Chapter 7

7

“Sweetheart, wish for me to take her to the fiery pits of the underworld.”

Levi jumped, grabbed Ylena, and disappeared into a portal.

And before the portal closed, I jumped in …

Into darkness.

My heart racing, I gave it a couple of seconds, but my eyes didn’t adjust. Everything was pitch black.

“Levi?” I called.

Nothing. No sound. No sight. No smell.

I took a few careful steps, my hands outstretched in front of me.

Then suddenly, a scream filled the air around me.

A cliff appeared three feet from me and raging fire billowed up, up, up … to the infinite dark sky. The heat licked at my skin, and I recoiled.

The scream echoed again and this time I saw the shape inside the fire. A large figure, with curling horns atop his head, and wide bat-like wings.

A demon.

Levi.

I started forward, but the fire exploded up again, pushing me back.

The fire didn’t let up, but Levi became more visible and I could see the flames burning his skin, his wings, his entire self. He thrashed and screamed, a guttural, deep sound that hurt my soul.

“Levi,” I muttered, desperate.

How could I save him? What could I do?

His black eyes met mine and he stretched his hand toward me. He was several yards away, but I needed to get to him. I stretched my arm.

The flames erupted again, catching my bare arm.

I screamed.

I sat up in bed with a jerk, breathing hard, my skin slick with sweat.

Holy shit, it had been a dream.

A nightmare.

By the light, I hoped that wasn’t true. That what I had seen had been only my imagination, manifesting all of my fears, and nothing else.

I glanced at my phone on the nightstand. Shit, it was just past five in the morning. Way too early to start the day. But I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep now.

I got up, took a quick shower to wash the sweat off my body, brushed my teeth, put on practical training clothes, and went to the kitchen to find some breakfast.

At this time, the castle was almost silent, pitched in darkness, with only the occasional vampire guard making their rounds, and the ones posted at entrances.

The kitchen wasn’t as silent, though. A couple of humans, and two low-ranked vampires, were already getting started on breakfast—with the castle full of guests, they needed to start early.

The scent of cinnamon and vanilla hung heavy in the air.

“How can I help you, ma chérie ?” Chef Morris asked.

“Just let me raid whatever you’re making, and I’ll be out of here,” I told him.

“If you wait five minutes, I’ll make you a real breakfast.”

I wanted to tell him that wasn’t necessary, but I had learned long ago he wouldn’t let this go. So, I agreed and he gave me a plate with heaps of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and a big mug of coffee.

It was enough to feed five of me. “Thank you, Morris. You’re the best.”

The old man waved me off, and I got the hint. He wanted me out of his kitchen. Happy to oblige, I carried my food out. I would go to the training grounds, sit in a corner, and eat before starting with light exercises.

However, as I walked down the hallway, heading to the foyer, I heard a soft voice singing. It came from one of the sitting rooms, where the light was dim and the door was halfway open.

Curious about who would be singing at this time, I spied inside.

Thea lifted her head, her voice faltering for a second, but she waved at me and continued. Carefully, I entered the room and saw Aurora curled on the sofa beside Thea, her head on her mother’s legs. Thea ran a hand up and down the girl’s back as she breathed in deeply.

“Hi,” I said softly.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Thea asked me in a whisper.

I put the plate and the mug down on the center table and took a seat on the armchair to her right.

“I could … until I couldn’t.” I took a piece of bacon and gestured for her to take one too. “Please, Morris gave me more than I can eat.”

She smiled. “He always does.” Thea reached to the plate and got a strip of bacon. “Thanks.”

“What about you two? Couldn’t sleep either?”

“Didn’t you feel it? Aurora had another night terror. The entire castle shook. It wasn’t the worst she's had, but I bet most people woke up with it.”

It was probably during my nightmare. I shook my head. “No, I didn’t.”

I looked at the little girl, now sleeping peacefully. She looked like a porcelain doll. Unfortunately, she'd started having night terrors where her power escaped her, and she caused the entire castle to shake. Drake and Thea had been really worried about them, afraid that at some point, she would cause the castle to collapse.

Since then, Thea had warded Aurora’s room to keep her power contained, but that didn’t stop the night terrors from causing an earthquake.

