Page 40 of Redemption (Deliverance Duet #2)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Iris

M y whole world has been thrown off its axis. Nothing makes sense, and my overwhelmed brain has finally reached its limits. I can’t think, can’t process how everything fell apart so quickly. How did my little sister turn into someone I don’t recognise? The only truth that I know is the love of my mates, their bonds shining in my chest, telling me not to give up. They stop me from completely imploding, holding the fragile pieces of my heart as my sister happily tears it up in front of me.

Jasmine and Robert continue to kiss, their hands moving all over each other in a display I’m sure is supposed to rub their relationship in my face. In reality, I’m not upset about the fact they are together. I never really cared for him like that. What does destroy me, though, is that she is doing all of this to hurt me.

Tears slowly drip down my cheeks as I stare up at her. My body screams in discomfort from kneeling, but it’s my internal pain that I feel the harshest.

“Jasmine…” I croak out. “What did I ever do to make you hate me so much?” Did I do something that I wasn’t aware of? Was I so lost in my own world that I missed when she needed me? Am I truly such an awful sister that she felt this was a suitable punishment?

Pulling away from Robert, she smugly turns to me. A frown pulls at her face, so similar to my own. Did she think that seeing me like this would make her feel vindicated for whatever crime she believes I committed? All I can see in her eyes, though, is a flash of regret. She is my sister after all, there must be some familial bond left. It’s only there for a heartbeat, and before I can comment on it, she shakes it off and turns to the Seelie king.

“Kill her now and give us our money,” she demands with an air of authority that tells me this isn’t something she asked for on a whim.

I can’t have heard her right. It sounded like she ordered the Seelie king to kill me.

Betraying me is one thing, but my own sister wants me dead. Not only that, but she’s done all of this for money. I want to laugh and cry, scream and yell. We are in the middle of a battlefield, and the biggest threat to my life is Jasmine.

“This will stay with you forever, Jasmine.” My voice shakes, and I’m not ashamed about my fear. “You might not be the one to take my life, but know that my death is on your hands.”

The king ignores me, his presence seeming to grow as he turns his attention to my sister. All amusement is replaced with cold anger. It takes Jasmine a moment to notice, because she’s frowning down at me, my comment clearly having got to her.

“I think you forget who you are speaking to, child.” The disgust and fury in his voice is enough to send a shudder of fear through me. “Her death was not what we agreed on.”

Despite his claims that he isn’t going to kill me, this is another blow to my heart. If the Seelie king wasn’t going to kill me, then this was something she asked for—no, not asking. Demanding.

She just saw what he can do with a simple twist of his hand, and that was to one of his own soldiers. Does she really think she’s invincible? She is so wrong, and unfortunately, this is something she is about to learn the hard way.

Stepping up to the king, she jabs a finger in his face. “I am the reason you have her, so you will give me what I want.”

This is a tone I recognise well, one that I hear often if she doesn’t get her way. She isn’t dealing with our exhausted human mother, though, but a centuries old cruel fae.

The king makes a low growling noise at the offense, snapping his teeth in her face to make her stumble backward. He nods to several of his guards, who swiftly move forward. I see the gleam of a knife in the sunlight and don’t have time to react before both my sister and Robert’s have a blade pressed to their throats. One quick slice is all it takes.

I can do nothing but kneel and watch her life drain away.

Bright red blood bubbles on her throat and slides down the length of her neck, staining the front of her dress. She has just enough time to look shocked before her body falls to the ground. Robert collapses beside her, but I am not going to waste a single moment more thinking of him. No, my sister is bleeding out right in front of me, her blood pooling at my knees. I’m going to be covered in it.

I feel strangely detached, as though my body is there, but I’m actually watching from above. The horror of what I’m seeing will probably hit me later, but right now, I can’t process my emotions.

“When will humans learn how insignificant they are?” the king curses, his anger and disgust of my race pouring out of him like the blood that’s still spilling from her body.

“You killed her,” I intone, numb as I stare at her body, her eyes staring unblinkingly up at the sky.

Dead. My sister is dead.

