“How?” Rev coughs a desperate plea. I don’t know why I’m dragging this out. I don’t know why I keep asking questions because every second gets me closer to giving in.
The raven overhead soars lower. Closer.
I damn well know anything other than compliance is suicide. And yet, panic has my eager darkness coiling inside of me. Preparing. Ready to fight if necessary.
She’s marching toward me before I even notice Brielle turn. Her fists are clenched, eyes ravenous. Rook grabs her by the shoulder to stop her.
Right, this mysterious truce Drake and Kari negotiated for me. “You,” she spits at me. Drake chuckles. “First he,” she points at Rev, tears now rolling down his cheeks, “tells us all about how he’s going to kill you to avenge his brother. He tells me every day he wants it just as badly as I do. Then, in that last challenge, the orb showed me a vision of you two—together.”
My stomach drops. I don’t ask her what she means by “together.” I don’t dare turn my attention to Rev. I cannot bear to see the look on his face at this revelation.
Her bottom lip trembles, and she finally turns away, into Rook’s chest.
I stare at them—shocked stupid—for entirely too long. Finally, I get my wits about me.
“I’ve never even been alone in a room with Rev. All he’s ever done is hate me...”
“Like I believe you!” she says, the sound muffled by Rook’s chest. Rev is still silent, but from the corner of my eyes I notice him fall to his knees with a soft plop.
“So, you’re going to murder your friend and apparent lover,” I say with more acid than I should have, still focused intently on Brielle’s back, “over something a scarcely-understood magical being showed you in a vision? The entire point of that trial was to screw us up. Show us what would hurt the most. That doesn’t mean it was true.”
Maybe I want Brielle to change her mind. If they turn on Drake and Kari now in favor of Rev, maybe I could save myself from this fate. From what I’m to witness.
From the light that’s about to leave this world forever.
Drake steps forward, all pompous and proud. “Enough talking.”
“Believe me,” Kari says more softly. “It is in all of our best interest we complete this plan.”
Rev’s eyes bore into me, and finally, I turn to face him. I can’t read his expression. Shock and pain and anger and confusion. Desperation.
My heart still pounds, still aches at Brielle’s insinuation. I suspect I know what she saw, and it wasn’t the past or the future. Meaning Rev did nothing wrong, but he’s going to die over it.
“Caelynn, would you like to do the honors?” Drake says.
My blood runs cold. Panic seizing every inch of my body as I stare at the dagger he holds out to me.
“Why?” I stumble over more words. I can’t even think.
“Finish what you started,” he says.
Even Brielle is staring in shock. I can’t breathe as I stare at the same dagger I used to kill Reahgan. Tears well in my own eyes now. How? How could he know?
“Drake,” Kari warns. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
I look up to the sky for one moment, but Raven isn’t anywhere to be seen. My heart aches, it cries. But for the first time, I can see what she saw. I made a choice a long time ago. I wasn’t strong enough then.
Now, I’m right back to where I was. And I have to make a choice.
I turn to the four high fae beside me, one at a time. They’re in perfect position. All in a line, like a firing squad.
My soul quiets. “I’ll do it.”
My whole body is burning with rage as I grip the obsidian dagger in my tight fist. I turn to face Rev and step forward slowly, already curling my power within, focusing. Building.
Rev’s emotions are clear as daylight now. Hate. Pure hatred fills him. “You would.”
I smile.
“What Drake doesn’t know,” I whisper softly and everyone goes utterly still. “Is that he just put the nail in his own damn coffin.”
Caelynn
I turn my back to the injured Rev and face the four immensely powerful fae in front of me. This is the most idiotic thing I’ve ever done, and it’s very likely going to mean my death.
Raven flies overhead, squawking again. Does she know what I’m doing?
My regret is so heavy it’s hard to breathe. What will happen to Raven if I die today? Because I am very likely going to die in the coming moments. I’d greet death like an old friend. He’s been waiting for me, I know. But I’d be abandoning her.
I grit my teeth.
No. I have a plan. I can make it out of this. I hope.
Drake and his allies have set themselves up perfectly, crowded around their prey in a tight circle. All easily within reach.
It’s still a massive risk... but I can do this.
Because now is the time to switch up the game. While they think I’m weak. While they think I’m pliant.
“You think I want your damned pardon?” I ask Drake, looking him in the eye, pulling my power tighter. Condensing all of it into one ball of power, ready to detonate. “The opportunity to be some no-one’s housewife?”
That’s how they’ve been keeping my court weak for the last several hundred years. They force our strongest fae to marry outside of our court, taking their power with them. Leaving us with less and less.
That isn’t freedom. I don’t want a single thing he can give me.
“So, you’d rather choose death?” he asks simply, his shoulders relaxed, but his eyes betray his fury. He doesn’t care about my betrayal, but it does mess with his plans. Now, after they kill both me and Rev, he’ll have to face his remaining enemies on even ground. He wanted me to tip the scales in his favor.
Poor baby.
“Rev,” I say. This is going to be the tricky part. He’s too close. Too injured. I may kill him, but only injure the others... but then the wall behind me begins to crumble. I blink, shocked as a hole the size of a door emerges right behind Rev.
