But I really, really wanted to wake up.
Brace yourself, a whispery female voice warned. I’d heard that voice somewhere before. The fates have summoned you. Remember, you’re stronger than you know.
“You’ve answered our call, God of Water.” Three new voices, speaking in harmony, circled me. When I turned to look, six pinpoints of yellow light reflected from the shadows of a surrounding wood. “Now it is time to embrace who you were always meant to be. The world has waited long enough.”
These were the most convoluted dreams in the history of dreams.
How could I have answered a call I didn’t remember getting?
I led you here. Have faith. Your future is already set in motion.
I pressed my hands to the sides of my head, unsure where to look or where to turn.
“Do you believe you can walk on water?” The trio droned.
Did I what?
Yes.
A fist gripped my intestines and twisted. The word spilled from my mouth: “Yes.”
Wait. What? Whose voice was that? Was that my voice?
When was I going to wake up?
It had to be a dream.
“Let the Trial begin.”
I scrubbed my arms. I was shuddering, shivering, suddenly nauseous. What was I supposed to do? Walk on the water? The lake in front of me? I mean, that should be pretty easy. I could breathe underwater and stand on a twister of the stuff, so, theoretically, walking on top of it should be cake.
Right?
I tried to draw on my magic but it was like blocked it. I tried pushing it out of the way, but nothing happened.
“Not magic. Belief.”
Oook. That’s how this was going to go down. I only had to walk on water.
Because I wanted to.
Brilliant.
Sure, no problem over here. I eyed the water, wondering if some malevolent beast lurked beneath the surface. Not a ripple. Nothing. Even the crickets were quiet. I breathed deep and swung my arms out to loosen my shoulders. Wispy strands of hair tickled my neck, and I swiftly braided them back. Luckily, I still had my orange hair tie.
Here goes nothing.
One bare foot stepped out on the surface and met solid resistance.
No one was more surprised than me.
The surface trembled but held.
One step.
Two.
And a few more for good measure.
You found out you have magic and now you think you can do the impossible?
I was, wasn’t I?
I wanted to pull on my magic, clutch it tight for reassurance. But I didn’t dare.
I scanned the horizon, only now realizing I was standing in the middle of the lake.
I’d done it.
I’d walked on water.
But did you?
As I pressed my fingers to my face in amazed shock, something cracked. An ominous, horrifying sound that echoed through the trees and bounced off the glass on which I stood. Afraid, I stepped back… into nothing.
My back crashed into the water first. It dragged me under, surrounding my head. Instincts barely gave me enough time to gasp in a last, saving breath. I sank hard and fast. I clawed out, hands swirling, legs kicking, reaching for the murky surface. But it was like hands pulling me down, down, down. I couldn’t breathe. The gills weren’t coming. My magic wasn’t flowing. My lungs burned red as I struggled to keep what little air I had left inside of me.
There was no saving me now.
And I realized now this was no dream.
I’d read somewhere the brain couldn’t comprehend its own death, that’s why it would always wake it’s subject up from a dream right before dying. Well, judging by the diminishing stream of bubbles pouring from my mouth, I was getting pretty up close and personal with death right now. Physics demanded my lungs expand, attempting to pull in oxygen. But it only found water.
Just water.
Water flowing into my lungs.
A feeling much, much worse than getting stabbed and shot.
Worse than Anisra.
Worse than seeing Kaz. And that manager.
Death had me tight in her grip.
This was truly the end.
A soft, white light glowed faintly in front of my face. I couldn’t quite make it out, but I felt It’s powerful, hungry energy.
“We find you unworthy. A trial failed is a sentence to die.”
Words that meant nothing to me.
My muscles were already going lax as I floated there, suspended in the element I loved so much.
Wait.
I knew that voice. The world stilled. The Kraken? A rough tentacle wrapped around my middle and towed me to the surface, tossing me to the grassy shores. I coughed buckets of water from my lungs, my throat burning hot with the effort as I dragged in searing breaths of oxygen. I’d never tasted anything more beautiful in my life.
