by JA Wren
“Death,” Rayna whispered, her eyes flooding with tears as the memory of her creepy old neighbor came back to her. She hadn’t rambled nonsense at her, but rather a prophecy. “Death will claim all the souls.”
Seven
Rayna’s gut felt like someone had sucker punched her, knocked the wind right out of her. She wanted to double over in agony, but she kept her spine straight. Determined not to show her fear as long as she could help it.
“Can you take my powers?”
“What?” Nyx asked, her brows drawing together.
“My powers. Can you take them? Get rid of them somehow, or—or suppress them.” Her hands were shaking as she stared down at them, imagining the black and red oozing from her fingers. Already the red glow in her wrists seemed to be blazing brighter. “There has to be a way to get it out of me.”
Nyx shook her head slowly. “It is part of you, my dear daughter. You would perish without your gifts.”
Gifts? She almost scoffed, barely keeping it from spilling from her. “They feel more like a curse.”
Rayna turned to head for the door, desperate to escape, but Nyx caught her wrist, clutching her with an ice cold, hard grip right over the red sparks in her veins. “Wait. We have more to discuss.”
Unless Nyx could get rid of her powers, she didn’t want to hear another word. Couldn’t stick around for another second. Didn’t want to face the fact she might bring the whole fucking world to its knees.
She really was the harbinger of death.
Nyx’s face sharpened, her voice going firm. “You need to prepare.”
“If you actually meant that, you would’ve given me all my memories back a long time ago.”
“Memories of your old life wouldn’t have helped you with this. The whispers of war started during your time in the stars. It’s been brewing, hovering right on the cusp for the past hundred years. But with your return—”
Nyx broke off and shook her head.
“What?” Rayna asked, desperate for answers. Any way to prevent what she’d seen in that globe.
“You will be hunted, Rayna.” Nyx’s lips thinned, those black veins leaking down her cheeks again. “And Asher cannot protect you on his own. That’s why I sent the invitation for Labyrinth Academy. You were meant to be safe here, protected within these walls, but clearly that is no longer the case. Not after Apollo’s attack.”
She took a step closer, crowding Rayna. “He will come after you again. Others will follow, seeking only to use the powers bestowed on you.”
Rayna shivered. She already suspected that much, but hearing it from her mother was somehow a whole lot scarier.
“While I wish I could protect you, I vowed to remain uninvolved in this war. Shielding you from it would break that vow, and I cannot—” Nyx cut off with a choked sound. “Believe me when I say that would only bring further devastation.”
She had to believe Nyx, even if everything inside her was screaming not to. No lie could be uttered inside Hale’s office, which meant Nyx truly believed she was doing the right thing by keeping her distance.
Whatever her reasons.
“And how am I supposed to prepare?”
She was basically a walking apocalypse ready to detonate any second and destroy the world. Forget zombies. There’d be no way to survive her. Everything would be eviscerated in her wake.
Cities would fall.
Wildlife would perish.
Everything would be swallowed by the black tar. Strangers and those she loved. Gone. Nothing but Rayna, alone with the devastation she’d caused.
How the hell was anyone supposed to prepare for that kind of horror?
Nyx turned and paced across the office, her black cloak trailing behind her. She picked up the dusty wooden box Rayna had seen when she first entered Hale’s office and carried it back to where she stood.
Despite the terror coursing through Rayna, she had to admit it was pretty, even covered in layers of old dirt and a few stray cobwebs. Intricate patterns—runes?—had been carved into the surface, the wood so dark it almost looked black.
“Please tell me that’s not Pandora’s Box.” After everything else she’d heard, it didn’t seem all that unlikely. And the last thing she wanted was to unleash more horrors onto the world before she demolished it.
“No.” Nyx held out the box. “This belongs to you.”
“What is it?”
“Your past. And your future.”
More damn riddles.
