She cartwheels across the distance between us, picking up her broken bow. I don’t care what she has to say about Christian. I’m no one’s and that’s how it will always be.
Twirling around elegantly, she manages to cut my cheek with the broken wood of her bow. I slam the end of my bar against her face, and she collides against the wall, snapping her neck. Gurgling sounds come from her throat; she’s not dead yet. I glance over at Donovan, who’s been standing silently, freezing inside his cage.
My anger fills within me once more at seeing him this way. I grab Emily, turning her belly up. Her eyes are fading back into their normal color.
I open my mouth, releasing a distressed moan. Bringing down the bar, I smash it against her, feeling the end pierce her heart. She bursts into a green mist. Donovan is staring at me.
“Definitely changed,” he says. I don’t know if that’s supposed to be good or bad. “It’s sexy.”
The prisoners talk among themselves, growing excited once they see she’s dead.
“You can’t stay down here, Donovan. You’re not a mystic like them.” I raise my bar, getting ready to bash it down against the lock.
“Rose, you can’t.”
I bring the bar down hard, and when the metals clash together, an electric buzz sends a burst of green light into my weapon and all the way up my arm. My body blasts away from Donovan’s cell, and I land on my ass with a loud grunt.
“If you weren’t so impulsive, you’d know that this cell is hexed with elf magic.”
Donovan walks to sit on the bench in his cell, the chains clanking against the ground.
I lift my arm, seeing the electric waves still around my fingers. They tingle but do not hurt. I walk over to the cell, my markings reacting to the power that’s been infused. Frost is developing on Donovan’s beard.
“I’m getting you out of here.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“Where’s your broomstick?” I ask.
“That elf took it.”
“Who?”
He rubs his hands together, and I can see redness forming around his wrist from the tight metal. “Miss Canary,” he sighs.
“I suppose mine is with her?” I shiver, though the green elastic fabric I’m wearing keeps me warm. “They ripped off your elf shirt, wanting you to die from the cold.”
“Obviously.” He tries not to press his bare back against the wall. I can only imagine the frostbite that could develop within mere minutes.
“Stick to the plan. Do whatever she wants you to.” I step back. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
“You might want to take that bar with you,” he says.
My senses pick up the slightest movements from above. “They’re coming down here. I need to get out before they catch me.”
I pick up the bar and walk in the direction from where I came.
“Rose.” I stop walking and glance back. “Don’t be stupid.”
“Hey, we’re in love with you too. How bout cha let us out too?” an elf whispers to me. I bang my bar on his cell as he scurries away. I don’t have much time; I need to leave. I don’t want to but I can’t risk Christian finding out I’ve been down here, or else he’ll send me back to dreamland. Closing the doors, I creep back up the staircase, exhaling at the last step. I keep walking up until I’ve reached the second floor.
“There you are, beautiful. You aren’t that hard to get, so why play it?” Christian appears in front of me.
I avoid his eyes, brushing past him. I remember I have to play the part. I stop walking to twist around. “You’re right,” I say, “because I’m already yours.”
He’s at first surprised but takes the opportunity to pull me into a hug. I wrap my arms around his slim neck. “We have errands to run.”
I smirk to myself, because he has no idea that soon he will die, murdered by me.
He takes my hand and walks with me to my room. We enter, and I take off my shirt, walking over to the closet.
“Do you have the rose for Vasaloff?” I ask.
He tosses the rose on my bed. He’s now taking off his shirt, his green markings on his sides and abdomen glowing. I can’t fall into temptation around him. He thinks I’m still under his charm.
“Do you hear that?” he asks.
“Hear what?”
Christian closes in on me, then his cold hands are on my waist, turning me around gently.
“That,” he says.
I try to control my breathing. My jeans are rubbing against my thighs harshly, his mint smell is pervading my senses, my mouth becomes dry, and my muscles tense.
His eyes drop down to my cleavage. “You’re nervous.”
He presses his thumbs lightly on the sides of my neck and pushes me against the closet door.
“Why are you nervous?” He’s trying to manipulate me again, like he’s been doing all along.
I push back everything inside of me to fight against giving him eye contact, hoping not to fall into any sort of temptation. I reach for a thicker elf shirt and stick my head through the little hole.
I push past Christian and walk toward the bed, picking up the weapon and the rose I’m to deliver. He watches me move around him, enjoying this little game we’re playing. I glare up at him, keeping my composure. He unbuttons his pants and drops his shorts. Ignoring him, I tie my hair into a ponytail and pull on my coat.
He chuckles to himself, walking into the closet. I remember what Emily said about him, before I killed her in the holding area. He’s always going to know where I am; he’s always going to be in my mind and feel what I’m feeling.
You’re already his.
I walk over to the door and out of the room. My bar is in my hand, and yes it could be a bit weird to the rest of these elves here in this strange place. I need something to protect me when I’m outside alone with him. He’s almost killed me twice. I remember his black eyes on top of me; I remember the blood he craved and the special rose he punctured me with.
