by S. L. Watson
Her body stilled. “You bitch! You cut me! Orien! Do something!”
Orien didn’t seem at all concerned with Bree’s safety as he ogled the ring.
I pushed the knife deeper and felt Bree’s wet blood drip over my fingers. “Let us go, or I’ll kill her.”
A heaviness settled in my stomach at the wicked smile that spread ear to ear across Orien’s face. Even before he spoke, I knew Bree was useless leverage.
“Go ahead,” he said. “It’ll save me the trouble.”
Bree thrashed. “You bastard! I did everything you asked. I’m going to rule at your side. You promised.”
Orien barely took his eyes off the ring when he used Bree’s own words against her. “And you were so easy to fool. There’ll be nothing left to rule when I’m finished with Aenoas-Vita.” A chuckle vibrated from his chest, causing Lucas’s head to bob around.
Whatever magic Bree used to block my ability stopped. I sensed the vibration of Jasper’s energy shield and saw its watery substance encasing us. I focused on Lucas. He wasn’t just weak. Something was off about his energy. His aura …
My legs trembled. I held onto Bree tighter, using her body for support. “Lucas! Can you hear me?”
My heartbeat thrashed in my ears when no response came from Lucas. “What did you do to him?”
Orien didn’t even look at Lucas as he spoke. He just held him like a dirty piece of laundry. “Your boyfriend here helped me accomplish my promise to the Shimera.”
My thoughts raced with dizzying speed. “What are you talking about?”
Darion’s chains rattled from behind as he struggled to free himself.
“He drained Lucas of his life force and put it inside the Shimera,” Bree blurted.
Orien’s nostrils flared, and when his eyes landed on Bree, her entire body shook in my arms.
Inside the Shimera. The stone! Now I understood why I sensed something familiar about the energy it held. It was Lucas’s.
Just then, a dozen or so Shimera moved past Orien and filled the cavern, surrounding us.
“It’s true,” admitted Orien. “I’ve finally reverse engineered the spell the sorceress used to make this.” He held up the ring. “And I’ve rewarded one of my Shimera with his”—he gave Lucas a shake—“life force. He can draw on it continuously to maintain his form, or could when he was still alive.”
I pieced Orien’s meaning together. He’d stolen Lucas’s aura and transferred it into the ever stone, which he implanted into the Shimera.
“Why assassinate one of your own?”
Orien sneered. “He outlived his usefulness.”
I released an arm from Bree and dug into my pants pocket. “Or you didn’t want us to know about this.” I held up the milky-white stone that flickered with tiny bolts of lightning. “Does this hold Lucas’s aura?”
Orien stood unfazed by the appearance of the stone. “Clever girl. You are my blood after all.” I could have sworn his eyes flashed with a hint of pride, which made my skin crawl.
“Give Lucas back his life force,” I demanded.
Orien clicked his tongue. “My dear niece, I’d love to help you, but you have something I want.”
My temples pulsed as I tried projecting energy into Lucas, as I had with Molly.
“Your magic can’t help him, niece. Without his life force, he’s nothing but an empty shell.”
An uncontrollable heat seared my insides. “You have the ring. You’ve won. Lucas has nothing to do with this. Restore his life and let him go. Please.” For a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of emotion cross the hard surface of Orien’s expression.
“Humph.” Orien smoothed his fingers over the ball of the ring, watching the auras swim inside, and then whatever emotion had surfaced dissipated. “I need something else from you and your brother.”
The Shimera tightened their circle, and Jasper tensed at my side, ready to strike. But as long as Orien had Lucas, he held all the cards.
“I’m tired of surviving on the scraps of life I must drain, and you two are going to restore me to what I once was. I need the magic inside both of you, the royal twin descendants of Oria, my dear beloved sister, who betrayed me and took everything from me.” Orien’s fist balled at his side. “But the curse that binds your life forces has made things complicated. If I kill one of you, the other dies before I can take their power. So you’re going to simplify things for me.”
A lump formed in the back of my throat. Orien knew about the loophole in the curse. If I siphoned the curse from Darion, I would absorb all of his magic, and only he would die.
