Chapter 27
Raighne
The moment I can’t feel Alchera, my eyes flick to her.
There’s a lifeless expression on her face as she slowly takes a step toward Dylan.
“Alchera,” I snap, at first thinking she’s blocking me from her mind.
Her eyes remain glued on Dylan as she keeps moving closer.
“Are you okay?” Dylan asks her, an unsure expression on his face.
Adeth lets out a maniacal burst of laughter, and a knife appears in Alchera’s hand.
“What the fuck!” Dylan exclaims, turning his weapon on Alchera.
“Awo. No!” I whisper when I see the blade of death in Alchera’s hand.
Roark and my father dart toward Alchera, and I can feel Ares trying to use his power to shimmer so it will free him from my hold. I have to focus harder on keeping him and his evil mother in place.
“Alchera!” Roark shouts as he closes in on her.
Ares breathes heavily as he tries to move. “She’s under Adeth’s control.” He fights my power and manages to climb to his feet, strain showing on his face. His eyes lock with mine. “Kill. Adeth.”
Needing to focus on the woman I love more than anything, I free Adeth and Ares.
Roark gets to his sister first, with my father right behind him. As I focus all my power on Alchera, she darts forward.
Ares shimmers, disappearing before reappearing right behind Alchera. He takes my focus off Alchera, and as I use my power to rip him away from her, Roark darts between Alchera and Dylan, and she buries the blade of the knife in his side.
“No!” Brenna shouts as she grabs hold of Dylan, yanking him away from the danger. Finian grabs hold of her before she can get near Alchera.
It all transpires so fucking fast it takes a moment to realize what just happened.
Adeth’s laughter fills the room, then Ares disappears again. This time, when he reappears, he’s right by Alchera, and ripping the bloody knife from her hand, he throws it at his mother.
The blade slams into her throat, and a second later, she makes a gargling sound as shock tightens her features.
Roark drops to his knees, and Dad catches him.
Adeth slides to the floor, and she manages to pull the knife from her neck, her eyes locked on Ares.
“Thank you,” she whispers, a peaceful expression making her look like the aunt I used to know before she turned dark. She keeps staring at her son, and her words are so soft, I have to read her lips as she says, “I’m sorry.”
Ares nods, his expression filled with a mixture of relief and heartache as he watches his mother struggle through her last breath.
Alchera snaps out of whatever control Adeth had over her, and letting out a cry, she falls to her knees. Her eyes fill with horror as she stares at her dying brother.
“What have I done?” she gasps, her face torn with agony.
It takes one hell of a swing at my heart to see her like this.
When Ares takes a step toward her, I use my power to throw him to the other side of the room as I quickly close the distance between Alchera and me.
I wrap my arms around her, but then she starts to struggle against my hold. When I let go of her, she crawls to Roark, heartbreaking sobs tearing from her chest .
“I’m sorry,” she whimpers. “I’m so sorry.”
With the last of his strength, Roark tries to shake his head, then his final breath ghosts over his lips.
Brenna yanks free from Finian and falls down beside Alchera, too horror-struck to make a sound.
“NoNoNo!” Alchera cries. She grabs hold of her brother and holds his head to her chest. She chokes on sobs, and with my eyes locked on her, I force my way into her broken mind and start to take the pain from her.
Her head whips in my direction. “Don’t you dare!” Her eyes are dark with grief and anger, and the next moment, I’m shoved out of her mind.
As Brenna and Alchera weep over Roark’s body, it sinks in that we just lost our next king.
Fuck. All the men of House Regales have been wiped out.
I suck in a shocked breath as my eyes flick over the chaos in the living room.
My eyes fall on Adeth’s body.
We’ve feared her for the longest time, and she’s finally gone.
I see the shocked expressions on the chosen ones' faces as they huddle together, and I realize we’ll have to sacrifice everything to keep them safe.
This is only the beginning because we still have to deal with Ares. There’s Void as well, and it’s impossible to kill him.
I look at Roark again, then think to ask, “Where’s River? Why wasn’t he with Roark?”
When my father shakes my head, my heart squeezes painfully. As I lower my head, he says, “Adeth killed River right before Ares brought us here.”
My head snaps up. “What?” My eyes flick to Ares, who’s standing to the side, and as I throw my arm out and slam his body against the nearest wall, I shout at my father, “Why the hell did you come here? Bringing the enemy right to the chosen ones!”
Dad climbs to his feet, his eyes darting between Ares and me.
“Adeth forced Ares to bring us here.” Dad holds his arms up in a gesture meant to pacify me, but it doesn’t do shit to calm the rage burning in my chest .
“You should’ve killed them on Vaalbara,” I growl as I increase my power on Ares, making the plaster on the wall crack around his body.
“Raighne!” Dad shouts. “Wait. You don’t want to kill him.”
With Alchera weeping at my feet, I bite the words out through clenched teeth, “I will liquefy his insides. He doesn’t deserve to live.”
