by S. D. Grimm
“Be careful.” Tessa touched his shoulder. He placed his on top of hers and squeezed. Then he walked forward to where Jayden sat tied to a tree.
Her head whipped in his direction as he approached, and she glared. A burning wave shot through his whole being, and his heart crumbled to pieces. Her eyes were dark red, and black veins surrounded them, making her face look cracked. No. He’d—he’d lost her?
She sneered. “You again? Good. These other fools won’t listen to me. But I know you will.” The voice that came out of her wasn’t Jayden’s. In fact, it sounded deeper. Harsher. Almost like a roar accompanied her words.
He stepped back.
She laughed, and it grated his nerves.
He would not lose her like this. There had to be a way to reach her. He would find a way.
“Jayden?” There was nowhere she could go that he wouldn’t follow. And if she needed him, he would be there. He inched closer and sank to his knees so he could face her. “Can you hear me?”
“I’m right here. Of course I can hear you!” She lurched toward him, straining against her bonds.
His throat ached. “I know you’re trapped in there. I need you to fight it. To fight her. She doesn’t own you.”
She laughed again. “Own me? What are you talk—”
“Hear me. Please? You know who I am. Can’t you feel me?”
“Are you listening to me, fool?”
Ethan breathed deep and focused on the small glimmer in Jayden’s eyes that read like hope. She could hear him! She was trapped in there somewhere, and he knew he could get through to her. He held up his hand, the one with the reminder of his oath, two scars deep. “We’re bound. Remember?”
A hiss accompanied her next words, but he wasn’t listening. He reached inside his thoughts, his heart, and felt the bond he still had—the one linked to Jayden—and he poured everything he had into that. “Remember when I said I’d do anything for you?”
“Anything?” Her small voice came back, vulnerable and unsure. But it was hers. His chest squeezed and he let her words drown out the voice that screamed at him from her mouth. The voice that wasn’t her. Instead, he listened to the quiet words that touched his heart.
Holding tight to the bond, he focused on hearing her. Speaking to her. “Don’t ever doubt my love.”
“I won’t! Ethan, I won’t! You can hear me? Where are you?”
“You’re in the dream world.” He grabbed Jayden’s hand. She struggled against his touch. Hissed in his face. He closed his eyes and concentrated. “Hold on to me. Find your way back to me. I’m right here. I haven’t left you.”
“You found me?” Her voice seemed a small whimper in his mind, but then he felt her courage fill her. She would fight. She would never give up.
“Always. You can do this. I’m right here.”
Ethan’s encouragement echoed in her mind: You can do this.
But how? Firegoats surrounded her, circling, and the Mistress descended out of the storm cloud that she’d commandeered Jayden’s power to make.
“Let me out!” Jayden screamed.
The Mistress laughed. “There is no out for you. This is your mind. You are trapped.”
Jayden clenched her fists. “Ethan?”
“Take my hand, Jayden! Please?” His voice was strong.
Jayden shouted at the Mistress. “This isn’t real!” Then she fell to her knees and bowed her head. “Where are you, Ethan?”
“I’m right here. Take my hand.”
His hand? None of this was real, but Ethan was. She just had to find him. Jayden trusted his voice. Leaned on it. Closed her eyes and reached out.
“No!” The Mistress shrieked.
Jayden kept reaching. A warm, strong grip held her hand and she felt the scars. Familiar scars that spoke of Ethan’s love for her. He had come for her! She clutched his hand. “You found me?” Her voice sounded tearful.
“Yes! I’m right here. Open your eyes.”
She obeyed. She didn’t know what she expected to see, but Ethan sat in front of her, hand in hers, head bowed, and eyes closed. “Ethan?”
His head snapped up, and he looked at her. At once he moved closer and pressed his palms against her cheeks. “Jayden? It’s you?”
“It’s me!” She wanted to touch him, but her arms were pinned down by rope. Then she watched as Healers, some whose faces she recognized, raced to her and started untying the rope as Ethan kept repeating, “It’s her, it’s her. Set her free.”