Nyx stared at the box as she spoke. “Rayna, whatever you think of me, I truly want what’s best for you. I have other responsibilities and loyalties, but you are, and always will be, my first priority. You are my chosen heir, and in time that title will bring your own responsibilities and difficult choices.”
She looked up, meeting Rayna’s eyes. “I love you, dear daughter. That may be hard for you to accept right now, but perhaps with time you will come to see that what I did was for the best. For everyone, but mostly for you.”
She indicated the box with a tilt of her chin. “This may clarify things for you. Help you find your way when I cannot be there for you. But you must promise to only open it when you’re ready.”
“Ready for what?”
Nyx smiled, a small, secretive curve of her night-sky lips. “To remember your past. And to embrace your destiny, your future, and your fate, as a Primordial goddess.”
Yeah, as much as she wanted to know everything from her past with Asher, she doubted she’d ever be ready to face that kind of future. Not if it meant accepting her role as destroyer of worlds and bringer of death.
She took the box anyway. Better to have it than—
The moment she touched the carved wooden surface, a flood of warmth engulfed her, lighting her from the tips of her fingers all the way down to her toes. She wanted to open that box more than anything. More than her next breath. More than figuring out how to avoid destroying the world.
But Nyx had said only when she was ready.
She had to get out of there. Far away from Nyx’s gaze so she could open the box in private.
Clutching it tight between her hands, she nodded at her mother, hoping she appeared normal. Not like she was desperate to flee and rip off the lid as soon as possible. “Thanks,” she forced out. “Am I free to go now?”
Nyx sighed and gave a small smile. “Yes. Though I would dearly love to spend time with you. When you’re ready.”
In other words, once she’d opened the box and gotten all her memories back?
She nodded and pasted a smile on her face. Her fingers were starting to twitch as she glanced over at Hale. “Is Goldie at the door gonna bite me?”
Hale held up a finger. “One moment, please, Miss Knox.” She mumbled something under her breath and a sharp hiss followed by a click came from behind Rayna. “There you go.”
Rayna turned just in time to find the golden snake slithering from the keyhole, his scales glittering as he slid down the door. His thin, shimmering body barely made a sound as he slinked across the room and disappeared under Hale’s desk.
Weird.
Nothing in this place was ever really normal.
Juggling the wooden box, now almost burning her skin it was so hot, Rayna freed a hand to open the door. Gingerly. Just in case the snake decided she looked good enough to bite after all.
“Miss Knox?” Hale called before Rayna could slip through the doorway. “Don’t forget the new familiar. The WillowWisp needs to go within the week. By the night of the Solstice Ball. No extensions this time.”
“Sure.”
With a final nod and a glance at her mother, who was replacing her hood over her head, Rayna started down the hall. She needed to find somewhere quiet. Isolated. Somewhere she could open the box without an audience.
By the time she exited the admin building, the box was searing her skin, her hands sticky with sweat as she clutched it closer. As she hit the cobble stone path, a whisper ghosted along the air.
&nbs
p; Rayna.
She twisted around, searching for a student or perhaps a professor who’d called her. But the campus was empty. Eerily empty, in fact. And dark. Apparently, she’d been in Hale’s office longer than she thought because the sky was almost completely black, barely any moonlight glowing through the clouds. Not a single star to be seen.
Rayna.
The damn whisper came again and she spun on her heel, narrowing her eyes at the huge trees surrounding the path. Was someone hiding behind a massive trunk? Evelyn and her little minions perhaps playing some kind of trick on her? Ready to corner her again?
The buildings glowed thanks to the lights flickering inside, but only the odd lantern lit the path.
Dark enough anyone could be hiding in the shadows.
She swore she caught movement between the trees. A slight shift in the darkness.
Was someone there? Or were her powers kicking in without her even realizing it? They only seemed to work when her emotions were on high alert. Right then, she had enough adrenaline pumping inside her veins to power an entire city.
Rayna.
