Dark Awakened (The Devil's Assistant Book 2)

by HD Smith

  Cinnamon confirmed what I was thinking. “The marks will slowly drain of blood. If you haven’t returned before they’re empty, you’ll die.”

  Chapter 16

  I should have breathed a sigh of relief as I left the castle, but I felt only dread. I looked down at the claw marks on my wrist. Tick-tock, Tick-tock. I had to get moving, or I’d never make it out of this alive.

  Cinnamon’s directions had been fairly simple. I was to leave through the gate, then at the road into town I was to turn right and walk for about an hour until I arrived at the crossroads. I was then to turn left and travel until I reached the shores of the Silver Sea—a place of great magical energy, or so I’d read. It was the only way to the Great Museum.

  I stretched my arms over my head, glad to be free—or at least out of the castle.

  If I wanted to survive I had to return the blood to Cinnamon—before my time ran out. I sighed. If only it was that simple.

  The path I turned onto at the crossroads wasn’t well travelled. The grass on either side had begun to overtake the road, leaving a small sliver of pavement in between.

  I’d been walking on the new path for just over an hour when a light caress prickled my skin. It was sort of like the feeling I had when Death was near, but not as intimate or calming. I inhaled, and caught the faintest scent of salt on the wind—it was as if I could taste the sea on my tongue. I quickened my pace. The Silver Sea was near, and I wanted to be there.

  Cinnamon had warned me to stay away from the water, which I planned to do, but there was no reason to slow my pace. Getting there was step one on my journey to the museum, right?

  “Stop,” I said, trying to shake off this overwhelming desire to be at the sea. Unfortunately, my legs didn’t cooperate. I continued walking as if nothing had changed.

  Okay, time to freak out. I was on autopilot and my destination was a body of water I was told I should avoid touching. I was sure there was absolutely no reason to be worried—not.

  Taking a few cleansing breaths, I concentrated on bringing up the spell to review. It had to be cast on the shores of the Silver Sea, so it wasn’t like I could avoid the destination. I just needed something to occupy my mind so I didn’t blindly walk into oblivion—or worse.

  I focused on the image of the page Cinnamon had given me in my head, reading it completely for the first time.

  The blue of winter, the brown of spring, the red of summer, and the fall of green. I seek the place of treasures past. I seek the truth of sand and glass. I call to the wind of seasons past. I bring with me the best of summer. I am the one with whom you bask. Deliver me and complete your task.

  Fuck. I should have seen this earlier. I couldn’t use this spell. It was The Boss’s spell, which made sense, because Cinnamon had been with him when she’d heard it. The big three were tied to seasons—which was part of the reason the fourth realm was also known as Fallen. Jayne had been the Fall Queen. This was Summer’s spell, though. Had Cinnamon known? Did she think I’d just figure it out? Who was I kidding, she didn’t believe I’d get into the museum. Giving me The Boss’s spell was a non-issue. She appeased Sage by letting me try—and perhaps fulfilled her mother’s request as well. She didn’t think I had a chance, unless I was wrong about her intentions and I was just missing an obvious solution?

  I considered the words again. All the seasons were mentioned, so maybe I just needed to switch out Fall for Summer? If it wasn’t that easy, my journey would be over before it began.

  A bright glimmer in the distance caught my attention. If I’d been in the city, I would have assumed the light was the sun bouncing off of a car window or something metal, but this was the BFE of Purgatory. There was nothing remotely man-made around for miles.

  “Welcome,” I heard, the faintest whisper on the wind.

  My skin tingled again, as if the light caress had returned.

  Was this a voice from something in the Silver Sea? Was it calling to me?

  A flood of images bombarded my mind. Facts and knowledge I shouldn’t have about the sea filtered through the barrage. I now knew the sea was calm like a lake, not rough like an ocean. I saw pictures of its mirror-like surface. It showed me no end, as if it continued on forever.

  I caught the scent of the ocean again, but this time it was stronger. I was closer than I thought. I could practically feel the salt from the air on my lips.

