Crying through the pain, I pulled harder. Aaryon started to convulse under my touch and I knew I was close, I felt his essence weakening and I heard Dalca getting closer, I saw the light flickering through the fabric veiling my world and Illarion’s.
Tears spilled onto my cheeks as I blinked once then twice, I was there, I could see Illarion now, he was getting clearer.
He was holding onto me, his blood and mine and at the center, a small, blinding ball of light was forming: the door.
When I looked over Troy’s shoulder to where Dalca’s voice sounded, another ball of light. Oh God. It was close, but it would do. There was no stopping it.
‘Now!’ I heard Illarion shout.
And I put everything I could into the final pull of power, everything I could muster, every ounce of energy I had left.
Aaryon’s eyes found mine for the last time, they were no longer the familiar angelic white, they were green, like mine had once been, his skin wasn’t translucent, he was tanned like someone who’d lived on the coast his whole life, his dark hair fell over his eyes, framing his face. He looked just like me and I choked back a sob when he smiled, pressing his hand over mine as the final fragment of light in his eyes faded.
Screaming out as the final piece burned through me, I dropped my arms and fell to my knees, watching as Aaryon dropped beside me, his eyes open and unmoving.
I desperately clawed at my face. My skin there was on fire, the markings were burning, the pain consumed me and every moment in my life began to whirl inside my head, every memory, every conversation, all the things that made me who I’d been, crashed and collided with centuries of knowledge from Aaryon.
I cried as the heat welled inside me, coating my bones and veins, in an excruciating fire I’d never survive.
‘Ace!’ Illarion’s voice echoed all around, dragging me back to the present. ‘Come to me!’
As the waves grew in frequency and in strength, I felt my body shifting and convulsing. This was too much. I would never survive this. Tears stung as they reached my cheeks and I dared to crack my eyes open.
The Earth, my home, every city I’d ever been to, hundreds and thousands of faces, they all collided like a mosaic, twisting and winding through my memory and then, like a coil twisted and tightened too far, it stopped…the pain disappeared, my body stilled and in a moment of clarity, I felt it building inside me.
‘This is it, Ace. Get ready!’ Troy shouted.
Oh God. I braced myself.
Just like the Darkness before, when it came and fueled me, when it bubbled and burned inside me, I felt it…only now, there were no borders and no edges, no limitations, I grit my teeth and dug my nails into the ground and screamed. The power from within me erupted, spreading out like a sonic explosion big enough to rock the foundations of the earth, and then, there was Light, too much Light. Blinding, illuminating, haunted and filled with endless streams of data I could never understand and then the Darkness came… like waves of oil on fire, it was consuming and suffocating, and it came fast snuffing everything out.
As the explosion dissipated into waves of supersonic ripples, a cool and soothing feeling replaced the heat inside me, and everything disappeared.
A broken cry left my lips as I fell through an endless night. I reached up, but the light was fading, I’d missed my opportunity, I was drifting farther and farther from the door.
I felt Troy’s hand around one wrist and just as I was about to fall, I felt Illarion’s around my other.
‘I’ve got you!’
***
Illarion
We were frozen, no one moved, not a thing sounded other than the erratic breaths coming from everyone standing in this room.
Troy stood before me, a glow just like Ace’s emanating from within his body. A kind of choked, half cry, half laugh came out of my mouth before I could stop it.
By the way Aurel looked beside me, I imagined he’d felt the same.
He jerked back as Troy looked directly at us. His eyes taking in the scene around us.
Everything had been blown out, the walls and the doors, the boards were ripped from the windows and tinny flurries of snow flew in through the shattered glass.
Josh and James stood back, frozen and I turned my eyes to Ace.
She was standing there, where her body had just been laying, she was glowing from inside and the black veins all over her skin were growing darker and more prominent. The tension spiked but my legs were carrying me, my heart was telling me to go to her.
As I approached, a very subtle gust of power expanded from within her, and Troy stepped between us.
No one said a word. No one moved a muscle.
‘What’s wrong with her?’ I whispered.
Troy stepped closer, his body moved fluidly, unearthly, and I stepped back, unable to process what I was seeing, how I was seeing it.
‘She needs time to adjust, her body has taken on Aaryon’s.’
‘What?’ My eyes snapped back to her.
‘She had to, in order to defeat Dalca and have the strength to carry him to where she needs to end this, she needed more power.’
‘She’s powered by Aaryon now?’
‘She is Aaryon, a Celestial Being.’
My eyes coasted over hers. I could see a pulsating light beneath the surface of her skin, shallow markings fading in and out with each pump of her heart.
Troy stepped back and I cautiously stepped forward. She stood perfectly still, her hair floating around her as were all the small objects in the room. I spread my fingers out and reached up and with a deep breath, I grazed the skin on her limp hand and as I did, a jolt of power, stronger than I’d ever felt rushed out from within her.
Everyone ducked as it blew outward, slamming the door shut, throwing all the furniture up and around the room shattering everything into a hundred pieces, but I didn’t let go, I gripped her wrist tighter and ignored the voices of concern shouting around us. She raised up off the ground and hovered, her eyes blank and unseeing.
