My brain is still overloaded, my body still throbbing in pain, but I force myself to think things through. We were attacked by wraiths and somehow made it through the fire. We... Rev.
My breath catches. He should be here. I stand on wobbly feet, my heart pounding in my head. “Rev!”
Nothing. It’s so quiet here. So still. The sky is hazy red. How long had I been in the flames? It was just shy of dawn when we entered. Now, Rev is gone and it’s as bright as the sky gets in the Schorchedlands.
Behind the wall of flame, I know, is an army of wraiths seeking to rips us apart.
My hands shake. Did Rev not make it past the fire? No, how could he have failed that judgment? It’s me that has the soiled soul. He’s... well, he’s not perfect, but he’s good. Better than me.
“Rev!” I call again, louder. I know it’s a risk. I know it’s stupid given my circumstances. The wolf told us there was an ambush waiting on the other side of the flames. I know there were thousands of wraiths beyond the fire—how many of them would cross to find me here? At least a few, I’m guessing. And my magic is not exactly at full strength, even with Rev’s help.
And how far off is the Night Terror? She could be anywhere.
God, I need to find Rev.
“Ahh,” a voice calls joyously. “The princess decides to grace us with her presence.”
My wraith drifts over, his smoky magic billowing side to side like a dance. His body language is all casual. His expression is... odd.
“Wonderful,” I mutter under my breath.
“What’s wrong, lovely daughter of mine?” He smiles, big and obnoxious.
“Stop. Where is Rev?” I spit at him. “Have you seen him?”
“Ahh. So, you do not want to entertain my presence... until you want something from me? How is it that you living-beings are so ignorant all the time? How do you live that way?”
I stand and wipe the muck from my leather pants. “You’re damn right. I don’t trust you, so I don’t want you around me. But if you have information, I’ll take it.”
He heaves in a dramatic breath, placing his clawed hand over his chest. “And what, dare I ask, makes you think I would give you the information you seek?” His smile is cruel and amused as he leans in to peer into my eyes.
“I expect nothing from you,” I say. “Except perhaps to point me in the directionless likely to end in my death.”
He tsks at me. “Stubborn, stubborn child.”
I step toward the edge of the water barely moving with a tiny current, rustling up over the smooth black stones peppering the bank, glistening and lovely. I expected something awful here. I expected a war zone smothered with dead bodies and blood and poison. Not something beautiful and peaceful.
“Where is Rev?” I ask the wraith again. “Did he pass through the fire? Is he alive?”
“Yes,” he hisses.
I let out a long breath, trying to keep my mind calm. Okay, that’s good, I guess.
“Then, where is he?” I examine the area. Is he hiding somewhere, waiting for me? Did something happen?
The body of water between me and the mountain, where darkness gathers and smoke billows, is smooth and calm. No sign of a fight. No sign of Rev.
My stomach sinks even further.
The wraith purses his lips and floats around me. “You took longer to pass through. He didn’t think you made it. He moved on without you.” He shrugs as if that’s all there is to it. As if this news wouldn’t crush me.
My breath catches in my throat. “He thinks I’m dead?”
The wraith nods. Why does that hurt so badly? It’s what we both expected. It’s what probably should have happened.
Protect your soul.
I close my eyes and shake my head, unsure what to think.
Rev... moved on without me.
My fingers run along my bottom lip, where just minutes ago his soft lips met mine. I’d thought it meant something. As much as I knew I couldn’t fall for him without getting crushed all over again, some reckless part of me did anyway.
My shattered heart crumbles even more.
I blink rapidly, trying to wrap my mind around it. He’s out there, somewhere, looking for the spell book. There’s no sign of him, which means he’s already passed the swamp entirely.
“He was distraught over your demise, of course,” the wraith adds sympathetically. “But he still has a quest to complete.”
I ignore that comment. “How long did it take me to pass through the fire?”
The wraith shrugs. “A quarter of an hour, I’d guess.”
