Page 68

68

Pit of Ice

EMILIA

I t was really her .

Standing in the doorway, looking the same as the last time I’d seen her. The black dress from Hallows Eve clung to her, falling just above her knees. Her eyes were warm and crystal clear. She stayed calm and collected as she studied each of us.

A handful of throbbing heartbeats went by and nobody moved or even breathed.

Then Faye sprung forward, weeping. “Natalia!”

Michael and I stayed frozen, watching as the girls embraced each other. Faye was sobbing, murmuring prayers of gratitude. Natalia hugged her back but her demeanor was stoic rather than emotional.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“How did you wake up?” Faye wondered as they pulled apart. She sniffed and wiped her nose, her cheeks flushed and stained with tears.

“The Darkbringer died.”

My heart stuttered and dropped. “How do you know?”

Natalia’s eyes met mine and it felt like a physical crash. Even though she was relaxed, her presence filled the room. “I Saw it.”

Michael stepped forward. “Natalia.”

She gave him a small smile. “Hello, Michael. I appreciate your efforts to find me. But I was out of your reach, I fear.”

His brows crumpled together. “You knew I was looking?”

“Of course.” She closed the space between them and wrapped him in a tight hug, which shocked him at first. When they pulled apart, his eyes were shiny. “You are still the Eighth Wonder, mortal boy.” She glanced pointedly at his staff. “Don’t give up on it just yet.”

He blushed and shook his head. “It’s a mockery.”

“It is not,” Natalia insisted.

“Where were you the whole time?” I asked, my heart crashing against my ribs.

“The shadows. Such a peculiar place.” She waved her hand and the door shut and locked behind her. “Don’t worry about me, you guys. I was fine. Truly. The Goddess showed me so much.”

I should have been rejoicing that our friend was alive and well but all I could think about was what she said about Solaris.

Could he really be dead ?

Natalia regarded me curiously, and for a moment I felt naked. Like she could see right into me. Seeing her in the flesh made me remember my dreams about her. The way her eyes had been black, her smile all wrong. She’d pulled me into the mirror. Grabbed me by the back of my neck…

Did I fear her now?

After a moment, we came together. It was instinctual. We stared at each other in silence before we finally hugged. Tears burned my eyes. She smelled of white sage and candle wax and attic dust.

My dreams were my dreams. I couldn’t blame her for the way my subconscious portrayed her.

“You’re back,” I breathed into her.

“I was never truly gone,” she whispered as we pulled apart.

“Solaris?” I rasped, my throat dry. “He’s really…?”

“He died, yes.”

Three little words that I had always thought would fill me with relief. Yet all I felt was dread.

“How?” I breathed.

“Poison and a broken heart,” was Natalia’s cryptic answer.

“What did you mean before?” Michael asked, his expression dark. “The shadows want revenge?”

Natalia nodded solemnly. “They’re here. They’re looking for us.”

“For us ?” I repeated, ice trickling down my spine.

Her eyes misted over. “I’m sorry, you guys. This is my fault. My Hallows Eve plan was reckless. I didn’t realize before, how different and vulnerable shadows are. Shadows are not like the other elements. They need a wielder. Someone to maintain them and express them and stand between this realm and theirs. Cutting Solaris off from them was a grave mistake. We have to fix it.”

“How?” Faye breathed.

“I need to remove the manacles. Only I can do it.”

“But you said he’s dead…” Michael pointed out, his face warped with confusion.

“He will not stay dead,” Natalia declared, the words radiated through the room like fire. “He is the Dark Phoenix, after all.”

Goddess.

Faye and I shared a look. Michael’s glare stayed fixed on Natalia, his wheels turning.

“We have to act quickly,” Natalia went on. “We need to lure the shadows away from the academy. They—”

My stomach as I remembered.

“Venus!” I gasped, my hand flying to my throat. Acidic panic scorched through me. “Venus is locked in her room. Destiny, she—”

“I know,” Natalia deadpanned.

I frowned. “You do?”

She nodded ominously.

“How do you know…?” I couldn’t help the suspicion that was blooming inside of me.

Natalia tapped the center of her forehead with one finger as an explanation.

Suspicion festered inside me. But it would have to wait.

“Let’s go,” I ordered.

The hallways were dark. Not a single candle lit the way for us. All we had to guide us were sporadic pools of moonlight that spilled through the sparse windows. We stuck together in a huddled group, moving as silently as possible, hardly allowing ourselves to breathe.

The academy was deathly silent. But the silence was bloated. It contained something ready to explode at any second. I could feel it in every cell of my being—the threat.

It made my ears ring. I tried to shake my head to get it to stop. It didn’t work. The ringing persisted, getting more intrusive by the minute.

Venus’s room was two stories up, down a long hallway. The stairs were the freakiest part. The winding well was pitch-black. I couldn’t see my hand an inch away from my face. The narrow stone walls amplified our breathing even though we barely were. I held onto Faye and Michael, carefully counting each step and moving my feet with calculated precision. One wrong move and we could fall and make a commotion that would lead the shadows to us.