  I followed the path through a thicket of trees and stopped at the end of the road. Sandy dunes lay ahead. I made my way through them.

  “Welcome,” I heard again.

  Heeding Cinnamon’s warning, I used all my remaining will to stay back from the water. The placid surface lay still and quiet, but a part of me wanted to be near.

  As if it sensed my fear, it showed me images of previous accidents and I understood without words that Cinnamon had no clue what was really here. As it filled my head with more knowledge, I learned that the water connected all the realms. If I fell in I would never return. And no one actually knew what was beneath the surface.

  I’ll watch the smooth calm surface for just a minute more. What was the harm in that?

  ~#~

  I blinked, startled by a noise behind me. I whipped around as a bird flew from a patch of tall grass. Scanning the area, I saw nothing. I slipped outside my body and used my other senses, but still nothing was there.

  I shook my head, suddenly feeling dizzy. My legs were tired as if I’d been standing on them all day. I looked down at my wrist and nearly screamed—the red in the first line had crept away almost a quarter of its length!

  How could I have been standing here for hours?

  A chill ran across my shoulders. Tensing, I whirled around. I took a step back, tripping over the indentions my feet had left in the sand. I pushed myself back with hands and feet, scurrying away like some backwards crab.

  There was a wall of water jutting up out of the sea.

  “Stay away,” I yelled, backing into a dune.

  My reflection stared back as the wall pushed toward me. My eyes glowed green, but I didn’t sense that they were actually that vivid or piercing. The mirror was reflecting something that wasn’t there.

  The wall stopped a foot from me. The liquid sheen dulled. An image of a man appeared on the surface, but there was something wrong with it.

  I studied him closely, and realized the problem.

  “That’s Jack’s scar,” I said, looking at the small oddly-shaped mark above its left eyebrow. “But you’re not Jack.”

  Unaffected by my assertion, it said, “You are on the wrong side, my lady. Do you require passage?”

  “You’re not real,” I replied.

  The image blinked, as if considering the idea. “I am real, but the image you see before you is meant to put you at ease. I can change it if you’d like.”

  “No, that’s not necessary.” I didn’t want to play the creepy Keeper’s game and run through images of people that scared me. I’d probably wind up with Mab this time; no thank you, the deranged version of Mace from last spring was bad enough. “Who are you?”

  “Callum, my lady,” he said, the image taking a deep bow. “I am the spirit of the lake.”

  “Um, greetings,” I said, not really sure what the proper etiquette was. “Why do you hide your true self?”

  “I have no other form. The image you see is merely to put you at ease. I apologize that it took so long to acquire, but your thoughts were very interesting.”

  “What?” I blurted, scrambling to my feet.

  “Do not be afraid. I will not harm you,” he said calmly.

  I turned to look back at the path, but I couldn’t leave. I had to cast the spell. “Why did you look at my thoughts?” I asked.

  “I had to be sure it was you, my lady. Do you require passage?”

  “Passage? To where?”

  “To your realm.”

  I laughed. “My realm? Who do you think I am?”

  “You’re the Fall Queen, of course. Your form is
unknown to me, but your eyes are a symbol of your title. No others would radiate as yours do in my presence.”

  I was sure Jayne’s blood was what he recognized, but the title reminded me of the painting—the prophecy and the destruction that apparently came with it.

  Of course, if he’d seen my memories he’d know what I knew. Did he not understand, or was the blood enough to make me the queen? That was not a question I was willing to ask out loud.

  “Could you take me somewhere else instead?” I asked. “I seek passage to the Great Museum.”

  His brow furrowed. “I cannot take you there, my lady. Only the wind may carry you there.”

  Well, this was just great. I had a spell that was made for The Boss, and I was on the wrong side of the Silver Sea to use it. I needed a fallen version, and apparently I needed to cast the spell from the fourth realm—so the “wind” could take me there. Of course, that realm was destroyed ten thousand years ago. Oh, yeah, this was going to be a piece of cake.

