“Don’t listen to him, Rachel. He wants us fighting each other.” Dain warned, but I could barely hear him—barely feel him as he tensed behind me.
A puff of hot breath fanned across my face, and I bit back a gag as the scent of dried blood and something old hit my senses.
Too late I felt the darkness around me stir as Callum went in for the attack. A swift but dull pain blossomed across my stomach. It lost the chance to bloom into agony when Dain grabbed me by the arm and shoved me behind him.
In one fluid motion he thrust his hand out at where Callum had been standing, and the shadows around us swarmed. Like the shrill scream of wind they howled as they passed, stabbing my ears until even Dain’s voice faded into the static.
When Callum’s enraged snarl broke through the shrieking of the angry hive, Dain clenched his hand into a fist and shoved back the impenetrable clouds. The fiery curls of my hair whipped around my shou
“Dain, get rid of the shadows…call them off or something.” I stammered, my hands trembling as I held them close to my mouth.There was no way fate could be so cruel as to tear Ally and Aidan away in a single night. I couldn’t—wouldn’t let myself believe it.When I heard nothing in response, I whipped around and said, “…they’re going after Aidan. We have to do something!”Finally, he turned from where he stood, staring at the space where Callum had vanished. Releasing the secret I kept chained and bound in my chest also released my fear of Dain’s retaliation. The words he said, they’d replay themselves in my memory until the end of time, along with the crippling relief and flash of surprise I felt.Only a second I gave myself to savor the fluttering in my chest and the echo of his praise in my ears.Did you think I’d be angry to have Queen that rivaled
It hadn’t been long until I heard Nadia’s sultry voice emerging from all directions, carried on the same salt-water breeze that drifted by earlier.For just a few short minutes I’d been wandering the densely packed clouds of darkness, searching for a man I couldn’t see nor hear, one I couldn’t call out to or mind-link. With my mind racing for a way to scatter the shadows that blanketed nearly everything, I trained my ears towards every passing sound.There were still people running, their feet and gasps barely audible beneath the music until they nearly sent me sprawling. What was worse were the men and women with white paint splashed across their faces, using magic to killanyonein sight. I had caught a glimpse of one just five feet away, carving into a man who had knocked into me just seconds ago.Rayna couldn’t tell where they were coming from any better than I.No longer could I hear the slash of
Nadia’s victorious smile was radiant, like heavy beams of sun ripe with life and warmth, peering through tepid waves of turquoise and cerulean waters.She didn’t look the least bit sorry as she inclined her head and said, “…being tossed to the side, chosen second…doesn’t feel very good, now does it?”Even though I could feel his eyes on my back and hear my choice echoing in the darkest pits of my hedonistic thoughts, I couldn’t yet turn around.Fear was the downpour that filled my ears when the magical ropes around Aidan’s neck tightened, and the last wheeze of breath escaped his purple lips.Men and women glowing with magic dotted the room, standing still while the surviving partyers cowered behind sofas and broken tables. The splash of white across their eyes wasn’t nearly as threatening as the number of them. Even with Apollo’s help, they could easily overwhelm us if Nadia gav
Neither Helios nor Cain waited for command before they started slaughtering all with that tell-tale splash of white across their face. Just one look at Dain, who was still knelt in front of his psychopathic brother and staring at me like I was the only person in the room, was all it took for the warriors of Day and Night to trade their magic-laced suits for gem encrusted armor.The long strands of Helios’s golden hair were pulled into a knot at the back of his head and shimmered in tune with his tanned skin and eyes of a clear summer sky.He pulled a whip of pure sunlight from thin air and wielded it alongside a double-edged sword, blinding any who thought they could hide within the darkness. The warrior whose magic was fire within his veins and sunlight beneath his skin, orbited around me and snuffed out any who came too close.Cain’s mere presence seemed to amplify the shadows returning to the room, and instead of slowing the unraveling of Callum&r
A rebuttal singed the tip of my tongue when the pressure around us plummeted, making my ears pop and eyes bulge before the heady darkness that once surrounded us raced to the stone walls and began to encompass the circular ballroom.I barely had time to witness his magic climbing the walls, clinging to the mildew within the cracks of stone, inching higher like gnarled vines. A burst of magic left me, crackling like a wildfire doused in my gasoline-laced emotions. Every bit of jagged anticipation I felt from Dain’s words was force fed into the flames, making me bloat with magic that roared as it found release.Half a dozen blasts of a fiery crimson magic exploded in the direction Dain had turned me in, and quickly I realized they responded to my guidance. Callum shimmered into existence when all six hit him in the chest and sent him flying backwards over ten feet.The crack his head made against the stone wall echoed in my ears. It wasn’t the platter
As she continued without waiting for my reply, I looked further ahead. In Helios’s arms was Aidan. The tanned warrior carried my best-friend in his arms like he was a child, and with each lumbering step he took Aidan’s shaggy hair would bounce.After treading down the world’s largest staircase in a dress soaked through with blood and alcohol, I was ready to fall flat on my face. My legs wobbled and burned but we were far from through.According to all three warriors and Dain there was a fishing town nearby. What I found a bit exhausting was that none of them knew how far this place was—or what awaited us as we neared closer.Nestled on the banks of what Dain called the Nelia Sea was a village constructed of pristine sidewalks and neatly clipped hedges dotted with budding flowers that matched the pale greens and blues of the surrounding houses. Each one was modern in its appearance, mixing textures both smooth and coarse to create
“Mom?”She whirled in my direction like a puppet whose strings were pulled. Her fiery hair was wild, standing in knotted curls on her head. It wasn’t her eyes, fractured with desperation and longing that kept me rooted in place, deaf to my own voice as I whispered, “…days ago?”Just like that, the presence of my parents ceased to matter.A jolt of something achingly hot spilled beneath my skin, followed by the crackling of open flame and burning flesh, a sound that only I could hear.With my spine stiff, I pivoted to face Dain.Countless times I traced the mask he placed over his face, so skillful at hiding his emotions that I sometimes wondered if he had any.This time was different.It wasn’t regret that painted his face in wilting shades of black and blue, but an apology. Sincerity coated his eyes in a glossy sheen, but the realization of what he’d done—of what he’d kept
“How long?” I snarled, whirling around the second we slipped into the hall. It wasn’t anger beating in my chest, pumping heat and magic through my veins, but betrayal—so much betrayal. When Dain didn’t answer, I repeated myself. “How long have they been here, Dain?”The air around me began to thicken, turning warm with humidity that made my skin shine with perspiration. Dain’s face remained stoic, free of emotion and that fact only upset me more.He could handle my anger, but what of my grief?It wasn’t the crackling of flame that burned away his mask, or the fact that his clothes and hair were currently smoldering, sending thick smoke spewing into the corridor we occupied.What destroyed the persona he often used to hide his emotions were the tears that pooled in my eyes and ran down my cheeks.His lips curved downwards in a severe frown and sorrow so potent filled his eyes that I couldn’