All the while, he continued looking deep into her eyes, and his hands never left her cheeks. Even as her tears spilled out.
As soon as she was free, she propelled herself into his arms, and he held her. His strength, her armor. Her shield. Her support.
“I thought I was lost in there forever.” Her voice cracked.” You found me. You brought me back.”
“Wherever you go, I will go with you.”
She breathed in his strength and looked up at him. At his reddened shirt. The huge blood stain was dry, but a hole told her he’d been stabbed. “What happened?” She gripped the material in shaking fingers.
He covered her hand with his and looked deep into her eyes. It seemed an eternity before he finally said, “The Mistress attacked me.”
Her blood chilled. “The Mist—you mean me?”
“No.” Nothing wavered the conviction in his words. “It wasn’t you. It was her. And there’s one way to make sure you’re free of her forever.”
Jayden set her jaw and fisted her hands. “Let’s take her out. For good.”
He nodded, solemn, then his eyes softened. “Together.”
“Always.”
He paused, oath hand pressed against her cheek again, with those familiar ridges offering so much comfort. “Jayden.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t go where I can’t follow.” He smiled that lopsided grin, and she leaned close. Closed her eyes. He kissed her, and everything but this moment melted away. Her hands trailed over his skin, and his firm grip kept her close. The fissure in her heart mended, and she kissed him with her all. With her heart. With her emotions. Tears and joy, sadness and pain, all of it flooded through her veins and fueled her kiss. Overwhelming love for the man who had said he’d be honored to die for her, who would take her place. He was her protector. Her hero. Her Ethan.
Ethan and Jayden had taken Rochelle, Ruth, and Tessa aside and explained that they needed to get to the four thrones. As suspected, Ruth knew of what Ethan spoke. For three days, they traveled in secret, but Ethan thought the travel too slow for his taste. Both Zephyr and Stormcloud had left, and already—with the loss of their bonds—Ethan felt his talents draining.
He approached Ruth, keeping his voice low. “Are you sure you know where these thrones are?
“Yes. They’re supposedly by the white alor tree.” Her voice was solemn. “We are getting closer, but it will be good to travel in secret.”
“You mean fewer numbers?” Ethan motioned to the others.
“Yes.” Ruth’s eyes were sad. She turned to Rochelle. “Gather the other Healers. Meet us back by the alor tree once you have everyone. There’s no telling when the Mistress will arrive.”
The next morning, most of the Healers left to search for reinforcements. Jayden strapped on her pack, ready to get the Creator’s power and stop the Mistress forever.
Though the air blew cooler, there was no threat of snow. Today was not the day she’d die. She could at least hold on to that.
Ethan grabbed her hand, and she clutched his and looked up into his eyes. He smiled softly.
Then Ruth stepped out in front of them. “This way.” They traveled deeper into the forest together, following Ruth for two days.
The next morning was colder, but still not cold enough for snow. And Ruth led them deeper into the wood. At last she stopped, but she placed her finger to her lips. “Someone is coming.”
Ethan touched his sword but didn’t draw it. “I feel no threat.”
; A unicorn Jayden recognized broke through the trees, and Serena walked beside him. Melanie and Gavin were close behind her.
“Serena!” Jayden raced to her sister-kin. Ethan did, too, and the three of them embraced. Jayden took in the serious look on Serena’s face. “You still have Dash.” She marveled at the unicorn and shook her head. “I can’t feel Stormcloud, and Ethan said Zephyr left him.”
Serena grabbed her hands. “I felt you. My bond is weakening, but I felt you both.”
Ethan’s unease slammed into Jayden, and his words speared her. “Where’s Ryan?”
She looked at Jayden, and her heart seemed to crumble. “He surrendered to Belladonna to save me.”
“What?” Ethan gripped the hilt of his sword.
“Belladonna has him again,” Jayden whispered and her knees weakened. “What will that do to his heart?”
Serena shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t know.” Her eyelashes fluttered. “She’s turning him into her slave. She’s tortured him. I can feel his pain already.”
The ground trembled, and a sound like the groaning trees, only stronger, longer, and sadder, filled the air.
