by Hall, Linsey
She raised her hand to throw some kind of magic at him and instinct had him hurling the dagger at a tree to her left just to get out of its way. He appeared, hand on the hilt, as a bolt of lightning incinerated the spot where he’d been standing.
Shite, that was close.
“From behind!” Ana’s scream dragged his gaze to the left in time for him to see some kind of sea monsters crawling from the waves on the beach, weeds and barnacles clinging to their misshapen forms. Celtic fomori, famed for razor teeth and vicious appetites. Christ, had she called them all the way from the Celtic Sea?
Focus on Aurora. He jerked his attention to her as she was hurled to the ground by a great rush of wind thrown by Esha. She leapt to her feet a second later, her black eyes crazed and her hair whipping unnaturally about her head. She thrust out her arm, and an enormous wave rose from the sea behind Esha. In less than a second, Aurora’s eyes flashed from black to gold. Shock and regret streaked across her face. She waved her arm again and the wave crashed down too soon, spraying Esha but not drowning her.
Aurora was flashing in and out of sanity. And she didn’t want to kill Esha. No sooner had the realization struck him than Aurora spun from Esha and caught sight of him. Her eyes blackened again, and she threw a blast of fire at him that was too big to escape.
He threw the knife, knowing it was futile, as Esha sent a jet of water from the sea. Steam rose up at the collision of fire and water and the tail end of the flames seared his flesh as he was transported to the knife, his hand grasping the hilt where it stuck out of a palm tree. He yanked it out with a burned and blackened hand, knowing that if he hadn’t been under the influence of the pain-relieving potion from the witches, he probably wouldn’t have gotten it out of the tree.
Esha threw another gust of wind at Aurora, hoping to give Warren enough time to reach her. Gods, she needed Ana’s help with Aurora, but the sea monsters kept coming. Their growling and the clicking of fangs was an eerie accompaniment to Aurora’s screams and the blasts of power that rent the night.
Warren halted and flung the dagger, avoiding Aurora’s strike of lightning. He popped in and out of existence as he made his way closer to Aurora, who could dodge his knife like a pro, while Esha tried to hold Aurora off. Water to stop her fire, wind to knock her down. If only she could throw a killing blow, this would all be over, but she didn’t want to kill her only family, no matter how crazed she was now.
But gods, she was running out of power. She’d been siphoning it off Ana, who was now likely as weak as herself. Thankfully Ana had her skills as an archer to fall back on. Esha had nothing without her power except a mean right hook, and that wouldn’t be of much use against Aurora.
But Aurora was slowing too. No longer bolstered by her magical world, she didn’t have infinite power. She’d burn through it and have to wait for the souls to regenerate.
Please, gods, let her run out before me.
“Warren!” Esha screamed when he appeared near some fallen fomori who had just started to rise.
He was quick with the dagger and one was on the ground seconds later. Aurora shot a bolt of fire at him while he was killing the second, but Esha deflected most of it with another jet of seawater. Thank gods his healing was so fast, and he didn’t feel pain, else he’d never have made it this far. Aurora was obsessed with taking him down, even though she couldn’t kill him. Rage had clouded her mind.
Aurora stood with her back to a copse of palms and shot another stream of fire at Warren. He’d already taken aim and heaved the dagger. It sailed past her and into the tree at her back. He disappeared as the fire hit the spot where he’d been standing and reappeared behind Aurora before she had a chance to register the maneuver. He yanked the dagger from the tree, spun, and plunged it into her back.
Her shriek rent the night air, an unholy howl that was joined by the wailing of the souls that flew free from her body. They streaked into the sky, shadows rising toward freedom and their former owners. Warren’s soul flew straight back into him and he fell to his knees.
“Ana! Chairman!” Esha screamed. “Home! Now!”
The fomori had begun to slink back into the ocean, Aurora’s spell broken. Ana sprinted to Aurora and Warren. Esha met her there, desperate to get the hell off this miserable island.
