Chapter 22 #3
Her pale green eyes were frazzled and full of emotion. She flicked her wrists over and over but only little puffs of white light came out. She whimpered and glanced up at the new Empress. “It’s not working”, she cried into my mind.
Celina spun to face me then grabbed my hand. “Seelie tunnel. NOW.”
FUCK. I dragged Tegan flush against my chest then threw my hand out to summon the Seelie tunnel to open right beside me.
The second it did I threw my magic out and started plucking my team out of the cornfield and into the Seelie tunnel.
It took me a few seconds, but when me and Tegan were the last of it, I jumped inside the opening and forced it shut behind us.
Tegan dropped to her knees and screamed. Every muscle in her body was spasming. Hunter dove for her, wrapping his big arms around her and basically suffocating her in his chest. I cursed. These tunnels could kill her if I didn’t act fast.
I focused my magic on the floor of the tunnel beneath us.
Eden. The floor opened up and we all dropped.
Opening the Seelie tunnels within Eden’s barriers was extremely difficult on its own but when the chaotic energy of an emotional Coven surrounded me it worked against the tunnel, as if it was trying to push us out.
It was Tegan’s magic. The Aether Witch was a force unlike any other in this realm and whatever Asmodeus had done was causing problems. I threw my magic out to catch us from our free fall when I caught the glow of Michael’s sword down below.
“BABE!” Tenn screamed, no doubt having felt all of the pain in Tegan.
A split second later Tenn was in the air with us, pulling Tegan into his arms at the same time he sent a gust of wind to catch us in our free fall. The relief of Tenn catching us all faded the instant our feet touched the ground.
“Where’s Em?” Tegan shouted.
“What? She stayed—”
“EMERSYN? WHERE?” Tegan screamed and bolted for the house.
“Inside—”
The Bishop family didn’t let Tenn finish his sentence. Tegan, Cooper, Devon, and Hunter sprinted across the courtyard towards the house with the rest of The Coven hot on their heels. Tenn’s jaw dropped. He looked to me then turned and raced after the others.
“Did you do it?” Tegan shouted in my head. “Tell me you did it.”
“No, no. I don’t have that power, Tegan. You or Tenn would’ve had to,” I yelled back into her mind.
“Tenn would’ve had to WHAT?” Tenn shouted back.
“Strip Em’s Mark!” Tegan screamed. “New Empress is here!”
“WHAT?” Tenn yelled out loud and then he was flying.
My heart was pounding. My wife, daughter, and grandson not being back yet was not helping my sanity.
But I slipped into my shadows and reappeared inside the living room — and scowled.
The room was entirely still and calm. No one was devastated or panicked.
They looked nervous and unsettled but not like they’d just lost one of the twins.
They did however not like whatever expression was on my face. They all jumped up and grabbed weapons.
“Where’s Emersyn?” I said through clenched teeth.
The front door flew open and crashed into the wall. Tegan was the first through. “EMERSYN!”
“Where is she?” Devon screamed behind her.
“EM!” Cooper and Hunter yelled at the same time.
Bentley’s face paled. “What happened?”
“EMERS—”
“I’m right here,” Emersyn said with a scarily calm voice.
We all stopped short and gasped.
Emersyn strolled around the corner from the back of the house, her hand dragging along the wall like she was using it as a walking stick since she was blind.
“Em—” Tegan cried. “Are you okay—”
“I’m fine. I’m sorry, I am the same as when you left,” she said in a rush.
The Bishops all tackled her, except for Bentley who just frowned in confusion as he gripped the Hierophant’s locket hanging from his neck. Emersyn let them fuss all over her like they refused to believe she wasn’t somehow actually dead.
The others who’d stayed back were all frozen in shock.
I cursed and scrubbed my face with my hands.
“Emersyn?” Celina’s voice behind me made me jump. “Is she here?”
“I am here, Frankie. I am fine, or as fine as I was half an hour ago.” Em let out a ragged breath. She lifted her left arm and pulled her sleeve up. “I guess this means it's gray already?”
“MA’AM, WHAT?”
I threw my arm out for my wife, needing to feel her skin against mine. She rushed to me immediately. Rae and Auryn hurried through the door behind her. I sighed with relief and took a deep breath to try and calm my racing heart.
“Everest, man what the bloody hell was —” Jackson’s words cut off as his pale eyes widened. “Dylan? Dylan Schwartz?”
We all turned as a fierce looking female marched through the front door.
She had long wavy brown hair down to almost her knees and tan, freckled skin.
She had big brown eyes but the right eye had three massive scars running from forehead down to her jawline.
Whatever caused that definitely got her eye because instead of brown it was solid gray and missing a pupil.
She wore the standard all-black military grade uniform all Knights wore, complete with combat boots tied tight.
There were weapons strapped to her body all over.
The tank top she wore showed off chiseled arm muscles, black lines of a soulmate mark… and the black III Mark of the Empress.
