Twenty-Six
Adelasia
“Kaius!”
I shout frantically, scrambling to my knees on the bed. I hold my hands against his neck to try and stop the bleeding even though I know it’s not helping.
Kai’s body jolts several times, as if he’s been struck, and seconds later, blood begins seeping out of invisible wounds on his chest.
Thunder and lightning once again rumble and crack across the sky. The bed under us fades into red mist and we now kneel on the cold ground of the throne room.
This is the work of Amatisi, it must be. Who else would make this much effort to terrorize us before showing themselves?
As black fog begins to cover the ground of the room, I find myself compelled to take the Bloodstone from Kaius. I lift it from his neck and place it around my own. It feels heavy with evil.
The assault on Kaius seems to have stopped. He’s no longer paralyzed by pain. His wounds begin to slowly heal themselves. I raise my wrist to his mouth, compelling him to drink so he can heal faster.
But when I do, Kaius lets out another groan of pain and an invisible force lifts him from the ground, stretching his arms out to the side. A wooden post appears behind him, and a thick stake impales his chest, rendering him immobile. His hands grip the stake, attempting to free himself, but the wood has left him too weak. I touch his cheeks, and he slightly turns his head.
“Run,”
he chokes out.
“No,”
I answer. “I will not leave you.”
The roof of the palace crumbles around us, drenching us in rain instantly. I shiver in the cold water that soaks into my bones.
And then, they appear.
All nine of the Priestesses stand in a line shoulder-to-shoulder across from Kaius and I. I stand between them and him, pulling the dagger from his boot and holding it out in front of me.
Amatisi’s husky laugh fills my ears. “Stupid girl. Have you already forgotten your little blade cannot harm us?”
I swallow the fear in my throat, standing my ground. Amatisi takes a step forward, grabs my wrist, and forces me to cut along her own.
As she said, the blade does no harm to her. She releases my wrist.
I use the magic of the strange ruby around my neck to push her back. It only causes her to stumble slightly, only discernible because of the light fabric of her robe.
Though I cannot see her face, I can sense the challenge in her veiled gaze. She dares me to make a move, silently taunting the weak nature of my human soul.
A memory flashes across my mind. And then another.
The first, when Dravon threatened to kill me the last time the Priestesses were here. How she turned him into a griefclaw for threatening me, solidifying in my mind the value of my life to her–or at the very least, that my life be taken by the correct hands.
The second, when Kaius threw the dagger across the valley, and when it appeared again in front of us, it left a small cut on my finger when I touched it.
“The blade remains blunt until wielded by the cursebreaker.”
My heart begins to race. All this time, I seem to have forgotten that it’s not my life that Amatisi and the Priestesses care about. It’s Yekaterina’s, and only through my blood can she find life again. Fear and hope strike me at the same time. Is this the weakness in Kaius’ curse that we haven’t seen?
That the cursebreaker isn’t him.
It’s me.
“Amatisi,”
I say, the knife still clutched tightly in my hand. She turns to me with a hiss for daring to speak her name. “When Yekaterina is free, and Kaius is mortal again, what purpose will you have?”
“Purpose?”
she repeats, then she scoffs. “You humans truly know nothing of the world you live in.”
She steps towards me and rips the Bloodstone from my neck. I instantly feel lighter without its dark aura weighing down on me. “Eternity gave her power to ten Priestesses. Without Yekaterina, Her will is defied. Her influence unbalanced. Her visage corrupted. With Yekaterina free, the Dark Goddess will enrich us once again, my Coven reigning over nature and magic as it was intended.”
“And when Yekaterina is free, Kaius’ debt to the Coven will be paid? He shall be free too?”
Amatisi cups my cheeks. “Oh, the mortal heart, so filled with hope,”
she mocks. “Even in the face of death you yearn for a man you cannot have. It is noble, truly.”
“Answer the question,” I demand.
“Kaius’ debt will be satisfied when my sister returns,”
she says, and then tilts her head slightly as she adds, “upon your death.”
I take a deep breath. Amatisi is smart. She saw right through my attempt to change my fate. My eyes fill with burning tears as I look at Kaius, still hanging from the post and bleeding. I step toward him and rise onto my toes to kiss the underside of his chin.
My touch seems to wake him from his daze and his eyes slightly open to focus on me.
“Adelasia…”
I cup his cheek and the tears begin to fall from my eyes. “Will you make me a promise, Kaius?”
“Anything…”
he whispers out painfully, blood dripping from his mouth.
“Promise me that you’ll live the full life you’ve always wanted. Promise me I won’t die in vain.”
The mention of my death seems to slightly pull him from his delirium and he raises his head. His eyes trace my face and reveal confusion.
I take a shuddering breath and turn the blade to face my stomach. “Promise me…”
I beg quietly. His body begins to twitch and move awkwardly as he attempts to free himself from the post.
“Adelasia, don’t!”
he shouts as he falls to the ground and reaches for me.
A small whimper escapes my lips. Time feels frozen at first–everything seems to stop moving. I let out a humorless laugh at the odd pressure in my abdomen.
Only when my eyes meet Kai’s again, because I cannot bear to look, I pull the blade free from my body and drop it at my side.