Page 53

51 AELIA

Light poured in through an unknown source high above, flooding the chamber with an ethereal white glow. In the center of the room sat three giant statues of the goddesses of the Trinity leaning over a single flowing well, their eyes fixed on the waters below.

Another golden book sat open in front of the well.

Caiden, Tharan, and I exchanged knowing looks before reluctantly pulling our daggers from their sheaths and pricking our fingers, each laying a bloody print on the page.

Just as it had before, the blood absorbed into the paper.

We waited with baited breath for the script to appear. The whirling in my chest intensified.

Well done. You have passed my trials and proved yourselves worthy of the magic of the Trinity, but only one of you may reap the reward. Reach into the basin and claim your piece of the Trinity Stone.

“So, there’s no actual well?” I asked, confused.

“No,” a voice said from behind me, turning my blood cold.

I didn’t want to turn around. I didn’t want to see her monstrous face, but it couldn’t be avoided.

Slowly, I turned on my heels.

“What are you doing here?” My words caught in my throat.

Erissa smirked.

“You thought your little band of warriors could stop me?”

Behind her, Baylis, Kita, and Alwin stood with their arms crossed over their chests. Their eyes narrowed on me, and I instinctively reached for Tharan’s hand. I had moments to think of something. I jumped into Amolie’s mind.

When we attack, run for the Trinity Stone.

‘Got it.’

Ejecting myself from her mind, I squeezed Tharan’s hand before letting go.

“If you value your life, you will leave now Erissa.”

She huffed, tapping her foot on the stone floor impatiently.

“I’ve been dreaming of this day since they took Crom from me. Do you think I would really give up that easily?”

Rage boiled in my veins.

“You want to watch the world burn, for what? A man who didn’t even care enough about you to ensure your safety? Did he love you in return, Erissa, or is this some fucked up way of getting him to?”

Her brows knitted.

“He loved me in his own way. Now, step aside.”

“No,” I said through gritted teeth.

She shrugged. “Fine, have it your way.”

Tension pulled taut in the air. Baylis nocked and released her bow, letting it fly in Caiden’s direction, but his senses were back, and he caught the arrow in midair, cracking it in two in his powerful hands.

Baylis swallowed hard.

“Now!” I yelled.

Caiden released a bolt of lightning while Tharan sprayed the group with poisonous spores.

Erissa threw up a shield, blocking our attacks.

The knot in my chest whirled faster, making a heat rise inside of me, like a burning kiln. Pain radiated through every limb. My breaths were short and ragged.

Amolie ran for the stone, but Baylis fired another arrow high into the chamber. I could only look on in horror as it found a home in her ankle.

Amolie tumbled to the floor, crying out in agony.

I narrowed my eyes on the ancient mage. My heart beat like a drum. It was always going to come to this. Just her and I. She made me this monster and I would repay the favor.

I launched into her mind.

There was no door marring my way. No set of traps to ensnare me, only a sea of stars met my gaze.

“I wondered if you’d have the guts to come here.”

I whirled around to see Erissa as she had been before the potions destroyed her face. She wore her traditional white silken robes. Her long, red hair flowed in a wave over her shoulders. Her hips shifted from side to side as she approached me.

A chill ran down my spine.

“Did you orchestrate this whole thing to get me here, alone?”

She chuckled.

“No, this was just a happy coincidence. I knew you would show me to the Well.” We circled one another. “I just didn’t realize what was in your chest.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You know about the knot?”

“I could sense it as soon as I entered the chamber. Morta was smart to hide something so powerful in plain sight. No one would’ve looked twice at a normal, human girl.” She tapped her lush lips with her index finger. “But what I can’t figure out is how she got it in you without killing you or setting it off.”

“So, what is it?”

“You could call it a weapon of sorts.”

“Of sorts…”

She waved me off.

“I can’t be sure without examining you, but there were always rumors the Fates possessed the power to reset the world if they needed to.”

“It can’t be.” Thorns grew in my throat at the words.

“It’s whirling right now, isn’t it?”

I nodded.

“Hmm… It must have something to do with the Trinity Well. The magic is loosening the knot.”

I sucked in a shaky breath.

“I know what you’re doing, Erissa, and I will not let you leave here with the Trinity Stone.”

She clicked her tongue as we continued to circle one another.

“Oh, but I don’t think you’ll have a choice.” Erissa pooled power between her hands before sending a ball of white light my way.

On the outside I had no real magic, but in here, I was the master.

Holding up my palm I blocked her attack, sending it flying back at her.

The bolt of magic lit up the dark space, hitting her in the gut and sending her flying backwards. Slamming into a wall, she slumped to the ground.

“You forgot I have power here,” I said, carefully approaching her.

She dug her long fingernails into the stone floor, before pushing herself up the wall. A grimace graced her macabre face.

“This is my mind, child. You have no power here.”

Erissa’s body twisted and contorted in an unnatural way. Thousands of insect legs appeared from beneath her satin robe, and she grew in height. The linen fell away, revealing her bottom half to be that of a centipede. Her eyes glowed an eerie green and her teeth elongated into fangs.

I swallowed the fear rising in my gut. Two could play this game.

