I shook my head.
“It’s okay,” he said, his kind green eyes on mine.
Give him your blood, Sheena had said. I had to try.
I brought my wrist to my mouth and bit down hard. I let out a scream as my teeth scraped against nerves. The tang of metal filled my mouth.
“Bianca…What are you doing?”
I pulled my wrist away. Silver spewed from the wound, shining brightly in the moonlight.
“Drink!” I hissed. I brought my arm up to Caleb’s mouth. “You have to drink.”
He took my arm and pressed his lips against the silver. As he swallowed, I felt the nothingness leave his aura, green flooding back in. But with each gulp, I felt the light leaving mine. When I could feel the green of his aura was mostly restored, I pulled my wrist away.
My eyelids fluttered, taking in his face, his closed eyes. He was unconscious. I was too weak to move. The hum of static returned to my ears, willing me towards the center of the clearing. An invisible energy drew me near, tugging at my aura.
I looked down at the wound on my wrist, still leaking blood. If it didn’t stop soon, I would bleed out. We needed help. But no one knew we were here.
My eyes drooped shut. I willed them to open. I willed myself to get up. But I couldn’t. I needed to get a message to Fae, to Sunder. But how?
I threw my aura as far as I could with what strength I could muster. It rose up above me, high into the sky. I forced it upwards, fighting the magnetic pull of the vortex below. From above I could see the whole town, lit up with sleeping auras. Reds, greens, and oranges shone like a tacky Christmas tree. Every color of the rainbow. But I was only looking for one.
Ice blue.
When I found it, I let myself fall, quickly, heavily. Like a shooting star, I fell right into it.
“Sunder!” I screamed as I entered his mind. “We need help!”
Chapter Forty-Two
The sheets were crisp white cotton. They seemed stiff, yet cozy. But the room smelled of bleach, as hospital rooms tend to.
The steady, high-pitched beep from the heart rate monitor kept the rhythm like a metronome; perfectly in time to the tick of the clock. Though it was a comfort, it also filled me with anxiety, afraid that at any moment it could stop.
Caleb lay in the bed, his eyes closed. From where my hand held his, I could feel his heartbeat, his breath. He exhaled against my skin, soft and cool.
My stomach had been in one large knot for the last few weeks. Waiting. Waiting for him to wake up.
“We can’t say when or if he’ll come out of it,” the doctors had said. “Some comas last weeks, others years. It’s just a waiting game, I’m afraid.”
So wait I would. For as long as it took.
It was my fault he was here.
So much was my fault.
“His aura is in shock,” Cendrine had said, after she, Hyssop and a few others from the realm had done their own assessment. “It doesn’t know what to do with your silver. But one thing is for sure, he’s not Skadhavar.” She’d reached for my hand, as if she knew what I was thinking. “You did the right thing, Bianca.”
But it didn’t feel like it to me.
The door of the hospital room creaked open as Caleb’s mother entered, her yellow aura at my back.
“Hi, Bianca.”
“Hi, Mrs. Gillis,” I said, turning to meet her gaze.
Her face was weathered and worn. Her aura strained with distaste for me. She didn’t want me there but she was too kind to say it. Too kind to tell me she blamed me.
“Your ah… friend is here.” She gestured to the door.
Sunder stood in the doorway. “Hi,” he said. “I thought you could use a break. Some sleep, a shower?”
“I’m okay,” I said. I didn’t need either. Nor did I deserve them.
“Go on, hon,” Mrs. Gillis added. “I’ll sit with him for a bit, I’ll call you if there’s any change.”
She wanted some time with him, alone. “Okay.” I got to my feet, picking up my bag and a stack of books I’d been reading to him.
As Sunder and I walked down the hospital corridor, his ice-blue aura draped itself gently around me. Comforting me.
We pulled up outside my house and neither of us moved.
My heart felt heavy. Caleb was in a coma because of me. All because I had to make a point and prove I was in control of my own destiny. Was this what happened when I dared to go against the prophecy?
My shoulders buckled as I began to sob. Tears filled my eyes and trailed down my cheeks. I brought my hands up to my face.
Sunder drew me into his arms. “It’s okay, Bianca. I’m here.”
And he was. His aura told me so. No matter what, Sunder would always be there for me. Just as he was that night. When he’d found me in the darkness, lifted me up and held me close.
