From The Falls (The Falls Trilogy Book 2)

by Heather Renee

I swear, I was surrounded by people who were most likely comedians in their previous lives. We could all be dead by the end of the day and people were cracking jokes. Though I had to admit, it was better than everyone being a basket case.

  I leaned down and Lucas mirrored my movements. He wasn’t kidding when he said he’d stay right by my side. My hand hovered over the stone and I was surprised I couldn’t feel the power I felt when it was in the box, so I asked the pixies about that.

  “That is what the succubus blood does,” Sam answered. “It dulls the powers so you can touch the stone. Without it, you’d be consumed by the magic the stone holds.”

  I quickly grabbed the stone and placed it in the hilt of the dagger. I didn’t want to wait too long and chance the succubus blood wearing off. Bam flew closer and grabbed my finger with her tiny hand. From behind her back, she pulled out a small blade that reminded me of a needle and quickly stabbed my finger.

  The tiny pixie was a lot stronger than she looked, and the blade she used was a lot sharper than I thought. Cheese and rice, that hurt! Bam smiled at me with an evil little grin that said she knew exactly what I was thinking. Devil pixies.

  She pushed the skin together on my finger and blood surged to the surface from the cut. “Hold your hand over the dagger and allow at least four droplets of blood to fall on the stone. Once it glows, the process is complete.”

  I did as was instructed, and as soon as the fifth drop hit the stone, I saw the glow within. I pulled my hand back and pressed my finger against my pants, so I didn’t drop blood anywhere else. The pixies continued hovering over the dagger and nobody said a word for several moments.

  Finally, the stone became bright and the pixies backed up a little. “You can pick up the dagger now. It’s ready for you.”

  That wasn’t creepy at all. It’s ready for you. I was so excited about that. Not.

  I hesitantly reached for it and Bam tsked at me. “Take ownership. Show it who’s boss. If you’re afraid of it, then the dagger will not know how to bond with you.”

  Of course it wouldn’t, because I was beginning to understand that this dagger was like its own person. Like at some point, if I pissed it off, it would turn on me and force me to stab myself.

  Lucas chuckled at my internal dialogue and I readied myself to pick up the dagger. I took a couple of deep breaths and gave myself a little pep talk. I was totally the boss. I was also certain that the pregnancy hormones were going to my head.

  I reached out and took charge. I didn’t hesitate and just grabbed the hilt. Mother freaking trucker! My whole body surged with power and I was knocked on my butt. Lucas was right there, but when he tried to touch me, my body repelled him.

  “What the hell, Pixies?” he bellowed. “Why can’t I touch my wife?”

  “Give it a minute, caveman,” Bam teased. “She’ll adjust.”

  Lucas mumbled something under his breath, but I couldn’t make out what he said. I could still hear his thoughts and hoped the pixies didn’t know what he was thinking. They might not want to help us anymore.

  I laid back on the ground with the dagger still in my hand and waited for the bond to complete. It wasn’t as strong of a feeling as when the block on me had been lifted last year and I had realized I was the Arelia, but it was close. The biggest difference was that this time wasn’t painful. It was surprisingly very soothing.

  I closed my eyes and took my time getting familiar with this new power. Even though it was soothing, I hoped that when I wasn’t holding it, I wouldn’t be connected to its power.

  Lucas placed his hand on my shoulder and I opened my eyes. He smiled down at me and immediately calmed any worries I had with those dimples. I started to sit up and he grabbed my hand to help me all the way up.

  “How do you feel?” Bam asked.

  I stretched out my arms and legs, everything felt normal. I brought the dagger closer to my face and peered at the stone. There were swirls moving within it and I was mesmerized. “I’m feeling pretty amazing. If I set this down, will the bond cease?”

  “No, it will not cease,” Sam answered. “The bond is yours forever until you decide to pass the dagger on to the next one capable of handling it. Though, you will not feel the power from the dagger unless you are holding it.”

