Winter’s attention divided for a fraction of a second. He lifted his left hand to block Chaos’s force from hurling me right into the middle of the fight.
It was all Chaos needed. He dropped me a few feet away, wheeled around, jumped high and came down hard, sinking his sword inside Winter’s shoulder blade near the neck, pushing the sword all the way down until all I could see sticking out was the grip.
The thrust took no more than a single breath. Winter fell to his knees, blood spurting out of him like a red fountain.
My breath caught in my chest. The three Immortals moved behind Winter, emotionless, doing nothing. Chaos yanked the sword out of Winter’s body. The sword went up again. From the angle, I knew that when it came down, it would sever Winter’s head from his body.
Not his beautiful head!
With a scream so piercing it hurt my eardrums, I collapsed to my knees and slammed both palms on the damp earth. My fury split the ground open, the gap growing with incredible speed, instantly separating Chaos and Winter.
In the distance, morph bodies stumbled and rolled into the gap, while others made a sudden, panicked escape.
Kirsi was on the Winter side of the gap, while I was stranded on the other side, the wrong side, alone with the nightmare known as Chaos.
It would take everything in me to even make it back onto my feet. Would anyone dare come to my rescue now that I had served my purpose?
Chaos grinned. He was so close I could smell the musk off his perfumed skin. He brought two fingers to his lips and blew me a kiss, then turned away and vanished, leaving nothing but a red smoke behind.
Without Chaos, the rest of the morphs would soon be slaughtered.
I was weak. I was alone, unprotected. Winter lay in a pool of his own blood, barely breathing. Why hadn’t Chaos killed me or thrown me into the gap or at least taken me with him? He just left.
Attempting to stand, I suddenly got vertigo and fell hard. The enchanted realm was spinning, wildly, out of control. My heart pounded in my chest. I felt nauseous. My head started to pound.
I wanted my mother. It’s been so long.
Instead, Kirsi was there, wrapping me in her arms.
CHAPTER 27
____________________________________
I drifted in and out of consciousness for hours—or perhaps days. Every time my eyes opened, I flinched, a crushing headache squeezing my temples until I couldn’t take the light and closed my eyes again.
Voices reached me from afar. They were different every time, some deep, some austere, some melodious, some worried. Gradually, the fog in my mind cleared and I was able to make out a few coherent words: one more day, still unresponsive, she’s a fighter.
I tried to sit up and fell back onto the pillows. The severe pain had subsided, but now I was experiencing insurmountable fatigue. The soft sheets felt so good on my skin. I let out a long sigh.
“There she is.”
A face bent over me, kind, lovely, concerned. Big, almond-shaped brown eyes, auburn curls, bright pink lip gloss.
I knew that face. She looked very different from the Valkyrie goddess who had fought by my side, but it was her: Kirsi.
“Where am I?” I said. “What happened? Is this the afterlife?”
She had an easy smile. “Not quite, this is the guest quarters of the underground keep of the San Diego Court.”
Guest quarters? What a lovely name for a prison cell.
“You were barely hanging on when they brought you in,” Kirsi continued. “Throwing yourself smack in the middle of two battling Shadow warriors is not good for a lady’s health. Those high-intensity Immortal etheric fields colliding… not fun. It won’t just mess up your mascara, it should have killed you, Luna Mae. Consider yourself lucky. The impact emptied your core out completely. It’s a miracle you’re alive.”
Except it wasn’t.
Kirsi was in a strangely talkative mood. “I’m not sure why the Chief Magistrate was there,” she said. “Winter should have never accompanied you to Serenity Valley, being the one Magistrate that Chaos can challenge and ceremoniously execute. Not even Düsternis could intervene.”
“What? Why is that a thing? Why can Chaos kill Winter?”
Kirsi bit her lip, possibly having said too much. “Chaos and Winter are Shadow warriors. Within the Umbra Order, a Shadow is granted the ability to steal the life force from other Shadows in a duel. When that much energy is thrown around, mortals nearby die, and even an intervening Immortal would lose part of their regeneration capacity. In other words, you have to stay clear.”