That’s right. I was alive.
For now.
Heaving in gulping breaths, I squinted out at the lake. A glowing human-shaped figure hovered on the surface, facing off with a trio of small, dark bumps.
She was tricked. She wasn’t ready for the Trial. Spare her this time. Definitely the Kraken. I’d recognize that too-patient tone anywhere. What was It arguing with?
“You know the rules of the Trial.”
I also know there’s no room for trickery here.
Trickery?
“She attempted, she failed. She will die. It is the way.”
I dispute the findings.
The lumpy bumps straightened to their full heights, now towering over the Kraken. From where I was laying, collapsed as my body tried to recover from yet more brutal abuse, I could make out the glint of those six golden eyes from before.
The Kraken’s words seemed to have some sort of effect on them. What was It doing?
“Are you evoking the Challenge?”
I am, the Kraken murmured.
“You realize the consequences of tying your life-force to hers.” The Bumps seemed to be in some sort of disbelief.
I do.
“The Gods are no longer immortal. When she’s gone…”
I know what I’m agreeing to. The Kraken cut off the trio of melodic voices.
“If she fails again?”
She won’t. She will learn. I have more faith in her than any of the Gods before her.
“So be it. One life for another. Your Challenge is accepted.” I could scarcely lift my head and watch as a golden glow surrounded the trio standing on the water. One was tall and lanky, the middle one shorter and robust, and the third stood as tall as a child. All wore beautiful cloaks spun of starlight and webs that pooled at their feet. But their faces were feral, twisted with scars and hooked noses, their hair hanging lank and snarled down their backs.
Golden light glittered from the Kraken’s chest, expanding and filling the air around It in a cloud of mist. It was beautiful. And then it was gone, sucked into the haze.
I blinked slowly. Where the trio had stood—nothing.
The Kraken let out a long gasp, bending in two as if in pain. And as It bent, a horrifying, gut-wrenching agony filled me, ripping at my tattered emotions and raking sharp claws over the broken shards of my soul. And then it stopped.
My head flopped to the ground. I stared as the Kraken straightened and floated over to me. It touched my cheeks with a glowing, human-like hand, and stroked my cheek. Magic bloomed, warm and familiar, connecting with me once again. The Kraken bent close and I could make out Its sexless face and colorless eyes.
“What did you do?”
You’ll understand one day, Zara. It didn’t appear to have a mouth so the words must be flowing between our minds. I’d thought It sounded tired before. Now It was world-weary.
“Why would you sacrifice immortality for me?”
Oh it’s much more than immortality. It said. But I can feel the hope rising once more, I can feel the energy and excitement echoing in the core of the earth
. You will usher in a grand period of change. It stood and scanned the darkness. Change that only comes but once in a million years.
“What?”
It pressed a finger that buzzed with electricity to my lips. No time for questions. Your protector comes. It’s time for me to go.
The Kraken’s hand melted from mine, and I heard someone calling my name even as the glow of the mythical beast faded.
“Zara! Where are you?” Ryder sounded more amused than concerned. “If we’d known you were going to disappear, we would have shackled you down.”
His low chuckle filled the grove, and I closed my eyes against the swell of emotion rising in my chest. I was back. At least, it felt like I was back.
Rather than respond, I wrapped my arms around my knees and leaned my cheek on pants I now recognized as flannel. The Kraken must have dried them for me because my magic was back. It twisted and twined under my skin, danced in my chest. My relief was palpable.
But whose clothes were these? The last thing I remembered was bleeding out in the back of a car. Lovely memories and such, considering I’d ripped Finn’s magic from him in a morbid form of elemental rape.
Leaves crunched and the warmth that followed Ryder everywhere enveloped me. He touched the top of my head, sifting his fingers through my hair. My rough braid had come undone at some point, but I was past caring. I preened, leaning into the soft feel of his fingers, a low hum sounding in the back of my throat.
