Chapter 11

11

To get out of the canyon, Farrah cast her ice stairs again. Zad and I offered to fly everyone over, one by one, but they preferred it this way. Once we stepped out of the canyon, the ground shook and it returned to what it was before: a not so gentle valley with nothing in it. And ahead of us, it went back to a flat, dry terrain for miles on end.

We went on for another hour before the landscape changed. Several yards ahead, the dry, flat ground curved down again; however, this time, we couldn’t see the bottom.

“This could go on forever,” Rage said, leaning at the edge and looking into the darkness below.

A half-broken black wooden bridge sat to our left.

We glanced down the cliff and at the other side. It wasn’t terribly wide. Zad and I could fly over it, and maybe some of the others could jump across it, but most would have to cross the bridge.

“That bridge seems suspicious,” Farrah said.

“I agree,” Wyatt said.

“Maybe we should go around,” Jasmin said.

“We don’t know if there’s a way around it.” Zad pointed to the sides, where the cliff extended as far as we could see.

“We’ll cross the bridge,” Rage said, already heading toward it.

As usual, he went first, step by step, testing the broken structure to see how firm it was. A few times, it creaked, and once, a board broke and fell into the ravine.

One by one, we crossed the bridge. I was third to last, and I kept my wings ready to go in case I felt the wood giving away. A few spots, I thought it would, and once, it creaked so loudly, I thought the whole thing was coming down. But somehow, it held.

Barn and Zad were last.

“Everyone here?” Rage asked, looking at each one of us as if counting.

“Yes,” Drake answered.

“Then let’s keep going.” Rage set out on his fast-paced march.

And we followed.

But ten steps later, the landscape changed again. It wasn’t a large, flat expanse of dry, dead forest anymore, but a small island surrounded by a cliff.

“This is not what we saw from the other side,” I said.

Just as I spoke, a zing rushed through us, and shadow walls emerged from the ground, surrounding the island.

“This is a prison,” Zad said, his hands glowing with his magic.

“A prison within a prison?” Jasmin pondered.

“Another one?” Farrah said.

“The question is, for whom?” Rage said, his spear poised in front of him.

We fanned out a few steps, our backs to where the bridge had been, and everyone ready for a fight.

Laughter came from the other side of the island. I squinted but couldn’t see anything. Slowly, a shape took form against the shadow wall, and the laughter became louder … like a cackle.

The shape wobbled forward and away from the wall, and finally, we could see her better.

The woman looked disturbing. Smooth, dark skin, and full dark curls that were in desperate need of a brush. But the most disturbing feature of all was the huge wound in her chest, the empty hole where her heart should have been, and the river of blood across her ragged, white gown.

She lifted her head, most of her hair falling over her face, and she sniffed the air. “What is that smell? Hm, so many supernaturals together. Two angels, a fae, a wolf shifter, a witch, some demons, and my favorite …” She smiled wide, half of her pearl-white teeth peeking through her hair. “A DuMoir vampire.”

We all glanced at Drake.

His hands were tight fists, and his jaw could cut glass. “Sarki.”

“You know her?” I asked, confused.

“Know me?” Sarki stopped far from us and cackled again. “His lover sent me here!”

“Lover?” Zad asked. “Thea?”

“Yes, that bitch,” Sarki said.

“Thea killed you.” Drake’s jaw hardened. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

She tilted her head and a black eye appeared from beneath her hair. “I am dead … and I’m not.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Lacey said.

Sarki fixed her eyes on her. “Doesn’t it? You’re a witch. The queen of a coven is usually the most powerful of all. Isn’t your queen one of the most powerful witches who ever lived? If someone tries to kill her, do you think she’ll die easily? And if she dies, do you think she just disappears?”

Lacey opened her mouth but closed it again.

“Are you saying you were a witch queen?” Wyatt asked.

“I don’t need to be a witch queen to be the most powerful.” The corner of her lips tugged up. “I just need the heart of one.”

“Someone should tell her she’s stuck in the underworld,” Barn muttered.

A jolt of power ran through the walls surrounding the island. “Am I stuck here? I might be … for now.” Sarki zeroed in on Jasmin. “I can feel your magic. You’re one of the rulers here.”

Jasmin stood tall, her chin lifted. “I am.”

Sarki’s lips stretched wide. “This will be fun.”

“Hardly,” Rage said, pointing his spear at her. “You’ll die today. Not even the underworld will have you then.”

He threw the spear.

It froze midair.

Sarki rose from the ground and floated several feet in the air. I called my magic. It refused to come. I extended my hand and called my sword … it also didn’t come.

“What the …?”

My friends struggled with their abilities, struggled to move!

“Isn’t this fun?” Sarki’s voice echoed through the prison’s shadow walls. “Newsflash: I might have been stuck down here for a few years, but I've only gotten stronger.”

“Stop this!” Jasmin shouted.

The witch laughed. “Stop? No, no, no. There’s more, dear princess. A lot more.” She fixed her red eyes on Drake. “And it starts with you.” She pointed a white finger at him. “Drake DuMoir, I curse you and your bloodline. On her birthday, your daughter will die and her power will be mine! And with that power, I’ll kill you, your lover, and the entire DuMoir and Silverblood coven.”

