Chapter 12

ChapterTwelve

“Take my hand and let me save you, child of the fae.”

His whisper is enchanting, old, and alluring, like I expected a god to sound like, but I never expected to win like this. He is the voice I heard in the water, telling me a story of his love and how she died. I’m dying, I know it, and he does too. I can feel my blood pouring from my stomach around my hands, the ice melting but the damage unhealable. Being fae is keeping me alive, but I can’t think through the pain, and my vision is blurring. The god makes it very hard to look away from him, like he pulls me in with just his presence. It feels like I’m staring into an endless sea when I meet his eyes. An endless, cold, and yet beautiful sea.

“No,” I croak out around a mouthful of my blood. The pain is fading slowly away, like he is taking it from me, but the truth is darker. I know I’m getting close to death, to the end… I’ve heard of this before. I’ve seen people die and feel no pain, only peace, in their last moments.

“Take my hand and everything will be righted. Take my hand, child of the fae,” he seductively whispers. I know I could take his hand and be healed… but do I want that? What price does it come with? I cough, choking on my own blood until it feels impossible to reply to him. My hands slip off my stomach, onto the cold rock, and all I can smell is the metallic tang of my blood mixed with the icy salt sting of the cavern. I turn my head to look over at my friends, hoping to see them frozen to the spot. Lorenzo’s already out of the ice, and he is standing right in front of the tornado, holding Posy tightly in his hands. I expect to see him step in, but I soon realize everything is moving very, very slowly. He’s walking too slowly towards the tornado, and the wind of the tornado itself seems to be almost frozen, like it’s slowly coming to life. It’s like time itself has slowed down and I can do nothing but stare at my friends, the ice cracking in my ears.

Nerelyth looks so weak, barely standing up, and Felix almost seems like he is reaching for her, even lost in the magic. Zurine is staring at the ice, shaking from head to toe, the ice cracking so fast as she uses her power to change it. She has the same power as me, and I know now why I was drawn to her ice in the elemental ceremony. I don’t know how common it is for fae to have two powers—I may never know—but part of me knows it was perfect for me to have them. Fire and ice, enemies that never work together until now. Just like Emerson and me. Enemies until we weren’t anymore. Enemies until I loved him so much the word enemy was just a joke of our past.

I stare up at the wind of the tornado, the grey, harsh color of it, the ice and rock held within, tearing everything apart. My heart hurts. It bleeds, knowing Emerson’s in there, being literally torn to pieces by the rocks and ice, knowing his shadows can’t protect him anymore. He used all of his magic up to save me, to kiss me one more time, to tell me he loves me.

I can’t let him die in there.

But I can’t move. I can’t fight.

I’ve never felt so weak and useless as I lie bleeding on the rocks. I know my friends are inches away from breaking out of the ice and following Lorenzo, too, into the tornado. They’ll soon be all in it and they will all die. They’re all going to die and there’s nothing I can do as I die here on this damp rock floor.

“There’s much you can do,” the god replies, and I know I didn’t speak out loud. He is reading my thoughts, and he knows everything. The puzzle was a clue to that. He knew how I felt about Emerson and why Emerson came here, because he can read our thoughts. The god smiles down at me, nodding once. “A useful gift of mine.”

I frown at him, which makes him laugh. His laugh is more alluring than his voice, and I understand why mortals worshipped him once. Why some still do. The conversation with the pirate leader comes to mind. “Take my hand.”

He pressures me again into taking his hand, offering me it once more as he leans over me. “Take it and everything will be okay.”

I look at my friends once more and back at him. We’re not going to get out of this alive. If they die, what would be the point of living, anyway? What is the point without Emerson? I don’t want to live without any of them. They’re my family. They’re what I’ve been looking for my entire life, and I just didn’t realize it. I never needed to find who I was related to. I just needed to find them. I love them. I love him. My cold, brutal king that sat at the edge of the world that hated him because they never knew the truth. He was never the villain; he only played the part given to him. Everyone was terrified of him, and rightfully so. Hell, I was terrified of him when I first met him. Now I realize he was never cold at all and that it was the fae that twisted the story of him and all of the Wyern. The world needs to know the truth about the fae royal family and the king who rules the Wyern, who could be the best king this world has ever seen. He must survive this, not me. I’m no one in comparison to him. I have an immortal life left ahead of me if I somehow survive this, and I know the first thing I’m going to do is throw myself straight into that tornado to get to Emerson if I let the god save me.

I cough once more, wincing at the movement as it sends pain shooting up my spine. The pain is good; it means I’m not dead yet. I can’t breathe. I feel like I’m fading. I know I’m fading.

The god crouches down with a long sigh, leaning on his one knee, still offering his hand out towards me, his hand inches away from my own. “You needn’t die, stubborn one. I see your future and I’ve seen your past. I see all of it within the waters of my sea. You could be something so great. You’ll be a queen of the Wyerns, at his side, and possibly the queen of so much more. It is there, written in your blood. You already know your true name, your true last name. That’s a clue and you can find out the answers you’ve always sought. You must live to find the answers, to be the Wyern Queen. Your time is running out, and I am your last hope.”

