17. Alaric
Chapter seventeen
“Stand back,” I say as I approach the glimmering magic veil that blocks off the cave entrance. We looked all around for another way in, but it seems the only way into this cave and the tunneling that is throughout the cliffside is deep underwater, just as Dax said.
Except I have an idea.
Trent wraps my sister in his arms protectively, and I lift my chin as I take another step closer to the dark magic. I truly feel better about doing this knowing that Trent will protect my sister if something were to happen to me. The mating bond and their feelings for each other seem strong enough to give me at least that confidence.
My throat is suddenly tight when I try to swallow. I would never admit it out loud, but I’m terrified Dax or I will not come out of this. I worry that he has been right all along. That all the Ravendene line will ever know is a failure, that my father’s sacrifice will have been for nothing. Now that I know I am a Ravendene too, it only makes sense, considering the life I’ve lived… or perhaps not lived…
The magic reaches out for me like mist. The cool malefic darkness causes my heart rate to spike and my breath to hitch being so close to it. My nose flares as I pull in as much air as my lungs will allow, then forcefully blow it out of my mouth. Readying myself for what’s to come. I can feel the other’s presence behind me. Each of their gazes, burning at my back. I have no time for goodbyes, no time to go back on this decision. They know how much is riding on this, even if they don’t fully understand it.
Hell, I barely understand it myself. All I have to go on is my instinct and the trust I have in the bond marked on my chest. Somehow, after the vision from the fountain, I just have an overwhelming sense of knowing what needs to be done. After the visions, when my body went to rest in a healing sleep from the magic it took from me…
I saw how.
Just the thought of doing it brings a burning sensation to my chest, to the shield that lies over my heart. Lifting my right hand, I remove one glove and then the other. Tossing them to the pile of rocks to my right. I bring my hand up parallel to the rippling dark magic. Close but not yet touching, my fingers tremble with both trepidation and anticipation. My heart is pounding like a war drum in my chest. I clench my jaw tight as though it will stop it from crawling out of my throat.
Then, I call on my magic.
Usually, I have to be touching someone to control their thoughts and their minds, but I don’t only call on the magic inside me. Closing my eyes, I bring every ounce of magic to the bonding mark I have with Raelle. Should this work, I will be able to step through the dark rune barrier. The shield on my chest burns white hot, as though it’s being branded there by a hot iron. It sucks the air from my lungs. There is a swarming of chaos in my ears as I inch closer to the wall of magic. I’m not entirely sure what will happen if this doesn’t work… Something I refrained from telling my sister.
Then, like stepping through a waterfall, the fire is gone. Both inside and outside heat pulled from my body as though I was just splashed with the coldest water. The moment my eyes snap open, the torrent of chaotic noise in my ears is—gone. Deafening silence now greets me as I spin to face the Fae who I came here with, and I’m greeted with none other than a wall of black. I cannot see anything beyond the barrier.
I take a step backward and inhale a deep breath through my nose and out of my mouth.
It worked.
I’m in the cave, having crossed through the rune wall of magic. But with the wall at my back, I don’t know what it means. Perhaps I’ve only locked myself in this prison too. There is no way of knowing until I find Dax, we get what he came here for, and we try leaving together. I refuse to leave without him by my side.
The cave is dark, and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust. There is only one small archway at the back of the cave. Stepping forward, my boot catches on something, causing me to careen forward. I curse as I stumble to catch myself. My body lifts from the ground and then is slammed against the stone wall.
“Where is she?” A voice growls as it pins me harder against the wall. The man’s eyes lighting from behind in a flash, like a candle flickering in the night. My face softens with realization— It's Dax. But when I say nothing, his hand wraps around my throat, pushing harder, and he crushes me to the wall.
“Soren—” That bastard’s name is all I choke out in response to his question. I don’t fight him, only look him in the eyes, in hopes that he sees the pain I have there matches his.
“Is she—” Dax’s words trail off, but the pain is no less intense.
“I believe that she’s okay, but we don’t know for certain. None of my spies have been able to get eyes on her… We would feel it though, Dax. If she were to—” It’s his turn to interrupt me, but he doesn’t use words. My voice is cut off by the impact of his fist on my face. The strike sends a bolt of lightning through my skull. I scrunch up my face, then turn my head as he lets me go. Roughly pushing me away from him. I spit on the ground, a mixture of saliva and blood, and slowly bring my eyes to meet his once again.
“I’m sorry. I failed, but I’m here now. I’m going to help you get out of here, then we are going to fucking kill Soren Croix,” I say, stepping forward, refusing to back down. He has to understand.
“And what of Cano? You came here with him. Trent too…Why is he walking around alive?” Confusion clouds my mind with anger, and I grind my teeth.
