Shadows and Sorcery: A Collection of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels

by Adkins, Heather Marie

  The other person continues to shout. Her voice is scratchy. I get to my feet and peer over Jordan’s shoulder.

  Two contestants stand there. Their clothes are torn and filthy. Their red hair is a tangled mess, and their bodies are covered in red scratches and dried blood.

  “Let us pass, Jordan, or so help me I will rip out your throat.”

  I recognize the strangled voice. “Trish?” I breathe, stunned by the ragged state of the striking young woman.

  Trish trains her angry glare on me. “Of course, you’re here.” She spits red saliva onto the ground.

  I try to step around Jordan, but she holds me back with a firm forearm pressed against my stomach.

  “What happened to you?” Worry for Trish’s wellbeing overcomes any previous animosity I’ve felt for the girl. She looks like she’s been through hell. “Are you alright?”

  Trish releases an angry laugh. “Do we look alright?” She holds out her arm, and gestures between herself and the girl at her side. I notice blood stains also mar their shirts and pants.

  When her friend looks up, I recognize her. “Brittany?”

  The girl nods, but there is little life in her expression. God only knows what horrors she’s experienced.

  “Let us pass,” Trish demands. That’s when I notice she holds a knife of her own, and its pointed threateningly at Jordan.

  “Of course, you can pass,” I adopt a calming voice. I don’t know what happened before I woke up, but the tension between the two young women hangs heavy in the air.

  “No, she can’t,” Jordan retorts, lifting her own armed hand. “Not until we explain what we want.”

  “What are you doing?” I hiss in her ear. Is she trying to drive Trish to attack? The girl is clearly not in her right mind.

  “I don’t have to listen to a word you say,” Trish snaps. “Let us pass, or I’ll make you.”

  “We don’t want to win the contest,” Jordan continues as if she didn’t hear her. “Sera and I will enter the cavern with you, but neither of us wants to claim the diadem.”

  Trish’s eyes widen with surprise, but they quickly narrow in suspicion. “You’re lying.”

  “No, I’m not.” Jordan’s feet are planted in a confident stance. I’ve seen my friend in action, and I know she’s ready for an attack at any moment.

  “You expect me to believe that she doesn’t want to win?” Trish sneers at me with nothing short of hatred. “You heard the crowd, and you’ve seen the extra attention she gets from the Fae. Don’t tell me she doesn’t want to win.”

  How do I explain myself to a person so precipitously close to losing it?

  I realize I can’t.

  My lips remain pressed together, and I say nothing.

  Jordan doesn’t say anything either. After several seconds of silent, heated staring, Trish finally says, “We will go into the cavern alone.”

  “No. We don’t know what else waits for us in the darkness. We will go together. It will increase our odds of getting out of this alive.” Jordan is right, and Trish knows it.

  Brittany shifts. The movement draws my attention. She is biting her lip, and her eyes are darting between Trish and Jordan. She’s a far cry from the snobby girl I used to see strutting around the barracks. Facing monsters can do that to a person.

  “Brittany? Do you have something to say?”

  She continues to gnaw on her lip, and she visibly withers when Trish’s angry glare lands on her.

  “I-it’s nothing.”

  “It doesn’t look like nothing.” I try to move closer. Once again, Jordan’s arm keeps me back. I settle for bending my neck and catching Brittany’s lowered gaze with my own. “Trust your gut. If you have something to say, please say it.”

  The gears turn in the back of Brittany’s mind. Her eyes remain locked on mine, and I force myself not to look away. I urge confidence and reassurance to flow out of my gaze.

  “You can trust us,” I whisper. “I promise. We aren’t lying. We don’t want to win the contest.”

  Brittany nods. She believes me. After casting one last glance at Trish, she says, “In the fog, I-I saw the diadem.”

  The fog?

  “You hallucinated, too?”

  “Yes.” Brittany swallows. “We all did.”

  “You and Trish?”

  Sadness darkens her gaze. “Not just us. Nadia and Lana were with us, too.”

  I don’t want to ask, but I have to. “What happened to them?”

