Chapter 15
Lucina
There’s a blur of motion, and my body is jerked backwards. Then, all that stands between me and whatever is hurtling in my direction is Callan.
He’s there in an instant, faster than what should be physically possible. Magic cracks from him, so potent that every hair on my body stands straight up. Whatever it was—a dagger, a bullet—Callan obliterates it mid-air. A plume of smoke and a prick of static is the only thing left behind.
The Yard is swallowed by an eerie silence.
I struggle to catch my breath, panting into the dead quiet, still trapped behind Callan, while everyone else stares into the dark tree line. The Dame and Laverna have positioned themselves to cover May and Pa, hands raised in preparation for another attack.
My coven moves to the front of the platform, weapons drawn and wards in place.
“D, get May,” Callan orders, backing up against me.
When Devon doesn’t move, he snaps, “D, get May!” It’s loud enough that I flinch.
Devon practically dives off the platform, rushing to usher May and Pa away from the audience, never turning his back to the tree line.
“What was that?” I whisper, but Callan doesn’t reply, pressing me further into his back as he cuts more orders over his shoulder.
Easton and Hunter move to cover Her Grace and Laverna while Pax and Phoenix snake through the crowd, moving towards the line of dark forestry that everyone is still facing.
The two of them break off, one to the left and the other to the right, slipping through the trees and into the thick fog rising from the forest floor.
My heart begins to pound when their silhouettes disappear, my wide eyes sweeping across the shrubbery ahead. “Callan.” I fist the fabric of his suit jacket and pull to get his attention. “My friends.”
He looks out at the bushes they’re hiding behind.
“Callan.”
“Chaos.” I hardly recognize his voice. There’s an edge to it that’s so intense, I shut my mouth and just listen. “Your knife is in my pocket.”
He turns his hips, pivoting so his pocket is closer to me.
Straightening my trembling fingers, I reach in and tug on the ivory hilt, sliding it out of his pocket and tucking it back in my boot.
My magic must have sensed the spike in fear because when I call on it, it’s already waiting for me, flooding my limbs in an added layer of protection.
Callan must sense it too because he lets out what sounds like a relieved breath. “Good. Stay right where you are.”
“Callan, I can—”
“Stay right where you are, Lucina.” There’s no room for argument in his tone. Despite my being the highest-ranked here, he wants me to stay put. Being the queen is starting to get on my nerves.
Before I can plead my case, there’s a shift in the trees, something moving through low-hanging branches, and every word I was preparing dies on my tongue when Ceres emerges from the tree line, yellow robes muddied and skin pale.
The second she steps into the warm light illuminating the Yard, Aster and Sedona shriek, pulled back instantly by Raphael. Hunter and Easton corral the Dame and Laverna further behind them while Devon does the same with May and Pa.
Ceres moves to take another step forward, but a line of fire erupts through the thick patches of grass, cutting her off where she stands. The Dianic witch screams, jumping back from the threat of the flames.
Pax and Phoenix.
They move through the trees on either side of her, holding the line at her feet, and Ceres stands motionless for a moment, hiding in the shadows the forest provides.
She doesn’t stay put long, only a few seconds passing before she chances a step forward.
Then another. And when she’s close enough that the orange glow of the flames illuminates her face, Callan starts barking orders again.
Devon moves to get May and Pa out of here, and Hunter and Easton cover the Dame entirely, backing her up until she’s right in front of the platform.
“No,” Delia breathes, in complete disbelief. “No,” she says again, and beside her, Laverna has gone pale.
It’s not the hand Ceres holds behind her back that’s scary. It’s not the grey tint to her skin or the ripple of something darker beneath it.
It’s her eyes.
Unmistakably gold through the red-tinted flames.
Right as the fire strengthens, Ceres erupts in a mass of shadows and smoke, a roar ripping from her red-painted lips, and every lantern shatters, glass shards flying through the space. Callan turns to cover me, but I fight against his hold.
“Callan! My friends.”