“After she calmed down, she couldn’t go back to sleep, so I came down here with her,” Thea told me.

“And she fell asleep.”

“Of course she did.” She glanced at her daughter, adoration stamped on her pretty face. “All I have to do is make her comfortable, sing, and done. She crashes again.”

“You guys will figure this out,” I said.

Thea looked at me. “I hope so, but so far, no one has, and our friends are the most powerful supernaturals we know.”

“And she’s the most powerful of all.”

Thea nodded. “That scares me.”

“I know.” I thought of getting up and giving her a big squeeze, but I wasn’t the emotional type and I would probably wake Aurora if I tried. “She’ll do well, though, whatever her destiny is.”

Thea looked away and wiped under her eyes. I would never know the love a mother had for their children, seeing as I couldn’t have my own, but I knew it was supposed to be something so vast and so intense, it was inexplicable. It was one’s heart out of their chest.

And for a brief moment, I envied them.

But I had no time to cry about something I couldn’t change.

Thea and I ate half of the food on my plate. When we were done, I stood, holding the plate to take it back to the kitchen, but she told me to leave it there and someone would pick it up later.

I put the plate down. “I’m off to train.”

She glanced out the window. The sun was finally rising and bathing the landscape in golden light. “I’m not sure what time Zad will be up, but I’ll let him know where you are.”

“Thanks.”

With a wave of my hand, I walked away and went to the training grounds.

Outside, a frigid wind greeted me, and I lifted my head to the sunlight coming from the horizon. I stopped halfway and took a deep breath. Here, I could pretend everything was well, and that everything would work out.

Because it had to.

Inside the training center, I started with easy stretches and yoga-based moves, since I had just had breakfast. But after that, I warmed up by running around the track. My intention was to run for thirty minutes, rest for another thirty, and then start with my magic, even if it was something simple like playing with a small bolt between my hands.

But ten minutes into my run, Zad entered the place.

He stood beside the track and I slowed down until I was right in front of him.

“I thought you would be here,” he said.

“Isn’t it too early for you?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, I knew you would be eager to continue.”

“I am.”

He pulled his blond hair into a tight ponytail. “Let’s train.”

* * *

The next week was hell.

I trained with Zad almost every morning and afternoon, for several hours at a time, and I hadn’t improved one bit. Well, that wasn’t true. I could access my magic a little faster, control it for a little longer, and aim better.

But my magic still fought against me and that made me exhausted.

And frustrated.

The day after the meeting, most supernaturals traveled home. Although, Farrah and Wyatt stayed.

“I’m not letting you out of my sight anymore,” Farrah warned me.

“She’s serious,” Wyatt said, sounding mildly annoyed.

I could relate. Farrah was treating me like a teenager who couldn’t make the right decisions.

I confess, there were moments when that was nice, but most of the time the attention was too much.

Almae, Keeran, and Luana also stayed for another day, along with Lacey, Abbie, and Maggie.

After what Aurora said about my magic, we wanted to do a checkup on me, and we needed powerful witches and warlocks.

The afternoon after the meeting, Thea gathered us in her workshop, including Lavinia, who despite being more than a witch, was powerful too.

They drew a witch’s circle and put me in the middle.

I didn’t have the best experience with those, but I obliged them.

Then they cast spells and tried to see the magic within me.

“I can see it, but I can’t really see it,” Lavinia said.

“Yes,” Almae agreed. “I can sense the magic, I know it’s there, but like Aurora said, it’s hiding.”

“It must have been traumatic for your magic to have been ripped from you,” Keeran said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “And I’m sure it was traumatic for you too.”

Understatement of the year.

“That could be something,” Thea said. “The magic is protecting itself.”

“But isn’t my magic part of me?” I asked, confused. “It shouldn’t be protecting itself from me. It should embrace me and protect us, together.”

At some point, Thea brought in Aurora. Though she tried leaving her daughter out of supernatural business, Thea knew there was no one like Aurora.

The little girl looked straight to my gut. “It’s dark. There’s light, but it’s dark. That’s all I see.”

