The end of the canyon finally beckoned and a sense of relief washed through me only to be stolen away as a large group of men and women blocked our exit. Something in their features told me it was angels who stood in our way. It wasn’t that they looked identical to Elijah, but there was definitely a certain cast to them.
***
“The arrival of my siblings and the reapers made me easier about our numbers. It was good to have so many we could trust standing with us.” ~Caius
Chapter 28
We came to a stop and my gaze swept the large number of angels spread out across the mouth of the canyon. Caius crossed his arms, his face hard with anger as he asked, “You really think you can do this, Raihna?”
The woman standing in front didn’t appear to hear Caius. She looked down the path behind us, a disgusted look on her face. “My how the far the Fallen have fallen, Elijah. First, you spawn this thing and now you defend it?”
Her words were like a smack to the face and I trembled. Anger rose inside me even as tears stung my eyes.
It? Thing? Was it really so hard to see me as a person? A living, breathing person with feelings and emotions.
“Raihna.” Caius took two steps forward, drawing her attention back to him. “You aren’t going to win this if you start it.”
“Confident aren’t you. We may only be soldier angels, but we outnumber you and not all of your group has Archdemon blood to draw on. That,” she gestured at me, “cannot be allowed to live. Even if it wasn’t prophesied to kill the Morrigan, it’s a mix that should never be. One that will surely anger the Morrigan should she awaken.”
“You won’t succeed in anything other than the decimation of your numbers and the ending your life, Raihna,” Lilly said as she and Malik moved to stand on the other side of their brother.
“Oh, that’s cute.” Raihna chuckled. “The young demonborn thinks she can take me. And I suppose you could try, except you are assuming enemies aren’t at your backs as well.”
I turned to look back down our line, along with several of those around me. Dominic and his three siblings were left standing alone near the Fallen. The rest of the demonborn that had been in his group peeled away and moved back along the trail just enough to show where they stood. It wasn’t with us.
A low rumble of growls ran through the demonborn that stood with me. Dominic’s face was twisted in fury at the betrayal. I felt nothing but shock as I realized we were now trapped between angels and demonborn working together, on a path bordered with deadly grass. How long had they planned this? It was a perfect spot to ambush. Yes, some of them would suffer injuries from the grass as well, but there was nowhere for us to draw back and any defense would have to be divided between two directions.
Raihna smiled. “So you see, the numbers are even more in my favor, and your position is disadvantaged. Hand over the abomination, and we can part peacefully.”
Everyone shifted to defend either our fronts or our backs. Caius morphed into his demon form. “She is not yours to take.”
Raihna watched it all with an amused look on her face. “It isn’t yours to keep. Even if you are bound to it.”
“Jo is most certainly mine to keep.” A dangerous light glinted in Caius’s molten eyes. He shifted to stand so he partially blocked me.
“Oh, please.” Raihna gave a derisive laugh. “You think a partial bond really makes it yours. Honestly, Caius, I’m surprised at you. I can’t believe the pain of a broken bond would really keep you tied to this thing…” Her voice trailed off as she took in Caius’s protective position. “I think I see now. It’s a shame, Caius; you’ve gone too far this time.”
As if her words were an agreed-upon signal, the demonborn behind and the angels in front converged on our group. Everything erupted. Caius shoved me back as he moved to meet Raihna’s charge. I ended up wedged in the middle of Rowen, Zane, Lilly, and Ryan. Too short to see over anyone, I could only hear the battle cries as those who stood with me were hit from both sides.
When numerous slashes opened up on my legs, I knew Caius was fighting in the grass. Ignoring the stinging pain, I squeezed out of the protective circle. My heart thumping hard, I searched through the chaos. He stood among the wicked blades, wielding a sword made of the indigo soul energy. Raihna and three others, each using glowing white staffs, fought against him. Malik covered his back against an attack from two more. All of them moved so fast I had trouble tracking the battle.
