by Everly Frost
“A serpent that lived under the tree,” she says. “It was whispering in our ears and playing on our greatest fears.”
Slade swivels. “Where is it now?” His gaze passes right over the dead beast.
“We killed it,” I say. I take comfort in the fact that Slade has not accepted his own death like I have. I need his hope and determination to balance my need to end Amalia at all costs.
Cain pulls Archer close. “My greatest fear is losing Archer.”
Slade nods, his gaze an intense burn as he turns the full force of his fear on me. “I can’t lose Hunter.”
“You won’t,” I say. “Neither of you will lose us. We will fight our way through this place. Together.”
Cain rises to his feet while Archer supports him. He doesn’t appear to have any broken bones, but he’s not in good shape.
He says, “I’m sorry, Hunter. I hope you can believe me.”
With a glance at Slade, I stride toward Cain, pausing only to ask Archer, “May I?”
She slides her arm away from Cain with a small smile.
“Cain Carter,” I say, wrapping my arms around his big torso and resting my head against his chest. “I believe you.”
He freezes for a moment before relaxing into the hug, his big arms rising around me, warm and welcoming, but careful. He knows my back is tender.
Cain murmurs, “When I was pulled from the top of the tree, I fought hard, but I couldn’t shake this vision… it seemed so real. You were standing over Archer’s dead body holding both feathers. After that, the voice started in my head and I couldn’t ignore it.”
I shudder. “The only person I will kill is Amalia.”
Of all of the people standing in this clearing, Cain’s heart is the most open. He allows himself to feel everything there is to feel while the rest of us freeze out our emotions like we’ve been taught to do. Ruthless. Unemotional.
I close my eyes for a moment before I say, “I never allowed myself to have friends. Allies, sure. But friends… people I care about… we won’t always agree on everything but I trust you, Cain.”
He drops a gentle kiss on my forehead before he draws back to meet my eyes.
Before he can say anything, I focus on the cut across his temple. “We’re going to look after your wounds now. Don’t say anything to me about ‘help.’ This is what friends do.”
A smile breaks across his face, then it turns into a grimace. “I won’t refuse.”
While Slade brings Cain a bottle of water, Archer and I set about cleaning his wounds, after which we’re relieved to find he only needs stitches above his eye.
Archer raises an eyebrow at him, making me think they’ve had a conversation about this before when she says, “I’m no plastic surgeon. This will scar.”
He grins. “It’s time I had one.”
Meanwhile, Slade surveys the horizon. None of us is talking about the rock wall that appeared in the distance when Slade and Cain stopped fighting.
Leaving Archer with Cain, I make my way to Slade, keeping my voice low. “I know the power of your fists, Slade. Cain is still alive, with only one actual wound, which tells me you pulled your punches.”
Slade exhales slowly. “What you said about friends applies to me, too. My fear wasn’t only for you. My fear was also for Cain… that he would do something he couldn’t come back from.”
“That he would hurt me?”
“Yes.” Slade takes my shoulders. “He would never forgive himself.” His expression changes, becoming fierce. “And I… I did not want to kill my friend.”
I lean into Slade. A kiss can’t erase what happened, can’t make him feel better, but I give him one anyway. He wraps his arms around me with a groan that is as much frustration as fear. “We have to make it through this place.”
I whisper against his lips, “Tell me what will happen when this is over?”
He smiles, pressing kisses against my mouth as he speaks. “We will find a way to live together despite mastering separate Factions. We will rebuild the Legion and make its walls safe again.” He takes a deep breath. “We could… wear our rings on different fingers and maybe… raise a family together.”
There’s a question in his voice, vulnerability in his expression that has never been there before. Facing our fears is not only about conquering an obstacle in front of us. It’s also about asking for what we want.
I say, “I would love that.”
He kisses me again, but this time it is like a promise. A promise of a future that he wants as much as I do.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The next wall is almost identical to the first one. Gray rock spans the visible distance in both directions, but this time a single entrance forms a break in its center. The sun is shining out here on the plain, but within the entrance the air is murky, darkness obscuring whatever lies beyond it.
