"So what will you do with Avalon once you get him? What will happen to him?" I asked, devising a plan while the battle scene played through my head.
"He will be sacrificed, of course. Lucan will sacrifice him and take his magic. Simple," he said with finality.
"And me?" I asked bravely, not afraid of the answer.
"You get everything you want. You get Kiran and you get a crown. What more is there?" He laughed again, the short, twisted laughter of the very depraved.
"What more is there?" I stomped my foot and the floor shook underneath the force of my magic. "How about my brother? And my grandfather! How about the people I love remaining unharmed?" I screamed.
"Eden, these are the consequences you pay for happiness, don't you get that? Kiran did this for you. This is all being done for you. Just relax, he'll be home soon, and then you can talk to him about it." Sebastian rolled his eyes.
"You know what?" I asked sarcastically. "I don't think I can wait. I think I'm going to go find him right now." I paused for a dramatic moment, "Yep, yes, I'm going to go find him right now."
"Um, no you're not," a flash of worry crossed Sebastian's face and he moved in front of the elevator doors as if that would stop me.
"Get out of my way Sebastian. You do not want to meet my magic," I threatened in a deep, growly voice.
"Eden, I don't want to fight you, but I have been ordered not to let you leave," he crossed his arms and stared me down.
"Oh, really? Then they really should have sent more than just you," I looked at him with pity for the smallest of seconds before sending the force of my magic at him; knocking him back against the elevator doors, bending the metal and opening them several inches.
Sebastian stood up quickly, sending magic my way. The burst hit me in the stomach knocking me back, but not over. I countered with another burst of magic that he dodged by diving behind the kitchen island and my magic hit the range above the stove sending stainless steel flying. I knocked over the refrigerator with my magic before Sebastian could react and he was pinned for a moment before throwing the huge piece of appliance off of him and jumping to his feet again.
"You're going to have to do better than that Eden!" Sebastian screamed at me, sending magic my way in short bursts. Some hit me, some missed, but I dove behind the couch to stay away from the pain.
"Fine, but try to remember you asked for it!" I shouted at him. I stood up quickly to face him and held out my palm, drawing his magic to me. He fought me, sending his magic in painful waves, but they were weakening as I drew out his magic and I was only growing stronger.
I stood up straighter, as he crumpled to the ground in a weakened heap on the floor. I continued to pull and drain every last ounce of magic, leaving him completely weakened and defenseless.
"Like I said, they should have sent more than just you," I wanted to finish him, to use his pathetic magic-less state and destroy him. I had never been more vengeful in my life and I was blind with rage, but I couldn't. I wasn't a murderer. Even when he was an accomplice to the destruction of my family, I couldn't kill him.
He groaned from the floor, reaching a tired, shaking hand out to me. "Don't stop now Eden," he mumbled humorously. "Finish it," he demanded, spitting with the force of his words.
"No," I said, venom dripping in the one syllable. "You deserve a fate worse than death," I lifted him off of the ground with magic, forcing him to look me in the eye, "If something happens to my brother, if one little hair on his head is damaged, I will hunt you down Sebastian."
He smirked at me, hoping for the death he thought I was promising.
"I will hunt you down," I continued, "and make you watch as I do this same little number on Amelia. Then you will know what it's like to be responsible for the death of your sibling," I watched the panicked hysteria flood his face before I threw him against the wall, crashing him into the huge flat-screen TV and rendering him unconscious.
I left him on the floor, in a puddle of blood and raced to the elevators, using magic to accelerate the speed. I was to the bottom floor in a second and out onto the street in two more. It had started to snow heavily by now and the streets were blanketed with fresh, pure snow. I ran across the street to the first fast car I could find and blew open the door with magic.
I started the car the same way and was racing down the streets of Omaha as fast as the car would let me go. I had to get to the farm. I had to help save the Resistance. I was the one who had made them vulnerable. I was the one who had opened them up for attack. And I was even still the one they were fighting to protect.
