“All right, climb up!” Chutney bounced over. She climbed up onto his wing, and then he lifted her up so she could slide into his back, between two of his spikes. She rubbed her hand over his scales then beamed down at us. “He said let’s go.”
Before I could even register her instructions, Willow, Harlan, Trey, and Gen raced over and climbed up onto Lonan’s back. I blinked and shook my head. How the hell did they do that so fast?
Tegan jogged over, but midstride, she dissolved into a cluster of bubbles then reappeared on Lonan’s back. Tennessee appeared right behind her, even though I hadn’t seen him move. It was going to take time to get used to those two, despite her being my very best friend.
I looked up and found three empty spots between Lonan’s spikes. I gasped. Three spots. There were only three of us left. Me, Jackson, and Cooper. Oh God, where do I sit now?
My heart fluttered. I didn’t want to be that close to Jackson. If I took the middle spot, I’d be between them, and that would be way too much. I couldn’t try to like Cooper if Jackson was right next to me. I needed as much distance as possible. The three of us moved toward the dragon, but I couldn’t help but wonder if they were as torn up about the seating arrangement as I was. As much as I wanted to stick near Tegan, if I sat back there, I’d be able to see Jackson. And that went against my plan for survival.
I skipped up, and then I was airborne, my feet hovering in the air as I was lifted up to Lonan’s back. Tegan winked at me, then helped me onto the dragon. A wave of warm air swept over me, carrying both the scent of Christmas and Irish Spring soap. I gripped the spike in front of me and braced myself. It could’ve been either of them right behind me.
But then I felt the warmth of someone’s fingers graze over my back as they gripped the spike behind me. I held my breath and tensed, waiting for my traitorous body to betray me once again under his touch. Except the warmth was normal, not the brain-melting heat I was used to. There was no tingling or energy blast. No electricity shooting up my spine. My heart didn’t skip erratically. I peered up over my shoulder....and exhaled in a rush. It wasn’t him. It wasn’t Jackson.
It was Cooper.
His pale green eyes sparkled down at me. I sighed with relief as my heart sank a little deeper. Fake it till you make it, Bettina.
“Okay, hold on!” Chutney yelled from in front of me.
I already was, but I gripped the black spike even harder. My fingers burned in protest and my knuckles were white. Lonan pushed off the ground, and my stomach plummeted. I gasped and made the horrible mistake of looking down. In a matter of seconds, we were far above the trees. Wind slammed into my face. Lonan’s wings soared out on either side. The ground disappeared beneath us as the mountains gave way to valleys.
My pulse went into hyper speed. I squeezed my eyes shut. I hated being afraid. It made me feel weak, especially around the strong witches with me. If I didn’t look, I couldn’t be scared. Tegan and Tennessee were behind me. They could fly on their own. If I fell, one of them would catch me. Not that Lonan wouldn’t. I just needed to stay calm. With only darkness in sight, I counted my breaths.
One hundred and twenty-eight seconds later, Lonan dropped lower, and my eyes flew open. I saw nothing but the flash of green and golden, glittery air, and then we landed in a clearing. The trees towered around us and swayed in the warm breeze, their leaves the most vibrant and non-earthly green I’d ever seen.
Lonan lifted his wing up. Chutney and Willow slid down onto it then were gently lowered to the ground. Gen swung her leg over and jumped down herself. Trey looked over his shoulder with a frown, then he glanced up to Harlan right in front of me and shrugged. Harlan sighed and then they both copied Gen’s move, though I suspected only because they didn’t want to be shown up by her.
I chuckled and shook my head. Boys and their egos.
I swung my leg over, turned to the side, and froze. It was a long way down. I wasn’t necessarily afraid to jump down like the others had, but if I broke my foot or leg right now, that would really, really hinder our mission.
Tennessee and Tegan were already across the clearing looking toward some rocks.
Okay, Bettina, just jump. You probably won’t hurt yourself.
“Here.”
I looked down and found Cooper standing there with his hands raised up toward me.
He smiled. “I’ll catch you.”