We take a moment to check our weapons, hydrate ourselves, and chew some dried food. We don’t know when we’ll have the chance to eat again. My katana is firmly strapped to my back this time, within quick reach.
Archer stays at my side while Slade and Cain fan out behind us, watching our backs. We have made it through one gate and one challenge. The rock giant said we would have to get through three of each. I’m hoping this gate will consist of a simple choice again, but we can’t count on it.
Growling sounds precede two large wolves that slink out from within the entrance to stand in front of it. They bring the night with them, a dark shadow casting over us even though there isn’t a cloud in the sky.
Their heads lower into a hunting position, lips drawn back from their teeth. One has fur the color of charcoal with a gleaming silver snout. The other is russet, its snout so crimson that it appears to have been dipped in blood. Their eyes are filled with blue flames and their growls send shivers down my spine. The aura around them is like flames licking across their fur. Somehow, I don’t anticipate that this will be a civilized conversation.
“Dinner has finally arrived,” says the russet wolf.
The charcoal wolf prowls closer to me. “Such pitiful prey.”
I ask, “Who are you?”
The russet wolf fixates on Archer who stands her ground. It says, “I am Hati. This is my brother Skoll. We are Devourers.”
I don’t particularly want to know what they devour. As Skoll slinks closer, I make out a slash on his snout—a thin line of blood.
I say, “The other Silver Wings already got past you.”
Skoll growls, his teeth bared. “You will not be so lucky.”
I grimace. Its answer confirms that Amalia is ahead of us. I was worried she might progress through the maze faster than us.
I level my gaze with Skoll. “You will let us pass.”
He rounds on me, slinking to the side while Hati begins to circle Archer. “We are hungry for the sun and the moon. It is our destiny to devour them.”
Skoll leaps at me, his body awash with flames and his silver snout wide open, gleaming teeth aimed for my shoulder. Hati springs at Archer at the same time.
We duck and roll beneath the arc of their jumps, causing them to sail over us. They land on the other side, barely avoiding head-butting each other. Slade and Cain step into the fight then, firing two quick gunshots each, but the wolves’ hides are thick and the bullets lodge in their skin instead of piercing them.
Skoll and Hati whirl, snarling, preparing to leap at Cain and Slade.
“Go! Get through the gate!” Slade shouts to me. “We’ll hold them off.”
Archer and I race toward the entrance, pausing as Slade and Cain wrestle with the wolves, muscles straining as they physically restrain them. I don’t want to let them out of my sight—and neither does Archer by the look of things. Slade is trying to give me as much time as possible to rest my back but if I have to run back into the fight, I will. Archer stays with me, not quite passing through the entrance.
Slade releases his wings, dragging Skoll up into the air. The wolf yelps, scrabblin
g at the ground while Slade swings him around, flinging him off to the side. Skoll tumbles through the grass, skidding and finding his feet, and Slade soars after him, harnessing his killing power in a wash of silver light. He flung Skoll far enough away from Cain that Cain is not in danger.
The charcoal wolf launches itself at Slade, its fangs and claws a rabid blur. Slade shouts as Skoll’s fangs sink into his arm, but his killing power explodes, a burst of power that shudders through the beast. Its body falls limp, dragging Slade down with it. He throws it off and rises into the air again.
Closer to us, Cain grapples with Hati, holding the russet wolf off as it tries to savage at his neck. With a roar, Cain lashes out, kicking the wolf with his boot, leaping at the animal with a dagger in his hand. The dagger hits Hati square in the eye and the wolf howls as blue flame explodes outward, knocking Cain across the field. Cain tumbles, jumps to his feet and races back, his assassin’s magic blazing.
He meets the wolf mid-jump, the two crashing against each other. Cain’s powerful fist knocks against the wolf’s jaw a second before Slade swoops in, plucks the wolf from Cain’s grasp and releases his killing power into it from high above.
