A gentle touch to a crack in the wall activated yet another spell. The wall shimmered, then a wood panel appeared. Dexios slid it open, revealing what looked like a large storage closet.
“You’re here at last,” a hushed female voice said.
“Kallos,” Dexios said with relief.
“Hurry. The patrols are more numerous today.”
After turning off the lamp, Dexios guided Vanora through the opening into the musty smelling closet. A crack under the door allowed golden light to seep into the space and Vanora could discern a delicate-looking young woman with masses of dark hair and large eyes staring at her curiously.
“You’re so pale. You glow like the moon,” Kallos said in awe.
Shutting the panel, Dexios spun about to warmly embrace Kallos. The werewolf clung to the young woman, but Vanora saw hesitation in the vampire’s movements as she laid her hands on his shoulders. When Dexios pressed a soft, quick kiss to her lips, Kallos nearly recoiled. The hurt in Dexios’s eyes could not be missed even in the very low lightning.
“I’m sorry,” Kallos said in a hushed voice.
“I know his edict separates us.” The bitterness and sorrow infesting his words and eyes spoke volumes.
“We will be free of him soon,” Kallos replied, her fingertips barely brushing his cheek.
Vanora glanced at the door to Aeron’s haven. “I need to see Siana, Kallos.”
“She is in the temple, alone.” Fidgeting with her long dress, Kallos appeared uneasy. “She’s been quite temperamental all night. Screaming. Crying. She sent her handmaidens out of the temple and her guards. All is not well.”
“I suspect I know why. The future is unraveling, changing. It can’t be easy for her.” The cold emanating from the floor and walls brought a quaver to her voice. It was so cold. She'd forgotten how vampires didn't feel cold like mortals did. Coats were affectations that never warmed the undead creatures. Alisha and Roman had always turned on the heat in the mansion for her benefit.
"It's a good sign," Dexios said, attempting to reassure her.
Kallos cracked the door slightly and then closed it again. "Just another minute and we can go. You need to follow me closely. The guards are human. I can hide us from them, but we need to stay very close. If you slip out of my aura, you'll be visible. The good news is: I have their pattern memorized. Pólemos’s wolves are a little more difficult. They wander as they see fit."
Swallowing the lump forming in her throat, Vanora nodded. "I'm ready."
* * *
The long corridor was empty of foot traffic and unmarred by doorways except for double doors at both ends. As soon as they departed the closet, Kallos pulled Vanora close, slinging an arm around her waist. Dexios rested his hands on their shoulders, keeping close behind them. The closeness of the supernatural beings was unsettling, but magic had its rules. If the trio were to remain hidden from the eyes of the guards, Vanora would have to allow the strangers into her comfort zone. Kallos’s vampire magic hid their passage, but Vanora winced at how loud her boot heels sounded.
“Can they hear us?” she dared to ask.
Kallos shook her head. “As long as you’re in my aura, they can’t.”
The white marble floor, the stark high-domed ceilings, the ornate gold candelabra, and ivory silk wallpaper were more along the lines of what Vanora had anticipated in Aeron’s lair. At the end of the hall, a short staircase climbed to the next level.
“Stay close,” Kallos ordered.
Together, they ascended the steps and peered into yet another hallway. This corridor resembled the one they were leaving, but curved.
“We’re near the temple,” Kallos whispered. “It’s above ground. The pieces of Aeron’s haven are built within the abandoned warehouses and shrouded with wards. This is technically Siana’s domain. We will have to deal with her human guards.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.” Dexios glanced over his shoulder into the long corridor behind them. “But we should hurry.”
Creeping along the hallway, Vanora caught a whiff of incense. The walls slowly changed as they continued down the curving corridor. Pillars started to appear at regular intervals and the walls were painted a dark red, not white. Faded murals on slabs of stone depicting ancient temples and oracles were set on marble pedestals. Vanora suspected they were relics from Greece and not reproductions.