My cheeks warmed. I returned his smile and pushed off. My back slid down Lonan’s scales, which were surprisingly soft. Cooper’s hands gripped my waist and squeezed. He gently lowered my feet down to the plush green grass. The heat in his skin was warm and comforting. Our bodies were only an inch apart, and to my shock, I wasn’t uncomfortable with being that close to him. He was like half a foot taller than me, which was saying something since I was five -ten, so my eyes landed right on his full lips. I took a deep breath, and the smell of Irish Spring soap made me smile. Cooper was a good guy, and only good guys smelled like soap.
I looked up and smiled. “Thanks, Cooper. I foresaw me breaking my foot or something.”
He chuckled and said something—but I didn’t hear it.
Jackson had moved from behind him, and our gazes locked over Cooper’s shoulder. My heart fluttered. My cheeks burned. Jackson narrowed his beautiful aquamarine eyes and aimed daggers at the back of Cooper’s head. He snarled then turned and stormed off.
My chest tightened and burned. I felt my smile wobble, so I looked at the ground and spun away from Cooper. This isn’t fair. I need to stop feeling like this for him. But it was easier said than done. It didn’t matter what I did to combat my feelings—one look from him and I was a pathetic puddle for him to stomp through on his way to his soulmate.
“It’s so green,” Willow whispered and spun in a circle, her gaze on the trees. “Last time it was autumn.”
“The Old Lands don’t have seasons,” Lonan said with a gravelly voice as he suddenly took human form. He stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets and shrugged. “Everything just does what it wants. Basically.”
Gen frowned and scratched her head. Her normally buzzed brown hair had slightly grown out. “So, we’re here?”
“This is the entrance to the Garden of Eden?” Trey gestured around us. “This?”
“No, that is.” Cooper pointed across the clearing to where Tegan and Tennessee were still standing. “It’s through there.”
Through there was a narrow space between two rocks. My stomach flipped.
Tennessee turned and inclined his head. “Lonan, again, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I am not allowed to help you past here. But you know the way now.” He pointed to the sky. “I’ll be waiting and watching for you to come out of the balefire. Good luck, my friends.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Bettina
Tennessee led us into the thin space between two stone cliffs. No one spoke. The Coven-members were at ease. The rest of us were tense, or at least that was the energy I felt around me. I’d intentionally jogged up to go in right after Tegan. Every nerve ending in my body was begging me to sprint through the passageway. Just as I was beginning to panic, the tunnel opened up into another clearing, this one surrounded only by stone slates that were part of the mountain. The light in the clearing was darker, like the soft reddish glow of the setting sun. A soft fog lingered in the air.
I stepped forward, and something cracked under my shoes. I frowned and looked down, then gasped. The ground was littered with dead leaves…and human bones. I spun in circles, but everywhere I looked, I found more and more bones.
My stomach rolled. “Guys, are these bones? Or is my mind playing tricks on me?”
“I can’t say where your mind is,” Jackson grumbled, though he wouldn’t look at me. “But these are, in fact, bones.”
“They’re all the witches who weren’t worthy of entering the Garden of Eden,” Chutney said softly as she gazed around at them.
“Didn’t we just enter?” Trey frowned and
pointed to the narrow path between the slates. “Isn’t that what that was?”
Cooper rolled his eyes. “Right, because the Garden of Eden would be that easy to enter.”
Tennessee smirked and pointed to his left. “That’s the actual, physical entrance.”
I followed his point, and my jaw dropped. A waterfall about ten feet wide fell straight out of the sky. There was no pool at the bottom, though. There wasn’t even water. It just disappeared into the ground. I moved forward until it was right in front of me, but even while squinting my eyes, I couldn’t see beyond it.
“That’s the Garden of Eden?” I whispered and took a step toward it, unable to stop myself. A weird sort of focus settled in my mind where all I wanted was to get a peek at it. “Right through this waterfall?”
A long black blade shot out in front of me, pressing to my stomach and stopping my feet. The metal was cool to the touch, and it was just enough to break through the haze that had compelled me forward. I blinked down at the blade then looked to my left… Tennessee stood there watching me closely with narrowed eyes.