Orien smirked. “I know Oria showed you the magic you needed to save your brother from his wicked stepmother, and I know you can siphon energy as she could. You will take the curse into yourself, and all of his magic with it. Then you will submit your life to me afterward.”
Jasper dashed in front of me, flashing his sword. “You’re not getting anywhere near her.”
Spiders raced down my back as Orien laughed like Jasper had said something funny.
“I won’t take my brother’s life.”
His laugh ceased as quickly as it had started. “Then you don’t want to save this one after all.”
Jasper flinched, and I heard a grunt. Then something thumped to the ground. I released Bree, who darted past Orien and down the tunnel.
My body smashed into Jasper’s hard chest as he tried to block me from pushing around him. “Ev, no.”
I shoved past Jasper, and my sword clanged to the ground as I dropped to Lucas’s side. “Lucas!”
Blood oozed over my hands as I pressed them against where Lucas’s liver had been located. His eyelids fluttered open, and a flash of recognition stared back at me as the final spark of life faded.
“No! Lucas!” I breathed into his mouth and pumped his chest. “Please come back.” Tears flooded my eyes, blinding me, and my head crashed down on top of Lucas’s chest. No heartbeat. He was gone, and he wasn’t coming back.
The stone that held his life force lay dark at my side, no longer pulsing with energy. Fire burned inside every part of my body. My hand locked on the stone, and I roared as I snatched my fallen sword and charged.
My arm froze in midair when I saw that Orien now had Jasper clutched behind his blade.
Orien nodded to one of the Shimera, who broke the circle and made for my sword. I sent him flying backward with a blast of energy, then faced Orien, but my magic had no effect on him.
He barked out a laugh. “Oh, niece. I do regret having to end your life. I see a part of myself within you. But my life means more to me. Now, try that again, and you’ll have another dead friend on your hands.”
“We’re nothing alike!” A Shimera stalked toward me and gripped my armed hand. I chewed my lip as I fought the urge to slice him down with the blade as he unhooked my fingers from the hilt, while another monster, younger and less rotted, grabbed my other arm and twisted it behind my back.
“I’ve waited too long to let anything stand in my way,” Orien went on. “Oria wasn’t the only one with tricks up her sleeve.” He wiggled a finger encased in an onyx band, and next to it, the ring from the photo with my father.
“Your Shield has no power against me. Neither do you,” he continued. “Now, I’m hoping this one means more to you than him.” He flicked his dark gaze at Lucas with a careless glance. “I intend to get what I want, or he dies next.”
Jasper’s amber eyes bored into mine. “Don’t do it, Ev. It’s my honor to die for you. We’ll see each other in the afterlife.” Jasper meant it. He was ready to die for me, but I couldn’t let that happen.
“Did you kill our father?”
Darion’s chains quieted as his struggles ceased, and we waited for Orien to answer my question.
Orien’s lip curled. “You figured it out. What gave me away?”
“You bastard!” Darion jumped to his feet. “I’m going to kill you!” His chains stopped him in his tracks, and one of the Shimera lifted a sw
ord and hit Darion behind the head with the hilt, causing Darion to stumble back onto his knees.
“Ahh … What a family we could’ve been if I didn’t need your magic.” Orien sucked air between his teeth as actual regret shadowed his aura. “I could teach you both so much.”
I balked at the idea. “You’re demented. We’d never want to learn anything from you. Why did you kill our father?”
Orien shrugged. “An opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Creagan was so desperate to save his son from the curse his wife had placed on him that he let his guard down, and his power now flows through my veins. But it fades as we speak.”
Darion pounded his fists on the ground. Orien had taken our father’s life, but I knew Darion would blame himself.
The fire that I’d denied this past year sizzled at the surface of my skin. An unnatural wind stirred around us, and the surrounding torches flared.
The cavern rumbled with Orien’s laughter. “Enough of that, niece. Do as I say, or best friend here loses a liver, like boyfriend over there.”
