Under the Winter Sun (Elemental Enchanters Series Book 3)

by Richards, Carrigan

  Ava began kicking, though her legs refused to cooperate since they were stiff. She couldn’t even feel the pain of her broken legs. Just the intense cold.

  You’ve got to get out of this!

  She paddled harder with her arms and kicked as much as she could, gritting through the pain. A light flickered in the water as she swam toward the opening in the ice.

  You’re almost there!

  With barely any energy, Ava pulled her head above the water, taking a huge gulp of air. She rested her arms on the ice, panting.

  Pull yourself out! Get out of the water!

  She looked for the voice, but all that surrounded her and the large frozen lake were empty woods. The moon was her only light. She heaved herself out of the water and rolled onto her back. Shivering violently, she peered up into the starry night. Not a sound was heard, except her teeth chattering. She could feel her hair stiffening.

  Get off the ice!

  Ava clumsily crawled on her arms across the ice to the bank of the lake. She dug her hands into the snow, and held onto a tree. Had she been stupid again and run off? She couldn’t remember. Whatever she did, Havok found her and left her for dead. Laying her head in the soft snow, she closed her eyes.

  “She’s freezing cold!” Ava heard a familiar voice. It was frantic and worried.

  She opened her eyes and saw a blur of faces standing over her. There was a hazy orange glow. Her legs were numb. It was as if she were still in the water as the cold crawled up her legs to her thighs, except she wasn’t wet. Fear scattered inside her, quicker than the cold.

  The numbness slid over her stomach like a blanket. A noise escaped her throat.

  “Ava, are you okay?” Gabriel asked, and cradled her head. His face was inches from her, his eyes intense with worry. Had she dreamed about Havok? Why couldn’t she feel anything?

  The paralysis crept up to her chest.

  “I-I—,” was all she could get out before the numbness eased over her head.

  “Ava,” he yelled. “Stay with me! Keep watching me!”

  “She’s falling into a coma,” Savina said.

  “Do something!” he shouted. “Heal her!”

  The voices became softer and further away. Then, they were gone. She no longer saw the crystal blue eyes. She saw nothing.

  When Ava awakened, she rolled onto her back in the warm bed. The room was dark, but a small amount of light streamed through the window. She sat up and looked around. The small room had three single sized beds with matching tables beside them. Glass bottles, cotton balls, and other medical supplies covered it. Where was she?

  Pushing the covers aside, she got out of the bed and stood. Her legs weren’t broken, and she wasn’t cold or wet. Savina must have healed her. Or maybe it was all a dream. Had they travelled somewhere new?

  She crossed the room and peered out the arched window. Vast green rolling hills spread across the horizon for miles, and in the distance were snowcapped mountains. She could barely see a large rocky cliff in between them with water falling over the edge. The sun shone beautifully, capturing the rich colors of the tulip garden to the right. The door behind her creaked and she twisted around, leaning against the window, readying herself for an attack.

  “Ava!” a woman shrieked and came into the light.

  Ava inhaled a sharp breath and rushed toward Melissa. They embraced and held each other tight. “Melissa.”

  “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  So many months of not having her best friend, she hugged tighter. Was it over? Had they found Melissa and Jeremy? Were they all safe? What had happened? Her mind couldn’t process the thoughts fast enough.

  Melissa pulled back a little. Her green eyes glistened with tears and her long blond hair fell around her shoulders. Ava missed her beautiful friend. “This is so unreal. I can’t believe you’re here.” She pulled Ava into another hug.

  “I’m so glad to see you. Where are we?”

  Melissa released her but held her hands. “Caprington. Havok found you. You had apparently fallen in a frozen lake and he pulled you out. I was so scared you weren’t going to make it.” Her eyes watered. “But you’re up and walking around now.”

  Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. “But I saw Gabriel and heard Savina. They found me. I thought.”

  Melissa’s eyebrows furrowed. “Uh, I think your memory is still off. You don’t remember us attacking them? That’s why you fell in the lake. They made you fall into it,” she said, her eyes narrowing. Then, her perfect lips stretched into a slow smile. “But we killed them, so now we are free.”

