Page 35 of Kiss the Dawn (Order of Helsing #4)

ORINA

W here was the spark of blessed power? Where was the darkness? They’d abandoned me when I needed them the most, leaving me weak and helpless in the hands of the enemy.

I reached deep into myself, searching for my connection to the power that had always been there and felt nothing. Ordell…he’d feel this. He’d know, right? But the thread that bound us was also absent.

It was this contraption. This machine that I was bound to stripping me of my defenses. It must be.

“The seventh daughter of a seventh daughter,” Micah said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Your blood has power. Power you might not be able to use, but that others can draw on if they know how. It took patience and effort to manipulate your mother into trusting me with your life. A life, that when extinguished, will save so many more.”

Micah meant to kill me. The man who’d been my rock, my confidant all my time in the Order, the man who’d trained me, meant to kill me. “Is this what you promised my mother when you took me from her?”

His eyes flinched. “I’m not proud of the lies that I’ve spun. Not proud of the actions I’ve taken and am about to take.”

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Padma cried. “You blocked my request for more operatives.”

“Oh, he did more than that,” Christian said with glee. “He orchestrated your appointment to the blaze that whittled down your numbers. Shame we didn’t get a hold of what we needed. All I got for my efforts was a headache from having to wipe your little fae friend’s mind of having seen me there.”

“You did this to me?” Merry cried. “You broke my mind.”

Shit, Christian had messed with her mind? Wait…hadn’t Dash mentioned Christian could alter memory. Why hadn’t I made the connection then?

“Broke you?” Christian sounded affronted. “I took one memory.”

“You took the whole day,” Padma said. “And her ability to retain future memories. ”

“Well, that was not my intention,” he said. “It was my first fae mind, so…How about we get on with this.”

Micah’s gaze dropped back to me. “I’m truly sorry that it has to be this way, Orina. I liked you. A lot. You have your mother’s eyes.”

“Fuck you.” Tears blurred my vison as barbs of betrayal dug deeper into my heart. “I hope you fail. I hope your fucking ritual is a bust.”

“If it is, then that’ll be a poor use of resources, and you, Orina, will have died for nothing.”

He strode out of view, and it was suddenly hard to breathe. Spots filled my vision, and my fingers began to tingle. “Stop. Micah. The world is a shit place from time to time, but bringing an insane god into it won’t do it any favors. What if you can’t control her? What if she corrupts you?”

Something clicked, and a whirring sound filled the air, followed by a prickling sensation over my skin.

Oh God. What was he doing? What was happening?

Static crackled, then a voice filled the chamber, smooth, clipped, and undeniably Jacqueline Hyde, speaking words that made no sense to me. Words in a foreign tongue.

Christian leaned in and whispered. “She’s a witch, did you know? Escaped the Isle looking for a cure to the infection that’s rampant there. Micah will use Loviator’s power to cure her. ”

I spat in his face, and he reared back with a snarl which showcased his fangs. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped at his cheek.

“Look…It’s working,” Christian said conversationally, as if I hadn’t just spat at him.

The gems on the golem glowed and pulsed, and dread formed a thick soup in my belly.

“The souls are being transferred.” Christian vibrated with excitement.

Micah strode toward the plinth in front of the golem and inserted his key into the pillar. He looked over his shoulder at me, and worms of dread erupted in my gut because I’d seen that look before. It was a goodbye. A farewell.

My time was up.

“Thank you for your sacrifice, Orina.” He turned the key, and the plinth lit up bright blue. He pressed his hands to the stone, and the blue energy snaked over his fingers. More blue fractures climbed over the golem.

“It’s happening,” Micah cried. “Christian, now!”

Christian moved behind me, and a surge of heat rushed through me.

“No!” I thrashed and bucked and screamed, knowing all the while that it was futile but needing to take action. To try. The straps holding me captive cut into my skin.

Not again .

Not again, please.

Another whirr and click, and I was spun toward my friends.

“Orina!” Padma cried. “Look at me. Just look at me.” She reached through the bars for me. “I’m with you. I’m here. Just…look at me, okay?”

In that moment, I knew there would be no reprieve. No last-minute save.

Not this time.

I locked gazes with her, and an eerie calm washed over me.

Another whirr. Another click, and cold fire pierced me everywhere at once. My scream was nothing but a wheeze. There was no breath. No thought.

Someone screamed, but it was a faraway sound.

I was floating on a sea of fire edging closer to darkness.

I saw Ezekiel’s golden eyes filled with love for me, felt Ordell’s embrace, and bathed in Hemlock’s first real smile. I sat at the table with my team, brownies in hand, laughing at something Edwin had said. Laid in the bed, snug in Lorenzo’s arms, then moved to the apartment, where I drank coffee on the balcony at night with Kaster. I was in all those places at once, and then I wasn’t.

I was drifting.

A teen standing in the clock tower with my friends, Nyx and Quinn.

My safe place.

My family.

My sisters.

I’m sorry.

I’m…