But I had to be the one to save Avalon. I couldn't let him take my place as sacrifice. He was destined for greatness, not to die meaninglessly at the hands of Lucan. Something had gone terribly wrong. This was not the future I had been promised.
I was what went wrong. I was the problem. If it weren't for me Avalon wouldn't be in danger, Amory wouldn't have to be fighting to save his grandchild and their group of loyal followers wouldn't be martyring themselves to right my wrong.
But more than me, Kiran was to blame. Kiran, the man I had envisioned a lifetime of perfect happiness with. The man who had just asked me to marry him. The man who had promised such sweet lies. He was to blame.
I leaned over in the car and vomited again. How could I have been so blind? How could I have been so naive?
He was a snake. He promised me happiness in one hand and betrayed me at the deepest level with the other. Happiness was not only impossible for us, it was impossible with this life. This life that suddenly held no meaning without my grandfather. Without my brother. With the blood of hundreds of people on my hands.
I would rectify this. I would make Kiran pay. I had no other choice. I would save Avalon and then I would finish Kiran, for good. And not have another thought about him again.
43.
By the time I reached the farmhouse, visibility was near zero. The heavy snow fall had turned into a blizzard and road conditions were dangerous. I threw caution to the wind, however, hitting the gravel road with my foot pressed firmly down on the gas pedal. I used magic to keep the car on the road and took the long drive in seconds.
I slammed on the brakes, jumping out of the car before it had completely stopped. Unnoticed, I stood in mortified awe for a moment watching the battle from afar. The discarded car rolled into a ditch. I could hear the windshield wipers squeak against the glass, as I decided how I would fit myself into the destruction.
The snow blurred the lines between Immortals fighting each other. The metal barn doors had been blown off, and the florescent lights from the structured ceiling bounced an eerie glow onto the wall of snow. Blasts of magic and explosions of electricity were the only other light sources in the grey blizzard of mayhem.
I stumbled forward, not knowing where to start. There were too many people in trouble, too many guards to fight. A tear slipped from the corner of my eye; in the pit of my stomach grew the hopelessness, a feeling, only hours ago I thought I had banished forever.
Angelica, the wise, old woman lay pinned underneath the magic of a brutish Titan, his lips curled into the satisfaction of dominance. The image of the kind woman with bright violet eyes, twitching in pain, her long grey hair loosed and highlighted with crimson blood, broke something inside of me. In that moment I lost a good piece of me, a piece that stood for justice and virtue.
In its place grew the darkness of hate and righteous anger. A sticky, consuming cloud of malicious vengeance spread through my veins like wild fire and clarity found me. Dangerous, vengeful clarity cleared my mind and I let out a feral battle cry, announcing that I had arrived.
I started with Angelica, blasting the Titan away from her and slamming him against the white porch of the farmhouse. I heard his bones break and the crash of the wood from the porch echoed on the muffled, blizzarded battlefield.
I watched the Titan stand up slowly, healing his body while trying to identify the source who had sent him flying. I pulled the roof abov
e him down before he could heal any further and then reached out my palm, draining his magic faster than I ever had before.
I wanted to run to Angelica, to move her, to help her, but there were others in more peril. Fiona, Ryder's wife was facing two Titans who were laughing back and forth as if her destruction was a joke. I was at her side in seconds, sending the two of them flying and taking their magic before they hit the ground.
There were more, nameless Resistance members, that I hadn't taken the time to meet or hadn't had the chance, but needed my help. The farm was surrounded by the brutal Guard, and the more Titans I destroyed, the more seemed to pop up, greedily taking the lives of the innocent.
I was furious, blinded by rage. I was the collector of Immortal magic, taking from those who killed so easily and saving those helpless souls that I had betrayed. I moved from one fight to the other, knowing the heart wrenching truth, that as soon as I moved on they would be caught in another unwinnable battle. But I had no choice. I had to find Avalon, I had to protect Avalon.