I stare at him. I stare at the hand he offers. “Take my hand, child of the fae. I will not ask again.”

I’m too weak to even lift my hand. I barely even feel myself as I slide my hand into his, and a warmness spreads from his hand straight down my body before suddenly feeling cold. I gasp as a wave like the cold sea washes over me, but from inside my body, there’s healing, fixing. It’s painful as my back arches, and I scream. The pain quickly stops, and I pat my stomach to feel there’s nothing but dry blood there now. I don’t feel weak, and the blood has gone from my mouth. My eyes widen as I look up at the god, and I climb to my feet as he straightens, looking pleased with himself. “You will be free to go once your friends are dead.”

He turns his back to me, but I scream at him. “No! The winner gets a deal, a wish, whatever you call it. A gift for winning and you owe me it.”

He laughs as he turns back to me, linking his hands together. He wears a white shirt tucked into dark trousers, and his feet are bare on the rocks. “Do you not think you just claimed my gift? By taking my hand, you claimed every bit of my magic that I am willing to give you. I saved your life. Be thankful and live it wisely.”

Panicked, I reach for him. He lets me grab his arm, and his skin is cold to the touch. “No, please. Please, just. Just wait and listen to me. Emerson… He’s a king. You can’t let him die in there when he can save so many lives and be a good king. He’s my mate. My life isn’t worth it without him.”

He covers my hand with his own. “I had a mate once and now she is gone. You will find pleasure once more.”

I shake my head. “You can’t let them die. Surely you can find another way to get your power. You don’t need them.”

He smiles, looking amused. “You think I get my power from them?” When I nod, he continues, speaking to me like I’m a child. To him, I guess I am. “Do you know nothing of the four gods? Do you know nothing of the goddess that you worship? You must look into the past to find your answers, especially about me, but I will tell you some. This cavern is my prison, and the other gods are in prisons just the same. The air goddess, you’ll find that moody bitch not far from where the Wyerns keep their cities. The overly happy fire goddess is locked away in the volcanoes hidden underneath Junepit City. As for the earth god, well, that one’s always been a mystery to us all. We were imprisoned many years ago. I do not need power. I have never needed it. But I need mortals to keep me alive. I need their deaths to extend my life.”

I furrow my brow. “They’re not mortal.”

“It matters none to me which race dies within these caverns. They keep me alive all the same.”

I search his eyes, hoping to find some kind of mercy or kindness, but I find nothing but a steel grit that would match my own if I weren’t so desperate to save my mate and my family. “What kind of life is that for you?”

His returning smile is blood-curdling. “One where I wait for revenge. It’s funny. When you first entered here, I thought I remembered her within you. The goddess. The one that trapped me here in the first place. I soon realized you weren’t her. She hadn’t magically come back from the dead.”

He looks at me for a moment with such anger it makes me shake. “I’m not her.” My confirmation makes him pause. “But please, there must be some way you can help me to save them. That’s all I want.”

“There will be a price for a second wish, child of the fae.”

The voice of the god rings through my ears, down my spine, and bubbles in my blood as pure, cold power laces his words this time. I can’t look back, I can’t see them suffering, but I will never forget the screams.

My family is screaming behind me, walking into the tornado of rock and ice. They will be ripped apart, and there is nothing I wouldn’t give up, even my own life, to save theirs. I’m what connects them all, and they came here to save me… I have to give up something for them. He is a god, and I know he can save them if he wishes. Every warning about the god goes out of my mind, replaced by the urge to save them. I need to save them.

My voice is desperate, unhinged. “I’ll pay it. Anything. Just free them all, please. Please. They’re my family, the only family I’ve ever needed, and I can’t lose them.”

The god smiles, and it’s blinding as he steps closer, the sea floor rippling and sand shifting around his feet. “You have real blood relatives waiting for you in the Rift. I could send you there. You could be with them.”

My heart shatters. “No. I choose the family I’ve made over the dreams of one I’ve never known. Save them.” I point behind me. “My mate, my best friends… I choose them.”

The god offers me a smoky hand, and within it appears a dagger made of water. “A deal in blood. I will free them and grant this blessing, and the price will be revealed to you in time. It cannot be undone without another deal. Be warned, this is the last deal we will make in blood. Death follows you, child of the fae.”

A feeling of dread settles into my blood, but I know there is no other way. The free wish is gone, used to save my life, and I can’t save them without his help. I wish I knew more about this god, what price he might take from me, but I know I’d do this anyway. I’d do anything for them. My hand shakes as I take the dagger, feeling the god’s magic stroke my fingers in an almost caress before I pull it away. I look into the god’s bright, bottomless sea eyes as I pull the sharp blade of the dagger across my hand. My hot blood floods my hand, the pain feeling like almost nothing I’ve felt before as my blood drops onto the rock between us.

The god claps his hands once, and the force of magic in the sound sends me crashing to my knees, clutching my chest, and screaming out in pain before everything slowly goes dark. I hear his voice, a whisper against the shell of my ear. “Come back to me when the sky is filled with shadows and the sea turns to blood. Only then will I grant you the truth, child of the fae.”