Power flows through me, all barriers that I’ve placed over it obliterated. Suddenly, there is nothing stopping me from reaching my true potential. Pressing my hands to the dirt, I dig my fingers in and call life to me. Shoots appear and wrap around my arms, and with their help, I stand, ignoring the way my blood-soaked dress clings to me. Pouring my power into the forest around me, I watch as the trees come alive. Branches and roots gain a life of their own, knocking Seelie to the ground or trapping them in thorns.

“Step back,” I order the four Seelie who stand between myself and the king.

They watch me with fear in their eyes, while clearly remembering what the king did to a fellow Seelie. The question is, who do they fear more? I get my answer as they drop their weapons and step back, giving me access to the male who just killed my sister.

I walk closer, my steps slow, his expression switching to shock. A reluctant smile appears on his face as he reassesses me.

“It seems you have grown, Iris.”

He’s using my name now, so I must have earned it in his sick mind. I don’t reply, focusing on my target. Power pours out of me all the while, my hands twisting in soothing motions, calling life forward.

“I have many years over you, though, and you don’t seem to have a weapon.” His smile twists as he raises his hands in a sharp gesture.

My body freezes, not even my fingers are able to move. He’s assuming that my power has to be directed, just like his. This is a smart move. It also stops me from grabbing one of the discarded weapons. I am completely open to his attack.

“I don’t need a weapon,” I force out between clenched teeth. “I have life on my side.”

A look of complete surprise covers his face, his mouth dropping open and eyes wide. He doesn’t seem to have anything to say, just managing to look down in horror at the thick tree branch that pierced his chest. Blood appears on his lips as he tries to speak, yet no sound escapes him. His body shudders, slumping forward over the branch now holding him upright. It’s a gruesome sight, and I should feel something, but I’m still numb. Physically, I can move again, but my emotions seem to have taken a hiatus.

I just killed Alaric’s father, and I feel nothing. The exact moment he dies, a shockwave goes through the land, and somehow, everyone seems to know what this means. The fighting around us stops, and the sounds of battle disappear.

Alaric is suddenly in front of me, clasping my face between his hands. He’s saying something, his lips moving, but I can’t hear him. I think he’s checking me over for injuries. This isn’t the time for that, though, because we still have work to do. There’s a guiding light inside me, pointing me in the direction I need to go, and for once, I don’t question it.

Alaric stills, his eyes on my face, and nods, as though he can feel what we have to do as well. Does the same song call in his heart or can he sense it through me? Either way, he takes my hand, and we turn to face the battlefield.

What once was fairly smooth ground is now a mess of upturned rocks, broken ground, and twisting tree roots. Plants that didn’t previously exist now have fae ensnared in their grip, and bodies litter the ground. I try not to look at those, my focus on the males I need at my side. Nyx strides towards me, and behind him I see a pile of bodies, drained of all life. In fact, even the ground where he’d been standing is now devoid of life, the grass brown and withered.

Ciaran and Nyx seem to sense I need them in the same way Alaric knew, an internal compass pointing them to me. I know what we need to do, and I need them to make it work. Ciaran is waiting for me at the boundary line, covered in blood, but I don’t think any of it is his. We reach him, and I offer him my hand, Alaric already gripping my left one tightly. Nyx arrives in a flash of shadows and takes his position behind me, his hands on my shoulders.

The ground shudders again, but for a different reason this time. The four of us together like this is something special—life, death, Seelie, and Unseelie. All the points of the compass we’ve been following are finally in the right place at the right time. We are missing one very important thing though. No compass is complete without its needle.

Blaise runs towards us, determination on his face as he answers the call. Breathless, he slides to a stop in front of me, dropping to his knees. He’s my spirit guide and the one who keeps me on the right track. He places his hand on my arm, and power shoots through me and into my mates.

Gasping, I force my eyes closed and reach for the curse. I can feel it, and I push the power directly into it. It seems to fight us, yet after a moment, I feel something happen. It’s weakening… Wait, this isn’t just the curse that’s getting weaker, I am as well.

The curse is sapping my magic, and I realise that this might kill me, and through me, my mates. I want to let go, but I can’t seem to make my hands obey me any longer. In my gut, deep down, I know that I am not enough to break this curse. A brush against my bond has me raising my head. I look at each of them, taking in their expressions. They realise the same thing.