Orien tightened his grasp on Jasper as he struggled to break free, but Jasper went rigid when Orien shoved the tip of his knife into his side.
My head throbbed like it was going to explode. I couldn’t take my brother’s life, but I couldn’t sacrifice Jasper’s either. No matter what choice I made, someone else I loved would pay the price.
“It’s okay, Ev,” Darion said. “Save Jasper. He deserves to live more than I do.”
I bit back a frustrated scream as Anya’s words rang in my memory. And the resistance I’d clung to for so long melted away. Something inside me cracked, and the fire that festered beneath my abdomen churned to a boil.
Orien’s sardonic laugh ricocheted against my ears. “So honorable. If only my sister had been as loyal, we could have ruled together and been unstoppable.”
“Why are you doing this? Why can’t you just be grateful to be alive?”
Orien seemed to consider my question before he answered. “Because I crave power, and I enjoy destruction, and why settle for a half-life when I can be whole again?”
“I’m ashamed to be related to you.” I spat in his face, and the Shimera that held my sword flung out a hand, and a hot sting tingled across my mouth and cheek. I swallowed the coppery blood that pooled on the inside of my cheek, refusing to give the Shimera the satisfaction of seeing that he’d wounded me.
Orien studied my reaction as he wiped my spit from his chin. “You can rejoice in the fact that you won’t be here much longer to endure my presence, niece.”
“You disgust me!”
His icy sapphire eyes froze on me.
“My beloved sister once said those very words to me after I killed her husband.” He stroked the globe atop Oria’s ring, which he now wore. “What will it be? Best friend lives or everyone dies?”
My feet dragged beneath me as I approached Darion and dropped to my knees and clasped my hands around his.
“Wise choice,” one of the Shimera sneered.
I ignored them as I focused on what I needed to do.
“How do I know you won’t kill Jasper after this is done?”
“You don’t, but what choice do you have?”
I sucked in a deep breath before turning to look at my best friend. “Take care of my mom.”
“No! Don’t do it, Ev. He’s lying. He’ll kill me anyway.” Jasper jerked against Orien.
Darion squeezed my hand and clutched the stone I’d tucked between our palms. “I trust you, Ev.” He understood my unspoken plan and was permitting me to do what was necessary, even at the risk of failure.
“I love you, Darion.” I hadn’t said these words to Darion before, but somewhere along the line this past year, Darion had become a true brother to me.
He pulled me against his chest. “I love you, sister. Thank you for giving me back my life, and for giving me the chance to have a real family.”
My entire body shook in his arms. “Mom will never recover.”
“Shh.” Darion cupped my tender cheek with his free hand. “You can do this.”
“Enough!” Orien growled. “Your mother will live, and that’s what matters. Once I’ve absorbed your magic, I won’t need hers, but if you don’t get on with it, I’ll have her taken and brought here so you can both watch her suffer the same fate as your father.”
My chest heaved as a roaring filled my ears, and every muscle in my body tensed. Orien would never be satisfied with my and Darion’s magic. He’d go after our mother next, just like he had our father and his own family.
The heat churning within me turned to a boil as the fire sparked to life, nearly ready to bend to my will; all I needed was the boost Darion’s magic would give me.
Darion’s silver eyes reflected the same hate I felt toward Orien. “Kill him,” he whispered through bared teeth, just loud enough for my ears.
We gripped the stone between our clasped fingers as I put my free hand over Darion’s chest. Our two hearts beat as one as I latched onto Darion’s life force and siphoned the curse.
Bolts of light shot through my arms as they vibrated with Darion’s power. Memories of his past flooded my mind while tears streamed down my cheeks. His skin paled as his energy slipped away, and his body slumped against me. I gently laid his head down on the ground as I bent over him. “Hang on, brother,” I whispered in his ear as I tucked the vibrating ever stone into my pocket.
Hot power coursed through me as I turned to face Orien. The gloating expression fell from his face when he saw the fire flickering at my fingertips.
Without hesitating, I lit each Shimera up into a burning blaze, starting with the one that had hit Darion in the head. Their bodies twisted and thrashed as screams filled the cavern.