“No!” With all his might, Drake broke through her spell.

But the witch was ready. She turned Rage’s spear and sent it flying toward Drake. The vampire didn’t move in time, and the spear impaled his left shoulder, sending him to the ground.

With renewed energy and fury, we fought against the witch’s powers. How the hell was she so powerful inside this prison?

Rage and Zad were the next ones to break.

The witch pointed her fingers at them, and they both fell on their knees as a white line snaked out of them.

“Their souls!” Farrah cried. With a yell, she moved one arm and sent several ice stakes toward Sarki.

The witch let go of Rage and Zad to defend herself. She pushed the ice stakes out of the way, except for one that zoomed past her head, nicking the top of her ear.

“Powerful little fae,” Sarki drolled.

Finally breaking free, Farrah advanced on her.

Just to end up on her knees like the others.

“You bitch,” Wyatt snarled, his eyes turning into his wolf’s, on the verge of shifting, but the witch’s magic wasn’t letting him.

I screamed and pushed through the magic enveloping me. A second later, Lacey broke free too. We rushed the witch, but she flicked her hand and we joined the others, kneeling in front of her.

How the hell was she doing this?

I reached for my magic, and begged it to work with me here. But it was even deeper than usual, and I understood why.

I felt it.

A faint, foreign power inside me, like a string through my skin into my gut, using my magic against me.

“She’s using our magic,” I said, straining to get even my words out. “That’s how she’s so powerful.”

“Ah, isn’t that a great trick?” Sarki said, sounding way too cheerful. “Please, let me borrow a little more.” This time, the pull was stronger and all of us groaned as she took our magic, the power that made us supernaturals, and converged them into one black, shadowy bolt between her hands. The bolt grew and grew as she got more of our magic. “And now more of yours.” She glanced at Jasmin and the princess gasped, her body trembling as the witch took her power.

The bolt crackled and sizzled, and when it was bigger than her torso, Sarki flung it to the wall.

The wall crackled and sizzled.

And fell away.

“No!” Rage shouted.

Sarki cackled once more. “I’ll see you all on the other side.”

She half floated, half walked past us, and crossed the bridge. We fought against her immense power. She disappeared into the horizon, going back the way we came, and we remained planted in our spots. It took another fifteen minutes or so for us to finally break free.

We rushed to Drake, who was still on the ground, the spear through his shoulder and the blade deep into the dry dirt. He was awake, but having trouble holding on to consciousness.

Lacey crouched beside him. “We need to take the spear out.”

Zad produced his Celestial Sword and cut the spear close to Drake’s chest. Then he and Rage held Drake’s shoulders. Wyatt, Frank, and Cyran grabbed his legs. They quickly lifted him up and Drake cried as the spear left his body.

The men put him down again, and Lacey leaned over him, starting to heal him. To help, Farrah applied ice on the other side of the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

“He won’t die,” Frank reminded us. “But he needs to heal.”

For a moment, I forgot it wasn’t easy to kill a vampire. But with that curse and the witch loose, Drake needed to regain his strength.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Drake said, trying to get rid of Lacey halfway through the healing.

“I’m not done yet.” She pushed him back and pressed her hands to his wound.

He groaned, but he let Lacey do her thing.

“What do you want to do, my lord?” Cyran asked.

He looked at me. “I’m going back to DuMoir Castle.”

I nodded, not expecting anything less. If this wasn’t my mission, I would have gone with him.

“You should stay and help Ariella,” he said to his vampires.

“No, it’s fine,” I said. “You two go with Drake. Lacey might have healed him, but he might be weak for a while longer. Make sure he gets to DuMoir Castle safely.”

They both nodded at me.

Lacey leaned back. “It’s done.”

“Thank you.” Drake sat up and rolled his shoulder. He groaned. “I’ll make a pit stop to see Tanner. He needs to know that crazy witch is loose in the underworld and probably looking to escape.”

“No, you go directly to a portal,” Jasmin said. “I’ll warn Tanner and start a search party. She’s not leaving the underworld.” She looked at me. “Unless you need me here.”

I shook my head. It was my fault we were here. It was my fault Sarki was now on the loose and had cast a curse on Aurora. My stomach clenched painfully with that knowledge.

“Go,” I said. “Do what you can to stop her.”

No one wasted time. Once Drake was able to stand up, he gave me one more apologetic look and left with Frank and Cyran. Jasmin went with them, at least until they reached the entrance to this section of the underworld.

Now it was Rage, Zad, Farrah, Wyatt, Lacey, Mill, Barn, and me.

“Everyone else okay?” Rage asked, looking at each one of us.

A couple of us said yes and others nodded. I was okay, only still a little shocked with what had happened. It had been crazy, fast, and intense. I hoped Jasmin and Drake caught up with that witch before she reached DuMoir Castle and did more damage.

Rage stored his spear on his back and turned to the bridge. “Then we should keep moving.”