Are we really going to do this? I was prepared to go alone. They nod, and I know I don’t have a choice. At least in all of this, we shall go together. This is more than breaking the curse. It’s creating pathways between the two courts.

Everyone has stopped to watch us—Seelie, Unseelie, and humans alike. Something about seeing our power being sucked from us has spoken to them, a sombre mood hovering over us.

My legs shake, and I feel so tired. I just want to close my eyes and curl up with my mates. If we have to die so peace can be had by all, then so be it.

A bright, white light encompasses us—not the cold, clinical type, but warm and welcoming. A slight smile pulls at my lips, knowing that my mates will be waiting for me on the other side. I allow my eyes to close as warmth surrounds me.

Opening my eyes, I am greeted with a bright, clear blue sky. The sun shines down and warms my cheeks, awakening a sense of peaceful happiness inside me I’ve been missing for a while now. I sit up and take stock of my body, my memories slowly returning to me. Considering everything I went through, I feel remarkably rested.

It doesn’t take long for me to realise where I am. The grass is soft beneath me, the blades tickling my legs. Turning, I find the goddess sitting by her pool, staring at something within the water.

“Mother Nature,” I greet, not bothering to jump to my feet or go for formalities.

“Hello, Iris.” She smiles at me warmly, coming over to sit on the grass beside me. I wait for her to speak, as there must be a reason I’m here, but we fall into companionable silence. This doesn’t bother me. In fact, I’m enjoying just sitting quietly without the weight of the world on my shoulders.

“Am I dead?” I ask, turning to look at her.

“No, not quite.” She winces and shrugs her shoulders awkwardly as she seems to search for the right words. “When you and your bonded were willing to sacrifice yourselves for the good of others, no matter their race, you broke the curse.” Her explanation is pretty simple, and I can’t believe it took us that long to realise what we needed to do. “The curse was very clever and would only allow someone who was willing to die to break it.”

I pin her with a look. “You could have warned me.”

Her smile slips. “No, you needed to make the decision yourself.”

That makes sense. For the sacrifice to be truly real and meaningful, I had to make the decision in that moment. If I knew what was coming, then it would be different. I would have accepted my death long ago.

Blowing out a pent-up breath, I watch the path of a pale pink butterfly as it flies past us. “What happens now?”

“The two courts are in the process of healing. The fighting is over.”

A sense of relief hits me. We actually did it, it was worth it. There will be a lot of work to broker peace, but this was the start they needed. Tears prick at my eyes.

A warm hand lands on my back as she comforts me, somehow knowing the relief and pain battling within me. “Many are waiting for you to wake. They are praising you as a goddess.”

Snorting with both laughter and tears, I look up and stare at her in disbelief. Why would anyone want to praise me? After what I did to the Seelie king, they should want me dead, not praise me as a hero. “I killed someone,” I choke out, finding it harder to voice than I expected.

She nods, her hand keeping up that steady circular motion on my back. “I know.”

We don’t say what is going through our minds. That I killed a king and have thrown an entire race into disarray. That the male I killed was my mate’s father. That he killed my sister, and if I had the chance, I would do it again.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, I push those thoughts away. “How long have I been asleep?”

Accepting the abrupt change of topic, she smiles again. “Several weeks.”

Groaning, I push my hands through my hair, only imagining the state the three of them will be in without having me there for weeks. “I need to go back. My mates need me.”

“Iris, that is not so easy.” The regret in her voice stops me in my tracks, and I return my gaze to her face. Her smile is gone, making my chest tight. This must be serious.

“You have two choices,” she begins solemnly. “The curse drained you. The human part of you died, but you can exist in your own realm as a goddess as I do. You wouldn’t be able to return though.”

Nausea makes me grip my stomach and take several deep breaths. That isn’t an option. A life without my mates is not a life I want to live. “What is the other option?”

Her expression is sympathetic, as though she knows how difficult this decision will be for me. “If you want to return to the living, you will have to give up your magic and live a human life. That is the only way.”

She’s wrong. This isn’t a difficult decision for me at all. Not needing any time to think, I shift up onto my knees and take her hands in mine.

“I know what I want to do.”