“Found you.”
“Was I lost?” I murmured.
If he wanted to ignore what had happened before, I was more than willing to go along with it.
“In a fashion. Finn seemed to think so anyway.” He tugged some knots out of my hair and folded to the ground behind me. He separated my hair into familiar ropes and twisting them into some sort of complicated, twisty braid I couldn’t begin to comprehend. I relaxed into his touch, enjoying the languid feel of my body as the pain of nearly drowning slowly fell away.
I didn’t even want to think about that twisted conversation with Geoffrey.
If anything, it solidified my distrust of the Order and its motives.
“You’ve been out for two days,” he murmured wryly. “It’s good to have you back in the land of the living again.”
“Days?”
“Yep. We pulled over shortly after that… whatever happened in the car. We’ve been at some stupid crummy, run-of-the-mill motel in Iowa since then. This pond thing, I think it might be something farmers use, isn’t that far away. It stands to reason that you of all people would somehow stumble across it.” His voice was teasing, and a hand slipped over my shoulder, beckoning for one of the other spare hair bands I wrapped around my wrist. I tugged one off to hand it over, but he snagged my wrist instead and tugged me around to get a look at my face. His gaze swept over me sensually, and I drank in his darkness, the comfort it brought. His amber eyes finally stopped on mine.
“There you are.” He sounded awed.
I bit my lip and twisted back around. Warmth soaked my cheeks uncomfortably. I didn’t understand how he made me feel, this sensation of belonging and understanding. It felt more intimate than the kiss we’d shared, and I pressed my lips together at the memory. I imagined he was smirking when he tied off the braid and tugged on my shoulders in an unspoken cue to get moving.
“Why did you say that… like that?” I asked when he pulled me upright.
“We kinda lost you for a bit back there, in the car. But you’re back now. We’ll figure this out.”
“How did you know?”
“I’d know those eyes of yours anywhere, glowstick,” he said. “That thing back in the car wasn’t you. I don’t know who that purple-eyed bitch was, but I sure as hell don’t ever want to see her again.” He shivered for effect, but I had a feeling he would actually be more than willing to go toe-to-toe with it if it meant helping me. “Oh, and all that ordering us around like we were your minions wasn’t really your style.”
I spotted the glow of the motel sign straight ahead. I truly hadn’t wandered all that far. A few minutes later, Ryder opened the dingy door to a truly shabby room. I only had a second to see the drab, floral comforter on one of the twin beds when I was tackled in an ironclad hug. Relief overwhelmed me as I breathed in the scent that was wholly Finn, a mix of sea and cotton, and wrapped my arms around him tightly. Unbidden, my magic spilled out and twined around his, liquid warmth settled between us.
I realized I didn’t hate him.
I never had.
Not even when he was in full-blown kelpie mode.
No, this man was digging a hole deep into my heart and stars help anyone who came between us. Even my magic embraced him like a friend; the water magic languished in the feel of other water magic. He felt familiar.
He felt like family.
Speaking of family, odds were they’d seen the debacle that was Kansas City. There was no way my face wasn’t out there, no way the media hadn’t made the connection. Not since the Order had everyone looking for me. I needed to get home and see my mom, check on my dad.
I dug my nose into the softness of his shirt and pulled Finn even tighter.
“Don’t you dare vanish on me like that ever again,” he breathed into my neck after a few minutes. It tickled and I squirmed in his hold. “We’re partners in this. You hear me? Wherever you go, I go. Don’t think otherwise.”
It was hard to believe that a few days ago I hadn’t even liked this guy, and now… we were Partners. With a capital P.
I drew in a deep breath and tried to pull away, but he kept his hands firmly wrapped around my shoulders as he stared at my face. First, I saw relief and then something darker as he zeroed in on the braid slung over my left shoulder. He shot a look at Ryder leaning on the wall to the bathroom and spun me around to take a better look. I could feel him tracing the looping, swirling patterns of my hair, careful to not pull hard.