“What’s happening?” Melanie asked.
“Dash says the forest is trying to absorb the poison, but it can’t anymore.” Serena shook her head.
Ruth looked at Melanie with that same sorrow in her eyes. “The Mistress’s blood is killing everything. Soon, even we will lose our bonds. Our Feravolk talents. Everything. Many of the unicorns have already given their lives to help the forest remain alive longer. We don’t have much time. Her blood has spread to the Forest of Legends. If we don’t defeat her before it takes over this forest’s heart, the Feravolk will cease to be.”
Serena fell to her knees and buckled over in what looked like pain. “She’s breaking him.”
Melanie pressed her hand to Serena’s back. “Can you tell where they are?”
Serena closed her eyes. “He’s close.”
Jayden clasped her hands together, the ache in her heart throbbing. “If we go to the thrones and defeat the Mistress now, before we lose our powers, will we have time to save him?”
“Jayden.” Serena’s hurt flooded into her. “I want to save Ryan, too. But he’s the Mistress’s vessel. If Belladonna is trying to make his heart blacker, don’t you think we have to kill the Mistress before she can? Otherwise, won’t Ryan die when the Mistress does? Didn’t Connor say the only way to save Ryan from the Mistress was to kill her?”
“That or cut out his heart.” Kara’s voice came from the trees, and the assassin faced them and smirked. “We meet again.”
Chapter 59
Enemy of My Enemy
Serena’s fingernails dug deep into her palms as Kara pushed her shoulder off the tree she leaned against and strode forward.
Five black lions followed her, padding out of hiding. Belladonna rode one.
Ryan rode another.
And the dark look in his eyes, void of hope, void of heat, was the same look Serena had seen in the palace. The hint of pears rode on the stale wind. He was back under Belladonna’s spell.
Serena wanted to crumble to her knees. Where was the hope now? Their powers were slipping. The bonds breaking.
Belladonna’s black lion walked closest to them, and she held out her hand, palm facing them. All the huge, black, winged beasts stopped.
“How is she still bonded?” Jayden’s voice seemed so small. Fragile. Hopeless.
“Ryan?” Serena said his name.
He looked her way, and his eyes narrowed, but his words were for Belladonna. “She’s trying to reach me, as you said she would.”
Serena fought the urge to scream his name as a sob shattered in her chest. “Oh, Ryan.” She barely had air in her lungs to push the words out. What had Belladonna done?
Belladonna glared at Serena, then pointed the Sword of Black Malice at Melanie and Gavin and Ruth. “Kill them. Bring me the Deliverers. My lions will feed on the corpse of your unicorn.”
“No.” The word echoed in Serena’s chest. “If they’re all injured, I don’t think I have enough power left to heal them. Does Ruth?”
Dash turned to her.
She could tell he was speaking, but she heard nothing. Dread crept over her heart like a curtain. He whickered and stamped his hoof. Then he nuzzled her. When they touched, she could hear him. “The bonds are breaking.” He sounded as if he were in pain. “Serena, you must kill Smoke so the Mistress has nowhere to store her heart. Only a unicorn can kill that dragon. Your daggers. They are swords of noble light.” His outline melted into the trees surrounding them, but Serena could still see him at her side.
“Why does it sound like you’re saying goodbye to me? Dash, are you losing your powers too?”
A single tear dripped from his eye. A plant grew at the source of the splash. Then the ground sizzled, like tree sap boiling out of a heated green log. The small plant withered at his hooves. His mane had lost all its luster.
Around her, the black lions sprang forward as if they had been unleashed. She heard muffled screams as if the din of the oncoming fight was shielded from her ears so she could hear Dash.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
She stroked his soft nose. “Of course.”
Tears dripped from his eyes, and he thrust his horn into her chest. Her knees wanted to buckle.
Someone screamed. Ethan jumped between her and the lions. The fleeting thought that Kara had betrayed her throbbed in her heart beside the physical pain.
Belladonna’s eyes grew wide, but she stopped her creatures from moving toward them. “What does that unicorn think it’s doing?”