  I looked at my scarred wrist. Cinnamon hadn’t believed I’d succeed. She sent me out anyway. I was dead if I waited around here and did nothing. Was the risk any greater to trust Callum? He was either going to kill me or take me to the fourth realm. Either way, I would be dead in three days if I couldn’t get to the museum.

  “Callum, please take me to my realm,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t notice my fear.

  “Do not be frightened, my lady,” he said. “I will not harm you on this journey.”

  The sheen returned to the mirror of water, which flattened out and formed a ledge for me to step onto. I hesitated, swallowing, trying to push away my anxiety. There was no better option that I could think of, so I stepped forward onto the ledge.

  I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn’t fall through, never to return. The ledge of water was surprisingly solid. I guess fate really did have bigger plans for me.

  Once both my feet were firmly planted on the watery surface, the scenery around me started to shift. There was no force on my body. It was as if I were standing still and the world moved around me. Within seconds the scene outside was a blur, losing all identifiable markers. Then, just as quickly, it slowed.

  The new landscape was nothing like Purgatory. I would have described it as Hell, or at least what most would imagine Hell to look like.

  I stared as the depressing, charred remains of a great forest passed by. For miles all around there were only petrified stumps of long-dead trees. In the distance, I saw a flat, barren plain of nothingness.

  This was what the fourth realm had become, and I was about to willingly enter it.

  The scenery slowed, then stopped. A new sandy shore lay before me. It was dull and lifeless as if nothing here could live.

  “Your realm, my lady,” Callum said.

  “Thank you,” I murmured, still a bit shocked about the devastation.

  “You’re welcome, my lady,” he said. “Safe journey’s ahead.”

  I hesitated, a sinking sense of loneliness invaded my thoughts. Maybe the big three would be able to sense that I was here. Of course, if Mab was the first to arrive I was screwed. If the spell didn’t work, I was screwed anyway.

  I took a deep breath and stepped off the ledge.

  Chapter 17

  Something pulled at my core, tugging me off-balance. I fell to my hands and knees. The sand beneath me was white—almost glowing. I remembered my first visit to Purgatory. It awoke my magic in a very intense way. This was nothing like that, almost the reverse as I felt it drawing my energy away. I turned back to ask Callum for help, but he was gone.

  Before I became too weak to move, I drew a circle around me, step one of invoking the spell. Step two was to recite the words.

  “The blue of winter, the brown of spring, the red of summer, and the fall of green.”

  Wind started swirling around me.

  “I seek the place of treasures past. I seek the truth of sand and glass. I call to the wind of seasons past. I bring with me the best of fall. I am the one with whom you bask. Deliver me and complete your task.” I yelled the words into the howling wind as it picked up and swirled around me.

  I tried to stand, but the pull against my power kept me locked to the surface. The force of the wind increased, but nothing could dislodge me.

  “Enough,” I screamed, and the hurricane around me died.

  Exhaustion slammed into me. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. The sand that covered the beach was pulsing with a bright white glow, as if it were draining the life out of me and into itself.

  Only one of us was going to survive, and from the looks of it the realm was going to win.

  Exhausted, I curled into a ball on the sand. I tried to hold on, but I was losing too much energy. I was going to die alone on this beach, and no one would ever know.

  ~#~

  I was strong again. That was the first thing I noticed. The weary, tired feeling of being drained was gone. I was calm, rested, and relaxed. I expected to wake in Death’s garden—not lying on the floor of a small, weathered hut.

  The boards beneath me creaked under my weight as I sat up. Bright light streamed in through gaps between the uneven boards that made up the walls and roof, highlighting thousands of tiny dust moats that wafted through the air, their silent existence stirred into a frenzy of swirls.

  I felt at peace in this place, as if I belonged here. My senses were on overload, as if everything was a part of me. I expanded my awareness outward. I heard the rustle of palm fronds as a tropical breeze whistled through the air, and the tang of the ocean wafted through the small hut.

  I couldn’t physically see the landscape while inside the hut, but I felt the new growth—a rebirth of the realm—surrounding me. I closed my eyes for a moment, listening to the rhythmic beat of its soul.

