Chaos: A Paranormal Urban Fasntasy Novel (Goddess Kissed Novel Book 3)

by Ivy Carter

  Ella.

  An explosion of magic wakes me from a deep and depressed sleep. Tristan is wrapped around me, suddenly tightening his arms as we hear the screams and sounds of fighting. We are up and out of our tent within seconds, but even that isn’t quick enough.

  The enemy struck our camp hard and fast. They cut us down without us even knowing they were here until it was too late. When I see Talia bloodied and broken, sobbing on the ground, I know. I just know that it was my father. I quickly do a mental head count and I see that the brown eyed Wrath is missing.

  Over the last couple of days Talia and Wrath have been getting closer, as if they are mystically drawn to one another. Mates. I can see bloody scratches and deep sword wounds covering Talia’s broken body. Tristan and I rush toward her sobbing form, but I don’t know where to touch her, how to help her. She is shredded. This has destroyed her.

  I drop to my knees and reach for her, running my fingers over her body, but never touching her wounds. I see a knife not far from her prone form and reach for it. It is an enemy dagger with a snake caved into the pommel. The blade is encrusted with a black stone that seems to glow in the dark. Master of Darkness indeed.

  I grip the dagger and run the razor-sharp blade over my palm, cutting deep and drawing a good amount of blood. I slam my bloody palm into the dirt beside Talia’s dying body, pushing my blood and magic into the earth.

  Heal her, mother, hear me and heal this child. So, I will it. So, I mote it be.

  Vines explode from the ground and cling to Talia, encircling her body, feeding on her blood and mine even as nature itself heals her. Everything in life is give and take. We must pay for the gifts we receive.

  I sway from the amount of power I gave back to the earth. I catch myself on my bloody palm and almost jump at the sucking sensation I feel when my palm hits the dirt. I don’t move it, knowing that it is going to help Talia heal.

  My breath catches when I look around our clearing and see that all the other injured are now cocooned in greenery as well. Now I know why I am feeling so weak, it isn’t just Talia that my magic is healing, but half of the Shadow Warriors as well.

  “What the fuck happened here? How did they hit us so quickly, steal one of our own, then disappear in under a minute?” I mutter to myself but I am looking at Tristan as I speak.

  “It was Shadow Magic, Lady.” I hear Orion before I see him. “Both masters must have joined together.” He shakes his head as if he can’t fathom it. Orion walks around the clearing, checking on his men as they heal. Now that they are wrapped in the vines, they should be healed in a matter of hours.

  It only takes me a moment to realize what both masters would want badly enough to join forces. But it isn’t a what. It is a who.

  Raven.

  Thank the Gods that we got her to safety before we were ambushed. As tired as I am, I know that we can’t withstand another attack. Most of our men are down and bleeding. I take the dagger in my still bleeding palm and slice my other hand open as well. Instinct drives me as I stand on my swaying feet and walk around the edge of the clearing. I almost flinch when Tristan grasps one of my arms to support my weight as I set the blood barrier.

  “No one should be able to get through when I am done.” I tell Tristan as we continue around the clearing. “I need you to help me get stronger, I need you to help me train. I feel weak and I can’t help protect anyone in the shape I am in right now.” He just nods and his jaw clenches as if he is grinding his teeth. Now that I get a good look at him, I see how truly pissed he is.

  “Tristan, this isn’t your fault. You couldn’t have seen this coming. No one could have.” I try to reassure him, but I can tell that my words aren’t working.

  Of course he is going to blame himself. I have been so self-absorbed lately, thinking only about myself and how I am feeling. Not looking beyond my own selfish desires.

  “I am sorry.” I tell him as we complete the circle. I watch as my blood and magic rise to encircle the entire camp in a red and green shimmering sphere. It’s as beautiful as it is powerful.

  “Tristan, I know that we haven’t talked about this, I know that this might not be the most opportune time. But I love you. And I am sorry that I haven’t been there for you. That you were left feeling alone, dealing with everyone while I retreated into myself.”