When we made it to her floor without being discovered, I had to bite my lip to prevent myself from sighing with relief.

I led the way now.

Creeping down the hall, catching rays of moonlight through the glass here and there.

Luna Academy needed more windows.

We reached her door and I stopped in front of it as an announcement. A window across the hall and down a few yards gave barely enough light for Natalia and me to lock eyes. I looked pointedly at the door.

She nodded and stepped forward.

With a wave of her hand, she had the inner workings of the door unbolting and unclasping. I should have been questioning why she had the authority to unlock the door when the rest of us couldn’t. But my desperation to reach Venus reigned now.

The sounds were piercing against the dark silence. My heart raced painfully, fear rising and wrapping up my spine like a serpent. They will hear us .

Venus’s door clicked open, the scent of her cherry incense hitting me immediately. There was something else, too. Something thick and metallic.

I pushed through the door, blinking into the dark. Even without the candles, I could see all the red.

“Venus?” I whispered.

A whir of movement made me jump and the next thing I knew I was shoved into the wall, a warm body crushing mine, something cold and deadly pressed against my throat. “Let me see your eyes!”

I couldn’t have hidden them if I tried. They were wide and frantic as I took in the sight of the crazy woman pinning me to the wall. I guessed it was her black dagger on my throat.

“It’s me!” I wheezed.

“Hey, get off of her!” Michael growled.

“You brought them ?” Venus hissed with disgust. She released me and stepped back. I was right about the black dagger. In her other hand, she had a selenite wand, which she tapped three times and the tip of it lit up like a flashlight. She shone it in my friends’ faces with a crazed, suspicious look corrupting her features. My heart stuttered and fell when I noticed the three, gnarly cuts down her temple and through her eyebrow.

“We’re all clear!” Faye swore, holding her hands up in surrender.

Venus was staring at Natalia with the light from her crystal wand fixed on her. Natalia didn’t blink or squint against the light blaring directly into her eyeballs. “You…” Venus breathed. Then she turned to me. “How is she here?”

“It’s kind of a long story, and we don’t have time for that right now. I came for you like I said I would. Now let’s go.”

Venus’s chest heaved. Her gaze darted around each face, and slowly, I saw her ire wane. Finally, she loosed a long sigh. Then a single sob ripped from her chest.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered thickly. “I had to. Please believe me.”

“What…?” I trailed off as she shone her light on the wall.

The wall Destiny was impaled to with a giant crystal spear.

My spirit was punched from my body.

She hung limply, her head down. Blood stained her black dress and pooled on the floor under her.

The world moved in slow motion. Faye blurred forward, screaming intelligibly. My soul bobbed uselessly over my empty head as I watched my friends work to yank the spear from her stomach and lay her down on the bed.

“She—she was possessed or something,” Venus explained, her voice wobbly and frantic. “She was trying to kill me. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“She’s alive!” Faye professed, her fingers pressed to Destiny’s throat.

Natalia stared down at the unconscious body. “Heal her, Faye. Then we’ll tie her up, just in case. The Luminary will find her. She’ll be okay. We have to keep going.”

A warm hand rested on my shoulder and I jumped like I’d been slapped.

Michael.

“Hey,” he murmured. “It’s gonna be okay.”

No, it fucking wasn’t.

Green light emitted from Faye’s shaky hands as she held them over Destiny and closed the gaping wound. Destiny’s chest rose and fell slightly with breath. Her face was crunched into a frown, even unconscious.

When Faye was satisfied, she stepped aside and let Natalia wave her hand and cast vines around Destiny’s body. Binding her tightly in case she was still possessed when she woke up.

I wanted to lean over and retch.

“Okay,” Natalia announced. “She will be fine for now. We need to leave the academy. The shadows will follow us.”

I stared at my best friend.

Destiny was warm. Destiny was kind and fierce and loyal and funny. She would never hurt anyone. The violent, unconscious creature bound by vines was—was not—

“Emilia.” Natalia’s hard voice yanked me from my spiraling thoughts. “Destiny has been tainted for a while now. The shadows chose her because she’s close to you. It’s you they want, not her. We need to leave. The Priestesses will take care of her now. I promise.”

Michael squeezed my shoulder. Faye sniffed back a sob.

This whole time. Her dark, erratic behavior. I’d been too busy being pissed off and offended to stop and think that maybe it wasn’t really her .

Cold guilt crackled up my spine. But nothing else. I was an empty, numb pit of ice.

“Where are we going to go?” I asked, my voice rough.

“To Nyx,” Natalia answered.

My heart lurched. “You know where she is?”

She nodded curtly.

“What if we run into others who are like Destiny?” Faye questioned.

“Crystal light blinds them,” Venus said, holding up her selenite wand. “It’s not a fool-proof weapon, but, it stalls them. I have three of these. Who wants one?”

“I’ll have one,” I muttered.

Faye nodded. “Me too.”

