed more aggressively. A chill crept across Esha’s skin. The fun lightheartedness that had radiated from Aurora was replaced by darkness, as if a switch had been flipped.
“No’ going to happen.” Aurora’s voice was diamond-hard and her eyes had blackened.
Esha braced herself so she wouldn’t flinch and asked, “Why not?”
“He’s responsible for our mother’s death.” Rage twisted Aurora’s features and dark clouds rolled across the blue sky. The water turned gray and choppy as a cold wind rushed across it.
Esha shivered as Aurora’s shadows leapt and writhed. This wasn’t the same Aurora. This was the Aurora that Warren had warned her about.
“The power of his soul is mine,” Aurora said, her black eyes flashing. “He gave it to me of his own free will. I’d kill him if I could, but I’d have to give his soul back to do so and that is no’ happening.”
Oh shit. Aurora was deadly serious. This was not going to be easy.
The sleek black cat loped up to them with a grace that the Chairman could never dream of mustering and leapt up onto Aurora’s lounge chair. It rubbed against her, purring.
Before her eyes, the shadows that writhed around Aurora calmed. Her face smoothed out and her eyes lightened to gold again.
Huh. Something was wrong with Aurora and her familiar knew it. Under the cat’s calming influence, she came back to normal. So did the island, its blue sky and bluer water now bright and shiny.
But Esha wasn’t similarly calm, not after what Aurora had just said. “Our mother’s death?”
Aurora nodded, her eyes sad. Sad, but not black, and that was an important distinction that Esha was beginning to recognize.
“Before you were born, we fled the Burnings to live near the mortals, hoping we would be hidden from Mytheans who wanted to kill us. But the mortals hunted us, as well. Warren was supposed to help her escape Scotland, but he turned her over to the witch hunters. He let her die at the hands of bastard mortals.” Her eyes darkened again, and clouds rolled back across the horizon, but her familiar frantically rubbed against her, purring like a jet plane. Aurora reached down to pet it, and her eyes cleared again.
“No,” Esha said. “He told me about that. He tried to save her, but he was too late. He could only save her baby.”
Holy shit. It hit Esha then, for the first time since Aurora had told her about their mother. She was the baby that Warren had saved and sent to America. She had to get back to Warren, had to ask him about it. And he’d spent long enough in that ice palace.
“Hey, I really need to get back. Can I come back tomorrow?”
“Sure. You will come back, right?”
“Of course.”
“Good. Without Warren.” Her eyes flashed dark and Esha scrambled up. “Just go back to that spot on the beach where you arrived. It will take you back. To get here again, you can aetherwalk with your familiar. Just think of me like you would think of a place and it’ll work.”
Esha said her good-byes and walked back to the beach. Getting Warren’s soul back was going to be a hell of a lot harder than she thought. And it wasn’t the only thing she had to worry about.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
When the ice walls disappeared, Warren spun around, his gaze racing around the temple. The Chairman hurtled toward him, a black blur that dodged around the mysterious shade that had stayed by Warren’s side during the thirty interminable minutes Esha had been missing. But where the hell was she?
“Warren!”
He whirled at the sound of Esha’s voice and found her in the middle of the temple.
“Where the hell were you?” His voice shook with anger and fear. He had her in his arms before he realized he’d even moved. The terror in his heart was a live, wild thing that calmed only when he felt Esha’s warm body in his arms. “I was so damned worried about you.”
He felt her arms creep up around his back and squeeze. The cat had launched itself at Esha and was now twining about her legs.
“Sorry.” Her voice was muffled against his chest.
“What happened?”
“She enchanted the altar platform. Made it so that I couldn’t bring the Chairman in case I meant her harm.”
“We need to get out of here.” He dragged her out of the temple, then came to a stop outside the doors. “Damn it. I canna fuckin’ navigate with whatever magic has been put on this place!”
“Come on.” Esha grabbed his hand and led him through the city. He hated the damned feeling of needing her to do it, especially when all he wanted was to be the one to protect her.
“Fucking finally,” he said when they pushed through the front door of the house. Frustration over his powerlessness in this soulceress city surged within him, making a toxic sludge with the fear for Esha that filled his insides. He’d never been this helpless, not when he wanted something so badly.