  “They died,” Trish snaps, “because of the freaking fog.”

  Pain hits my chest as I think about Amanda jumping off the cliff—a response to whatever hallucination the fog conjured in her mind.

  “Amanda didn’t make it through it either,” Jordan speaks softly. The news has given her the same thoughts it gave me.

  A moment of silence descends among us. We put our bickering aside as we think about our fallen companions.

  After several moments, I gently prod, “You said you saw the diadem in your hallucination. What else did you see?”

  Brittany twists her hands. “The cavern is dark. There are creatures lining the walls, but none of them attack. They are just staring at us.”

  “Us?” Jordan asks.

  “The four of us,” Brittany says. “You, me, Trish and Sera.”

  “You saw all of us together in your hallucination?” I can’t help but ask with disbelief. There’s no way Brittany could have known we’d all wind up together at the end of the contest. Right?

  “That’s not possible,” Jordan chimes in.

  “You don’t know that,” Trish snaps, quick to defend her friend. The loyal remark surprises me. I hadn’t thought Trish cared about anyone but herself. “Did you breathe in the fog?”

  Jordan frowns and crosses her arms. “No.”

  “Then you have no idea what the fog shows you, or how real the vision feels.” Trish shakes her head, as if trying to dislodge the memory of her own hallucination. “There is strange magic in the Fae Realm. I believe Brittany. If she says she saw the four of us in her vision, then she saw the four of us.”

  I jump in, eager to keep the discussion moving forward, and prevent tension from escalating any further. “So, you saw all four of us together, walking through the cavern. Monsters were inside, but they left us alone?”

  “Yes,” Brittany nods. “Exactly.”

  I think back to my own hallucination, remembering how it felt like something important was trying to be revealed to me, but I had no idea what it could be. Could Brittany really have seen the future in the fog?

  “What else happened?”

  Brittany swallows and gives her friend another glance. She’s seeking her approval before she speaks.

  I look at Trish and see her lips are pressed together, and her eyes are hard as the stone beneath our feet.

  “Brittany?”

  She gulps, and her eyes fidget between me, Trish, and the ground. “You… you won the contest.”

  A roar fills my ears. The ground tilts beneath me. I stumble back. Jordan is there. She grips my elbow, and the firm press of her fingers helps me keep my balance.

  I take a deep, steadying breath, and say with conviction, “That’s not going to happen.”

  “But I saw it,” Brittany stresses. She wants me to believe her, but I can’t.

  “I saw a lot of things during my hallucination, too,” I tell her calmly.

  “Vision,” Trish corrects harshly.

  I turn slowly and give her a nod. “Okay. In my vision, I saw things too. That doesn’t mean it is real. I agree the Fae Realm has magic, and the fog may have been somewhat foretelling, but I swear, I don’t want to win this contest.”

  I refuse to win the contest.

  “You may not want to,” Brittany tells me with a sad, knowing frown, “but you will. You will be the first to pick up the diadem. You will win.”

  “Over my dead body.” Trish lunges for me. I don’t think she intends to kill me, but there is definitel
y violence in her wild eyes. She wants to keep me from winning, and she’s willing to do some damage to make that happen.

  Jordan shoves me aside and intercepts Trish’s attack. Her forearm collides with Trish’s swinging arm.

  My hip hits the ground painfully. I grit my teeth and get back up. Clutching my side, I back away from the fighting women. On the other side of the scene, Brittany does the same. Jordan and Trish are the best fighters of all the contestants. They are about to take their best shots, no holding back.

  Jordan grabs onto Trish’s wrist with her free hand and twists. Trish screams. She swings a leg out, trying to catch Jordan off-guard. But Jordan is too good. She avoids the attempt, continuing to twist Trish’s wrist to its near-breaking point. I am afraid she’s actually going to break bone when Trish, at last, bellows a defeated screech and drops her knife.

  Jordan spins away, dipping down to retrieve the weapon in a fluid motion.