The woman gave us a small smile. “Jackson Lancaster, it’s good to see you again.”
“Dylan…” Jackson stumbled forward like he was in awe. “What are you— you’re the Empress now? How?”
Dylan, as Jackson called her, looked to Emersyn still gripped in her family’s hands. She cleared her throat. “Perhaps Ms. Bishop would like to explain first?”
Emersyn whimpered and fell into her father’s chest. “I am blind. The only way I am getting my vision back is if we succeed in eradicating the Unseelie from this realm…but these fights are getting worse and worse. The last one I almost killed all of you just because I couldn’t see what I was doing.
I cannot fathom the idea that I could hurt one of you on accident—”
“But Emersyn—”
“No buts, twin,” she said softly. “I may be blind but I didn’t need my eyes to know you and Everest have already discussed the possibility of stripping my Mark.
I’m the Empress - or, I was. One of the most powerful in The Coven.
This is not a war you can win without that Card.
To hang onto it would be selfish. So…I followed the lead of some of our other friends and let my Mark go… ”
Devon’s whole face scrunched up. “Oh, sweetheart.”
“Look, it hurts. It broke my heart to let it go but…but if you don’t succeed in this then my soulmate dies. I know what that feels like already, I lost him once. I don’t want y’all to know how that feels.”
I pulled Celina into my arms and held her tight.
Jackson and Mona’s faces fell. Devon and Hunter held on to each other.
Em shook her head. “Please, I beg of you, continue as if nothing has changed. You have your new Empress now and judging by Jackson’s reaction I’m going to assume she’s as fierce as we need her to be.”
I glanced to Dylan and found her eyes full of unshed tears.
“If you don’t mind, will someone please carry me down to Deacon. I’d like to hold him while I cry for a while,” she said with tears already slipping out beneath the bandage.
Hunter scooped her up and carried her down the stairs with Devon behind them.
Thick, broken silence filled the room as we all stared at the door.
“I am sorry,” Dylan spoke finally. Her voice was firm yet kind and warm. “I am Dylan Cohen-Schwartz. I was a Swords student here and I’ve spent the last eight years as a Knight…until Samhain.”
Everyone frowned.
Then she pulled the leather glove off her right hand and we all groaned.
The gray soulmate mark did not require explanation.
“I lost my wife on Samhain, along with my entire family…and my right eye.” Her voice was thick with emotion.
“I begged the Goddess to put an end to my grieving and she Marked me instead. So hear me, I know what some of you are on the cusp of feeling and I would not wish it upon my worst enemy. Not even Lilith herself. But I promise you this…an Empress with an impatient death wish can only work to your advantage.”
Savannah choked on a gasp. “Ma’am,” she whispered.
Dylan smirked. “I am not here to replace Emersyn. I am here to save your family, your soulmates, and hopefully die in a blaze of glory so I may be reunited with my wife on the other side.”
I gripped Celina too tight but she didn’t mind.
“I’m one hell of a fighter—”
“Yeah, you are,” Jackson said softly with a hint of a smile. “We’re lucky to have your skills.”
Dylan looked to Tegan. “Help me learn how to be the Empress I need to be so that her Mark is all that Emersyn loses.”
Tegan wiped her eyes and walked up to Dylan. “Were you walking on fire before you were even initiated?”
Dylan grinned. “There really should be an instruction manual with these Marks.”
Tegan chuckled. She held her left hand out to shake Dylan’s. “Blaze of glory or not, I promise we’ll get you back to your soulmate.”
Dylan’s cheeks flushed pink. “Thank you.”
“But we should definitely do her initiation.” Tenn tapped his gold bands and Michael’s sword vanished. “C’mon, y’all. Let’s not let Emersyn’s sacrifice be in vain.”
“Actually…” Bentley cleared his throat. “That might need to wait.”
We all groaned.
“What even is the point, man?” Warner grumbled. “We keep failing.”
Bentley shrugged. “We keep trying.”
I nodded. “You got the next clue?”
“I did. Just now.” He sighed and pulled his sleeve up. “It says, You’ll find the treasure of worlds apart, the Old Lands hold a bleeding heart.”
Everyone groaned again. Not that I blamed them.
Tenn hung his head. “I do not like our track record in there.”
“So don’t go,” Celina said from my side. “The mortals will remain here. The immortals will go into the Old Lands and find what we need.”
“A lotus flower,” Libby said with a sigh. “That’s the same damn line ya girl Leyka brought us back in August. We’re looking for a lotus flower.”
Tegan and Tenn looked to us with guarded expressions.
“Tenn…” Celina stepped closer to him. “The fact remains, Lilith cannot be defeated without Michael’s sword and you are the only one who can wield it.”
“I know,” Tenn whispered.
Celina nodded. “And you’ll never get close enough to kill her without Tegan. Without the rest of this carefully stacked team. Let us go, we know our way around the Old Lands. You’re all needed here.”
Tegan closed her eyes and nodded. “She’s right. We have to let them go without us.”