I nodded, trying not to get irritated with a nine-year-old. It wasn’t her fault. She was too young, with too much power she didn’t yet know how to control.

Thea promised to talk to her later, see if some lesson about blocked or hidden magic sparked any ideas, and help Aurora understand what she was seeing so she could actually tell us.

After being a guinea pig for them more than two hours, the witches gave up.

For now.

“We’ll research,” Almae assured me. “We’ll bring your magic to its full glory again.”

Well, they might not be able to do it, but I knew they would try their hardest, and that alone made me proud to be their friend.

It would suck if they failed, though.

The next day, Zad and I resumed training, because according to him, “Maybe all your magic needs is to familiarize with you and what you can do. Remind it. And for that, you need to keep using it.”

So, we kept training.

I only grew frustrated.

I felt like nothing was happening, nothing changed.

Drake had a web of spies and allies, and he told me he was trying to infiltrate Elysium, if not physically, then through connections and info, but everyone was quiet and unapproachable. It was as if they were on high alert now that Ylena was gone.

Once more, I wondered if the snake had lost its head and was now thrashing aimlessly, or if Rhodes had taken the helm and was trudging along with their plan.

Which involved securing the dagger.

I was on my way to another afternoon training session with Zad when a young page approached me.

“Lord Drake would like a word,” he said.

“Right now?”

“If possible.”

Of course it was. He was sort of the leader of our whole community, the king. We didn’t deny his requests, even when they weren’t forced.

“Can you tell Zad I’ll be late for training, please?”

“Of course.” He bowed to me as if I was some kind of noble lady and dashed away down the hallway.

I changed directions. I paused in front of the study’s doors and knocked.

“Enter,” Drake said from the inside.

I opened the door and found him standing behind his desk, watching something through the big window. Today, he was wearing a light gray shirt, buttoned up to his elbows, and black slacks, but the black jacket and burgundy tie were draped behind his chair, which told me, he had started the day in a suit.

Always looking ready for a ball.

Blue sparks jumped up outside the window and the corner of Drake’s mouth tugged up.

A second later, a faint, but happy shriek followed by laughter came from the garden below the window.

“Aurora?” I asked.

He nodded and turned to me, the half-smile still on his lips. “She saw a butterfly, so she created hundreds of others and sent them flying around the garden.”

“I know you hear this a lot, but she’s already so powerful.”

He nodded again and sat down on his chair. “She is and that scares me. It scares Thea too.”

“I know. I wish I could offer you some words of wisdom, but I’ve got nothing. All I can say is that whatever happens in her future, you know we’ll all be here for her.”

“I appreciate that.” He leaned back in his chair and pinned his gaze to me, his whole stance changing from relaxed to businesslike. “Ariella, I’ll get directly to the point. This Scarlet Hex Dagger seems to be powerful and I want to make sure it’s well hidden.”

I knew this would come up at some point. I was surprised Drake hadn’t talked to me about the dagger earlier.

“I can’t say it’s super well hidden,” I confessed. “I was alone, running for my life, afraid of my own shadow … I didn’t have many choices. I hid it and left. I never went back, afraid it would lead others to it.” I sure hoped it was still there.

“I understand, but you’re not alone now. If it’s not well hidden, don’t you think it’s time to go back, take it, and hide it in a safe place this time? We have a secure vault underneath the castle, and there’s also the Grand Eternity Hall.”

I pressed my lips tight. Long ago, Thea broke into that secure vault, and the dagger had been stored at the hall before being taken by Molraz. But I knew that had been extraordinary situations, and that they would now take more precautions, cast more wards, and make the place more secure.

The Scarlet Hex dagger had once belonged in the Great Eternity Hall; maybe it was time it returned to its rightful place.

I nodded. “All right. I’ll?—”

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I usually left it silent, but it still vibrated. Frowning, I picked it up and stared at the screen.

“I don’t know this number,” I said, turning the phone to Drake.

“But I do. You’ll want to take that.”

I pressed the green button on the screen and said, “Hello?”

“Ariella, hi, this is Tanner,” the king of the Underworld said.

I sat straighter, suddenly tense. “Tanner, hi. What happened?”

“I might have a lead for you.”