I smile. “Run,” I tell him.
Rev
“Run,” my enemy tells me.
My brother’s murderer standing between me and two of my allies, two of my rivals. They want to kill me and she... wants to save me? My mind is blown to smithereens.
She’s weak. Her dim eyes all but prove it.
But there she is, facing down four powerful fae with a confidence that scares the shit out of me. Even I wouldn’t face those four on my own.
Is she more powerful than me? Or does she intend to commit suicide to help me flee? Why? What does that prove?
“Go!” she yells, and I sprint through the gap in the stone. Only a moment later a boom shakes the ground beneath my feet, blasting me forward.
I fly through the air, and the last thing I feel before my visions goes black is coarse sand slamming into my face.
Caelynn
I groan as I pull my body onto my knees. “Ow,” I say angrily, even though I only have myself to blame. All four of my enemy fae are out cold, blown back at least fifty feet behind me.
Fighting four powerful fae would have been nearly impossible. But using every ounce of my magic all at once—a surprise attack they didn’t see coming—was like damn bomb. I’d made sure to pull as much hypnosis into the surge as possible so they should be unconscious or at least too dizzy to function for hours.
I’m just hoping that’s enough time.
Because my magical well is now entirely empty. I used it all. Every ounce.
I will be weak for several hours and won’t be at full power again until morning.
I scramble through the barely-standing stone wall, rubble crumbling down on my head as I pass through the doorway.
On the other side, I find Tyadin struggling to drag Rev through the sand. He stops when he sees me approaching. “What the hell did you do?”
I ignore his outburst. “Finally choose an ally, did you?”
He shrugs, his expression clear he
’s not particularly happy about it.
“Thank you.”
“Why are we saving him? Is he an ally now too?”
“It’s us or death.” I shrug. “I guess we’ll find out which one he chooses when he wakes.”
“What happened? They turned on him?” He nods to the bodies lying helplessly in the sand.
“Apparently someone outside the competition wants him dead. Not out of the competition—like, no longer breathing.”
“Well, you almost achieved that. He’s out cold.”
“He’ll be fine in an hour or two. Our bigger problem will be getting through the task while he’s like this.”
Tyadin purses his lips. “Why not just leave him, then?”
“He’ll die if we leave him, and then my rebellion would be for nothing.”
“Hide him somewhere? So he doesn’t make it through the first day of the challenge but lives to tell the tale?”
I consider this. It’s not a terrible option, even though I doubt it would work quite like that. He won’t be giving up. So, when he wakes, he’ll have a little more time to adjust before he faces his new enemies, but he’ll still face them out of pure stubbornness and refusal to give up on the competition.
Four to one.
He’s still likely to die.
Besides, there’s one more aspect to consider.
“Without him, we’re two against four, and that’s if we stick tightly together. With him... our chances rise significantly.”
Tyadin looks around like he’s examining the entire competition in the few miles around us. His expression falls as he turns back to me.
“Regretting all your life choices, aren’t you?”
He signs. “Pretty much.”
“Well?”
“Help me carry him to the well. We’ll see if we can get him to complete the task. I’m running for it, though, the moment the others wake.”
I nod. Fair enough. “One step at a time it is.”
Tyadin grabs Rev under his arms, I grab his ankles and together, we awkwardly carry him the final mile to the first trial task. We grunt and groan, muscles tense with effort as we stumble, sweat dripping from every inch of our bodies under the overbearing desert sun.
“This alliance thing seems overrated,” Tyadin says as we finally drop Rev’s limp body beside the red glowing well.
My face is as red as the sand on my feet when we finally fall down. A half hour of our cushion time is already gone. We need to complete the task and move away from the area as quickly as possible. Luckily, Rev got less of a hit than the others so he should rouse sooner. And the others will still need to complete the task, which should slow them down even more.
Now, all we need to do is figure out a way to get an unconscious male to complete the task...
Tyadin is on his feet first, he grips the brown paper hanging from the bucket above and reads it aloud. “First Task: Drink from the well and make a wish using a single word.”
I purse my lips. That’s deceivingly simple. “A one-word wish?”
“This well is renowned for fulfilling wishes in... unpleasant manners.”
I bite my lip, considering. That’s unsurprising, but it means that legitimate consideration should be taken when making the wish.
The first thing to come to mind is redemption—exactly what everyone thinks I want, and even though it’s true in a way, I don’t trust it. There are too many ways to define that word. I don’t want to be forgiven because I don’t forgive myself.
I could wish for something simple like self-preservation. But then I imagine being trapped at the bottom of the well alive but tormented for all time. Nope, definitely not that one. Victory, but one word isn’t enough to clarify. Victory in what? Victory in a race off the edge of a cliff?
Tyadin pulls the bucket up and gulps down water eagerly. “Friendship,” he says.
I nod. Friendship is simple enough. Difficult for that to go wrong.
Taking the bucket from Tyadin’s stalky fingers I fling it back into the shadows below and heave it up one slow pull at a time. It shouldn’t be a challenging task, but at the moment my arms rage in protest. Using all of my magic in one blow isn’t something I’ve ever done before. It’s not something any fae would ever suggest because it takes hours to recharge, and that leaves us extremely vulnerable.
