Ariella
I hear Davonyé as they jump down into Maximus’ hold and feel seriously on edge. Mom’s worrying herself sick, too. I watch her pacing the garden, randomly stopping and looking distraught before she starts pacing again.
This shit ain’t nice for either of us, and I envy Aunt Asha because she can’t hear or see this shit.
My magic’s been unsettled since Dad broke the news to mom that he’d located Maximus. My eyes keep swirling in intervals and my tasks for today keep changing order. I’m keeping up, but it’s the first time I've had more than one issue to juggle at one time, so I’m definitely feeling it.
I feel connected to so many people but feel a little more relieved each time a connection to me is severed, whether that’s through their death or through them completing a task they’re meant to complete. I keep watching the fight from so many different angles, waiting for the moment I can finally help my kind.
I watch Davonyé, my Dad, and the rest of my family exploring the hold, in my mind. I’ve been watching their every move, making sure everyone is where they’re meant to be and with who they’re meant to be with.
So far so good.
I see they’re getting closer. I need them to hurry up and find the prisoners… All this waiting is killing me.
“Anything yet?” Mom asks. She’s eager to get out there to put a stop to this.
The fact that she has to sit by and see wares being killed like this is really hurting her. I’ve tried to explain that Maximus has actually sired a number of people that need to die, but without going into the details why, it’s hard for her to understand.
“Not yet. Soon…”
“Okay.” She looks defeated as she starts to pace again. I know this is bothering her much more than what she’s saying out loud, but I can feel allher emotions.
“What’s happening now?” Aunt Asha asks, appearing at the door to the back yard with Amarey against her chest.
I give her a memory from what I’ve seen because she keeps asking the same question.
“Oh, God…” She looks horrified.
And I don’t blame her, but there is literally nothing I can do. I have a mental tally counting down inside my head of all the wares that need to die.
We’re currently at one hundred and thirty-four.
Three…
‘Clarisha!’ I hear Davonyé’s thoughts as he finds his sister. He’s found the brothers, too, and the other prisoners. It looks like they’ve all been injected with the tranquiliser. I suddenly see what happened to all of them, and I gasp in shock.
They tried to escape yesterday, once they heard they’d be going to war. Clarisha got the furthest away and almost made it to the nearest town before being darted…
But then I discover something else.
They were initially captured because someone told them that they were connected to me, and ultimately my parents.
Demus…
He was paid to spy on me, and saw me and Davonyé out in Old Montreal…
And the reason he was trying to fuck with Harmony was because he knew who we were and wanted to milk her for information.
That little…
I hear Dad talking to Cecile about the blood, but then my eyes begin to swirl again.
I can go!
Relief rushes through me. “I can go.” I run over to Mom and hold her arms. “I will be back for you. I promise.”
She nods but I feel her worry increase, so I take the edge off by calming her.
“Be ready to use that howl.”
She nods again, and I release her. I take my mind to Alaska and see Cecile handing Dad Mom’s blood.
I can’t let them have it. Not yet…
I port to the dingy room of mud walls and floors, and then quickly make the blood disappear from Dad’s claw. “No.”
‘Bae?’
“Baby Girl?” Dad whines. “Where’s your mother?”
“At home. She’s not allowed here yet.”
“Damn it,” he barks. “You see the chaos up there?”
I nod. “I can’t do anything about that, Dad.”
‘Ari?’ Davonyé says, appearing beside me. ‘They need that blood.’
“No, they don’t.”
I look around at the paralysed bodies all huddled together on the ground, feeling their inner torture caused by the tranquiliser. There must be at least forty wares in here. I see Kenyay, Clarisha, and Marron, and my stomach turns, but I push it away as I feel my magic tingling inside me. I feel my eyes swirl as I ready to heal them all.
“Heal and awaken.”
One by one, in quick succession, all the people on the ground open their eyes. Clarisha, Marron, and Kenyay get straight to their feet, and I watch Davonyé and Tinashe run to them. I pay close attention to the way Tinashe interacts with Marron. They kiss and hug but then Tinashe goes straight back to her sister.