I looked from Finn to Ryder and back to Finn, confused.
“We’ll be talking about this later,” he said in a low whisper to Ryder. I tugged away, a hand protectively folding over the artwork, and I caught the expression in Ryder’s eyes—something longing and pained and beautiful.
I was missing something.
But now wasn’t the time.
I turned back to Finn as guilt crept over me.
“Finn, I am so sorry for before…”
“Don’t think anything of it. Gods know you’d suffered yet more trauma.”
He thought I was talking about running away.
He couldn’t be more wrong.
“No, I need to apologize. For before.” He turned to me now, arms tensing at the words that tasted like ash in my mouth. “I had no right to do that to you.”
“What happened before—” The hostility rolling off him in waves subsided. “It wasn’t you. I don’t know who it was, but it wasn’t you. OK? And we’ll figure it out, we’ll figure out what is going on inside you. Whatever it takes.” I reluctantly nodded and took a seat on the edge of the bed, arms wrapped around myself once more. When he held up two fingers, I felt a little better.
“Second, I would do anything to protect you. Anything. Even die for you.” He knelt in front of me and pulled my arms away from my body. He shifted and tucked my hands between his. The dark slashes of my symbol glared like a beacon on his skin. “I’ve sworn an oath to Water. I’ve sworn my life to protect yours. If my magic is the only thing that can save your life, I want you to promise that you’ll never hesitate to take it. Take all of it. Promise me.”
Unable to pull back, I forced myself to meet his eyes and I nodded.
“I promise.”
I promise to do whatever I can to save you, even if it costs me my life.
“Well. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that again,” I murmured, smiling to lighten the atmosphere. “I’ll do a better job at, you know, not getting shot, and you keep your magic to yourself.”
“Now that we’ve got all this sorted out—”
Ryder snorted and pushed off the wall he was propping up, “—we really should get going. It’ll be dawn in a few hours, and I’d like to get to the reservation before nightfall.”
And there was that wonderful smack of reality.
“Where are we anyway?” I asked, looking around for my bag.
Finn dropped it unceremoniously in front of me along with a change of clothing. I didn’t recognize any of it and absently wondered about my clothing from the fight. They’d probably burned it or something.
“Off I-35, about 30 miles south of Des Moines. Right on the way to Wisconsin,” Ryder said, pulling the last of his stuff into a black duffel. Since when did he have stuff?
I frowned and scratched at my scalp through the braid, stopping when Ryder leveled a look at me.
There was a change of plans.
“I don’t want to go to Wisconsin yet.”
25
Geoffrey
The casing of the phone cracked when it hit the vinyl side of the plane.
My head dropped, cradled in my hands as I scrubbed my eyes.
It was the magic. Her magic. It was making me insane. Every time I got close to her, even mentally, it was like part of me snapped away. I became an entirely different version of myself. An ugly version I wanted to lock away because it reminded me too much of that boy I’d left behind long ago.
Now the magic buzzed inside me: hot, wild, and fierce.
I raised my head, flexing my hands reflexively to shake away the edginess that burned in my blood, seared my skin. Two deep breaths later and I regained some feeble control. The rising tide of helplessness receded.
If only Toren would answer his phone.
Things weren’t adding up. Not the photos, not the stories.
Zara had been earnest when she’d lashed out about how we’d tried to kill her. Part of me wanted to believe her, wanted to believe that she wasn’t lying. That she wasn’t plotting something malicious at this very moment.
She’d looked so shocked, those aquamarine eyes wide and horrified when I’d accused her of firing the first shot. She was either a hell of an actress or…
I wanted to pace, but the private jet I’d selected from the Order’s fleet was too small to allow the movement I required. Instead, I wrung my hands in a poor attempt to keep from scratching them.
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