Siren Rises (The Rise of Ares Book 3) Page 17

  “I cannot tell you of who you may have—or will lose, right now Nzuri, it will only hinder your ability to do what you have to do.” He walked over to Cole and handed him the only weapon that he had. “You are going to need this, son.”

  “What about you?” Cole asked as he stared at the dagger that Theodore handed him. “Will you not be joining the fray?”

  “I am no warrior, but I have my magic.” Theodore looked wistful as he moved from Cole back to my side. “That scythe you wield, do not, under any circumstances, drop it or allow anybody to take it from you.” I stared deep into his eyes and wondered why he was doing this. He didn't want us to go down to the cavern, or even look at what was happening, yet here he was preparing us for battle. Something didn't make sense.

  "Theodore, are you not coming with us? Why does this feel like a goodbye?" I pulled on his arm when he tried to turn away from me, forcing him to look at me when he answered.

  "It is never goodbye Nzuri, for we live through everything around us, our souls stay on this plain, nurturing the ground we walk upon, and whispering in the air that you breathe. Go now, save your friends, but only when it is time. You will know…”

  A single tear slid down my cheek, I was speechless, silently watching as he retreated back into the shadows and out of sight. I think a piece of my heart left with him, one of the few I never thought would abandon me. He wouldn’t.

  "He doesn't think he's going to survive this," Cole whispered, "it is the only reason I can think of, as to why he would so willingly give away his dagger, say goodbye to you as you said, and walk away." I turned to Cole, a mix of emotions boiling within me.

  "There is no way that Theodore would abandon us now, he's not like that. There must be a reason, something else has happened or is going to happen, he wouldn't leave us…" Just as Cole was about to answer me, a commotion from down in the cavern occurred. Breathing in heavily, I pushed aside the feeling of abandonment that Theodore had left me with and crawled over to the edge to have a look.

  Ares had arrived and was headed straight toward my friends.

  Chapter 26

  The ground quivered with every step he took, each one taking him closer to my friends. The little light that was in the cavern flickered and faded, as if the darkness was prevailing and sucking out the life from the air. The Gifted and Chimeras fell silent, moving to create a pathway for him. As he passed them, they knelt to the ground and bowed their heads. Some lifted their hands and made the letter M across their hearts. Blind followers with such devotion to the God of Destruction. I averted my eyes from his acolytes back to him. His piercing gaze was set on my small group of people in the centre, not one of them were looking directly at him. My breathing went hollow and sweat beaded across my forehead and down my back. Why isn't he saying anything? My heart hammered in my chest. Was he going to kill them? My palms got sticky. What can I do to help them? All questions I couldn’t answer, I didn’t have a plan. I felt Cole’s grip on my shoulder, holding me in place as my body involuntarily moved forward. Even with no idea what I could do, I was ready to do anything. Then, his voice pierced the eery silence with only three words.

  “Where is she?” he demanded as he came to a stop in front of them. Sandra quivered and shrunk further behind Egan. Rose gripped her hand tight.

  Still, not one of my friends looked up to meet his gaze. Out of nowhere, he let out a bellowing laugh, a laugh full of malice and darkness. I was certain if I had been in front of him, I would have smelt the stench of death in his breath. Clapping his hands together, he smiled—a sadistic grin—and circled my friends like a predator in the woods. He walked with a grace that was almost ethereal—almost—each movement precise and calculated. He cocked his head, and I held my breath, frightened that he could sense me up here. He was a God after all. I watched as Pearce slowly rose to his full height. No.

  "Well, who do we have here?" Ares stopped laughing when he noted Pearce's change in stature, then spun with his arms stretched either side of him- the sadistic grin still on his face as he turned to his followers. "My guess is that this is the pathetic magic user that deems himself worthy of my granddaughter. Shall we say if he is worthy?" he hollered to the crowd. Their eyes glistened with anticipation. Pearce kept his gaze on Ares, not even flinching when the crowd cheered and chanted. In one swift movement Ares spun and threw his spear at Pearce, who tried to dodge it but was too slow. A hand smacked over my mouth as I let out a gasp, watching as the spear pierced his shoulder and came right throughout the other side. Still, Pearce didn't move. There was no sign on his face that his shoulder had just been impaled with a God’s weapon. Please don’t... I pleaded to Pearce silently.