  Ava gasped. “What?” She remembered Havok talking to her. And then the lake. Then, Gabriel. “Wait. Havok dropped me in the lake. There was no one else around,” she said, taking a step backward.

  “How dare you? How can you say such a thing? He’s the one that saved you.”

  “No. He wasn’t.”

  “You aren’t remembering it correctly. There was a battle. Everyone died, except the Elementals and our group.”

  Ava shook her head. Her knees buckled and she gripped the window ledge behind her. “No.”

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice purred. “Please don’t cry about Peter. I heard what he did to you. I had the sweet privilege of killing him.”

  Ava shuddered. “Peter’s dead?” The words felt wrong. “What about Gabriel? Eric? Natalia? Moira?”

  “Dead. Dead. Dead. And dead.”

  Her mouth fell open, and her breath hitched. Her pulse raced as the room spun. She couldn’t think. Her legs gave out, but Melissa caught her. She brought her to the bed and they both sank onto it.

  “They were all traitors,” Melissa said. “Especially Gabriel. He left us.”

  Ava gripped the edge of the bed and glanced at Melissa. “Left you?”

  She stared at Ava, her eyes blazing. “Of course he wouldn’t share that with you. He’s not all charming and lovely as you might think. He was only getting close to you so he could use you. He was with us for a while until he thought Havok killed his parents. Then when we went to war with Savina, he switched sides. Just like that.” Her tone was bitter. “But he only joined Savina as a spy. I wish he came back to me.”

  Ava watched her, and realized it wasn’t Melissa. Her eyes trained on the floor and tears fell down her cheeks. It couldn’t have been Melissa. Why would she cry for Gabriel? Ava looked at the table by the bed., but she saw a scalpel. She had to keep the woman talking. “You loved him, didn’t you?”

  “Of course I loved him. But he only used me.”

  “It’s hard to believe Gabriel as a dark witch.”

  “Because he can manipulate you. He’s good. Those eyes. You can wrap yourself up in them. And he makes you feel like there’s no one else but you.” She seemed genuinely hurt.

  “He is good at that,” Ava said, playing along, but there was truth to her words. “You seem pretty upset about it. Is that why you killed him?” Pain jerked inside by the thought, but she had to keep up the charade.

  The woman narrowed her eyes at Ava. “What did you do?” She bolted from the bed and Ava got to her feet, her back to the table. “You’re the one with powers of the Moon? I thought you were Water.”

  Had the woman thought Ava manipulated her? She didn’t know what was going on. Her mind was all over the place, but she had to survive. She had to get out of this. Ava tried summoning water, but like before, it was useless. “I didn’t do anything. I’m sorry Gabriel hurt you.”

  “He betrayed me. And all of us.” When the woman looked away, Ava grabbed the scalpel. “Stop talking to me like we’re friends. If it were up to me, I would kill you.”

  “Havok would kill you in a heartbeat.”

  “He would never hurt me. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Which do you prefer?” Her eyes shifted to beady hazel eyes. All happiness left her face. Black hair trickled over the blonde hair. Her nose shortened and she shrunk a couple of inches. Her round face smoothed out int
o an oval form. Black bangs brushed her dark eyebrows. Her full lips thinned into a straight line. With her hand on her hip, the unfamiliar woman slithered toward Ava.

  “So, what’s it going to be?” Her dark voice held no emotion. She stood inches from Ava.

  “What do you want?”

  Her lips curled into a taunting smile. “What do you think?” She crossed her arms. “You surrender and we won’t torture the others.”

  “I’m not going to become one of you. How can you live with yourself after all you’ve done?”

  The woman cocked an eyebrow. “What about all the things you’ve done?”

  In that instant, Ava saw the dead eyes of Jonah and Drew. Colden dying. Sending Gabriel to a strange town. Then, she saw the strange black-headed woman sneaking up behind Gabriel. She seized his throat and squeezed until she ripped his head off.

  “No!” Ava screamed. It was unbearable, and she wanted it to end.