An evil cackled reverberated throughout the chamber.

Between my hands I molded the Scepter of the Dead and called upon the Morrigan.

Smoke molded into the body of the goddess. She wore her sacred armor with a raven engraved on the breastplate and her hair was woven into a long braid that snaked down her back.

“What the…?” She didn’t have time to finish her sentence before Erissa was on top of her.

“You,” Erissa hissed.

Despite being held down by the mage, a wicked smile twisted on the Morrigan’s lips.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a very long time.” Pushing Erissa off her, she rolled out from underneath the monster. Two long blades appeared in the Morrigan’s hands. “You thought you could capture me and make me your war slave for an eternity, but our story ends here.”

Out of nowhere, hundreds of ravens swooped in, attacking Erissa.

She thrashed back and forth swiping at anything she could.

Determination flashed in the Morrigan’s blue eyes. She crouched low before bounding into the air, swords held high, releasing her wrath upon the mage.

The swarm of ravens clouded my vision, but the blood seeping onto the floor had to be coming from somewhere. The Morrigan was technically dead, could she die again?

Suddenly the birds scattered and the Morrigan went flying across the room, slamming into a wall and crumpling into a heap on the floor.

“No!” I cried out.

I turned to run to the Morrigan, but Erissa pounced upon me, clasping her hand around my neck. Blood streaked down her horrific face. Half monster, half mage, she used every ounce of her power to stay upright.

I gasped for the air I knew I wasn’t breathing. Her arm trembled as her claws dug into my flesh.

“I wonder what happens when a Mind Breaker dies in a mind?” A fire burned in her green eyes.

“You need me for the other two Wells,” I eked out, unsure if she even cared about them anymore or if her need for revenge would overpower her logic.

She gritted her teeth, hissing at me.

“I have your sister now. Surely, she got some of your mother’s blood… although… whatever is in your chest could be useful to me.” She pressed her finger into my sternum through my armor. “Yes, I can feel it. The magic wants to be set free.”

I gritted my teeth. Pain ripped through me, hot and unrelenting. A blindingly white light blurred my vision. I had to make it stop. The magic would tear me in two.

“Get off of me!” I kicked her with all my might, sending her flying and releasing me.

She lay on the floor, hacking up blood, body fighting to stay alive.

A sense of relief washed over me. I had her—the architect of my demise. She’d tortured me for her own gain—watched as I endured psychological warfare from my husband, and used her goons to test my healing abilities. I’d wanted to snap her neck for five years, and now I had the chance.

Reaching out my hand, I used my power to pull her into the air above me.

A bloody smile crossed her face.

“What are you smiling at?”

“Oh, you’ll see.”

A chill washed over me. Something was wrong on the outside. No, I couldn’t stop now. Not when I was so close to getting what I wanted. I squeezed my hand and Erissa clawed at her neck.

“You lie.”

“I… guess… you’ll… have to let me go and see…”

“Morrigan?” I called out, not taking my eyes off Erissa.

“Yes?” she said in a voice that was barely a whisper.

“If you’re in here, where is your army?”

She coughed.

“They shouldn’t have been able to come through without your orders.”

A pit opened in my stomach. As much as I wanted to finish what I’d started here. I knew I had to leave.

I ejected myself from her mind. The chamber came into focus. The Scepter of the Dead lay in my right hand and the pit in my stomach filled with lead.

The bodies of my friends were strewn across the sanctuary floor.

Baylis, Kita, and Alwin were nowhere to be found.

A cough echoed through the chamber. I ran to Amolie.

“What happened?”

Deep down, I knew. Erissa touched the knot in my chest, and it unraveled. Not all the way, but enough to kill the two people I loved most. She knew my weaknesses and her ancient magic was enough to loosen the knot.

Tears welled in my eyes.

This was my curse: bound to be alone. Bound to kill the ones I loved. I was the Queen of the Damned, including myself.

“I don’t know,” Amolie said through a whisper. “Your eyes started glowing and then the next thing I knew light came shooting out from your fingertips. The others fled with Erissa’s body, but…”

I looked at Caiden and Tharan lying still on the hard marble floor. My words caught in my throat.

“Amolie, what have I done?”

This was my fate. Why had my mother not warned me? Was she protecting me? Would I have to choose who to save?

“I don’t think you meant to do it,” she said, lifting herself up off the floor.

I went to Tharan. His radiant green eyes flitted up at me trying to make sense of who I was.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said, blood gushed from his mouth.

I had done this. No one else. Only me.

“No, no, no, you can’t leave me.” Tears marred my words. “I don’t know what to do without you. You’re my rock. My life. My?—”

The figure of a man dressed in all white muslin robes appeared before me.

“Aelia, let me take him.”

“No,” I said, pulling him tight to my chest. “You can’t have him.”

My attempts to save him were futile. His breath was shallow, and his eyes were shut. Soon his soul would be gone and there was nothing I could do about it. But I didn’t want to let him go. I didn’t want the only good thing left in my life to be gone. I’d lost everything, and this time, it was of my own making.

Hadron blinked slowly at me.

“You and I both know I must take him, as well as Caiden. I will give you time to say goodbye, but then I must take them.”