I wasn’t sure what any of that meant, but now it made sense why nobody interfered during the fight. It also made sense that Chaos left me behind. He would have assumed I was mortal and already dying.
“Who brought me here?” I said. “Why? Immortal compassion is not exactly their first instinct. No offense.”
Kirsi smiled and nodded her head. “Your honesty is poorly timed, but not wrong. But, really, I don’t believe you’re that ignorant. No offense. I think you already know why.”
It hit me that she had just told me Winter was mortal, or at least fighting to the death, when he faced Chaos.
Had he survived? Had I saved him, or had I been too late?
I took her hand. “Jonas?” I said, my mouth dry as sandpaper.
Her big eyes studied me. I sensed a curiosity and a disapproval behind her hesitation, almost as if she felt my question was inappropriate. Maybe knowing his real-life name betrayed an intimacy that was not allowed.
“See for yourself,” she said.
She moved aside. Winter stood in the doorframe, broad shouldered, strong, healthy, his blond hair freshly cut.
He picked up a chair and set it next to the bed.
With great effort, I managed to sit up. “You look good as new,” I said.
He didn’t smile, but there was tenderness on his face. “I’m not new at all,” he said. “I’m quite old.”
I smiled for him. “You’re supposed to say I look good as new, too.”
“You know already, Luna, that I never lie.”
“Maybe not, but you are full of shit,” I said.
Now he smiles. Maybe he likes to be insulted.
Kirsi set a glass of water on the bedside stand and left.
Winter squinted at me. “You’re a badass, as the basics call it.”
“What do you call it?”
“Warrior of virtue,” he said.
“I like yours better,” I said. “But, really, I was saving my ass as much as I was saving yours. We all just did what we could.”
“It was a field of valor,” he said.
“Did we win?”
“The battle was won, but war will continue. Chaos lost his morph army. We gained time. Net win, yes, but he will have a new plan soon enough.”
Winter was not the only one who was honest to a fault. “Chaos almost killed you. I’ve never felt more powerless in my life.”
His expression hardened. “He saw you. Chaos should not have been there. We do not know how he materialized out of thin air. I failed you, Luna.”
I didn’t want him to apologize. We already had enough awkward moments between us. “Yeah. So? He thinks I died, and he obviously did not know what I was. He’ll never see me again. And if he does, I can handle him.”
“One does not handle Chaos, certainly not you—not yet. You have a repressed survival instinct. Your compassion makes you think twice before hurting anyone and he’s a two-thousand-year-old Immortal, a Shadow warrior and an eager assassin. Killing’s not only what he does best, it’s what he does for a good time.”
“But I’m also immortal and I have my tricks, too,” I said.
He took my hands. “Luna, he will have you for breakfast if you give him the slightest of openings. You need my experience.”
I shook my head. “Jonas, it’s done. Killing me wouldn’t change a thing. If he even knows I’m alive, I’m no longer a threat. He had his chance. He didn�
�t take it. I’m insignificant now. Besides, we can’t be joined at the hip for eternity. And I won’t run to you every time I have a problem.”
“No, you need to run to me,” he said, matter-of-factly.
“Bah, it’s a non-issue. Tell me, what’s a Shadow warrior anyway?”
“To the one who saves your life, a warrior must always be true,” he said, reluctantly. “But what I tell you now, must stay within these walls.”
“For sure,” I said. “I can keep a secret.”
“Umbra is the highest order within the Immortal Councils. After a thousand years on Earth, an Immortal has the option to train and compete in the most grueling ways for the great honor. Very few take the challenge. Even fewer succeed. I can’t reveal more.”
“Both you and Chaos pledged to this fraternity and got in?”
“We did. Long ago.”
“He’s two thousand years old, right? How old are you?”
“Age is a number. An Immortal Shadow is ageless.”