Shit. This was why she needed to get better at hand-to-hand combat. Without her powers, she was useless against any threat that might be hiding.
“Okay, this isn’t funny,” she said, pissed at whoever the hell was pranking her. And it had better be a prank. She didn’t want to consider the alternative.
No one answered, not that she really expected them to.
Rolling her eyes to smother her underlying terror, she headed down the path, then squinted when she caught a faint glow. It was growing brighter, slightly larger as it came flying through the trees, bobbing left and then right.
Relief washed through her, flooding her icy body with a blanket of warmth.
“Hey, Tink. Where you been?”
The Wisp buzzed around her head, spinning in circles so fast a halo of light wrapped around Rayna’s head. An image swam in her mind, Tink with her friends or family or whatever they were exactly. She hadn’t quite figured that out yet. Hard to tell when they were simply clusters of little flames swarming around together.
The Wisp zoomed faster around her head, and the image setting changed, now showing Tink flying through the empty gym.
Rayna groaned. “Yeah, I know I said I’d meet you there, but I was summoned by Hale.”
She swore the little Wisp shuddered even as she slowed down to a gentle spin. The image shifted again, this time showing Asher walking through the tunnel to the academy gardens.
Tink stopped her circles and perched on the tip of Rayna’s nose, her little flame body bright against the darkness.
Rayna shrugged and started walking down the path as she spoke. The need to open the box was growing again now that her fear had eased. But opening it didn’t only mean facing her memories, but whatever future lay ahead of her.
What the hell had Nyx meant by fate and destiny?
Was she ready for that?
“Asher’s doing an errand for Hale,” she explained to Tink. “Something about a new phoenix shifter arriving at the academy.” A thought struck. “Wait, did you help out with the trials today?”
Tink did a backflip off her nose before repositioning herself, which Rayna took for a yes. “Apparently, the new phoenix freaked out during the trials. I mean, I can’t blame the firebird, but—” She transferred the wooden box to her other arm and blessedly cool air breezed across her overheated skin. “You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?”
The Wisp’s teensy rounded cheeks seemed to brighten in a sort of flamey blush. She slid off Rayna’s nose as her head bobbed in answer. If a flaming fairy could be ashamed, Tink was definitely guilty.
Rayna reached out and gently stroked the Wisp’s head. For a scary creature that lured folks to their doom, she really enjoyed the odd cuddle. “I’m not judging. That’s why you’re here, at the academy, isn’t it? To do a job in the trials?”
Tink perked up instantly, doing a swirl through the air before landing on the wooden box. She cocked her tiny head and Rayna laughed. It seemed WillowWisps could feel shame but they sure didn’t feel it for long.
Rayna.
The whisper came again and Tink darted up from the box with what Rayna was sure was a squeak. She didn’t have time to dwell on the fact she’d never heard the Wisp make a sound before, because Tink went kinda crazy.
She bobbed above the box, then zipped this way and that. After zigzagging around it, she landed on top and leaned her flaming head down to the dusty surface.
Rayna.
Tink jerked back and fell on her butt, then turned wide eyes on Rayna.
“Oh God, it really is coming from inside, isn’t it?”
Tink nodded. Slowly. Which definitely did not bode well.
Dare she open it?
She didn’t think she was truly ready to face her future…but the box might also hold the answers as to how she could prevent destroying the world. That was worth it, right? Honestly, she might never feel ready to face that kind of destiny, so she may as well prepare herself.
Just as Nyx had said.
The box, and whatever was inside it, had the potential to save the world.
Time to stop being such a fragile princess and face her fears head on. She wasn’t a damsel. And she’d do whatever she had to in order to prevent being a one-woman-walking-apocalypse.
“Know anywhere quiet where we can open this sucker without someone watching us?” Last thing she needed was an audience.
Tink took off at high speed, forcing Rayna to run after her. She practically tripped over the cobbles to keep up, panting like she’d run a marathon. Okay, she really did need to work on her cardio.
