Chaos let out a grunt, hunching over one of the worn leather chairs in front of Jane’s desk, his gaze to the floor. “Fine. I’ll figure out where to take her. But she needs to figure out how to become the Aether.”
Jane breathed a sigh of relief, whispering under her breath, “Thank Apollo.”
Chaos straightened, his fists clenching as he walked toward me, stopping only inches from my face. My breath caught in my throat. It was clear he was not someone who was used to being told what to do. “From here on out, you will do what I say, when I say it. Understood?”
“Yes,” I managed to squeak out.
“Good. Play time is over.” He turned on his heel and stormed out.
I sank into one of the brown leather chairs and pulled my knees up to my chest. Goosebumps prickled the flesh of my arms. “Nice guy. So happy my life is in his hands.”
Jane reached out to smooth a strand of hair off my brow. “Chaos will keep you safe. He just doesn’t know you like I do. He’s worried that you are in over your head.”
“Well, aren’t I?” I snickered.
“We all are. But you have magic in you that is powerful. It just needs to be awakened. You must travel to the other covens and find a way to ignite all of the elements within you. Then you will have to figure out the rest on your own. And I have every confidence that you will.” There seemed to be centuries of pain and sorrow within her tired eyes. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the atrocities she’d witnessed in her five hundred years of existence.
“When do we leave?” Saying it out loud sent my head spinning. There was so much to be done. What would I need to pack? How would we get there? Where was there exactly? And then there was the fact of saying goodbye to my friends…
Jane’s eyes darkened and the vein in her neck twitched. “Soon. More birds will come and they won’t be dead ones. Go back to your room for now. I’ll come get you when it’s time.”
I nodded. “I’ll try to be ready.”
Dragging my feet to the door, all my insecurities and fears came alive. All the times I felt I didn’t belong, didn’t feel I was good enough, were proving to be true. Maybe the others—Poppy and her posse of whiny witches—were right to not want me here. Our safety here was in jeopardy because of my family. I stepped into the hallway and froze. Chaos was posted up against the wall across from the door, his arms crossed.
I let out a groan. “Waiting around to insult me some more?”
“My concerns are mine to bear. What will be, will be. But now that you’ve been marked, I cannot let you out of my sight.” He almost looked pleased that he was getting under my skin.
I sighed, too tired to argue. “Great. Just what I’ve always wanted, a reluctant bodyguard.”
The corners of his mouth turned up into a smug smirk as he walked around me, circling me like prey. His sweet scent tickled my nose—vanilla, honey, and cinnamon. Just like the beignets down at the market. He was doing it again.
“If you and I are going to be stuck together for Apollo knows how long, you need to stop with the tricks. And don’t forget, I’m an Elemental witch. Two can play at this game.” I crossed my arms and stuck out my chin, satisfied with myself as I pushed a gust of icy air at him. His hair blew back off his face.
He grinned and leaned in close, his breath dancing across my cheek. “Maybe there is still time to play, after all. I love a good game.” His gaze burned into mine, tingling the soles of my feet.
Oh he was good, I’d give him that. I stepped back, putting a good few feet between us. “Forget it. We don’t have time for this. I need to find my friends before we leave.”
Chaos feigned a bow, a chuckle escaping his lips. “After you.”
My stomach swirled with butterflies as we walked. He was right earlier. I hadn’t been off this island since I was a kid. Everything that ever felt safe was here at Sanctum. The thought of leaving all of that behind terrified me. But what choice did I have? I had to trust that the gods would guide me. I had to trust that this god would protect me, and I had to start trusting myself.
But as we neared my room, a new knot formed in my stomach. I had to somehow face my two best friends and tell them who I really was and that I had been lying to them our entire lives. This terrified me more than anything else.
Five
Sapphire and Diego stared back at me, speechless. Their hesitancy hung in the air between us like thick smoke. I could only imagine what was going through their minds—the shock, the disbelief, the outright betrayal. On paper, I was a traitor no matter how you looked at it—tied to a coven that the rest of our world had shunned. But in the flesh…I was still the same Arya they had always known. I just prayed they could see that.