My heart wrenched in my chest. How could I say goodbye to these men I loved so fiercely? I took Tharan’s face in my hands.

“This isn’t goodbye. I will bring you back.”

He mustered the best smirk he could.

“Don’t worry about me, my darling. I love you more than anything in this world or the next.”

“I will bring you back,” I whispered, my heart heavy in my chest. Tears trickled down my face. “I love you.”

“I know.” He shut his eyes, and his body went limp in my arms.

I laid a kiss on his forehead. My entire body shook with a mixture of anger and grief.

Hadron reached into his chest and plucked a ball of light that was his soul, before placing it in his satchel.

He was gone. The man I loved was gone.

Laying one last kiss on his lips, I set Tharan down and moved to Caiden, where Amolie was doing her best to keep him awake.

“Aelia?” he said. His whole body trembled.

Trinity, what had I done? I swallowed the dread rising in the back of my throat.

“I’m here, Caiden.” I took his hand in mine, remembering all the times he’d been my port in the storm. Now I would be his.

“I’m not ready.” His eyes welled with tears.

Neither was I. Not ready to let him go. Not ready to say goodbye. We’d hurt each other in the past, but none of that mattered now. Caiden loved me even when I didn’t love myself. He’d forgotten and remembered me—found me at the edge of the world, and I would do the same for him.

“I will find you. Just as you found me.” I gripped his hand tighter. “Hadron will take your soul, but I swear on the Trinity, I will find you and bring you back.”

He nodded through his labored breaths.

“Aelia?” His blue eyes flickered with one last ounce of hope.

“Yes?” My chest twisted with an unbearable ache.

“If I don’t make it back. It was a privilege to love you. You’ll always be my princess.”

Hot tears poured down my cheeks. My heart broke all over again.

“You were always too good for me.” I tapped my nose in the signal we’d given each other all those years ago. “I have always loved you. Even when I hated you.”

“Aelia…” Hadron said, with a heavy warning in his voice.

“I’m not ready to let him go,” I said, shakily. “Please don’t take him from me too.”

Hadron did as he had with Tharan and lifted the life from his chest. The light faded from his bright blue eyes.

“Aelia,” Hadron said.

“Yes?” I sniffled.

“I know you won’t listen to me, but do not go after them.”

A fire burned in my veins.

“Trinity has no fury like what I will rain down upon anyone who dares to try and stop me from saving the men I love.”

Rage burned in my chest.

He nodded and disappeared.

“I’m sorry,” Amolie said, gently touching my hand. “But I have good news. I still have the Trinity Stone.”

“I will get them back,” I said through gritted teeth.

Gripping the scepter tight in my hand, I called upon the Morrigan.

The goddess took shape. Her wounds healed.

“Oh, what happened here?”

“I accidentally killed the two men I love, and I need to cross over and bring them back.”

She stared at me blankly.

“You… want… to… die?”

“Yes.” I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth. I had wanted to die so many times before, but this time was different. This time it wasn’t out of self-hatred or pain. I wanted the men I loved back, and I would bring the underworld to its knees if that’s what I had to do.

She let out a long breath.

“And how do you plan on getting back?”

“I control the Scepter of the Dead. There has to be way for me to come back through it. And if not, Amolie will bring us back.”

I looked at my friend.

She bit her lip. Her normally jovial face awash with concern.

“I mean, I’m not an expert but, I think I could.”

She’d have to. There was no stopping me now. I couldn’t think about this any longer or else I’d back out of it.

“Great. That’s all settled. Amolie will bring me back and I’ll bring Caiden and Tharan with me.”

“This is madness,” the Morrigan said, her blue eyes going wide. “I’ve never seen someone bring two souls back with them.”

Ice ran through my veins, but I pushed it aside.

“Then I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

The Morrigan shrugged.

“I will meet you on the other side, Commander.” She disappeared back into the scepter.

Amolie and I stared at each other. There was so much left unsaid between us. We’d been best friends for five years. She’d seen me at my worst, and at my best, and now she would watch me die.

Bile rose in my stomach, but I swallowed it. Fear did not have a home here.

“How do you want to do it?” she asked. Her eyes downcast to the floor.

I could only think of one painless way to go.

“Got any poison on you?”

She nodded, pulling a vial of bright yellow liquid from her pocket. Hands shaking.

“The Kiss of Death from Pinky’s.”

I sighed.

“That will certainly get the job done.”

“You don’t have to do this, Aelia. I can find a way to bring them back.” She grabbed my hands, shaking them, hoping she could hold onto someone who was already gone.

“No, you told me once, to bring someone back, you had to give up some of your life. I won’t let you sacrifice yourself for us. Just do your best to bring me back, and I will do the rest.”

She nodded, tears welling in her eyes.

“I love you, Amolie.” I pulled her in close for one last hug, savoring the scent of honeysuckle on her skin. Memories of our time together flashed before my eyes. The lump in my throat grew thicker. A wail demanded to be released, but if I gave into it, I would surely not take the poison.

With one final squeeze, I downed the yellow liquid.

“I love you too.” Amolie’s voice faded into nothing.

The world went black.