  Trish, refusing to admit defeat, charges forward, bending low, and drives her shoulder into Jordan’s gut. The pair fly backward, and Jordan is slammed to the ground, dangerously close to the ledge. I would be lying helpless, struggling to catch my breath, but Jordan is not as weak.

  My friend pulls her legs up and uses them to shove Trish off of her. Jordan hops back to her feet and begins raining blow after blow on her opponent. Right jab, left punch. Blocked counter punch. Knee to the stomach. Head butt.

  I wince as every one of Jordan’s blows lands its mark. But I’ve got to give it to Trish, she doesn’t give up. She’s weakened, but that doesn’t mean her punches and kicks are weak. Jordan’s just too good at reading her opponent’s moves. She blocks every strike and swiftly counters with another volley of her own attacks.

  A loud boom shakes the mountain, drowning out the sounds of fighting. Jordan and Trish do not stop. The kicks and punches fly through the air. It’s like they hadn’t even heard the sound.

  My feet begin to vibrate. I look down and see stones rumbling, too. I can’t process what is happening, not until the ground beneath us begins to shake violently.

  “Earthquake!” Brittany shouts.

  Oh my god.

  “Jordan!”

  She doesn’t hear me. Her focus is zeroed in on the fight. I have to get her attention. We have to get out of here.

  I run forward and throw myself between the pair, squeezing my eyes closed when I see Jordan’s fist is flying toward my face. Luckily, Jordan pulls back just in time. The hair on her knuckles tickles my nose.

  I open my eyes with a huffed sigh of relief.

  Jordan glares at Trish over my head. “Get out of my way, Sera.”

  “There’s an earthquake!” I shout, hoping to break through the violent haze dulling my friend’s sense. “The ground is shaking. We’ve got to move.” I grab her arms and lift onto my toes to stare straight into her eyes.

  It takes a few seconds, but understanding illuminates her eyes. Jordan looks at the ground, her mouth falling open with fear as she registers the vibrating ground.

  She looks back at me. “The cavern.”

  Without another word, we take off. Our shelter options are limited this high in the mountain. Hopefully, the magic in the cavern will be able to withstand the effects of an earthquake.

  We are five feet from safety when I’m tackled from behind.

  I scream. Rocks tear my skin as I slide across the ground.

  The weight above me is gone. I roll over and see Jordan push Trish away. Behind them, Brittany clutches a boulder. She’s terrified.

  I struggle to keep my balance once I’m back on my feet. The tremors have grown more violent, and eerie creaking and cracking sounds now fill the air. We need to get to the cavern. It’s our only hope.

  “Brittany! Come on.”

  She shakes her head, too scared to release the rock.

  I hold out my hand, ignoring Jordan and Trish as they shove one another on the ground. When push comes to shove, I know they can both get into the cavern. We’re close. Brittany, on the other hand, is at least twenty feet away. “Come on, Brittany. We’ve got to get into the cavern. Like your vision, remember?”

  The mention of her vision gives her confidence. Brittany believes it to be real, which means she believes she will be able to trek across the shaking ground unharmed. She releases the boulder and starts walking across the space between us on trembling legs.

  The ground shifts under me. I widen my stance and keep my hand held out for Brittany. “That’s it,” I encourage her. “Keep going.” Her trip is not easy. She slips and falls several times; her balance nearly absent with the strength of the shaking ground.

  Then, the unthinkable happens. The very top of the mountain crumbles in on itself. We all hear its ominous roar as the stones fragment begin their accelerated fall toward us.

  I watch in horror as Brittany slips and falls. I take a step toward her, determined to help her get into the cavern, but an invisible, whirling force wraps itself around my torso, holding me in place, then shoves me back.

  The wind disappears the moment I am within the cavern walls. Large, jagged boulders pummel the spot where I’d just been standing. One second later, and I would’ve been crushed to death.

  Jordan runs toward me. She covers her head and throws herself through the mass of falling rocks, knocking me over on her way in.

  No one else comes in.

  The rocks continue to fall, stacking on top of one another until there is no longer an entrance to be seen, and we are cast into darkness.

