Vessel of the Gods Boxed Set

by Jada Fisher

  “You see, worship is important to deities and spirits and all those sorts of creatures on their level of existence. It’s almost like food to them, replenishing their energy so they can continue the cycle of shepherding the world. And I understand why things might have been that way before, our world is so young. But it’s already almost killed us once, so I’m ending that risk.”

  “That risk?” Ukrah swallowed, trying to catch up with what was happening. “What do you mean?”

  “Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to unite the power of the old spirits and rebirth this world without such a glaring flaw. We’ll be stronger than ever, less fallible. We’ll never have to worry about the Blight again, or any invaders for that matter. We will be a strong, unified front against anything that might threaten us.”

  That actually didn’t sound like that awful of a plan, and perhaps Ukrah would have been more swayed by it and the beautiful, strange woman if her followers hadn’t bashed her in the head multiple times and kidnapped her.

  “And how do you expect to do that?”

  “Simple, I’ll absorb the spirit within you and then, once we’re all united within me, I’ll go through the ritual that will rebirth the old spirits. They’ll be molded as one, and me with them, and our world will finally be safe.”

  “That’s it, just absorb the spirit? Let us go back to normal?”

  “Well, not quite that. You see, the giving of power requires a certain sort of sacrifice. When you give your power to me, you will need to give up your bond with it. When I unite all of the spirits and bring them back into being, I will have to give up my bond to my physical form.”

  A chill went down Ukrah’s spine. “And how exactly do I give up my bond with it?”

  “Aw, come now, we don’t need to go in the grisly details, do we? You know as well as I do that all of us vessels are only vessels because we were supposed to die. So, in order to free the spirit within you, you must give up the part of you that’s using its power to live.”

  “So we have to die.”

  “Well, specifically, I have to kill you. Goodness, you’re supposed to be the leader, aren’t you? The smart one? No wonder you ended up here in front of me.”

  Ukrah stared at the woman, feeling anger and incredulity in equal measures. “You can’t be serious. You’re just going to kill us and take our spirits to get unlimited power? That’s the big plan?”

  “It’s not about having power, it’s about making sure we’re united like we haven’t been in the past. We need to be one, not broken up into ideas like justice and vengeance and comfort. Going back to the way things were will only put us in a vulnerable position again!”

  Ukrah looked at the men surrounding them. Half were dressed as citizens while the other was wearing the familiar colors of the Sect of the Three. Since the woman had started speaking, all of them had turned to pay attention, looking up to her with a mix of emotions that Ukrah couldn’t entirely read.

  “So you aligned with people who killed witches. Who are actively killing witches as they speak!? How do you even know this insane plan of yours will work?”

  “Come now, I know I was masquerading as a slave when you first met me, but I’m not some uneducated, abused lost sheep. You think that I would have this whole elaborate trap set up if I didn’t know that it would be prudent?”

  “But…but if you know, then…” Ukrah trailed off, her whole body turning cold.

  “No, you’re not the first vessel that I have met. There was another, before I truly knew the greatness of what we needed to do. We worked together, uncovering ancient passages and secrets about what we were.”

  “And where are they now?” Ukrah didn’t know why she asked. She knew. She knew. And yet her mouth was opening and closing, asking for exactly what she didn’t want to hear.

  The woman just pressed a finger over her bosom. “In me, right where he belongs.”

  Ukrah stared openly, trying to understand. The thought of hurting another vessel made her physically ill. She felt as if her entirely purpose was to protect and shelter the others. To make sure that they were never hurt, and if someone did dare to hurt them, that they faced justice.

  And the woman in front of her was sitting, smiling sweetly, as she discussed killing and absorbing one of their brothers.

  “You can’t do this! You…you can’t be serious! That’s murder! You killed one of us? That’s madness!”

  The woman laughed again, only it was more bitter than her first peel of mirth. “You may think so, but why would I listen to anything that you say when you can’t even tell who is a vessel and who isn’t?”

  “I— What do you—”

  The woman gestured and two of the men closed in on them. Ukrah steeled herself, ready to bite and struggle, but they completely ignored her and went to Crispin instead.

  “What are you doing?” she snarled, trying to lunge at them but was jerked back by her chains. She felt helpless, separated from her magic and pinned in the worst ways possible. “Stop! Leave him alone! I’m the one that you want, you—”

  “You’re only embarrassing yourself at this point, really.”

  The thralls brought Crispin to her dais, the young man waking up as they dragged him across the ground. His eyes fluttered open, and Ukrah was so awash in emotion that she couldn’t think.

  Fear, anger, desperation, it all welled up in her with a huge surge of denial. What was she doing with Crispin? Sweet, annoying, mothering Crispin? She couldn’t be hurting him. She couldn’t!

  “If you’re trying to prove a point, you don’t need to! Either kill me and go through with your insane little plan or let us go!”

  “Would someone shut her up? I need to concentrate.”

  They forced Crispin to his knees in front of her throne, holding him still as he tried to struggle. A strange, rageful howl filled the room, and it took her a minute to realize that it was her.