“We’re nearly to the entrance.” Kallos dropped her arm from Vanora’s waist and swiveled toward her. She was visibly shaking, her hands in fists at her side. “This is where I must depart. I can’t go any further. I’m not allowed here. The edicts placed upon me are a tether.”
“Dexios and I can continue alone. I’ve seen what edicts can do. I understand. I do.”
Sliding her gaze to Dexios, Kallos sighed with regret. “I wish I could be with you longer, but I can’t stay.”
“Each moment is precious,” he answered, gently touching her hand.
With a stifled sob, Kallos rushed away, her long skirt rustling against the floor.
Dexios watched her depart, his expression broken, then straightened his shoulders. “We should continue.”
“How do we do this?” Vanora asked.
“I can go beat the hell out of them, or you can perform some magic.” Dexios’s expression revealed the earnestness of his words.
With a little frown creasing her forehead, Vanora pondered her options and tugged off one glove. She really didn’t want to resort to violence. “I can try a variation of what I did at the checkpoint. Less bloody and noisy.”
Dexios inclined his head. “Do as you will.”
Closing her eyes, Vanora rested one palm against the cold wall. The magic inside her sizzled to the surface of her flesh and pulsed around her fingertips. Though uncertain of how to proceed, she willed her magic to slide along the wall until it found the temple guards at their post. It took several tries and then she felt the threads of her magic lash out. Like snakes, they rushed along the wall, dragging her mind’s eye with them. She could see her magic descending on four guards, two male, two female, standing before the entrance. She’d expected them to be in ancient garb, but instead they were in modern black body armor. The strands of her magic wrapped around them, sinking into their flesh. Vanora was assailed by a myriad of thoughts that were not her own. Instead of deciphering the psychic flashes, she spoke one word through the telepathic connection.
Sleep.
The whispers of the guards’ mind stopped buffeting her.
Down the hallway came the distinct thumps of heavy objects striking the floor.
Vanora withdrew her magic.
Almost instantly, her mind returned to her body.
Opening her eyes, she gave Dexios a slight nod. “Done.”
“Impressive.”
Exhaling, Vanora acknowledged his compliment with a nod. She was a bit shaken by how successful she’d been. It was becoming easier and easier to control her magic. Was it because she was closer to Aeron? That was definitely not a pleasant thought.
Together, they rushed down the hallway to where the guards slumbered before ornate brass doors to the temple. Statutes of Apollo and Artemis guarded the doorway, their marble faces impassive and cold. Something Leto had said drifted briefly through Vanora’s mind, but was lost when Dexios shoved open the doors. The metal groaned loudly. Worried that it may draw others, Vanora rushed inside, Dexios close behind. Pushing the doors shut, Dexios searched for a way to barricade them.
The temple was filled with a thick smoke. Vanora choked on the heavy spicy air. The cloying taste of incense clung to her throat and filled her nostrils. Censers spewing smoke hung from hooks burrowed into the tall pillars that encircled the round room. A brighter fire was nearby, but hidden by the haze.
Dexios shoved over a statue set near the door, and it broke apart into large chunks as it struck the ground. Grunting, he pressed one shoulder to the pedestal, and it stuttered across the ground to block the doors. “This will hold back t
he humans, but the werewolves will get through. Hurry.”
Clutching the strap of her bag with both hands, Vanora advanced toward the larger fire she spotted through the shadows and dark smoke. Siana the Oracle had to be near, but was she hiding? Plagued by the choking smoke, Vanora brushed her hands in front her face. Glowing sparkles of light danced around her fingers, then darted into the haze. With a soft whoosh, the smoke swirled up in the form of a snake. Vanora gasped as it loomed over her, hood spread. With a flick of a smoky tongue, it disappeared into the blackness dwelling along the ceiling, its long tail slithering up a pillar before vanishing.
The smoke gone, Vanora saw the oracle lying on her side beside a viewing pool. The woman was drenched to the bone and water stained the floor around her. The water within the pool was choppy with waves topped by foam. Coals glowed in a fire pit, casting shadows against the pillars encircling the area. Approaching cautiously, Vanora remembered what she’d been told. The Oracle never slept.