  “You see, I find your pain and make you relive it. And I can make you see anything I want.”

  Ava tightened her grip on the scalpel. “It’s all in the past. I lived through it once already. Now I see why Havok wants me to join, if he has weak Enchanters such as you.”

  The woman curled her fingers into a fist and glared at Ava. Ava then envisioned Thomas burning her, the fire spreading throughout her body. She clenched her teeth. The fire in her house as it almost burned her, her father, and Peter. Peter whispering his love for her. The pain of it all enclosed her. She held her breath until it disappeared.

  “Seems as though you’re still bothered by these things.” The woman cocked her head.

  With a quick movement, Ava pierced the scalpel blade deep into the woman’s stomach. The woman let out a low moan and bent over. Ava stepped aside as she fell. She ran for the door, but her eyelids became heavy. She stumbled forward, collapsing to the floor. Her heartbeat slowed. The room rippled like a wave. She tried holding herself up, but was weak. Then, she closed her eyes.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  TEMPEST

  The numbing cold solidified her like she was frozen inside a piece of ice. She was paralyzed. She felt nothing. Nothing but the cold. She was blind, or maybe her eyes were closed.

  But she heard a voice. A pleading whisper. It took a few tries to understand the incoherent whispering.

  Please wake up. Please. Please. Wake up.

  Ava woke with a start. A sprinkle of cold landed on her cheeks and in her eyes. She realized it was snow. Snowy limbs hovered over her in the dark blue night. Sitting up, she scanned her surroundings. The trees were covered in powder and circled a frozen lake. It was a beautiful serene scene. She half expected to see deer come out, but she didn’t know where she was. She recognized the lake as the same one where she saw Havok. How did she escape Caprington, or was she still there?

  The cold gripped her. She longed to be warm. She had to find Gabriel, Thomas, Gillian, someone. She stood, but her knees shook and were too weak to hold her weight. She steadied herself against a tree, and then remembered what the woman had said about Gabriel and the rest being dead. It couldn’t be true. She had to see for herself. She had to find them.

  Ava tried her legs once more and ran, the frosty air filling her lungs. It seemed like she ran for hours before the cold weakened her. She rested against a tree, bending over and resting her arms on her knees, catching her breath. Why was she so weak? What did Havok do to her?

  A crunch in the snow made her breath hitch, and she stood up straight. She searched the forest. Another crunch. And another.

  “Ava?” She heard a soft voice behind her. “Ava!”

  She turned and saw Jeremy. His sandy blonde hair hung to his collar and his topaz eyes hid behind his glasses. Her heart skipped a beat. He rushed up to her and hugged her. The warmth of his body comforted her, but she warily pushed him back.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Jeremy?”

  He arched his eyebrows. “It’s me, Ava.”

  “What are you doing out here?”

  “Looking for you. They said you would be out here somewhere.”

  She took a step back. “W-who’s they?”

  “Why are you shivering?” He moved forward. “Can’t you make yourself warm? You could die out in this cold. Why are you out here?” He reached for her hand, but she was hesitant. “I want to make you warm. Trust me.” He smiled, but his eyes were cold.

  She lifted her shaking hand and he grabbed it, warming her immediately. The warmth burned through her. Pins and needles pricked her skin.

  “Why are you out here?” he asked again.

  “I-I don’t know. I woke up out here.” She wanted him to release her hand but he blocked the cold that had made her so weak. She didn’t know if it was really him.

  “Come on, we’d better get you back. This is no place for you.” He tugged on her arm, but she didn’t move.

  “No. I’m not going back.” She tried to remove her hand from his tight grip. “It isn’t you.”

  “What? It’s dangerous out here.” He squeezed her hand and pulled her. She couldn’t escape his grasp as they trudged through the snow.

  “Did you escape Caprington?”

  “Do you want me to carry you?”

  “No. How did you escape?”