The animal falls to the ground, dead at Cain’s feet.
Cain looks up with an indignant expression.
Slade shrugs from the air.
Cain grins before he bends over his knees, catching his breath for a second before he rights himself.
Beside me, Archer resumes breathing. “I couldn’t leave.”
I know exactly how she feels, but I grin. “It looks like they managed okay without us. Let’s check out the entrance.”
I step into it, craning to see around the corner. “It looks okay.”
There’s silence behind me.
“Archer?” I turn back to find nothing but a solid rock wall where Archer was standing a second ago. “Archer!”
I spin to a wall that appears on my left and then another on my right. They appear before my eyes, leaving the only openings in front and above me.
Determined to fly over the wall and get back to the others, I release my wings and rise upward, but I’m not quick enough. A ceiling of rocks forms above me, stone by stone appearing out of nowhere. I pick up speed, zooming along the rapidly forming corridor, trying to reach the opening but the rocks keep linking together above and around me.
Five seconds later, I shoot from the mouth of the tunnel, finally rising into the air only to find myself in a cave full of diamonds.
Light reflects off the glittering stones into my eyes, blinding me. I throw my arm across my face to shield my eyes, and make out a high ceiling soaring above me—high enough that it takes me a couple of seconds to reach it, but there’s no exit that way. Glittering walls rise to the ceiling, forcing me to twist and turn while I fly around them.
I’m getting nowhere.
Or I’m getting lost.
“Slade! Archer!” My shouts echo back at me. “Cain!”
Deciding not to make my situation worse, I glide to the floor, squinting at the reflections in the diamonds opposite me.
Me.
And another woman…
Her silhouette appears behind me, her long hair covering her shoulders, her body clad in warrior’s clothing, the edges of a sword in the same shape as mine appearing on either side of her back.
I spin around… but there’s nobody there.
A low moan whispers through the cavern, making my skin prickle. I step carefully toward the sound, padding quietly around the next corner, finding the light dull in the next corridor so that I can finally lower my arm.
I am reflected in the diamonds on either side of me, almost as if I am walking with myself for company. From the corner of my eye, the other woman appears as a vague shape, but when I try to focus on her, she disappears.
The moan grows louder, sighing through the corridor.
It makes me shiver, a sense of foreboding settling into the pit of my stomach. It’s a sound I know. A sound I’ve felt. It’s the cry of loss and grief, the kind of pain that never goes away.
I emerge into a low cavern with a single opening on the other side. A gentle waterfall flows into a shallow pool on the left.
Amalia kneels on the path at the edge of the water, her head in her hands.
I inhale and hold my breath, reaching for my sword, taking careful steps.
Amalia doesn’t give me any indication that she is aware of my presence. She remains curled over her knees, her hair falling across her face.
She cries again, making me pause.
I’ve finally caught up to her but I can’t end her on my own. I need Slade’s gun. I need Archer’s power. I need Cain’s ring. Only together can we end this woman.
“She can’t hear you.”
I whirl to the woman whose silhouette I saw in the diamonds.
My heart stops.
“Mom?”
A gentle smile lights my mother’s eyes as she steps toward me. She’s wearing the clothing I last saw her in: her favorite leather jacket, jeans, and high boots—the kind that conceal a long blade. Her katana is strapped to her back. It’s the one I carry now.
“I missed you, baby girl.” She crosses the distance and wraps me in her arms.
I can’t breathe. I don’t want to break this moment. Tears spring to my eyes and I’m not ashamed of them. “Mom?”
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
She pulls back, her emerald green eyes sparkling with tears, the silver rims around her eyes even more startling to me now than when she was alive.
My voice breaks. “You’re not really alive, are you?”
“No, baby. I’m here because I am your challenge.”
I jolt a little. “I’m not fighting you.”