Dash’s horn had pierced her heart. It still beat around the horn. When he removed his horn, he could heal her. Her trust in him didn’t waver. Dash would not kill her. He needed to tell her how to defeat the dragon, and this would make sure she didn’t miss a word. Pain she could withstand now if their bond would be restored later.
“When the forest dies, I will also die. I won’t live on like the other animals, Serena. I will melt into the wood. I am born of it, and I die into it. Our bond can never be restored, even after this is done. This is the only way I will live.”
He tilted his horn to the side, ripping her chest open more. Then she saw the gaping hole in his own chest. It took the form of light. A ray of hope inside of him. As he closed his eyes, that light poured from his chest into hers through his horn. The sword of noble light. Of course. “Now you will have your powers for longer because I have given you everything I have left: my heart. When I remove my horn from you, I will die. But my heart will beat inside you. It will give you all that’s left of my powers. You will always have me with you now. I love you, little one. Save the forest. Bring the unicorns back.”
A different ache speared her chest. No. “Dash, don’t go. I need you. I can’t defeat Smoke. I’m—”
“You are a unicorn. Always have been. More depends on you than you know. You have to survive.”
He removed his horn and her chest sealed. Healed. But Dash faded away like dust motes sparkling in the sun. And it tore Serena apart. She wanted to fall to her knees, but as if her ears were opened, the sounds of swords clashing and creatures shrieking slammed into her.
Ethan pushed her behind him as the black lions herded them farther from their friends. She didn’t even have time to mourn. She—her eyes filled with tears, and she pulled her daggers free.
A black lion spread its wings and jumped at her. Ethan plunged a wooden sword into its heart. It dissipated like smoke on the wind.
Jayden’s scream woke her from her stupor.
And Belladonna made eye contact with Jayden. “I almost have all of you.” She held her hand in the air and made a fist. Then she pulled.
Ethan cried out and stumbled forward. A black lion pounced on him.
Serena and Jayden both raced forward to attack the beast.
Belladonna continued walking toward them, an
d Serena caught sight of Gavin fighting with Ryan. Trying not to hurt him. A black lion jumped onto Gavin’s back, and blood-red claws ripped out his throat.
He fell, dead.
Serena trembled where she stood, momentarily frozen. She wanted to race to him, but the loss of feeling his pain stopped her. There was no soul left alive in him. No one to heal.
Her heart could take no more.
She turned to see Belladonna stab Ruth through with the Sword of Black Malice.
Melanie raced in front of Belladonna, the only person left to stand between the evil woman and Serena and Jayden.
Melanie looked over her shoulder. “Run! Get to the thrones! Go!”
Serena grabbed Jayden’s sleeve.
“No!” Jayden raced back toward Ethan to try and free him.
Serena ran at Belladonna, and Melanie glanced back at her—and the dark sword speared her through. Belladonna pulled the blade out, and Melanie crumpled to the ground. Dead, a gaping wound in her stomach.
Jayden cried out in agony as she fell to her knees.
Belladonna snapped her fingers and the four remaining black lions flocked around her. Surrounded all of them.
Ryan walked to her side. The scent of pears made Serena’s stomach churn. Kara flanked her other side. Ethan jumped to his feet, but Belladonna jerked her fist, and he stumbled to his knees.
“Now.” Belladonna sneered at Serena. “I will have the Creator’s power. You will give it to me.”
Jayden spit at her.
Belladonna chuckled at Jayden. “You are the last one for me to claim. But the Mistress made my job easier. She already has your mind. Doesn’t she?” Belladonna smiled wickedly at Kara. “You put bandy root on one of those dart shooters, right?”
Kara glanced at Belladonna as if she was insulted. “I don’t make mistakes.” Then she pressed a dart shooter to her lips and blew. Jayden fell to the ground. Serena wanted to scream. Kara had betrayed them again, and then Serena felt a prick in her neck. All trace of her healing powers seeped from her veins because of the bandy root. And then tangle flower took hold. As she fell next to Jayden’s limp form, she tried desperately to cling to hope.