Esha wrapped her arms around Warren, who’d just surged to his feet, while Ana did the same with a collapsed Aurora. The Chairman pressed himself against Esha’s legs.
“Wait! Her familiar!” They couldn’t aetherwalk without Aurora’s companion. Just then, a sleek black blur streaked from the trees near the beach and curled up against Aurora’s prone form. No doubt the cat had fled when Aurora had lost her mind. “Let’s go!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Esha appeared in the foyer of the house with her arms wrapped around Warren. Ana arrived next to her, collapsed on the floor with Aurora’s crumpled body in her arms.
“You’re good?” she asked Warren.
“Aye.” He was blackened and burned, but he was whole.
Relief rushed through her, and she spun to kneel at Aurora’s side. She looked like hell, her golden skin sallow and her eyes closed.
“Aurora!” Esha shook her gently. “Come on, wake up. You have to be okay.” The wound in her back seeped blood, but not enough to be fatal. Right? Even without the souls, her sister shouldn’t die from something as small as that. “Come on!” She shook her again.
“Hey, chill out!” Ana said. “Give her a second.”
Esha drew in a shuddery breath and realized that fear was making her a bit crazy. She was appearing in the foyer of this house holding broken bodies far too often. “Let’s get her up to the bedroom.”
She wrapped her arms around her sister and aetherwalked them to her bedroom. By the time she got her sister up onto the bed, Aurora was stirring. A second later, she popped upright and shoved Esha away.
“It’s okay! You’re safe!” Esha shouted.
Aurora leapt to her feet and threw out her arm, but no power hit Esha. Esha’s shoulders relaxed. Her sister must be tapped out, and with Ana downstairs, she couldn’t refuel.
“What the hell happened?” Aurora demanded, her eyes wild but her color turning golden again. She swung her head, searching the room for threats.
“We took your souls.”
“I know that! But why? You betrayed me!” Aurora backed into the corner, her hands raised as if to fight.
“I didn’t. I helped you! The souls were making you crazy. It was only going to get worse. Eventually, you’d be trapped here like all the other soulceresses who stole souls. A shade stuck in this miserable city.”
“What? Where am I?”
“The old soulceress city. The one with the temple that led to your world. I had to do it, Aurora. It was killing Warren, and it was killing you too. We aren’t meant to own souls.”
“Damn it, that’s how I protected myself!” Aurora’s eyes gleamed with anger and desperation, but not the black madness that had haunted her when she’d been influenced by the trapped souls.
“The world isn’t that bad anymore. You’ll be fine. I’ll help you be fine. You’ll be with me. And don’t you feel better without them weighing on you?”
“I doona know. Everything feels wrong!” Her sister’s brow wrinkled. She looked so desperate and confused it made Esha’s heart ache.
“I’ll help you, Aurora. I promise. Everything will be fine.” Esha backed up to the wall and slid down onto the floor, trying to look nonthreatening and helpful. Her sister mirrored her, sinking down to sit against the opposite wall.
After a while, Aurora’s breathing calmed, and the frantic glaze to her eyes eased. She finally seemed to believe that Esha wouldn’t hurt her. She said, “I suppose I do feel a little better. No’ torn in so many directions. And my mind feels clearer. But damn it, Esha, what the hell am I supposed to do now?”
“I’m going to figure that out. You’re still a powerful badass. It’ll be fine.”
“I know I’m
a powerful badass, damn it. I just need to get powered up. But the future doesn’t look so bright from here.”
“Sure it does. You’re not being driven mad by souls or hiding out like a hermit on your island.”
“I liked my island.” Aurora glared at her.
“The world is better. Come on, we’ll go get cleaned up in the hot springs. You’ll love them.”
An hour later, once her sister was no longer freaking out, Esha went in search of Warren. It was getting so late, and she’d only slept a few hours the night before. Exhaustion dragged at her shoulders like ten-ton boulders. She found him in the bedroom he’d claimed as his own for their short stay, standing at the window and looking out at the city. He was standing straighter, and most of his wounds appeared to be healed, probably with Ana’s help.