“It’s a long story. Perhaps a story for another day.” Wiping blood from my busted lip, I stand and straighten my tunic. “Let’s find what you came here for. We have a queen to rescue,” I say, and he growls, narrowing his eyes but doesn’t argue. Seeing him like this is bizarre, to say the least. The same man, but darker, wraith-like. As though he is only a breath away from blowing away in the wind. My gaze lingers with his for only a moment before I brush past him. I can’t help but look down at my hand, wondering if I too have this ethereal look of a shadow, but my hand is as solid as it always has been.
“Are you going to stay like that?” I can’t help but ask him. “It’s actually kind of fucking creepy,” I add, quirking a brow and looking him up and down.
“I suppose now that I know that,” he points low to a small break in the rocks, “leads us back into the tunnels in the cliffside. I can return to my body.” His eyes flick over to where his body lies, and I notice his hand tremble before he curls it into a ball.
“You don’t know if you can return to it?” I ask, fearing I know the answer.
“I’ve not tried, but this was a risk.” He steps in close to his body, and that’s when I notice that he is barefoot. His feet are caked with dirt and blood. When I look back at his body, a sort of electric feeling starts in my chest at my bond mark, then travels down the length of my arms.
“Wait, I have a feeling that I… Just trust me.” He eyes me cautiously but nods once before letting me kneel at his body’s side. I place my hand over his heart, look up at him, and say, “When I say, go back.” He nods again, then I close my eyes. I push all the magic like when I passed through the dark magic wall… I force the magic into my bond with Raelle. The shield. I hear a noise almost like a waterfall, a swarming warm caress against my soul, and then only a moment later, Dax is wrenching upright from under my palm. He gasps loudly, and I fall back on my ass with a wide smile on my face. It fucking worked!
No longer a shadow at my back, the man who laid before me slowly stumbles to his feet, breathing heavily. He grips my shoulder.
“I felt you,” he pants, “shielding me from letting my soul stray. You kept me grounded.” I clap my hand over his where it rests on my shoulder, my smile a little softer.
“It’s what needed to be done. No need rescuing a queen if she just turns around and kills me because I let her mate’s soul be lost forever,” I laugh, and he shakes his head, releasing me.
I have to duck low and tuck myself under the small passage, but once I’m through, the small space opens up almost like a corridor. Puddles line the walkway, and with each step, muddy water splashes, soaking my boots. Regardless, I keep trekking forward, knowing that we must find what Dax came here for.
Just as I did before, at the mouth of the cave, I call on the magic in my blood. I call on the magic in my bond with Raelle. I grind my teeth as the bond mark burns again, but it’s not as intense this time. More of a lingering pain like a headache versus the searing pain of being branded or stabbed earlier. Distracted by my own thoughts, I look up just as Dax throws an arm out and barring across my chest to stop my advance.
“Wait,” he says, stepping in front of me. Closer to what appears to be the edge of a crater in the earth. My mouth falls open in awe as I take in the sight of the hole, and the opening just as large, above that, seems to reach all the way to the sky. The walls shine with a blue-white glow. As I approach the edge on light feet, careful not to displace any of the rocks around the ledge, fearful it may crumble at my weight. I stop next to Dax. The toes of our boots edge the opening as we look out into the cavernous space. Then slowly my eyes track up. A pinhole of light at the very top shines down, casting the center of the circle in light like the moon peeking in. This is it. I don’t know how, but I know this is where we find what we are looking for.
“We need to go down.” I say confidently.
“I’ve been here before,” Dax says with a look of confusion. “I think she guided me out.”
“Who?” I ask, now confused myself.
“Raelle. I didn’t see her, but I swear that I felt her presence. I know it was her who led me back to the cave. However long I have been here, I have not once found my way back to my body. But the moment I felt her with me, she guided me directly to it.” He turns his head to look at me. “Do you think she guided me there… so I would be there when you all arrived?” He asks me genuinely.
“There is no way to know, Dax, but one thing is for certain. I feel magic here.” I jut my chin toward the bottom of the pit. “I feel it—like it’s calling to me. Pulling me in. Whether it be pulling me to damnation or triumph, I need to know what it is I’m being pulled to, cousin.” I lift my chin as I call him family for the first time. Something akin to resignation washes over his features as his shoulders slump.
“I’ve run from magic for so long I hadn’t even noticed.” He says with a sigh before rolling his shoulders back and standing a little taller. “You’re right, and if we are going to find this, I feel that we need to work together to do it.” He turns to me, placing his hand out in front of him. An offering that cannot be easy for him to give. I take his arm in mine; the clap of our handshake bounces off the stone walls in a resounding echo. We both nod, squeezing each other tight for a moment longer, then we drop our arms, turning to face what hopefully is the answer to all of our problems.