  He starts to speak but I shake my head and cover his mouth with my hand. I get blood on his lips and he grasps my palm and starts to lick it clean. One palm and then the other, his eyes never leaving my own as his tongue encounters my skin. I feel tingles explode throughout my body and almost shiver at the sensations he is setting off.

  Tristan’s eyes warm when he notices my reaction.

  “I choose you.” I whisper to him. This is something that he has been waiting for. Something that he told me that I would have to do. Choose him. Pick him. Want him. Love him. And I do. I love him with everything in me.

  I don’t know if we are destined, or fated, or if feels from past lives are breaking through. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he is my one, my forever, my only.

  Chapter 16.

  Ella.

  Tristan lifts me into his arms and carries me quickly to our tent. I almost laugh until I see the dark look on his face. Have I said something wrong? Was I wrong to think that he wants this as much I do?

  “Tristan?” I ask, tightening my arms around his neck.

  “I have to get you somewhere private…” He mutters through his gritted teeth. That’s when I notice some other signs of what might be wrong. The color is heightened in his cheeks, his breathing has roughened, and he is walking funny.

  “Umm Tristan, you know that I haven’t ever done this before, right?” I whisper to him as I feel myself blushing.

  “Yeah babe, I can smell the innocence.” He chuckles quietly to himself. At that moment, I want to slap the smirk off his face. Asshole.

  He is still chuckling when we make it to our tent. I have been naked with him, I have slept all night in his arms, but he hasn’t ever tried for more with me. We have never crossed that line. I almost let myself dissolve in a fit of nerves until I remember that this is Tristan, and he hasn’t been able to touch anyone besides me. He has been as alone as I have.

  “Everyone is safe for the moment, everyone is healing. We will rescue Orion at first light. But for right now… you are mine.” He smiles down at me and I shiver at the feral look in his eyes.

  Tristan lays me down on the mound of blankets and furs piled high and thick inside our tent. He snaps his fingers and we are both naked as the day we were born. I look at him shyly as he just stares at my body. For the longest moment, it’s as if he doesn’t even breathe.

  “You are finally mine.” Tristan murmurs as he levers himself over me and runs his fingertips over my exposed skin. His touch sends a thousand tingles racing through me. His breath on my neck as he whispers my name makes me sigh in surrender.

  “I love you more than my own soul.” Tristan whispers against my lips. Then he reaches between my thighs, testing to see if I am ready for him. I feel his length slowly enter me. It burns at first, but when he finally fills me, I can feel nothing but him. He starts to move, in and out of me, slowly at first. The pleasure of it breathes new life into me as he takes me into a whole new world.

  Our breath mingles together, our skin touches in the most intimate way. We move together in a dance that is more than just physical. We are sharing in love that binds us. Our connection strengthens as our passion crests, I can feel the depth of his feelings for me, and they are so strong and deep that it brings tears to my eyes.

  “Our souls have bonded.” Tristan tells me as our bodies lie together, our limbs still entwined. I sigh and tighten my arms around him, never wanting to let him go. Knowing that losing him would kill a part of me that I would never get back.

  A long time later, I start to ask him something that has been on my mind…

  “Why did you call yourself Death?” I whisper into
the dark, listening to Tristan breathe.

  “When you disappeared, when the Shadow Master took your body, the ties that bound my power, that muted me… They broke. I remembered who and what I was before my powers were stripped from me. Many lifetimes ago, when I met you and chose to stay and watch over you, your mother took the bulk of who I was. Who I am once again. The anger and rage that I felt in the moment that you were stolen broke through some of the spells that she bound me with.” I feel him shrug as if this isn’t any big revelation. He is a being set apart, not a god, but not a regular immortal either. “I am still not back to my full self; my powers haven’t returned. But I feel them trickling in more every day.”

  “I don’t know what to say.” I shiver as if in foreboding. “You need to train me, Tristan. I need to be able to protect myself if my magic is ever out of commission again.”