  I grabbed the cloth from the ground and wrapped it around the dagger again. I immediately felt the loss of power, but there was a niggling sensation in my stomach that hadn’t been there before. I assumed that was the bond.

  “If you guys are ready, we can open a walk-through directly outside where Cassius is,” Bam offered. “The Queen was able to get his location for you, so it should save some time. Jenna arrived kicking and screaming about an hour ago.”

  I didn’t like the fact that she was within Cassius’s grasp, but I smiled at the fact she went in kicking and screaming. Hopefully, she could hold out just a little bit longer until we got there.

  “We appreciate that,” Lorelle said. “We’ll just grab our things from the cave and we’ll be ready.”

  The nine of us walked back into the cave and picked up our bags. I traded my regular knife for the dagger in my cargo pocket. It was sticking out some, so I cut a hole in the flap over the pocket so that the hilt could stick through. Hopefully, with the cloth wrapped around it, I wouldn’t stick myself in the leg.

  “Make sure everyone has their weapons on them,” Oliver said. “We may not get the chance to prepare once we arrive. We don’t exactly know what we will be walking into or who might be standing guard outside.”

  I watched as Oliver helped Tiana with her belt that held what she would use against the Parias. Lorelle had supplied each of the other Guardians with the circular items the Fae had given us, as well as the cyclone devices she had made to capture the Parias. Lucas, Lorelle and I would be taking on Cassius. The others needed to fight off the Parias and get Jenna out of there as quickly as possible.

  I double-checked that I had everything I needed within my pockets and easily accessible to me. I took a deep breath and looked around at the others. We were ready for this. We had come a long way since defeating Damien last year. We were family, and there was no way in hell someone like Cassius was going to take any part of my family from me today.

  We went back outside to the pixies who smiled at us. “I take it you guys are ready? We’ll open the walk-through now,” Bam said. “As soon as the last person is through, we will close it, but don’t worry. We can still see into the area you’ll be at. You just need to make it back outside and we will open it as soon as we see you have the girl.”

  “Fair enough,” Lucas said. “Then you’ll take us back to the Light Fae?”

  “Yes, and then you’re welcome to stay or go straight home depending on what you need. The Queen has opened her home to you.”

  The pixies began opening the walk-through. As soon as they made a tiny slit in the air, I could feel the darkness out there. It was heavy and depressing. It was no wonder people didn’t venture to the last level. It was suffocating me already and we hadn’t even entered yet.

  “Are we going to be able to breath down there?” Lela asked.

  “Oh, goodness! How could we forget?” Sam chimed. “Almost done here, and then we have something else for you.”

  We watched and waited for the walk-through to finish opening wide enough for each of us to get through. Once the pixies were done, they flew to each of us and pressed their tiny palms to our chests. When Bam placed her hand on my chest there was a split second of pain, but then I sucked in a breath and could no longer feel the weight of the darkness.

  She eyed me skeptically, “You’re with child?” I nodded. “I can feel protections already in place, but it doesn’t hurt to add my own as well. Do you mind?”

  I glanced at Lorelle. When she nodded yes, I allowed Bam to do what she needed to do. I felt a slight cramp in my stomach briefly, but then it was gone.

  She smiled at me, “She’s going to be very special. You take good care of yourself.” />
  I flinched back in surprise. I was going to have a baby girl. I had instant tears brimming in my eyes, and Lucas squeezed my hand. I heard his thoughts. He couldn’t be happier, but we both wondered what Bam had meant by special.

  “We don’t have time for that now,” Bam tsked. “You must be on your way. We will make time for that later.”

  I let out a huff and rolled my eyes. I really hated when people told me that, but she was right. Our baby girl was safe for now, but Jenna and the rest of world might not be for much longer.

  Cassius picked the wrong century to attempt his escape. His life would end today.

  Hell hath no fury like an overprotective momma.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  We stepped out of the walk-through and were instantly immersed in pure darkness. Even with the protection from the pixies, I still felt slightly sluggish. My mood went from hopeful to angry pretty quickly.