  Pearce moved to take a step forward, but Ares’s glare stopped him in his tracks. A face full of rage, contorted and twisted when he looked at Pearce, whose stature remained formidable—at least to everyone but Ares.

  “Are you challenging me, urchin?” Power oozed from his very being, but it wasn't the kind of energy we were used to- it was pure with evil. “I will not ask again, where is she?" With a flick of his wrist the spear slid out of Pearce’s shoulder, but not before it was twisted and jerked. The sickening sound of bone crunching, and skin tearing made its way to my ears. Pearce slipped down to the floor and held his now limp arm as blood flowed freely from the open wound. He wouldn't be able to fight, yet his steely gaze remained, a small promise that he wouldn't go down easy either. He’s going to lose too much blood. "So be it.” Ares lifted into the air and kicked Pearce in the face. His head swung back as blood sprayed from his mouth. I silently whimpered. The onslaught didn’t end there. Pearce only had to stay silent to fuel Ares’s rage. None of the others made a move to help him, as Ares’s relentless beating continued. Pearce didn’t attempt to even fight back; his shoulders had slumped forward, and I watched as he curled into a foetal position on the ground. All I could do was watch as blow after blow connected with a different part of Pearce’s body. Tears rolled down my cheek onto Cole's hand that was still wrapped around my mouth, his other hand still holding me tight in place by my shoulder. When the crack of Pearce’s ribs echoed through the cavern, I had had enough.

  Do something, I screamed through my bond to the girls. Someone do something! Please.

  Silence greeted me. It was like screaming into a void. I looked at them. None of them were even glancing in Pearce's direction. Not even his brothers. Just as I was about to scream out and give up my hiding spot, murmurs started flitting throughout the Gifted. Ares’s head whipped in their direction, momentarily distracted from Pearce lying bloodied and broken on the ground. Disdain crossed his features at his insubordinate followers. But someone was walking through the crowd, I couldn’t see through the shadows who it was. No, whom they were. The outline of two figures emerging was all I could make out. I twisted to look at Cole, who looked as shocked as I. Small flickers of light began to appear. Whoever it was, had a good amount of light inside them to overtake the darkness that had been slowly spreading.

  “Ah, my old friends, welcome. Have you come to witness the demise of your people?” Ares’s face transformed into that of a normal being, with his power reigned in he looked human, even his smile seemed somewhat genuine. But there was no denying the gentle hum and undercurrent of his energy. Far stronger than any who stood around him. I edged closer to the ledge, nearly hanging right over to try and see who it was that had appeared. But I needn’t have, as Ares’s next words told me exactly who had arrived, and something deep inside me told me it wasn’t the cavalry.

  “Avetta,” Ares drawled out her name, “Lost for words? Or just happy to see that your old friend has risen?”

  She stepped into the light, and I held in yet another gasp when I saw who was standing by her side. Athora. It wasn’t possible; I had watched her die with my own eyes. I had seen Quinn’s dagger pierce her. Had left her body to rot in the passageway. But there were no bodies when we had passed back through. None of it made sense. My gaze flitted to Pearce, sti
ll crumbled on the floor, but in the distraction he had somehow inched closer to the others. They didn’t look at him. All eyes were on Avetta as she passed through the crowd. She was wearing a white, light woven linen suit, her hair flowed freely around her, she was a stark contrast from the darkness. But I could see right through it. She was no more light than the people below. Even the power that emanated from her seemed tainted somewhat, as it did Ares. Yet still, after all this time, I didn't know what she was truly capable of. With Athora by her side they looked a formidable force, but with only two of them, I doubted they were here to upend the wrong Ares’s presence had inflicted. Maybe they would admit defeat and the world would be befouled with darkness and evil forever. When they came to a stop before Ares, Avetta looked around with her icy blue eyes, soaking in every face of the Gifted and Chimeras alike before addressing him.