“Ares is your cousin. Let him go, Raighne,” Dad says, moving cautiously closer to me. “He’s your family. Our family.”
Alchera climbs to her feet, and slowly shaking her head as if she’s caught in a daze, she glances between Ares and my father. When she turns around and locks eyes with me, I swear I can see shadows creeping into her green irises.
“Kill him,” she demands, her tone hoarse from the trauma she’s battling.
With my eyes on the woman I love, I begin to close my fingers into a fist, and it has Ares letting out a pain-filled groan.
Dad grabs hold of my arm. “Stop, Raighne!” He steps closer to me as he tries to explain, “Ares was under Adeth’s control. Just like Alchera was. He had no choice. He’s as much a victim as she is.”
I stare at my father in disbelief. “You saw what he did to Alchera. You were there when we found her. How can you forgive him?”
Dad moves between Ares and me, and I can’t believe he’s protecting him.
“Let them kill me,” Ares groans, his tone filled with exhaustion. “They’ll be doing me a favor.”
Everyone looks at Ares, where he’s leaning against the wall, bits of plaster lying by his feet.
“There’s been enough death,” my father snaps. “We need all the help we can get right now.” He sucks in a breath before exhaling slowly. “We need to return Roark and Adeth to Vaalbara. Let’s all remain level-headed while we deal with the loss we’ve suffered.”
My father keeps an eye on me while he orders, “Come, Ares. Shimmer us back to Vaalbara.”
When Ares moves, Alchera darts to my side, and I quickly grab hold of her hand .
The silence is tense as we all watch my father and Ares take hold of Roark and Adeth. The moment they disappear, Alchera pulls her hand from mine and rushes out the sliding door that leads to the backyard.
Brenna goes after her, and as the sisters step outside, I glance at Finian.
My brother looks as shocked as I feel but says, “Father knows what he’s doing.”
“Does he?” I mutter.
“Are we safe?” Dylan asks. “Shouldn’t we hightail it out of here?”
I let out a sigh as I shake my head. “We’ll leave as soon as Alchera has a vision of the next chosen one.”
“So we’re staying?” Jason asks. “No one else is going to appear out of thin air to kill us?”
I still believe Ares is a huge problem, and knowing he’s moving freely around keeps me from answering Jason.
“Let’s clean up,” Sky says. “And I think everyone can do with a cup of coffee.”
“Fuck coffee,” Dylan mutters. “Is there anything stronger in this place?”
“I’ll get the whiskey,” Doug says, his features tense with worry.
I stand frozen as the chosen ones get to work, picking up the scattered sandwiches and putting the furniture back in its place.
Finian comes to place his hand on my shoulder, then he murmurs, “If what Father said is true, then we need to give Ares a chance.”
“The shadowlands will cease to exist before I do that,” I mutter.
Alchera
My butt hits the steps outside the sliding doors, and I wrap my arms around my shins.
Still feeling Adeth’s darkness creeping in my mind like shadowy tentacles, I can’t process the devastation of what just happened .
When Brenna sits down beside me, I can’t bring myself to talk.
Roark’s dead.
I killed him .
My chest implodes with devastating guilt and grief, but I can’t cry.
When I close my eyes and suck in a shuddering breath, Brenna wraps her arms around me and pulls me against her chest. She brushes her hand over my hair.
“It wasn’t your fault. Adeth killed him,” she whispers, her tone raw with heartache.
I can’t even shake my head to argue.
It feels as if all light has been drained from me, and only Adeth’s darkness has remained.
I have no idea what happened. One moment, I was hearing Adeth in my thoughts, and the next, I watched as Roark slumped to the floor.
The time between is filled with a shadowy haze.
Brenna lets out a sob, and I barely have enough strength to wrap my arms around her.
We lean heavily against each other as we try to process the loss we suffered.
Try to process? God, I haven’t even processed all the other shit that’s happened. It feels like every time I try to rise to my feet, something knocks me down.
I’m not strong enough for all of this, and Raighne can’t keep taking it all from me. I won’t let him suffer in my stead.
Jason comes out of the house, and when he crouches in front of us, I notice he’s holding two cups of coffee.
I shake my head, and Brenna says, “Thanks, but I don’t think either of us can stomach anything right now.”
He sets the mugs down and places his hand on my shoulder. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Just keep an eye on the others,” I whisper, my voice filled with the shadows growing in me.
“I will.” He gives my shoulder a squeeze. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
I turn my face into Brenna’s hair and hold her tighter, which makes her cling to me.
When Jason leaves, I say, “You should go back to Vaalbara.”
Brenna pulls away, giving me a what-the-hell look.
“Father and Roark died because of me. I don’t want you near me, Brenna. It’s not safe.”
“I’m here to help you,” she argues.
My features tighten as desperation and grief flay me to the bone, and my voice is thick as I say, “I don’t want to lose you as well.”
She lifts her hands to my face, and framing my cheeks, she says, “If I die on this mission, it’s not because of you. We all have our part to play, Alchera. You’re not responsible for our father and brother’s deaths. It was Adeth. Do you understand?”
