53. Hope
53
Hope
T he door connecting the antechamber and the dome room of the Cardinals Temple opened, and Jake and Lenna entered, their shoulders touching—or maybe they were holding hands or fingers—, followed by Ciaran and another fire-haired woman that resembled Lenna so much. But…
There. Her eyes weren’t the purified liquid gold of Lenna’s, but green like the purest spring fields of Verdania, and her hair, while equally intense in color, was longer and sleek. A curtain of fire.
The woman started when she saw Nina, as if she had been struck by lightning. If this woman dared hurt her friend, Hope would make sure the red-haired ended up worse than struck by lightning.
“Hurt her and I will end you,” Hope said, her voice low and calm. The woman looked at her, green eyes widening as she left both hands in a stance that usually meant someone was innocent. Except Hope was so done taking the word, or the actions, of theoretically innocent strangers. Even if she was just about to let five of them help her.
It didn’t sit well with her, but she didn’t seem to have any other option if she wanted to stand a chance to achieve her plan.
The muscled man pacing at the other side of the room was smirking.
“The brunette one can give you a run for your money, Lenna.”
Thane or something starting with T, if she remembered correctly from the rushed and brief introductions. A friend of Lenna, Ciaran had explained, with no trace of joy. The way he moved, though… That man was a fighter. Hence why Hope hadn’t taken her eyes off him for the past few minutes since Jake had moured them here.
Nina and whatever-his-name were the only ones not taking part in either of the Fifth Ceremonies. But they were here for what would happen straight after.
“Your turn.” Ciaran tilted his head towards Hope, opening the door for her.
Hope’s steps didn’t falter. They never faltered. And yet, overwhelming feelings were racing inside her.
It was happening. The revelation of her panom mark by the compassom back in Verdania had ended up with Hope about to become a full panom. She was about to be given access to whatever powers her blood silently held since she was born.
The blood that had caused the Organ Mandor to discard her. The blood that would make her the heir of the Organ House. The blood that she was determined to use to kill her father.
The transparent beads on her chest expanded slightly as she inhaled profoundly.
She walked until she was right under the gigantic crystal dome, and Ciaran, Sasha, Indianna, Carson and Brendon formed a circle around her.
This was happening. And it was happening now.
Hope’s eyes met Ciaran’s blue ones, and she nodded, trying to relax her tense body but not daring to close her eyes. The belts against her tights, chest and shoulders, and the weight of the daggers sheathed against her skin were extremely comforting. As they had always been. Ready to protect her.
Brendon started extending his arms in front of her, and Hope had a dagger in her hand before his hands reached the line of his shoulders.
His gorgeous face paled, and he swallowed before saying, “I’m just doing what Ciaran told us to do. Just my hands. Empty, weaponless, pretty much magicless hands. Promise.”
Hope exhaled deeply, sheathing her dagger. Her shoulders were so damn tense. “Sorry,” she muttered. Her reflexes would need to hold for a few minutes until this was over.
“No matter what happens, once the Fifth Ceremony is started, we must carry on until its end. No matter what happens, I repeat.” Ciaran’s voice was grave.
Brendon seemed extremely relieved about not having a sharp blade pointing towards his body again. He looked at his hands, palms facing Hope, and said, “May the light enfold your strength.”
An invisible but boiling wave hit Hope’s chest, and she did her best at not taking a step backwards.
“May the darkness accept your weakness,” Sasha said. The wave this time was stronger, spreading from her chest into her brain, her fingertips, her toes. It was hot, vibrant, and powerful.
“May the world cherish your mind.” That was Carson’s voice. And this was Hope fully focused on not being thrown to the floor by the third explosive wave against her. A small part of her mind wondered if the power blasts in the vessels had been practice runs for this very moment.
“May the Cardinals guide your soul,” Indianna said.
Hope’s body was trembling so much she could barely stand. Or was the world trembling with her?
“May the Fifth unleash your magic,” Ciaran said, and Hope roared as the power filling her veins threatened to make her body explode. To make the world explode.
The light emanating from her body through every transparent bead of her outfit was red. Arterial red, Nina had said in another life.
The five beings around her said in unison, “May the light enfold your strength. May the darkness accept your weakness. May the world cherish your mind. May the Cardinals guide your soul.”
Her blood, body, soul, and mind were red. The world was red. The crystal dome was red. And that was a very familiar red bird flying towards her. Arterial red, or Cardinal red. Hope would have grinned at the sight if she hadn’t been busy staying alive with the unending power threatening to burn her alive from the inside out.
“May the Fifth unleash your magic,” their united voices said.
Time seemed to stop as the cardinal circled her body in impossibly fast rings, and those were her feet letting go of the trembling ground. The cardinal spiraled around Hope until her body was horizontal in the air under the dome. Her blood burned so much it was hard to keep her eyes open.
The cardinal flew to the top of the Temple, and just when Hope thought it was going to disappear through the crystal dome as fast as it had appeared, it faced her. The eyes of the cardinal were not the eyes of a bird. They were the eyes of a creature made by magic, the eyes of a wise and determined female. The eyes of a goddess.
A goddess trapped in the body of a cardinal that was diving towards Hope. Towards her chest. A goddess that flew through her chest as if her entire purpose in this world and any others had been this.
Hope’s back arched in mid-air, and she felt two limbs extending from her back. No, not limbs. Wings . Two huge, splayed wings, beautifully and perfectly feathered in the exact same color that the world had turned into. The color still emanating from her.
The Cardinal was gone, and Hope’s wings had gone with it.
That was her body falling, falling down to the ground. Those were Ciaran’s powerful hands on her back and under her knees, catching her in time to avoid the dramatic fall. That was the Cardinals Temple, not red anymore. That was the dome, its broken crystals raining on them.
That was a panomquake, breaking their world.