Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

T he path grew wilder and more untamed the further they traveled. Given how fast she and Juliette had moved them yesterday, Rose wasn’t sure how much more land there was before they hit water.

“Is there anything out here?” Carter voiced what they were all wondering. He’d disappeared for a bit this morning, leaving his horse and going into the trees to shift. Whatever power the coin had given his shifter, Carter seemed eager to keep testing it.

“Did you see anything when you scouted ahead?” she asked.

Carter shook his head. “Though the path does end, or at least, it’s too overgrown to continue. We’ll need to walk the horses shortly.”

She held the compass in her palm again, watching the needle hold fast, guiding them west. Walking the horses would slow them down, but this was leading them to Aterra. What other option did they have?

Another day passed. Walking the horses was slow, but the compass’s direction was clear. Rose sucked in a breath as a landmark finally came into view.

A cabin. It was tiny—no more than one room. A small, wooden structure with a fireplace if the chimney was any indication.

The surrounding landscape was breathtaking. Whoever lived here had known what they were doing when picking the location. It was right on the edge of the continent. This wasn’t a seashore where the water gracefully rolled onto the sandy beach. This jagged cliff plummeted into dark ocean water—a rugged and stunning view for whomever spent their time here. Rose wondered what the owner had been hiding from. This wasn’t the warmth of a home, but it gave her a sense of safety, that no one could find her.

She held up her hand to stop the others. Smoke rolled out of the chimney. Glancing at the compass a final time, she announced this as their destination. Her mind started racing with all the questions she’d put off. Would Aiden be in there with Aterra? Would she be able to do what needed to be done to stop Aiden if he was there? Or would she pause again, wondering how many of his actions were his own? She still had no answers, and she hated it.

“It looks like someone is still here,” Rose said.

“How do we approach this?” Luc asked.

“Do we know if Aiden is in there too?” Carter added.

“Does it matter?” Juliette said.

“Aterra is definitely there,” Rose said, looking at the compass again. “We have to be ready to do what is necessary if Aiden is in there too.”

She was convinced the Suden god wasn’t always with Aiden. The gray eyes had started showing up in her childhood friend increasingly as they aged. This was the indicator so far as Rose could guess. She wanted to believe Aiden was himself when his eyes were blue—that the rest of their friendship had been real.

“If Aiden is there, his eyes will undoubtedly be gray, which means Aterra is possessing him,” Rose said mostly to herself. The Compass Points nodded in understanding.

“How will we know it’s Aterra if he’s not inhabiting Aiden?” Carter asked.

“The compass is leading us to Aterra. He is the one I blame. He is in there. Whatever form we find—it’s him.” It was an interesting question, though. They had proof that Aterra wasn’t inhabiting Aiden at times—but what did he do the rest of the time? Did he roam the continent in another form? Maybe they were about to find out.

“What is the plan, though? We think closing a magical hole in Loch translates to capturing a god?” Juliette asked.

“It was clear our magics rose to the challenge of closing the hole together,” Rose said. “Your predecessors told you the Compass Points’ power would unite when needed. There’s no greater need for the continent than stopping Aterra.”

“We try what we did in Loch again?” Luc asked.

The Compass Points made a quick plan, focusing on combining Rose and Juliette’s wind once more, with the others leveraging their elements to support them and prevent Aterra’s escape. Positioning themselves, they approached the only door into the cabin.

The group burst through the door, and Rose’s gaze searched the room. She had been right—it was pretty cozy inside. The bed was unmade. A fire was burning, and an overstuffed wingback chair was beside it. And standing by the mantle, his back to them…

“Aiden,” Rose said on instinct. His appearance was too familiar to call him anything else, though she knew she’d see gray eyes when he turned around. She lifted her hands to call her magic, her water rushing to the surface.

“Not quite,” came Aterra’s reply as he faced them. He didn’t even bother using Aiden’s voice anymore.

Heat flared behind her as Carter’s palm filled with a ball of fire.

“Cute, but I don’t think that will stop me,” Aterra replied.