Faster than Vanora’s eye could track, Siana moved from being prone on the ground to crouching. Her long black hair with its white streak hung over her face. Long, sleek fingers tapped against the edge of the pool.
“Do you believe it will be so easy?” Siana hissed like a snake.
Gulping, Vanora fought to steady her nerves. She was not powerless, but she couldn’t help but be intimidated by the ancient one. “I don’t understand.”
“The future is being unraveled, bit by bit, strand by strand. The tapestry is being undone by you.”
In a blink of an eye, Siana was standing and facing Vanora. Water dripped from the ends of the tresses still obscuring her face.
“I will not submit to Arianrhod’s will.” Vanora was glad to hear the defiance in her own voice, for in that moment she was very afraid.
“Do you believe it will be so easy to supersede her magic with your own?”
Wild magic filled the temple and whipped about the two women, pulling and biting at Vanora’s power. There was madness in the woman’s voice and violence barely tethered in the way she held her body. Vanora knew that when she blinked again, Siana would come closer. That thought frightened her, as she was uncertain if she could contain the oracle
“I don’t believe it will be easy, but I must try,” Vanora responded, her eyes watering from her attempt not to flutter her eyelids.
“If you do this, you may doom the vampire race. Are you prepared to do that?”
Siana was unmoving, yet terrifying. The steady drip of water from her clothing and hair reminded Vanora of a ticking clock. Were her actions counting down to the end of those she loved? Once more she was torn between two possible fates. If Aeron succeeded, he would destroy those Vanora loved and eventually enslave the world. If Vanora succeeded in thwarting him, she might deliver death to her lover, sister, and friends. And yet, somehow, Vanora had faith that she could find a way to save them all.
“Yes,” she hesitantly replied.
“Why are you here? Why do you seek me out in my despair?”
The air was muggy and suffocating. Vanora unwound her scarf from her neck and dropped it on the floor. “I’m here to finish what was started.”
“You saw the past.” Warily, Siana took a step back.
“But not enough. The vision was interrupted by Arianrhod.”
“You stole her power. Isn’t that sufficient?”
“It was mine to take.” She was certain of that much. The power taken from Arianrhod never felt foreign within her. It belonged to her. “I need to know what happened to Aeron’s thread of life.”
Shuddering, Siana spun away and hurried toward the fire pit.
“Siana, you have to help me.” Discarding her coat and purse, Vanora followed her.
“I cannot. I am under Aeron’s edict to protect him. To guide him to his destined future.”
“Then take me to the past.”
“But it will affect his future!”
“I’m already changing his future!”
“This was not supposed to happen. You were supposed to love him, be with him.”
“Cast the spell again. You can’t say no. You took me there before!”
Whipping about, Siana’s hair swung to one side, and her face was briefly visible. She wasn’t wearing her mask and a hollow eye socket was visible for the briefest moment. "Because it was my fate to do so. You had to travel with him to love him. To fulfill the prophecy. But now all is changing, and I am lost!"
Vanora cautiously approached the other woman as though she were a serpent ready to strike. The power thrumming through the floor and pillars spoke of the Oracle’s volatile distress.
"Siana, I can't imagine what this is like for you, but I can't give in to Arianrhod's plans. You must help me. I saw his thread of life woven into his cloak. I need to find out what happened to it and destroy it."
"You can't change the past."
Remembering how she’d deflected one of the werewolves while traveling through Aeron’s past, Vanora sucked in a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. "I think I can."
Siana visibly shuddered, and even Vanora experienced what she could only describe as a seismic shift in the ether. Every word she said, every action she made, was altering the possible future. Though she had been aware of the shifts before, being present in the temple near the Oracle seemed to only increase her awareness.
Swaying on her feet, Siana exclaimed, "What are you? How can you do these things?"
“You know I can do it. I can change things and you must help me. Don’t you want to be free of him?”
“Killing him could mean my death,” Siana hissed. “You know this.”
“Would you rather serve him?” Vanora hesitated, the words coming to her mind far too cruel to truly speak aloud.