We’ll never agree, and knowing this, I just nod so we can stop talking about it.
I pull Brenna’s hands away from my face, and needing to be alone, I say, “Will you check on the others?”
Brenna climbs to her feet, and after she heads back into the house, I let out a heavy breath.
I’m hit with a wave of destructive emotions that shudders through my body.
Not even a minute later, Raighne comes out and sits down beside me. I feel his warmth skirt around the edges of my mind, and unable to stop it, a sob rips from me as I throw myself at him.
His strong arms engulf me, and I’m pulled onto his lap as his essence floods every inch of me. The relief I feel when he starts to take the hellish grief and guilt from me is so intense I just slump against his chest as silent tears spiral down my cheeks.
When I start to feel better, and I’m able to think clearly, I ask, “How do you cope with everything you take from me?”
“Knowing you don’t have to feel any of it makes it bearable.”
I let out an exhausted sigh. “You’re so much stronger than me, but you can’t keep taking it all from me.”
“I can.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “It’s one of my talents as your guardian. ”
With my mind clearer, I think about the loss we’ve suffered. “I can’t believe Roark’s gone.”
“River, too.”
God. Poor Fleur. My mother.
“Why do so many of us have to die?” I ask.
“There’s no limit to what we have to sacrifice so the human race can continue.”
A new fear bleeds into my heart, but before I can put it into words, Raighne says, “If I die, I’ll become a part of you. You’ll always feel me because we share the same soul.”
“I don’t want you to die.” A sob bursts over my lips, and wrapping my arms around him, I cling to him for all my life is worth.
“None of us know how much time we have,” he murmurs above my head. “It doesn’t help to live in fear, my little dreamer. We just have to make every second count.”
I hold onto the man who’s the only thing keeping me standing through all the hell I’ve had to face.
I have no idea how much time passes before I say, “I’m so glad you’re mine. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
The air displaces around us, and the next second, I’m pulled to my feet by Raighne, who immediately takes a defensive stance.
A few feet from us, Ares appears with Griffith right beside him.
Even though there’s a glamor making Ares look human, my body shudders with revulsion at the sight of the monster who tortured me.
He must’ve taken an elixir before coming back because his eyes are the same light blue as Raighne’s.
Griffith holds his hands up. “Let’s talk before anyone overreacts.”
“Overreacts?” Raighne growls. “How can you stand beside such evil, Father?”
Griffith shakes his head, giving Raighne a pleading look. “Son, Ares never meant to hurt Alchera. He was under Adeth’s control, the same way Alchera was earlier. You can’t hold him accountable for what happened.”
I struggle to accept what Griffith is saying. I’ll never forgive myself for the parts I played in the deaths of my father and brother .
I’ll never forgive Ares.
If we were stronger, Adeth wouldn’t have been able to control us.
Raighne’s eyes snap to my face, then back to Ares, and I see the moment he starts to believe what Griffith is saying.
Pulling away from him, I shake my head.
“I know I’m the last person you want to see, Alchera,” Ares says. His eyes are filled with the same guilt I feel. “And I know nothing I say will change anything, but I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
I shake my head wildly, moving a couple of steps backward while hissing, “Don’t talk to me.”
“I can’t erase what happened between us, but please allow me to help. Let me try to make up for what I’ve done to you. I can help you fulfill your destiny by transporting you wherever you need to go.”
Just the sound of his voice makes me feel sick to my stomach, and darting away from them, I only make it to a tree before my body convulses as I vomit.
A second later a hand rubs over my lower back, and Raighne’s healing touch quickly settles my upset stomach.
“Enough!” Raighne snaps at his father and Ares. “There’s no way we’re working with Ares. You can both leave.”
“We can’t,” Griffith replies, his tone firm. “Awo has given a destiny to Ares. He has to help Alchera by transporting her to the chosen ones. Awo heard her concerns and answered them by sending Ares.”
“What the hell?” Raighne gasps.
I’m starting to think Awo hates me.
I shake my head as I walk to the house to get away from them, my body trembling like a leaf in the shitstorm my life has become.
“Alchera,” Griffith calls. “Don’t walk away. We need to settle this matter.”
Ignoring him, I head into the house, and I don’t stop until I shut the bathroom door behind me. I take a minute to brush my teeth before washing my face and hands.
When my eyes meet my reflection in the mirror and I see the shadows growing in my irises, I sink down to the floor, sitting flat on my butt.
I’m no better than Ares. Where he just tortured me, I killed Roark.
I killed my own brother.
I’m worse than Ares.
“No!” Raighne’s voice thunders through my mind right before the bathroom door opens and he comes inside.
When Raighne picks me up, I rest my head against his shoulder. He carries me to a bedroom and gently places me on the covers before he lies down beside me. I snuggle against his chest as his body engulfs mine.
“What do we do?” I ask.
“We’ll deal with everything once you’ve had some rest.”
I take deep breaths of Raighne’s scent, and the next second, I drift off to sleep.