  Hands gripped her from behind, yanking her back. Suddenly, the ceiling was filling her view as she was slammed into the ground, and she realized that they were trying to shove a slave muzzle over her mouth.

  She kicked out and fought. Her heart was in her throat, and she felt more trapped than she had in ages. She barely managed to get out of his hold, but then more hands were on her and suddenly every limb was pinned.

  She clamped her lips shut as tightly as she could, pressing them into a thin seam. But then a finger and thumb pinched at her nose, cutting off her air.

  She held on as long as she could, because if they were focused on her, they weren’t hurting Crispin. But she could only go without air for so long, and eventually, her body forced her to open her mouth in a desperate gasp.

  She tried to snap it shut as quickly as she could, but they were already shoving the bit into her mouth, then lifting her partially to buckle the clasp behind her head. They pulled it too tightly, mashing her nose against her face and pushing the bar inside of her mouth too far past her teeth, before shoving her forward.

  She barely managed to catch herself on her hands and knees, her chains yanking her off-center. Breathing hard, she looked back up at the throne, trying to show the woman with her gaze how much rage she was feeling.

  But the singer hardly paid her any mind. She had Crispin’s face in her hands, studying his features as if committing his features to her memory.

  “It is a shame that you’re so young,” she murmured, stroking his blond hair. “But I am glad the spirit was able to give you what extra time it could.”

  He jerked against her, but the men were still holding him steady. Ukrah could see their fingers biting into his arms, forcing him to stay in place for her inspection. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I’m just the useless servant boy. A nanny at best.”

  “Aw, it’s a shame that you think that. But it’s alright, I’ll show you. Just listen to me, okay? You’re useless if you’ve not woken up.”

  “I have no idea what you mean, you— ” He opened his mouth further, lips curl
ing back to no doubt spill curses at her, but then she began to sing.

  The result was instantaneous. His eyelids drooped once more, and he leaned forward, practically in her lap. The guards on either side of him let go, because he didn’t need to be coaxed to stay in place anymore.

  Ukrah screamed as hard as she could, wanting to reach out, wanting to fill the room with burning and ash until all of them paid for their crimes. But no sound came out and her magic stayed safely locked inside of her, the sigil on her spine burning so brightly that it was hard to see. She thrashed, she kicked, but all of it was in vain.

  The woman’s voice quickly filled the space, sliding against Ukrah’s ears and dipping her in that headiness again.

  Relax.

  Let go.

  Enjoy things for once instead of fighting so hard. Revel in the things that made her happy.

  But she fought it, her temper lancing, trying to overpower the urge to give in and just listen to the song.

  She was so engaged in her frantic struggle that she almost didn’t hear the quiet chirp behind her. It was familiar, and yet so totally unexpected that for a moment, she couldn’t be sure she’d heard it at all.

  The chirp sounded again, barely audible, so she risked a glance over her shoulder, where she saw a small, innocuous desert finch right between her feet.

  Tayir?

  10

  Secrets, Secrets, all that Bite

  He didn’t say anything, but Ukrah was sure that was because the other woman would hear him. Instead, he hopped right up to her back and gave a solid peck to her spine.

  She jolted forward, surprised, pain lancing through her like he’d hit her with a knife. Her first instinct was to snap at him and demand to know what he was doing, but as he pecked again, she understood.

  He was breaking the sigil. All it would take was a solid cut along the outermost barrier and the binding magic would be broken.

  But all he had was a tiny beak and he was trying to get through her thick rags and skin. Would she even have enough time?

  It didn’t feel like it. The magic was beginning to build up, speaking of desire, of wanting and needing more. It washed over everything, drenching it in its influence. It crested in her, making it hard to concentrate, hard to hold the same level of hated.

  It entered its final crescendo, her heart seeming to beat in time to the pulses of her enchantment. The voice was so sweet, so kind and soothing. It called to all of them, and the entire room was caught up in the beauty of it.

  Then, like the string of a bow pulled too taut, it suddenly snapped and there was a bright outburst of energy.

  Ukrah closed her eyes against it, her whole body reacting viscerally to the burst. She knew it. She had felt it before.

  A vessel was awakening.

  Her eyes adjusted, and she looked to see that Crispin was still in the singer’s hold, but he was gasping, his body trying to curl into itself while still being held in place.

  “I… Ancestors… Am I really a vessel?”

  “Good to see you awake, my brother. Now rest, you’ve more than earned it.”

  It took all of Ukrah’s will power to keep herself still as Tayir delivered peck after peck to the burn in her back. She needed to save Crispin. She had to. She couldn’t just sit there, chained, while her best friend was murdered right in front of her!

  “Just relax and breathe with me, alright? I won’t waste our destiny.” She hauled him even further into her lap. His manacled hands went to the arms of her throne, gripping tightly, but he didn’t seem able to pull himself away. He was practically doubled over in her lap, his face upturned toward hers, almost as if they were sharing a kiss.

  Except there was no kiss. Only the shared hiss of an exhale and then an inhale, their gazes locked on each other.

  Ukrah’s stomach dropped, full of coal and lead. She screamed, lunging forward again, only to be yanked back by the chains.