‘Ace!’ I shouted.
The power surged again and this time I gripped her tighter and pulled her down, and as another bout of energy coursed under her skin, rearing to blow again, I stepped closer and pressed my other hand over her cheek.
‘Come home to me, Ace.’
I ignored the violent energy pooling beneath her skin and the dark webs spreading out across her body, creeping toward my hands where they made contact with her.
‘Come on, lyubov, come home to me.’
I closed my eyes, lowering my forehead to hers.
Energy rippled and sparked around us, she was in there, I could feel her fighting as I held her tighter, refusing to let it win and as another pull of that energy coursed and got ready to erupt, I pressed my hand over her heart.
‘I love you Ace, come back to me.’
She fought, desperately trying to break the hold of whatever was keeping her under, she shook under my touch, I felt her muscles tighten with strain, but I wasn’t letting go, not again, not ever.
‘Come back to me.’
The billowing power inside the room intensified and the broken furniture was thrown back up into the air, suspended like it was frozen in time, I ignored it as best as I could and focused on her face. Behind me, Troy urged the others to take cover.
‘Fight, Ace, come on.’
The sound of rushing wind grew stronger and it was becoming hard to hold onto her and my thoughts.
‘Fight!’
A roar of power escaped and sent everything backwards, but I held her and as the burst escaped and broke everything around us, shattering the door blowing it off the hinges.
As she dropped like I stone, I threw myself forward, catching her in my arms but the raging storm inside the room got stronger.
‘Keep going!’ Troy shouted.
And I did, I kept saying her name over and over, I knew she could hear me, I knew she was in there.
‘Illarion, keep going!’
&nbs
p; When she seemed to force more energy into the charged air around us, I looked around in horror.
‘Get everyone out!’ I yelled at Josh over the roar of wind and snow rushing around in the room, ‘Get off this floor!’
Seconds later the room cleared out and I turned my eyes back to her and then she stopped.
She grew deathly still and then a violent ripple of convulsions broke through her, I held on tightly as they grew in intensity and then she snapped her eyes open but they weren’t hers, they were black and cold, starring up at me, as the pain in her seared me, she threw her head back and screamed.
It was unlike anything I’d ever heard. It was all around us, inside me and in her, it consumed every atom of energy and every square inch of this room. With every cry that came from her, I felt it chipping away from the depths of a dark place inside her.
The air in the room was sucked out and I felt the temperature dip dangerously low as ice began to form around us, creeping out from us in the center, freezing the entire room save for the spot where me and her were sitting.
And then, as the scream died down and her eyes softened, her bright green irises returned and I held on, I swept my hands through her hair, loving her, letting her feel me to know that I was here, always with her.
‘Oh God,’ She let out a broken breath and looked up at me. ‘Ila, it worked.’
Chapter Fifty
Illarion
Abreathless sob caught on my lips and I didn’t waste any time pulling her up against me holding her as tightly as I could because God knew I never thought I would again, I thought I’d lost her and I’d made peace with living my life in a hell I’d made for myself.
She shook, softly whimpering as I rocked her in my arms.
The ice that had cracked through the room moments ago was gone and only tiny trickles of water remained.
Slowly, she pulled back, gripping my arms with her small hands that continued to shake uncontrollably. My eyes skimmed across her body, the power was surging inside her and she was struggling to keep it at bay.
‘Are you with me?’ I whispered, brushing her hair behind her ears. ‘Ace?’
Tiny tremors made her jerk every so often and when she did, she’d wince making my breath falter.
‘Please say something, anything, are you with me?’
She looked at me, her eyes wide, confused, almost like she wasn’t sure what I was saying. I took in a deep breath and held it, watching her eyes move away from me and take in the room. I followed her gaze as it stopped on everything, taking in the damage, the water, me.
‘Ace?’
‘You brought me back.’
A laugh caught on my lips when she smiled. A real, warm smile.
I pulled her against me and pressed my cheek to her hair and breathed in.
‘You brought me back.’ She whispered again, wrapping her arms around me. ‘I knew you would work it out.’
She gripped my arms tighter and her gaze darted up to the doorway, my eyes following hers.
Behind us, Troy smiled and gave me a curt nod.
Not a moment later, Elsa rushed into the doorway and stopped, her eyes quickly darting between Ace and the destruction around us.
‘Sir, there’s a crowd gathering.’
‘Where?’
‘South wall.’ She handed me the surveillance tablet connecting me to all the cameras around my property.
Gritting my teeth, I handed it back to her and brought my eyes back to Ace.
‘Come.’ Troy gestured. ‘It’s time.’
***
The agents who had gathered in my hallway were tense, each of their gazes widened as we walked through, gasps and awe filled whispers.
Both of them had this glow, this unnatural otherworldly aura, nothing I’d ever seen or felt. Troy was an extension of her, and she was an extension of Aaryon. She carried his powers and Troy, hers. It was unprecedented, unheard of.
Troy stopped when we reached the balcony outside the living room. He opened the double doors and stepped out. The chattering crowd went silent. They knew who he was, these fanatics, these believers, knew exactly what all of this meant.
