The spell was in place. And now that the outside elements weren’t coming inside, the inside of the cave was warm and comfortable.
“It looks like we’ll be in here until the storm passes,” I said, disappointed in myself for not finding Dr. Foster before the first marking point of lost time. But it was what it was. All I could do now was move forward. “We should use this time to rest. Then, once it clears up, we’ll be ready to resume our hunt.”
18
Raven
Like on the sailboat, the supernaturals slept in shifts, allowing me to sleep straight through the night.
This time, Darra was the one to wake me up. She woke Noah, too, since we were sleeping in each other’s arms. Camelia was already awake.
“The storm has stopped,” she said once we sat up and blinked away the haze of sleep.
I looked out the entrance of the cave. Sure enough, peaceful pinks and yellows shined down outside—the light of the sun rising. The storm must have lasted the entire night. The only sign of the storm was the leaves and other debris spread out on the ground. Other than that, all looked calm.
Suddenly, the trees across from us rustled. It looked like something—or someone—was out there.
“Something moved.” I reached for Excalibur, which was strapped to my weapons belt, and held it up. Sleeping with the sword had been uncomfortable, but there was no way I was parting with my weapon. “I’m going to investigate. I’ll be allowed back inside the cave boundary, right?” I directed the last part toward Camelia.
“The four of us can come and go from the cave as we please,” she said. “Anyone else will be blocked from entering. It’s the same spell I cast around the Vale when I was the main witch there, although on a much smaller scale.”
“Good.” I nodded, confident of Camelia’s ability, and hurried out of the cave. I didn’t want whatever it was I’d seen moving in the jungle to get too far away.
I stayed as quiet as possible as I walked toward the trees. The others followed behind, doing their job to keep me safe. They followed the entire time I tracked the path.
I stopped mid-step when I finally caught sight of what I was tracking.
A wild boar. Brown in color, it must have been at least three feet tall and five feet long. Its butt was toward us, its snout buried in the tree roots it was eating. From the intense way it was chowing down, you’d think it hadn’t had a meal in ages.
Maybe it had been waiting to venture out until after the storm, too.
Disappointment slammed into me at the realization that I wasn’t any closer to finding Dr. Foster. But as I gazed at the boar, hunger hit me too. Both my own, since tarantulas and frogs hadn’t been the most filling meal ever, and Noah’s coming through the imprint bond.
From the way Noah was licking his lips and staring hungrily at the boar, I guessed they were a big food source for wolves. Which made sense, given his love for bacon.
Before any of the supernaturals could act, I ran at the boar, raised my sword, and sliced the animal straight through the neck. The sword lit on fire as I moved it, cooking the boar’s exposed flesh in the process.
Both the body and head of the boar collapsed to the ground. I’d killed it so quickly that it wouldn’t have known what was happening. The death itself took only a second, and would have been as close to painless as possible.
I was glad of it, since it was an innocent creature. I hadn’t wanted it to suffer. I’d always been a meat eater, but I’d never hunted for my food before. It was harder to make the kill myself as opposed to buying a packet of meat from the grocery store. But we needed a more substantial meal, since spiders and frogs weren’t going to cut it, and the boar had basically landed at our feet.
As much as I tried to rationalize it, I still felt bad. But it was already done, and we’d needed the sustenance. It was natural for humans to hunt animals for food. So there was no point in beating myself up about it.
I lowered the sword, the fire disappearing from the blade, and placed it back in my weapons belt. When I turned around to face the others, they were all staring at me with mixes of shock, awe, and hunger.
“So… who wants to help me bring our breakfast inside?” I asked.
I didn’t need to say anything more before Noah and Darra hurried over to the boar, picked it up, and carried it into the cave.
19
Raven
The boar meat was delicious. The animal was so big that we barely made a dent in it, but Camelia was able to cast a spell on the leftovers to keep them fresh for the rest of the time we’d be on the island. We were keeping it in the cave, since the cave was quickly becoming our home base.
Once we were finished eating, we headed back out to resume tracking Dr. Foster. As I suspected, the storm had wiped out most of the tracks we’d been following yesterday. We were basically back to square one. I just hoped he hadn’t gone much farther from where I’d lost his trail before.
For hours, I walked aimlessly through the jungle, searching for any hints about where he might be. I was careful to remember where I’d searched, so I wouldn’t retrace my steps. The last thing I needed was to waste time. I didn’t know what the next punishment would be for taking too long, but after that awful storm, I didn’t want to find out.
Noah eventually led us to another, smaller freshwater pond. While filling up our water bladders, I spotted something in the ground that made my heart jump in excitement.
Footprints identical to the ones we’d been tracking yesterday.
Dr. Foster must have been here recently to get water.
I pointed out the footprints to the others, motioning for them to be quiet. If Dr. Foster was within hearing distance, he knew we were here, anyway. But I didn’t want him to know we’d caught sight of his trail.
All thought of a water break was forgotten, and we were back into hunting mode. I led the way, the others following behind.
Finally, we came across Dr. Foster.