“So…you are a Sylph witch? I’m confused. I thought you didn’t belong to any coven.” Sapphire fiddled with the hilt of her sword, tracing her fingers in a circle over its bone finish.
Diego lifted his eyebrows as he echoed her sentiment. “Yeah, Arya, you aren’t making any sense. Aren’t you an orphan?”
I leaned against my dresser to steady myself as my body swayed. A sinking feeling set in, permeating every cell, every bone, and every inch of my flesh. “I know this is a lot to take in. Maybe it would be better if I just showed you.”
I took a careful step into the center of the room under the heat of their stares, eyes wide and expectant. Releasing a deep breath, I let my wings unfold out from my back. With a slight rustle, they spread out around me—soft, velvety, and black as night, spanning six feet in every direction.
Gasps erupted from both of them. Diego covered his mouth with his hand, his knuckles white.
Sapphire squeezed the hilt of her sword and charged forward. “How could you keep this from us? From me? I’m your best friend. You should have trusted me.”
Tears welled up in my eyes as I folded my wings back in. “I didn’t know who to trust when I first got here. And after a while, it was just never the right time. I didn’t want you to look at me differently. I thought if you found out I was a Sylph, you’d want nothing to do with me.”
“I wouldn’t have done that to you. You should have trusted me and…” She glanced to the door, her scowl deepening at the sight of Chaos leaning against the frame. “What’s he doing here?”
I shuffled my feet, afraid to look her in the eye. “I’m leaving with him. That’s what I came here to tell you. The dead birds, the disappearance of your mother, it’s all connected. My coven is coming for me. They are trying to stop me from becoming the Aether.”
Diego gawked at me, folding his arms protectively into his chest. “You can control all four elements?” he whispered, his tone amazed.
Chaos’s voice pierced through our familiar bubble, seeping through the closeness the three of us have always shared. “Not yet, but she will. I’ve sworn to protect her. Wherever Arya goes, I go. Hope that’s not going to be a problem?”
Diego looked him up and down. “I’m fine with it.”
“Look, I’m sorry I kept this from you. I know you both will probably never forgive me, but right now all that matters is getting somewhere safe. Jane thinks they want me…dead.” It seemed preposterous saying it out loud.
Sapphire pressed her shoulders back and lifted her chin. “We are going with you. Those monsters took my mother. I can’t just sit around and do nothing. Wherever you go, we go too. Is that going to be a problem?” Her glare landed on Chaos.
He threw his hands up in protest. “No way. Not going to happen. I didn’t sign up to babysit all three of you.”
“I am a Lupi wolf. I don’t need to be looked after,” Diego spat.
“A Lupi wolf without a pack. Why don’t you tell everyone how you were kicked out of Italy? You know that’s where the Seraphine coven is, don’t you? I don’t need to worry about your former pack coming after us when we bring an excommunicated werewolf back into their territory.”
Diego’s mouth dropped open. “How…how do you know about that?”
“There’
s not much I don’t know. Now say your goodbyes, Arya. We’re leaving.” Chaos moved toward the doorway, shooting me an expectant look over his shoulder.
It suddenly felt like the walls were closing in on me as I stood, torn between Chaos, my uncertain future, and my dearest friends, who were now becoming part of my troubled past. It was as if a dark cloud hung over us while Sapphire’s face twisted in pain—no, desperation, as she waited on bated breath for me to make my next move. And Diego, he too was being shoved into a new life. The possibility of paths diverging. A life without the friend they thought they knew and had grown to love.
Chaos focused only on me, his hand outstretched waiting for me to take it. The familiar comfort of this room, of my friend’s faces, was about to be stripped away. But I knew what was at stake if I stayed.
My voice cracked. “I have to go. My coven is coming after me and I don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire. Please, I need to know you are safe.”
