The red-powered agony pulsated through me again, and I screamed as it seemed to tear apart my insides, until, finally, I passed out.
I woke with a start. It took me a few minutes to remember what had happened, but as my eyes regained focus and my heart sped up at the unfamiliar setting I found myself in, it all came rushing back to me.
I sat up, my body lying against the softest substance I had perhaps ever felt. Looking around, I found myself in a gaudy room. Unlike either my room at House 1 or the tiny bedroom in my cramped apartment, this place had room to spare and was full of the sort of ornate, fancy objects I had gotten accustomed to thinking of as the sort of things I—as an orphan—would never get to have.
Turned out I was wrong, but in the most horrific way imaginable. I was surrounded by luxury—golden lamps, expressive paintings, and huge cabinetry—very likely inside Westman’s castle. I was in the belly of the beast, as the Elders would say. And there was very little chance I was ever getting out.
I leaned forward, my head spinning and my joints aching. Still, I felt strong. Insanely strong. As though the entire world had opened to me. It was the way I’d always imagined people with full aterns must feel.
Looking down at my band, though, I found it to be completely empty. I blanched, my heart leaping in my chest. But an empty atern band meant death. I’d seen people from die from it before. And yet, I wasn’t dead. At least, I didn’t imagine dead people felt like they could lift a building over their head without breaking a sweat.
“Do not fear, Lara,” came an unseen voice from nearby. “All things have explanations.”
I jumped up and whirled in a circle. But the room to be completely empty. I scanned the walls, looked at every inch of their golden wallpaper, and even under the bed. I was alone.
“Who—who’s there?” I asked.
A woman stepped away from the wall. She was the same color—from skin to clothes to hair—so that she had blended in right against the wall. As she moved toward me, she changed color and shape, looking less as thought she had been painted into the wall and more like a real woman.
In this form, she was tall with curly black hair, full lips, and dark eyes. She wore a bright purple dress with lips to match.
“You were—you were here the entire time?” I asked. “Were you watching me sleep?”
“I was monitoring your breathing as was our king’s wish. He also informed me to cast this glamour spell so as not to startle you.”
“I’d say that had the opposite effect,” I said sternly. “Now tell me where I am, what your king wants from me, and why I’m not dead,” I demanded, walking toward her and holding my band out as evidence of the craziness.
“As I said, all things have explanations. I, unfortunately, am not equipped to give them to you.”
“Well, then who is?”
As I neared her, the woman flinched. Was she afraid of me? That certainly didn’t make any sense.
“The king, of course,” she said, spinning and heading to the door. She waved her hand in front of me and the tattered clothes I had worn since I’d been inside the Box were transformed into a floor-length black dress which hugged my curves.
“What is this?” I asked, looking down at myself and trying to stuff down the urge to tear it off.
“It’s my attempt to make you look presentable. Westman, our king, has requested you meet him for dinner, and I doubt the stench coming from your attire would do much for either of your appetites.” She opened the door and motioned for me to walk ahead of her. “So, if you’d like answers to your questions, I’d suggest you go this way.”
Chapter 31
With hesitating steps, I moved toward the door and through the passageway. I didn’t want to. Of course, if I had what I wanted, none of this would have been happening to begin with. Arbor would be alive, and I would be in Karr’s arms, safely tucked into an apartment in the faction, ready to live out the rest of our lives together.
I wasn’t, though. I was in the middle of some evil dark fae’s power trip and, though it seemed like a completely ridiculous idea, I was going to have to go along with it.
What else could I do? I was supposed to be dead already, according to the empty band on my wrist. I had absolutely no power, nothing to fight off this horror show of a man. I couldn’t even stop the crazy lady hiding in the wall from changing my clothes.
Walking behind that woman now, I took in the general splendor of my surroundings. It was huge—even bigger than the Sphere. I had never seen this sort of opulence anywhere in the faction before, and certainly not anywhere someone like me was allowed to travel.
I was allowed in Westman’s castle, though. Allowed to walk through the huge winding halls filled with paintings of Westman himself, filled with stuffed replicas of what I could only imagine were the sort of creatures that lived in these nightmare lands, and filled with other people—all of whom looked at me with a mix of reverence and curiosity.
Judging by way they shrunk away as I neared them, I was either the guest, or prisoner, of honor… or I was disease they didn’t want to catch.
A path appeared in the hallway as people moved to give myself and the woman leading me room to pass through. The onlookers looked a lot like the people in the faction, though their way of dressing was exceedingly more gaudy and outlandish.
They were silent as well, completely still as they watched me. Normally, I would have felt uneasy. I had never been the type of girl who’d ever liked the idea of strangers’ eyes on me, but this was no typical situation, and right now, I had much bigger concerns to worry about.
I took a hard left, following the woman, and found myself in a huge, empty dining hall. The table was full of the sort of delicacies I would have never, ever seen up close in the faction, much less actually been able to taste.
The tall woman rounded the table as the sweet and spicy aroma of food filled the room, making my mouth water. She pulled out a chair at the far end and motioned for me to sit.
