by Ivy Carter
Tristan helps me to my feet and I use my magic to quickly dry and repair my clothing.
“Are you okay?” Tristan takes my hand in his strong grip while he searches my eyes for any signs of pain.
“I am fine. I swear.” I squeeze his hand as I look around at the faces of the people in our group and see that not everyone fared as well as myself. Two of the Shadow Warriors look like they have been through a cheese grater. Their wounds start to close as I am still watching. Damn they are powerful.
“Are we done playing around now? I want to make it to Wrath before your father kills him…” Talia practically snarls. Tristan looks at her like he doesn’t know whether to slap the shit out of her or throw her ass into the lake to burn with the creatures.
“Yeah we are going.” I whisper out as I grab Tristan and start towing him toward the waterfall.
Chapter 18 .
Ella.
Something is wrong. I can feel it as soon as we reach the raging falls. There is another presence here, a very powerful presence. I stop suddenly and almost slip on the wet stones. Looking around I can’t see anything that looks out of place.
Then a mist starts to twine around our group like a thick curtain. I can feel the magic in it. It’s dark and dank, smelling of rotten meat. Then the laughter starts.
I freeze, reaching for Tristan’s hand. But he isn’t there. I look around and I see Talia and the rest of our group but I can’t locate Tristan.
All at once the fog clears and a dark figure is standing in front of us, wearing black and red leather from head to toe. He stands at least seven feet tall with black hair and flaming midnight eyes. If he didn’t stink of evil he would be magnificent. Then I notice the kneeling figure, wrapped in magic-muting chains, kneeling at his feet.
Tristan.
The air in my lungs explodes out of my mouth. I want to scream in rage, but I keep my cool for the moment.
“Talia, come child.” His voice booms out, louder than the waterfall at our backs, as he waves her forward. She steps toward him, almost dragging her feet. I want to pull her back until I notice the look of guilt she throws my way. Fuck.
“He promised to let Wrath go free, if I brought him you.” She whispers as she passes.
“What do you want?” I ask the being standing in front of us. I can feel the men at my back. I know they are powerful, but they are not a match for him.
“I want you, daughter. I want to help you destroy the bitch that has trapped me in this realm. I want to be free and you are going to help me with that little problem.”
“And if I don’t?” I dare to ask him.
“If you prove stubborn, then I will kill your mate.” He nudges Tristan with his boot. Tristan doesn’t even flinch. He doesn’t move at all. That is what scares me the most.
“I will destroy everything that you have ever loved. I will burn this world and the next, if you try to take him from me.” You can feel the power lacing my words as they leave my mouth. The ground shakes beneath our feet. I can feel my magic swirling around my body with the colors of life and death entwined within the flames.
I throw out my hands and a shockwave of power flows in every direction, knocking everyone but myself and Tristan flat on their backs. I snap my fingers and the chains imprisoning Tristan break and fall away. Tristan flashes to my side in an instant.
I grab his hand and feed him some of my energy. But instead of it flowing one way, energy flows from me to him and then back again. Strengthening us both.
I put my palm out in front of me and knock my father flat on his back once more when he tries to get to his feet. I hold him there, but it takes a lot of magic to do so. He is hella powerful.
“Let me free.” He bellows, fighting my hold.
“You could have come to me. You could have straight out asked for my help. But no, you had to threaten the man that I love. You had to take my brother and torture him and his mate. Don’t think I don’t know what you have been doing. Don’t think that I haven’t seen the evil that you are. There isn’t a way in hell that I would free you and let you loose on the world.” I practically shout at him. “Now tell me where my family is or I will end you.” He can feel the truth in my words because he stops struggling and goes still.
That is when I hear the familiar cackle. The same cackling laugh that haunted me when I was stuck in that dank dungeon inside the Shadow Realm. The shadows split, like reality folding in on itself. Standing not ten feet in front of me is the Shadow Master, Alexander, and he has his hands wrapped around my brother Gavin’s throat.