“Evading a question and/or not answering directly are forms of dishonesty where I come from, just an FYI.”
“Oh, well I didn’t say I was Oregon honest,” he said. “That is a level even beyond Immortals.”
“Are you having a go at humor again? It’s honestly not that bad.”
His eyes glimmered. “It is time you rest.”
I put my hand on his wrist. “How long have you lived alone? It must get so lonely when you live forever.”
He took a deep breath and then let it out. “Loneliness, like anything, is something you improve at. It’s a skill you must and will learn.”
“I’m not sure that’s a fun lesson,” I said. “The thought of living forever, losing those I care about over and over, is not appealing. Like not at all.”
He leaned in and kissed me. I didn’t see that coming. The world stopped. My senses went berserk. His kiss was light years away from anything I’d experienced before, there was nothing safe or comforting about it, it was fierce and hot and wet like a forest fire or a sudden storm. It shook me.
I pulled away, bringing the back of my hand to my lips. “Why?”
“I didn’t want you to feel lonely.”
“I don’t. I didn’t.”
He grinned. “At least now you won’t have to wonder.”
How did he always know what I was thinking? The last thing I needed was a boyfriend who could read my mind. And we were not age compatible, not even a little. He probably went to the University of Babylon or Jericho Tech or the Cave Institute.
Deciding not to say any of those jokes, I just stared.
Someone looked in from the door—the ice queen herself, Chazona.
If I had balls, they would have shrunk.
“The Grand Magistrate would like a word,” she said.
For a moment, I feared she was talking to me, but then I realized she wouldn’t stoop to being a messenger girl to summon me. No, the only reason she’d deliver a message herself would be to pull Winter away.
She might be Immortal and a Magistrate, but she was also a woman, and she could not fool me. I’d know that deriding look anywhere. She was telling me I wasn’t worthy of Winter’s attentions and she’d make sure that I’d never have another opportunity.
Shots fired, but it was not necessary. I never intended to see him again.
Winter looked at me, raising an eyebrow.
“Go,” I told him. “We’re cool.”
He nodded. “The Council has released you of your oath, as well as of all and any future obligations,” he said. “You’re free to go.”
Wait, what? Just like that? I wanted to feel relieved, if not happy, that I could resume my life, hang with Lily again, spend the holidays with Grandma and then pack for Sweden, but something didn’t feel right.
Whatever, that was above my pay grade. Chaos seemed like a hot mess who could not plan a vacation, let alone an uprising, but I would not let the nagging feeling that it all had ended a little too neat ruin my freedom.
I was sure I’d find a way to forget that Chaos was still out there, and I was sure I’d eventually stop feeling Winter’s uninvited lips on my lips.
CHAPTER 28
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I had barely been home for two minutes when Lily texted me. Lucia was unwell, she said, and Lily had to take her to the hospital last night. Seconds later, I was back out on the street waiting for my Uber.
I had stayed in the Court guest quarters for three days and I still didn’t feel like myself. I was plagued with the impulse to take long naps and binge eat between naps. There was no food I turned away: clams, octopus, liver pâtés, brussels sprouts, everything that would have made me turn up my nose only days ago, I gobbled it all down while recuperating at the keep.
“Lily,” I said, trotting down the hospital hallway. “How’s Lucia?”
She took my hand to lead me to a small sitting area. “They don’t know, they worry she might be catatonic.”
I stopped walking. “Catatonic? Lil, how is that possible?”
Lily opened her arms wide, frustrated. “You tell me. One moment she thinks she has the flu, the next she just checks out. Unresponsive.”
So, the little flu spell Faion and I had cooked up worked. I hope we were not somehow responsible for her current state.
“She just sits there,” Lily went on, “awake, looking at… I don’t know, the wall, the window, some phantom? She won’t talk, she won’t move, she won’t eat if unless you feed her and then only soft foods.”
We sat down. I listened quietly as Lily went into the details of how she had found Lucia on the floor the night before and called 911, the tests the doctors had ordered, the inconclusive results.
