Page 34 of Wind and Water (Reign of the Witch Queen #2)

Chapter Seventeen

Wren

I will not let go. The witch will not take Liam from me. I will die before I betray him, Domhan, or the human race.

She is stronger in magic, but my skills are foreign to her, and I have the feeling that she’s never been challenged before. No one has ever stopped her from taking an elf’s soul and condemning it to shadow.

When Liam slams back into his body, it nearly jerks me back, but Venora stumbles and Ciaran has to catch her before she falls.

Swimming with satisfaction, I’m sure there’s a smirk on my face as Liam returns from the shadow demon form. I’ve never been so scared or so elated in so short a span in my life. He came back to me exactly as I prayed he would.

On a furious bellow, Venora sends a ripple of her foul magic and tries to pull him away again.

Asking for the power to keep Liam intact, I hold him away from the power of the witch queen.

Wrapping my arms around his chest, I pull him into my lap on the stone floor.

I’ll never let him go, not for her to use as a slave.

Killing him would have been preferable to enslaving his soul.

I’ll not have it. I’d save them all, if I could, but it’s our connection that keeps Liam with me.

The bond between us is the only reason I can save him.

I feel his mind on the fringes of mine as soon as he comes to his senses.

His pain is my pain, but I can’t break Venora’s magic. It’s too strong, and she’s too powerful.

As she keeps screaming and trying to make him a shadow demon, her skin pales, and her eyes begin to look tired. The scar on her cheek darkens and enlarges. It’s a burn, and there are the same types of burns on her hands.

“Stop, my queen,” Ciaran begs. “You are using too much magic at once. Please stop.” He holds her around the waist to keep her upright. Worry fills his eyes.

The tingle of Liam’s magic shoots along my arms as he mumbles something and throws light magic across the room. It hits them like a sonic wave, and they both fall backward to the floor with Ciaran breaking her fall.

Liam gasps for air, and his deep blue eyes lock with mine. “You wouldn’t let me go.”

“Never.”

Across the room, Venora’s skin is tinged blue. Her chest is still.

Ciaran kneels over her. He presses his hands to her abdomen. “Venora. Awake. My queen, you must awake.”

The faintest hope that the witch queen is dead and this entire nightmare is over is thwarted by a low feminine moan and movement in her hands and legs. She pushes her lover’s hands away. “I need the source’s deepening magic.”

“You will have it, my queen.” Ciaran lifts her in his arms and carries her to the pool. At the edge, he lays her on the stone and removes her robe before lifting her again and walking into the thick sludge as if there are stairs within.

When his head disappears, I cup Liam's cheek. “I’ve never been as terrified in my life. I thought I’d lost you.”

He places his hand over mine, but his smile is weak. “You nearly did. I was in shadow, and she had more than my soul. For the briefest of moments, she had my allegiance.” As if rejecting the idea, his entire body shivers, and he clutches me.

“I couldn’t let her take you. How did you come back?” Tears of fear, relief, and joy stream down my cheeks.

He looks almost as spent as Venora as he struggles to sit, and he wraps me in his arms. “I saw you hovering over my body. I heard your prayers to bring me back. I chose my love for you over the biting draw of her magic. I won't lie, though; it would have been easy to be lured in by her. It was as if my entire life had been stripped away, and all that was left was a desire to serve the witch queen. If not for our bond, I wouldn’t have been able to come back, Wren. You saved me.”

We hold each other while I weep into his chest.

Breaking the hug, he grips my face with both hands. Intensity flashes in his eyes. “Promise me you’ll never leave me like that. Send light through the shadow and destroy the demon. Don’t let her have my soul, love. My family couldn’t bear that.”

“No one is taking your soul, Liam. I’ll never abandon you.”

Ciaran and Venora never emerged from the pool.

After what feels like hours, the strange little demons come and force us back to our cell. Without the air bubble, my body retches, and Liam practically has to carry me through hell.

Certain I’ll never make it; I press my nose to Liam’s chest and breathe in his scent.

It’s faint under the oppressive, festering odor of hell, but I find it.

I open my mind to his and listen to the song of his soul.

My heart breaks at the knowledge that I nearly lost something so perfect and beautiful.

The distraction is enough to get me to the cell where the air is breathable for humans. “Why can you survive out there?” I ask him once the demons have left and sealed the door behind them.

“It’s uncomfortable. I wouldn’t survive long.” He holds his chest and takes deep breaths.