“The Compass Points find you in violation of the Covenant,” Rose said, stepping forward. “You are threatening the balance of the continent. Remove yourself from Aiden so we can restore it.”

The god laughed. “It’s far too late for that,” he replied.

Luc stepped alongside her, and Aterra’s eyes locked on him. He appraised Luc’s features in much the same way Rose had when she first met him. She wasn’t sure what was happening, nor did Luc, if his pinched gaze was any indication. The scent of pine and cinnamon swirled in the room as his magic readied. Rose couldn’t help but wonder if that had been what Aterra was provoking. She didn’t care for the slow smile that crept over Aterra’s features as he finished his assessment, and Luc’s power flared.

“We should put that power to better use,” Aterra said.

Rose’s water shot forth on its own—as unhappy as she was with the god’s attention to Luc. A hiss tore through the room as Carter’s fire joined her water in the onslaught. Aterra raised a piece of earth to block their elemental streams. This hadn’t been the plan.

Rose switched her water for wind. Seeking, wrapping, binding Aterra—her wind moved with a voracity she hadn’t yet experienced. Her wind pushed through the earth barrier he attempted. Juliette’s magic joined hers, coming together to hold the god. Their winds, used to working together, lashed in tandem, creating tighter circles, getting closer and closer to his skin.

Carter shot ball after ball of flame at the god, ensuring he was distracted as the winds worked. Luc’s earth seemed to split, part of it holding the ground beneath them in place and the other part joining Carter to lob distracting attacks. Rose wasn’t sure how long they could hold him. He fought hard—pushing back their power. Reaching deep, Rose sent everything she had at him. Her wind had grown in strength, but she knew she couldn’t hold this long. She dove into the heart of her magic. This time the wind billowing across her internal lake led her straight to the door.

Aterra in Aiden’s body flexed his magic, as he had on the beach, pushing back the wind barrier circling closer.

Rose opened the door, and like before, a storm of wind power billowed into her. She pulled more of it through the opening, funneling the power into her own, binding the god tighter as he fought for freedom.

Juliette’s wind stream didn’t just thin this time. It disappeared. The Osten Point shot Rose a questioning look but held fast with her support. While Juliette’s wind ceased to wrap around Rose’s, it undeniably strengthened Rose’s stream.

Their winds had merged, Rose pulling Juliette’s magic through the open door at the heart of her power.

Aterra’s magic flexed against them again. Rose didn’t have time to examine what was happening. She clenched tighter to the gust swirling around him. The merged wind snapped closer. She was wielding Juliette’s power. It was strong and much more refined than her own. This joining might be enough as their wind inched closer to his skin…

Her plan shattered.

Aterra flexed his magic a final time, and to Rose’s horror, the wind trap they had spun snapped like a twig being stepped on. Aterra broke the hold they'd worked so hard to secure.

The earth shook around them. Cracks formed beneath Rose’s feet. Aterra was going to escape again. She turned to Luc, whose gaze pinched, his brow furrowed as he focused all of his magic on the ground. She grabbed Luc’s hand, wishing she could share her power with him but knowing they had no time for her to explain it. She squeezed tightly as he tried, in vain, to hold the cracks together.

The most prominent slit went right through the center of the cabin. It split just wide enough for Aterra to hop in as he had at Compass Lake. Before he stepped into the crack he’d created, it snapped back together, thinly blocking his escape.

Rose’s gaze shot from the ground to Luc as the only explanation. Was Luc fighting Aterra’s earth magic with his own?

Aterra’s smile was feral, and his sole focus was on the Suden Point. Luc’s power pulsed around them. The room was thick with his magic. The scent and feel overwhelmed Rose as he held Aterra’s escape route closed. Luc’s eyes widened as he realized what he was doing. The earth shook again beneath them, and his attention returned to the god.

Aterra raised his palms together and made a show of separating them. This time, Luc’s magic couldn’t hold back the chasm he created. Rose tried to shoot wind and water across the crack like a sheet of ice, preventing Aterra from jumping in, but he plummeted right past it, his magic taking him deeper and deeper into the earth.