  “My people will never fall to your whims, Ares, you should know this by now,” her regal voice carried through the cavern. She set her gaze on him, steely and firm, not an ounce of doubt or fear flowed through her. Ares laughed, hoarse and dangerous.

  “Yet you have taken steps to ensure this very moment occurred, dear queen. How disappointing it must have been for you to fail in grooming my granddaughter... tell me, does she know—"

  “Enough Ares,” Avetta’s voice had taken on an echo that eerily spread through the small space. “I am here to relinquish my plight against you, and only ask that whatever you have planned in the world, to leave my small corner out of it.”

  Lines creased Ares’s forehead, the only sign of age I had seen on him. A flicker of rage passed through his eyes and vanished just as fast. Again, he stood with ethereal grace as his smile widened at Avetta’s request.

  “You don’t want her knowing... Sweet Evangeline,” he called out to my surprise. I hunkered back in the shadows, praying he didn’t know I was here. “I know you can hear me, pray do tell, what did Queen Avetta here tell you about your mother’s demise? Did she send you after your father, possibly in the hopes that you would kill him. The God I am, only knows, that she wouldn’t want more blood on her precious hands.” His head cocked in our direction and I sucked in a breath and held it. I needed a moment to try to understand what he was saying. But it made no sense.

  “Ares, the past does not need retold, all that matters is the future. Look forward, this could be a powerful alliance—" Avetta was cut off when, with a flick of his wrist, Ares restricted the air she was breathing. She gasped; eyes wide as she tried to suck in gulps. Her face slowly turning a shade of magenta. “I... have... an... offering,” she panted out. He let loose a breath and rescinded whatever magic he’d used on her. He tilted his head to the side and looked at her, bored yet curious. The cavern was silent as he paced in a circle around her, pondering what she could possibly have to offer him. All the while, he never took his eyes off her, not even when Pearce rose from the floor to stand next to his brothers. He looked beaten, and not just his body. His eyes were hollow, like there was no light inside them.

  “Let’s see then.” Ares’s voice drew me back to him. Was that relief that I saw briefly pass through Avetta’s eyes? Had she not expected him to be intrigued so quickly? That, or regret.

  With a slight incline of her head to Ares, she turned. The Gifted parted to allow her through, while Athora remained rooted to the spot, staring at her feet, not daring to meet the eyes of the God she had seemingly double crossed. The small path the Gifted had allowed remained open while everyone waited to see what she would offer to their leader. But what she came back with was a surprise to everyone.

  I noted Rose and Sandra’s small movements as they tried, inconspicuously, to get past their guardians. Tears filled Rose’s eyes, helpless and lost in the sight before her. Sandra’s eyes were full of rage. I couldn’t see yet, but one look at Adam told me all I needed to. His features had turned feral, snarls were ripping from his curved mouth. She wasn’t offering an object; she was offering someone.

  When they stepped into the light, bile rose from my stomach to my throat. Surely she wouldn’t? The determination set on Avetta’s face confirmed to me that she would. There was nothing in her eyes to depict otherwise, as she walked hand in hand with a young girl. One. who had lost so much already, who had no fear when the academy had been attacked. One, who I had grown to love and care for, as is she was my own flesh and blood. They came to a stop in front of Ares, who was looking down at her with an expression I couldn’t fathom. The light had grown brighter the second she had stepped in front of him. A pure soul, an untainted heart, and a child who didn’t deserve the life she had been dealt.

  “Kady.” Her name was nothing but a whisper on the breeze.

  Chapter 27

  “Pray tell, what a child is doing standing in my presence, old friend...” Ares cocked his head once more as he looked Kady up and down. His face gave nothing away, but his tone sounded less than impressed. Relief coursed through me at the thought he might decline the offering. I looked at Avetta. She showed no remorse for dragging Kady here. Was there no one she wasn’t willing to sacrifice to protect herself? Anger roiled in my mind, I twisted my body and pushed Cole’s restraining hands off my mouth and shoulder. I needed to be prepared to move.

  “Don’t do anything stupid, Evvy,” he whispered through the dark.

  “Shut up,” I growled back and looked once more over the ledge.