“What do you want, Alexander?” I snarl at him.
“First, you will let your father get to his feet. Then, you will return my child to me.” The laughter fades from his face. I almost flinch when he mentions Raven. Thank the Gods Tristan got her away before any of this happened.
“That isn’t going to happen.” I reply and feel Tristan pulling power behind me. His wings expand out from his back, opening wide, stretching across the entire cavern. Alexander flinches when he catches sight of Tristan’s newly feathered wings.
“Death.” Alexander sneers, trying to hide his terror behind false bravado.
I feel Tristan clasp his hand onto my shoulder. Our powers entwine and fuel us. A glow surrounds us, black flames flickering with a green luminescence reflecting throughout. Tristan’s magic expands outwardly from him, hitting Alexander square in the middle of the chest. His grip on Gavin breaks as he is thrown back and held against the cavern wall. His roars of denial and anger are almost louder than the rushing water of the falls.
“Strip their powers, Ella. We won’t be able to hold them both for long.” Tristan gasps at me. I can feel the strain of the power we are using to keep these fucks down. I start to mutter a spell under my breath, trying to get the wording right so it doesn’t backfire.
“So I will it, so mote it be.” I finish the spell and I can feel that their magic is muted, not stolen as Tristan wanted to me to do. They are too powerful for me to do that while still helping Tristan hold them in place. I can feel their anger and rage rolling out of them as Tristan and I let up on the force that was holding them in place. I quickly catch my breath when my father jumps to his feet. He tries to throw a spell towards us, but nothing happens. The look on his face is murderous. He pulls his sword from the scabbard that is strapped to his back.
I hear steel clashing against steel coming somewhere from behind me. Tristan conjures his sword and rushes past me to meet my father in combat. Tristan’s sword is engulfed in black and green flames. I can feel the power from the sword pulling on our collective magic.
I rush past the battling pair toward my brother, who is still collapsed on the ground, not moving. I put my hand to his throat trying to feel for a pulse. I find it, but it’s weak.
I look around and see that more of our enemy must have teleported in during our standoff. Every person in our group is locked in battle. Most of them are facing more than one person. Silver flashes through the darkness as blades dance, blood flows and screams surround me. I drag Gavin off to the side of the cavern, out of harm’s way. His body is heavy and I heave it across the rough rock floor.
I conjure two knives, a dagger for each hand. I light them on fire with my magic, the better to make them bleed.
I take in everything in an instant, right before I throw myself into the battle. I set my humanity away, there can be no hesitating here. My people are going to die if I don’t do something.
Tristan is bleeding from a dozen different wounds; my father’s magic might be muted… But he is still a skilled warrior. I skirt around the edges of the raging battle, not wanting to distract anyone and get them killed. I see a man in black, sporting some scaled wings, heading toward Orion with his sword drawn. I wouldn’t intercede but Orion is currently pinned down, facing three of our enemy.
I throw one of my daggers, hitting the scaled man in the right thigh. He stumbles but doesn’t stop running toward his target. I throw my secon
d dagger, this time hitting him in his right shoulder, still not slowing him down. He simply plucks both blades out of his limbs, he doesn’t even flinch.
Well if he can bleed, he can die. I keep running, conjuring a sword this time. I grip the pommel tightly in both hands and take a swing at my target’s wings. My sword slices through his wing joint like butter.
That gets his attention. He turns and roars out his pain, his spittle hitting me in the face. I get a close-up view of his multiple sharp rows of teeth. They are so distracting that I almost miss the fact that his sword is trying to slice my head off my shoulders.
I block his strikes once, twice, and then a third time. Dancing around him and his blows as I was taught, I must keep moving. This is all new to me and this dude is damned fast. I grip the pommel tighter with my right hand then conjure a third dagger with my left.
I flick the dagger toward his man business, which makes him drop his guard and lose his footing as he dodges and protects his groin. As his sword drops to flick away the knife, I slice my sword across his throat. His blood sprays me across the face, burning my skin as it splatters my cheeks.