“You couldn’t even if you wanted to.” She strokes my back, soothing motions, making me realize that my sword is gone. In fact, all of my weapons are gone. I look down to find that I’m wearing the same clothing I was wearing the night she died.
I’m sixteen again and my heart is filled with fear.
She strokes my cheek, a tear spilling down her own. “Your challenge is to let me go.”
“No.” I pull out of her arms, but she paces after me.
“Hunter… listen to me. Ever since I died, you have made it your mission to do what I wanted you to do. You retrieved the Clave, you kept the feather safe, you found Archer, you saved her life—”
“Tansy did that.”
“She never would have if it wasn’t for you. You mended Tansy’s heart—something I failed to do. She healed Archer because you asked her to. You destroyed Boston’s underground and you even killed Gareth…”
“Because he hurt Vlad.”
“Because you have friends,” she insists, taking my arms in her hands, gently but firm. “You have the chance for a new life now. It’s time to live it on your own terms.”
Her gaze shifts to Amalia where she kneels behind me. Mom’s eyes harden. “If you don’t let go of the past… that is what you will become.”
I swivel from Amalia, reaching out for Mom as she steps away from me. “I have to go now, Hunter. Remember always: you can overcome the darkness.”
She levels her gaze with mine before her focus becomes distant, the light grows brighter and other shapes appear within it—a man standing in an alley. A trickle of blood slides out of nowhere down Mom’s temple, a bruise blossoms before my eyes across her cheek, and a lash whips around her waist, capturing her, yanking her backward.
She spins away from me to the man solidifying behind her, the grimy alley casting shadows across the scene as the diamond walls disappear. They are replaced with the backstreet where Mom died.
Gareth wears a snarl. He shoves her against the wall, her arms pinned to her sides within the lash. “I loved you once, Anna, but you betrayed me.”
“That wasn’t love. That was lust and envy and… self-preservation. You never felt for me what I felt for you.” Her voice lowers to a whisper. “I do
n’t feel anything for you anymore. I discovered what love actually feels like and it is more than you will ever know.”
His lips curls. “Who could possibly love you?”
Her eyes shine despite his hatred. “My daughter.”
He frowns, eyes narrowed. “Our daughter.”
Mom leans into him, her lips an inch from his. She whispers, “Hunter isn’t yours.”
He recoils as if she slapped him, stumbling away from her, the blood draining from his face.
She breaks free from the lash now that he has let it go, snapping it with one powerful upward movement of her arms.
He recovers quickly. “Then I will not show her mercy.”
Mom crosses the distance, grabs him, pulling him close, a threat on her lips. “Pray she doesn’t come after you, Gareth. Hunter is stronger than me. She is more powerful, more ruthless, more true to herself—”
“She is someone else’s daughter!” he shouts. “That’s what she is!”
Mom’s eyes widen as she stares into Gareth’s. “I never imagined that the truth would hurt you…”
His expression contorts. “I left you alone all these years because I thought she was mine. Now… give me the feather.”
“No.”
“Give me the damn feather.”
“No!”
“Then I will take it.” He shoves her against the brick wall again, his assassin’s magic glowing.
She strikes out at him with a dagger, a swift warning swipe that forces him to let her go. He retaliates with a fist, feinting right to avoid the next knife swipe. She dances out of his path and his hand hits the bricks. He gives an angry growl, his gaze narrowing at her weapon. When she lunges at him again, he grabs her hand, forces her wrist back and disarms her. It’s exactly the same move I taught myself after she died.
He forces her back against the wall, pressing her knife to her throat, swiftly reaching into her jacket, right next to her breasts, to pull out the copper feather.
Her eyes narrow a second before she punches his knife hand away from her, executing the same maneuver to disarm him and take control of the knife again. She lands a hit to his stomach with her knee that doubles him over. She snatches the feather, closing her fist around it, but he retaliates by barreling forward, not bothering to raise his head, banging her up against the wall. He regains his height, forcing her blade hand down to her side, pinning her with his weight.