Chapter Four
Lailah
Tears flowed down my cheeks as Nuri’s magic dropped me directly in front of two very stunned guards at the palace gates.
They recovered quickly and alerted everyone in the palace of daemons nearby.
Our army was always ready, and lumens mobilized quickly, taking to the woods.
I prayed they would reach Nuriela in time.
Belial came for me, but instead Nuri sacrificed herself.
My heart was breaking into a million pieces, and only seeing her alive and well would put it back together.
My skull felt like it was splitting in half, another reason why I was unable to stop Nuri.
I couldn’t focus, could barely run, stumbling through the palace and shouting for my mother.
I’m coming, daughter. Meet me in my rooms.
My mother’s voice rang out in my mind, and I ran as fast as I could through the halls. When I reached her room, I shoved the doors open. They slammed into the walls, and I glanced around, searching for her. Aurora shimmered into existence in the middle of the room, and I leapt into her arms.
“I’m here, Lailah. It’s alright,” she soothed, but I was beyond that.
“It’s most definitely not alright, mother!” I shouted at her. “Belial is here in Caelum. He came for me. Nuri caught them off guard, and now she’s there in the woods with him, drained and alone. Please help her!”
Aurora Valdis was mysterious to most, her emotions always guarded and hidden from prying eyes. But in this moment, she looked down at me with so much love and sorrow that my heart ached. “He’s taken her, my love. But she isn’t dead.”
I shoved away from her angrily. “I know that. I would feel it if she were dead. But he’s going to hurt her. He will kill her, mother.”
“And if you go to her now, he will take you, too.” Aurora’s voice was that of a queen. A queen with too many burdens bearing down on her shoulders.
But I didn’t care about any of that. “I would rather die at her side than live any kind of life without her. Tell me how I can save her. I know you’ve seen it.”
My mother shook her head. “I haven’t. But you can.”
Her words stopped me. “What do you mean? I don’t have The Sight. You know this.”
She smiled at me. “Oh, my love. Do you truly believe that?”
I swallowed, my blood rushing through my body with guilt and shame. How could she know? How could she know I had a vision just moments ago? The force of it blasted through my mind, and I almost passed out before we were attacked. It showed me Nuri’s death. Her painful, horrible death. And my own.
“I can’t, mother. Please don’t make me.” The words rushing out of me sounded pathetic. But I didn’t want the visions. Couldn’t stomach seeing her hurting like that.
Aurora strode toward me, graceful as always. Her soft hands brushed my tear-stained cheeks. “I cannot make you. It is your burden and your gift. Accept it, let it in.”
My shoulders fell, and I shook my head. “I’m scared.”
“As was I, when I was your age. Fear still lives within me every day, Lailah. But I don’t let it rule me. Let the visions flow through you and use them to create new paths. You can save her.” Her voice shook with emotion, and I let her words seep into my skin and take root.
If I let the visions in, I could use them to save Nuriela. But then the other one would come back, too. The one where I was laid out, my wings destroyed, and men chanted foreign words. As soon as that vision came, I knew it was my true death, could taste the reality of it on my tongue.
And yet, what I saw in those visions didn’t matter.
If my death meant life for Nuri, then I would accept that fate.
I would surrender to my power. Closing my eyes, I opened the door within my mind that was locking away that part of my power.
A flood of strange magic crashed through my veins.
Dozens of visions played out before my eyes.
Flashes of places and faces I didn’t recognize.
There was death and destruction, but there was life, too.
I saw my sisters falling in love, their bonds to each other stronger than ever.
And Nuri. She was there. She looked fierce as hell and stunning.
Fresh tears flooded my eyes. Because she was there in my visions, alive and safe, but it wasn’t me at her side.
“Focus, Lailah.” My mother’s voice reached me through the haze of visions. “Focus on Nuriela.”
That was easy. My thoughts were always of her. I saw Belial, his plans, his strange army. His only desire was power. My power. And I would bring it to him willingly.