I swirl away, looking for another enemy to dispatch, but I stumble as I hear Gavin yelling “no”.
Alexander has a visibly frightened Selene trapped within his arms. She is shaking her head no while she is reaching for Gavin. Before I can pull my magic and get a clean shot at him, shadows surround him and he and Selene disappear, leaving behind the echoes of her frightened screams.
The shock of seeing Selene stolen away, along with his wounds must have been too much for Gavin. He passes out while still reaching for her. I rush to his side, taking in my surroundings at a glance. We are overrun. Everyone is surrounded by three or more of the enemy. If we don’t get out of this cavern, we are all going to die.
Just as I start to reach for our people’s essence, so I can pull them with me when I transport, I see that Tristan has the upper hand against my father. Tristan is drilling at him with his burning blade. My father is losing ground, he might even die before the end of the night. I can’t seem to make myself care either way.
Morgaine appears in a swirling cloud of blue glitter. I want to reach out for her, she seemed to want to help me in the In Between. But she isn’t here for me. She is running toward Tristan, blasting him with her blue flames, pushing him away from my father. I pull Tristan toward me with my magic and he lands on his feet a foot from where I am kneeling next to Gavin.
Morgaine helps my father to his feet, then snaps her fingers. Talia, who has been hugging the wall since the fight started, hurries to her side and bows her head. Morgaine fists her hair and forces her to her knees.
That is when I realize that my father’s lady is my aunt.
Holy Shit.
I quickly reach for our people’s essences and start to pull them toward me, firing up a Transportation Spell.
“Yes, run child. Once you are gone, your father and I are going to have our fun with this one.” She yanks on Talia’s hair, forcing her head back brutally, a cruel smile playing on her beautiful face.
The last thing I hear as we fade from the cavern is Talia’s pain-filled whimpers.
Chapter 19.
Ella.
By the time we make it back to camp, the Shadow Warriors are mostly healed. I check Tristan and his wounds are closed as well.
Tristan gently lays Gavin down on the ground. I can hear him gasping for breath from two feet away. Tears are running down his face. Whether they are tears of pain from his wounds or tears for the loss of Selene, I don’t know.
“Gavin, you need to take energy from me so that you can heal.” I grasp his shoulder as I whisper to him. He shakes his head in denial, of what I have no idea. “Please brother, let me help you. I need you healthy so that I can help you get your mate back.” I plead with him, even though the thought of Selene being my brother’s anything leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.
“Selene,” Gavin gasps out as I get a closer look at his wounds. He has a cut on his thigh that is deep enough that I can see all the way to the bone. There are black veins running outward from the wound, like the one left on Tristan from Alexander’s blade.
“Poison.” Tristan murmurs from behind me. “There is really only one cure for that. The tears of the one that he loves most or my blood. But my blood will change him in ways we might not understand.”
“He loves Selene the most, so that option is out. That leaves your blood.” I look at Tristan, pleading with him with my eyes. “Please? Where there is life, there is hope.”
He simply nods and sinks his fangs into his wrist before forcing his blood between Gavin’s lips. Gavin must be in some sort of daze because he doesn’t fight taking the blood. It is as if he has just given up. I can’t fathom what he has been through, what he has survived at the hands of our father, all so that Selene could live. Still, he ended up losing her in the end.
“We will find her and get her back for you, brother.” I promise him as Tristan touches his forehead and puts him to sleep.
“I want to volunteer.” Justice steps forward with his chin out arrogantly. “I will take one of my brothers and slip into the shadow realm. I will observe what we are up against and I will find out what the Shadow Master is planning. We must not let him claim the child. We will get your brother’s mate back.” He states as if he is making a binding vow. Orion takes a step forward to stand beside Justice, volunteering to go with him.