In the back of my mind, I thought fleetingly over what I would do, should I meet Kiran in the middle of this. I wanted revenge. I wanted death. With so many innocent lives staining my hands, what was one more righteous kill?
The Titans just kept coming. They surrounded me time and time again, three or four of their kind tried to stop me, but I couldn't even hesitate before draining them of their life's blood and leaving them weakened and incapacitated on the frozen ground.
The sky continued to wage it's own war against the earth. The blizzard intensified, the snow blinding visibility and the wind whipping violently through the open fields of the farm land.
I couldn't see Avalon, I would have to feel where he was. I paused for a moment over my latest victim and turned my attention to him. He was fighting Kiran, a well-matched battle on its own, but Kiran had the help of a dozen guards. Avalon was losing. These guards were the cream of the crop, their magic not quite so easily accessible. I finally recognized their location through the wall of snow. They were back by the horses, through the metal barn.
I turned, intending to find Avalon but a Titan stood in my way. His arms were crossed with the look of intended evil, a dark mask in the ghostly glow of the snow.
"Are you the one causing so much trouble?" he growled in a dementedly-amused voice.
"You're going to want to get out of my way," I threatened, finding myself severely irritated with the interruption.
Deep, rumbling laughter filled the white void, causing my skin to crawl and my stomach to churn. And before I could react he had sent me flying across the driveway and into the frozen garden. I landed deep inside the snow, my muscles and bones jarred from the impact with the arctic ground.
I took a moment to recover and it was a moment too long. The Titan was on top of me again sending the full force of his magic raining down. I screamed out, writhing in agony.
My pain only encouraged the Titan and he pressed his magic down harder. I screamed again, only with magic behind it, and the Titan was pushed back several feet. I stood up, the weight of his electricity still oppressive, but lessened.
I reached my hand out in front of me, and forced my magic to resurface. I sent the man to the ground with a forceful blow, calling upon dozens of stolen magics. Surprised, the man looked up at me, but the advantage was already mine. With one hand pinning him to the ground, I used the other to pull his magic, claiming it as my own.
The process was slow. He was a fighter and had no intention of losing to me. I was growing impatient. The longer I stood there with that man, the longer Avalon had to fight alone. Finally, the last drops of electricity were gone from the arrogant Titan's blood and I moved on, already forgetting about my discarded enemy.
I ran into the barn, my high heel boots skidding across the wet concrete floor. I stopped, afraid to move, afraid to go forward. Amory and Lucan faced off amid the turmoil that was once an organized meeting place. Back and forth went their magic, from king to oracle, from ancient to tyrant.
I didn't know whether to jump into the fight, or continue on and find Avalon. Amory could surely take care of himself. But Lucan looked determined to do what no other Immortal had yet been able to, to kill him. I couldn't make myself move forward, this fight would decide all of the others.
"Give up, old man!" Lucan shouted from across the barn.
"Will you finally put me out of my misery?" Amory asked, his voice full of dark amusement.
"I'd be glad to," Lucan smirked, a purely evil version of Kiran's. He sent a burst of magic towards Amory that exploded at his feet, a trick I had yet to learn. Amory walked out of the smoke, unharmed, sending one back at Lucan that landed just to the right of him. "Think of it this way; if I get your ancient magic, there will be no need for me to sacrifice your grandson."
"There would be no need, but that won't stop you from murdering him anyway," Amory accused, the humor gone from his voice.
"You're probably right about that," Lucan agreed. "And the rest of your family, for that matter."
"Not Eden," Amory reminded him. "Eden is safe."
Lucan didn't respond verbally, but a flash of hatred turned his expression from carefully entertained to menacingly hostile. In response, Amory stood up taller and took a step forward.
They fired more magic simultaneously, and the electricity met in mid air. The two streams of magic became palpable energy fields caught in a road block in the middle of the room. Their energy fields popped and crackled the longer they stood locked together, growing stronger with more force fed to them with each passing moment.