Fifteen minutes. In fifteen minutes, Rev gave up on me and continued alone?
Between the pain in my chest and the dizziness, I narrow my eyes at the wraith.
“Where did he go?” The words come out in a pathetic whisper.
“Through the swamps, toward the book, of course.”
Stones crunch beneath my feet. Tiny, shiny black pebbles scattered across the whole bank like a black beach. This is certainly the loveliest sight I’ve yet seen in this dark place. If I touch the shining black stones, will they splatter into blood? Or will they come to life and attack me like creepy little spiders?
I swallow, hyper-focusing on the lovely stones. Anything to avoid the reality that I’m alone. Again. He left me behind.
My heart and mind are numb, and I’ll keep it that way as long as I can manage. Just a little while longer and I can wallow in my pain.
I eye the little stones the way around the water, as far as I can see. “What are these?” I ask the wraith, gentler than before. I’m alone, Rev is nowhere to be seen, and he is the only ally I have now.
I don’t have the energy to continue to push him away. Not now. Not until I find Rev.
“Soul stones,” the wraith says quietly. “All that’s left of every soul that has ended in this terrible place.”
I purse my lips. “They’re beautiful. Are they... dangerous?”
“No. Unlike every other aspect of this terrible place, those are exactly what they appear. Useless but lovely. A reminder of what was lost and can never be reclaimed.”
My heart aches, heavy with loss. I don’t even know why. I don’t know these souls, but there is a weight here, a sense of loss, hanging over everything.
“This was the original resting place for all magical souls that do not pass on. It predates the Schorchedlands by millennia.”
Was there a time the Schorchedlands didn’t exist? Technically, I know that must be true—I’ve spoken to the creators of the walls, heard about the animals trapped inside at the time of the curse—but the thought that an afterlife existed before the Schorchedlands isn’t something I’d ever considered.
I squat down, examining the pebbles closer. Broken. Lost. But no longer afraid. Why am I so enamored by the little stones? Perhaps it’s because their fate will soon be mine.
Time is ticking away. I should be searching for my lost mate... because even if he’s moved on without me, he may still need my help. But my numb heart pounds slowly, my mind frozen on this one small aspect.
Souls of lost fae beneath my feet.
Something about this place draws me in. I want to lie beside the stones and join them in their final slumber. I finally risk a gentle touch of the stones piled on the bank of the smooth lake. They don’t attack me. They don’t hurt. They act as any other pebble. Smooth and pretty but lifeless.
Down the bank, at least fifteen feet away, a gentle white light flickers off of a stone. I narrow my eyes, moving toward the sight before I even decide to move. “What’s that?”
The wraith turns and drifts along with me. “What is what, child?”
It’s tiny, the little white gem hidden among the smooth black stones. I bend down and examine it before I dare touch it. I don’t know why this little stone has caught my attention so deeply. Around me, the souls of millions of fae scatter across the bank. But this one is so very different.
It looks like a diamond almost, but it flickers lig
ht all around. It reminds me of Rev. Of the Luminescent Court and that forest of clear-leaved trees bouncing light everywhere.
I drop to my butt beside the rare stone and look out over the water. Deceivingly simple, this part of the Schorchedlands. Wetlands like any other—besides the general darkness and eternally leafless trees. I know without a doubt that there will be more to it.
I push the pain from my mind, and on a whim, I grip the white gem between my fingers. I don’t want to leave it here for some reason.
The wraith’s attention shifts to my fingers as I stand. “What is that?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. It could be worthless for all I know, but it’s so out of place here in the Schorchedlands, even among the lovely soul stones.
He drifts closer, his eyes widening in horror. “Drop that, now!” he practically yells.
And yet, I don’t. I won’t. “Why?”
“Because it is not yours. It doesn’t belong to you,” he snarls.
Now, that has my attention. My mind sharpens. “What is it? You know where it came from?”