  “Okay.” He whispers to me while pulling me closer to his body.

  When we wake at first light I can hear our group outside moving around, I can smell breakfast cooking and my stomach lets out a huge grumble. I feel Tristan laughing, his body jerking along with his chuckles.

  I roll away from him and snap my fingers to let my magic clean and dress me. I am wearing leather from head to toe with sturdy boots. I pull my hair up in a high ponytail and then I am ready to go.

  As Tristan and I step out of the tent, I see Talia sitting under a tree. She’s hugging herself as if she is trying to hold herself together. Her eyes are red-rimmed as if she spent the night crying. I make to step toward her but she throws me a look that tells me loud and clear that she wants to be left alone.

  A couple of the Shadow Warriors are around the campfire, stirring some eggs and bacon. After we finish with breakfast, everyone gathers around in a loose circle surrounding me.

  “Since we are short on time, everyone has decided to magically bestow our knowledge upon you.” I just stare at them seriously not really understanding. They must read the confusion on my face because Talia marches forward and grasps my wrist. The next thing I know, it feels like my mind is inside a blender, images and information are literally downloaded into my brain. I gasp in shock at the pain of the process.

  Tristan pulls her away from me. From the look on his face, I can tell that the process didn’t have to be painful. Still gasping, I just stare at her in confusion as she smirks a mean little smile my way.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I yell at Talia as I jump to my feet.

  “We are wasting time playing nursemaid to a child when we should be rescuing my mate!” She yells back as fur and claws start bursting out of her. I raise my hands and back away, not wanting to fight with her.

  “Look we can go now and we can try to rescue Orion, but if something happens and I lose touch with my magic again…” I shake my head at her with my hands still raised. “I will just be putting us in an even worse situation. I need to know what you choose to show me. I am sorry that I haven’t had years of training like everyone here. Up until now I have been winging it. Skipping the hard part and just killing anything that gets in my way. I can’t just rely on my magic alone anymore. Please understand. I don’t want to be weak.”

  I stop talking when Tristan grasps my hand and gently bestows his knowledge through our link. I can feel the trickle of information being absorbed. It is such an amazing feeling, the things I am learning. Hundreds of years of information and life lessons.

  Talia stands to the side, looking shame-faced as each of the Shadow Warriors come to me one by one and share everything that they think I need to know. When everyone has had their turn at teaching Ella, my head feels like it’s going to explode. Too much too soon. I drop to my knees and gasp for air, but can’t seem to pull enough into my lungs.

  Tristan helps me to my feet once I have caught my breath. The next thing I know, someone is throwing three different daggers at my head. I twirl on my feet like a dancer and dodge the first blade. The next I catch and throw back in the direction that it came from. The third blade is coming faster than the others. I barely catch it before it impales itself between my eyes.

  I smile, breathless.

  “Good, now that she knows what she is doing, let’s get going.” Talia snarls at everyone. Her lip curls and sharp fangs peak out.

  Chapter 17.

  Ella.

  We travel through the forest after we break down our camp and magically make it disappear. I have no idea where Tristan sent it and I am not going to ask. I have been trying to keep my thoughts to myself since Talia snarls at me every time she hears my voice.

  We reach the edge of the forest just as night falls a few hours later. Once we step out of the trees, we are surrounded by a landscape made up of black rock. Sharp, jutting, black boulders cover the crag-like landscape.

  High above us is a bleak-looking castle. It gleams in the moonlight like it’s made of black marble and glass. The whole mountainous area is surrounded by a dark, reflective lake that’s being fed by a crushing waterfall. I now see why this place is called the Dark Lands.

  Talia is visibly shivering at the sight of the fortress.

  “Is there a way we can enter the castle without tipping off The Masters?” I whisper to Talia.

  “There is a little used entrance inside a cavern, behind the waterfall.” She points toward the waterfall that sits at the bottom of the cliff.