  With surprising ease, I slipped my presence from my body. Hovering high above, I peered down on the fourth realm as if it were a map. With my presence, I could see waves of energy covering the topography below me.

  What had been a charred, empty forest was now lush new growth. It was amazing. I dropped a little closer, zooming in on the land in front of me. I could feel it all—every flower as it began to bloom, every tree as it sprouted a new leaf. There was life everywhere and it was all connected to me by an unbreakable bond.

  Without warning a twinge of panic roiled at my core. It grew more frantic by the second. I zoomed in closer, and found the tiny structure where my body lay. From this vantage point high above the realm I appeared as a green dot glowing inside the little hut.

  I surveyed the surrounding area, as if looking at satellite imagery on Google Maps. I was amazed at how much the realm had recovered, the revitalization pushing out like waves from the shore. At this rate the entire realm would be a lush forest of new growth within weeks, if not days.

  The panicked feeling increased. Something was coming, but I couldn’t find it. I zoomed out and continued to scan.

  Sensing movement in the trees to the south, I concentrated on the forest behind the hut. A tiny blue dot—a pagan, dimmer than my green dot, but still very bright—was rushing toward the building at an inhuman speed.

  My eyes flew open, returning me to my body. Pushing to my feet, I looked around for a weapon. There was a crude hammock in one corner, but that was it. There was absolutely nothing to fight with.

  The source of the panic was getting closer. Now that I was concentrating, I sensed every branch snap, heard the echo of every footfall, and felt the intruder’s heartbeat as he ran toward me.

  The door flew open. I instinctively held my hands up. A pulse of energy pushed out of me and threw the pagan back out the door. I felt every impact as he plowed through trees, landing deep in the forest.

  I closed my hands, clutching them at my chest. What had I done? How was I able to do that? I stopped for a minute, listening for the man’s heartbeat. I could feel him just as I could sense the realm. I wasn’t just tied to this place, it was as if I were part of it.

 
I rushed out, following the trail of broken branches and trees. I ran fast, faster than I’d ever run before. There was underbrush and new growth everywhere, but I effortlessly navigated the rugged terrain. I slowed when I sensed his power. He was curled on his side. His clothes were tattered and old, and his blond hair needed a trim—and a wash. I rolled him over, and immediately jumped back.

  “Mace!”

  Chapter 18

  How was this possible? How did he get here?

  I readied my hands for a strike, until I remembered he was unconscious. Cautiously, I approached. He didn’t feel like Mace to my senses, but he was one hell of a dead ringer.

  I stepped back when he started moaning. I was ten feet away when he sat up and looked at me.

  My shoulders relaxed when our eyes locked. It wasn’t Mace. This man had warm blue eyes, nothing like Mace’s cold violet ones. He stood and I took another step back.

  He clasped his hands nervously in front of him. I felt his sorrow at scaring me. I felt it as if it were my emotion. Thinking back, I realized the same thing happened when he rushed me in the hut. His fear and panic caused me to have the same response. I’d used that fear to throw him through a forest full of trees—which scared me on a different level.

  “I’m sorry to have startled you, Mistress,” he said.

  I held up my hand when he started to move closer.

  He stepped back. “I thought you’d left.”

  Had he sensed when my presence left my body?

  “Are you well, Mistress?” he asked.

  I nodded. I was more than well here. This place made me strong and powerful. “Who are you?”

  He wrung his hands. “Oh, forgive me mistress. Where are my manners?” Taking a moment to compose himself, he took a deep bow. “I am your loyal servant, Thanos, Your Highness.” He raised his head and looked at me as he straightened. “I have been waiting a very long time for your return.”

  “How long?”

  “Five hundred years, Mistress.”

  Five hundred freaking years! Holy shit. He’d been waiting here for all that time to serve a dead queen? I’d arrived and apparently rebooted the realm, so Jayne’s blood or not I could see how he’d think I was her—but five hundred years? How did he survive the wasteland that had been here before?