In this case, it was worth the risk knocked all of my enemies unconscious. But if Tyadin decided to take me out? It would be easy for him. If the task had been to defeat a magical creature? I’d be done for.
Finally, I pull the bucket of glimmering water to the edge of the ruby-studded well. I peer at my reflection in the water. My eyes are dim, just a hint of gold flecks swimming in their depths.
I pull the wood to my lips and take a long sip of cool, sweet water without making a conscious choice—which might be a bad idea.
As the water soothes my dry throat, a gentle feeling fills all my limbs and a word forms in my mind like an illustration, glittering with the swell of magic. “Respect,” I say in a near whisper.
I don’t immediately know how this word could backfire, so I’m hopeful as I set the bucket back down. Somehow, it felt like the well had told me what I needed.
Tyadin nods sharply. Apparently he approves of my answer.
We both turn to Rev, considering his limp form lying in the hot sand at our feet. How do we get an unconscious ally to make a wish?
“He’ll wake before them, right?” Tyadin says. “He’s right here. He can complete the task and be on his way before his enemies get to him.”
I bite my lip. That could be a better option than trying to force him to make a wish without coherent thought. But then again, if the well had guided me to an answer, maybe it could guide him as well.
I drop to my knees beside him and place my hand on his chest. “Rev?” I jostle him gingerly. “Reveln,” I say louder.
He stirs and groans, twisting his neck until his face presses to the sand.
“Pull him up some water,” I tell Tyadin, who raises his eyebrows in annoyance. “Please.”
He rolls his eyes but nods. Rev turns to his back, his eyes fluttering and unfocused. I brush some of the sand from his right eye, and he groans again.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, voice hoarse.
“Helping you. Here, I’ve got some water for you,” I tell him.
“No.” He groans, twisting again. “Nothing,” he spits. “From you.”
“Good choice of allies,” Tyadin comments.
“Hush,” I snarl.
Tyadin balances the bucket on the edge of the well and scoops out a swallow’s worth of water in his cupped hands. I help Rev sit up, and Tyadin holds it to his lips. “Here, try some,” he says quietly.
Rev’s eyes flutter again, and the moment the liquid touches his chapped lips, he opens his mouth to allow the fluid to flow over his tongue to his throat.
“What do you want?” I ask the moment he swallows.
His eyebrows pinch together. “Truth.”
Tyadin’s chin lifts, his expression telling me he’s impressed. “All right, let’s get the hell out of here.”
Rev
My head throbs, every muscle aching when I open my eyes. Flashes of memory bombard me—two fae helping me to run through the sand and into shadows below the Winding Mountain range. At first, I assumed it was Brielle and Rook—my allies. But the next flashes don’t make any sense.
Brielle and Rook standing beside Drake and Kari and Caelynn.
Caelynn facing me, that stupid obsidian dagger in her hands, poised to kill.
Caelynn turning to face Drake and instructing me to run.
A massive blast of shadow power knocking me out cold.
I groan, more from confusion than pain—though the pain is certainly immense. I touch my abdomen softly, and my hand comes away slick. That’s not good.
There’s a bandage wrapped sloppily around my middle, but I’ve already bled through it. I close my eyes and focus
my magic to my core. Clearly, I’ve been unconscious for some time not to have begun the healing process already.
The world around me is dark. It’s night. Above me is solid black stone. No stars in sight.
My stomach sinks. I didn’t complete the task yet... so if it’s night...
Someone stirs beside me. A form sits up, rubbing sleep from their eyes. “Rev?” a soft female voice asks. Not Brielle.
I clench my jaw.
“Where am I?” I ask, my voice barely audible.
“A cave just inside the Winding Mountains.”
I close my eyes, every ounce of my body burning with pain and rage and terror. Her eyes give off a soft golden glow. “You saved me. Why the hell would you save me?”
Caelynn sighs. “I just... I couldn’t do it. And Drake pissed me off so much... I reacted. I made an instant decision.” She lifts her hands in an exaggerated shrug. “Now, here we are.”
My mind spins, and I force down my panicked thoughts to stop my body from reacting and retching all over our close quarters. “It’s night time,” I say, staring out through what I can now register as the cave mouth. Only darkness greets me, but outside there is a blue tinge that hints at sky, a soft glow of starlight.
“Yes.”
“Then, why wasn’t I pulled from the trials already?”
“Because you completed the task,” another voice says. His large silhouette sits up, blocking what little starlight streams through the opening.
I swallow. “How? What was it?”
“Drink from the Ruby Well and make a wish using a single word.”
My stomach drops. Those wishes aren’t a game. Whatever I wished for might affect me long after the trials are over. “What did I wish for?”
“Truth.” Her voice sends a shiver down my spine.
Well, I suppose that could be worse. “Did you tell me to wish for that?” I ask her.
Her face is still shadowed enough I can’t see her expression, but those eyes... those eyes are very different than I’ve seen them before. How had she hid the glow of power so thoroughly?
Trial of Thorns (Wicked Fae Book 1) Page 15