“Bianca,” he’d whispered in my ear. “I will not let you go. Do you understand? I love you more than I could ever explain. I would do anything for you, Bianca. Please, stay with me.”
The memory brought another stab of guilt to my heart. Despite everything, I couldn’t help it. I loved him too. And I hated myself for it.
I sobbed into his coat as he hugged me tightly.
“I’m here, Bianca,” Sunder said again. His aura pulsed with deep love and affection but also pain. He hated that I was hurting and he desperately wanted to make me feel better.
I wanted that too. I broke from the hug and pressed my lips to his. The veil rippled around me as our auras merged. It felt right. It felt like home. My body tingled as he kissed me back, passionately.
Epilogue
It hadn’t taken long for Ebonine to return to her home in the rocky caves of the dark realm. With the Re’em silver flowing through her veins, she ran much faster than she ever had as a dark beast.
Everything felt clearer. Her mind was crisp and her thoughts were quick. Her connection to her beasts was stronger than ever. She could feel not only who they had been but also who their ancestors had been. They were all tethered to her by an invisible cord, winding back through generations.
The woman staring back at her from the large mirror was beautiful. Long dark hair, glowing skin, her body lean and strong. She marveled at her full breasts and the curve of her hips. She could hardly believe she had once been this woman. Nor could she believe how little she’d valued it at the time. Of course, her mind had always been on bigger things…
Not only will I appear human, she thought, as she ran an ornate comb through her shiny hair, but I will turn the heads of men and women wherever I go. My beauty is now another tool I can use to build my army and dominate the realms.
The Skadhavar sitting at her feet released a small murmur, setting off a ripple through the rest of the herd.
“Yes, my pets, soon we will rebuild our army.” She rose to her feet. “We may have lost some troops, but we have gained so much. With my new gifts, there is so much more we can do.” She walked through the herd like a cat, her bare feet nearly silent against the rocky floor. “I feel you all so strongly now,” she said, running a hand down the back of one beast, then another.
“I know you,” she said, stopping in front of a large Skadhavar in the center of the herd. She placed a tender hand against the creature’s face. “I know your darkest fears. Your deepest secrets.” She smiled. “And what I know will help us take the human world.”
She stared at the Skadhavar in front of her, willing it to look into her dark black eyes. “Isn’t that right, Lars?”
The Skadhavar released a wild whinny.
“Yes, my pet,” she said, a wide grin spreading across her face. “I think it’s time you paid your dear daughter a visit.”
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank all of my friends and family who made this book possible. Many of you read the e
arlier drafts, encouraged me, gave feedback on blurbs and covers or simply listened as I ranted (stressed) about story lines and character development.
A huge thank you to my readers: Lisa Woodley, Angie Perry, Nicki Hugill, and Lisa McKelvey — and her class from Epsom Girls Grammar. Your feedback was invaluable and definitely helped to make this book better!
Thank you to my editor, Jessica Nelson of Rare Bird Editing. Working with you has rekindled my love for the publishing process.
I’d also like to thank Cendrine Sauvenier for the use of her beautiful name, Mariana Collette who encouraged me to begin and insisted I keep going and Gretchen Murray for her unwavering belief in me.
Thank you to my parents, Gerryann and Mark, who let me live in my dream world — amidst the faeries and unicorns — and encouraged me to write and paint and play.
Above all, thank you to Andy, Cohen and Donnie. You guys are my everything. Moi.
I think it’s only right that I offer an honorable mention to the unwashed dishes upon my sink, the pile of washing on the couch (known as Mt. Foldmore) and my unmade bed. Without their constant presence this book would not have been written.
The town of Pentacle is very loosely based on the town of Gold Hill, Oregon, home to the real-life Oregon Vortex and House of Mystery. All information about the Oregon Vortex and the late John Litster is true as stated on the Oregon Vortex website (oregonvortex.com).
About the Author
Lisette Prendé is a writer, actor and tarot reader from New Zealand. She enjoys painting, ghost hunting, casting spells and drinking tea. She lives in Wellington with her partner, their two sons and their Burmese cat called Cheesecake.
You can learn more about Lisette at www.lisetteprende.com and you can follow her on Instagram @lisetteprende_fulltimeunicorn
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