Christian is walking behind me. He can feel the emotions inside of me, and I push my thoughts deep inside to block them from him. I glance over the edge of the balustrade, overlooking the atrium. It’s still daylight, so we have enough time to get through the weather before a storm comes raging through. Enough time to escape this magical asylum I’m trapped in.
I unzip my jacket, checking if the rose is okay. While I hate Donovan for telling me to play the part of Christian’s love interest, I know it’s only for the best, to save us both from this mystical hell. There’s so much inside of me that wants to punch his face in. I want so badly to stab his heart and just get it over with. I stick the rose back into one of the pockets inside my coat.
Christian is staring at me. He’s wearing nothing but a dark green shirt and white scarf.
“You’re in the right attire for a day like this,” I remark and head down the stairs.
“Why do you have to be uptight with me all the time, Eliza? What happened to our agreement?”
Anger boils inside, because I know of our agreement; it’s to kill him in the end. I reach the bottom of the steps.
“Nothing happened to it. I’m saying you’re dressed like it’s warm outside.” I walk over and open the two main doors of the castle.
“I’m an elf, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“I’m aware of what you are.”
“Then you should know that we practically live in the woods. Look around you.”
“No one’s here. They’re out and about.”
“Why?”
“Because a storm is coming and we love those. It’ll pass by soon. Maybe tonight if anything. The weather here is funny like that.”
We step outside, pushing into a harsh wind, and Christian closes the door after us. My senses are muffled somehow, and there’s a grip around my sides, helping me walk through the snow. I look up at Christian focused on what’s in front of us. I remove his arm from around me.
“We need to get to the ocean.”
“I know, I was there with you,” he says, his voice muffled from the wind. Snow scratches against my cheeks, and my lips frost up.
“What?” I say.
He shakes his head, flicking snowflakes off his hair. He’s leading me toward the forest, where the pink and green leaves are dead. The wood is dry, and I can see clearly the frozen ocean in the distance ahead of us. He guides me in another direction.
“Christian, what are you doing?” I turn back around to go the right way. We’re going uphill, but my boots slide on the ice beneath the snow and I fall face forward. Christian catches me.
“We can’t go this way.”
“Yes we can. Let go of me.”
“You almost tripped, and there’s going to be too much ice beneath this snow.” His scarf is fluttering in the wind. I should trust him only because he’s the elf here and I’m not.
“I’m not going to kill you, Eliza.”
I know that’s a lie. He nearly bled me to death on my bed with a freaking rose once. He holds out his hand for me to take.
“Are you going to mess with my mind?”
He laughs at me. “No. I only do that to you because you’re so gullible.”
“Well that isn’t nice. Give me another reason why I shouldn’t kill you.”
“Because we’re stuck together for life?”
“If you cared for me, you’d let me know where my broomstick is!” I shout into the wind.
“That’s the thing—I don’t. Are you going to come with me or die here alone?”
We’ve drifted away pretty far. I remember being in the ocean with Mom when I was a kid. Dad was never in our lives; he’d always been on business trips. Mom found out I was becoming depressed, so she bought me a bunch of pretty seashells to collect.
There used to be this one particular seashell beside my bed; it was ugly and gray with jagged edges. I swear I could hear the mermaid’s voices, sometimes singing me awake. That’s why it was so special to me. All the other ones I didn’t hear anything from, so I didn’t care for them as much. She took me on my first beach visit, and boy was I excited. I thought Ariel the mermaid was in the ocean.
I glance down at the snow and at the trail behind us and grin, remembering that moment on the beach with Mom.
I dived into the water and got stuck on the sand, and then for some reason Mom got up and raced toward me. There was a huge wave from behind, rolling up in the air. I turned around with my legs and hands glued in the sand.
I started to cry because I couldn’t move; I was stuck. Mom didn’t get to me in time; the current constantly forced me down, pulling me back into the mouth of a large wave. The water poured over me, sucking me into its depths.
“Eliza!” Mom screamed for me.
I thought I was going to die.
Eliza get up, push through the water, get to the surface!
I was running out of oxygen, and I couldn’t feel my heartbeat. The push-pull of the current diminished and I came to the surface, gasping for air, far away from my mom on the shore. I’d never felt so alone, so stranded from her. The water was pulling me back still, but I eventually made it back to the shore. If only Ariel could’ve saved me. That’s when I thought mermaids were different, and Disney created all princesses perfect in their ever after worlds.
I’m starting to shiver in my jacket. Christian holds me against him and leads me through the forest, our boots crunching on the white blanket beneath us. We stop at the edge of the frozen ocean.
“Okay, so Terese says the kingdom will appear in front of us,” he says.
“Wouldn’t you already know where they live? I mean, you kind of share a home with them.”
“We’re not allowed to go that deep.”
“You must be kidding. All the shit you caused me to go through? You’re clearly a fake.”
“Strict rules. Disobey strict rules you get kicked out. Get kicked out, you become corrupt. Once you become corrupt either a witch kills us or we’re sent to Rav.”
“You’re already evil, and if I’m not mistaken, already corrupt too.”