  28

  I sit there, gasping for breath, struggling to comprehend the horror of what just happened. We are completely blocked in. I hear more rocks falling outside, and the ground continues to tremble. I’m may be safe, but I can’t say the same for anyone who is still out there.

  I close my eyes and hold my head in my hands. “Oh, god.”

  Trish, Brittany… every contestant who’s managed to survive the journey so far, they’re all doomed. No way can they survive the earthquake uninjured. Their only hope, now, is for someone to win the contest. Once the diadem is retrieved, they can get help. But that means…

  Jordan and I are the only ones who can save them.

  My hands curl into fists, and I clench my jaw. This never should have happened. Jordan never should have confronted Trish at the top of the path. She should have just let Trish and Brittany enter the cave first like they asked.

  I spin around in the darkness, my eyes gradually adjusting, and let the blame fall. “What were you thinking?”

  Jordan doesn’t say anything. I can tell she’s turned away from me, curled into a ball, facing the cavern wall.

  I don’t stop. I can’t stop. I’m so upset. We never should have found ourselves in this predicament.

  “Did you stop to think, for just one second, that maybe you could’ve set aside your hatred for Trish and let her freaking pass? Why did you have to fight her? Now, they’re dead because of you.”

  A quiet moan reaches my ears, but I keep going. “Do you hear me, Jordan? The others are dead.”

  I begin to pace. Anger fuels the steps. “So much for Brittany’s vision,” I mutter in a snide voice. “Only you and I made it in here, and that means one of us is going to have to get the freaking diadem!” My volume increases until I am nearly shouting.

  After everything we’ve gone through… after the careful plans we made, Jordan and I are forced down this path. A path neither of us wanted to be on.

  Jordan continues to face away from my accusations, not saying a word.

  I lose it.

  Stomping over, I place my feet by her head. With my hands on my hips, I release my full irritation. But the emotion sputters out like a dying flame as I take in the state of my friend. Without thought, I urge heat into my hands until they blaze with fire, illuminating the cavern so I can see my friend. I don’t take a moment to marvel at how quickly I conjured the power; I’m too focused on Jordan.

  She isn’t curled on her side to av
oid looking at me. She’s curled up because her shaking hands are trying to staunch the flow of blood seeping out of her stomach.

  I fall to my knees, all petty anger gone. “Jordan! You’re hurt.”

  Her eyes are shut tight, and her lips are pinched closed. She manages a slight nod, but hisses when the movement causes her abdominal muscles to shift ever so slightly.

  How could I have been so blind?

  I extinguish the flames to rip the cloak out of my pack and use it to help absorb the blood. “Here,” I move Jordan’s fingers over the cloak. “Press with this.”

  Jordan groans from the new pressure, but she heeds my command. I wait several agonizing seconds for her face to smooth out as the latest pain lessons.

  She opens her eyes. “Thanks,” she croaks.

  I swallow back tears. “What happened?”

  “Trish stabbed me.” Jordan takes a deep breath, wincing as she does. “You’re right. I should have just let her pass.”

  I want to kick myself. I’d been too busy yelling at my friend to realize she was hurt. “It doesn’t matter.” What’s done is done. “We need to get you to a healer.”

  I look at her arms, wondering how best to help her stand. Or if I should even help her stand. Will she bleed out if I try?

  “I can’t move, Sera.” It’s like Jordan reads my thoughts. “You have to go on without me.”

  “No way,” I shake my head. “I’m not leaving you here.”

  “You have to.” Jordan coughs. Flecks of blood spray onto her shirt. Her face twists in agony until the coughing subsides. I sit there, horrified with my inability to help.

  “You have to finish the contest. It’s the only way this will end.” Again, it’s like Jordan and I share the same mind. Hadn’t I just realized the only way to save any surviving contestants was for one of us to get the diadem?

  Fate, it seems, is determined to make me the victor.

  And I’ll be damned if I let my only friend in Seelie die because I’m afraid.

  I make sure Jordan is holding the cloak to her wound, and I move her pack so it cushions her head against the hard ground.