What I saw was right...
I feel the surprise of the ones here that didn’t know about my status, but it’s time everyone in our world knew about me.
“What now?” Dad asks, snapping his jaw. I know he’s feeling Mom’s worry, too.
“You fight.” ‘There are still many that cannot walk away from this.’ I take everyone down here above ground, then turn away from the madness to face Dad. ‘No sign of Maximus yet?’
He shakes his head.
I look out into the fields of wares, but I can’t sense anything that would make be believe he’s out there. A memory is forced in front of my eyes and I see a lone ware running west five minutes ago. He snuck out of the hold while Dad was distracted with finding Clarisha and the brothers.
I turn and point in the direction he ran. “That way.” I give him the scent and he’s gone from sight in literally seconds.
Mom and Dad are so fast.
The others are drawn back into the fight, but I feel my eyes swirling, again. A pull to the kratius sits heavily in my stomach. I don’t even know how I know the pull is to there, I just feel it.
I hold my hand out and feel a shield envelope my body, stopping the wares around me from getting to me. I’m shown a place called mount Ayallia in the kingdom of Aurellia, and then see Princess Vallessa who’s sitting at the top of it. I can feel an intense anguish in her and see it’s because Scarva died last week due to a spell cast upon his father by corrupt Noir witches.
My mind is suddenly shown the image of my brother with the yellow-eyed woman again, but this time, I know that the woman is a vampire.
Oh, my God…
“What is your name?” Amarey asks the young woman. She has yellow eyes and long black hair. I see a tiara on her head with an emblem that looks like a lion and a panther.
The woman looks at my brother curiously. “Karrisee Caro…”
No way.
No fuckin’ way…
My mind takes me back to Vallessa in Aurellia, future mother to Karrisee, but she will be only if she manages to bring Scarva back to life, because Karrisee is their child together. Vallessa’s holding something in her hand, so I take a closer look and see a syringe of my mother’s bane clutched inside it.
Oh, fuck… This is not good.
And the timing couldn’t be any worse.
I filter through the next thirty minutes of the future and prioritise what to do first.
I turn to look at Davonyé. ‘I have to go.’
He rips the heart from the ware he’s currently fighting and turns to face me. ‘The fuck, Bae? Now?’
I nod. ‘I’m sorry. Tell the other’s I’ll be back. I promise.’
I pass over to the kratius but barely feel the tingle inside me this time, just my own excited magic still swarming inside me, still counting down the wares...
The view from this mountain is incredible. You can see a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of Aurellia from here, and all its lush greenery. My focus is quickly drawn back to the Princess, though, and her suicidal thoughts.
She’s sitting on the ground in front of me. Her heartache is palpable and even I feel devasted for her. She’s debating using the last of Mom’s bane on herself, because now that she has awakened the Noir magic she was born with, she should be able to bring Prince Scarva back, but her, nor Candessa – her inner Pire – can figure out what else they need to complete the spell.
‘What do I even live for now? Olina could take care of Amour. She would be a wonderful Mother to her. She could come to rule Aurellia instead of Dathur, and Dathur could rule Caro... The kratius would be free of my disruption to the weather, and I of this heartbreak…’ She runs the needle of the syringe slowly over her wrist. ‘I could be free of this pain, forever. Join Scarva in the next place. Wherever that may be…’
Panic fills me when I think about my brother forever being mateless. I know for a fact my parents are gonna die when they find out Amarey’s been mated to a vampire, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
“You don't wanna do that,” I tell her, moving to stand beside where she’s sitting.
She looks up at me and frowns, but then she hisses and I feel Candessa become defensive…
Wow, she’s even more beautiful while awake. Her blue and red eyes are stunning, and her dark skin really is amazing…
Her thoughts turn to the way I smell, and I internally berate myself. I made a serious rookie mistake and forgot to rid myself of my werewolf scent like Aura did the last time I came.
Shit.
I hold up my hands. “My bad, I was in a rush and forgot.” I lower my hands and feel my eyes swirl as I rid myself of my werewolf scent. Vallessa just stares at me and I shrug. “I'm still new at all this Elder stuff.”