As their attention travelled across the space, Troy held out his hands and gestured to Ace.
When she stepped out onto the balcony, every single person in the crowd dropped to their knees bowing low.
‘What’s happening?’ Aurel whispered behind me.
Ace looked out over the people, her people silently praying to the God they’d worshiped for centuries, unphased by the cracking and blistering of the sky above and the pelting rain and snow.
‘They know their faith is in the right person. This is how it ends.’ Troy said. ‘They’ve waited all their lives to see her.’
‘What are you talking about?’ I asked.
‘There, that’s where we must go.’ He pointed south, a wide, crackling white hole appeared.
‘What the hell is that?’ Aurel muttered behind me.
‘Dalca’s is over there.’ Troy said. ‘That’s where he came through.’
Daniel cast off a series of creative words and then disappeared down the hallway.
‘I have to go there.’ Ace said softly, the crowd unmoving below watching every move she made like they were simply honored to be in her presence.
Eventually, after a painstaking moment, she looked back at me.
‘What can I do?’ I asked.
‘Nothing yet.’
‘Not the answer I was looking for.’
‘I’m sorry, I can’t give you anything else.’ She said and turned back to the people below, ‘The war is here, the time is now. Are you with me?’
An explosion of cheers broke out, not a single thing could have prepared me for this.
As the echoes of a battle cry continued below, Ace turned her face slightly. ‘I need the blood.’
‘Blood?’ My brows shot up.
‘From the tomb.’
‘I have it.’
Her eyes searched mine. I took out the vial and showed her.
‘You brought it back.’
‘I did. I felt like we’d need it.’
‘We will.’ She smiled. ‘But I have to do this alone.’
‘No,’ I shook my head. ‘We go together.’
She turned to me; a small smile appeared on her marble like skin. She seemed to emit a sort of buzz, something similar to Solaris when I’d met her. I couldn’t stop looking. She was…different.
‘We must go now. There’s no time. Look.’
Ahead, I saw a blast of simultaneous explosions.
‘What’s down there?’ Aurel asked.
Elena cursed beside me, ‘Power stations. He’s blowing up the grid.’
‘Move, now.’ I ordered. ‘Get everything together and get ready.’
‘I think we should talk about this.’ Aurel said and every last nerve inside me fired.
Elena joined in, and before long, everyone was talking over each other. Ace and I stood silently watching the disaster unfold.
‘Enough.’ I said finally.
Elena closed her mouth and looked across at me.
‘You’re wasting time.’ I said firmly. ‘We have to be smart about this. Ace knows what she’s talking about.’
Aurel opened his mouth but I shot him a look and then Ace turned around, her focused, steely eyed and piercing gaze, landed on Elena.
She flinched and I eased my way toward them. Something in the way Ace was looking at her, shook me.
‘You should watch yourself, Acting Director.’ Ace said.
All the air was punched from my lungs.
Elena shifted in her spot, she didn’t say anything, but her mind was restless, her heart suddenly tightening with fear.
‘What’s going on, Ace?’ I asked her quietly all while her gaze remaining unfaltering.
‘I’m not quite sure,’ she tipped her head to the side like she was searching through Elena, ‘But I know something is amiss.’
And then, i
t was over. Ace turned away and everyone who’d been holding their breath slumped back. What in God’s name was that?
My question would have to wait, the sky over Central Park cracked and split in two and the imminent danger reminded me that this was our priority now.
‘If this is what Ace says we need to do, then we’re doing it. End of discussion.’ I spat. ‘We don’t have time for this.’
Despite the tension, no one said a word. Elena looked at her uncomfortably, but she nodded. ‘Do what she said.’
‘On it.’ Peyton nodded disappearing from the balcony.
‘Turn the TV on.’ Ace said suddenly.
I looked back, nodding to Alex.
‘Which channel?’ He asked.
‘Any.’
He switched it on and turned up the volume. Everyone moved into the room except Elena, she stood silently by the door.
‘What was she talking about?’ I hissed in her ear, staying out of earshot of the others.
Elena stiffened and turned her gaze toward me. ‘I have no idea.’
‘After all we’ve been through this is not the time to lie.’
‘I’m not, Illarion. I don’t know what she was talking about.’
‘If I find out you’re lying—’
‘I’m not doing this with you.’ She spat and stalked past me.
Ace shifted on the balcony. ‘They did it, they launched the first wave.’
“…Seventeen hundred deaths reported, and the number is rising…” The reporter on the TV announced.
‘It’s time.’ Ace said. ‘We have to go.’
***
Ace
Everything was humming like it was alive. The air was buzzing with static, shifting around me in fluid waves, the walls murmured to me, like they knew what went on within their confines. And I was somewhere in between. Not really belonging here, nor there.
The way everything around me reacted was strange, it was as though I was the center of gravity. Where my heart would have once pounded in anticipation and fear, now, there was nothing. A vacant void filled me but there was comfort in that, oddly.
‘How do you feel?’ Troy whispered beside me.
‘It’s strange.’
‘It will get better in time.’
‘I don’t think I’ll be around long enough for that to happen.’
Jack of Hart- Wild Card Page 54