“Than die?” Siana scoffed at Vanora. “Do not presume to think that I am so willing to toss away my life.”
“I am willing to die. I will sacrifice myself to stop Aeron.”
The atmosphere in the temple altered again, throwing Vanora off balance as the air seemed to thicken around her.
“Stop it!” Siana clutched her head.
“Send me back. Cast the spell!”
“You cannot change the past! You cannot alter what has already happened!”
“I need to find his thread of life. I need to know what Arianrhod did with it.”
“And do what with it?”
The truth was that Vanora wasn’t certain what she would do once she recovered Aeron’s thread of life. She still feared that perhaps it was intertwined with her own life force. “I’m not sure yet.”
Chortling bitterly, Siana turned her back on Vanora. “I cannot go against my edict. I must protect Aeron’s future.”
“What is his future though?” Vanora gazed significantly at the pool. The foamy waves lapped over the rim. There were flashes of images beneath the surface. Vanora glimpsed phantoms of herself, Aeron, and her sister, but the visions melded into each other so quickly it was hard to distinguish each one.
Siana shuddered. “I don’t know. The waters are in confusion, as is my mind.”
“Repeat the spell and send me back. Whichever future takes hold will be his future. You will still be protecting it. Even if it’s his death.”
Raising her head, Siana faced Vanora with empty eye sockets framed by wet tendrils of hair. A tattoo of a third eye was imprinted on her forehead. Vanora had the distinct impression that it was the inked eye that regarded her.
“Your words have given me a new way to comply to the edict. I will do as you say.”
Siana sounded relieved and a little calmer. It was possible the Oracle actually did want to help, but she wasn’t too sure. Though her defiance came easily at the moment, Vanora was aware that it would be much harder once she was in Aeron’s presence. The mere thought of him elicited feelings of yearning within her. It was best not to envision him when she spoke of him, but of the violence and death he’d brought into her life.
“I shall cast
the spell,” Siana whispered, “but you may not find what you seek.”
“I will,” Vanora said with confidence she truly didn’t feel. “One way or the other, I will.”
* * *
Despite the noise Dexios was making barricading the door, the temple’s atmosphere was bizarrely muted in the aftermath of Siana agreeing to cast the spell. Stripped down to her camisole and jeans, the heat from the fire pit warmed Vanora’s bare feet and arms as she took her place across from the Oracle. The haze recoiled into the darkness lingering along the ceiling, writhing like serpents in the basket of a snake charmer. Averting her eyes to avoid the worrisome vision of smoke, Vanora focused on the Oracle crouched on the opposite side of the fire pit.
Siana carefully measured the powdered contents of several clay pots into a shallow wooden bowl. Her damp hair was drying into thick twists around her shoulders. Maybe it was her nerves, but Vanora could have sworn that, occasionally, Siana’s hair squirmed like snakes.
“I can only continue the spell I originally cast,” Siana explained, her voice scarcely above a whisper. “You will return to the moment when Arianrhod interfered.”
“That’s perfect.”
“What occurs after that point is beyond my control. You will need to seize the spell and force it to your will.”
“How?”
Lifting one shoulder, Siana replied, “That is for you to determine. Your magic is unlike any I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s the magic of a goddess!” Dexios called out from where he sat perched on an assortment of broken statues piled against the doorway.
“And I am not a goddess. Therefore, I cannot tell you how to control it.” Siana’s nimble fingers continued to mix the ingredients.
“I’m not a goddess.” Swallowing hard, Vanora stared down at her pale white fingers. “It’s Arianrhod’s power.”
“It’s your power now,” Siana corrected. “Therefore, you are a goddess.”
Unsure of how to deal with this declaration, Vanora remained silent. Any protest felt empty. She had taken Arianrhod’s power and it belonged to her now. The magic swirled deep within her, unknown and mysterious, but somehow familiar. Though she was gradually discovering her new abilities, Vanora was aware that her powers were dangerous. She sensed the chaos within its beauty.
In Darkness We Must Abide: The Complete Third Season Page 29