He rounded on Esha. “Damn it, Esha! You canna take risks like that again.”
Her jaw dropped, then snapped shut. “Wait, what?”
“You canna see her again. She’s too damned dangerous. You were never supposed to be alone with her. You were never supposed to fucking meet her.”
“You were seriously going to try to keep me from her?” Her eyes looked stricken.
“Of course! Your life is at risk!”
“She’s my sister!”
The ground felt like it dropped out from beneath Warren’s feet. “What?”
“Oh, don’t act like you didn’t know.”
“I dinna.” He dragged a hand down his face. If they were sisters, that meant she was the baby he’d put on the boat to America. It was fucking crazy. “Gods, it was so damned long ago.”
She squinted at him, skeptical. “You really expect me to believe you didn’t know.”
“Aye. It was over three hundred years ago, and you were an infant. But it changes nothing. She’s too dangerous for you to see again.”
“She’s not as bad as you think. She’s ruthless, but I swear to you that she isn’t evil.” Her eyes pleaded with him to understand.
Dread washed over him like a wave of tar, followed quickly by a fiery spark of anger. “You don’t know that.”
“I think the souls have poisoned her. They’re dragging at her mind with their desperation to leave her. Her familiar keeps her in check when she loses it, but I can persuade her to give yours back, I know I can. Especially if I can convince her she doesn’t need to be holed up in her magical world.”
The idea of Esha going back there, to face Aurora in one of her rages, made his head feel like it was going to blow off. “Out of the question! You canna see her again. I will no’ allow it.”
“You don’t get to decide!”
“The hell I doona. Aurora must die. It’s the only way.”
“It’s not that easy! She’s more powerful than you can imagine. Convincing her to give it up is safer than a fight. And it could save my sister as well as you.”
“She’s no’ really your sister, lassie! She’s a monster. She’s stolen souls and killed when it suits her. She’s killing me as we speak.”
“I just need time with her! Just half a day. You have at least three more days on your medicine. Give me half a day to try. “
“Never going to happen!”
“Fuck you, Warren.” She glared at him, then turned and stomped up the stairs.
~~~
An hour later, Esha was still stewing over what Warren had said. Even the steaming water of the hot spring couldn’t wash away her pissy mood. After stomping around her room in circles, she’d felt like the walls were closing in on her. So she’d come down to the basement, where she might be able
to wash away some of her rage.
It hadn’t worked, so now she was sitting on one of the big boulders with her towel wrapped around her, still gnashing her teeth over their conversation.
Who the hell did he think he was? She could deal with Aurora, she just needed one more try. Brute strength wouldn’t work with her—she could already tell that her sister was stronger and more skilled than she. A bit of an ego-check, that was. But Aurora was older and powered by the souls she’d stolen. Esha didn’t stand a chance in an outright fight.
No, the key was convincing Aurora that she didn’t need Warren’s soul, or any of the others. It was like—like heroin. A poison that Aurora was convinced she needed. As she was convinced that she was only safe holed up in her magical world. Getting rid of those shadows was the only way to save both Warren and her sister. She just needed to figure out how. Because when it came down to it, she’d pick Warren over Aurora, and this was the safest way for him.
“Esha.” Warren’s voice shook her out of her trance, and she looked up to see him stepping off the stairs. The dim torchlight glinted off his golden hair, and the shadows that he cast made him seem all the larger.
“What?”
He stepped through the steam that filled the stone room and stopped before her. “I wanted to apologize.”
Her jaw almost dropped. “Really?”
“Aye. I haven’t liked being in this city. No’ being able to navigate or fight back against the souls… well, I’ve never felt so fucking helpless. With you in danger, out of my reach, I lost it.”
She looked at him, standing so tall and broad, and realized that with his strength and skill, he was never at a disadvantage in normal life. Of course this had thrown him off.
“You were still an ass,” she said.
“Aye. But you’re precious to me. I only realized how much when you were trapped with Aurora. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you. I lost it when I thought of you facing her alone.” He walked up to her and cupped her face in his hands, his expression so heartfelt and torn that it made her heart ache.