He ignores my statement, walks up to the edge of the ocean, turns around, and starts to walk backward on the ice.
“I don’t think I’m corr—” The ice breaks and he falls through.
I rush over to the edge, stepping carefully on the ice where he fell through. There’s bubbles on the surface. I should let him die, I shouldn’t care…but I can’t. What if he has answers I need?
Eliza, let him die.
Something grips my ankles, pulling me back on the ice.
It’s a guy, his dark blue hair shimmering and his ears a tad sharper than Christian’s. Around his upper arm are blue tribal markings.
“Do you want me to save him or what?” His deep voice vibrates, and his light blue eyes, lighter than Donovan’s, look at me expectantly. “I think he’s drowning. You better make a decision.” He twirls his index finger, aiming at the ice in front of me. It cracks apart. “Elves can’t swim. I’d say you got about four seconds, maybe three to answer.”
“Yes,” I say.
“Bummer. I wanted it to just be you and me.”
He dives into the water, and the same blue markings around his legs and ankles glow.
This mermaid was in the water when Donovan and I first arrived here.
Chapter 10
The first time I dove underwater at the pool, the feeling of chlorine swishing inside my eyes made me cringe; this feeling is the same. Fairytales aren’t real, but if we’re talking about corrupt mystic creatures and kick ass witches, you’d think otherwise.
I drifted into my past again to when my mother read me stories to help me fall asleep.
I was so tired of hearing fairytales, so Mom decided to read an urban legend. It was Anastasia. The story follows a princess who escapes from, basically, a massacre at her palace. She then becomes an orphan, where she is left with no recollection of her past. It’s intriguing really; I found it amazing how emotionally stable Anastasia was with her strange life, how strong and independent.
However, people were after her and she didn’t know what to do. Anastasia couldn’t trust anyone, because everyone was out to get her. She didn’t know who she truly was, and she was struggling to find out her entire life story. It was like she was stuck in the middle of a never-ending path, struggling to get to that light.
Anastasia took a leap of faith and trusted an orphan boy; it was the hardest thing ever to do for her. At times you have to sprint instead of jogging, sometimes you have to trust and not assume. Call me a cornball all you want, these stories and Disney movies really meant the world to me. At first, I believed in all of their stories. I believed in a happy ever after.
Now I look at where I am, and it’s happy ever disaster.
***
I walk over to the hole in the water Christian fell into. It’s been about five minutes since the mermaid has returned. I wait for anything, a frozen body, a splash of water. The ice crackles and snaps from each step I make on the surface.
This is so stupid of me, but my help is needed. I take off my coat, walking back to the edge. The ends of my fingers are freezing, and I start to go numb.
I leap into the water, diving head first into the cold hell. Everything is a blur at first. It’s dark and not blue. I lose focus and my head bumps against the hard surface of ice. I see neon blue lights below me. It’s semi clear now; I don’t think I can make it. I swim back over to the hole, take another deep breath, and dive back into the water.
I swim deeper, following the blue lights. The mermaid is holding Christian’s arm, swimming against the freezing water. He floats, his light blue eyes lighting up the dark water around us; he then swims by me. Christian’s markings are still glowing, and I lose sight of the mermaid.
I’m running out of oxygen, and I crash down on the ice, shivering next to Christian’s frozen skin. The water inside of me forces its way up and out of my system. I gasp for air, coughing, my palms stuck t
o the ice beneath me.
“You couldn’t wait?”
I look up at the mermaid. He’s wearing dark blue, skintight sport water pants. The mermaid walks over to me.
“A witch in a mystic world, how did she survive?” he says. “The world may never know.”
There are sharp fins on the sides of his arms, and the veins that stick from his muscles are outlined a light blue. He notices what I’m looking at and balls his hands into fists. The fins disappear.
“You must be cold,” he says. “Don’t want you to die.” He flicks his hands at me and the water evaporates from my skin. He looks over at Christian and then back to me. “Should we save ‘im?”
I don’t know, should I? Will I be able to free Donovan without Christian alive?
I’m pretty sure the Queen of Ellevil wouldn’t be pleased to find her charming little prince dead. The mermaid keeps his focus on me, and I hear gargles of water from behind him. I stand up, watching Christian throw up the water he swallowed. The mermaid flicks his fingers at him, evaporating the water from his body too.
I’ve never seen a guy mermaid before. His thick eyebrows and athletic body type really pull me in. Only thing I don’t know is if he can sing as beautifully as the mermaids who tried to kill me.
“You guys should be all right. From the currents in the water, the storm should be passing by soon.”
“Thank you.” I look up at him.
“We’ll see each other again.” He smiles and the ice melts beneath him, causing him to dip into the water. I’m not sure why he was helping us, and I wonder if he was the reason why the ice broke in the first place. Christian coughs, collecting himself.
“What happened?” he asks.
I pick up my jacket and put it back on and grab my metal bar. “You were going to die.”
He looks up at me, his eyes wide.
“A mermaid saved you,” I elaborate.
Mythical (The Mystical Series Book 2) Page 10