I decided to join the battle. If I knocked Lucan off balance for even a moment Amory would be able take the advantage. I stepped forward, raising my hand strategically and building my magic in order to strike.
A blast to my back destroyed all hope of taking the upper hand, however. I had been paying too close of attention to Lucan and left myself vulnerable from behind. I stumbled forward, catching myself with my hands on the smooth concrete floor.
I rolled over, throwing out my electricity before I could even see who had attacked me. My magic found its mark on a tall, dark-haired Titan who fell to the ground equally as surprised as I was. I was to my feet and over him before he could recover. I didn't even bother with the pretense of extending my hand and just started extracting his magic before he knew what was happening.
A man's deep, savage scream from behind me, distracted me and when I whirled around hoping Amory had finally dealt Lucan a death blow, I was devastated to see the scenario I had imagined, reversed.
Lucan stood triumphantly over Amory, a sinister victory grin twisting his lips, his eyes wild and drunk with power. He was draining Amory of his magic. He was taking the original life blood of this race and grafting it to his own corrupt and prejudice bloodline.
"No!" I screamed, forgetting about the half-drained Titan laying on the ground and racing at Lucan, pushing him with my bare hands but finding him unmoving.
I looked down at the anguished, onyx eyes of my grandfather and lost myself in despair.
"Get away from him!" I screamed again, sending my magic full force at Lucan, but not even phasing him.
"He was trying to save you," Lucan laughed out loud; a dark, haunting laugh that would cloud my nightmares for the rest of my life.
"Eden...." Amory whispered through clenched teeth. I knelt at his side, taking his hand in mine, not knowing what else to do.
Suddenly and quite surprisingly, a sharp stream of electricity began flowing through our grasped palms. I tried to jerk away, overcome by the force of magic. Amory gripped my hand tighter, pulling me with unexpected strength back to the floor.
I looked up at him, into his black endless eyes and realized he was giving me his magic. Lucan was taking what he could, but Amory was still in control of his destiny.
I pressed my palm tighter into his and braced myself against the force of Amory's electricity rushing into my blood. His magic was different t
han mine: lighter, deeper, older. His was the first magic. The ancient magic and it fused with mine in a jolting and exhausting cataclysm.
Sweat poured from my forehead, and my arms and legs began to tremble violently. Amory had more magic than anyone I had ever encountered or taken from. His magic seemed endless, filling my blood for what seemed well beyond the capacity I would be able to hold.
Lucan stood above us in arrogant triumph. Whether he knew Amory was splitting his magic or not I didn't know, but either way the evil king was pleased to finally end the long life of the last Oracle.
The flow of magic slowed and Amory leaned his head back against the cold, hard floor with a peaceful sigh. I held tightly to his hand, hoping to give him back his magic, to revive him and help him fight again.
Lucan stumbled backwards, drunk with power and unstable from Amory's magic. I, too, felt wobbly and dazed.
"It is finished, Eden," Amory whispered, closing his eyes when I tried to return his magic and nothing happened. "It's time, my child. It's time for me to go home," he smiled peacefully, and his face relaxed into the ancient man that had lived the kind of life that was happy to end. "Carry on, Eden. Carry on and finish the task." And then he was gone.
44.
"No!" I screamed, over and over again, banging my fist against Amory's chest, refusing to give up, refusing to believe that he was dead.
Tears streamed in unrelenting waves of desperate emotion. I laid my head against his chest, hoping for the faint sound of a heart beating for survival but there was nothing, not even the echo of a life once lived. I kept my head against Amory's still warm body, breathing him in one more time.
"Eden, Love, it's time to go," Kiran called to me from above, in his soft, accented voice.
I looked up at him, confused for a moment. The world around me spun and I caught myself against the cold concrete, afraid I would vomit. Kiran held out a hand to me, as if offering help.
Hopeless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series) Page 32