Chapter 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“ H e’ll be fine.” Arie landed on her shoulder. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed since Luc disappeared below the water. Hours? More? That pit in her stomach widened as she considered everything that could have gone wrong.

They hadn’t talked about how long he would search. Or what he would do if he found something. Had he been portaled away? They didn’t have a way to go after him if he didn’t return. She breathed deeply, grounding herself. This had been their only option. He was the only one who could search the lake. She clenched her fists at her side as she reminded herself that she trusted his judgment. She latched on to Arie’s reassuring weight on her shoulder as she released another breath.

A splash tore her eyes from their thousand-yard stare at the point where Luc had disappeared. A dark head of hair broke the water’s surface. Tension left her body, her fingers stretching. Luc was back.

“I told you,” Arie said as she swatted him away. She ran to the lake’s edge, almost forgetting the invisible barrier. Luc stepped onto the beach before she hit it and caught her in his arms.

“You’re okay,” she whispered into his neck.

“ No Aurora? ” Arie asked, his disappointment evident. He must have spoken to them all as Luc responded.

“I found her, but I couldn’t bring her with me,” Luc said, breathless from his swim. “I think I need your help to break into her prison.”

“Well, how do you expect to manage that?” Juliette asked, wandering back to the shore.

“Aurora. She gave me a way. She told me what Aterra does to bring others down there.”

“Others?” Rose asked. “Who else is down there?”

“Aiden, of course,” Juliette answered for Luc.

Luc nodded. “Aiden was there.”

“Okay,” Rose said, still unsure how she was supposed to feel about her childhood best friend. He was responsible for the death of her family, of those she held dear. She would never forgive him for it. His selfishness had put the continent at risk, allowing Aterra unprecedented access to control the inner workings of fae and humans.

Yet, how much choice did he have after his initial childhood mistake? Weeks of sorting through these feelings hadn’t brought her clarity. She would have to go with her gut when she saw him.

As if reading her jumbled thoughts, Luc said, “We can leave him there. Aterra isn’t possessing him—or he wasn’t when I saw him.”

Rose shrugged. It was all she could do for the moment.

“ What did Aurora tell you? ” Arie asked, his focus clear.

Luc looked at Rose. “Do you have Aurora’s dagger with you?”

She nodded. She always had it on her person. She reached into her boot to retrieve it and then handed it to him. There was no time for her to object as he slashed it across his palm. He hissed at the pain, wincing as blood beaded to the surface of the cut.

“What are you—” Rose tried to ask, but Luc had already started dabbing his blood with his index finger and held it out to her mouth.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Rose said.

“I assure you, I’m not,” Luc replied, offering her his finger again.

She closed her eyes and licked it. He moved to each of the other Compass Points, offering a drop of his blood. “If you have even a little of my blood in you, the barrier will let you in.”

“I’m glad someone else is dabbling in human magic,” Juliette said, unphased, as her tongue snaked out to collect the drop. Carter did not look pleased but must have realized he had little option. It was Arie who hesitated. Arie, who, moments ago, would do anything to get back to his love.

“ You want me to consume Aterra’s blood? ” His disgust was apparent.

Rose hadn’t thought of it like that. Though, they hadn’t addressed the unassailable fact of Luc’s lineage since he returned. It seemed too easy to have asked Arie to let it go, to let them take care of the threat and not waste time on Luc’s parentage.

“Do you want to see Aurora or not?” Luc asked, nonplussed.

Rose lifted her hand to cover the smile that crept over her face. It was as if Luc had had that line ready and waiting for Arie’s objection.

“She told you to say that, didn’t she?” Arie said flatly as his tongue flicked out from his beak.

Luc’s smirk was answer enough.

“Are you planning to swim as a bird?” Rose asked.

“I’ll take care of myself,” he said, ruffling his feathers.

“Alright then, are we all ready?” Luc asked.

“Do you mind, uh”—Carter glanced around, uncertainly—“at least telling us what to expect? Where will we swim? What will we need to do? Will we even be able to communicate when we’re down there?”

“Oh, right,” Luc said. “Funny story.” He looked between Rose and Arie. “There is an underwater mountain just below this island that leads into a cavern in Mount Bury.” His gaze stayed on Arie. “If I had to guess from what you told us, and what Rose described, it is the cavern where you, Aurora, and Aterra took your original test.”