“Hey,” she said.
He turned around and she gasped. In the craziness of stabbing Aurora, she hadn’t really seen him since he’d received his soul.
He was so different. Golden. Perfect.
She’d always thought him perfection before, and it had kind of annoyed her even as it had intrigued her. But not having his soul apparently had physical ramifications as well. He was so handsome that he made her head swim. So strong, honorable, kind. So everything.
Or maybe it was just that she could see him fully now.
She’d fallen for him so quickly, and so hard. It had crept up on her while she’d been busy pretending she wasn’t affected. And gods, it was scary. She couldn’t bear the thought of ever losing him, not now that she’d finally found him. He was her reward for so much misery earlier in her life.
He started toward her, and she walked into his arms, sighing when he pulled her tightly against his broad chest. His strength and vitality reassured her. He’d be fine.
“Gods, I’m glad that’s over,” she said.
“Me too.”
“How do you feel?”
“Whole.”
“And I don’t deplete your power now that you have your soul back?” Could this be possible?
He shrugged. “Doona think so. I feel fine.”
She grinned, too happy to wonder about it, and followed him when he pulled her over to the bed. He lay down and dragged her with him. When he wrapped his arms around her, she put her head on his shoulder and sighed, relaxing into him.
“I really like you, you know,” she said.
Lie. She loved him, but it was hard enough to confess it to herself, much less him.
“Likewise.” He leaned down to kiss her hair, and she grinned. But it faded when she realized that he hadn’t used the L word she’d been hoping to hear. She shook it away.
“Good. Where’s Ana? Did she go back?”
“Yeah. She was worried the other gods would notice she’d left.” She paused. “Warren?”
“Aye, lass?”
“I’m going to need your help.”
“With what?” Warren asked.
“Aurora needs a job at the university.”
He tensed. He hadn’t been expecting that. “What?”
“She only wanted to keep your soul and the others for the power they gave her to protect herself. Without the souls, she has nothing. I promised her that she could work with me hunting rogues. That way, the university can keep an eye on her, but she’d have a place to go and a way to fuel up her power. Mytheans aren’t out to burn us anymore, but it’s still too dangerous out there for a soulceress alone.”
“Nothing is too dangerous for your sister, even without owning the souls.”
Esha grinned. “You’re right. She’s ruthless and strong as hell, and I like that about her. I want her to come to the university for me. I want her with me.”
Of course she wanted her sister with her. After everything she’d done for him, helping him find Aurora and retrieving his soul, it was the least he could do.
“Warren?” Her worried tone made him realize that he’d been silent too long. “You wouldn’t have to see her much.”
“That’s no’ my concern. Most of her evil was because of her situation during the Burnings and because she was polluted by the souls. She’s no’ my favorite person, but I can tolerate her. And I did offer you a team of your own if you agreed to help me on this.”
“Yeah, but then you realized no one would work with me.” She leaned up and smiled wryly, then her eyes brightened. “Wait, does this mean you agree?”
“Aye. I canna control where she goes. And honestly, it’s my job to keep an eye on her. She’s no’ wholly evil, as you said. So she isn’t a rogue, and we canna kill her. No’ that I’d ask it of you,” he added quickly. “What I mean is, I took an oath when I agreed to lead the Praesidium. More important, I made a promise to myself that I’d no’ let my own desires rule my decisions. Offering her a job at the university is the obvious course.”
Esha pressed a hard kiss to his lips. “Excellent. I can’t wait to tell her.”
“Aye. But first you’ll sleep. Your voice sounds halfway to bed as it is.”
He felt her lips move and the warm puff of breath when she yawned hard against his neck. “But Aurora…”
“Is probably in her bed as well.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” She snuggled closer to him and his chest tightened at the sheer rightness of having her against him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
When Esha walked into the dimly lit kitchen at dawn the next morning, she found Aurora playing with a flashlight.
Aurora looked up and said, “Ready to do this?”