Up and down the path, everyone fought. Some with claws and teeth, some with staffs. All of those with Archdemon blood used swords much like Caius’s. Several angels leaped over the combatants, coming straight for me.
My shield and fan appeared in my hands. I allowed the demon power within me to engulf the shield and smashed the first angel with it then spun and slashed the second with my fan. The third angel came at me faster than I could track. I threw my shield up at the last second and let his forward momentum carry him into the dual powers.
I staggered under the weight of the blow and went down in the grass, gaining numerous new cuts on my body, arms, and legs. The angel floundered and rolled through the grass, trying to put out the fire as the stench of burned flesh filled the air.
Struggling to my feet I watched two more angels come at me from one direction as a demonborn charged from another. A shot of indigo shadows flew over my shoulder and struck one of the angels, blasting a hole through her chest. The world wobbled as she fell to the ground, her dead eyes still wide with shock. My stomach rolled.
Swallowing hard, I brought my weapons up as the second angel and the demonborn hesitated. This would end badly. I might have a handle on my powers, but I still wasn’t near fast enough. I’d caught my first opponents by surprise; they’d seemed to think I would be an easy target to take out. These were more cautious and I would have a harder time countering their attacks now that they were prepared. I braced myself to go down fighting. The demonborn charged. I ducked away, scoring him along one arm. A snarl ripped from his throat.
I barely dodged his next attack, brought my shield around, and found my opponent with a solid green staff sticking through his chest. Rowen, standing behind the demonborn, shoved the dead man off the staff. The demonborn fell face forward in the grass and didn’t move. I didn’t get a chance at the angel who came at me. Lilly was busy tearing into him.
Backing away a step, I froze as a grass blade brushed against me, slicing through armor and skin. There was nowhere for me to go and only so much I could do to even the odds. It wasn’t my own life I worried about. It was Caius, his siblings, my friends, and everyone else who followed me. The demonborn were distracted trying to protect the slower members of our party, which included all of the young reapers and myself.
The way Caius was decimating the ranks of angels, this battle would be ours even with the turncoat demonborn attacking against us, but not without a significant loss of life on our side. I couldn’t let that happen.
I thought of the vines I’d made grow over my dome shield. Maybe it was time to figure out what else I could do. I let the ancient power fill me along with the angel that was also part of my heritage and the demon that was an accident of circumstance.
The ground beneath my feet began to hum with energy. I could feel the network of roots lacing together under the dirt, feel each footstep in the canyon. Every mote of dust and drop of moisture in the air, it was all available to me. Points of light sprang up in my mind, some of them pale green, others dark red. They weren’t what I searched for. Neither were the dirty white points. The three golden-gray points were Caius, Malik, and Lilly. The bright red, the pure white, those were my targets.
Rowen and Lilly kept a space carved around me. I couldn’t do this and fight, so I left them to it. I closed my eyes, finding it easier to feel and concentrate if I couldn’t see the battle. The points of light jumped into sharper focus, making it easier to track them. I added the love I felt for Caius and for my friends to the building power. The energies surged i
nside me. The green that represented my Morrigan power was the strongest; it thrummed like a solid beat. The white energy curled around it creating a second, lighter chord inside me. Dark crimson twined along the other two in thin tendrils of a faint note. I held my arms out to my sides as they created a melody of energy that filled me until my skin felt tight.
The Morrigan was the creator of all. It was her blood that was the strongest within me. Time to see what I could create. I released the pent-up energy into the ground, feeding it into the roots of the grass, changing the structure of the plants. A harsh wind whipped past me, roaring through the canyon and twisting the long strands of my hair around my face. I felt the grass growing, becoming thick vines full of fiery white blades and thick red thorns as it entangled the points of light that didn’t belong to me.
Screams echoed off the canyon walls. The power continued to expand until it encompassed the entirety of the battleground. In my mind, I watched as the points of light were buried under the massive growth. Their attempts to break free were met with faster growth and more blades and thorns. Any that tried to reach me were immediately buried. A few of the points fled. I tried to catch them but failed.