  “Don’t let it influence you, my love.” Lucas gently caressed my back. “You can fight it. You just need to concentrate on keeping your guard up.”

  I heard Jordan and Oliver explaining the same things to their Merakis, and Lorelle was working with Lela and Ryan. I observed our surroundings after I got my bearings and noticed we were at the base of a mountain range.

  Everything was dark. I couldn’t make out how far away or how big the mountains were. There was no grass or plant life except for some trees that didn’t really count as plant life. They seemed to be ready to fall over if someone even so much as blew on them.

  I noticed a flicker of light toward my left at the bottom of the mountain so I poked Lucas with my elbow and pointed. “What’s that?”

  “That is the entrance to where Cassius is trapped.”

  Alright then. Ready or not, we were doing this. No going back now. The walk-through was closed for now and we were on our own. I had every faith we could do this, though.

  “What’s the plan?” Jordan asked. “Go in guns blazing like you know I love or stealth mode?”

  “Stealth mode would be preferable,” Lorelle drawled. “No sense starting the fighting before we need to. Plus, we can likely take out a few of the Parias before anyone even knows we’re here.”

  Jordan let out a heavy sigh. “I guess that’s okay, too.” Then she gave Lorelle a wink and started to walk toward the entrance.

  The entrance was dingy. The only light was the flicker of fire I had first seen. Dried up vines crawled up the side of the dirt walls, and once we passed the small torch by the entrance, we couldn’t see any further than the person in front of us.

  “Can we make some orbs for light?” Kane asked. “I’d rather not be snuck up on.”

  “The orb might help us or it might make things worse,” Lorelle answered. “Yes, we’d be able to see better, but then they’d also be able to see us coming. I’ll leave it up to you guys.”

  As we rounded the corner, Lorelle yelped and slipped. Lucas reached his arm out and grabbed her hand at the last second. He let out a grunt, but I could hardly see what was happening. I made an orb quickly and dropped it just as fast. Lorelle was hanging over an edge and Lucas only had her by one hand.

  I reached down and grabbed her other hand to help pull her up. Oliver came up behind me and I let him take her arm. Once they both had a good grip, they pushed her out away from the rough surface and then lifted her up so she didn’t scrape against the edge.

  “Let the Parias see us,” I snapped. “We’re using the orbs for light.”

  I made another light orb and held it out in front of me. The missing section of the pathway wasn’t very wide and we could easily jump over it. Had we known it was there, it wouldn’t have been a problem. There were probably lots of traps like this along the way. We needed to be able to see.

  “I will fly ahead,” Strix said mentally. “I didn’t want to use my powers too much before we got to Cassius, but there is no point in not using them if we can’t even make it there. I’ll conceal myself and see what I can find.”

  I laid my hand on his back, “Are you sure? Don’t put yourself at a greater risk. We can figure it out.”

  “I can see better in the dark. This is probably the best help I can be. I’ll be able to tell you when you’re coming up on any Parias and make sure you don’t waste your time back-tracking down these tunnels.”

  He had a point. To have eyes and ears ahead of us would give us a huge advantage. I relayed our quick conversation to the rest of the group and they all agreed.

  I gave Strix a quick squeeze. “You better be safe. If something happens to you, I’ll bring you back from the dead just to kill you for leaving me.”

  “I’ve lived many centuries. Everything is going to be just fine.”

  I let him go and watched him fly until I couldn’t see him in the darkness any longer. My heart ached at the thought of him by himself, but I often forgot how old and powerful he was. I needed to have faith he could take care of himself.

  Everyone made their own light orbs and we each took turns jumping over the hole in the path. We continued walking and turned when Strix told us to. I was getting a little worried that things were going too well, but Lucas informed me that we were literally inside the mountain. There was probably nobody here because most people who attempted to enter got lost by now. Most people didn’t have a Strix.

  Strix also found two more traps. One of them was a large swinging blade that flicked out from the wall when someone walked past it. Thankfully, Strix wasn’t large or it might have sliced him in half. The blade only worked once until someone reset it, which was something we definitely weren’t going to do.