No wonder she was flunking PE.
The barn came into view and Tink disappeared inside, vanishing into the pit of darkness.
Of course. Students weren’t allowed inside there at night, so it was sure to be free of any gawkers. Rayna followed, momentarily disorientated by the inky blackness before the realm inside glowed to life.
Literally.
She’d never been inside the barn at night, thanks to those aforementioned rules, but everything shone like a bucket of glow-in-the-dark paint had been spilled. It took the enchanted forest thing to a whole new level.
Sure, life had become a lot more magical since she’d arrived at Labyrinth Academy, but glowing lichen and moss covering the trees was something else. Beautiful. Just like the flower Delilah had grown from the earth.
Rayna edged closer, squinting at the array of neon colors. It kinda looked like a rave or techno-nightclub had thrown up in the forest. Little mushrooms in various shades of green and blue decorated the nearest tree, then a staircase of orange and pink mushrooms climbed up the trunk. The moss on the ground glimmered a rich green that somehow managed to be dark and glowy at the same time.
“Tink?” Rayna called, searching through the plentiful lights to find the Wisp.
Her eyes caught on the nearby stream, the water spotted with luminous white fish. A bubble of laughter crept up her throat, despite the long damn day and everything she’d learned.
“This is unreal.”
She walked deeper into the forest, still searching for Tink. No wonder the Wisp loved to visit this place. Nothing looked the same under the cover of night. Nothing looked normal or as if it belonged in a regular forest.
The trees drooped, almost like weeping willows, their long, thin branches shining bright green, blue, and purple. She passed colorful mushrooms in every shape and size. Dimly lit leaves and bright, alien-looking flowers turning towards her like they were drawn by her presence.
Light seeking darkness, she thought.
If she destroyed the earth, would this realm perish with it, or would it be safe from her? Would Tink and her kind? Could they flee to their own realm—Faeland, as Hale had called it—if this one was devastated?
She hated the thought of ripping this piece of paradise from the earth. No matter what, she had t
o find a way to prevent that. Everyone seemed to think the answer was to harness her powers, but so far, they’d been scarce at best. Relying on her emotions to get them to work was a poor plan.
Besides, if she got them to work, that just made her a more tempting weapon in this stupid war.
She wouldn’t allow it.
Nyx had made it clear she was stuck with these powers. No way to get rid of them, which probably meant no way to suppress them. Right now, the box might be her only option.
Rayna set it on the ground, careful of the tiny glowing critters scattering under a fallen branch. She sat in front of the wooden chest, running her fingers over the intricate carvings and wondered what the designs meant.
Tink finally reappeared, perching on her shoulder and nestling under Rayna’s hair. Almost like she was scared of whatever was inside.
Yeah, that made two of them.
Rayna.
The voice was louder now, no longer a mere whisper.
“Ready or not,” she said as she reached for the little latch with shaky fingers.
Eight
“Ouch!” Rayna snatched her hand back and instinctively stuck her injured finger in her mouth, a coppery tang teasing her tongue and making her recoil. Ugh, she hated the taste of blood. “Seriously,” she said, popping her finger free of her mouth. “Is everything in this place bloodthirsty?”
The latch had pricked her skin and drawn a single drop, but at least it snapped open, the box releasing a tiny hiss. She eyed the lock, hoping there wasn’t a miniature version of Goldie the snake slithering inside the box.
Tink brushed her flamey body against Rayna’s cheek, then slunk back behind her hair, peeking around her ear to get a look at the box.
Kinda wishing she could do the same, Rayna reached out and lifted the lid. Slowly. Carefully. Lest something else demand a blood sacrifice. She’d had enough of that for one day. Actually, she’d had enough of that for a lifetime.
Black smoke seeped from the small gap between the lid and the box, leaking out over the glowing moss.
“Oh, yeah, that’s not ominous at all,” Rayna snarked, squinting harder at the box.