“Okay,” Venus breathed. “Okay.” She rummaged through her stuff and came back with two shimmering wands that matched hers. “I made these for Bianca and Cassi. Anyway. See this rune?” She held her wand up, which was already lit. It had a small, swirling rune that looked a little bit like a sun on the bottom. “Tap this three times, and it will light up.”

She gave one to me and Faye.

“If one of them sees us, shine the light directly in their eyes. It blinds them. It hurts them, too. It’s not much, but it will disorient them long enough for us to get away.”

“This is remarkable,” Faye murmured, angling her wand around. She tapped the rune three times and her wand burst to life with heavenly white light. “You are a talented mystic, Venus.”

“Of course I am,” Venus snapped.

Michael shifted on his feet. For once, though, he didn’t look entirely out of place. Not with his Veneficus jacket and the staff at his side. “Now what?”

“The girl!” I gasped, the realization hitting me head-on. “Oh my Goddess. Nyx’s mortal girl—we have to get her.”

“She’s safe with everyone in the Sphere,” a new voice said.

Something familiar prickled over my skin as a woman draped in silver robes stepped through the doorway. A hood concealed her face in shadows. Two more women came in behind her, clad in identical silver attire.

None of us moved or said a word.

The lead woman removed her hood, candlelight flickering across her strangely familiar face. I couldn’t place her, though I knew I had seen her somewhere before.

Dark blonde hair fell to her shoulders. Lines around her blue eyes spoke of aging that was unnatural to Celestials. I could tell instantly that she possessed no magic.

“The shadows are being summoned back to their master,” the woman said. She was looking at me . “Luna Academy is safe, but we are not out of the woods yet. You must get to your sister before the moon is full.”

“Who are you?” I demanded.

“Nymeria Stone,” Natalia breathed behind me. “Jedidiah’s mother.”

The revelation knocked me back a step but the luxury of processing this information was not granted. One of the cloaked women from behind Nymeria came forward, holding a fabric bag that she shoved into my hands.

“What—?” I started, but the second woman conjured the biggest portal I’d ever seen and I was devoured by the spinning light.

I howled as the blinding cosmic tunnel vacuumed me up. My body and soul were ripped apart as rapacious sound waves and pins and needles became my only reality.

Lifetimes went by it seemed, the force so jerky and gratuitous that it made Jedidiah’s portal seem like a joyride.

My reunion with the earth was a jarring, abrupt collision. My jaw snapped, pain searing through my skull and spine as my vision of the starry sky above spiraled. The air had a bite, the ground under me as cold as the magic that snarled in my chest, longing for retribution.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

I turned my head in time to watch the portal spit out the last of my friends before it shrunk and vanished. Leaving us laid out and groaning in the middle of what seemed like fucking nowhere.

When the breath finally found its way back into my lungs, I forced myself to sit up. We were all here. Venus, Michael, Faye, and Natalia. I assessed them, making sure they were all in one piece before I let my eyes wander to scour our surroundings.

With only the pale light of the waxing moon for illumination, I had to squint. The bewildering incline that splayed out before me started dark but eventually turned white with—snow.

Lanky trees loomed sporadically, owls hooting from within them.

“Where the hell are we?” Venus whined as she rose to her feet, stretching out her sore muscles. “Goddess, I hate portals.”

“The San Gabriel Mountains,” Natalia said, staring up at the rocky ascent.

I stood up, my heart thudding painfully.

“Is everyone okay?” Faye wondered, brushing herself off before she reached down to help Michael up. He was scowling up the snow-capped mountain peaks.

“Why are we here?” My voice was hoarse, my spine still burning.

Natalia leveled me with a stare. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Where do you think your sister is, Emilia?”

“What? I have no…” The words died on my tongue as the revelation hit me harder than the ground when the portal had dropped me.

Memories raced behind my mind’s eye like a montage on fast forward. Girls being summoned into the Sphere to be alerted about the vanquishing of San Gabriel Academy .

“We better start hiking,” Natalia muttered, trudging forward.

“ Where ?” Michael demanded. He stepped closer to me and for the love of the Goddess, my ears started ringing. What was that awful sound?

“San Gabriel Academy,” I answered, my voice low.

“Or what’s left of it,” Natalia griped. “Emilia, don’t forget that.” She nodded down at the bag the cloaked woman had given me.

I grabbed it gingerly, as if it had a ticking time bomb inside. My friends started moving, but Michael hung back to wait for me. His expression mirrored mine.

“Hurry up!” Faye called.

Shit. My feet felt rooted in place. I licked my dry lips before I dared to look inside the bag. My heart dropped as I sifted through the silk wrap that concealed the demented looking dagger the mortal girl had given me.

My hand jerked back like I’d been zapped. What the fuck? This meant those women had been in my room. Went through my things. How did they know I had this in the first place? And where had I seen them before?

The ominous mystery of the silver-robed women clutched my throat like a fist, but I had no time to wallow.

I slung the bag over my shoulder and fell into step beside Michael as we began our ascent up the mountain.