The fire responded to my command and clung to the Shimera without spreading. A snarl peeled back my lips as I turned toward Orien. “Looks like having tricks up our sleeves runs in the family. Your ring might protect you from magic, but let’s see how well you fare against fire.”
A stream of blue and white flames swirled from my fingertips, stretching toward Orien. Sweat trickled down his forehead as he yanked Jasper backward into the tunnel while keeping the sharp edge of his blade pressed into Jasper’s throat.
I focused my energy on Orien’s dagger until it burned a deep orange. Orien’s hand shook as he tried to hold onto his last piece of leverage. When his hand sizzled, he hissed and flung the blade to the ground. He thrust Jasper toward me and turned down the dark tunnel. I picked up Oria’s fallen sword, which lay near the Shimera ashes, and chased after Orien.
Orien chanted as he ran ahead of me, and the wind he conjured pressed me backward. A familiar watery substance took form ahead of him.
“No!” Fire tore loose with my scream and carried my sword as I threw it. The flame rippled through the tunnel, singeing Orien’s back while the blade sliced across his arm just before he vanished through the portal, taking Oria’s ring with him.
The wail that escaped me shook the mountain above us, and rocks crumbled from the tunnel walls.
“Ev!” Jasper hesitated as he approached me, and shuffled back a step when I turned. “Sorry.” He held up a hand and squinted into the dark. “It’s just, your eyes … How?”
I blinked, trying to shake off the red haze that clouded my vision.
“I don’t know, but we have to save Darion.”
“He’s still alive?” Jasper chased after me.
“Just barely.”
We ran back to the cavern, and I slid to the ground beside Darion while tearing the stone from my pocket.
“Most of his life force is in here.”
Jasper’s eyes widened as he watched the tiny bolts of lightning flash across the ever stone.
“I just hope I can put it back in time.”
Darion lay motionless as I settled the ever stone on his heart and closed my hands over it.
Spirits of my ancestors, please give me the strength to save my brother.
“Thank you, Jasp.” I hadn’t thought it was possible to love Jasper more than I already did. Warm, salty tears ran past my lips, and words became stuck in my throat.
“I know,” Jasper whispered as I latched onto the source of energy that fueled his being.
Flecks of gold ignited in his amber eyes, and a glow of light exploded around us. Bolts of sizzling electricity traveled up my hands and arms, zapping me as I siphoned Darion’s life force from the stone. My entire body vibrated with both Jasper and Darion’s magic combined.
My heart raced as I commanded Darion’s energy to move through me. When the familiar feeling of the curse buzzed between us, I knew it was working. I continued until Darion gasped for air, and his eyes flew open.
Jasper caught me as I slumped sideways.
“It worked, Ev. You brought him back.” He cradled my head as I sobbed against his chest.
Darion’s chains rattled as he came to his hands and knees. “What happened?” he croaked.
I drew myself out of Jasper’s embrace and flung my arms around Darion’s neck. “You’re okay!”
“It worked, then? I knew you could do it.” Darion glanced around as Jasper and I undid his chains.
Jasper dug out a bottle of water from his backpack and handed it to Darion, who gulped it down in one long drink.
“How long was I gone for?” He examined the piles of ashes. “Where’s Orien? Is he one of these roasting blobs?” He rubbed his freed wrists and ankles, then slowly stood while testing his leg strength.
I cast my eyes down. “Orien got away with Oria’s ring. It’s not over. He’ll come back for us.” I pounded my fist on the ground. “I failed! I let him get away, and I couldn’t save Lucas.”
Darion bent down and wrapped his arms around me. “No! You saved me for the second time.” He kissed my forehead. “I’m so sorry about Lucas.” He held me tighter. “We’ll get the ring back from Orien and avenge our father and Lucas.”
I didn’t have the energy to tell him about the premonition I’d had, and what would happen if Orien succeeded in his plan. I could only hope that since Orien had failed to steal our magic, it wasn’t too late to stop him from destroying Aenoas-Vita and all its people.