I sit and watch him, remembering the terror of nearly losing him.

“How are we ever going to get out of here?” I hate the despair flavoring my voice, but I can’t help it.

This is anyone’s worst nightmare: a toxic environment, demons, hell, and under the thumb of a vicious enemy.

I’m never going to see my mother again, and I don’t know how my magic works or even how I managed to save Liam.

Worse, I don’t know if I can do it again if I need to.

He sits beside me, slipping his arm around my shoulder. “I’ve had a thought about that.”

Leaning into his side, I feel his strength and relax by degrees. “What thought?”

He’s pale, and without sunshine, his magic won’t rejuvenate. He whispers, “I think you could make a portal, Wren.”

“How in the name of Pete would I do that?” The idea of it adds to my helplessness. “Did you lose your senses when she almost took your soul? I have no control over my magic beyond lifting a pebble, Liam. It just comes whenever it wants to.”

“That’s not true,” he says, with love in every word. “It comes when you need it most. It comes when you pray for what you want or need most. I know you can do it.”

Not believing Wren Martin of Texas can create one of the holes in the world that nearly ripped me to pieces, I shrug. “Tell me how and I’ll try.”

For a long time, he says nothing, and I begin to wonder if he’s changed his mind about the feasibility of his mad plan. “Don’t scoff. You have to pray for it.”

I scoff. “Sorry. But you must know how insane that sounds.”

“Try, Wren.”

I love him, so I hold in my second scoff. “Alright, but let’s say I could do this thing, where would my portal lead?”

With a sigh, he nods. “That’s a good question.”

“Can you make a portal? I mean, I saw you open a portal, but that’s not the same as what we’re talking about, is it?” I cross my legs and face him.

“No. I don’t have the skill or knowledge of portal magic. The portal in Scotland that I opened already existed. I used a specific spell to open it.”

“Can other elves create portals out of thin air?”

“The oracle can.” He doesn’t sound as if that makes my job any easier.

“So, a group of powerful elves who have dedicated their lives to the study of magic are the only elves capable of doing this thing you want me to try. Am I missing anything?” Even though he’s been through a lot today, I can’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

Instead of being annoyed, he grins adorably at me.

“Your magic is different. You could create the portal and pray for it to bring us to the training field outside of Tús Nua. It’s a vast field with a stunning view of the city’s white walls rising before the Great Mountains.

The gates shine golden in the morning sun, and thousands of elven soldiers spar throughout the day, readying themselves for battle and defending our people. ” He sends the image into my mind.

I keep the picture there and think about the pain of a portal and the way it swirls with wind. Closing my eyes, I say, “I see the city and the soldiers. The mountains rise in the distance, their peaks white. It’s beautiful.”

“Pray for the portal that can take us there, love.” His voice is barely a whisper.

As I ask god to help me make a portal to save us. I feel the wind whip around me. I open my eyes, and dust swirls a foot in front of us. A pinpoint of black appears—my heart races.

“You’re doing it.” Excitement bubbles in his voice.

The wind dies down, and the dot of black hope fades and dies. A heavy weight presses against my chest. “It’s impossible.”

Liam lets out a long breath. “It would have been amazing if you’d have succeeded on your first try, Wren. You did great. I doubt the oracle members get everything right immediately.”

We sit with our backs against the wall. “I’m sorry.”

He kisses the crown of my head. “You are amazing. It’s been a long day. We’ll try again when you’ve rested.”

For days or weeks, we try every time we wake up. Each time I fail. Some days, I can’t even get the wind to whirl. There is no way to tell how much time has passed. We’re fed, though not as well as before we sent Venora back into her pool of sludgy red goop. Still, it’s enough to survive.

The door opens, and a blast of magic throws Liam across the hard floor. He smacks against the wall with a grunt, then struggles to stand while the magic keeps him pinned.

I try to go to him, but Ciaran grabs me while two demons wrap a slimy black rope around my wrists. “My queen has need of you, human scum.” Holding a dagger aloft and ready to throw it at Liam, where he still tries to rise, he says, “If you come quietly, I won’t kill the second son.”

Rage fills Liam’s eyes.

Ciaran pushes his white-blond hair over his shoulder and draws back the dagger.

“I won’t fight.”

Victory flashes in Ciaran’s evil eyes. He returns his blade to the sheath at his hip, grabs my arm, and pulls me out of the cell, leaving Liam behind.

As the door closes, I hear Liam screaming my name.