Darkness gathered at the edges of my consciousness, slowly encroaching on my mind as I struggled to hold it until all of the enemy points were extinguished. Something about the points nagged at me. They weren’t just points of light; they were something else as well. I struggled to understand what they were, to see past the power, to open my eyes and see the real world.
The wind began to howl, racing between the sheer walls of rock. The worst of it broke around me like water around a rock. A few points still flickered. Caius shouted over the roar of the wind, but I couldn’t understand the words. The dark rose up like a tidal wave and pulled me under, cutting me off from my power. It snapped back with a force ten times what I felt the last time I let it go all at once. A freight train plowed into my chest. I vaguely felt the grass I stood in, slice through my skin again before even that receded into velvety blackness.
Voices intruded into the darkness, bringing with them the pain of my injuries and an ache in my chest. At first, they weren’t anything I could make sense of. Like I was listening to people talking underwater. Only snatches were clear.
“…have a pulse.” Caius sounded weary and strained.
“…breathing again…if we can keep it that way this time then…” That was Rowen. I wanted to ask who had stopped breathing. The thought flitted away as I drifted.
“…has lost too much…need to…”
Malik’s anxious voice, “Caius you can’t, you’ve…It won’t help her any if…I will do it.”
“The hell you will.” Caius’s voice was rough with worry and an edge of anger.
“Caius, either of us can offer her this—” Lilly began
“But you won’t,” Caius said with a note of finality.
My head swam and their voices receded back to the indistinct underwater imitation. Something pressed against my lips and hot liquid flowed into my mouth. I almost choked before my throat convulsively swallowed. The familiar taste of Caius’s blood coated my tongue. I waited for the horrible burning and cramping. It didn’t come. Instead, my body soaked it up like a sponge.
Caius’s wrist was ripped away from my mouth, blood dribbling down my cheek as it went, amid the underwater protests of the other voices. Why could I only hear a few of them? Was everyone okay?
“My band of merry men,” Barely coherent, my mumbled words came out slurred. “Where…”
“Jo?” Caius’s voice was urgent. Something warm cupped my face, his hands? “Jo, talk to me.”
I tried to rouse myself, to answer. He said something again, but I couldn’t make the words out as I slipped away.
***
“In all the years of my life, I’ve never tasted such fear. I truly thought I had lost her.” ~Caius
Chapter 29
Thin fingers slowly pulling through my hair in long, gentle strokes woke me. I waited a moment before opening my eyes in order to take inventory. The pain was gone and the faint taste of Caius’s blood lingered in my mouth. Strange noises and voices filtered into my ears, distant and slightly muffled as if they were removed from my immediate location.
The heavy weight pressed up against my side, practically squishing me, let me know Amisi was with me and okay. The knowledge brought intense relief. She’d been off on her usual daily exploration during the battle in the canyon, but concern for her well-being was a constant.
The fingers combing through my hair were relaxing yet unfamiliar. My heart lurched. The battle, the points of light that were more than light. People killing each other all around me. And then me, snuffing out the points. They weren’t just light, they had been lives. I had killed other people. Never mind that they were trying to kill me. Admittedly, I was happy to be alive and that feeling clashed with knowledge of lives ended at my hand. I shifted restlessly.
“Shhhh, rest, little Daughter.”
The high, tinkling voice was as unfamiliar as the fingers in my hair. My eyes snapped open, revealing an unfamiliar room. The one window was set in a gently curving wooden wall. A fresh breeze full of unfamiliar scents and sounds drifted through it, though all I could see from where I lay were branches and leaves.
I twisted to find the source of the voice, my heart jumping as my body dumped adrenaline into my system in preparation for danger. The fingers jerked back. I stared into the startled, pixie-like face that was mere inches from mine. I gasped and scooted away from her, only then realizing I was on a low bed. Amisi sprang onto a sturdy table and glared at me as if irritated with me for waking her. I wasn’t worried about the feline’s emotions at the moment. It was the female in the room with me that held my attention. I had no idea who or what she was and my experiences with unfamiliar things hadn’t gone well in Between.