  The other one consisted of a few snares on the ground. If we hadn’t had our lights, at least one of us would have gotten caught in it. Lucas took his knife and sliced them down, so we wouldn’t have to worry about it on our way out as well.

  We had been walking for about an hour when Strix finally told us to halt. We turned our orbs off and waited for his cue to move forward.

  “Three Parias headed your way,” Strix said.

  I gave him a mental nod and passed along the information. Jordan and Kane moved up front with Oliver and Tiana right behind them. The pathway wasn’t big enough for all four of them to stand side by side, but hopefully that wouldn’t matter. All they needed to do was turn on the devices the Fae gave us and watch the creepy shadow monsters get destroyed. Hopefully.

  They each held one of the devices in their hand, but Lorelle directed them to set them on the ground since we hadn’t actually seen these in use. She told them to hold the cyclone devices she had made as back up.

  Strix gave me a countdown, which I relayed to the others. Sure enough, on the count of three, the devices started going off. I heard screeching from the Parias. I could barely see what was happening, but the noises coming from Jordan made it sound like she was having the time of her life, so I assumed the devices were working.

  A few moments later, the Parias were gone and Jordan was passing out high fives. “That was awesome! Tell Strix to find some more for us. Watching those things get shredded was fun.”

  “Only you, sweetheart. Only you would enjoy something like that,” Kane cooed at her.

  “Next time I want to be up front with Jordan,” Tiana chimed.

  The two girls fist-bumped and then Jordan said, “Girl power!”

  “Those Parias are gone,” I mentally called out to Strix. “Are we good to keep moving forward?”

  “Should be fine. Take a left at the fork up ahead about fifty feet. We’re getting close, so I’m going to wait for you here.”

  “We’re almost there,” I told the others. “Everyone should keep their devices out and whatever else you feel you need. Might be our last chance for it.”

  I pulled my new dagger out from my pocket, but before I could unwrap it, Lucas grabbed my arm and pulled to me the side. “You’re sure you and the baby are safe? You feel okay? I’m not trying to discourage you, I’d never hold you back. I just need to know I g
ave you every opportunity to back out. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this. There is always another way.”

  I gently caressed his face and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Thank you. You are the most thoughtful and loving Meraki I could ever ask for. You’re going to be an even more amazing father to our daughter. I’m ready for this as long as I have you by my side.”

  “You know you always will.” He pulled me flush against his body. “I love you so damn much.”

  “I love you, too. Everything is going to be fine. We have a solid team. Cassius never stood a chance.”

  His hand reached around the back of my head as he lowered his lips to mine. He gripped my hair and angled my head to deepen the kiss. I wrapped my hands around his neck and let a groan slip out. I pulled back slightly, “We have an audience. Let’s finish this after we’ve kicked Cassius’s ass together.”

  “If we have to,” he pouted.

  I gave him one more quick peck, “Yes, we have to. The sooner we walk down that path, the sooner we get to go home and start painting walls in the nursery.”

  That got me the million-dollar smile I was hoping for, dimples and all. He was already wrapped around our little girl’s finger.

  “You’re right and I’m damn proud of it.” He pulled back and I untangled myself from him.

  I grabbed the dagger again and unwrapped it. I felt the power surge through me once more and the nagging sensation I had been ignoring blossomed. I didn’t necessarily feel more powerful, but I felt stronger. My muscles were coiled and ready for action.

  Everyone else was ready and began heading toward Strix. It only took us a few minutes to find him, and he continued to lead us down the dingy path. The path was getting narrower. We could barely stand in pairs without our shoulders brushing against the grimy walls.

  The dagger started to shake in my hand and I lifted it up. The emerald stone was the brightest I had seen it so far. I turned toward Lorelle and showed her.

  “Cassius is near. Since you are bonded with the dagger, it will always lead you to your target. Ready or not, we’re about to face one of the evilest being in all the worlds.”