“What’s this for?” I asked, feeling instantly suspicious that no one else was in the room.
“The king wishes to entertain you properly, to give you a worthy meal after all your struggles here,” she answered, stepping away from the chair.
“My struggles are his fault,” I said, sneering. “If he wouldn’t have asked me to come here—”
“Then you would still be living a wasted life in the faction,” she cut in. “You would grow old and die, never knowing who or what you really were and what you were capable of.” She shrugged. “Or the sky would have broken, and you would have been incinerated along with the rest of the peons.”
“I need to talk to Westman about that,” I said, remembering what the Elders had told me. “I need to make him understand that—”
“He understands, my queen,” she answered. “It is you who needs to be enlightened.”
Her use of the word ‘queen’ to identify me sent uncomfortable shivers through my body. Westman might have fancied himself a makeshift king, but I was no queen. I was no one’s ruler. And I certainly didn’t want to be associated in any way as Westman’s co-ruler in anything.
“Enlightened about what?” I asked, not coming any closer to her. She was going to have to answer my questions if she wanted me to take a seat.
“All things,” she answered. “The truth of who you are included. But shall we start with this?”
Like a flash, she grabbed a knife from the table and flung it in my direction. I didn’t have time to move out of the way. I didn’t have time to think. All I could do was throw my hands up in air, hoping to block my face at least.
As my hands flew forward, a strange energy rushed from them. It lit me up and in a completely different way than the atern had.
It rushed out of me, red like Westman’s, and encircled the knife, knocking it to the floor.
“What in the faction?” I muttered, looking at my hands. I had no atern. This wasn’t supposed to be possible. Of course, I wasn’t suppos
ed to be alive anymore, either. None of this made sense.
“Don’t worry, Lara,” a familiar voice said from the distance. “It’s quite natural—at least for you.” The world shimmered, and Westman appeared at the table, sitting at its head. “Come join me. I’ll give you all the answers you seek.”
My body tensed. Here was Westman, the architect of my sorrow. If not for him, this damn Box wouldn’t exist in the first place. Karr wouldn’t have been pulled in, Arbor wouldn’t have been killed, and I wouldn’t have been persuaded to throw myself into this wretched place to save the faction. The faction wouldn’t even be in danger, if not for Westman.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said, smiling at me and waving at the woman, apparently commanding her to leave, because she did so without hesitation.
“I doubt that very seriously,” I said, my hands balling into fists.
“You’re wondering if, now that you’re alone with me, you can find a way to murder me and get out of this place before my followers are made aware,” he said, poking a slab of meat off the table with his fork and plopping it down onto his plate.
Wow. He was better at that than I thought.
“Let me answer that question for you, Lara. You cannot. For the last…” He rolled his eyes. “…I don’t even know how many years… those old coots in the faction have sent people to take me out. They’ve all either died or been driven off into the forest. Expect for your boyfriend. I had a special function for him. But you know that already.”
“Whatever you have to say, you can save it,” I said, shaking my head and keeping my stance. “I’m not going to buy into whatever you’re selling. I’m not going to help you, not even if you are my father.”
He laughed loudly, cutting into the meat and stuffing a large piece of it into his mouth.
“Of course I’m not,” he answered. “Sometimes a lie is needed to help someone see the truth. In this case, it was a fairy tale to break through your defenses. I was hoping that, as an orphan, you might jump at the chance to have a familial connection with someone. It would have saved me the trouble of having to kidnap you. Though, the truth of what you are does hold some similarities to the story I told you back in the woods.”
Suddenly, I felt much lighter. Just knowing I didn’t share blood with this man meant more than I could explain. Still, he was right to say something was off with me. I needed to know what that was.
“Go on,” I said flatly, glaring at him.
“Not until you take a seat. I certainly can’t eat all of this splendor myself.”
Reluctantly, I moved toward the chair.
“That’s a good girl,” he said. Waving his hand, my plate magically filled with food. Now though, the same smell which had caused my mouth to water forced my stomach to do sickening flips.
I plopped down onto the chair, picking up a fork and forcing a spoonful of creamed, buttery potatoes into my mouth. Though I didn’t care to let him know, they were damn good.
“Talk,” I said, after swallowing the delicious bite.
“Fair enough.” He smiled. “When I made my play for the faction, I tied myself to strong, dark magic. It worked at first, which was what helped me garner the support I did. People saw results.” He winked at me. “People like results. But the power became too much and, when I cast the spell to take the night away, I couldn’t hold it. I had to split it up. So I gave half of it away, splitting that half into seven pieces and scattering them throughout the faction. I stuffed those pieces of the magic into people. Some I knew. Some I didn’t. Some, like you and your friend, hadn’t even been born yet. The only thing all of them had in common was the effect the power had on their bodies.”
“Our eyes,” I muttered, touching my face right under my eyes. That was why Arbor and I had the same color eyes, why Westman and I had the same color eyes.
“Correct,” he answered, smiling. “And now I need the energy back. All of it. The magic isn’t just breaking in the faction… It’s breaking here as well.”