She got up on her knees and slowly inched toward me, a soothing expression on her young, unlined face as she held out a hand like it was supposed to comfort me somehow. A tiny thing, I doubted she would reach my shoulder if we were both standing. Her slender frame barely had enough curves to keep it from looking boyish and her short, amber hair fell in spiky layers around her ears. Her pointed…ears.
“It is all right. You are safe, little Daughter,” she said softly, her voice like wind chimes.
I leaned away. “Who are you? What are you?”
That was probably rude, but at that moment, I didn’t really care. Where was Caius? My friends?
She gave a high tinkling laugh. “My name is Dellisendria, and you are among the fairy folk. One of our scouts found your party out in the open, not far from the Kell Canyon opening. Not far from the trees either. All were injured and were sure to draw predators. It was not safe to leave you there.”
“Dellisendria,” I stumbled over the name, “what about the people with me?” I dreaded the answer, but had to know.
“You can call me Dell.” Her expression turned solemn. “We were unable to determine who was friend and who was foe in the canyon. Of those that were with you beyond the mouth of the canyon, all are recuperating here amongst the trees. Some are healing much faster than others. You and four others were the only ones found with few if any injuries. You were completely free of any, but so depleted of life energy I was surprised you still lived when they brought you to me. It is good you were found. Without the healing fairies can offer, you would have ridden the Ferry.”
Her news left me with no knowledge of who was alive and who was dead. My heart ached at the thought of losing any of them. I knew Caius was alive or the bond would have been broken. What about his siblings? Bethany, James, the rest of them? I even worried about Elijah.
I glanced around the room. “Are they close by?”
“Some are here, some are in other trees.”
“In…other trees?” I took in the gentle curve of the outside wall with a new perspective. But, that was impossible. Then again, it was the Between wher
e I’d been attacked by trees, protected by man-eating vines, guided by wisps, met Hades, and received armor from a goddess mermaid. Who was I kidding? Anything was possible here.
She nodded. “We make our homes in the selaboban trees.”
That was going to need clarification. “I’ve never heard of them.”
Dell’s face lit up with a smile, making her citrine eyes sparkle. “They only grow in the Between. Given what you are, it is not surprising you do not know of them. Your kind never comes to the Between.”
“This tree must be huge.” My gaze roamed over the room with its simple furnishings.
She laid her hand reverently on the wall. “It is not the largest. A comfortable healing place though. Imagine my surprise when a Bastet cat came through the window and settled by your side as if she belonged there”
“Her name is Amisi and she does belong there.” My stomach rumbled in hunger as my mind tried to estimate the size of tree needed to house even a small room like this.
“How unusual,” Dell said.
I glanced down at the lightweight, green nightgown-like thing that covered me and plucked at it. “What am I wearing?”
“Your clothes were ruined and so were disposed of. They were created with your magic which still clung to the fiber and would have interfered with mine anyway. This,” she gestured to the nightgown, “was placed on you for the healing.”
“By who?” The idea of a bunch of strangers seeing me naked made me want to crawl under a rock.
“The demonborn, Caius, removed your old clothes and put this on you. Your armor is with him.” She reached over and patted my hand. Her touch was oddly comforting. “You must eat, especially in your condition.”
“My what?” Was there something wrong with me? I didn’t feel any injuries, and I vaguely remembered Caius giving me his blood, so I should be healed.
“Your pregnancy. Frankly, I’m surprised the baby survived the energy depletion. I can only assume it is because the child has not reached the stage of making large demands on your body. Come, I can hear your stomach growling for food.” Dell stood in a smooth, graceful movement. “Between whatever it was you did in the canyon that caused the blade reeds to become something else, and the babe you carry within, I imagine you are famished.”
Betrayed (Raven Daughter Book 2) Page 21