“The rest of our brothers will travel through the shadows to where you have taken the child. She must be protected. So, we will guard her, as is our duty in this life.” Orion states and there are grunts of agreement from the rest of them.
“Do you need me to draw you a map, give you directions to the place that Raven was taken?” I ask.
“No. We are connected to her through blood and bond. For, one day, she will become our Queen. There isn’t a place in all the Realms that we couldn’t find her.” Justice tells me in all seriousness.
Well, alrighty then.
I smile at him, “Thank you. I appreciate it. I know that you don’t have to help my brother. So, it just means that much more.” I turn back to Gavin and notice that the black, poisonous veins are receding. I almost sag to the ground in relief at the sight.
As soon as I turn away from Justice, he and Orion are wrapped in shadows, then transport away.
“Good luck.” I whisper to the spot where they were standing.
My father has Talia and Wrath, my brother’s mate is the Shadow Master’s prisoner, and Gavin is down for the count. Let’s not forget that Raven is being hunted. My mother is the Darkness that is threatening the Light. She isn’t the hero in my story, but the reason why all the wicked bullshit has been happening.
Fucking Chaos.
“I think the deck is pretty much stacked against us.” I turn to Tristan, falling into his arms.
“We need to go home and regroup.” Tristan whispers into my hair.
“I want to see Jessa, and tease Sebastian for being all stuffy.” I smile into his chest.
“How are we going to stop my mother, Tristan? You know this is impossible, right? I don’t know what I am doing. As soon as I get one step ahead, something gets in the way and knocks me back again.”
I want to cry and break down. I am not a hero. I am not invincible. I am just a girl. A girl, in love with a guy who just might be Death itself.
Yeah, so much for me being a normal girl.
“You are the daughter of the Triple Goddess. You are the daughter of the Dark Master. You are the life mate of Death. You have slaughtered Demons. You have saved your friends more than once. You have birthed a child that wasn’t your own. A child that may be the savior of an entire realm. No, you aren’t ever going to be a normal girl. But you aren’t alone either. I will always be here.”
I smile up at him. “So, you can read my thoughts?” I ask while smiling up at him. “You know that I love you more than my life?”
&nbs
p; Tristan crushes me to him, pulling me into a fierce kiss. “Not here.” He mutters, “But soon.” I laugh at the naughty smile he gives me.
Reluctantly I pull back. “I need to share some energy with Gavin so he can heal.” I make my way over to where Gavin is lying and put my hand to his cheek. “Take whatever you need of me, brother. Heal yourself. You need to be strong for what is to come.” I whisper to his mind.
His essence starts to pull on mine and I can feel a difference in him almost immediately. His essence is darker, colder to the touch. He feels a lot like Tristan, but his heat is mixed with ice. Dry Ice, that is what he feels like to me. Freezing, but hot enough to burn.
When I feel that Gavin has almost drained me dry, I pull back and watch as he sighs in his sleep.
“Tristan, can you help me teleport us home? I don’t think I have enough magic left to carry all three of us.”
Of course, love. You don’t even have to ask. I am yours to command.” He laughs when he sees that he has made me smile.
“When we get home…” His words trail off but I can clearly catch his meaning by the look in his eyes.
Naughty man.
Tristan takes my hand and already I can feel that the spell that was dampening his magic is mostly gone.
“I feel more like my old self.” He murmurs as he checks his magic.
“Yeah, we need to talk about that. How did my mother trap you, spell you and convince you were nothing more than a Reaper?” I watch as he walks in a circle around me and Gavin. I know what he’s doing before I even ask the question. The other being in my head likes to feed me information.
Scribe.
A lovely present. I don’t think my mother is going to be happy about me absorbing.
Tristan is drawing on the spell that keeps intruders out of the Dark Lands, utilizing that energy to fuel is own magic.
“Take my hand.” Tristan tells me as he lifts Gavin over his shoulder. I grasp his hand as he mutters a spell under his breath. Black and green light swirl around us in a mist of magic. I close my eyes and wish for home.