“So you killed Arbor just to get her magic?” I set down my fork, glaring at him as a new wave of anger rolled through me. “Why not just take it?”
“Because I still can’t hold it all,” he answered. “When one of the seven dies, their magic is split and transferred into the remaining members. You’re the only one left, Lara. You have half the magic, as do I.”
“That’s ridiculous. Why split it between two instead of three? Why not leave it split between seven or however many there were before? You can’t justify those deaths.”
He frowned. “There’s still so much you don’t understand, and we’re running out of time to fix this problem. You need to consider the great good here, and that includes how it will affect the faction.”
“Well, whatever it is you think, there’s no way I have the magic. Maybe it went somewhere else. Because if I had magic like that, I would know it. Trust me, my life wouldn’t have been half as hard as it was.”
“Unless I blocked you from using it,” he answered with a chuckle. “You have half the power, Lara, I promise you. But I couldn’t have you growing up knowing how to use it. You’d be just as powerful as me. But now I need you. That’s why, back in the woods, I burned out the mystical anchors keeping your dormant powers at bay.” He leaned closer. “And now you’re going to help me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
“You’re going to help me, Lara, or I’m going to kill every living thing in this place that doesn’t worship me.”
“You’re insane,” I growled. “Just give the night back to the faction. That’s all they want anyway. Then everyone can be happy. You just have to let things go.”
“And then what? What happens to my kingdom?” he asked. “I’ve built something special here—a perfect place. No, no, Lara,” he continued, shaking his head. “You’re not here to help me bring the night back to the faction. You’re here to help me pull the day out of it.”
Chapter 32
So he really was crazy. He must have been, if he thought I was going to help him pull day out of the faction and bring it to this hell hole.
“You wouldn’t dare,” I said, standing and pulling myself away from the table.
My heart pounded like a hammer against my ribcage. My mind was in complete shambles. If Westman stole the daylight from the faction, it would effectively kill them all. If the magic was breaking without the night, everything would be destroyed when they were left with no atmosphere at all. I wouldn’t be party to that. I wouldn’t help under any circumstances.
Of course, if I didn’t, then he had made it very clear he was going to kill every innocent person inside the Box, Karr included.
I was left with an impossible choice. Save one world to let the other fall into destruction, or refuse and watch another world full of innocents suffer that fate. How was I supposed to be proceed?
Westman stood across from me and straightened his tie. “We both know I will, Lara,” he said. “But, if you prefer a demonstration as proof, I suppose I can provide one.”
Chills ravaged my skin as he waved his hands, and the entirety of the food disappeared. In its place, a wispy green fog settled over the table. When he waved his hands again, the fog revealed a moving image. It was of three children, two girls and a boy. They were in something that looked like the very forest I had just been stolen from. A night sky hung over them as they played in the grass, laughing and teasing each other.
“Did you know that, though time has no effect on us here, our bodies are still biologically viable? We breath, we eat, we love. We can even have children if we so desire. A few of the people sent to me from the faction over the years have made that decision for themselves. These are a few of those children, second generation. They usually know enough to stay away from me once they have something like a family to live for. Usually that would be enough for me to repay the favor. Today is not one of those days.”
He twisted his hand and, in the fog, I watched as the c
hildren started to choke.
“What are you doing?” I asked, moving closer to the fog as though I could somehow stop it, as though they weren’t far, far away from me. The children fell to the ground, grappling at their throats.
“Only what will happen to all those who live here should you refuse to help me.” Westman shook his head. “These children should consider themselves lucky. This death is merciful compared to what I have in store for the rest of them.”
“Stop this!” I screamed. I crossed the room and pushed at his arms, as if disrupting his hands would stop his magic. “Westman, stop this right now!”
“Only you can stop this, Lara. Only you can save them.”
“I can’t help you, Westman!” I said, my hands going to my hair in panic, stumbling back. I wanted to look away from the fog, but I couldn’t.
“Then you can’t help them, I’m afraid,” Westman continued. “I’m sure their parents will understand.” He twisted his hand again, and the children’s lips began to pale and skin turn ashen. They were running out of time.
“I don’t know how,” I said, pleading. “I can’t use this magic. I wouldn’t know how to help you.”
“You don’t need to,” he said, his eyes darting over to meet mine. “I can do it. All you have to do is agree and open yourself up when the time is right.” He twisted his hand again, and one of the girls greedily gobbled up a throat-full of air. “I think I’ll let her live. I think I’ll let her experience what it’s like to lose the only people in the world who matter to her.” The other children were still suffocating. She was panicking, rushing to them, but they didn’t have much time left. I didn’t have much time left. “Unless, of course, you’ve had a change of heart.”
“Okay,” I muttered, looking at these children and seeing Karr, Arbor, and me. I couldn’t force someone else to live through that. I just couldn’t.
“Say the words,” he commanded, his torturing them.
“I said okay! I’ll do it,” I snapped. “I’ll help you! Now stop it!”
Harvest: Faction 1: (The Isa Fae Collection) Page 16