  Ares had taken to circling Kady, his hand bobbing in and out to feel the bright energy that surrounded her. Darkness clustered around him in the form of shadows. They dispersed and flowed from his body, tasting the light that Kady held, prodding at it with their hazy tendrils.

  “She has the same affinity for fire as Evangeline, the same light pulses through her, and if you look deeper, a tinge of darkness is growing, wrought from the very darkness your son spread before you rose,” Avetta stated blandly. “She is everything you are looking for, a child that can be raised, moulded, even nurtured by you yourself. She will follow your every whim if you desire. She is young enough to withstand the siphoning of her power, as you wish to do with Evangeline.”

  The same affinity for fire, same light, even the darkness. Was she saying—

  Ares’s eyes flicked toward Avetta; darkness devoured them until he was looking at her with black, soulless irises. A grimace distorted his mouth. His lips bared back, showing his gleaming white teeth.

  “But she is not Evangeline, she does not wield the power I need to conquer...”

  Silent tears dripped down Kady’s cheeks. Violent sobs racked her entire body, silent as the tears. Why is she not trying to flee? Her stature was not that of a child in the presence of a hateful, savage God. I could have sworn her eyes met mine as she gave a subtle nod. Slight enough that not one person would have caught it. A small acceptance of the fate she was about to be dealt. I watched in horror as he lifted his spear. Only hoping that it would find its way to Avetta. It was alive with writhing shadows of darkness, the tip still encased with Pearce’s blood. Everything happened so fast, yet every second felt like a lifetime passed.

  “No,” I screamed so loud and choked back a sob when I saw who it was aimed at. Eyes soared to where I was hidden beyond the shadows. As I lit fire within my hands, I called to the air, wrapping it around me, and used it to aid my descent into the cavern. My hair whipped ferociously around my face. The fire in my palms, alight and alive, danced up my arms. My elements were acquiring a will of their own, out of my control and only softening my landing. But I was too late, even as Ares acknowledged my presence with a lazy grin, I was too late. He threw his battle weapon, the grimace on his face snapping back.

  His spear pierced Kady’s chest, as easily as a knife to butter. I screamed, drowning out the sound of it tearing through her flesh. Her eyes went wide as she looked down at the spear protruding from her, then looked toward me with a faint smile on her face. The light began to fade around her. Evangeline, I thought I heard her young voice break through the barrier of whatever mag
ic was wrapped around my mind, blocking me from my bonds. Her eyes dimmed and her body crumbled to the floor. I let out another heart wrenching scream and ran for her. Tears streamed down my face, the wetness that slid down my cheeks fell from my chin, sizzling into the fire that still encased my arms—tendrils of smoke, like that of Ares’s shadows, lingered around my body. The rest of the cavern was of no concern to me as I hastened forward. My vision was like a black tunnel, with Kady the light at the end. Pain pierced my heart, darkness whirled in my mind. Someone’s arms wrapped around my waist and yanked me into them. My body jolted back; the wind knocked from me with the impact. A miasma of burning flesh surrounded me, choking my senses. Still, all I could see was Kady’s tiny body laid out on the floor. Her vacant eyes staring back at me.

  “Stop, Evangeline, stop. There is nothing you can do,” Adam’s voice broke as he murmured soothingly in my ear. His hands were splayed across my stomach, even as they burned he wouldn’t let me go, they were spreading warmth through my body. But it wasn’t enough to warm the ice that was wrapping itself around my heart. I took my eyes from Kady as bile rose from my stomach, and leaned to the side over his tight hold, retching and losing what little was in my stomach. When I had nothing left to project, I rose and stared directly at Ares. My elements hadn’t left me yet, I clung to them like a lifeline, not even feeling the energy that wielding them was taking from me. Reaching into my waistband, I pulled the scythe free and pointed the tip directly at him. A silent promise that I would pierce it through him as he had Kady. A promise that he would die by my hand for what he had done. Fire raged through me and darkness swelled. My mind was a sea of black. I removed the image of Kady from the forefront and clung only to the vast emotion I felt the moment she had fallen. I couldn’t allow the breaking in my heart to overtake me. I couldn’t allow the light in.