“You don’t get it, Arya. This isn’t just about you. My people are disappearing, one by one. What’s to stop them from coming after me too? We’ll be safer if we stick together.” She clasped my hands in hers, her eyes glassy, pleading with me. “Take us with you,” she whispered.
Chaos started to chime in when a loud smack hit the window. Then another, and another. My heart raced as the four of us turned toward the sound. My stomach dropped. The glass was smothered in blood and white feathers.
Chaos cursed under his breath. “We’re too late. They are already here.”
“Who’s here? The Sylphs?” I yelled between the sounds of breaking glass.
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the door. “Harpies. Under your aunt’s command. We need to go. Now.”
Sapphire and Diego hustled after us as we sprinted through the halls, darting and dodging, leaping over twisted metal and splintered wood that exploded out from Sanctum’s blood-streaked windows as a barrage of white birds plunged into the glass.
Chaos dragged me down corridor after corridor—each one revealing more confusion than the last. The once-pristine floors were now covered in dhampir blood, harpy feathers, and tufts of Lupi fur. It was madness. Bursts and pops rang out amidst the shrieks and screams. Their cries echoed through my ears, sharp and shrill like the wails of a withering banshee. In between each shaky breath, I swallowed hard, choking on the forceful bile as it burned my throat, stirring my stomach into a turbulent sea of panic.
A thousand questions raced through my head. Where was Jane? Where was our defense? And then the fear, the shame…they were here for me. Sanctum was being ambushed and it was all my fault. I must have stopped running because I was whipped back to the present by Chaos shaking me. “Arya!”
The stench of blood weighed heavy around us. I licked my dry lips and glanced around, dizziness taking over. I was drifting, swaying from side to side, my knees locked together to keep from collapsing. “Down there,” I mumbled. “The back door. It leads to the docks.”
Chaos nodded just as a blast erupted from above. Chunks of concrete sprayed out, raining down upon us. Before I could react, Chaos hurled himself over me, covering me with his whole body. Sapphire and Diego cried out, their screams buried by the walls falling down around us.
We waited, my heart pounding underneath his. Another explosion down the hall was the break we needed. Chaos pulled me to my feet and urged me toward the exit. “Let’s go.”
Everything was a blur. I needed to pull it together. Focus. Chaos kicked open the door and cursed. Three harpies blocked our way, hissing and squawking. “Arya, get behind me.”
I ambled forward. “No, I can fight.”
Sapphire pushed past us. “So can I.” In one swift move, she crouched down and released three throwing knives. They spun in the air and shot forward, grazing all three harpies.
Diego growled, shifting to wolf form in mid-air, landing hard on one of the harpies. Sinking his fangs into her neck, he ripped into her flesh, tearing it open. Blood sprayed out, turning his brown fur ruby red.
The other two harpies screamed, their faces twisting in horror as they lunged after me. I froze, holding my breath, and braced for impact.
Chaos wrapped a strong arm around my waist and yanked me out of their path while Sapphire planted herself in front of me and held out her palms to the sky. She chanted, “Riges indutae.” The two harpies smacked into each other hard as if being thrown together by invisible hands.
A surge of adrenaline shot through me. The wind tickled the back of my neck. Shrugging Chaos off of me, I stepped toward the frenzied harpies.
“I can’t hold them much longer,” Sapphire yelled.
A quiet calm came over me as my lungs filled up with icy breath. Parting my lips, I let the cold wind flutter outward like an exhale. I blew it hard toward the harpies in a slow steady stream. It swarmed over and around them like mist, whipping through their skin and hair. Particles, like crystals, embedded them into a solid block of ice. Their bodies and mouths contorted, frozen in shock.
Diego shifted back to human form, panting as he licked the blood off his lips. He scrambled for his torn clothes, piecing them back on to cover the important bits. “Are they…dead?”
I wrung out my hands, wiping them against my pants. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. It should wear off.” I had practiced that spell a hundred times, but that was the first time on a living creature.