That did not sound like a funny story to Rose. By the flap of Arie’s wings, he didn’t think it was funny either.

“Right below us?” Arie asked. “We’ve been on top of them this whole time?”

Luc nodded. “Just head straight down. Follow me, and I’ll lead us to the entrance. Once we’re in the heart of the mountain, we’ll be able to speak freely.”

Rose took a shaky breath. They had been so close to Aterra’s lair all these years. Her gaze was drawn to Arie as she thought how close he had been to Aurora—unable to reach her. Her chest tightened imagining his pain.

Arie didn’t say a word. He leapt off the shore, turning himself into a large fish and splashing into the water. Luc’s blood—Aterra’s blood—did the trick. The Compass Points moved past the barrier. With a final shrug at Carter and Juliette, Rose dove into the deep blue waters of the Lake of the Gods.

Unsurprising for a powerful Norden, Rose had loved the water since she was a child. Swimming in Compass Lake on a hot day had always been her refuge. It had broken her heart when she and Arie established themselves at Lake of the Gods but could not touch the water.

She was making up for it now.

Rose wrapped her magic around each of them, giving them space and air to breathe so they could easily dive. Each stroke took her further below the surface, her power sinking into the natural, wild magic of the Lake of the Gods. The water was so dark and deep that it was difficult to see anything ahead. Luc had been right, though. They swam toward her island and then went straight down.

Luc led them to the tunnel. It narrowed around her as she swam through it, her head breaching the surface on the other side. Her heart beat rapidly from their pace. She tread water as she surveyed Luc, Carter, and Juliette heading for the shore.

Her breath caught at a face that she didn’t recognize. Beige skin, shoulder-length blond hair, and ageless green eyes that looked like a forest. She knew who it was before he spoke.

“Hello, Rose,” Arie said. She did a double take as his lips moved and sound came out. The voice she was so used to hearing in her head. He jumped out of the water and landed on the beach. His long-sleeved shirt was pushed up to his elbows, and his dark pants were sopping wet.

“Arie?” She couldn’t help the question in her voice, though she knew it was him.

He nodded.

“About time,” Luc said as he stalked up the beach.

Words failed Carter as he met the Lord of Flame in human form.

“You clean up well, Arctos,” Juliette said as she sent her wind whipping around each of them to dry their clothes. One would never know if she was serious or mocking. Regardless, Arie’s smile lit up the room.

“We need to keep moving,” Luc said, returning reality to this unique reunion.

Rose agreed. No one knew how long they would have before Aterra found them. Luc said he had avoided Aterra in his exploration, but that could change at any moment. They needed to free Aurora.

“Lead the way,” Rose said, gesturing Luc forward.

They walked through the tunnels, attempting to be quiet. They preferred to have time to free Aurora before dealing with the Suden god. Speed in this part of their task was their goal.

Luc took them down a winding set of paths, all sloping slightly deeper into the underwater mountain. Finally, they opened into a vast cavern. Rose could only describe this as the heart of the mountain. This was the room she had seen in flashes of Arie’s memories. Three vials, a test, an explosion. It had all happened here. Rock formations grew from both the cavern floor and ceiling. Instead of a set of tables in the center from Arie’s memories, the far wall from their entrance held multiple pathways leading to other tunnel-like corridors.

How much power was needed to reshape this area into something livable? That part of Arie’s memory had been shrouded in fire—not his flame, but a volcanic explosion. It must have been Aterra’s earth element that cleared this cavern out and made it usable after.

Instead of a cool, damp cave, steam broke through cracks in the floor as they walked toward the tunnels. The magma must not be buried all that deep, its heat seeping into the open room. What was the likelihood of this volcano exploding again? Did they have to worry about natural disasters down here as well as godly ones?

The only thing to do was to keep moving. Rose marveled at Luc’s sure steps through this maze. How had he known which one to take the first time? Now, his journey seemed relatively quick, given all the wrong turns he could have taken.

Her spine straightened as it occurred to her that she hadn’t clarified one point of his story. He had returned too quickly. There was no way he had found the right path on his own.