The old man was huddled at the trunk of a giant tree. The tree branches extended far out and low, curved downward in a way that made me think this was where he’d found shelter from the storm. His clothes were drenched and he was shaking, staring at us with eyes wide in fear.
I reached for my sword, but didn’t pull it out of my weapons belt. Because looking at the pathetic, weak man before me, I couldn’t bring myself to kill him in cold blood.
“Please, don’t.” His voice was small, shaking as he spoke. “I know you have no reason to spare me after what I put you through in the bunker. But you have to understand—I had no choice. My circle is working with the demons. If I didn’t cooperate, I would have been thrown out and excommunicated. Penniless, with nowhere to go.”
“You did have a choice,” I said. “The Haven offers sanctuary to all supernaturals in need. If you’d been honest with them, they would have taken you in.”
“The Haven hates Foster witches as much as any other kingdom,” he said. “They would have sent me away. Or they would have kept me there and forced me to turn on my family.”
“The price to pay for safety,” I said, although I knew in my heart that it wasn’t so easy.
“As much as I don’t agree with everything my family does, I still love them,” he said. “They’re all I have in this world. I couldn’t take that risk.”
I studied him, wanting to see the monster everyone claimed he was. But all I saw was a weak, pathetic man who’d been born into the wrong family and was now paying the price.
I believed what I’d said that he should have tried harder to break free, and not allowed his family to walk over him so much. He should have made his own life for himself instead of following the commands of the Foster circle. But did he deserve to die?
I didn’t think so.
“If you’re going to kill me, do it already,” he begged. “I won’t fight you. But please make it quick.” He curled into himself, staring up at me in fear as he waited for me to take his life.
Now that I’d f
ound him, he was making this easy for me. Just like Camelia and the others at Avalon expected he would.
But was the easiest path the right path?
“I’m not going to kill you,” I decided, moving my hand away from the handle of my sword.
“What?” Camelia and Dr. Foster said at the same time. Both of them looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“I won’t kill him,” I repeated, staring at Camelia as I spoke. “He’s done terrible things, but he’s not evil. I couldn’t live with myself if I killed him like this.”
“Killing him is what you’ve been sent here to do,” Darra said, her voice firm and strong.
I hadn’t expected Darra to take Camelia’s side. But then again, what had I expected? My trainer had come here knowing what I was going to do. She supported it fully.
I looked to Noah, hoping for him to back me up.
“I’ll support you no matter what,” he said. “But Raven… think for a second. This is your final Trial. Your mom’s life and Sage’s life count on you completing the Angel Trials and becoming a full Nephilim. Do you really want to put them in danger because of this man you don’t know? A man who’s been sentenced to death by one of the most powerful vampire kingdoms in the world?”
He was trying to be nice about it, but I could tell he thought I was making the wrong decision, too.
None of it changed my mind. And now I felt as confused as ever.
“I can’t keep discussing this in front of him,” I said, motioning to Dr. Foster. It felt wrong to talk about his life so casually when he was listening. We needed to go somewhere else to have this conversation.
But I also didn’t want to leave any of the others alone with Dr. Foster. Firstly, because I had no idea what they’d do to him. Secondly, because I wanted them all there for the discussion we needed to have.
“Camelia, can you cast a spell around Dr. Foster to make sure he stays under this tree?” I asked.
“I can.” She raised her hands and cast a similar spell around the tree as she had in the cave. But this time, she removed a vial of blood from her weapons belt and used a bit of it in the process.
I knew what that meant—this spell was dark magic. She’d used light magic earlier to keep things out of our cave, but had to use dark magic to keep Dr. Foster prisoner.
“Done,” she said, once the glow around the tree dimmed down to nothing. “It’s a single prison spell for one person. He won’t be able to leave for twenty-four hours. But if anyone else—specifically, any of us—go into the space, we’ll be able to come and go as we please. And don’t try to scream for us,” she warned Dr. Foster. “There’s a sound spell blocking us from hearing you. Nothing you try to say can or will impact us.”
“Thanks.” I nodded to her, remaining as calm and courteous as ever. “Let’s go back to the pond to discuss the plan from here.” The pond had been close by, but far enough away that Dr. Foster wouldn’t be able to overhear our conversation.
I marched back to the pond, not looking behind me as the others followed my lead. I couldn’t bring myself to look at any of them—not even Noah. I thought they’d be more supportive of me back there. Well, I at least thought Noah would be. He hadn’t exactly been unsupportive, but still, I’d been hoping for more than what he’d given me.
He knew me well enough to stay back and give me time to think as we walked.
I finally turned back to them once we reached the pond.
Darra crossed her arms, fierce and angry. “What were you thinking?” she asked. “We’ve been training for this for months. You had a perfect shot at him. If you’d taken it, you’d be a Nephilim right now.”
“I’ve been training to kill demons for months,” I said. “You know—the red-eyed monsters trying to steal Earth from the humans and supernaturals who live there. I haven’t been training to kill weak male witches dragged into doing their evil family’s bidding because of an unfortunate circumstance of birth.”