Chaos held the exit door open, motioning for us to go through. “Let’s not be here when it does. We need to get to the docks. I have a ship waiting to take us out of here.”
“My friends are coming with us. Sapphire’s right. We are safer together.” I planted my feet and crossed my arms, refusing to take another step until he conceded.
He hesitated, looking back and forth between us, and the frozen harpies. “Fine. But everyone needs to do exactly what I say at all times. Understood?” We nodded in unison. “C’mon,” he said.
Harpies filled the skies like dark stars, swarming in and out as we made a run for it, tearing at our clothes, and slashing at our skin. Sapphire threw up protection walls around us every few feet, giving us the occasional chance to catch our breath.
Skidding down the rocky path to the docks, my mouth dropped open. A giant ship sat in the harbor, sizzling with magic. It crackled and glowed like a beacon of light in the dark. And standing on deck was one of the most breathtaking men I’d ever seen. His long dark hair whipped back off his golden skin, revealing two amber colored eyes. Towering well over the rest of his crew, he looked like a god.
“Who is that?” I gasped for breath as we approached the ship.
Chaos smiled. “Your new best friend. His name is Seven, and he’s going to get us out of here.”
As we sailed away, I clung to the side of the ship, fixated on the havoc we were leaving behind. Smoke and flames danced over Sanctum like a storm. My heart ached for all of them. They weren’t the kindest to me, but they didn’t deserve to die. I could only hope that the harpies would leave now that I had. Jane was no doubt regretting the day she took me in. I wouldn’t blame her if she did.
The three of us huddled together as Chaos and the mystery man approached. Up close, he was even more mesmerizing. Light and magic glided off of him like a second skin—little tiny sparks and beams that radiated out of him as if he were filled with particles from the sun. It flickered and rolled over his flesh like a massive shield, highlighting every inch of his muscular body.
He smiled, his eyes full of warmth. “You must be Arya. Call me Seven.” His voice was deep and rugged, but he spoke with the sophistication of a nobleman. Like a savage pirate with all the manners of an aristocrat. It was odd, yet alluring. He took my hand and pressed his lips to it. “I’m enchanted to make your acquaintance.”
I almost felt like I should have curtsied or something. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for helping us.”
Seven’s eyes lit up. “Sapphire of the Rain Makers, it’s an honor. You resemble your mother. I fought
beside Zari in the Blood War. She is a fierce warrior.”
“Yeah? Well I just want to see her again.” Sapphire bit her lip and looked away.
“I have no doubt that you will.” His eyes were kind, soft, yet imploring. There was something about him that put me at ease. No matter what came out of his mouth, I believed it.
He then turned toward Diego. “And you are a sight for sore eyes. I remember the day you were born. It was the happiest moon cycle of your mother’s life. You’ve grown into a fine wolf.”
Diego’s eyes widened. “You knew my mother?”
“I did. She loved you very much. Know that, always.” Something familiar flickered in his eyes. They exchanged a knowing look of sadness, a history that Diego kept to himself but Seven seemed to be privy to.
“Now that we all know each other, let’s figure out where we’re going,” Chaos interjected.
Seven chuckled and patted him on the back “Not to worry, old friend. I always know where I’m going. Now let us have a drink. You all look like you could use one.” He hummed to himself as he disappeared below deck.
Just moments later, I had a glass of whiskey in my hand and a sinking sensation in my stomach. Everyone here was connected in some way. They shared history, relationships, and even ancestors. I was still completely alone in my story.
They weren’t helping me because I was important to them. They were helping me because they needed me. They needed my magic to save their world.
“That was pretty impressive back there.” Chaos’s voice shook me out of my reverie.
I took a swig of whiskey. “I’m not sure what you mean.” Was he actually complimenting me?
“Sure you do. The way you handled those harpies. That was quick thinking.” He ran a hand through his dark hair as a sharp gust of wind blew past us. Every movement he made was attractive. It oozed out of him, uncontainable.
Smoke and Ritual (Beautiful Dark Beasts Book 1) Page 5