“Elder?”
“Yeah. It's what we call Aura in the world. Do you mind if I sit?”
I hear her asking Candessa whether I’m safe to be around. Candessa reassures her I won’t hurt them and then they see the memory of me witnessing her mother’s binding to King Xanth.
I feel a wave of sadness sweep over me when I learn that both Jessara and Xanth are dead, but I soon feel good again when I see a vision of them in the future.
“No. I don’t mind at all,” Vallessa finally replies “You knew my Mother?”
Reborn…
“I met her briefly.” I smile as I sit down. “I'm Ariella, and I know you’re Princess Vallessa. I'm an Elder from the world. I guess you could say I'm Aura's protégé.”
‘Her accent is so very different to anything I have ever heard before.’ “I see.”
“Yeah. That bane you have in your hand—” I motion towards it with my head “—it belongs to my Mother, Abriya. The first female descendent of Ariya. You know about the history of our families, don't you?”
“Yes, I do, now.”
“Well, there may be history, but there’s a lot more to come between our families.”
Vallessa can see the future, but she hasn’t yet seen what I’ve seen.
She looks intrigued by what I’ve said. “Really? Like what?”
I smile at that. “Ah, see... I can't tell you that, can I? You know us Elders don’t tell you the direct answers you want. Once you see it, you will know. But if you go and kill yourself, you'll never know, will you?”
She sighs and then turns her gaze back out to the distance. “I have nothing to live for any longer.”
“Yes, you do. What about your baby sister? What about all the millions of people in this world that admire and look up to you? You’ve saved many and bring hope to them. Isn't that worth living for?”
Thank God I did my homework…
“Maybe. But I will be alone. Without my love...” She turns to look at me. “Do you know about love?”
I smile as I think about Davonyé.
Love…
“I do. I’ve not long found my mate. My true love. It hasn’t been an easy ride for us...” Ugh… why have I had thoughts about that shit, all of a sudden? I push the thoughts away. “But if I lost him, I would feel just as you do now.”
I quickly check the number of wares back in Alaska left to die. Seventy-three… Davonyé and my Dad are seriously putting in that work and lowering those numbers now…
“So then, you see... This pain is so unbearable. I have tried. I've barely slept. Candessa does not rest. We cannot piece together what we need to in order to bring him back.” She presses the needle against her arm this time. “I cannot live like this any longer. I cannot be strong anymore.”
I zoom in on the needle against her skin and feel uneasy from her doing that shit. I see in my mind that she no longer needs it for anything, so I slowly rest my hand over hers to pull it away from her. I turn her hand over and then wave my hand over hers, making the bane disappear. I instantly feel relieved that she no longer has it.
“I’ll take that, thank you, before you do something you can't take back.” I look at her anguished face and sigh. Her and I will be really good friends one day, and I really wanna help her. “I will most likely get into serious shit with Aura for this, but... I can't let you harm yourself. You and I... We'll be seeing a lot of each other and will become very close confidants in time, Vallessa. My Mom and Dad are gonna lose their shit, but you can't stop destiny.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “What are you going to tell me?”
I see what she’s missing and decide to give her a clue. She’s almost there anyway, but she’s missing the obvious. “You are close—” I lower my voice “—to what you so desperately seek, but you are right to think you are missing something. There is a place, unlike no other in the kratius, and in order for you to bring Scarva back to you, you must cast the spell there.”
I feel her mood lift instantly, but I can also tell she’s exhausted. “A place? Is it the crypts? Where he died? It’s in Caro, isn’t it?”
I shake my head as her thoughts race. “You are tired; I can feel your exhaustion. Trust me when I tell you, if you rest, once you awaken, you will figure out the missing piece of your puzzle.”
She gives me a look as if I’ve just grown another head. “But how can I sleep now? After what you’ve just told me?” ‘I need to think... There is a place…’
“Vallessa. Trust me…” I suddenly see Davonyé and Tinashe about to be overrun by wares. There are only twenty-two wares left to die, too.
Oh, God…
I get to my feet. “Time to go. Duty calls.”