There is a gentle warmth radiating from the tiny stone, and it flickers light onto my palm.
“Yes,” he hisses. “You must leave it behind.”
I tilt my head, examining him. He’s angry, not afraid. Does the stone mean something to him? “Tell me or I’m going to bring it along.”
“It’s...” He pauses. “It’s from the Night Terror. It will tell her where you are at all times.” He winces.
I raise my eyebrows at his obvious lie. “You are good at withholding information, wraith. But not creating falsehoods on a whim.” I smirk and slip the stone into my pocket.
He snarls but says nothing more. Anger flickers in his eyes, but I only smile, happy to have something to use against him for the first time in our relationship. If he wants to tell me the truth about the jewel, then perhaps I’ll reconsider. Until then, it’s coming with me.
I walk back to the path, look out over the flat grey stones, and step out onto the first.
“Stop. Where are you going?”
“To find Rev.”
“He abandoned you, and you continue to follow him?”
“Yes,” I say, clearly and determined, as I skip over the stones, wondering what sick horrors are certain to find me in just moments.
Rev
Pain rages through my body. Every muscle clenching. I wriggle, trying to gain even an inch of movement, but I can’t. I’m trapped. And I know, without a doubt, that I am going to die.
It’s cold here, beneath the shade of the largest tree I’ve ever seen. It towers over the whole valley. There is a short mountain, streaming smoke into the sky. Somewhere, here, lies the spell book. The book I need to save the fae realm and become the hero I was so determined to be.
The selfish, brash, stupid hero.
My redemption is right there, just a few feet away—and there’s just one thing standing my way now.
The Night Terror.
Or, well, more specifically, her beast. My heart hammers in my chest as I stand face to face with the manticore. The roots of this massive tree have taken hold of me. It dragged me down below ground to some hidden cove where I can see nothing but blackness.
The tree’s roots crush my chest and the ground rumbles, dirt and stone crumbling beneath me. I cry out as the roots pull me down into the depths of the soil.
I can’t breathe. Can’t see. There is only pressure and pain and darkness.
Then, I’m in open stale air but my sight is still entirely blocked. I cough the dirt from my mouth and lungs. Part of me wonders if I shouldn’t just stop trying and let it consume me.
Suffocation would certainly be a gentler death than whatever the manticore or the Night Terror have planned.
The rustling I’ve come to associate with wraith magic sounds before me. “Reahgan,” I mutter.
His only response is nervous murmuring. I can’t see him, but the air shifts with his movements. Though he seems agitated, he’s not nearly as bothered that I am trapped in a tree from hell—literally—as he should be.
I don’t have the breath to even ask him what he’s doing or when he decided to turn on me. Perhaps it was when I fought him. When I flung him into the tar swamp and chose his murderer over him.
Even so, I didn’t think he’d purposefully harm me.
He’d call me a fool and find a way to murder my fated mate and expect me to understand. But... set up a trap? Have me taken by the nightmarish beast from the valley of judgment?
The manticore chuckles, low and slow. His hot breath huffs into my face, smelling of rotten flesh. Likely his food supply if he has one. I choke on the smell, and my already stressed lungs beg for release, burning. My vision flickers, my mind spins. I can’t... I....
My eyelids flutter.
This would be a kind death, I think.
The roots beneath me rumble with an amused chuckle. They clench tighter, causing a helpless cry to escape my lips, but just as I can feel the life seeping from my body, they loosen.
Breath rushes back into my lungs without my permission, and I gasp for breath.
“Such a fragile creature,” an echoing voice rumbles from behind the tree. Beneath it? Inside it? I can’t tell.
“No better than humans,” the manticore agrees.
“Only a tad more useful.” The voice drags out the words deliberately.
“Not this one, surely?” the manticore growls. I continue to suck in breaths like my life depends on it.
“Oh, this one most of all. Aside from our little blond pet, that is.”