“A thousand times yes.” She was so ready to get out of this damn city. All they had to do was destroy the temple and free the souls, and she’d be able to leave. She and Aurora were both powered up, courtesy of Ana, and Esha had a feeling they’d need every damn bit of it to see this through.
“Good. We need a plan.”
“Sure, when Warren gets—”
“I’m here.”
Esha turned at the sound of his voice and reached for his hand. When his rough palm gripped hers, she stifled a grin. It was weird, but so wonderful, to be with him like this. After calling herself all manner of fool, she said, “We’ll go to the temple as soon as the sun is up. Aurora and I will disrupt the foundations of the building so it collapses. That’s what you saw on the painting, right, Warren?”
“Aye. When the temple collapsed, the souls were released. No doubt it’s holding them here.”
“Aye,” Aurora confirmed. “Mother said the temple is the center of our power. It calls to the souls when they canna pass over. Destroying it should work.”
“Good. Just one loose end, and we’re done here,” Esha said. Then she could start the rest of her life, one that contained Warren and her sister and would be so much better and fuller than the one she’d left behind when she’d started on this adventure.
“Are you sure you want him to come?” Aurora nodded at Warren, her brow wrinkled.
Esha frowned. “Why wouldn’t he?”
“All that falling stone—it’s going to be dangerous, and he’s mortal.”
“What?” That didn’t make any sense, but the mere possibility made the air heavy, as though it were pressing in on her. Warren shifted next to her.
“He’s mortal now,” Aurora said. “I thought you knew that.”
“No.” Fluttery wings of panic beat inside her chest, and there was a low humming in her ears that couldn’t be normal. “No, he’s not. He’s part of the Praesidium. He’s one of us.”
Aurora frowned. “Nay. Now that he has his soul back, he’ll age and die like a normal mortal. He was never really a Mythean to begin with.”
Esha looked at Warren, whose brow was furrowed, and shook her head frantically. “No. No. That’s not possible. Did you know about this?”
His gaze heavy, he said, “I suspected.”
“No. No. No.” The buzzing in her ears grew louder. “I don’t believe you.”
“I’m sorry, Esha. I’m pretty sure it’s true. I wasn’t sure ho
w to tell you.” Concern wrinkled Warren’s brow, and his green eyes searched hers.
“No. Just no.” She was repeating herself, and it was crazy, but she couldn’t help it.
He looked at his feet, then withdrew a knife from the sheath in his boot and made a small incision in his palm. She watched in horror as the blood welled. Kept welling. As the wound refused to close.
The breath whooshed out of her lungs. “After everything I told you? You let me love you, all the while knowing you would die? How could you do this to me?”
“I dinna think—”
She shook her head and backed away, her throat closing up. Mortal. He would die on her. She would stay with him, grow to love him more every day. To rely on him for her happiness. He was part of her. He would become an even bigger part of her as the years went on. And she’d have to watch him age and sicken and die. She couldn’t do that. How could anyone be expected to do that, knowing that they’d have eternity alone afterward? Without the one they loved?
She spun on her heel and tripped through the door out into the street. She took a left, not knowing where she was going, and finally stopped near an alleyway. With a ragged sob, she sank down onto her butt and buried her face in her knees.
A boulder lodged itself in her throat, and her eyes burned as she tried to hold back the tears, but finally they burst free and she wept—bitter, horrible tears that made her previous freakouts over Warren look like a joy ride. Once, she’d have thought them pathetic. To be weeping like this over a mere man.
But he wasn’t just any man. He was Warren. He was her love. A mortal. She clutched her arms more tightly about her legs, desperately trying to rock the pain away. The Chairman’s meows did nothing to comfort her, and even when he rubbed up against her leg, it was like she couldn’t feel it at all.
When her sobs ran dry, she realized how silent the city was. Shadows peered out at her from their windows, ghostly remnants of soulcerers and soulceresses trapped forever in this cold stone labyrinth. The warmth that had once filled this city was long gone, leaving only shadows of the past that weren’t meant to be here.