  “Ava, there’s so much you have to learn,” he said, crushing her hand. “All this time, we’ve blamed the wrong person. Savina and Colden were in the wrong. Havok made me see the truth. Did you know it was Savina who put you through all that hell?” He stopped and faced her with a cold look in his eyes. She had never seen Jeremy so intense. She shivered. He shook his head and kept plodding through the thick powder weaving through the trees. “She was the one who made us sick when we were kids.” His voice was full of hate. “She acts like this innocent leader, but she has made us believe the Elders are right. That we should avenge them.”

  “So you’re okay with killing Ephemerals? And letting Cimmerians kill whoever gets in their way?”

  Jeremy whipped around, his eyes glaring into hers. “You are so brainwashed, Ava. I knew this would be hard. You’re so stubborn. You never trusted any of us from the beginning. Ephemerals are the evil ones. You should know. You killed two of them and let Peter hurt you. I knew he would.” He shook his head.

  “No, you didn’t. You sided with me.”

  “Whatever. I can’t believe you won’t join Havok. He’s trying to save us all. The Elders will only kill you.”

  “Why are you saying this? You’re lying.”

  “It baffles me that you have never trusted your friends. We’ve known each other our whole lives, Ava. We kept each other company when we were ill. We did everything for each other. And yet, it’s not enough. You make me sick.” He shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, just below his glasses. “You make me so angry.”

  When he opened his eyes, Ava sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes were now dark. It wasn’t Jeremy. But who was it? Another Cimmerian playing with her?

  A muscle in his jaw twitched. His nostrils flared as he stared her down. Snow rose in the air and spun around them like a tornado. The wind cut her like razors dragging across her skin. She cried out as she clung to a tree and slid to the ground. Blood seeped into the snow.

  “Please stop,” she cried. “Jeremy!”

  The tornado gained strength, and she could feel it tugging at the tree she latched onto. She closed her eyes and held in a scream as the wind picked up branches and snow and ice. The skin on her knuckles and hands began to rip.

  “Join us!” he yelled.

  The tree lifted, but she didn’t let go. Instead, she was tossed and strewn about. Her hands lost their grip on the tree, and the tornado slung her hard onto the ground.

  The twister stopped, letting the debris serenely fall.

  “That was fun,” he said, but it wasn’t Jeremy. It was Havok.

  Ava panted as he circled her, his long black cloak dragged.

  “You see how powerful h
e is.”

  “I already knew,” she said. Her body shook from the cold and pain.

  “Ah. And you saw your own power being used on yourself. It would be amazing to have you all a part of my coven.”

  “We’re just as powerful without you.” She glowered at him.

  “Perhaps you are right. But you no longer have a leader, so where will you go?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Didn’t you hear Eve? Savina is gone.”

  “What?”

  “Let’s just say she’s in a better place. Isn’t that what Ephemerals say about those who have perished?”

  “She’s not dead. This isn’t real.”

  “You can believe what you want. Just know, this will continue, until you join. You were born for this. It is your destiny, Ava. Your soul belongs to me.”

  “You will never own my soul. I don’t care what my mother promised.” She clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering, but she couldn’t stop her body from shaking.

  “If you knew why she promised it to me, you might change your mind.”

  “Humor me.”

  “Because she would have done anything for me.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “She was a spy for me, but then she met your father and fell in love. I will never understand loving Ephemerals,” he spat. “But she soon realized the err of her ways. She wanted to come back and give up that life with your father. But I wouldn’t allow it. When I threatened to kill her, she told me she was carrying a child. At first, I was disgusted at the abomination, but one of my men used his ability to read you inside the womb. He told me you would become an Enchanter. Given that your mother was a Water Enchanter, I wanted to see if you would be one too. I bided my time which was hard being inside Colden’s body. When I witnessed your Calling, I was amazed. A coven of Elementals. It was what I always wanted.”

  “And you’ll never have it.”

  He shrugged. “I know you will eventually come to your senses.”

  “I’d rather die than join you.”

  “Then enjoy your slow and painful torment.” He taunted and disappeared. The wind picked up again and she braced herself against the tree. Hail showered over her, pelting her and bouncing off the trees like marbles. She shielded herself. Then something collided with her head and everything went black.