  “Is there a way to reach it without crossing the entire lake out in the open?” Orion asks Talia, as he and the rest of his men come to stand just inside the tree line next to us.

  “No, we must swim for it. They have the whole area spelled so we can’t use magic or they will know it.” She mutters, barely loud enough for any of us to hear.

  Yeah, I am not going to go wading through some nasty black lake. I raise my hands and use my extra senses to feel for the spell that protects this area from intruders. When I find it, it feels like a heavy wet blanket lying over the whole of the Island.

  Talia was right when she said that they sensed us when we transported in. I mentally grab the spell. I don’t pull because I don’t want to break it. If I do that with brute force then the caster would feel the backlash of the spell breaking. I carefully lay a counter spell over the existing one that freezes it in place. As of this moment the detection spell is dead.

  I open my eyes and smile while snapping my fingers, conjuring some stepping stones to rise from the lake, stretching all the way across. Everyone gasps as if I am some dumb shit that doesn’t know what she is doing. Pfft!

  Tristan is the only person among our group that is laughing under his breath at what I did and their reaction to it.

  “She froze the existing spell. When it comes to magic, she knows what she is doing.” He smirks at their amazed faces and then steps out onto the first stone.

  We all start to follow him out onto the stones when the water starts to bubble and swish. Mermaid-like creatures start to pop out of the water. They scare me so badly that I almost fall off the stones. The creatures don’t look like mermaids do in the movies. They are ugly little fuckers with slimy green hair with black scales from their eyes down to their snake like tails. One smiles at me and shows me her razor-like piranha teeth. I smile back and fire up my palms, green flames wrapping around my arms from the elbow down.

  A couple of the creatures squeal and dunk back under the water at the sight of my magic. Another slithers out her tongue and tastes the air, then hisses, “Celios” while the others show me their teeth.

  Tristan’s wings explode out of his back, but instead of shadows his wings are now made of lush, solid, black feathers. He truly looks like the Angel of Death. If I didn’t know he loved me, I would be pissing my pants right about now.

  At the sight of Tristan’s wings, our group and the creatures freeze in place. No one dares to move except me as I reach back and grasp his hand, twining our fingers together. My magic starts to move up his arms as soon as our skin touches. It flows from his hand up his arm then illuminates his midnight
wings. Black wings crawling in green and black fire… One of the most gorgeous sites I have ever seen in my life.

  I guess this is just another side effect of our soul bond.

  Wicked.

  Now that the creatures are both stunned and distracted, we make a run for it. We almost make it to the other side before a sea skank reaches out and grasps my ankle. She quickly pulls me off the path of stones and into the lake. Before I go under I hear Tristan call out my name.

  The water is so cold that it takes my breath away. I swallow water as one of the creatures takes a bite out of my right thigh. Calm. I need to calm my raging emotions so that I can get myself out of this.

  Reaching out my arms, I feel for the creatures swarming around me. I freeze them in place with my mind then use my magic to shoot flames through the water to light them all on fire. They writhe and scream silently in pain as their grotesque faces freeze in horror and agony. I would smile if I didn’t feel like I was drowning. My magical fire burns just as bright under water. How awesome is that shit?

  I break through the surface of the lake and hear the creatures screaming. Tristan is in the water yelling out my name, looking for me. He must have dived in after me. I wave my arm trying to get his attention, just as someone pulls me from behind. They haul me out of the water and back onto the stones.

  I am on solid ground once more, lying on my back and looking up into Tristan’s worried face. He uses his hand to cover the bite on my thigh, forcing his life energy into the wound. His essence feels different now that he is evolving. It is ice cold and burning hot at the same time. His energy is both alive and dead, utterly delicious.

  I can feel the difference in him. He has changed since last night. He is stronger. More than twice as powerful as he was before. And he was damned powerful before.

  I gasp as his energy starts to flow through my system. My body quickly absorbs it and melds it, entwining it with my own essence.