“ROGUE!” someone screams, and I take the distraction it grants me, slipping free of his grip and tumbling down the platform.
“Lucina!” he shouts after me.
I nearly trip over my boots as I find my footing in the dirt, making it a few running steps in the direction of my friends when another blood-curdling scream rips through the yard.
I come to a skidding halt, wide eyes shooting upwards.
Kimber.
She dangles in the air, a pitch-black rope of shadows twisting tightly around her neck. She claws at the restraint, her legs kicking out for purchase, and I can barely hear the chaos of the Yard behind me as shadows dig into her skin, steam rippling off her neck and hands.
Like hell am I letting this happen.
I rush towards her. There isn’t a single bone in my body that debates staying still—it isn’t even a question. She wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for me.
Fire rises from Pax’s side of the line, and Phoenix struggles to meet its intensity.
Ceres jumps back, but her hold on Kimber doesn’t falter, dark black tendrils flaring at her fingertips.
There’s pure determination alongside the threat in her eyes as her grip tightens, cutting off Kimber’s attempt to scream.
From behind me, static fills the air, rumbling across the dirt, and I shout for Kimber to hold on. I’m steps away from being right beneath her when Ceres shoots up so high that if she falls…
I don’t know that Gemma will be able to heal her fast enough.
“KIMBER!” I scream.
“SILENCE!” Ceres bellows.
I come to a screeching halt just as Pax bursts from the trees, pure terror widening his eyes as he takes in the sight of Kimber hanging there. “Hey!” he shouts over the crackle of the flames, “Put her down! YOU HAVE TO PUT HER DOWN!” I’ve never seen him so angry. So afraid.
Taking advantage of Ceres’ split attention, I slip into the treeline, searching for any sign of Selene and Gemma. Searching for anything that might be able to stunt Kimber’s fall.
My eyes catch on movement in the bushes, noticing a thin, radiant sheen seeping through the dirt around it. It looks as if rain has made the ground muddy, and it only takes me a few seconds of watching it spread before I realize what’s happening.
Lakelet magic.
Selene’s messing with the dirt. Cushioning it, maybe. Gods, I hope so. That’s the only chance Kimber has.
Pressing my back into the shadows, I do my best to stay quiet. I can’t draw attention to what she’s doing. I can’t draw attention to my friends at all.
“Ceres, please!” Delia begs. “Please just—”
Kimber screams as she’s thrown higher into the air.
“SILENCE!” Ceres bellows again.
Nobody speaks. Nobody moves. Not when it’s so obvious what would happen if we did.
Ceres begins to laugh, and the sound skitters down my bones, an uneasiness settling in its wake. When she speaks, the deep tenor of her voice is…unfamiliar. Almost masculine.
Like it doesn’t belong to her.
“Bring me,” her face curls into a snarl, her features shifting, “the child.”
Firelight flashes across Ceres’s ashen skin, the color paling further as she shifts, red hair shriveling into inky black tendrils. I blink repeatedly, hoping that it’s the flicker of the flames playing tricks on my eyes.
It isn’t.
Ceres’s cheeks hollow, facial features morphing until she’s not Ceres at all. Until she’s someone entirely different.
A man stands in her place, clad in pitch-black robes, tall enough that his entire upper half can be seen over the wall of flames.
Ceres had been playing with shadows, but this man is made of them. They slither across his pale skin like snakes, the same magic that’s wrapped around Kimber’s throat, holding her hostage in the air.
The man’s colorless lips pull back in a deadly smile, thrilled that he’s rendered us all speechless. “I know you’re here,” he taunts, viciously scanning the crowd. His gold eyes flash across the treeline, and I hold my breath. “Come on out. Let me see you.”
More of that sheen saturates the earth beneath Kimber. Selene’s going to catch her. I know it. She won’t let a damn thing happen to her. Neither will Gemma, and neither will I.
Still, I shift to get closer, plotting a path to get to her—just in case.
Dangling above us, Kimber manages to suck in a breath through her restraint.