  She heard the faintest disapproving chirps from Tayir and then the stabbing was right back up again. But it wasn’t enough to distract her from what was happening. From the horror going on right in front of her eyes.

  Crispin and the woman’s breaths were matching each other beat for beat, as if they were connected. But the more they moved together, the weaker Crispin’s inhalations became while the woman’s grew stronger. Eventually, the bands of Crispin’s muscles relaxed, and he was practically draped over her body with only her hands holding him up.

  Everyone in the room seemed absolutely entranced by what was going on, but Ukrah would give anything to stop it. Even from where she was, she could see that Crispin was turning paler. And paler. And paler…until he was practically gray.

  And the sounds coming from him were awful. What had started as breathy gasps had grown into pained rasps. And then wheezes, until becoming a patchy, desperate sort of half-scream that sounded every time the murderous vessel drew a breath.

  No, no, no! It couldn’t happen like this. Crispin wasn’t even a vessel, and yet somehow, he was. And he was being killed right in front of her, because she had somehow been too stupid to realize he was right beside her.

  But how!? How was that possible? Ukrah had felt Helena from halfway across the continent, bright and shining and beckoning to her. How had she lived with Crispin for this long and never even suspected?

  She wanted to scream at Tayir to hurry. She wanted to rip her own arms off if it would get her up off the ground. But she was helpless, so frustratingly helpless. What was the point of anything if she couldn’t protect those that she loved? Why even make her the spirit of justice and protection if she couldn’t protect?

  Wheezing, whining, Crispin tried to pull back. Ukrah could feel his magic bubbling just under the surface, foreign and new and yet somehow vaguely familiar.

  “Oh, no, no, none of that now. Just relax. Let me make you feel good, alright? And I promise you, you will feel so good if you just let go.”

  She was stroking his hair again, their partnered breathing interrupted as she tried to soothe Crispin back into whatever trance she had him in. And Ukrah could see the young man slipping right back under.

  But he couldn’t, and she tried to shout as much into her gag. He needed to keep fighting. If he just gave her and Tayir a couple more moments, they could be free and end the disgusting attack right then and there.

  But the pecking, as much as it hurt, didn’t seem to be relenting, which meant that Tayir was still fighting to get through sigil and free her magic. Which meant she was running out of time.

  Crispin’s eyes went all soft again, and she saw the resistance drain from him. The woman started her breathing again, the young man following her, his magic draining from his form and into her.

  He had moments, at best. And it wasn’t going to be enough.

  A sob pushed its way up Ukrah’s throat only to be pinned in place by the slave’s muzzle at her jaw. Her eyes burned with tears, and she could feel her skin splitting as she fought against her bonds.

  It couldn’t be happening. It just… It just wasn’t possible. Her nails bit into her palms, slick with her blood, her stomach churned, and she knew that she was watching her best friend, the first true companion she’d ever made, die a horrific death.

  She was ready to throw herself against her bonds until she was strangling herself when a thunderous clap interrupted everything, startling even the woman and rousing Crispin from his stupor. But it didn’t come from above, as thunder was supposed to. Instead, it rumbled right up from the ground below them, malevolent and growing.

  It all happened so fast, and was such a shock, that Ukrah had truly no idea what it could possibly be. But possibly the last thing she ever expected was for Cassinda herself to rise from the soil, dirt off her as she straightened.

  How…

  The woman sat up, tossing Crispin to the side, who fell at the foot of her dais. “Who in the underbelt do you think you are?” she asked, her honeyed voice turned to vinegar. “How did you get in here?”
<
br />   Cassinda smiled and her teeth were a sparkling, wolfish white compared to the dirt smeared across her skin. “Just someone who woke up too.”

  “You’re a—”

  She never got the phrase out. Cassinda raised her hands, and if Ukrah thought that she had ever seen the girl let chaos reign before, it was nothing compared to what was unleashed now.

  Vines burst out along every wall, vicious, tearing, and moving on their own while other massive plants erupted from the ground. Tree roots tore their way through the roof, breaking off entire chunks and sending them crumbling down.

  Ukrah let out several frantic noises, hoping that Tayir could tell she was begging him to keep going while everyone was distracted. She didn’t know if he understood, but he kept going.

  And so did Cassinda. Her other hand raised and the floor itself started to ripple, buckling under her influence. The sect members, with their weapons and burning sigils raised, stumbled, barely able to fight against her onslaught.

  But the woman paid none of them any heed, her eyes locked on Cassinda’s form.

  “You. You’re a vessel.”

  “Seems so,” the redhead said, taking a step forward. Defiant. Ready for blood. Ukrah wanted to warn her not to underestimate the woman, that her power was sneaky and easy to fall into, but her mouth was still muzzled, and she couldn’t do anything beyond make frantic noises. “And you are too.”

  “That I am. We’re allies in all this. Really.”

  “If that’s so, then why is one of my friends in chains and the other unconscious on your floor?”

  The singer smiled, her full lips cracking into the slightest of smirks, and then suddenly she was rushing forward.

  She leapt off the dais, her hands gripping Cassinda’s shoulders. Ukrah felt the pulse of her magic from where she was, but the redhead just knocked her hands away.