“What are the odds?” she said in the end. “I mean, you went through the same thing with your mom.”
I knew Lucia would have a price to pay. I just hoped it would be later rather than sooner. Seeing Lucia and Lily like that broke my heart.
“Lily, about the other day… I don’t know what that was about, I’ve been a little out of sorts.” I paused, picking my next words carefully. “I had this irrational idea that there was an evil spirit in the house.”
She wasn’t as stunned as I thought she’d be. “Huh, that’s weird. That’s exactly what Lucia said before she stopped talking. She was like freaking out about how she’d been possessed and some dark spirit had come for her soul. La Llorona had stolen her soul, she kept saying.” Lily’s voice cracked. “I shouldn’t have made fun of her, Sophie. I’m the worst daughter.”
I took Lily’s hand in mine. “Lil, do me a favor. Stop going out with Rocco until Lucia is back to her old self. It’s not good to overload at a time like this.”
“That’s not even a problem, the jackass stood me up. His mom said he left town yet again.”
Lucky for him, because I was about to pay him a visit. I’d have made the bastard give me some answers about Lucia.
“We’ll get through this,” I told Lily, holding her hand. “Lucia just needs a rest. That lady overworks herself, getting involved with too many things all the time. She’ll be back to busting your butt in no time.”
I was bluffing. I had no idea if Lucia would ever recover, but I was determined to find a way.
“Sophie?”
A man’s voice. I turned. Big Rob, in a wheelchair. Big elastic bandage wrapped around his head, black eye, left arm in cast.
“Shit, Rob, what happened?”
Rob gave me a pained grin. “Two masked dudes kicked my ass.”
This couldn’t be happening. No, it had to be a coincidence.
“OMG, dude. Where?” Lily said.
“At the shop,” he said. “It happened so fast.”
I went to Rob and touched his right arm which seemed to be fine.
Rob winced. “That’s still a little bruised as well.”
“I’m sorry, Rob,” I said.
In more ways than one.
“I’m fine. Can
we possibly have a word in private, Sophie?”
“I’ll check in on Lucia,” Lily said, smiling to Rob before she left.
Rob’s face went pale. “Sophie, those men came for you.”
“When?” I said.
He studied my face. “That’s all you have to say? You look completely unfazed right now. What the hell?”
“No, I’m fazed, Rob, but I’m having a day. Lily’s mom suddenly fell into a catatonic state. You’re all beaten. It’s just a lot, you know.”
I was getting really good at bullshitting.
“Yeah, okay, now I’m sorry, Sophie. I’m having a day, too, a couple of them actually and, I don’t know, crazy shit is happening,” he said.
“Tell me about it,” I said.
“Last night,” he said. “That’s when they came in.”
Just as I thought. Same time Lily found Lucia on the floor. Someone had gone to great troubles to drag me out of seclusion and get me to the hospital.
“Thank god your friend showed up,” Rob added. “I might not be here today if it wasn’t for him.”
“Friend? What friend?”
“The tall guy, that dark-haired dude you chased out of the shop. He was still out there, stalking. Turned out to be a good thing for me.”
“Emmet,” I said.
“That’s him. Right, Emmet. I need to remember his name, but those thugs knocked my noggin pretty good. Good-looking man, that Emmet, you need to reconsider and give that homie another shot. He’s straight legit.”
I put my hand up to stop him. “Okay, Rob. He has his strengths. I’m glad he was there. Not for the stalking part, but the saving my friend part.”
“Lots of people showing up asking for you lately,” Rob said. “Including the manager. He really wants to talk to you.”
“That’s not good,” I said, knowing my excuses wouldn’t fly this time and I would soon be out of a job. “What about Emmet? Is he okay?”
“Okay? Are you serious? He’s like a black belt. If he shaved his head, he’d be a young Jason Statham. Totally handed those goons their asses. They ran out of the coffee shop like their hair was on fire.”
Sounds like Rob should date him.
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