The manticore prowls around me, the pads of his massive paws gentle on the ash-like dirt of the underground cove. It must be a large cavern for him to walk freely, but it feels small. Filled with smells of soil and decay.
“He is no different from any other,” he growls, displeased.
“True,” the bodiless voice hums. “He is more powerful than some, less than many. He is easy to manipulate. A complete fool...”
“Thanks.” I choke at her list of insults.
“There are many more, if you’d like?” the voice singsongs.
Something shifts in front of me, and I blink, trying to see anything. The Night Terror must be here, but where?
I jump as a sharp claw presses to the skin of my cheek, dragging down gently.
“No? All right then.”
I swallow, and the tree behind me rumbles with laughter.
“This one’s value comes because the child we require loves him.”
The manticore growls.
“She will do anything to save her beloved mate, she’s proved that time and time again. Regardless of the fact that he doesn’t even feel the same. Pathetic.”
“That’s not true,” I spit. Even knowing it's useless to converse with these creatures.
“Ahh, would you sacrifice yourself then? Would you allow her to depart from these lands and leave you behind?”
My stomach sinks. I... My breath catches. Yes, I decide. That quick. I would if I had to. But I always knew she wouldn’t go. There was nothing I could do to force her through those gates without me. Not without...
“Ahh, yes. All you need, child... is to die.”
My heart sinks. Did she just complete my thoughts?
“Would you do so willingly?” the voice purrs. “If it were to save her?”
A jolt of warning quivers through me. She’s baiting me, I know. But between the fear and guilt and pain, it’s so hard not to go there. Would I? And if I wouldn’t... what does that say about me?
Selfish. Stupid. Pathetic.
“Caelynn, your mate who sacrificed her whole life to allow you to keep yours. She could live. She could earn the freedom she’s always craved. You could give her that. All you have to do is... cease to be.”
A sharp pain shoots through my whole body from something sharp pressing between my vertebrae. I clench my jaw, and my mind spins out of control. I can’t think. I can’t...<
br />
“Hey,” Reahgan cries through the darkness. “That was not part of the deal.” But his quick passion flames out quickly.
“There were no deals, you stupid wraith. You are no better than them. An infant in our eyes. Naïve and shortsighted. Death is a mercy. You will come to understand that soon enough.”
The pressure on my back eases, and I gasp for breath again. I have to think. I have to...
The pain hits me again. Only, this time, it’s inside of me. Poison rushes through my veins, burning through every inch it touches, and very quickly, it’s all of me.
“I will not kill you, child,” the voice whispers. “Not yet.”
Caelynn
I skip over the smooth stones, muscles weighing heavier and heavier as I approach the center of these dark lands. I’ll be glad to breathe fresh air again...
My heart sinks when I realize that I never will. My chest tightens, making it harder and harder to force in much-needed oxygen.
Black spots pepper my vision. But I move because that’s what I must do. I’ll help Rev one final time before letting him go forever.
Maybe I should be glad for those moments together, those little fragments of time we were able to carve out of an otherwise horrific experience, but my heart is so broken I can’t... All I can think is that he left.
That it’s over. I may never see him again.
I swallow and push those thoughts back again. I can’t right now. Rev will soon face the Night Terror. My mate. Live a good life for me, I mentally ask of him. That’s what I want.
That’s all that’s left to fight for—someone else’s life. God, that’s hard.
Sudden pressure on my lungs causes me to cough. I stop, one hand over my mouth and one on my stomach.
I’ll never feel the sun on my skin. I never see a sincere smile.
I swallow through the lump in my throat and fight back a sob. Shit. Why now? Why did it have to hit me now?
Rev isn’t here. He’s gone. And I don’t know for sure if he’s okay. And I’m stuck in this place forever. My life is over.
And I’m so damn tired.
“Child?” my wraith whispers, his voice absent of his usual snarky tone.
Soul of Thorns (Wicked Fae Book 3) Page 12