“Yes.” He nodded his head toward the waterfall. “If you try to go in, you will die right where you stand.”
My eyes widened. “Right. Won’t do that. Thanks.”
Willow pursed her lips. “Last time, we needed a token to get into the Garden of Eden, to show we were worthy. So maybe the line rosen token also means that?”
Tennessee shook his head. “I don’t believe we’re going inside this time.”
Tegan eyed the bones and spun in a circle. “Gabriel hasn’t shown up, so I’d have to agree with you.”
Gen cleared her throat. “Just for shits and giggles, what was the token you were given last time to deem you worthy?”
Tennessee and Tegan both looked down at the back of their left hands. I wondered if they saw something we couldn’t, because I definitely didn’t see a damn thing on their skin. Their right hands were covered by their soulmate glyphs, but their lefts were clean and clear.
“Their token was a black lotus flower on their left hands.” Cooper pointed to his own blank hand. “They’d been marked as worthy by the angel Leyka prior to our arrival.”
I frowned. “But this token we need probably has some kind of non-monetary worth, right?”
Everyone turned to me.
I shrugged. “I mean, I can’t be the only one who sees the connection of the words used?”
Tegan grinned. “Finally, someone who sees what I do.”
Willow laced her fingers together then cracked her knuckles. “Okay, so the prophecy said, Forged anew, their blood has spoken, seek the petals of rosen token. Crimson, scarlet, ruby, and wine, binding runes fall on the line. Who wants to make guesses at the meaning first?”
Trey held his dagger up. “Forged anew. I’m thinking a broken sword that’s been fixed.”
Harlan nodded and gestured around us. “I see tons of swords, in various states.”
Hmm...no, that doesn’t feel right.
“No, no, I don’t think it’s a sword,” Tegan said softly, confirming my own thoughts.
Gen bent over and picked up an ancient-looking battle ax. “There’s more than swords here.”
“I don’t think this is any weapon.” Tennessee crouched down and picked up a shield. “The words of the prophecy do not give the sound of a weapon.”
Trey threw his hands up. “What else could be forged?”
Cooper shook his head. “If they say it’s not a weapon, then it isn’t. Got anything else?”
Trey blushed. “Sorry. No.”
Chutney tapped his arm. “Don’t worry. Tegan and Tenn always figure these out. We just sit back and watch.”
An awkward, tense silence fell over the group. Everyone basically alternated between staring at the ground and Tennegan. I knew Jackson was there, but I refused to look at him. Cold turkey was tough, but it would be worth it in the end. It was the only way to preserve my breaking heart.
Instead, I looked to Tegan. Pride soared in my heart. I always knew my best friend was brilliant. Her being the High Priestess made more sense than anything I’d ever heard. It also explained why she was good at solving these riddled prophecies. She and I used to go play escape rooms, just the two of us, and see how fast we could beat them. We intentionally picked video games and board games with riddles. We were good at this.
You’re making your escape room face, B, Tegan said into my mind with a chuckle. She always seemed to read my thoughts. You know our rule—think out loud.
I summoned my magic into my feet then pushed hard against the dirt. And then you solve it.
Tegan’s eyes sparkled. I heard that.
I scrubbed my face to hide my grin. Seeing the Aether Witch be impressed by something I did was flabbergasting. I licked my lips and reined in my thoughts. She was waiting for me to help her. This was us. I’d had thoughts about this just a few minutes ago.
“Well, to be honest,” I said, then cleared my throat. “I automatically assumed it was about Jackson somehow.”
Willow pursed her lips. “Just because it came out at his initiation doesn’t mean it has to be about him...though it usually works out that way.”
Tegan cocked her head to the side and watched me. “Continue.”
With everyone’s eyes on me, I wanted to squirm and run away, but Tegan wanted my help. “Okay, maybe not Jackson specifically, but the House of Lancaster. Crimson, scarlet, ruby, and wine—these are all shades of red. Then seek the petal of rosen token—"
“A red rose,” Jackson whispered. His eyes were wide and his gaze distant.
