Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
A slam of power skated over me, stabbing and firing just beneath my skin. The force of it was like a living dragon, roaring its might on a tight leash. My breath caught. Power, so much power. Jax had more magic than any fairy I’d ever encountered.
Trembling, I forced myself to concentrate even though I dreaded what was to come.
Best not to think about that. Just get this over with so you can get out of here and away from the Dark Raider and away from these illicit feelings he’s born in you.
Breathing deeply, I fell inward, following the pull of the darkness inside me. I dove down, down, to the center of where my powers lay.
My magic’s enchanting coldness swirled around me, and I cradled the darkness that flowed through my veins and commanded my essence .
Take me away.
My magic heeded my call and flowed out of me, detaching my soul from my body and venturing me to the Veiled Between—the realm between realms, the plane that existed between life and death.
I shot through the galaxy, traveling instantaneously with my lorafin magic until I drifted in nothingness, and the Veil appeared.
A wispy fog parted the darkness, and I reached for it until my phantom fingertips met cool mist. I parted the Veiled Between and shifted through it.
The semelees on the Veil’s other side stirred and writhed, sensing my growing presence .
Hello, my beautiful creatures , I crooned to them.
A large one drifted forward, and its inky blackness swirled around me. Teeth gnashed in its black jaws, venom dripping from its fangs. I ran a hand along its cool back, my fingers trailing over its frigid skin.
More semelees appeared, swirling and dipping around me, roiling me in shadows as their whispers began.
She’s come to us, Daughter of Darkness, Commander of Shadows. What do you seek, Lorafin?
My soul tugged on Jax’s magic, calling it forth until images came to me.
The picture of a young male appeared in my mind. A half-breed.
I cocked my head. How curious.
Antlers sprouted from the male’s head, and eyes so blue they resembled the Adriastic Sea regarded me from a rugged siltenite face. Dark-blond hair. Sharp features. Wide nostrils. An eagerness filled his eyes that reminded me of prideful youth.
Brow furrowing, I studied the male.
This was who Jax sought.
I had no idea who he was since Jax had refused to tell me, but considering the lengths the Dark Raider had gone to in order to find him, he had to be somebody important.
I showed the image to the semelees. Find him , I commanded. Tell me where he is or if he’s passed to the afterlife.
The semelees crooned and swirled more. They spun around me, touching, caressing, and reveling in my presence. Bewitching images of me locked within their embrace came from them. Feathered touches and swirling darkness called to the shadows inside me. I could have that for eternity if I succumbed to them.
A vibration along my throat jolted me, and I wrenched back.
Find him , I instructed in a firmer tone and forced myself to ignore how they begged me to fall deeper into their realm.
They sped away, and I floated in the darkness again, letting my fingers slide through the shadows. Minutes passed. Maybe hours. Perhaps days. I floated and existed, staying in the Veiled Between for longer than seemed normal .
What’s taking so long? I finally called into the void as I forced myself from the enchanting mist.
A semelee slithered forward. The male you seek, we’ve found him, we think, but...something’s not right .
What do you mean ‘something’s not right’? Find him!
Yes, Princess of Darkness. The semelee swirled away again, its tail flickering in the shadows.
I floated again, and a sense of this plane’s otherness began to overtake me once more, but I forced myself to concentrate. I’d never had a semelee unable to locate someone or answer a question. They were all-knowing beings. I’d had siltenites commission me, with seemingly impossible questions to answer, yet the semelees had always known.
And they’d always been right.
Inky power swirled in my soul, and magic crackled around me as another thought struck me. Are they toying with me? Perhaps hoping to trick me into staying too long and becoming imprisoned in their embrace?
That thought jerked me to the core.
Well? I snapped at them, calling in the distance. Where is he?
Another appeared in the shadows. It’s him. We’re certain now.
Why did you hesitate before?
His feel in the fae lands at this moment in time, and the feel from the image you showed us, are different, which is why we took a closer look, but it’s him, and he’s alive. Although, he’s not right.
Not right? My brow puckered. Explain.
The semelee showed me an image. The Wood. The male Jax sought, standing despondent with several other half-breeds. But the male who Jax was looking for was there. It was clearly him. He matched the picture Jax had mentally shown me completely.
That’s him , I said.
Yes, but even though his image matches, the feel of him is different. It is why we wanted to assess him more, but now we are certain.
I had no idea what was going on, so I studied again what the semelees revealed. A grand arena was behind the male and the other half-breeds. Flags in the colors of turquoise, white, and dark brown waved in the wind. Faewood Kingdom colors.
I studied it more. The image spanned out. Wildlings worked around an arena. Construction was underway everywhere I looked, and when the image grew to an even larger area, I saw the palace. With a sharp intake of breath, I realized where the male was.
The Centennial Matches.
The semelee seemed to sense when full understanding hit me. Its cold, shadowy claws dug into my torso, holding me in its embrace as it dragged me deeper into the Veiled Between.
Too far , I called to it .
Come with us, Commander of Darkness, Princess of Fate. This is where you belong.
My concentration faltered at that last title. To command the fates was the ultimate power of a lorafin. I’d never been able to grasp it. Only a queen could do that, and the semelees had told me countless times that I was still a princess.
But the thought of controlling that much power, even if only a fool would do such a thing...It called to something deep inside me. Something my birthright demanded I heed.
No , I pulled back, forcing the semelee to relax its hold. I have what I want. You need to let me go.
But the semelee hissed, embracing me in its coldness as more joined in. They swirled around me. Inky blackness, scaled backs, venomous bites. As more semelees writhed together, they pulled me farther into the Veiled Between.
No! I struggled and fought against them, but they were sluggish to respond.
If only I was stronger, they would yield to me more. A true lorafin could command them completely, not only partially as I could.
Come, Princess of Darkness.
They sucked me under, pulling me down, down . . . deeper, farther.
Oh Goddess! They were pulling me under. Jax! I screamed his name, yet no sound came out.
A powerful zap abruptly came from my collar, then another and another. My soul convulsed. My spirit ignited .
Another electrifying jolt enflamed my limbs, and then I was falling.
Falling.
Falling.
Pain erupted along my skin. Darkness. Silence. Eternal flames. A void.
Agony ripped through me, searing through my soul and electrifying my nerves. I screamed, anything to hear my own voice and know that I still lived, and that this pain was a figment of my imagination.
But . . . nothing. No sound came.
And then the pain exploded . Searing, burning fire erupted across my limbs, and the reality of what was occurring hit me.
Oh Goddess, I’ve been lost.