Luc seemed to note the shift in her step. “He’s not as much a prisoner down here as you think,” he said.

She paused to make eye contact with Arie, still an unfamiliar action. He blinked, his head tilting, mirroring the familiar gestures of his bird form. She was not going to like what they found at the end of this pathway.

The smaller cave they walked into could be a family room. At least it was decorated with some living furniture—something that looked like a chair, a few stone tables, and personal items strewn about.

“What is this?” Juliette asked, looking around.

She was right to ask. The room didn’t look plushly appointed enough to belong to a god. However, it was no prisoner’s room.

Before Luc could clarify, a door across the room opened, and Aiden stepped through. Not much of a prisoner, indeed.

“The Compass Points have arrived,” Aiden said mockingly.

The glare Rose shot at Luc could freeze the depths of Lake of the Gods. “Luc?” she asked, a question clear in her tone.

He stepped towards her, his hands raised in surrender. “I know you’re still not sure what to believe about his actions. I didn’t want you to overthink it on the way down here.” Luc turned to look at Aiden. His gaze slowly returned to Rose.

“We can end this now,” Luc said. “I can take care of him, for everything he did to you—your family. Just say the word.”

“You idiot,” Arie said to Luc, realizing what he intended. He rubbed his temples and looked at Rose.

It took Rose another moment. Aiden wasn’t a prisoner. Luc was offering to kill him. It was sweet in a weird way. The weight of Aurora’s dagger was heavy in her boot. She’d missed her chance last time. She had hesitated when the moment was critical, and then Aiden and Aterra had escaped.

If she suspected correctly, though, Aiden had helped Luc through the cavern tunnels—that was the only way Luc would have made it back to the shore so quickly. When Aterra wasn’t controlling Aiden, he didn’t appear to be trying to destroy the continent.

“What’s he talking about, Luc?” Aiden asked. “Aren’t you going to free Aurora?” He looked concerned as his gaze moved across each Compass Point, finally landing on Arie. “Who are you?” he asked, his imperious tone returned.

She searched Aiden’s face as he spoke, looking for the friend she grew up with. How much of this was his fault? The only way to know for sure was to ask.

“What are you doing, Aiden?” she asked, her brow pinching as she tried to stare into his being—to understand his choices. How would she know if he was as corrupted as Aterra? Or if he was a prisoner of his own childhood decisions?

He looked away. “Luc burst in and said you were here to free Aurora. If that’s what you’re here to do, move quickly. Aterra could arrive at any moment.” His eyes finally met hers. “If you’re here to kill me, let’s get on with it.” He lifted his hand in a half-hearted come-and-get-it gesture, as if he couldn’t muster the energy for villainous banter before a fight.

Rose cocked her head to the side, her gaze still searching. Her heart conflicted. She stepped forward. No one said a word as she moved close enough to strike. Aiden’s blue eyes didn’t leave hers. He didn’t prepare to defend himself, to fight. Killing him wasn’t justice. No matter what he had done to her. “You chose this, didn’t you?” she asked. It was the question she’d wondered about since returning to Compass Lake.

His shoulders stiffened, and his lip curled in a sneer. “Of course I did, Rose.”

But she knew him. As much as she wished she didn’t sometimes, she knew this look—that curl of his lip. He used the same one when he pretended his father’s words didn’t wound, when Rose’s parents asked if he needed to be home for dinner and he said no one would notice his absence.

“I saw the gray eyes the first time I met you,” she said.

He blinked. His face softened.

“How long before that?”

“A few years,” he said with a shrug.

“Before you had any friends,” Rose said, finally knowing the truth.

“He said he was my friend.” Aiden’s voice was so quiet. She almost missed it. She knew the words, though. She had suspected them since she realized something was inhabiting Aiden’s body.

“I know,” Rose said. “I don’t forgive you for those decisions and what they cost me.” She shuddered.

She turned to look at Luc. “Neither will we kill him.” She wouldn’t do it, and she wouldn’t let Luc do it. They would take him back to Compass Lake to face a Norden trial for his actions.

If Aiden’s actions with Luc earlier were any indication, he wanted out of Aterra’s control too. Aterra was the problem—one they would deal with as soon as they freed Aurora.