All she can manage is a pained whimper, and at the frail sound, Pax jolts forward, sheer determination in his stare.
As if he might just climb the nearest tree to get to her. Anything to get to her.
“PUT HER DOWN!” he roars, abandoning his hold on the fire.
Shadows lash out around the Rogue, and I bite my tongue to keep from crying out when that dark power strikes Pax straight in the chest.
The hit sends him flying across the Yard.
Nix shouts, his hold on the fire faltering, but Easton rushes in to maintain Pax’s side, and together they reignite the flames, strengthening the line.
Callan is at Pax’s side instantly, sinking to the ground beside him, and when Pax’s arm comes up to push Callan back, I almost drown in relief.
He’s on his feet in an instant, limping back towards the fire, still just as determined as he was before. But he’s angrier now. More furious than I ever thought someone as gentle as him was capable of.
“The next hit will be fatal, dirty-blood,” the Rogue purrs, his other hand still pinned tight to his back. “Or perhaps…” he turns, searching the pale faces staring back at him, “...you enjoy death as I do.” A pause. “And in that case…”
Kimber screams when her restraint gives way, the sound shaking birds from nearby trees.
I dart forward as she plummets to the ground, making eye contact with a wide-eyed Gemma and a determined Selene.
Kimber is one tragic second from colliding with the earth when shadows wrap around her torso, yanking her back into the air.
Selene slams her fists in the dirt, and Gemma looks worriedly to the sky—to where Kimber is dangling again. At least now, with the shadows around her waist, she can breathe.
The Rogue holds Kimber hostage as if it is thoughtless to do so, as easy as breathing. He pays no mind to the ring of fire circling him or the four Ajax closing in. He doesn’t view them as a threat. He doesn’t view any of us as a threat.
It leaves me no other choice.
Fear trickles in, but I don’t give it any space. I fill every crevice with raw power, enough that I have to choke some of it back down. Enough that my medallion thrums against my skin, spiderwebs of Sol and Rogue magic webbing through my veins.
I become one with the shadows around me, clinging to the line of thick trees as I carefully edge closer. I manage to get a clear line of vision through the branches, and when the cloaked male turns, I’m at the perfect angle to see what’s behind his—
Fuck. Holy fuck.
The blue is unmistakable—even in the dim light.
The godsdamn Eldral.
I’d hidden it to the best of my ability, in a spot I never thought anyone would find, but she did. Ceres found it. And not only did she decide to use it, opening the door to the Twilight Passage, but she’s using an Eldral that doesn’t rightly belong to her.
It belongs to me.
I recall Kimber’s words from a few months ago: The Emerald is given by fate, the Ruby by sacrifice, and the Sapphire must be gifted.
My father gave it to me in one of those horrid nightmares. I’m the only one allowed to use it, and Pa said that using an Eldral that doesn’t belong to you could be fatal. Using one in general is risky because—
Gods.
You never know who could slip through.
Ceres let someone in. Whoever that is, behind the fire, he came through the Twilight Passage. And Ceres is just…his host.
“All it takes is one bad seed, Your Grace,” the man hisses through the flames, pure disdain in his use of Delia’s title. “And Ceres Samora is the best kind of bad seed. So willing to let me borrow her flesh. So willing to be a vessel. Always so power-hungry that one.”
She’s just the vessel. Which means if we kill him…we kill Ceres.
I need that fucking Eldral.
I don’t hear Delia’s response as I slip through the trees, mindful of every step. Shadows dance at my feet—the fraction of my father’s magic that I’ve tamed, eager to be put to good use.
“You must not know who you’re dealing with, little girl,” I hear him taunt the crowd, and something about the way he sneers, little girl, confirms what I’ve been trying so stubbornly to deny.
It’s me he’s looking for.
His midnight robes billow out around him as he turns, a cruel smirk on his lips. “Alaric Tenebrus,” he announces, gesturing to himself, and I freeze in my pursuit, blood running cold. His smile then is nothing short of wicked. “King of Rogues.”