“Wait!”
“Sorry.” I give her a reassuring smile, seeing that she’ll manage just fine now. “I'll see you soon.”
I port to Alaska and shift before pulling the wares off Davonyé. They go flying through the air behind me but fuck knows where they land. He jumps to his feet, but I turn my attention to Tinashe who’s on the floor kicking two wares who are trying to restrain her. I grab them and throw them to the ground before crushing their hearts with magic.
Damn, that is sick… Thanks for the idea, Vallessa.
Davonyé grabs me and I see a wound on his neck, so I heal it before shielding the three of us so I can assess the situation.
“Whoa… this is so cool,” I hear Tinashe say, talking about the fact that wares surround us but keep being pushed back by the shield.
I ignore her and see Dad returning with Maximus.
Only seven wares remain, too.
“We need your mother, Ariella!” Dad barks, dragging Maximus struggling behind him.
“I can’t!” I reply. “The ones that must lose their lives have not yet been killed.”
Maximus struggles against Dad’s hold, but dad hits him hard in the snout, shattering it in fourteen places.
Five left…
Dad looks at me and I sense his annoyance and anger at the situation, but I feel it, too. I look back down at Maximus as he whines, and I finally see his face. The resemblance between him and Samson is striking.
Wow…
I see his past in rapid memories before my eyes, and I gasp repeatedly. His plan was to go after Amarey once he was born. That’s why he was moving east… His hatred for my parents runs deep. His father, Ezra, was murdered when he was just a new-born, and his mother killed herself once he went through his change because she was so heartbroken after the loss of her mate.
Three…
If allowed to live, Maximus will out wares and turn this world into a warzone, with humans hunting us and wares being sired at an exponential rate to counter the humans trying to kill us. It will be like how the kratius was after vampires were created.
I shudder.
Over the centuries, many wares have been captured by the authorities here in the world, but Aura always saves them before tests can be conducted. I always wonder how humans still don’t know that we exist after all this time, and now I know that once again, Aura saves our asses.
One…
I look beside us at Marron, and then I look to Kenyay. I see the vision clearer than I’ve ever seen it and then drop the shield so I can get to the ware that’s just about to attack Clarisha. I pull the ware away from her, but she stumbles and falls into Kenyay, causing them to fall into a group of Maximus’ wares who quickly attack them.
I run back to Davonyé and Tinashe to help fight the wares attacking them, but I watch with my breath held as Marron is grabbed by a ware from behind, while another rips his heart clean out of his body.
Tinashe follows my gaze and sees Marron fall to the floor. She howls and runs to him, but even though she’s showing that she’s upset, I see for certain that he’s not her mate.
My future cousin is.
‘What?’ I hear Davonyé ask.
‘No time to explain now. I have to get Mom.’
I port home to Mom in the back yard. She stops pacing and looks at me.
‘Time to go, Mom.’ I turn to My Aunt who has my brother in her arms. Amarey… I knew you were special. I shield them, just in case I’ve missed something, and then I turn back to Mom as she stands in front of me. She shifts and I look up at her, feeling seriously like the shit right now because she’s my Mom.
Those wares don’t even know what they’re about to be in for.
“Good luck, Girls,” I hear Aunt Asha say before we leave.
I return to the mayhem with Mom in tow and feel her horror as she takes a sweeping look around. She finally looks at me. ‘Am I good to go?’
‘When you’re ready, Mom.’
She takes a deep breath and then releases an ear-piercing howl towards the cloud-ridden sky. I quickly turn to Davonyé to make sure what I thought I saw this morning was actually true, and to my relief, while the hundreds of wares are forced to their knees to submit, Davonyé and I stay standing.
The wares around us begin to whimper and cry from their ears hurting, but Mom doesn’t stop. It’s only taken three seconds of her howling for all wares to be kneeled in front of her and dad, who’s now standing beside her, still holding Maximus by the scruff of his neck.
I watch in amazement with my own eyes as I finally see how incredible they both are together. They are such a good team…
But I soon think of what it took to get us to this moment and shake my head.
And this was meant to be a test?