Cooper frowned and looked back and forth between us. “What’s the significance of that?”
Jackson seemed to be in a haze. He lifted his left hand up and showed everyone his tattoo. “The symbol of the House of Lancaster is a red rose.”
Chapter Fifty
Bettina
“Yes! That’s it. I knew it meant family. I just forgot about his. I knew we had to take in the context of the grammatical clue.” Tegan bit down on her bottom lip and eyed the bones with a wild sparkle in her eyes. “Their blood, is what’s been forged anew. The Lancaster family has magic again. So this object is from them.”
Jackson’s face paled.
Cooper frowned. “So we’re looking for something like six hundred years old?”
Tennessee shook his head. “Much older. The father of the Lancaster bloodline was one of the original twenty witches. He was also one of the five witches who mixed their blood in the Heavenly chalice to create the Nephilim race. When the war with the Nephilim began, the descendants of those five brought the chalice back to the Garden of Eden so that history couldn’t repeat itself. They never came home.”
“Bloody hell,” Jackson mumbled under his breath.
Tennessee nodded. “We’re looking for the bones of Jackson’s ancestor. The Lancaster lying in this clearing.”
“And it will have a red rose on it.” I looked down to the shattered bones under my Converses.
“It could be anything here.” Trey crouched down. “There’s so many. How will we know where to look?”
“Binding runes fall on the line.” Tennessee turned and moved closer to the waterfall, farther than he’d let me go. “It’s on the line to the Garden.”
“In a grouping of skeletons.” Tegan backstepped and looked left to right. “Any witches bound together would fall in a group as they tried to enter. Potentially, anyway.”
She made a great point. I followed her gaze, but then my hope fell. There were still over a dozen skeletons lying right on the line.
“All right, so should we each take a skeleton and start searching?”
“No offense, Trey. But no. I have an easier idea.” Tegan walked over to Jackson and grabbed his left hand. “Everyone else behind us, please.”
I glanced to Tennessee, expecting to see jealousy or anger, but I found neither, only curiosity. Still, he stepped beside her, not behind.
&n
bsp; Tegan raised her left hand up in front of her, with her palm facing the entrance to the Garden of Eden. “Jackson, think about your family and send your magic into me.”
I couldn’t see his face, but he nodded. Blue flames coiled around his hands, wrapping around Tegan’s pale fingers. Tegan flexed the fingers of her left hand, and magic shot out from her palm. It slammed into the waterfall and slipped inside. A moment later, bright white light exploded out from between the water and crashed into Tegan. Her entire body lit up like a Las Vegas neon sign.
She lifted her and Jackson’s joined hands, and a red light shot out. It was a neon horizontal line, like one of those eye scanners. The red laser scanned everything in front of them from the top of the slates down. When it hit the skeletons, those blue flames on Jackson’s hands grew brighter and bigger. The red laser pulsed like it felt the vibrations in the air.
Then it hit two skeletons that were lying a little lower on the ground, and each bone lit up bright red. Blue flames billowed out from the empty chest cavities.
Everyone gasped but no one moved.
“Tenn and Bettina, go look for the object.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I have a connection with you two, so I’ll be able to feel it better.”
Tennessee didn’t hesitate. He marched right over and crouched down to the two skeletons.
I took a tentative step forward then paused. “Feel it?”
Tegan shrugged. “Just touch every object. I think I’ll be able to feel the right one.”
I nodded and leapt over to where Tennessee was crouched, then knelt down beside him. In front of us were two skeletons, both wearing shields and weapons, but one of them was smaller than the other.
I frowned. “Divide and conquer or teamwork?”
“Teamwork,” he answered immediately. He then pointed to the smaller skeleton. “Let’s start here.”
I’d noticed in a quick amount of time that Tennessee was a decisive kind of guy. He didn’t linger on things, and it was refreshing. Also, probably why he was the Emperor and meant to lead The Coven.
The Fallen Witch (The Coven: Academy Magic Book 2) Page 25