Camelia narrowed her beady eyes at me and swatted a fly away from her face. “Dr. Foster is the one we selected for you to kill for this Trial,” she said. “So he’s exactly who you’ve been training to kill.”
“No.” I leveled my gaze with hers. I’d given in the first time we’d had this conversation, but now that I’d seen Dr. Foster again—and seen how weak and pathetic he was—I wasn’t going to give in again. “I’ll never be able to live with myself if I murder him in cold blood. Because that’s what it would be. Murder. And I’m better than that.”
Noah walked over to stand beside me. Now it was the two of us facing Camelia and Darra. Noah had never been a man of many words, but his standing behind me meant only one thing—he was taking my side. He also trusted me to win this argument on my own.
I gave him a single nod, grateful for his support.
An insect tried flying into my eye, and I swatted it away. It landed on my neck and stung me, and I swatted it again. Gross.
The sooner we were off this island, the better.
“Now that you’ve survived drinking from the Holy Grail, you think mighty highly of yourself, don’t you?” Camelia asked with an amused chuckle.
“As a matter of fact, yes.” I stood strong, not letting her get to me. “I’m the only chance you have right now at creating a full Nephilim. So it’s time you do things my way.”
Darra smirked and lowered her arms. It appeared my trainer was coming around to my side. Then she swatted at a group of flies buzzing around her.
Noah caught a fly between his fingers and smushed it.
There hadn’t been this many insects around before. I looked around in confusion. Where were they all coming from?
“What exactly is ‘your way?’” Camelia asked.
“I know you wanted me to kill Dr. Foster because he’s so weak that I’d definitely beat him in a fight,” I said. “But I’ve been training to kill demons for months. So I want you to teleport off this island and find a demon for me to slay instead. A lower level one.” The last bit should have been obvious, since I could only kill greater demons after coming into my Nephilim powers. But there was no harm in being as clear as possible. “I want to know that the creature I’m killing deserves it.”
And as I’d learned in my lessons, all demons deserved it. They were psychopaths without a conscience. They were plagues upon the Earth, and they needed to be killed. All of them.
“The Vale is holding a few lower level demons in their prison for experiments,” Camelia said. “I suppose I can go to King Alexander and see if he’s willing to relinquish one for your Trial.”
“Really?” My mouth dropped open, but I closed it before a fly could get inside. “That easily?”
“We need you to come into your Nephilim powers,” she said. “If you refuse to kill Dr. Foster, you’re not giving me much of a choice but to find another way for you to ignite those powers, are you?”
“Nope.” I beamed. There was nothing quite like the rush of winning an argument.
“But first, we have another problem,” she said.
“What’s that?”
She pointed behind me, and I turned around to see what she meant.
A wall of insects was flying toward us, their buzzing getting louder by the second. I must have been so consumed by our conversation that I hadn’t been listening closely enough.
“You’re losing time,” she said. “The second plague is here.”
20
Raven
The insects were flying faster than I could run. So I looked around, searching for shelter. But unlike at the lake, there was no cave here for us to hide in. And our cave was hours away by foot.
It looked like we’d be taking on the insects directly.
I reached for Excalibur and held it up in front of me, fire burning around the blade.
“You’re going to attack insects with your sword?” Noah cocked his head in amusement.
“Maybe they’ll be scared of the blade and will keep their distance,” I said. “You
plan on helping or not?”
He removed his dagger from his weapons belt, and we started swinging our blades at the wall of buzzing insects. I spotted Darra and Camelia out of the corner of my eyes doing the same.
The blades helped, but not much. The flies were still landing on me and stinging.
Each sting was like a pinprick of burning. It hurt worse and worse each time, and was spreading through my body. I wanted to curl up into a ball, cover my ears with my hands, and wish the stupid insects away.
But that wouldn’t solve any problems. Instead, I looked around the area, trying to see if there was anywhere the insects weren’t going. My first thought was that maybe we could climb a tall tree and get out of their range. But the wall of them seemed to go up forever.
Deciding that was hopeless, I looked down to the ground. The wall of them went all the way to the dirt, too. So much for that.
I kept swinging my blade, but there were too many of them to take down with weapons. And the bites stung so badly. I wanted to jump into the pond of Holy Water to cool down.
With that thought, I looked toward the pond and gasped. Because the water—and up to a foot above it—was clear of insects.
They were avoiding the Holy Water.
“Guys!” I screamed, loudly enough to be heard over the incessant buzzing. “Follow me!”
I secured my sword on my weapons belt, ran toward the pond, and dove in.
My skin instantly cooled. Surrounded by water, the buzzing went away, everything around me going blessedly quiet. I heard three splashes nearby—the others diving in.
When I came up for air, I kept my head as close to the surface as possible. The others did the same. Since the flies weren’t getting close to the water, it allowed us enough space to breathe. Once we realized the pond was a safe zone, we moved closer to the edge, where our feet could touch the bottom.
The Angel Trials- The Complete Series Page 99